Lucia speaks for Broten, Woog and Parise and saves the world

[bigskyvikes]

Great post! It's just crazy for Sioux fans to claim the Minnesota program never supported the others in our state. They simply don't realize how important it was to make sure the U keeps playing those schools, far more important than playing UND.

Oh please, just go away! Can't you go stroke each other on GPL?

[Let'sGoHawks!]

So I was 100% right when I said earlier this week that he most likely scheduled ND because of his son. Although I did say he probably wouldn't admit it...I was wrong there haha.

Lucia on the UND series this morning, "The reality is, if there was no nickname issue we'd probably be playing next year."

BULLSH&%!!!! "Pretty" Don could make it happen if he truly wanted it to happen.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

Oh, you know you'd miss us if we weren't here. Without us it would be...

"I think UND is the greatest team ever."

"No I think they are even greater than you do."

"But I think they'll win 3 titles in a row."

"Only 3? I see 5."

And so on. Our presence mixes it up a bit to give you a point to focus your hatred upon and increase the entertainment value for all. Right?

So in other words, there would only be truth on the boards? haha

Lucia on KFAN right now. Charchian and PA hammered him with questions about Big 10 hockey, breaking up the WCHA, he got questions on "Why not OK for Sioux but it's OK for Fighting Irish"...deflected those questions by saying "ask the administrators, that's above my paygrade, ask the NCAA, etc. I'm surprised they're asking him some of this and not sucking his lollipop. Lucia sounds frustrated. Admits that his son going to Notre Dame had something to do with scheduling them. That's my very quick recap.

I just became an even bigger PA fan. He really got down to it with Lucia and didn't let his BS answers suffice. At one point Lucia got so upset that he literally stopped talking out of frustration. I'm glad that the message is loud and clear that it is not acceptable to take a 3-4 year break from this great rivalry.

[Ray77]

BULLSH&%!!!! "Pretty" Don could make it happen if he truly wanted it to happen.

It was interesting to hear Charchian grill him about it, and even after Donnyboy got off the phone Charch said "They could have left dates open if they really wanted to". I was surprised by that.

[Let'sGoHawks!]

So in other words, there would only be truth on the boards? haha

I just became an even bigger PA fan. He really got down to it with Lucia and didn't let his BS answers suffice. At one point Lucia got so upset that he literally stopped talking out of frustration. I'm glad that the message is loud and clear that it is not acceptable to take a 3-4 year break from this great rivalry.

This is a HUGE HUGE HUGE surprise to me, that PA challenged Don. I have been rough on PA in the past, but admire how he pushed "Pretty" Don today.

I'm glad Lucia is being exposed, the Virg Foss piece was predictable, coming from the UND side, but hearing Donny boy's "home" media expose him is beautiful.

[Let'sGoHawks!]

Ciskie weighs in: http://ciskie.blogspot.com/

[AZSIOUX]

It was interesting to hear Charchian grill him about it, and even after Donnyboy got off the phone Charch said "They could have left dates open if they really wanted to". I was surprised by that.

Charc did get very passionate when grilling duckin donny on those questions. Good stuff even if PA sounds like he has no idea what he's talking about which he doesn't. Nice charc was ready to ask some interesting questions. Lucia was over it all! Lol

[passit_offthegoalie]

Ciskie weighs in: http://ciskie.blogspot.com/

Jess Myers is a classless idiot. He's making lame excuses for Lucia's retreat from the rivalry, not to mention offensive accusations about North Dakota fans.

"The Gophers have had some really unpleasant travel experiences in Grand Forks," UMD alum Jess Myers said this week. Myers, who covers the Gophers for 1500 ESPN, came the closest to laying out one of the specific reasons why Minnesota is generally being credited with blamed for discontinuing this rivalry.

"If you're the schedule makers, and you're Don Lucia, you're looking at them as a non-conference team, and you're saying 'I don't need to subject myself to that anymore.'

"'I don't need to go up there and get spit at on the bench, and get my wife and kids harassed.'

"God bless North Dakota fans for being as passionate as they are, but there's a place where you have to draw a line."

Bruce Ciskie, although he bemoans the ending of the rivalry, seems to agree with Myers' assessment. Funny stuff.

We North Dakotans and Sioux fans are just bad people for cheering so hard when we beat the Golden Boys . Don wants to visit more half-empty buildings so the Gophers don't have too much of a challenge.

[heavy]

Here is the podcast of Lucia from this morning. Basically, PA and Charch ask all the questions that have been raised here. Lucia did admit scheduling Notre Dame was a priority, even before the U moved out of the WCHA which was more candid that I thought we'd hear. Most of Lucia's defenses were consistent with what the Gopher fans have claimed. Lucia definitely makes it clear the advent of the Big Ten hockey conference wasn't his preference and naming issues come down from well above his pay grade.

I would add that 4 year agreements seem to be the way Lucia is doing his scheduling. I'm not sure if this is standard or not. We have 4 year agreement with BC and Northeastern as well as Notre Dame so I wouldn't immediately say we did a four year deal just because Mario might be there 4 years. One possibility would have been to maybe do a two year deal with ND (while the naming stuff was preventing a deal getting done) and get the UND rivalry back on the schedule two years earlier.

Hakstol is before the Lucia interview. Lucia is from 25:00 to 46:00, including some post interview opinions by the radio guys.

http://www.kfan.com/cc-common/podcast/single_page.html?more_page=1&podcast=KFAN_PADubay&selected_podcast=PA_011813_HR1_1358525705_32543.mp3

edit: the board is trying to play the link locally. here's the link to copy and paste

"http://www.kfan.com/cc-common/podcast/single_page.html?more_page=1&podcast=KFAN_PADubay&selected_podcast=PA_011813_HR1_1358525705_32543.mp3"

[jodcon]

I have no problem with tDon scheduling Notre Dame because his kid is playing there, if it were me I would push for that too, and with many other OOC dates available it had nothing to do with ending the UND series.

[Siouxperfan7]

Lucia was pissed for most of the interview. You could tell he was getting tired of answering the same questions about "why didn't you wait and leave dates open for one of the greatest rivalries in college hockey." He says the nickname thing was the main reason. Funny how Wisconsin had the same policy but somehow was able to leave dates open when the issue was obviously going to be resolved within the year. It's not like Minnesota was going to be struggling to find teams to play them. Lucia is pathetic and you can absolutely put the blame on him for putting a hiatus to this rivalry.

[Mariucci]

Lucia was pissed for most of the interview. You could tell he was getting tired of answering the same questions about "why didn't you wait and leave dates open for one of the greatest rivalries in college hockey." He says the nickname thing was the main reason. Funny how Wisconsin had the same policy but somehow was able to leave dates open when the issue was obviously going to be resolved within the year. It's not like Minnesota was going to be struggling to find teams to play them. Lucia is pathetic and you can absolutely put the blame on him for putting a hiatus to this rivalry.

It was easier for UW to hold open dates when they dont have 4 other in-state programs to schedule like we do. Big difference.

[bale31]

Lucia was pissed for most of the interview. You could tell he was getting tired of answering the same questions about "why didn't you wait and leave dates open for one of the greatest rivalries in college hockey." He says the nickname thing was the main reason. Funny how Wisconsin had the same policy but somehow was able to leave dates open when the issue was obviously going to be resolved within the year. It's not like Minnesota was going to be struggling to find teams to play them. Lucia is pathetic and you can absolutely put the blame on him for putting a hiatus to this rivalry.

I'm confused by this argument. WI and MN are two different situations. Just because WI was willing to bend their rules, doesn't mean that everyone else should too. Who cares what WI did. I don't know if it's a real or a made up reason, but saying "they did it too" isn't an excuse I would accept from my 3-year-old.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

It was easier for UW to hold open dates when they dont have 4 other in-state programs to schedule like we do. Big difference.

I feel like this keeps going in a circle. Judging by how exasperated and upset Lucia pet was getting, I think there's more to it than that. If it was that simple, Lucia wouldn't have been more emotional than PA has ever seen him in 10-15 years of knowing him. Instead it would just be a simple fact, but even the Minneapolis media is asking why keeping this series in the schedule was a priority and the answer keeps getting warped by Lucia. It seems pretty apparent that he wanted a break for whatever reason.

[Siouxperfan7]

It was easier for UW to hold open dates when they dont have 4 other in-state programs to schedule like we do. Big difference.

Good to know that Lucia thinks playing Mankato and Bemidji is more important than North Dakota.

[zonadub]

...

I can tell you that in the news and behind the scenes that Lucia was very supportive of MSU and getting us scheduled.

...

Wasn't Lucia at Colorado College when Mankato joined the WCHA?

[tnt]

Wasn't Lucia at Colorado College when Mankato joined the WCHA?

You nailed it! Mankato joined the WCHA in 1997 and Lucia didn't start coaching Minnesota until 1999. I suppose he was working to get Minnesta to schedule Mankato when he was at CC though. How are we supposed to take information like this seriously.

[Mariucci]

You nailed it! Mankato joined the WCHA in 1997 and Lucia didn't start coaching Minnesota until 1999. I suppose he was working to get Minnesta to schedule Mankato when he was at CC though. How are we supposed to take information like this seriously.

Umm, they joined in the 1999-2000 season. How are we supposed to take you seriously?

[BigGreyAnt41]

You nailed it! Mankato joined the WCHA in 1997 and Lucia didn't start coaching Minnesota until 1999. I suppose he was working to get Minnesta to schedule Mankato when he was at CC though. How are we supposed to take information like this seriously.

Mankato actually joined in 1999, according to HockeyDB and Wikipedia. As CC head coach he still could have been advocating to get them in the league, but it surely wasn't because they were another Minnesota school.

[jodcon]

Mankato actually joined in 1999, according to HockeyDB and Wikipedia. As CC head coach he still could have been advocating to get them in the league, but it surely wasn't because they were another Minnesota school.

They were invited to the WCHA in June of 1997 and accepted in early 1998, so it was before 1999.

[Mariucci]

Mankato actually joined in 1999, according to HockeyDB and Wikipedia. As CC head coach he still could have been advocating to get them in the league, but it surely wasn't because they were another Minnesota school.

But Woog at the time was also a huge supporter for these programs development and joining the league.

[JermDubs]

Last year at the Mariucci some guy tripped

[GFG]

I have no problem with tDon scheduling Notre Dame because his kid is playing there, if it were me I would push for that too, and with many other OOC dates available it had nothing to do with ending the UND series.

I would agree with you but after the Notre Dame series Minnesota only had a total of 2 non-conference games left open. After all the series with in-state teams Minnesota only has a total of 4 games left to choose. So they really don't have many OOC dates available.

[jodcon]

I would agree with you but after the Notre Dame series Minnesota only had a total of 2 non-conference games left open. After all the series with in-state teams Minnesota only has a total of 4 games left to choose. So they really don't have many OOC dates available.

I guess I'm missing some games, there should be 20 B1G games, 2 with Duluth, 2 with Bemidji, 2 with Mankato, 2 with Notre Dame...that's 28, are they playing 2 with St. Cloud too? That should still leave 4 even with SCSU unless I'm forgetting something?

[GFG]

I guess I'm missing some games, there should be 20 B1G games, 2 with Duluth, 2 with Bemidji, 2 with Mankato, 2 with Notre Dame...that's 28, are they playing 2 with St. Cloud too? That should still leave 4 even with SCSU unless i'm forgetting something?

Missing the Mariucci Classic. So with that there's 30 games. Max is only 34, unless you travel to Alaska, then I believe you can play 36. So after that stuff they only have 2 series to choose from. Notre Dame is one because of his son, which I fully support. That leaves only 2 games. They really don't have much to choose from. Realistically they only get to pick 2 non-conference series per year.