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Goon

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Rich hockey history...that could define Minnesota, UMD, Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Boston University, Boston College, Maine, Lake Superior State, New Hampshire, and any one of about 20 other NCAA hockey programs. Hell, Michigan Tech has rich history too. It's been 30-35 years since they've had a quality program year in and year out, but they do have a rich history.

The finest facility...DU's $75 million Magness Arena, Penn State's $88 million Pegula Ice Arena, and BU's $225 million dollar complex (which includes Agganis Arena) are certainly nothing to sneeze at. Neither are Mariucci Arena, Yost Ice Arena, or good old Alfond Arena up in Maine. If best arena or best stadium should guarantee success, can you tell me why the Red Sox are winning World Series' in a dump like Fenway? And don't answer "player salaries" because the Miami Marlins spent a boatload of cash on players in year one of their brand-new stadium and that was a disaster. If anything, the Red Sox cut some big salaries and found cheaper replacements this past season.

The most coveted position in college hockey...yet another opinion-oriented philosophy. If Dave Hakstol were fired tomorrow and an offer of a one billion dollar a year salary, an active oil well in Watford City, and being made lifetime Emperor of North Dakota was made to Jerry York, his answer would be "no." Sorry, folks, Grand Forks, ND isn't on the short-list of places to move to. And, as stated above in the facility argument...there are many schools that could claim to be "most-coveted" coaching job. North Dakota's one of them.

The "I've spent thousands on this team" argument...love, Love, LOVE this argument. The "because I have invested my time and money watching this team, there should be a return on my personal investment in the form of a national championship" philosophy. When I drop $10 on a movie ticket, I don't walk into the theater thinking "I'd better be watching an Oscar-worthy performance or I'm asking the manager for my money back." If I'm disappointed in the whole movie or just the ending, well, that's how it works. Now, if you want to head down to the locker room area and hang around after the game and wait for the chance to chew out Hakstol, his staff, and the 18-22 year old athletes for not meeting your expectations on the ice, that's your business. I'll just turn off the TV, grumble about the game, then turn it back on the next night and cheer again. Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks, I guess.

Before you retaliate with the "MafiaMan's against national championships" argument, I will ask you to reconsider. Just because I support Dave Hakstol doesn't mean I'm not getting antsy myself. And if Minnesota happens to pull a title out of their hat this season, my guess is that the heat on Hakstol will only be turned up a notch.

and don't forget the I"ve gotten into many argument with my spouse over attending/traveling to und hockey games as well.

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Hey man, some of us work really hard to keep those pumping and simultaneously maintain the ability to spell. How do we know that wouldn't push it over the top? It's the gift that keeps on giving.

Words can hurt Mafia.... words can hurt.

My post meant absolutely no disrespect to literate and sober roughnecks everywhere in SW and NW North Dakota.

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Rich hockey history...that could define Minnesota, UMD, Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Boston University, Boston College, Maine, Lake Superior State, New Hampshire, and any one of about 20 other NCAA hockey programs. Hell, Michigan Tech has rich history too. It's been 30-35 years since they've had a quality program year in and year out, but they do have a rich history.

The finest facility...DU's $75 million Magness Arena, Penn State's $88 million Pegula Ice Arena, and BU's $225 million dollar complex (which includes Agganis Arena) are certainly nothing to sneeze at. Neither are Mariucci Arena, Yost Ice Arena, or good old Alfond Arena up in Maine. If best arena or best stadium should guarantee success, can you tell me why the Red Sox are winning World Series' in a dump like Fenway? And don't answer "player salaries" because the Miami Marlins spent a boatload of cash on players in year one of their brand-new stadium and that was a disaster. If anything, the Red Sox cut some big salaries and found cheaper replacements this past season.

The most coveted position in college hockey...yet another opinion-oriented philosophy. If Dave Hakstol were fired tomorrow and an offer of a one billion dollar a year salary, an active oil well in Watford City, and being made lifetime Emperor of North Dakota was made to Jerry York, his answer would be "no." Sorry, folks, Grand Forks, ND isn't on the short-list of places to move to. And, as stated above in the facility argument...there are many schools that could claim to be "most-coveted" coaching job. North Dakota's one of them.

The "I've spent thousands on this team" argument...love, Love, LOVE this argument. The "because I have invested my time and money watching this team, there should be a return on my personal investment in the form of a national championship" philosophy. When I drop $10 on a movie ticket, I don't walk into the theater thinking "I'd better be watching an Oscar-worthy performance or I'm asking the manager for my money back." If I'm disappointed in the whole movie or just the ending, well, that's how it works. Now, if you want to head down to the locker room area and hang around after the game and wait for the chance to chew out Hakstol, his staff, and the 18-22 year old athletes for not meeting your expectations on the ice, that's your business. I'll just turn off the TV, grumble about the game, then turn it back on the next night and cheer again. Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks, I guess.

Before you retaliate with the "MafiaMan's against national championships" argument, I will ask you to reconsider. Just because I support Dave Hakstol doesn't mean I'm not getting antsy myself. And if Minnesota happens to pull a title out of their hat this season, my guess is that the heat on Hakstol will only be turned up a notch.

The one thing that shocked me out of this whole post was that Denver spent $75 Mil on Magness? What a rip-off!

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Do you guys ever wonder if there is a crazed fan out there? In their mom's basement, vicariously living their life on the internet. Following Sioux hockey like day follows night. What if looney Bob decides the only way to change our misfortunes is through an act of violence? What if "Fire Hak" is his rally cry? What if he thinks REA is a curse? Maybe everyone should just take a deep breathe and look at what else is going on in the world before we incite ol' Bob.

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Lets do a little comparison. Red Berenson, legendary coach at Michigan, is in his 30th year of coaching. In that time, he has 11 Frozen Fours and 2 National Championships. Dave Hakstol is in his 9th year as head coach at UND and has already been to 5 Frozen Fours. Now of course all of us fans of UND are frustrated with Hak not leading us to a National Championship in those 8 years, but consider this by comparison. Red Berenson's Wolverines did not even make the NCAA tournament the first 7 years he was coach. Also to put it in perspective, Berenson didn't win a National Championship until his 12th year at Michigan.

Yes, we all as UND fans expect to win a National Championship every year. But lets just all cool down on the Fire Hak crap. He has put us in a position every year he has been here. We have been in the playoffs each of his years he has been head coach. Could you imagine a Hak lead UND hockey program that misses the playoffs 7 years in a row to start his career?!!! This thread would be 500 pages long!! Michigan saw they had a great coach and stuck with him. And guess what, it paid off to consistently making the tournament and producing a couple National Championships. So to sum up, all the Hak haters need to just put things in perspective!!

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OK, I did as you suggested and my thoughts haven't changed. I believe Goon said "sweep this past weekend and this thread died". I just didn't believe (and still don't) that this thread would die based on last weekends sweep. I guess the 13 or so additional posts since Goon's are further evidence of that. Just my opinion, I'm sorry you didn't like it. But we are all entitled to our own opinion and I respect the fact that's yours may be different than mine. If you believe the post has "died" I would suggest that you don't have to post on it any more.

I guess my point is that this thread or the game-day thread tend to blow-up with anti-Hakstol comments after ANY loss, regardless of whether it would be an NCAA Frozen Four loss or a mid-season exhibition game defeat. I would agree in your assertion that this place will absolutely nuke itself if this season should end with anything other than a national championship game victory.

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Do you guys ever wonder if there is a crazed fan out there? In their mom's basement, vicariously living their life on the internet. Following Sioux hockey like day follows night. What if looney Bob decides the only way to change our misfortunes is through an act of violence? What if "Fire Hak" is his rally cry? What if he thinks REA is a curse? Maybe everyone should just take a deep breathe and look at what else is going on in the world before we incite ol' Bob.

What if there isn't.

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Lets do a little comparison. Red Berenson, legendary coach at Michigan, is in his 30th year of coaching. In that time, he has 11 Frozen Fours and 2 National Championships. Dave Hakstol is in his 9th year as head coach at UND and has already been to 5 Frozen Fours. Now of course all of us fans of UND are frustrated with Hak not leading us to a National Championship in those 8 years, but consider this by comparison. Red Berenson's Wolverines did not even make the NCAA tournament the first 7 years he was coach. Also to put it in perspective, Berenson didn't win a National Championship until his 12th year at Michigan.

Yes, we all as UND fans expect to win a National Championship every year. But lets just all cool down on the Fire Hak crap. He has put us in a position every year he has been here. We have been in the playoffs each of his years he has been head coach. Could you imagine a Hak lead UND hockey program that misses the playoffs 7 years in a row to start his career?!!! This thread would be 500 pages long!! Michigan saw they had a great coach and stuck with him. And guess what, it paid off to consistently making the tournament and producing a couple National Championships. So to sum up, all the Hak haters need to just put things in perspective!!

First of all, nobody expects an NCAA title every year. This isn't the 1950's when Michigan was heads and shoulders above everyone else and we still used chicken wire instead of plexiglass. We won NCAA titles in 1997 and 2000, but fell short in 1998 and 1999 with loaded teams. But the bookend NCAA titles made the middle two years easier to live with. The point being, we cashed in at least a couple of times when we had the talent to do so. That has not been the case during the current regime; especially with some of the talent that has come through Grand Forks during the past 10 years. When this program regularly chokes on the national stage, plays down to the level of their competition and had a coach that simply will not make in-game adjustments when needed, people are going to talk about it. As they should.

Second of all, most people in Ann Arbor care about two things: 1) Michigan FB in their precious "Big House" and 2) Michigan Men's BB and their quest to return to the glory days of the Fab Five. Hockey ranks a distant third, which means old Red has more wiggle room than coaches in places like North Dakota, where REA is the "Big House" and hockey brings in the most money for the athletic department and the most media attention to the campus as a whole. And, although it's been a long time since his last one, Red does have two NCAA titles. Not as many as you would expect, but he does have them. Hakstol has ZERO. That is an irrefutable fact.

Third of all, this discussion is about what kind of program we want to have in Grand Forks. Do we want to just "be there" every year? Do we want to just have winning records every year? Or do we want to be feared and respected like Boston College is today? I am a Vikings fan and I hate the Packers, but this quote from the great Vince Lombardi is pertinent to our discussion:

“Gentlemen, we will chase perfection, and we will chase it relentlessly, knowing all the while we can never attain it. But along the way, we shall catch excellence.”

To paraphrase the legendary NFL coach, "Gentlemen, NCAA titles are the mark of excellence in NCAA hockey". It is all that people really remember and it is what builds a legacy for future kids to aspire to. If we aren't willing to live up to this standard, then we might as well start hanging participation banners.

So, to sum up, the "In Hak We Trust" crowd need to just put things in perspective.

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Lets do a little comparison. Red Berenson, legendary coach at Michigan, is in his 30th year of coaching. In that time, he has 11 Frozen Fours and 2 National Championships. Dave Hakstol is in his 9th year as head coach at UND and has already been to 5 Frozen Fours. Now of course all of us fans of UND are frustrated with Hak not leading us to a National Championship in those 8 years, but consider this by comparison. Red Berenson's Wolverines did not even make the NCAA tournament the first 7 years he was coach. Also to put it in perspective, Berenson didn't win a National Championship until his 12th year at Michigan.

Yes, we all as UND fans expect to win a National Championship every year. But lets just all cool down on the Fire Hak crap. He has put us in a position every year he has been here. We have been in the playoffs each of his years he has been head coach. Could you imagine a Hak lead UND hockey program that misses the playoffs 7 years in a row to start his career?!!! This thread would be 500 pages long!! Michigan saw they had a great coach and stuck with him. And guess what, it paid off to consistently making the tournament and producing a couple National Championships. So to sum up, all the Hak haters need to just put things in perspective!!

Blah Blah Blah Blah Red - The two took over completely different programs with completely different expectations. Remember when we were winning championships and we felt superior to those who coulden't get it done? - I'm looking at you, Woog.

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I guess my point is that this thread or the game-day thread tend to blow-up with anti-Hakstol comments after ANY loss, regardless of whether it would be an NCAA Frozen Four loss or a mid-season exhibition game defeat. I would agree in your assertion that this place will absolutely nuke itself if this season should end with anything other than a national championship game victory.

I got ya - my bad, because I agree with you that it is absolutely amazing how much chatter results on this thread based solely on the result of a single Friday or Saturday night game, not to mention a full weekend. It's crazy.

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Lets do a little comparison. Red Berenson, legendary coach at Michigan, is in his 30th year of coaching. In that time, he has 11 Frozen Fours and 2 National Championships. Dave Hakstol is in his 9th year as head coach at UND and has already been to 5 Frozen Fours. Now of course all of us fans of UND are frustrated with Hak not leading us to a National Championship in those 8 years, but consider this by comparison. Red Berenson's Wolverines did not even make the NCAA tournament the first 7 years he was coach. Also to put it in perspective, Berenson didn't win a National Championship until his 12th year at Michigan.

Yes, we all as UND fans expect to win a National Championship every year. But lets just all cool down on the Fire Hak crap. He has put us in a position every year he has been here. We have been in the playoffs each of his years he has been head coach. Could you imagine a Hak lead UND hockey program that misses the playoffs 7 years in a row to start his career?!!! This thread would be 500 pages long!! Michigan saw they had a great coach and stuck with him. And guess what, it paid off to consistently making the tournament and producing a couple National Championships. So to sum up, all the Hak haters need to just put things in perspective!!

But...but...but...we have a $100 million recruiting gem...the best tradition in the history of college hockey...the best fans ever in college hockey...it's far EASIER to win a title now as opposed to the 1990's or earlier...it's not fair that Hakstol hasn't given us a championship yet. I demand excellence as I've spent money on watching this team and cried over their losses!

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Third of all, this discussion is about what kind of program we want to have in Grand Forks. Do we want to just "be there" every year?

Yes. Because in a one-and-done scenario, anything can happen. The best team isn't always going to win. And you can't win if you aren't in the tournament. Hak has given the team a chance to do that every year that he has been here. Having a bunch of sub-par seasons with a run at a title every 3-5 years isn't acceptable, but some think that what happened in Duluth would be OK because they can look back and see a title. Great, hindsight is 20-20 but having a team that made the NCAA tournament 4 years out of 13, even if one of them was a national title would not be acceptable at UND.

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Yes. Because in a one-and-done scenario, anything can happen. The best team isn't always going to win. And you can't win if you aren't in the tournament. Hak has given the team a chance to do that every year that he has been here. Having a bunch of sub-par seasons with a run at a title every 3-5 years isn't acceptable, but some think that what happened in Duluth would be OK because they can look back and see a title. Great, hindsight is 20-20 but having a team that made the NCAA tournament 4 years out of 13, even if one of them was a national title would not be acceptable at UND.

Yawn.....where have I heard those talking points before? Oh yeah, right here. You cannot refute the points I made, so you resort to the same tired old talking points. To each their own.

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Yawn.....where have I heard those talking points before? Oh yeah, right here. You cannot refute the points I made, so you resort to the same tired old talking points. To each their own.

They aren't talking points, they are actual truths that are shown to be true year after year. You aren't making any points other than using hindsight and personal opinions, not facts, to try to prove your point.

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even if Hak were to win a title this year, there would still be many on here that would want him gone because he hasn't won 2,3 or 4 by now.

I call Bull**** - most don't want him fired, they just want him to loosen up the "system" and win one finally
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