Your best Old Ralph moment

[Hayduke]

December 1978, seeing the North Dakota Fighting Sioux crush the Rodents 4-1 in the first game...(they lost the second..) Herb Brooks was the Minny coach... I was hooked after that!

[70'sguy]

Unfortunately, there were too many refreshments to remember it all, but I will give the credit to Fido.

I could have added that the graduation ceremony was held in The Old Ralph, but I guess that was lower on my list compared to the hockey highlights. I could graduate without attending graduation, but I couldn't miss a hockey game in those days.

There was also a brawl with some team (I can't remember against who) when Craig Ludwig paired off with someone. Ludwig had knocked him out, but was holding him up on his skates. The ref would look their way and see that punches weren't being thrown, and so would watch the other skirmishes. Ludwig would land another punch and then hold him up. When it was finally over, Ludwig simply let him go and he fell to the ice.

And, there was the Farce.

We had an Electrical Engineering grad student who would wear a long trench coat, sit behind the penalty box, and verbally harass the opposing players in the box. Several tried to climb the glass to get to him.

What is funny now is that I see many of the same faces now at the games in the new Ralph, that I saw in the Old Ralph back in the 70's. They are just a bit older now.

I was there in the 70's as well

[Sioux-cia]

During a brawl in front of the net, with who I don't remember, Ludwig holding an opposing player who had charged him at arms length, slowly skating backwards towards center ice. The kid's arrms were flailing but he never connected. The refs' attentions were in front of the net. Luwig stopped, cold cocked the kid who went down like a rock. Ludwig skated to the Sioux bench and sat down to watch the fight; cool as a cold brew in a frosty glass.

[Wilbur]

I should have titled this thread, "Best memories from the old Ralph." I have so many its stupid.

When I was a Pee Wee hockey player my team got the opportunity to see the Sioux play when we had a weekend of games in Grand Forks. Quinn Fylling just so happened to be on my team and I remember all of us thinking that he'd play for the Sioux some day with the way he dominated back in those days. Anyways, back to the story....I was a huge Toby Kvalevog fan and our team got to sit right by the UND net for the game against Duluth. The Sioux lost, but getting to be so close to one of many Sioux heroes as a kid was pretty special.

[The Sicatoka]

I miss my conversations with opposing goaltenders. Well, conversations might not be the right word. I'd tell them various factoids about their lives and friends and girlfriends (and what their friends were doing with their girlfriends) and if they heard me or heard enough they'd reply in "sign language".

My favorites were John Blue and Steven Wagner. I think they liked me. Both flashed me a sign that I've been told I should interpret as "I'm #1."

The new tall glass in REA doesn't lend aid to a conversationalist like me.

[Wilbur]

I miss my conversations with opposing goaltenders. Well, conversations might not be the right word. I'd tell them various factoids about their lives and friends and girlfriends (and what their friends were doing with their girlfriends) and if they heard me or heard enough they'd reply in "sign language".

My favorites were John Blue and Steven Wagner. I think they liked me. Both flashed me a sign that I've been told I should interpret as "I'm #1."

The new tall glass in REA doesn't lend aid to a conversationalist like me.

It never pays off to be a goaltender with a two syllable last name like "WAGGGGGGGNER......WAGGGGNNNNNER....."

Pretty sure I saw Pateman from Mankato State cry one time.....literally the whole game they students were on him.....wow. I'm pretty sure my mom left a game between the Sioux and Mankato feeling horrible for him and his mother....and girlfriend.....and sisters.....and so on....

[gfhockey]

what about the 32 ounce errr I think they were coke pops in the cups and we used to load them up with shooters

[Sioux-cia]

Standing in line in sub-zero weather waiting for the ticket office to open. Sharing Schnapps with your fellow students....ah, those were the days!!

[JohnboyND7]

Grew up without hockey, watched a few games on TV and did not understand the game or the game within the game. My RA who was also in my suite, when I was a freshman, had been trying to convince me to go and see a hockey game. Which I resisted, thinking it would be boring.

However, I relented and agreed to attend the first game ever at the brand new Arena (the old Ralph). My RA told me that we had to get there real early because seats would be hard to find. He was basing his comments on the fact that the “old barn”, had few seats.

We stood in line for some time. They finally opened the doors and everyone rushed the doors (my first human crush stampede).

Hockey is boring on TV. Can be fun in person from my few experiences.

Papa Bear tells me that when our family lived in Forks(too young to remember or was not born) in the late 80's and early 90's that you could walk up before the game and get tickets? Was it just student seats that were hard to come by or did he just happen to always pick games that weren't hard to get tickets for?

I feel your pain on the human stampede. They suck. And hurt.

[Jeremy_und2004]

1. My first full season. 1996-1997. We would always do the "rush seating" and never had a problem getting a seat. I remember one game against N Mich or someone we put up over 10 goals and had over 80 shots i think. All I remember is that the PA announcer couldnt keep up with the scoring in one period. I also had a sign that I made for when they won the WCHA title that one of the players wanted a picture with, so they brought me down to the locker room durign the celebration. Seriously, thats the moment as a kid that I was hooked on Fighting Sioux Hockey.

2. Aaron Vikar stepping in front of the net and taking the rapid fire shots from everyone at the same time at the end of warmups.

3. Getting to interview Dean Blais and Jason Blake during one of their practices. Blake and Kvalevog signed a stick for me. And I got to miss a day of school.

4. The atmosphere in the Old Ralph is hands down the best ever. Loved learning all the chants. Cant believe how loud it got.

Goodbye Old REA.

[sprig]

Where to start? Was introduced to Sioux hockey in the old barn in the early 70s, and my first intro to the new arena was moving in broadcast equipment with a student broadcaster (Wilbur's dad knows him, they were in the same frat). After the old barn seemed like a novel idea to actually be warm at a hockey game. Those early days resulted in mostly losses for the Sioux, so we generally entertained ourselves by sitting on the glass at a blue line and giving Medo and Dewey a boatload of crap. Dewey was more fun, you could get a reaction out of him and he'd slam the glass often.

From the old barn, I remember a Gopher game, when Sioux goaltender Murphy was waiting for a slow moving puck coming at him from a length of the ice clear. It was on net, but moving so slowly that Murphy nonchalanted it, and meaning to sweep it away with his stick mis-timed the sweep, missed the puck, and it slid slowly across the goal line, not reaching the back of the net. So we knew it as a Murphy long before it became a Frazee.

Since we knew all the players from the dorm (Walsh hall), we were at all the games in spite of the losses. We looked forward to the CC series since they were not good either and we thought there was a better chance for wins. A youngster from Minnesota named Doug Pallazari (sp?) spoiled that, however.

I was then gone from ND for several years, and returned to northern SD just as Gino was hired, and the Sioux became a force nationally.Traveled up to GF for many of those games in the early 80s, and since a friend from the early 70s, after several undergraduate degrees, had entered med school, so, he always had a student ID for me to go to the games (I was always Dr. "somebody", usually Fasbender, who must not have been a hockey fan). When I didn't make it to GF, always drove up to Oakes, where the owner of the cabin (Kutsikas) was also an alum and watched the games on PPTV with me. We even watched at the home of some Bison graduates (former Rajahs?), but we had to watch the Bison football playoff games as well. Don't remember any single game, just that they won almost all the time (the Sioux, although I hear the Bison football team then won most of the time as well). I'm still miffed at the Sioux not being selected for the 83 NCAA playoffs, as imo they and Wisco were the best teams in the country, and I looked forward to another Sioux/Badger NCAA championship game, with the FF in the old ralph. Of course, the Sioux weren't selected, and the Badgers had a cakewalk to the championship (didn't seem right to have Frenchy's overrun by Badger jerseys), while the Gophers sleepwalked through losses to Harvard and Providence, and lived up to their Gopher choker nickname. Repeated again at the new ralph in the Holy Cross regional.

The younger brother of the trench coat engineering student was a good friend of mine, so when I moved to this part of the state, I visited their farm near Alamo, ND.

A few of the leftover friends usually make it to meet at one series/year now, including the dr. from montana, had been Thanksgiving weekend until that ended last year (went to the Duluth series the weekend before Thanksgiving). At any rate we usually get into the dr. suite for some of at least one game, and get to visit with the Sioux football dr, as well as the Sioux hockey dr.

I'll miss seeing the old ralph when driving in GF next season, just as I'm always lost on Gateway since Frenchy's isn't there.

[108498]

I know everyone loves the newest Ralph, but has anyone thought that it could be too much of a pro building. With what I have seen at the Ralph, it almost feels as though the college student section is gone. No longer are there those made up cheers; instead, there are set songs and set cheers . Night in and Night out. It would be nice to see the students do new things at games.

[Wilbur]

Where to start? Was introduced to Sioux hockey in the old barn in the early 70s, and my first intro to the new arena was moving in broadcast equipment with a student broadcaster (Wilbur's dad knows him, they were in the same frat). After the old barn seemed like a novel idea to actually be warm at a hockey game. Those early days resulted in mostly losses for the Sioux, so we generally entertained ourselves by sitting on the glass at a blue line and giving Medo and Dewey a boatload of crap. Dewey was more fun, you could get a reaction out of him and he'd slam the glass often.

From the old barn, I remember a Gopher game, when Sioux goaltender Murphy was waiting for a slow moving puck coming at him from a length of the ice clear. It was on net, but moving so slowly that Murphy nonchalanted it, and meaning to sweep it away with his stick mis-timed the sweep, missed the puck, and it slid slowly across the goal line, not reaching the back of the net. So we knew it as a Murphy long before it became a Frazee.

Since we knew all the players from the dorm (Walsh hall), we were at all the games in spite of the losses. We looked forward to the CC series since they were not good either and we thought there was a better chance for wins. A youngster from Minnesota named Doug Pallazari (sp?) spoiled that, however.

I was then gone from ND for several years, and returned to northern SD just as Gino was hired, and the Sioux became a force nationally.Traveled up to GF for many of those games in the early 80s, and since a friend from the early 70s, after several undergraduate degrees, had entered med school, so, he always had a student ID for me to go to the games (I was always Dr. "somebody", usually Fasbender, who must not have been a hockey fan). When I didn't make it to GF, always drove up to Oakes, where the owner of the cabin (Kutsikas) was also an alum and watched the games on PPTV with me. We even watched at the home of some Bison graduates (former Rajahs?), but we had to watch the Bison football playoff games as well. Don't remember any single game, just that they won almost all the time (the Sioux, although I hear the Bison football team then won most of the time as well). I'm still miffed at the Sioux not being selected for the 83 NCAA playoffs, as imo they and Wisco were the best teams in the country, and I looked forward to another Sioux/Badger NCAA championship game, with the FF in the old ralph. Of course, the Sioux weren't selected, and the Badgers had a cakewalk to the championship (didn't seem right to have Frenchy's overrun by Badger jerseys), while the Gophers sleepwalked through losses to Harvard and Providence, and lived up to their Gopher choker nickname. Repeated again at the new ralph in the Holy Cross regional.

The younger brother of the trench coat engineering student was a good friend of mine, so when I moved to this part of the state, I visited their farm near Alamo, ND.

A few of the leftover friends usually make it to meet at one series/year now, including the dr. from montana, had been Thanksgiving weekend until that ended last year (went to the Duluth series the weekend before Thanksgiving). At any rate we usually get into the dr. suite for some of at least one game, and get to visit with the Sioux football dr, as well as the Sioux hockey dr.

I'll miss seeing the old ralph when driving in GF next season, just as I'm always lost on Gateway since Frenchy's isn't there.

Ahh yes...Lambda Chi, right across the street from the new Ralph. My dad loves the fact that he gets to park in their lot for games he gets too. Funny you mention the Rahjahs....my dad has a story or two about them.

I'll throw in another Old Ralph memory.....As a seventh grader we played a post season pee wee tournament in the old Ralph. I was a goalie and stayed in the net a few moments after the end of the period to kind of collect my thoughts. After the end of a period the zam doors open behind me and a guy comes and takes the net off the moorings, and says "nice period buddy, I used to coach in Minot, good luck!" I turn and look, and its none other than Dean Blais. Made the entire tournament for me. My dad taped the entire tournament from the old press box. And I watch it from time to time just to get a look at the rink.

[sprig]

Ahh yes...Lambda Chi, right across the street from the new Ralph. My dad loves the fact that he gets to park in their lot for games he gets too.

Used to go in there with the same friend after Frenchy's closed, for 2AM fried spam sandwiches. Wonder if that qualifies me for a parking spot

[Wilbur]

Used to go in there with the same friend after Frenchy's closed, for 2AM fried spam sandwiches. Wonder if that qualifies me for a parking spot

I'll check with him on that one, but being the child of a former Lambda Chi frat boy still gets me the Tabula lot....guess I should've been a frat boy.

[UND83]

I know everyone loves the newest Ralph, but has anyone thought that it could be too much of a pro building. With what I have seen at the Ralph, it almost feels as though the college student section is gone. No longer are there those made up cheers; instead, there are set songs and set cheers . Night in and Night out. It would be nice to see the students do new things at games.

.

Amen!

[4evrSIOUX]

As others have already said.... So many memories!

One of my favorites was in the early 80's during a game vs. Wisconsin. It was late in the game and wisconsin scored to go ahead. Many fans left the building and some fan's were yelling "check the stick". It turned out to be an illegal curve on the stick and the goal was overturned. Fans were running back to the rink and apparently stopping in the middle of university to try to get back to the game!

Someone mentioned that 83 NCAA tourney. I remember many Sioux fans wearing a button that said " this Sioux's for you- Go Wisconsin! I still have my button!

The old Raplh will be missed!

[burd]

When I was a freshman I remember Larry Drader, who played for the Sioux along with his younger brother Daryl (no, not the other brother Daryl) taking me over to the site while the old Ralph was under construction. We sat up high looking down on the area where the ice would be, and Larry talked about how he could visualize it all. I just saw a hole in the ground, but I was blind. He and Daryl were fine people.

Jeff Sauer brought CC in for the first regular season game in the building, I believe, and most of us felt the new rink was nice but too quiet. The old barn was a raucous experience--cold and raw. I think Alan Hangsleben played out his second year at the Ralph and went pro, but the teams in those years were not as successful as they were later. The fans still were charged up about it, though.

After a dozen or so years in warm weather, hockey deprived parts of the country (and no web to keep track of things), I returned for grad school in 1989 and my wife and I go to the first home game. First thing I hear at introductions is "Who's he, he sucks shat"!! The place was rocking from the start, a great change from the early days when it first opened. I often think back on that first look at the place with Larry and his comments how he could visualize it all before it was finished and those first experiences in 1989 when the place was jumping, the students down on the glass, Badgers and gophers going on the ice, and the intensity that was lacking when it was first built. I don't think he visualized that. So, when fans first started expressing regret at the nicer but quieter new Ralph, I put it in that personal context.

[Wilbur]

Sad day today as the old building comes down. Lots of great memories, and very thankful that a lot of you shared them.