MafiaMan Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 Please explain how beating a bad team from Canada helps hockey recruiting? You're kidding me, right? Quote
BigGame Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 You're kidding me, right? Nope, kids in Canada realize the University of Manitoba sucks just as much as we do and it really isn't exposure if nobody watches or cares. 1 Quote
Hayduke Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 Guess what, every college football team has cupcakes to start the season. NDSU is playing Ferris St., we are playing Valpo. Heck even LSU is playing Kent St and UAB. Look at the rest of our schedule and you will see why we signed up to be D1. And... Kansas State has FU for their cupcake... 1 Quote
jdub27 Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 Scheduling Manitoba in hockey is a recruiting tool for young players who might actually wind up playing college hockey. What is the benefit of playing a team like Valpo in football? This is an honest question, BTW. They count towards a playoff win. They don't require a return game and aren't charging a crazy payout to come to Grand Forks. Better than putting a D-2 or lower on the schedule like hockey and basketball do to get more home games. Quote
MafiaMan Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 Nope, kids in Canada realize the University of Manitoba sucks just as much as we do and it really isn't exposer if nobody watches or cares. Interesting, because every time I've seen Manitoba come to town, I see planty of 15-17 year old Canadian hockey letterman jackets in the stands of REA...these couldn't possibly be kids who might be recruited to play at North Dakota, could they? Quote
geaux_sioux Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 You're kidding me, right? Apparently the best recruiting tool these days is more games and money which is why major juniors are taking all the best players. Quote
BigGame Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 Interesting, because every time I've seen Manitoba come to town, I see planty of 15-17 year old Canadian hockey letterman jackets in the stands of REA...these couldn't possibly be kids who might be recruited to play at North Dakota, could they? OK, so these kids couldn't or wouldn't come for a visit when playing a good team? Quote
geaux_sioux Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 Interesting, because every time I've seen Manitoba come to town, I see planty of 15-17 year old Canadian hockey letterman jackets in the stands of REA...these couldn't possibly be kids who might be recruited to play at North Dakota, could they? Recruiting them and landing them are two different things. Where do all the top Canadians play before the pros? Quote
MafiaMan Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 They count towards a playoff win. How does it count towards a playoff win? Quote
MafiaMan Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 Recruiting them and landing them are two different things. Where do all the top Canadians play before the pros? Seems to me plenty of them wind up in Grand Forks... Quote
MafiaMan Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 OK, so these kids couldn't or wouldn't come for a visit when playing a good team? Trust me, I would rather see BC, Maine, or Michigan come to town for a weekend as opposed to Manitoba... Quote
geaux_sioux Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 Seems to me plenty of them wind up in Grand Forks... Really? Other than Toews who was our last Canadian 1st rounder? Quote
MafiaMan Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 Really? Other than Toews who was our last Canadian 1st rounder? Because only first-round selections amount to anything in the NHL? The question was why is Valpo good for the football schedule. I wasn't trying to turn this into a hockey discussion, I was trying to point out why Manitoba might make sense in hockey as a comparison. Quote
Siouxperfan7 Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 So anyway.......Valpo at the Alerus Center Thursday. Can't wait!! Quote
geaux_sioux Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 Because only first-round selections amount to anything in the NHL? Answer the question. We're talking cream of the crop here. Quote
MafiaMan Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 Answer the question. We're talking cream of the crop here. Cream of the crop...like former first-rounders Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk, right? Ok, I'll play along...that Travis Zajac guy turned out ok... Quote
Popular Post UND-FB-FAN Posted August 28, 2013 Popular Post Posted August 28, 2013 Valpo is good for the schedule because they are a lower-tier team that will allow UND to ease into the major grind that is this season's schedule. Four of the next five games are against ranked teams, so playing a non-scholarship FCS team will allow the young players to get into a rhythm and see how game day goes while also working out the kinks on the overall units (offense, defense, special teams). Not to mention, Valpo is still an FCS team and not a pitiful D2 team like we have scheduled in the past, so a win against Valpo still counts towards the FCS playoffs. I believe a single lower-tier FCS team to start the year is perfectly fine for the aforementioned reasons, especially this year considering the strength of our schedule after the Valpo game (SDSU, Montana, Montana State, Eastern Washington, NAU, and Sacramento State are darn good teams). 7 Quote
geaux_sioux Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 Cream of the crop...like former first-rounders Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk, right? Ok, I'll play along...that Travis Zajac guy turned out ok... You mean we don't get them every year? Playing Manitoba should give us a pipeline to the best bed of hockey talent in the world shouldn't it? How come we haven't landed one since Toews? All I see on the roster are Canadian leftovers. Quote
iluvdebbies Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 Valpo is good for the schedule because they are a lower-tier team that will allow UND to ease into the major grind that is this season's schedule. Four of the next five games are against ranked teams, so playing a non-scholarship FCS team will allow the young players to get into a rhythm and see how game day goes while also working out the kinks on the overall units (offense, defense, special teams). Not to mention, Valpo is still an FCS team and not a pitiful D2 team like we have scheduled in the past, so a win against Valpo still counts towards the FCS playoffs. I believe a single lower-tier FCS team to start the year is perfectly fine for the aforementioned reasons, especially this year considering the strength of our schedule after the Valpo game (SDSU, Montana, Montana State, Eastern Washington, NAU, and Sacramento State are darn good teams). Exactly .....Valpo is good for the schedule....Manitoba vs Valpo is a poor comparison.....Manitoba is a exhibition game that has no bearing on the postseason. 1 Quote
MafiaMan Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 Valpo is good for the schedule because they are a lower-tier team that will allow UND to ease into the major grind that is this season's schedule. Four of the next five games are against ranked teams, so playing a non-scholarship FCS team will allow the young players to get into a rhythm and see how game day goes while also working out the kinks on the overall units (offense, defense, special teams). Not to mention, Valpo is still an FCS team and not a pitiful D2 team like we have scheduled in the past, so a win against Valpo still counts towards the FCS playoffs. I believe a single lower-tier FCS team to start the year is perfectly fine for the aforementioned reasons, especially this year considering the strength of our schedule after the Valpo game (SDSU, Montana, Montana State, Eastern Washington, NAU, and Sacramento State are darn good teams). Great post and insight, thanks. Quote
southpaw Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 Great post and insight, thanks. You post in a sport where you say you don't post much, you know Valpo isn't a good team, yet you aren't smart enough to realize that a warmup game is a good thing? I find that a bit odd... Quote
dmksioux Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 How does it count towards a playoff win? Valpo plays at the FCS level just like UND. In order to make the playoffs, seven wins has been the threshold, at least in past years, that teams need to get to to make the playoffs. As for the rest of the answer, UND FB Fan summed it up well enough. Quote
MafiaMan Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 You post in a sport where you say you don't post much, you know Valpo isn't a good team, yet you aren't smart enough to realize that a warmup game is a good thing? I find that a bit odd... A warm-up game is one thing...I don't follow Valpo football at all and was a bit stunned to see predictions of 50-70 point blow-out proportions. I simply hope UND's march to D1, particularly in football, doesn't come at a 'win at all costs' expense. The shenanigans at Northern Colorado, Montana State, and Montana in the past several seasons is an embarrassment, don't you think? Quote
Let'sGoHawks! Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 I'm admittedly not much of a football poster but is this what UND signed up for with the D1 'push' a few years ago? This is the big dream coming true? An expected 40-65 point thumping of a school with no scholarships? UND will learn as much about its football players from this game as LSU would from playing Minot State. If the schedule was full of Valpos, it would be embarrassing. This is the tuneup game most football programs have to start the season. The schedule this year is full of tough teams, and is exactly what the move up to DI was for. Quote
Hayduke Posted August 28, 2013 Posted August 28, 2013 If the schedule was full of Valpos, it would be embarrassing. This is the tuneup game most football programs have to start the season. The schedule this year is full of tough teams, and is exactly what the move up to DI was for. I was looking at Valpo past schedules and results...ouch. They ARE bad. I think you're right about college teams in general. At the FCS level, UND is heading toward the top. Even though we think of attendance of 8000 or so as poor, most FCS schools would kill to get that many fans in the stands. The team needs a "cupcake" to work out the kinks before taking on that brutal schedule. With that said, this would be a great year for UND to prove themselves and make the playoffs. Luckily, they have a favorable home schedule which should help them. Quote
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