Popular Post Hayduke Posted April 11, 2016 Popular Post Posted April 11, 2016 I didn't want to overlook the contribution of Ralph Engelstad and his family to the continued success of North Dakota hockey and athletics in general. I seriously doubt that we would be in the position of hanging #8 and looking at next year as a possible favorite to repeat. Good family with good character that gave back much more than they received from the University of North Dakota. #23 forever! 11 Quote
LuvHockey Posted April 12, 2016 Posted April 12, 2016 Amen. We cannot fully understand just how much the Gift of the arena has meant. But how many recruits have noted "the facilities" as one of their top 3 reasons to choose UND? All? So I agree: Thank You Engelstads! 1 Quote
hky Posted April 12, 2016 Posted April 12, 2016 Very true. An unbelievable gift to UND and all of us. 1 Quote
yzerman19 Posted April 12, 2016 Posted April 12, 2016 The program as it is now has many responsible. In no particular order: Ralph Engelstad and family Dean Blais Gino Gasparini Dave Hakstol The UND alumni and Mr. O'Keefe Every player to wear the uniform...special recent call outs to Toews, Parise, Oshie and their success on the biggest stages Mark Poolman The GOBC - Lumbermart, Simos, Molstads, Spicers et all The Marvin family Roseau, Warroad, Grand Forks, Winnipeg Rube Bjorkman The entire family and descendants of the Purpurs and Gambuccis The Hrkac Circus including Eddie Jim Archibald The Championship teams and tradition Brad Berry Carey Eades The Sponsors- Dahlstrom, Altru, Alerus, Rydell, American Tire, Home of Economy, Gerells and others The faculty and support of student athletes The towns of the western prairie provinces and Alberta and BC LOVE 1 Quote
yzerman19 Posted April 12, 2016 Posted April 12, 2016 Just now, Irish said: Rube Bjorkman? I was there then. He helped position us... Quote
Irish Posted April 12, 2016 Posted April 12, 2016 4 minutes ago, yzerman19 said: He helped position us... He didn't position us for squat - he almost ruined a once proud Sioux hockey program. 65 - 113 - 4 in his last 5 years. He put us in a hole we were lucky to climb out of. I was in college during his fantastic 6 - 28 - 2 year - the Old Ralph was mostly empty. We were a Gino away from being totally irrelevant in college hockey. We lucked out when Gino brought us back. 2 Quote
Dave Berger Posted April 12, 2016 Posted April 12, 2016 11 minutes ago, Irish said: Rube Bjorkman? I was there then. Rube Bjorkman ensured that our most recent title drought was not the longest in program history. That is all. Dave 2 Quote
yzerman19 Posted April 12, 2016 Posted April 12, 2016 1 minute ago, Irish said: He didn't position us for squat - he almost ruined a once proud Sioux hockey program. 65 - 113 - 4 in his last 5 years. He put us in a hole we were lucky to climb out of. I was in college during his fantastic 6 - 28 - 2 year - the Old Ralph was mostly empty. We were a Gino away from being totally irrelevant in college hockey. We lucked out when Gino brought us back. I wasn't around then...I was giving props from the lens of where we are now and those who played a role...if Rube is your only beef, I must've done okay Quote
fightingsioux4life Posted April 12, 2016 Posted April 12, 2016 4 minutes ago, yzerman19 said: I wasn't around then...I was giving props from the lens of where we are now and those who played a role...if Rube is your only beef, I must've done okay What other "beef" do you need? It is telling that Gino took the same players that Rube couldn't do jack squat with and took them to the NCAA title game. And then won the NCAA title the very next season. Irish is right, we lucked out with Gino and we also lucked out with Blais. Both hires happened at crucial times in the history of this program. I shudder to think of what might have happened if we made the wrong choice on either or both hires. Quote
Benny Baker Posted April 12, 2016 Posted April 12, 2016 1 minute ago, fightingsioux4life said: What other "beef" do you need? It is telling that Gino took the same players that Rube couldn't do jack squat with and took them to the NCAA title game. And then won the NCAA title the very next season. Irish is right, we lucked out with Gino and we also lucked out with Blais. Both hires happened at crucial times in the history of this program. I shudder to think of what might have happened if we made the wrong choice on either or both hires. Agree. The Bjorkman era really was the only low point in Sioux hockey history. Gino and Deano were crucial hires that kept the program on course, and I also agree with the OP's overall sentiment, which was that there are many people responsible for the current state of UND hockey. North Dakota didn't stock its trophy case mostly during the 1950s and 1960; i.e., Michigan and Denver. There is something to be said for UND's steady success throughout history, save the Bjorkman era. 2 Quote
yzerman19 Posted April 12, 2016 Posted April 12, 2016 didn't realize that there was so much hate for Rube. I'm not going to change my post, as I believe my sentiment comes through Quote
fightingsioux4life Posted April 12, 2016 Posted April 12, 2016 1 minute ago, yzerman19 said: didn't realize that there was so much hate for Rube. I'm not going to change my post, as I believe my sentiment comes through Hate is a strong word. Disappointment is more appropriate. The 1970's were a graveyard for this program. There is no getting around that. Quote
yzerman19 Posted April 12, 2016 Posted April 12, 2016 Just now, fightingsioux4life said: Hate is a strong word. Disappointment is more appropriate. The 1970's were a graveyard for this program. There is no getting around that. I wasn't alive for most of the 70's Quote
fightingsioux4life Posted April 12, 2016 Posted April 12, 2016 Just now, yzerman19 said: I wasn't alive for most of the 70's Well, that's what the history books are for. Quote
yzerman19 Posted April 12, 2016 Posted April 12, 2016 Just now, fightingsioux4life said: Well, that's what the history books are for. You love making friends on here, eh? Quote
Benny Baker Posted April 12, 2016 Posted April 12, 2016 Just now, yzerman19 said: didn't realize that there was so much hate for Rube. I'm not going to change my post, as I believe my sentiment comes through Just now, fightingsioux4life said: Hate is a strong word. Disappointment is more appropriate. The 1970's were a graveyard for this program. There is no getting around that. Right. Maybe the fact that Rube was a gopher has something to do with the added disappointment, but he only had winning seasons for 3 out of 10 years. I do agree with your overall sentiment, Stevey Y, it's clear that this program's success is based and element of tradition and continuity as opposed to an aberration of random seasonal success that happens every several years. 1 Quote
yzerman19 Posted April 12, 2016 Posted April 12, 2016 I thought I'd at least troll GFhockey out with the shout out to the GOBC...instead I get FSFL criticizing my history... I am tough to offend today due to Saturday! 2 Quote
brianvf Posted April 12, 2016 Posted April 12, 2016 Funny story about Rube. I have a regular bicycle ride that I do every Saturday morning. Last Saturday, I wore my UND jersey (Geometric head, I was president of the UND Cycling team back in my college years )...and of course, got a lot of comments. Lot of hockey fans even down here in AZ. At one of the rest spots, an older gentleman came up to me and started talking Sioux hockey...said that he was an assistant coach with Rube somewhere out east (didn't catch the name of the school) before Rube came to UND. Then he said that he hoped we'd kick the crap out of QU. I chuckled. Small world. 1 Quote
Irish Posted April 12, 2016 Posted April 12, 2016 27 minutes ago, yzerman19 said: didn't realize that there was so much hate for Rube. I'm not going to change my post, as I believe my sentiment comes through Didn't mean to jump on your well-meaning post, but for most of us who lived through the Bjorkman era it went on way too long and we were one hire (Gino) from being Mankato State. We were that close to the edge - hadn't won anything for ages, and were getting used to being doormats. 2 Quote
GDPritch Posted April 12, 2016 Posted April 12, 2016 I was in HS in late 70s and not in GF 'til '78 but when Gino came in it all changed, what a great hire. Went 17 years w/o a natty from '63-'80, but at least the 16 years btwn 2000-2016 UND has annually (year-in, year-out) been a top rated program short of winning a natty. Believe in '79 the Sioux won the WCHA conf title and made it to the NCAA final but lost a heart breaker to the Gofrs--both were great teams though so no shame there. In '80 & '82 the Sioux as you probably know won natties. Other than like '90 to '96 timeframe and I think in '01-'02, pretty much a top 10 or even 5 rated team every season. Man, what a run for last 20 seasons especially! 1 Quote
burd Posted April 12, 2016 Posted April 12, 2016 I remember Rube and his teams pretty well, since my first games were at the old barn. Not the old Ralph--the old barn. A good friend of mine played and spent most of his time on the JV team as a freshman. Gino coached the JVs. He told me he and many of the young guys hated Gino and thought he was a dictator. They wanted to play for Rube, of course, because he coached the varsity. Gino was probably just a tough taskmaster, and that may be why he got more out of his boys. And back to Yzerman's first comment. Most people nowadays probably don't appreciate how important Serge Gambucci and Fido Purpur were to Sioux hockey. The hockey culture they established in Grand Forks was an important reason why the City and the University cared so much about Sioux hockey and the program's success. Serge would take his Central teams to the Twin Cities and play with the best teams they had to offer. I do not recall whether Gary Gambucci, who played for the Gophers, was a son or nephew. 1 Quote
NDinCO Posted April 12, 2016 Posted April 12, 2016 11 hours ago, yzerman19 said: The program as it is now has many responsible. In no particular order: Ralph Engelstad and family Dean Blais Gino Gasparini Dave Hakstol The UND alumni and Mr. O'Keefe Every player to wear the uniform...special recent call outs to Toews, Parise, Oshie and their success on the biggest stages Mark Poolman The GOBC - Lumbermart, Simos, Molstads, Spicers et all The Marvin family Roseau, Warroad, Grand Forks, Winnipeg Rube Bjorkman The entire family and descendants of the Purpurs and Gambuccis The Hrkac Circus including Eddie Jim Archibald The Championship teams and tradition Brad Berry Carey Eades The Sponsors- Dahlstrom, Altru, Alerus, Rydell, American Tire, Home of Economy, Gerells and others The faculty and support of student athletes The towns of the western prairie provinces and Alberta and BC LOVE I think Dane Jackson is under appreciated. And I believe Hak wanted him in Philly, but he choose to stay. Quote
fightingsioux4life Posted April 12, 2016 Posted April 12, 2016 10 hours ago, yzerman19 said: You love making friends on here, eh? If you mean I refuse to kiss a$$ and call everything a rose when it clearly is not a rose, then you are correct. Quote
fightingsioux4life Posted April 12, 2016 Posted April 12, 2016 10 hours ago, yzerman19 said: I thought I'd at least troll GFhockey out with the shout out to the GOBC...instead I get FSFL criticizing my history... I am tough to offend today due to Saturday! What I meant was we have records of the past so that future generations can learn from them. I was born in 1974, so I have ZERO memories of Rube. But I know how much we struggled during his time as head coach and how quickly Gino turned it around when he was promoted from assistant to head coach because of historical records and listening to stories from older people. Didn't mean to offend you. Quote
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