The North Dakota/Minnesota Hockey Rivalry: What Are Your Favorite Memories?

[Dave Berger]

 

Working on a UND/Minnesota rivalry article, and I need your help..

Please share your favorite memories and highlights.

Best responses will appear online later this week. Thank you!

 

Dav

 

[Oldguy]

This is not a hockey moment per se, but I remember about 30+ years ago when the Minny cheerleaders skated a sign that read "Minnesota:  America's Team".  The fans at the old Ralph were so enraged that they started throwing things at them.  The funny part was the next day on the news, when Pat Sweeney (if I remember right) put together a video segment on the sports news of that, and added in a clip from SNL:  "They pelted us with rocks and garbage"!

[Siouxperfan7]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghy8gwG-IuM

 

[fightingsioux4life]

9 minutes ago, Siouxperfan7 said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghy8gwG-IuM

 

I never get tired of watching that. And no, it isn't because I am on it a couple of times. 

[Walsh Hall]

7 minutes ago, Siouxperfan7 said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghy8gwG-IuM

 

Mine as well.  Was a college student at the time.  From standing in line for hours with a bunch of friends, snowballs at the bus, etc.  The crowd during the timeout in the 3rd was crazy.  Instead of settling things down, it cranked the crowd up several notches.

[Blackheart]

17 minutes ago, Oldguy said:

This is not a hockey moment per se, but I remember about 30+ years ago when the Minny cheerleaders skated a sign that read "Minnesota:  America's Team".  The fans at the old Ralph were so enraged that they started throwing things at them.  The funny part was the next day on the news, when Pat Sweeney (if I remember right) put together a video segment on the sports news of that, and added in a clip from SNL:  "They pelted us with rocks and garbage"!

You mean this?

[Blackheart]

Here's a link to the game...

 

[Blackheart]

I kinda liked it when Aaron Schneekloth put Dave Spehar into the North Dakota bench during the Final Five...

 

[Blackheart]

Evan Trupp with a spectacular goal to beat Minny at Mariucci...

 

[Blackheart]

Rastislav Spirko goes through the Minny D on a great move during the Final Five...

 

[Blackheart]

Robbie Bina beat Frazee with a long bomb...

 

[Blackheart]

The "Timeout Game" from the 2012 Final Five

 

[Blackheart]

Chris Porter scores wraparound goal in 2007 regional final to beat Minny

Kevin Wehrs gets blown up TWICE in the same spot at REA...once by Frattin and once by Malone?

Blais beats Wooger in Bubble Hockey...

Armbrust goal in the 1997 Final Five final in OT

Knocking them out of the Frozen Four in 2005 in Columbus; Zajac and Fabian with 2 goals each.

[ksl_sioux4ever]

The hand shake line brawl was fun

[Sweethockey]

All of these memories wrapped together makes me happy! 
the “timeout” game was my favorite, getting ribbed by gopher fans while the team was getting beat. The timeout, what an amazing change in the team’s play and the gopher fan’s demeanor. It was great!!

[petey23]

1 hour ago, Siouxperfan7 said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghy8gwG-IuM

 

One of my favorite games I have attended and favorite period of hockey. I turned to my Gopher fan buddy when we scored and said UND is going to win this. Just felt the buzz. After the second goal he wanted to leave. I did feel bad for DeBus a little bit though because I think his wife and kids were at the game.

[dustnyou]

Too many to type. But first to come to mind was The Thanksgiving night beat down at 3M just a few years ago. The gopher couple sitting in front of us got divorced about halfway through the second period. She left him right then and there. That was fun taking over that rink. 

[burd]

My first memorable gopher hockey memory was seeing Bill Butters get the boot for fighting then seeing him get into a fight with fans as he walked off the ice at what I think was the southwest corner gate at the old barn.   Butters was considered a first class bad guy by Sioux fans in those days.  

[Blackheart]

Didn’t the Gofer goalie’s phone number get put up on the scoreboard at REA?  Kangas?

[RedFrog]

 

We may not have played in the same game, but it was in our arena and we played the same day ... still counts in my book.

[thUNDer]

12/15/1978- no face masks, wood twigs, punier pads, fights & blood on the ice. Right in front of us trading jabs were Mike Burgraff & Don Michelleti. We won, not so much Saturday night but those two were sporting black eyes & fat lips.

[farce poobah]

1 hour ago, burd said:

My first memorable gopher hockey memory was seeing Bill Butters get the boot for fighting then seeing him get into a fight with fans as he walked off the ice at what I think was the southwest corner gate at the old barn.   Butters was considered a first class bad guy by Sioux fans in those days.  

I'll see your Butters story (which is a good story), and call with a different Butters.

November 30, 1979: During warmups, the glass was low enough to stand on the front row seats, put your elbows on the glass and talk to the opponents.   Most of the mind-games banter came from the guys ("Hey Neal (Broten), you know you're only on the team because Brooks wants to recruit your brother (Aaron)").  

But the most effective mind game came from a petite, cute female in our group.  She was from Rochester, and asked Paul Butters, goalie:  "did you know that (insert guys name here) is still banging** your girlfriend (insert name here)?  She then quoted dates and places ...  I'm certain if one of us guys had said that, he'd have climbed the boards and thrown fists.  But she was too cute, and smiled an amazing $$$-eating** grin the whole time.  

** actually another verb or noun, which decorum prohibits listing here.

 

PS.  quick fact check shows we dropped 13 goals on them that weekend. 

[cowboys5xsbs]

 

 

 

[Blackheart]

7 minutes ago, cowboys5xsbs said:

 

 

 

Damn...I wish that team would have had a chance to compete for the NCAA title that year...that's about a solid a squad as you can have.

[farce poobah]

March 3, 1979, at Williams Arena.  Last game of regular season. UND with a chance to end a 12-year drought in WCHA titles, but we needed a win after Rodents won Friday's game.   A dozen of my closest buds joined several hundred noisy Sioux fans in the old barn.  (True optimists, we bought tickets for this final weekend series back in October, expecting (hoping?) this series would be the decider.)

After Friday's game, a couple guys said that star freshman goalie Bob Iwabuchi (who had stood on his head for most of the season) looked tired, so it was only a little surprise that veteran senior Bill Stankoven started the deciding game.  

Hostile environment? Heck yes.  We were called "communists" and a lot worse by the local fauna (apparently because we had Canadians? but perhaps wearing yellow helmets with red flashing lights helped us stay obvious).  On the plus side, sitting in the corner of old Williams Arena helped our non-stop chants and songs carry quite well. 

On the ice, UND got some early goals, Stankoven played very well, and when Dave Christian blasted a slap shot into an empty Gophers net in the final minute, we were delirious.    Final score UND 4, UM 2. We stayed and cheered for a full hour after the game, and got high fives from players and staff. 

Virg Foss captured the sentiment well in Sunday's GF Herald:  "Welcome back, Billy the Kid."