farce poobah Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 I must have motivated him when I told him he'd be the Islanders biggest bust in history while he was sitting in the penalty box. OH!!! You meant THAT kind of bust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siouxkid12 Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 A lot of fans use "we" when referring to their team, even though they don't play for the team, so even though this was a Sioux fan who made the statement, and you've been corrected already, I still think it's a pretty petty argument to make. As far as what do they owe the team? Players make a commitment to play for a team, and they should honor that commitment. The school's commitment is to give them a top quality education for free. However, it goes beyond that. In the adult world, which maybe you'll enter sometime, when you make a commitment, your character is judged on that commitment, especially when you break it. The "me" attitude isn't what wins in hockey, nor in life. They are in the adult world and they can make an adult decision if they want to leave or not, AG did it and hopefully everything turns out good for the kid. Don't fault a kid for wanting a better life and for him playing pro hockey is the way to go. I know damn well that anyone put in that situation would do the same thing. And no they dont get a full education for free most of it is divided up like the und does for the players on the hockey team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZSIOUX Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 They are in the adult world and they can make an adult decision if they want to leave or not, AG did it and hopefully everything turns out good for the kid. Don't fault a kid for wanting a better life and for him playing pro hockey is the way to go. I know damn well that anyone put in that situation would do the same thing. And no they dont get a full education for free most of it is divided up like the und does for the players on the hockey team. better your life or quit on your team and coaches mid season when you commited to come back for the entire season, 3 months short of going there anyways and bettering his life as you say right? and yes you are correct on the education but most of the players education is taken care of. its not like like UND gives every kid a 20% scholly so thats a useless point but i know what you are getting at. i guess looking back this isnt a suprise as he wanted to go pro this last summer but didnt as the isles would have signed him if that was the case, then things didnt go right for him this season individually and team wise so he jumped ship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siouxdonyms Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 They are in the adult world and they can make an adult decision if they want to leave or not, AG did it and hopefully everything turns out good for the kid. Don't fault a kid for wanting a better life and for him playing pro hockey is the way to go. I know damn well that anyone put in that situation would do the same thing. And no they dont get a full education for free most of it is divided up like the und does for the players on the hockey team. I don't fault him at all for wanting a better life. Pretty much everyone wants some part of their life to be better. However, when you're a key component on a team such as the Gophers, you honor the commitment. I have no problem with elite players leaving after one or two years of college, to advance to the next level, but at least wait until the season is finished. Greico made his decision to leave mid-year, but he was not the starting goaltender for the Sioux. He knew that he was not going to log a lot of ice time this year. Yes, it put the Sioux in somewhat of a bind, but nothing compared to Okposo leaving early. As for scholarships, unless they've changed, there given as full or partial, and I think it would be safe to say KO was getting the full ride. Do you think Okposo would have left early if the Gophers were leading the WCHA, or is a large part of his decision due to the mediocre season the Gophers have had thus far? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siouxkid12 Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 better your life or quit on your team and coaches mid season when you commited to come back for the entire season, 3 months short of going there anyways and bettering his life as you say right? and yes you are correct on the education but most of the players education is taken care of. its not like like UND gives every kid a 20% scholly so thats a useless point i guess looking back this isnt a suprise as he wanted to go pro this last summer but didnt as the isles would have signed him if that was the case, then things didnt go right for him this season individually and team wise so he jumped ship. I guess the way I see it is, its his future and if he feels that playing college hockey isnt the best for him then he should leave and take that next step to play in the NHL. If I was the Gophers I wouldnt want him on my team because if you think about it how long do you think this decision has been in his head? he didnt just come up with this decision over night! this had to have been on his mind a lot during the season and i am willing to bet it affected his play a lot. just my opinion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZSIOUX Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 kyle news on video video on the isles home site, the tv guy says kyle wasnt happy with being moved back and forth from wing and center and so forth. blah blah blah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luapsided Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goon Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 But Happy, please don't worry your little head about the Fighting Sioux. I think we'll do just fine even without those WJC stars this year. And thanks for stopping by to let us know you're worried about the future of Fighting Sioux Hockey all the same. LOL, not kidding the funeral is over on GPL, not here on Sioux sports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrkac Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 kyle news on video video on the isles home site, the tv guy says kyle wasnt happy with being moved back and forth from wing and center and so forth. blah blah blah That video makes me sick! I love that college players go on to do great things in the NHL but I don't think there's any rush. (J.Taylor, B.Lundbohm, T.Roache, C.Chucko, B.Bochenski, D.Irman, R.Earle,etc..All of them could've played 4 years) I root for all WCHA players while watching the centre ice package and i'm constantly amazed that the guys i've follwed are now contributing at the highest level. But.. I was really irritated from the smug attitude of the Isles broadcast team when talking about snatching a highly-touted college player from the college ranks. they made it seem like it was stealing a NY Yankee free-agent from Boston. This could happen to any Sioux player in the future and believe this is a bad trend to be follwed by others in near future in college hockey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siouxguyinstpaul Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 His leaving is simply a "cultural" thing - the culture of the elite Univeristy of MinnyMystery - a culture which few can comprehend and nobody can explain to any degree of understanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jk Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 I wouldn't be surprised if this helps the Gophers. He obviously was not invested in the team this year, and it showed on the ice. Their team will now have this adversity to rally around. As for talent, they're the Gophers: they still have more talent than all but a handful of teams in college hockey. OK, maybe two handfuls now. Seriously, KO wasn't the reason MN dominated UND for 4 or 5 periods a few weeks ago. The whole team was pretty solid. If they can plug an invested Carman into a dogging Okposo's spot, I could see them still winning a lot of games in the second half. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franchise Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 I thought you guys might enjoy this post on the topic on another board......... What a ****ing chump. Him and Kessel can blow each other. Why can't we have a team like the "Sue" that has seniors on it. We need to get mediocre players that will stay 4 years. ND has a bunch of 22yo playing 18yo. By the time the end of the year comes around that makes a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7>4 Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 I wouldn't be surprised if this helps the Gophers. He obviously was not invested in the team this year, and it showed on the ice. Their team will now have this adversity to rally around. As for talent, they're the Gophers: they still have more talent than all but a handful of teams in college hockey. OK, maybe two handfuls now. Seriously, KO wasn't the reason MN dominated UND for 4 or 5 periods a few weeks ago. The whole team was pretty solid. If they can plug an invested Carman into a dogging Okposo's spot, I could see them still winning a lot of games in the second half. I somewhat disagree. While I thought many of the Gophers looked solid against the Sioux I thought KO was their best player. He seemed to control play whenever he was on the ice. That said, I can't think of any legitimate reason to walk out on your teammates mid-year. IMO, that shows a lack of character regardless of the $$$ involved. As a college hockey fan who could care less about the NHL, the loss of another top notch player is nothing to cheer about. I do agree with you that you can't count UM out. They always seem to show up around the end of the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopherguy33 Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 I agree. In a way I'd rather have taken a beating at the hands of a better MN roster than to beat them with an even more depleted roster. I want to know we can beat the best, and it doesn't allow you to hide your own weaknesses. True, it very well could come back to UND or another program. Hopefully not for a long time, though. I think it's been many years since a college player did this. Hopefully many more. That said, I'm guessing the Islanders didn't twist his arm all the hard after reading the story in the PP last week. Okposo didn't seem to be enjoying his college experience all that much and it was widely rumored he really wanted to go last summer. I would never question if he wanted to go last year, he did. They offered him a minor league contract and he declined. The concern for all of College Hockey is that a GM calls a kid in the middle of his season, not from the AHL squad, his school and offers the kid a better deal than he did 4 months ago. If it was Oshie we were talking about, I think many of you would be less smug about him not enjoying UND. I think all of us would agree it's easier to play hockey professionally than it is to take a full course load and play in college. My point is only that this is just the tip, if a kid comes back, I think he should have to play the whole year before he has contact with the team that has his rights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirtcoach Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 I thought you guys might enjoy this post on the topic on another board......... What a ****ing chump. Him and Kessel can blow each other. Why can't we have a team like the "Sue" that has seniors on it. We need to get mediocre players that will stay 4 years. ND has a bunch of 22yo playing 18yo. By the time the end of the year comes around that makes a difference. 22??? I thought they were all at least 25!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airmail Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 The concern for all of College Hockey is that a GM calls a kid in the middle of his season, not from the AHL squad, his school and offers the kid a better deal than he did 4 months ago. If it was Oshie we were talking about, I think many of you would be less smug about him not enjoying UND. The unspoken factor in all of this is the fact that many of your players don't have any loyalty to the team, school, fanbase, and tradition of Gopher hockey. That in itself makes this move hardly surprising. Argue all you want, but it's a fact that has been crystal clear over the last few years. For us, we've been fortunate to have that loyalty. Could it change? Absolutely, and that's when we'll run into trouble. But right now, it isn't a concern of mine. It should, however, be a concern for Lucia and the gopher faithful. Face it; the "treasured M" doesn't mean what it used to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eskimos Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 Step 1: Receive written authorizations forms 1934 and 385B from the tread police. Step 2: Mandatory 7 day cooling off period. Step 3: Meeting of the siouxsports.com executive board. Step 4: Wait for final authorization form 1259A. Step 5: Wait 2 days for possible presidential override. Then and only then may you start a thread that others may find interesting... I agree......great post!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 I don't fault him at all for wanting a better life. Pretty much everyone wants some part of their life to be better. However, when you're a key component on a team such as the Gophers, you honor the commitment. I have no problem with elite players leaving after one or two years of college, to advance to the next level, but at least wait until the season is finished. Greico made his decision to leave mid-year, but he was not the starting goaltender for the Sioux. He knew that he was not going to log a lot of ice time this year. Yes, it put the Sioux in somewhat of a bind, but nothing compared to Okposo leaving early. As for scholarships, unless they've changed, there given as full or partial, and I think it would be safe to say KO was getting the full ride. Do you think Okposo would have left early if the Gophers were leading the WCHA, or is a large part of his decision due to the mediocre season the Gophers have had thus far? There's a reason the NCAA makes a player sit out a year if they transfer schools within their division, or go up a division (i.e. go from D2 to D1). That's to keep the best players from disrupting their teams for their own selfish reasons. If you aren't a great player, however, you can go from D1 to D2 without sitting out a year. Why? Because you weren't that important to your team. When a Greico or Bishop leaves because they aren't getting ice time, they may hurt depth but it's way different from one of the more important players on a team bolting for a payday, leaving the rest of the team high and dry mid-season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Let'sGoHawks! Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 The unspoken factor in all of this is the fact that many of your players don't have any loyalty to the team, school, fanbase, and tradition of Gopher hockey. That in itself makes this move hardly surprising. Argue all you want, but it's a fact that has been crystal clear over the last few years. For us, we've been fortunate to have that loyalty. Could it change? Absolutely, and that's when we'll run into trouble. But right now, it isn't a concern of mine. It should, however, be a concern for Lucia and the gopher faithful. Face it; the "treasured M" doesn't mean what it used to. Great post, I couldn't agree more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagies Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 I somewhat disagree. While I thought many of the Gophers looked solid against the Sioux I thought KO was their best player. He seemed to control play whenever he was on the ice. That said, I can't think of any legitimate reason to walk out on your teammates mid-year. IMO, that shows a lack of character regardless of the $$$ involved. As a college hockey fan who could care less about the NHL, the loss of another top notch player is nothing to cheer about. I do agree with you that you can't count UM out. They always seem to show up around the end of the year. Okposo did play very very well against the Sioux, but I think Carman will fill a chunk of the talent drain and his attitude and teamwork will make up for the rest. I think the Gophers will play with a chip on their shoulder the rest of the way, if for no reason than to show up the O'Briens and Okposos et al. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 Okposo did play very very well against the Sioux, but I think Carman will fill a chunk of the talent drain and his attitude and teamwork will make up for the rest. I think the Gophers will play with a chip on their shoulder the rest of the way, if for no reason than to show up the O'Briens and Okposos et al. I don't think losing O'Brien hurt the Gophers one bit, but I do think, even with Carmen back, they'll miss Okposo. With the Minnesota teams always so good at passing, it always confused me why Okposo didn't light it up as much this year or even the second(?) half of his freshman year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray77 Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app/?service=page&a...rticleid=347229 Nothing to do with Okposo but thought it would fit with all the wjc talk. Too bad this wasn't around last year. YYYYYEEEEEESSSSSSS! Time to get my PTO request in at work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirtcoach Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 They are in the adult world and they can make an adult decision if they want to leave or not, AG did it and hopefully everything turns out good for the kid. Don't fault a kid for wanting a better life and for him playing pro hockey is the way to go. I know damn well that anyone put in that situation would do the same thing. And no they dont get a full education for free most of it is divided up like the und does for the players on the hockey team. I have seen many kids get "opportunities' to play for better teams who decided to stay with their community team. I'd rather have them on 'my' team. They really do have an investment in the 'team'. I'm not hating, I don't hate any of those kids who jump. I love watching them play Usually they have greater individual skills that attracted the attention in the first place. I just think they are showing a little more character when they stay in a mediocre program to play for the 'team', rather than of jumping ship to play with a bunch of strangers to further their career. Oshie and Bostrom are two that come really stick out in my mind, but I can give you plenty of examples both ways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guy-ser Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 Didn't Paul Kariya leave midway through his sophomore year to join the Canadian national development team? It is not exactly the same thing, but he left his team hanging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fetch Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 to quote you out of context in a positive way I just think they are showing a little more character when they stay Oshie is the Man (not that I'm into manlove) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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