Where do they find these people? Don't let this guy near a bridge or the IDS building. Actually this clown comments are hilarious and he is also my candidate for moron of the week. This skippy is probably one of these guys that will corner in the bathroom at the Xcel Energy Center to lecture you on horrible UND and North Dakota is while his team is sitting at home after the Gophers have missed the Final Five.
As I am stuck in traffic on 494 or I-94 I thank God that the biggest traffic jam I have been involved in lately is leaving the Alerus after a concert or a Sioux football game or Red River Valley Speedway after a World of Outlaws show.
I always laugh at these people who think North Dakota is such a horrible place but they sure find the way to Englestad Arena or happen to be everywhere in North Dakota come Duck and Pheasant hunting season. Thank God they also go home after hunting season is over.
voner 26--- Nice commentary. What else does North Dakota have? Nothing. Their entire claim to fame is college hockey. That's it, nothing else. College hockey ranks behind women's college volleyball in terms of TV and TV ratings, with no offense intended towards women's volleyball. Grand Forks is a God forsaken hell hole with absolutely nothing to do up there, that these people need to cry out for attention in any way they can find it. Unfortunately for them, the vast population of the US doesn't know college hockey even exists. It's really quite sad, the plight of the Flickertail fan.
posted by maxwell812 on Mar. 7, 09 at 8:42 AM |
Where does this deep, dark hatred between Gophers and Sioux fans come from? Man, you people make me disgusted sometimes. How about proving yourself on the ice, where the hockey game is ACTUALLY played??? As a neutral fan of both teams, I just can't figure it out. This is the WCHA, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. It's a 28-game grind against competition like no other. Every team is going to have lapses and high points. This isn't the CCHA where half your schedule is against Cup Cakes. Start talking about another team already goon!
ReplyDeleteHey Moron of the weeks is a regular feature we started this season. There is so much material.
ReplyDeleteFrom East of the Red River it often does appear that, at times, you have a rather hefty anti-Gopher chip on your shoulder. It is not hard to perceive it as some sort of envy on your part. Having said that, I do not pretend to know what motivates you to relish and feature as many Gopher shortcomings as you do.
ReplyDeleteI love the countryside and I love the Twin Cities. They both have a huge amount to offer.
Skippy, I take who ever to task there is just a lot of material to the south of right now. Ask Whister I take exception with the mayor of our town proposing a mono rail system we dont need.
ReplyDeleteI watch one of my favorite teams dribble one down the side of the legs against a very bad LA team. YUCK!
I do not envy Minnesota in fact I think they are the most pompous in face team in the WCHA and when they lose I relish in it. 7>5 and 14 > 12. Charlie when you realize that the Sioux, Wisconsin and DU are the bench mark teams in the WCHA you will be all right.
Tim Hennesy said one of the funniest things I ever heard last night when he said oh the sight of wooger and rug just don't help my supper sit right.
Hey Whistler I have to admit that I loved watching MTU take Minnesota down last night. :)
ReplyDeleteI just hope UND doesn't get hung up in that neutral Zone trap next weekend. Ugh.
UND has a chip on their shoulders?
ReplyDeleteIt seems that the Gopher fans think they should just be able to show up and be awarded the win.
Who cares. It's a good rivalry and I loved hearing that they handed the second win of the year to MTU. :)
Come-on sports wouldn't be any fun without the rivals?
I'm pretty sure that ND gets as much hate as anyone in the league. Why I don't know? ;-)
Oh, and I was thinking of the Moron of the week who was a Finley hater on Brad's blog.
ReplyDeleteWhistler good points.
ReplyDeleteWell, As somebody capable of reading the standings, I must be all right then...
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I feel very fortunate to cheer for a team that is year in, year out, made up predominantly of players that grew up in it's state. I will gladly take a ncca championship every ten years with mainly Minnesota kids, than a ncca championship more frequently with players from outside of the state.
Because of the makeup of the team, Gopher hockey is something truly special.
lol that's fucking retarded. So when Duke and UNC and Kansas win national championships in basketball they should give them back cause they had out of state players? Should college be like high school where you can't recruit? The mark of a great program is one who can recruit kids from anywhere, and not rely on kids from their own backyard to bail them out.
ReplyDeleteTo thecollegehockeyblog :
ReplyDeleteI do not see any reference in this blog or any of the comments that suggest a team should give a championship back if the kids on the team are from a different state. ...Possibly you were reading a different entry somewhere and inadvertently replied to this one.
If, per chance, you completely misconstrued my comment above, please reread it.
Also, The Gophers make the choice to recruit primarily from within Minnesota. Like 'em or not, that is what makes the Gophers special!
For somebody who uses the name thecollegehockeyblog, you sure have a lot to learn about the wcha and its teams! :)
Holler if you have any other Gopher questions and I bet I can help you develop a keener understanding of the team!
The collegehockeyblog is right Charlie. Although it may be special to recruit players only from your state, I think it's the BEST option to recruit the BEST players that a program can, and that means players from anywhere in the world (yes, even European players like Vanek and Nodl). I'm sure Don Lucia and the rest of the coaching staff at Minnesota don't JUST go looking for the best players from the state, they go for the best players PERIOD, no matter where they're from. One could argue that the best three players from the Gophers in the past 10 seasons are not Minnesota natives either: Vanek, Kessel, and Ryan Potulny.
ReplyDeletethe BEST option to recruit the BEST players that a program can, and that means players from anywhere in the world
ReplyDeleteI am sick and tired of debating with the Gopher fans about how their team is so special. When the proof is in the pudding.
Wow, that 5th place finish in the WCHA with what; one out of state player? Wow that is something special, boy I'll tell you. WCHA Dominates is right we will take them from where ever they come from. If they come from Michigan or Illinois, Georgia, Minnesota, Canada or Europe I really don't care. In fac Hakstol has done a good job taking the top recruits out of Lucia's back yard.
How often has U of M won the national in recent memory.
ReplyDeleteTwice since 1979, right?
And the catalyst on those two teams was a Grand Forks product.
Minnesota has a great program so if you want to tie your hands and leave players you need to go somewhere else it's fine with me.
Actually, the Gophers don't really recruit Minnesota so much as the Twin City area. An outstate player has to be pretty special to beat out a kid from Edina, Bloomington Jefferson, or Centennial. And those local hockey moms are pretty unhappy when their golden boy has to haul his tacks to UMD or CC.
ReplyDeleteAs I said in an earlier comment in this thread:
ReplyDeleteI will gladly take a ncca championship every ten years with mainly Minnesota kids, than a ncca championship more frequently with players from outside of the state.
Because of the makeup of the team, Gopher hockey is something truly special.
If you know what it is like to know a kid or two from your area that wins a championship, then you get a feeling for what it is like for some of us (in spades) when the Gophers win the ncaa.
Maybe you don't like the use of the word 'special' to describe anything to do with the Gophers, but if you open your eyes, you have to acknowledge that there is indeed nothing else like it!
Goon: Like it or not, there is actually nothing to debate. Due to the fact that the Golden Gophers are almost always ALL MINNESOTANS, they are special. No other college team can boast of this.
ReplyDeleteTo WCHAdominates: Are you new to this subject? The Golden Gopher coaches definitely DO NOT look beyond the border for more than a player or two per year.
ReplyDeleteThere is huge interest in winning with Minnesota kids!
WCHAdominates:
ReplyDeleteYou can put Okposo and Wheeler in front of Potulny.
Whislter: Glad it gets your seal of approval. That is key.
ReplyDeletePulverized Concepts:
ReplyDeleteThe fact is any player has to be pretty special to make the team; doesn't matter what part of the state they are from.
Its actually about 65% Metro area and 35% out-state. But, hey, no need to let facts get in the way of using the phrase 'golden boy' in a big way. Very catchy and edgy sounding!
fyi: There are a lot of people in the Twin Citites area, thus there are a lot of good players.
Hey Charlie, I think it's pure coincidence that all the players on their roster this season are from the great state of Minnesota except one. I know for a long time when the Wooger was head coach, he would restrict himself to Minnesota-players only. Lucia and his staff are not that stupid though and they know they can't do that. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. But to suggest to actually restrict your recruiting to inside state lines is pure stupidity. And remember, there's five D-1 hockey teams in this great state, not just one. That's part of what makes Minnesota the state of hockey. No way Okposo or Wheeler was better than Ryan Potunly. Potulny had 37 goals his junior season before heading profressional!
ReplyDeleteALL MINNESOTANS, they are special. No other college team can boast of this.
ReplyDeleteCharlies what is special to you is probably not all that special to the majority of fans from other WCHA fans. Your not by change voner 26 over on the Red Star and Sickle are you because you're spouting the same crap as he is.
As a native Minnesotan, gopher fan as a child, a North Dakota Alum and fan, I have lived this topic. The question is not about whether it is “special” to only recruit MN kids or not. The question is can you win an a regular basis in this environment? Back when this philosophy worked 15+years back, there was limited tv coverage and press of any other college hockey team. All Mn players aspired to wearing the “M”, now it is only a big deal in the metro. Outstate you will find as many youth players (more in localized areas) that aspire to play for Motzko at SCSU, Sandalin in Duluth, UND, to a lesser degree Mankato, and soon more will aspire to Bemdji. MN does have difficulty recruiting out state MN, they are not the only game in town to at least 50% of MN players. With the additional teams, there many more viable avenues to ice time on a big stage. If MN intends to remain a top program, they need accept this reality of a changing pool of players and player options, and realize they cannot and do not get ALL the best MN players. They get some, some years they get many, but many still opt for other programs for a host of reasons. I also thought Lucia’s objective when he came in was to get the “best” talent, not just MN kids. It seems he only has a token each year and it has only worked when 50% of his NCAA games were played at home.
ReplyDeleteGoon - You are special too.
ReplyDeleteBeing special has nothing to do with popularity. H*ll, Hitler was special.
For those of you still struggling with this simple fact: The Golden Gophers are composed year in, year out, of 90% Minnesota kids. I know of no other hockey team like this in college hockey. So, that makes the program 'special'.
If that has too positive a ring for your palate, you may feel more comfortable recognizing them as 'different' or 'very unusual' in this regard.
...Its you squirm over this and pretend you can't get your mind around a sentence that has 'Gophers' and 'special' in it! :)
Note to WchaDominates
ReplyDeleteI wish Mr. Potulny continued success in his six year minor league hockey career.
...But I think the Bruins are probably happier with Wheeler.
WchaDominates; I completely disagree with you on why we see so few non-Minnesotans on the Gophers. There are legions of Golden Gopher fans who like the specialness of a team composed of primarily Minnesota kids.
ReplyDeleteIt is my understanding that you are off base on this.
tommy,
ReplyDeleteI am not asking a question. I am telling you why I find the Gophers infinitely more interesting then the other teams.
I think you make good points about tv and then interest in the other Minnesota programs.
I look forward to years of 90% or more of their players being Minnesota natives and being highly competitive much more often than not. If more and more of the Gophers are from the metro area, I would imagine that it will bode well for the program at the U.
Charlie:
ReplyDeleteI thought we were referring to the best Gophers in the last 10 years, not the best Bruins. Clearly Ryan Potulny was a better player when he played for Minnesota than Wheeler was. Obviously Wheeler is having more success at the next level, but that was not the debate here, so your point is irrelevant. Any program recruits the best players that they can, period. If they're from Minnesota, then so be it. If they're from Canada, then so be it. If they're from California, then so be it. If they're from Russia, then so be it. Well you get the point.
Wake up regarding the Gopher recruiting, WCHADominates! Yikes.
ReplyDeleteHey goon, I think Charlie should be your next Moron of the Week. Evidently he hasn't heard of other hockey recruiting hotbeds outside Minnesota state lines...
ReplyDeleteWCHAdominates I think you're right! I am not sure we can get Skippy I mean Charlie to understand that special is in the eyes of the beholder, what is special to him isn't special to us.
ReplyDeleteI personally don't see anything special about UMN recruiting policies in fact they are out of date and hey what ever floats their boat. We aren't required to feel their recruiting is special either.
Hey Charlies (aka Skippy) did you hear the news? Erik Haula from Shattuck St. Mary's committed to Minnesota. This kid is from Finland. So much for the all Minnesota roster and looks like Lucia is feeling the heat and going to go out side of Minnesota.
ReplyDelete