Sioux Nickname: Blais Former UND coach upset with nickname decision

Former UND Fighting Sioux hockey coach Dean Blais is less than impressed with the recent events at the University of North Dakota...

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) The coach who led the University of North Dakota hockey team to two national championships says when he learned of the decision to retire the school's Fighting Sioux nickname it was one of the saddest days of his life.

Current Nebraska-Omaha head coach Dean Blais (blayz) says he thinks the nickname was used with pride. And he says hockey fans around the country who know nothing about North Dakota know who the Fighting Sioux are.

Blais coached the Sioux for a decade. He has an extensive resume that includes stops in the NHL and with the U.S. Olympic team. He also was a good friend of the late Ralph Engelstad, a UND hockey alum and benefactor who supported the nickname. Engelstad paid for UND's hockey arena, which carries his name.

Blais says he thinks that if Engelstad were still alive, the Fighting Sioux nickname would have survived.