Merry Christmas from Goon's World...

Merry Christmas to all, thanks for reading and here’s hoping that you have a happy "New Year" as well.

Picture from the movie, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation… This movie just happens to be one of my all-time favorite Christmas Movies that I watch every year at this time… Here a famous Clarke W. Griswold quote.

"Where do you think you're going? Nobody's leaving. Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no. We're all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here. We're gonna press on, and we're gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny f**king Kaye. And when Santa squeezes his fat white ass down that chimney tonight, he's gonna find the jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nuthouse."

Let’s just hope we can “finally” have a NHL Season and hopefully a big run deep into the NCAA Playoffs by the UND Hockey team.

Merry Christmas from Goon's World

First off, I want to wish everyone of you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and or a Happy Holidays.

Yesterday my good buddy Redwing77 touched on a few things in his post yesterday and it has been an amazing year. There were some high points and some low points. But the past year wasn't uneventful to say the least. I think we are all waiting to exhale.

This past summer the formation of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference had people talking about college hockey during the month June, July and August. I look forward to watching the UND Hockey compete in the new NCHC to start the 2013-2014 season.

To quote Redwing77, “We also had to endure Goon's team, the Bruins, winning the Stanley Cup. And they're on a roll again.” He is right; it was an amazing run for the Boston Bruins. During last summer Stanley Cup playoffs, the Boston Bruins won three game sevens, to win their first Stanley Cup in 39 years

The Boston Bruins are looking to make a run again this season, after starting out the season with a dismal record of 3-7-0 the Boston Bruins have gone an impressive 20-3-1 and have won six games in a row and are in my opinion the best team in the NHL right now.

While the Fighting Sioux didn’t win it all, they did have what most would qualify as a very successful season. The Fighting Sioux won the MacNaughton Cup and the Broadmoor Trophy and made it to the Frozen Four before losing 2-0 to the Michigan Wolverines.

While you will never be able to please all of the fans in the Fighting Sioux Hockey fan base and there will always be those distracters that say that Hakstol will never be successful until one of his teams finally wins an NCAA championship. No matter what, you can't ignore that UND has been a major player on the NCAA Division I hockey scene since Dave Hakstol took over the reigns of one college hockey’s most historic programs.

Coach Hakstol has led his team to five Frozen Fours in seven seasons and has won Two MacNaughton Cups and Three Broadmoor Trophy in just seven seasons. The Fighting Sioux have also won two Broadmoor Trophies in a row.

I have no idea what to expect from the Fighting Sioux hockey team during the second half of the season, they look like a solid defensive team that could make a lot of noise during the second half of the season, if the Fighting Sioux can get Corbin Knight and Roco Grimaldi healthy. The all freshman line of Brendan O’Donnell, Mark MacMillian and Michael Parks appears as if they are on the verge of breaking out. We will just have to wait and see how things shake out. I will continue to cover the progress of the Fighting Sioux UND hockey team for Inside Hockey as well.

Recently, I redesigned Goon’s World and I hope you like the new layout. You will maybe recognize the back drop; it’s a snap shot of the score board at the Ralph taken during a game in January 10^th, 2009, where the Sioux pasted the Gophers 6-1.  

So during this Christmas season enjoy your family and I wish everyone a healthy and happy 2012.

Merry Christmas to ALL of the Goon's World Readership! (RW77)

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy Holidays to everyone who reads this site (and those who don't but they won't know won't they?)!

It's been a crazy year and already we're almost to the end of 2011. We have already seen Fire Hakstol threads for consecutive years (He's getting close to the all time record for Fire Coach Threads... I think if he continues for 2 or 3 more seasons, he'll tie or set the record with Tim Whitehead of Maine and one other I'm forgetting).

We've seen CHL vs. NCAA debates, bolting and dismissals of players out East, the capitulation and resurrection (in the span of what... 2 weeks?) of a DI hockey program.

We also had to endure Goon's team, the Bruins, winning the Stanley Cup. And they're on a roll again. I only hope my Red Wings can keep up (so far they're alright).

On a down note: Goon's World Readership hasn't had to endure as many Redwing77 rants as they are used to. That's ok, my New Year's Resolution is to garner as much comment section hate mail as Goon has. :)

Ok, now for the message:

The World is not a great place right now. We have terrorists in power, gaining power, or on the cusp of getting power in the Middle East. We have apathy towards terrorists if not outright sympathy growing around the World. We have political leaders who are drunk on power and care little for their constituency. And the list can go on and on and on. But one thing everyone needs to know:

This is the time of year where you have to set aside those differences, those troubles, those worries. This is the time that you spend with people you love and care about. The time to settle differences among family members and come together because that's all we've got in this World. Some use religious rhetoric to justify but I'm a secular man. I argue that if religious reasons help you bring about togetherness, then Go Church Go. If it doesn't, then I hope something else does bring about the same feelings.

My thoughts are for those who do not have a warm home to come to, no family to be together with, those who cannot be with friends and/or family due to obligations of a greater variety (such as defending our country), and for those who live in environments where you live by Carpe Diem every day because driving to the border in every direction will bring you closest to those who want you dead (See Israel). Most of all, I think about those who have died to give us these togetherness moments and try not to be angered by all these Americans who do not understand or try to damage or destroy their memory.

But here's to all of us who do understand. Here's to our families and our friends. Here's to a new year where hopefully progress will be made to alleviate or marginalize our enemies and their stances. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream. We all can have one too.

Good luck. God Bless. Happy Holidays everyone.

Merry Christmas from Goon's World... (Gift included)

I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year... Go Fighting Sioux..
So for Christmas I have a gift for everyone. I uploaded the interview Scott Williams did with the WCHA Commissioner Bruce McLeod during the historic BSU and UND series; unfortunately for some reason I could only down load the interview in 36 second increments, so there will be four parts... Enjoy...

Part one Scott Williams interview of Bruce McLeod [Click to view]

Part two Scott Williams interview of Bruce McLeod [Click to view]

Part three Scott Williams interview of Bruce McLeod [Click to view]

Part four Scott Williams interview of Bruce McLeod [Click to view]

Permission was granted by Lakeland Public Television and BSU Hockey 

Merry Christmas from Goon's World

Here is wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Goon's world would like to thank everyone (almost 127,000 people) that visited our blog over the past season. Go Sioux and beat the Gophers.

Also Goon's world would like to thank the Men and Women of the armed services that are defending our nation's security interests around the globe. I can appreciate what it is like to be away from home during the holiday, your sacrifice is appreciated and not unnoticed. Till they all come home... Goon and Dakota wish everyone a merry Christmas.