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College Hockey:
Men’s poll sees North Dakota retain top spot

USCHO Staff Report •

North Dakota, with 42 of 50 first-place votes, is again the No. 1-ranked team in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll for the second week in a row.

Boston College garnered six first-place votes and holds down No. 2, while Yale and Union each received a first-place vote and are ranked third and fourth, respectively, this week.

Denver and Michigan are tied for No. 5.

At No. 7, New Hampshire climbs two places, Miami is up three to No. 8 and Merrimack tumbles from No. 4 to No. 9 this week. Notre Dame falls two spots to No. 10 this week.

Minnesota-Duluth is down four to No. 11, Nebraska-Omaha holds steady at No. 12, Boston University rises two to No. 13, Maine jumps a pair to No. 14 and Western Michigan is also up two to No. 15.

Rensselaer drops two to No. 16 this week, while Colorado College rises two to No. 17, Wisconsin falls five spots to No. 18, Minnesota is up one to No. 19 and Dartmouth falls two to No. 20.


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  • Lefty

    Yale rockin’ and rollin’ into the playoffs. They put on a clinic against Cornell Saturday. Can any team match their speed, creativity and offensive depth?
    We shall see.

    • YouSee

      Yeah, the team that beat them out during the regular season—UNION!!

      • Irish Spectre

        …not to mention BC, recalling last year’s pond hockey syle 9 – 7 defeat of Yale in the regional final.

        There is not a team in the nation, not Yale, not North Dakota, not anyone, that brings more offensive firepower to the table than BC; they cannot be beaten in a run ‘n gun.

        • ErockUNH

          I’m way too excited to see BC and UNH go at it this weekend….nothing better than last weekend down to the wire action!

        • collegehockeyfan

          BC is definitely the best at the run’n'gun style of play, and they have been for several years. I do believe that a few other teams this year have switched to that style of play as well. A few WCHA teams, namely teams like UND, UNO, and UMD have played that style of hockey. I think the WCHA teams, as well as some of the CCHA, have taken notes to BC’s offense and are slowly making the transition, as compared to the traditional grind it out, tough style of hockey. I think this year a couple teams, not very many, have the POTENTIAL to take out BC in this years tournament, but as i know everyone will say, history shows BC will win with speed.

          • B.D.

            How would you PROVE that BC is significantly faster, or capoable of setting up plays on the fly better than any other?

          • collegehockeyfan

            I’ve watched a few of their games and that’s generally how they make plays, is up the ice flying through the zone. My point in that post was that I feel like teams like UND, UNO, and UMD are playing that way this year because of the speed and talent they have. For example, on UND, Matt Frattin is possibly one of the fastest and most powerful skaters i have seen in college hockey in a few years (even faster than toews, oshie, etc.) and his success of making thinks happen on the rush, as BC does very well, has been a HUGE part of UND’s success. At the beginning of the year UND was the physical team that we always see, but maybe penalty troubles have cause Haxtall to switch systems to a more fast paced flow style of play.

            This is all my opinion, there is nothing to prove honestly, I just didn’t know if anyone else has seen this switch in the WCHA as I have.

            DG did make a good point that never crossed my mind while I was putting this together. UND does have big physical defense and they are definitely not the quickest group, but they have also been a big part of the rush, namely Jake Marto.

          • B.D.

            I have been watching the Sioux since 1967 and gotta say that the highly physical team others have been discribing has NOT existed for many years. The best examples I can come up with were the team led by Scott “Tuff” Marvin in the 1970′s in which the opponants were lucky to make it into the UND zone on their feet and with their teeth. A much more physical style of play that was allowed by the rules and officiating of the day.

            The team now literally flies in comparison and has a level of precision in its passing that was unimaginable in the 1960-80′s. Great example was the long distance pass that led to Frattin’s goal last Sunday night.

            I have watched the eastern teams and usually find them LESS able to run and gun as well as the current UND team.

            Regarding the notion that UND’s defense is slow, I cannot agree to that having seen the ease with Shich the current team can flex the defensemen like Genoway and Marto up from the blue line on command.

          • EagleMan

            I’d say the way you PROVE BC has better run and gun is irrelevant. You look at the fact that BC won last year. bwahahahahahahaha. In North Dakota, run and gun refers more to the meth related crimes than hockey. Go Eagles.

          • Guest

            Great comment. I am sure there are no drug issues in the upper east coast. Hows thats unemployement rate. Guessing through the roof.

          • B.D.

            Want to compare drug use on the UND campus and in Grand Forks compared to Boston and Boston College?
            I will take that comparison all day long.

          • Nyqi

            I haven’t been watching the Sioux for as long as you but the one exception to your thought on the teams from 60′s-80′s has to be the title team in 1987. They were the most skilled college hockey team that I have ever seen and I saw them play a lot of games that year. That whole crew was amazing with the puck and the skills they showed. But you are right prior to that the team was much more built on toughness and really ever since Blais was the coach they have tried to get more skilled players and size has not been as big a point in recruiting but a lot of that has to do with how the college game has changed.

          • B.D.

            Agree with you.
            The teams under Bjorkman were ultra physical, beat em up and wear em down teams.
            Gino Gasperini made efforts to convert those teams to a more maneuver oriented approach with good success in the 80′s.
            You are right about Blais, his focus mimics the style of play usually seen in Olympics – heavy reliance on speed and the ability to out turn an opponent. I was always impressed with his teams abilities in this area.

            The current teams are similar.

          • DG

            UND is a lot less run’n'gun than they used to be. Big forwards like Frattin, Malone, Hextall, Gregoire, Rowney and Defenseman like Blood, MacWilliam and LaPoint will dominant anybody physically at both ends of the ice. I believe they match BCs firepower but we’ll never know til they play

          • Jdorf40

            Actually, in the late 90′s and early 2000′s that’s exactly the style of hockey UND used to play. The Hoogstein’s, Jeff Panzer, Jason Blake, Curtis Murphy…the list goes on. Those players were very successful and they were small and fast to boot. There is no substitute for speed. But finding players that are big, fast and agile doesn’t hurt. I think BC is the team to beat. But there are many teams that will make the tourney with the potential to do it. If BC does win it again, it won’t be a cake walk like it was last year.

          • FightingSioux4ever

            I’ve been watching Sioux games since ’86, and with a few exceptions in the early 90′s, UND has always been a skilled score-on -the-rush team, with a couple big men on the point. They’ve always had a Mitch Vig or Mark Pivetz or Mike Commodore patroling the blue line, but the majority of forwards have been of the small quick stature. Speed was the name of the game in the Blais era.

        • SIOUX PIG

          BC as well as the ilk of faster east teams can be beaten. UND’s downfall is trying to skate with them and getting away from there own game which for lack of better term is rough. I’m an avid Sioux fan and have watched them struggle repeatedly when they forget the floor check. The FF in Denver against BC and last years dismal showing were prime examples

    • stal

      Are you guys serious – BC can more than match their speed and skill – what more do you need to see?

      • collegehockeyfan

        agreed, I could ramble off about 15-20 teams that can match and beat Yale…

      • B.D.

        Hardly proveable.

      • FightingSioux4ever

        A UND/BC match-up. Till then, its all speculation.

    • nyqi

      They also tied Colgate this weekend that is not impressive. Colgate’s record is 7-24-3 (.250), not good to be only getting ties against that team this late in the year.

    • SoCalSiouxFan

      Any team in the WCHA should be able to at least match Yale. Even Michigan Tech. which is 12th place in the WCHA would be a difficult opponent for Yale.

      • Anonymous

        Now that just sounds ignorant…. There are definitely teams in the WCHA that could beat/match Yale but lets not get carried away…. Mich Tech is pretty bad.

        • EliBlue

          seems like you UND blowhards missed the ultimate punchline. Of the top four teams at year end, two were from the EZAC. Hah. Let’s see if UND can meet Yale in the tournament. No guarantees that they won’t get beaten in their first game the way they were last year by . . . .. bwahahahahahaha. Typical ignorant, bloated, overconfident Sioux fan. The funniest thing will be when they lose in the conference tournament to UNO

          • SiouxAlumDenver

            Yale has lost to St. Lawrence, RPI, Air Force, Union and Brown. Of those, only Union is excusable. UND hasn’t lost to a bad team all year, in fact every team they have played is a TUC. And Yale has no shot to play UND until the Frozen Four since we will be a number one seed and placed in either St. Louis or Green Bay. And if that happens, I will take UND to roll Yale in St. Paul.

          • B.D.

            Concur.

          • virtually identical

            Nobody is going to go undefeated and you know it. Yale is slumping right now and should probably be ranked 5 or 6. But you act like they shouldn’t be invited to the tournament. If Yale fans are exaggerating for still thinking they’re a top five team then you guys are exaggerating when you say they couldn’t beat a Minnesota high school team.

          • Nyqi

            You seem to be the overconfident one here. Most of the UND posts I have seen the last few weeks have said that they don’t think UND is the #1 team in the country right now.

            And why talk about last year? Is that because you know that your team just doesn’t match up very well with the rest of the top 5 or maybe even top 10? Yale has been nothing but overrated all season. They weren’t that great last year and they aren’t any better this year. I pray that both Yale and UND make it to the Frozen Four and get a chance to play. If all holds true that means it will be for the national title and you would have to be insane to take Yale in that game. Just not sure why Yale fans think Yale is that great. Can you explain it? You’ve lost to some really bad teams and tied Colgate this weekend. What is it that makes Yale so strong. I hope that UND doesn’t win the WCHA tourney, just more games to play against some of the best teams in the country. Are you a Yale fan? Maybe not, but if not then who is your team.

          • B.D.

            I disagree. I believe North Dakota is first, but closely followed by a very decent team – BC.
            I just did not believe Yale was as good as advertised three weeks ago.

          • Nyqi

            Didn’t mean to speak for everyone, just the overall feeling of most of the posts that I saw were that UND may not be the best overall team. I would argue that this year there is no clear cut #1 team. There are a group of 5 or 6 schools that all appear to be very good teams but we seem to be missing that “exceptional” team this year that we usually know by now.

          • nyqi is weak sauce

            You’re such a hypocrite. Most people reference last year to demonstrate that yes, an ECAC team can hang with a WCHA team. Maybe it would come up less if your fellow UND fans didn’t constantly say no team from the ECAC could possibly be any good. One of your moron fans said UND would go undefeated in the ECAC. Also funny were all the excuses you guys came up with: we had to travel east, we played too many games the week before. My favorite was the guy that said you lost to Cornell because their goalie had a good game and that 28 to 16 was “massively outshooting” them. Good stuff. Maybe if you guys weren’t so disrespectful you wouldn’t get so much crap in return.

          • Nyqi

            Why is it that everyone else can talk about last year or the past but UND fans get hammered every time we mention the simple fact that we have 7 national titles? Just wondering. I am the one that said UND would go undefeated but it was sarcastic in nature in that if Yale with a SOS of the low 30′s at the time was really the number one team and UND with a SOS at 1 we would probably not lose a single game. Of course we would lose and I think that Yale has a decent team but don’t tell me they are all that good with some of the teams they have lost to or tied with recently. Are you guys still trying to sell that garbage? Yale is good fine, but what do you think they would do playing a tougher schedule? Why don’t they play a few of the top rated teams in non conference games each year? And I NEVER made an excuses about why we lost to Yale last year. They played better for that game than we did. I don’t care about last year. I just pray that you all have the guts to get back on this site if UND and Yale play this year in the tourney. I don’t think it will turn out the way that you want because you just haven’t played tough enough competition week after week to be ready for what you could get in the NCAA. Try not calling people names and come up with an original idea once in a while.

          • GeauxSioux

            Kudos to EliBlue being the most jealous Sioux hater on the boards. You are invalid.

          • Mike

            Are you serious? Im a BC fan but how is EliBlue a Sioux hater…? Hes just defending his team from attacks like you are

  • Pingback: Men's poll sees North Dakota retain top spot :: USCHO.com :: U.S. … | North Dakota News

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NUC2QYTGWNX25P6OYJR3EKPZVE ChrisM

    I agree. This weekend should be a great couple of games. I’ll be hitting up both sides of the home-and-home.

  • SiouxperIrish

    I’m sure everyone will agree, any team’s success this late in the year and onto the playoff, will have to draw on that intangible set of qualities which is impossible to measure. btw…, the gun has to stay loaded and the run doesn’t work when the tank is empty. Heart, Confidence, Poise and Teamwork trump the rest. I’d like to submit the very esteemed Herb Brooks and his Olympic Gold Medal winners for your continued discussion…

  • ScreamingEagle

    when do cberkas and SiouxcornholerinChicago post about 7 titles even though the last one was when the Cubs when the world series?

    • Anonymous

      I’ve never said anything about UND’s 7 national titles. And what do UND’s national titles or anyone’s national titles have to do with this year.

      • pot meet kettle

        And what does UND’s national titles or anyone’s national titles have to do with this year

        It doesn’t. And yet over the last two months it has come up repeatedly because certain posters can’t fathom how a team with little pedigree could possibly become good this year. People wouldn’t be making fun of it now it UND posters didn’t keep bringing it up. Just like WCHA fans keep bringing up how great the league is.

        • FightingSioux4ever

          It is the best league. Why do you think 5 teams are going?

    • Matt

      Last UND title was 2000 a few years after the Cubs most recent trip to the World Series.

      • B.D.

        And?

    • UNDalumCHITOWN

      Not once did I say anything about 7 national titles. Get over yourself.

    • Anonymous

      “When the world series?” That’s not even a reasonable misspelling. I guess community college didn’t quite pan out for you.

  • DG

    UND is not run n’ gun. They dominate u physically

  • ScreamingEagle

    BC 6 North Dakota 1, 3 PPGs. Dell chased after one

    • Nyqi

      Okay. UND 10, BC -1. That was easy to type. How about a how or why to support your idea. BC may beat UND if they play each other but if you think it is going to be an easy game you are crazy.

    • FightingSioux4ever

      We’re not here to discuss your fantasies, however outlandish they might be.

  • LincolnJim

    I’m feeling good with UNO at 12th overall, and will feel better when we beat North Dakota at Ralphie Arena

    • B.D.

      Good luck.

    • Wounded Knee

      No, not a reference to the rape and pillaging by the Sioux, but rather what they’ll have after chasing the likes of faster teams like BC or Yale for 60 minutes in the NCAA quarters.

      Then, it’s off to the Bad Lands or, no, the Down Under to watch the Frozen Four.

      • Nyqi

        Too bad there is NO chance they will play Yale in the quarters as both teams will be #1′s. And chances are if BC is as good as you think they are they will go in as a 1 also and then the only chance will be if either of those teams make it to the Frozen Four. I am so tired of fans that just don’t have a clue. How about we make each fan prove they know something about hockey before we let them post anything on the site?

        • Guest

          This coming from the person who told off Righty last week about being respectful and about how they have as much right to post as you do. “You don’t like it, don’t read it” Thanks for showing the world the true meaning of a hypocrite.

          • Nyqi

            I have no problem with anyone posting on here as long as they know something about hockey. I did tell Righty that he could just choose to not read a rather long post rather than saying something rude. But let’s be honest Wounded Knee doesn’t know anything about hockey if he thinks that UND has a chance to play Yale or BC in the quarters right? We can all agree that unless something really odd happens they should all be 1 seeds and not able to meet until the FF right? So yeah I want people to stay polite but don’t post something that is just wrong and expect it to go unnoticed.

          • Guest

            ohh so its different. So you weren’t being a hypocrite. Good to know

          • Nyqi

            Dude, what is your deal? Righty just told the guy he liked his own voice because it was a long post. My guess is he didn’t even read it. My opinion is that Wounded Knee needs to get a better understanding of how the college hockey game works before he posts on the site.

          • Guest

            so its OK for you to post your opinions but others need to be up to your standards. I just want to clarify that so you don’t get on my case for posting opinions

          • Nyqi

            His post was not anything about if the poster was accurate or not. Wounded Knee just doesn’t know what he is talking about so he should learn something before he continues to post.

          • Mike

            Guest 1, Nyqi 0

          • Bigdawg1

            You are incorrect. NYQI is responding to Wounded Knees peculiar fixation with the UND teams monicker, probably due to a hatred of the program overall. He rarely discusses the game or any sports aspect. And thus NYQI’s position is correct.

          • Eagleeyes

            BC 8 nyqi 0.

          • B.D.

            Please justify this.

    • SiouxAlumDenver

      Do you have any idea what you are talking about when you post? Your ignorance is insulting. Your team was just recently swept by Bemidji State (a team UND swept 4-0 on the season outscoring them 20-7 in the process) and also has no shot at playing any more games in Grand Forks. You will also most likely be heading out east if you get an at large bid, and last time that happened, weren’t you swept by a team called Quinnipiac?

    • FightingSioux4ever

      When are you coming back to the Ralph??? 2012???

    • Suture1

      Jimbo, one game at a time buddy….one game at a time. I’m looking at the score board and it is not looking too good for UNO. I am glad you are excited about your team…..but you may want to rein it in a little bit. WCHA playoffs are a different animal than the regular season (I do recognize UNO’s success this season). UMD has a very experienced team with a wicked offensive punch. I hope UNO is not overlooking UMD with the excitement of getting to play the Fighting Sioux in the Final Five…..this would be disastrous for the Mavs. If UMD sweeps UNO handily this weekend I will predict the Mavs will be out of the tourney in fast order. I wish you the best of luck Jimbo, I appreciate your animated posts on here and would hate to see YOUR season come to an abrupt end….:)

      • LincolnJim

        Hey Suture, bet you gagged on whatever was in your mouth whan you aw that score. HURP

      • UNOnandoN

        way to go Jim. Hey slurpy what you want to bet that UNO beats UND?

  • SoCal Storm

    As a diehard Sioux fan, I have to say BC is still the team to beat and scares the heck outa me, but I’d love to see UND get a chance at both BC and Yale. I cannot understand how Yale is ranked as high as they are, given their strength of schedule which places their opponents just north of high school all-star teams.

    • SoCalCorn

      yeah shame that they can’t play slacker burnouts who don’t spend any time on academics and who are effectively minor leaguers waiting for college to end and who hit bongs like Blake did and spend all their time playing instead of going to class.

      • Nyqi

        Which “Blake” are you talking about? There are a number of guys on the UND team this year that make the deans list so I am not sure what you are talking about but the team actually has a pretty decent graduation rate as a number of the guys that leave early come back and work on their degrees in the off season.

    • Nyqi

      I’m not sure that Yale could be a team like Team MN which is the best of the best high school players and almost all of them going to D1 programs. Yale would probably have a hard time with them.

  • Beanpot

    If it ever gets to this I would put UND 4, BC 2 in the national title game. Although it would kill me, I would love to see BC going in to the 3rd up 2-0. This is the year for #8.

    • B.D.

      It will be close either way.

  • Poison_Ivy

    If SOS means anything, the Sioux have been battle-tested in comparison to any team from the ECAC (Union, Yale). BC plays a bit tougher schedule than the ECAC but they still have not compared to the Sioux. I do wish the Sioux had played better @ Maine in 2010. The Sioux are the favorites to win it all this year but anything can happen in a single elimination tournament.

  • WoosterStreet

    It’s disappointing to see what was once a relatively calm website about a great sport — college hockey — turned into a playground where the bullies of North Dakota have ruined everything. The first polls during the course of the year came with completely unneccessary attacks on Yale followed by the ECAC and then Hockey East. The bullying tactics — meanness and name calling — were bizarre and out of left field because there is not natural rivalry with the east. The sense you get is that they cannot get over last year’s loss. The other impression is bullying to hide inadequacy regarding their program’s record over the past ten years vs. others. The Dakota fans seem dangerous and are ruining everything

    • Yale Sucks

      Really? The college hockey polls have been slanted toward eastern teams for decades. Over the last decade the wcha has punished itself with inter-league play only to run into a well rested east team on a hot streak. Meanwhile the eastern sports writers have regaled about the power and strength of teams like BC and BU, Yale and even Princeton. Come on Yale? Who have they beaten this year? While any wcha fan can understand the respect given to BC and BU, there are no other teams east of Ann Arbor that deserve such accolades. The ECAC has produced some good teams recently, but the fans out west have grown long tired of the eastern slant given to what we regard as tier two teams. What other conference has produced as many Champions as the wcha? None!

      You ask why the Sioux fans come out of the woodwork when a team like Yale is over rated for weeks on end? Because it wasn’t BC or UMD on top, those two teams had at least beat some schools with solid proven wins and records, it was a neat storyline rated on top.

      We are sorry, we don’t live up to your ivy tower ideal of college hockey. We are blue collar, lunch pail hockey fans. We like our gritty goals and hard hits in the corner, much like Southie fans. Which is why UND has developed a rivalry with BC over the last ten years. More often than not one team has knocked the other out in the tourney, and that has lead to some exciting hockey. If you can’t handle the meanness and name calling, suck it!

      In conclusion, we will ruin it all if we have to!

      GO SIOUX!!!

      • Methinnd

        Yeah, we’ll ruin it all, puff puff on the meth pip

        • UNDFAN

          Great post you just showed us how ignorant you really are!

        • B.D.

          One wonders at the educational complext that produced the voice behind that post.

      • Sachemshead

        Eastern bias? Maam you don’t know what you’re talking about. This is the first year in my 20 years of following Yale that we have been ranked even remotely this high and from the first day of the first poll where we were high, we got slammed. How can you say Eastern bias when the complaints about Yale came from the west? Yale fans weren’t even commenting until the team was being attacked by people who never see the team play.

        • B.D.

          Yes, eastern bias. I have seen it every year since about 1970 and would doubtless have noticed it then if I were old enough to recognize it.

          Wait til ESPN covers the final four. If it is between UND and lets say, Yale, then you will undoubtedly hear the press talk about that major program Yale and those upstarts from UND.
          …And they will at least get the names of the Yale players right. Not so much the other way around.

      • Wounded Knee

        You’re a dope. You’re probably the same moron that said last week that you only respect Cornell from the ECAC. Cornell has sucked this year and won’t make the NCAA’s. Just for reference, Yale has beaten Cornell the last 8 times they have played. That’s eight if you’re not good with numbers.

        BU has sucked this year too and may not make the tournament. They lost to all ECAC teams they played this year: Brown and Harvard – two teams that finished in the bottom four of the twelve team ECAC.

        You’re so hung up on the WCHA. A good league for sure, but HE, ECAC annd CCHA are all as good or better and all are a long grind to the finish.

        • B.D.

          Aren’t you the voice that seems to ceaselessly mew on about the sins committed against the indian nation?
          Now you wish to speak about the actual sport? Forgive me if you will not be taken seriously by those of us out here in webland.

          • Wounded Knee

            No. I only talk about ice hockey played in an ice arena, preferably one that is Olympic size to see if Suey players can keep up (as opposed to clutch and grab), or if too many bong hits have hampered their cardiovascular function.

          • MarcusReno

            well the main thing is the fact that North Dakota is the hockey program funded by capitalizing on gambling addictions in an arena built on traditional hunting grounds ironically of the people whose names are used. Alcoholism seems to be about par

          • B.D.

            1.) What does this have to do whith the subject at hand?

            2.) The hockey program essentially funds itself through gate receipts paid for by attendance by people like my family which has been attending UND games since 1967.

            3.) If you are referring to the money provided by Ralph Englestad, you must understand that Englestad made the bulk of his money through contruction, not gambling. Try again.

            4.) Which traditional hunting ground was covered by Grand Forks County? WHose specifically.

            5.) What is the alcoholism crack intended to convey?

          • GeauxSioux

            B.D. Just stop responding to them. They’re just jealous and bitter.

          • B.D.

            Naw I have learned that if you do not shoot them immediately, their version of the truth becomes the accepted version.
            “Don’t feed the trolls” does not work. THey never tire….

          • B.D.

            I have no doubts regarding the UND’s ability to cover an olympic sized rink.

            One of the lesser known facts about the Ralph is that not only does it have a North American sized rink but it also has an Olympic sized rink for the team to practice on the week prior to teams with teams that have that style of rink.

            THus the team is probably THE most prepared team in North America….Period.

            I would ask you to have a bit of class and refrain from using such a bogus reference to our namesake. Also, if you are going to insinuate marijuana use, please be able to prove any such accusation.

        • Nyqi

          So if the ECAC, HE and CCHA are all as strong as the WCHA why is it that nearly every year more teams from the WCHA make it to the NCAA tourney? If you are are just talking about this year then so be it, still looks like WCHA will get 5 with no one else getting more than 3. Doesn’t it stand to reason that the team that is sending the most teams to the national tournament is the better league? Or am I missing something? Just not sure how you can say they are “as good or better”. If that were the case wouldn’t they have more bids next week?

      • College Hockey Fan

        They have been slanted because the teams of the East have been better, top down, than the teams of the Midwest and more western midwest. I see yet another NCAA title banner for an East team this year. It has nothing to do with the fact that I live here in the mid west and love all the hockey here that I think the teams I only watch on TV (EAST, ECAC) will win again. All you need to do is look at team compositions. The EAST coast teams are big on the blue line, but not as big, and smaller and younger up front. They are faster and even while slightly smaller are just as physical. They win because of this. The Teams in the mid west and the more west mid west are just larger and slower. Teams like Miami are slowly adapting after having it taken to them repeatedly, and are now building teams that follow a more Eastern size model.
        At any rate, I dont see a CCHA team in the 4 year this year. WCHA EAST and ECAC. With the title going to EAST

        • B.D.

          Yeah, good luck with that.

    • GeauxSioux

      In my increasingly humble opinion, the site has been like this for some time (years) due to the fact that college hockey fans are some of the most passionate college sports fans. We study, read, analyze, over-analyze, argue, analyze some more and finish it off with a bit of self importance. I don’t agree that its just North Dakota fans who are making stabs and calling names – anyone who reads these posts should be inclined to agree. Considering the blatantly absurd comments about Engelstad’s past, “racist history” of the school/state, implied ignorance of anyone from North Dakota and academic inferiority of UND relative to the Ivies, its difficult to presume we are the only ones taking stabs. As far as UND fans being dangerous and out to ruin everything, well, thats purely speculative.

      In getting to my point (I promise I have one), everyone feels their team is superior for one reason or another. BC (and HE in general) fans say so due to their recent success. Ivy fans say so because they have the cream of the crop student-athletes and pay their athletes nothing to play. UND (and WCHA) fans say so due to their tradition of success, storied past and SOS. At any given time, the team at the top is the most hated team. Attacks come with the territory, simple as that. Most can agree, I believe.

      To say that there exists no natural rivalry with east teams is also inaccurate in my opinion, for obvious reasons.

      I think this year is special due to the fact that there is no one great team. The top 5 to 7 teams are all quite capable of winning the whole thing in an impressive fashion. But, of course, I hope the Fighting Sioux roll all over everything in their way.

    • Suture1

      Wooster I am a Sioux fan and I agree with some of your commentary. BTW, my dad is form Worcester…lol. Anyway, I agree with you about the decline of this web site. Just today I was looking for other college hockey web sites but there is a paucity of sites as complete as USCHO (which we all know has some glaring shortcomings). I enjoy the mature bantering on here but the nature of the posts recently has been a HUGE turn off. But, I take umbrage to your sentiments concerning the bullies from ND. If you read these posts in a fair and unbiased manner you will see there is more than enough childish, mean-spirited and inappropriate commentary from all corners of college hockey. I’m not sure Wooster but I have a feeling many of the jokers on here are fairly young. I would love to see much more conversation concerning the players, certain games, predicted outcomes, etc… This whole “we are better than you” and persistent personal attacks on various posters have been very unfortunate. It appears there is virtually zero monitoring on USCHO so who knows when this garbage will end? I have shared my opinions with USCHO but so far have not received a response. Wooster, I grew up in ND and, as a rule, most of us are genuine, sincere, friendly folks. I think everyone needs to just to bring it down a notch and comment on the one thing we are all interested in…..great college hockey!

      • B.D.

        I take exception to a portion of your comments. I came to this webpage last year and have studied it for about a year now.

        In my view, nearly all UND fan postings essentially revolve around the game itself, and the opinions regarding the quality of certain teams. Occasionally they delve in subject areas such as media bias. In some cases they have been inartful, but almost always deal with the subject matter of college hocket, its teams, and comparisons between them.

        The responses from the other fans are invariably less interested in the subject matter at hand.

        We usually have guys like Wounded Knee who rave about the ill treatment of the native population and supposed criminal wrong doings of the UND team.
        We have had others who have tried to cast aspersions on the benefactors to the UND program such as Englestad by claiming he was mob connected and a Nazi.
        We have others who impugn the UND programs recruting methods, and even have had some claim that the players at UND are paid to play there.

        When we reply, the treatment usually gets more vocal, and less interested in the original subject matter.

        • B.D.

          Note the posting by the supposed “Marcus Reno” above for example.

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