I was going to wait till tomorrow to put something up but I figured I would chime in with my two cents. While the defeat to the Gophers does leave a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth, I can’t say that UND’s didn’t give it their all to the end. They fought, they clawed and they emptied the tank. This team didn’t go down without a fight all season long.
Congrats to the seniors, Ben Blood, Brad Eidsness and Mario Lamoureux I have enjoyed watching you play for four years at UND. All three are character guys and will be successful in whatever they do in life.
It pains me to say that the Gophers were the better team today. That’s hockey and that’s life.
For me personally, this season has been one of the most exciting seasons of Fighting Sioux hockey that I have ever had the pleasure to witness since I started watching Fighting Sioux hockey back in 1992.
As I wrote for Inside Hockey last week, “Back in November, who would have thought that the Fighting Sioux would face off against Denver University and win the championship game of the Red Baron WCHA Final Five?
Especially on Sunday the 20th of November 2011, the Fighting Sioux had just suffered an unimpressive 1-0 loss to the Bemidji State Beavers at the Sandford Center in Bemidji, Minnesota. After that loss, the Fighting Sioux had a lackluster record of 4-7-1 overall and 1-5 in the WCHA. That record was good for 11th place in the WCHA standings.
After the game, the Fighting Sioux took the two hour bus trip down highway two back to Grand Forks, they regrouped and on Monday morning the Fighting Sioux coaching staff conducted a bag skate on the Fighting Sioux hockey team at six o’clock.
Since that early morning bag skate, the Fighting Sioux have gone an impressive 21-5-2. That is the best overall record in Divison I hockey since November 26, 2011.
The Fighting Sioux finish that midseason surge at 22-6-2… The loss tonight ends the Sioux season with a record of 26-13-3. That was the eight season in a row that Hakstols teams have won 20 games or more.
This season show cased some new players that are going to be a force going forward. The Carter Rowney, Michael Parks and Mitch MacMillan line has a chance to be one of the better lines in the WCHA next season.
While some of our fan base wants to run Coach Hakstol out of town on a rail, I think making it to the NCAA tourney this season was a big accomplishment, based on what happened to the Fighting Sioux hockey team, this is also testimate to the type of hockey coach that Dave Hakstol is.
During the offseason UND lost J.T. Miller to the CHL and it all seemed to snowball from there.
Here is the injury list from this season’s Fighting Sioux hockey team. Let’s not forget that three Fighting Sioux hockey players had season ending surgery.
North Dakota injuries: Taylor Dickin (lower-body injury), forward Rocco Grimaldi (season, knee surgery), Brendan O’Donnell (season-ending surgery) and Derek Rodwell (season, shoulder surgery) are all out of the lineup.
I mean seriously, Grimaldi, O’Donnell and Rodwell would make one heck of a line in any college hockey league.
Lastly, to the fans that want to fire coach Hakstol, here is a quote from my friend Moose Richards… “I find the whole fire Hakstol line out of Sioux fans just absurd,” Moose said. “You look over the body of work. Yes there is no national championship in there, but how many Frozen Fours, nine straight final five appearances. It’s just…Yeah you would like the win the big one. But don’t you like being there every year?
