UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

[5thYearFreshman]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

That's funny bc that's what some UNO fans have been saying. Wonder if they are singing a different tune now?

UNO TO THE FROZEN FOUR BABY!!!! I was watching the game at a theater in Omaha with a few hundred of my fellow UNO fans. What an experience. Wish I could have been in South Bend for that celebration. Congrats RIT on a great run - taking down the overall #1 seed is impressive.

This is what UNO fans have been waiting for since 1997 and now we are two wins away from a national championship. First thing is first, Providence has looked awfully tough. If Massa plays like he did this weekend, I like our chances. A UNO/UND matchup would be unreal. The effect a Frozen Four will have on recruiting can't be understated. And moving into a new barn this fall....things are looking up for this program. Never thought we'd be playing in April.

Go Mavs!

I was one of these people that wanted Blais to start showing something for all the money we are paying him. After another lackluster end of season and NCHC tourney, it was hard to have confidence. I have never been happier to be wrong

 

[gomavs#1]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

I was one of these people that wanted Blais to start showing something for all the money we are paying him. After another lackluster end of season and NCHC tourney, it was hard to have confidence. I have never been happier to be wrong

Definitely agree that we are now getting our money's worth. The recruiting bump for exposure in a Frozen Four should pay huge dividends in the future. And I have to believe that if the new arena wasn't going to be sold out, it will be now.

 

[SCSU Euro]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

You guys gonna fire Blais now or let him go to Boston as a lame duck?

 

[gomavs#1]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

You guys gonna fire Blais now or let him go to Boston as a lame duck?

As tongue-in-cheek as that is...he has a year left on his contract. If we don't go to the Frozen Four, I'm not sure if he just doesn't ride off into the sunset after next year. With a Frozen Four appearance and a possible national championship game looming, something tells me he signs an extension.

 

[bothman]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

This is several days late, but I just wanted to say Congrats to UNO and good luck in the Final Four. Harvard fan here and a gut-wrenching game...especially since Harvard did some things (ie, take bad penalties) that were completely out of character. Your defense was strong, your offense was opportunistic, and your goalie is a difference maker.

Good luck the rest of the way!

 

[shootdontpass]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

Proud of Avery Peterson (grhshockey.com) and cheering for UNO (Minnesota West) in the FF. Hopefully AP can pull off a play like this in Boston: https://youtu.be/DL6Y6KrFaW8?t=1m40s

 

[Red Cows]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

I'll have a lengthier post about the trip to South Bend this past weekend very soon, but, I wanted to get this video up and posted without further adieu.

The video I shot here is just over 10 minutes in length. The file size is huge, 1.5 gig, so it is presented here in a Dropbox link. It starts at the final horn on Sunday night and runs through the Mavs leaving the ice for good, the last thing being Ryan Massa hugging Dominic Zombo just as they became the last two to leave the ice. The person hugging the coaching staff and all the players leaving the ice is none other than UNO Athletic Director Trev Alberts:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/apvg7v0re31ckwq/IMG_0470.MOV?dl=0

I don't care if this gets reposted elsewhere, necessarily, but, I'd sure appreciate being given credit as the person that actually shot it.

FYI, the student section for UNO was actually upstairs above the seats they are in, here in this video. Right after the game started the students all moved downstairs because they were right next to the RIT band, an untenable situation. A few minutes later we went with them. We were a tad concerned about following because once they made the very obvious en masse move downstairs, the ushers and security had a quick powwow about whether they were going to let them do this very, very obvious thing. Common sense prevailed and we then moved down there, too. We sat in the actual seats we bought (Section 101, upstairs) for the Regional for exactly none of any portion of the two games, although we sat there for a few minutes on Saturday night before the game actually started.

The guy in the brown jacket in jeans on the ice with a mic post game with the camera girl in heels is Thor Tripp of KETV, the ABC affiliate here in Omaha.

Enjoy.

 

[Red Cows]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

You guys gonna fire Blais now or let him go to Boston as a lame duck?

I'd like to remind you that I was not one of the "punt him now" crowd earlier in the thread. He's under contract through the '17-'18 season, is one of the highest paid coaches in the game, with a resume' that is bettered by very few coaches around the NCAA, currently. He's not going anywhere and if UNO ends up winning the title they'll be adding a statue of him to the new arena.

 

[Red Cows]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

UNO TO THE FROZEN FOUR BABY!!!! I was watching the game at a theater in Omaha with a few hundred of my fellow UNO fans. What an experience. Wish I could have been in South Bend for that celebration.

Actually being there was great, but I'm actually not too sure I wouldn't have been "happier" had I had the shared communal experience you guys all had down at Aksarben Cinema.

There was maybe about the same number of UNO fans at Compton Family Ice arena (maybe 500 or so?) as there was at Aksarben Cinema and they were scattered all over the building, with the lion's share being at the home ice end of the arena. It was actually a somewhat solitary experience and there was no organized get together of UNO fans at any time in South Bend that I heard about or knew of. Plus, no band, no cheerleaders, no Red Army, no fish, no Mavboni. At least Trev Alberts sat with us during the game. By "us" I mean, in the same area with all the other UNO fans. Believe it or not, he mostly sat alone, the only person seated in the entire row, even. We literally did run into UNO fans almost everywhere we went in South Bend (including at our hotel at the airport-5 miles from the campus) but it was nothing like a well-traveled-to-by-Husker-fans Husker Bowl game, for example.

Everybody else at the title game was RIT fans (whose band WAS there), pseudo-interested Notre Dame fans (who made a mass exodus from the building after UNO's 3rd goal), some Mankato fans that stayed over, and even fewer Harvard fans that did, too.

Not one cheerleader was in evidence from any of the 4 teams the entire weekend.

There were more UNO fans in the building for both our games than either of the other school's (by a ton against Harvard) but it was hardly a "plus" atmosphere. I told my wife I felt like some sort of special invitee at a private showing.

Right after the title game, at O'Rourke's bar, which is just south of Notre Dame Stadium (which shares a parking lot with the Compton Family Ice Arena to it's SE) me and Mrs. Red Cows unanimously decided that we weren't going to go to the Frozen Four and that we'd now like to try out how the other half lived and go watch the game at Aksarben Cinema, too. The fact that I couldn't see us spending anything less than 2 1/2 grand going to the FF factored into the decision as well.

Being there was great. I'll never forget it and I'm glad I was, particularly because of the historic nature of the night, but I have UNO fan friends in Omaha that didn't go that I think I would have enjoyed being back in Omaha with watching this almost as much as actually being there.

 

[5thYearFreshman]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

Right after the title game, at O'Rourke's bar, which is just south of Notre Dame Stadium (which shares a parking lot with the Compton Family Ice Arena to it's SE) me and Mrs. Red Cows unanimously decided that we weren't going to go to the Frozen Four and that we'd now like to try out how the other half lived and go watch the game at Aksarben Cinema, too. The fact that I couldn't see us spending anything less than 2 1/2 grand going to the FF factored into the decision as well.

Being there was great. I'll never forget it and I'm glad I was, particularly because of the historic nature of the night, but I have UNO fan friends in Omaha that didn't go that I think I would have enjoyed being back in Omaha with watching this almost as much as actually being there.

My folks will be in Boston to carry on your section's honor. They are pumped to have a team to root for this season

 

[Red Cows]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

My folks will be in Boston to carry on your section's honor. They are pumped to have a team to root for this season

I was sort of surprised that I didn't see them. We looked for them (easier than it sounds) but it became apparent that they weren't there. I know they went to St Louis in '11 (at least, I know your dad did, I saw a subsequent YouTube video of some pregame fan gathering there, and he was in it).

I saw a post by your dad at Mavpuck in the past couple days that said they were going to Boston and the post made it sound like you were going with them (apparently, somebody is)--in this thread:

http://www.mavpuck.com/mpboard/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=9914

 

[5thYearFreshman]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

I was sort of surprised that I didn't see them. We looked for them (easier than it sounds) but it became apparent that they weren't there. I know they went to St Louis in '11 (at least, I know your dad did, I saw a subsequent YouTube video of some pregame fan gathering there, and he was in it).

I saw a post by your dad at Mavpuck in the past couple days that said they were going to Boston and the post made it sound like you were going with them (apparently, somebody is)--in this thread:

http://www.mavpuck.com/mpboard/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=9914

I am most certainly NOT a Gopher fan. Until the Huskers get hockey, I will root for UNO and SCSU when it is not detrimental to UNO. They go to every Frozen Four and they go with a friend of theirs from their SCSU days (actually, Dad's high school days). I think they would have liked to have gone to South Bend, but it just didn't work out.

 

[Red Cows]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

I am most certainly NOT a Gopher fan. Until the Huskers get hockey, I will root for UNO and SCSU when it is not detrimental to UNO. They go to every Frozen Four and they go with a friend of theirs from their SCSU days (actually, Dad's high school days). I think they would have liked to have gone to South Bend, but it just didn't work out.

Yeah, I was pretty sure that it wasn't you, since that would have been what I thought was a very odd characterization. That said, I thought maybe you were also a closet Gopher fan, too, or something.

 

[D2D]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

Blais has Omaha in college hockey heaven
http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/298406621.html?page=1&c=y

 

[Red Cows]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

Blais has Omaha in college hockey heaven
http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/298406621.html?page=1&c=y

Thanks for posting this.

FYI, no UNO fan I have EVER spoken to refers to our team as "Omaha". I don't own any "Omaha" gear nor will I ever. It isn't the name of the school. This is completely an Athletic Department thing. Even the school's own home page make no reference to this whatsoever, only the Athletic Department's does. If the school ever dared to take a fan poll about this, fans would overwhelmingly be opposed to calling us Omaha. The news media here doesn't even do it.

You will NEVER hear our fans chanting "Omaha" at a game, either.

This is one of the stupider things the school has ever done.

And, Mike Kemp was not fired by the school. In fact, he got "promoted" and was elevated to the position of Associate Athletic Director in May of 2009, a position he has held, since.

 

[5thYearFreshman]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

And, Mike Kemp was not fired by the school. In fact, he got "promoted" and was elevated to the position of Associate Athletic Director in May of 2009, a position he has held, since.

I would argue that if Kemp hadn't taken that job as a promotion, there was not going to be a coaching job for him. While he may not have been officially fired, few coaches would willingly go into an administrative role if they knew they could continue coaching. I think he saw the writing on the wall.

 

[Red Cows]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

I would argue that if Kemp hadn't taken that job as a promotion, there was not going to be a coaching job for him. While he may not have been officially fired, few coaches would willingly go into an administrative role if they knew they could continue coaching. I think he saw the writing on the wall.

Totally agree, knew this, but didn't really want to get into it. In fact, I've been told that the position was "created" for him so they would not have to actually fire the "Father of UNO Hockey". That is completely anecdotal, however, and isn't anything I "know".

 

[vizoroo]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

RedCows and all other UNO fans,,this DU alum will be rooting for you. Please do NOT let the fka sioux win another title.

 

[Red Cows]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

RedCows and all other UNO fans,,this DU alum will be rooting for you. Please do NOT let the fka sioux win another title.

Thanks for that.

I don't think Providence can beat them. I KNOW UNO can, we essentially did so, twice (despite what they think). Any North Dakota fan that doesn't think this is so can tell us about all the goals (zero) that they scored in that shootout in Grand Forks. In this, the only real goalie vs. goalie comparison that exists, Massa won that contest hands down. Dean Blais said this week, publicly, that Massa wants a UNO/North Dakota final so bad he can taste it for getting jobbed on NCHC Goalie of the Year honors as it is.

And, Zane McIntyre is a Hobey Baker finalist and Ryan Massa isn't. If North Dakota's 2nd string goalie this year plays all season they might still be in this spot. If Kirk Thompson is UNO's goalie this entire season, UNO doesn't even get a sniff of the NCAA tourney.

It's just as nutty as Hakstol getting NCHC Coach of the Year honors with a team picked to finish first both by the coaches and the media before the season started, one that went to the Frozen Four last season, too. As opposed to a coach that started the season picked 6th in the conference by the coaches, and 7th by the media, while fielding a team that started the season with 11 freshmen and 18 underclassmen, total, and then finishing 3rd in the "SEC of college hockey", 8th in Pairwise, and taking his team to the Frozen Four. Yeah, Dave Hakstol really has the better credentials for the award. Frankly, he ought to be ashamed to accept it. I mean, this a guy that has a certain element of his own fanbase screaming for his hide because he has YET to win a title there. I would not want to be him if UNO prevailed in a UNO/ND final.

That would almost, but not quite, be the functional equivalent of the Husker football team getting to the NCAA title game against Ohio University and having Frank Solich beat them.

And, let us not forget that North Dakota has to get by Boston University to make this happen, to say nothing of UNO also having to get by Providence. One and done formats can and do breed all sorts of weirdness.

Cue the insulted and irate North Dakota fans with ruffled feathers, now.

 

[5thYearFreshman]

Re: UNO '14 -'15 season thread. Will the sleeper awaken?

FYI, no UNO fan I have EVER spoken to refers to our team as "Omaha". I don't own any "Omaha" gear nor will I ever. It isn't the name of the school. This is completely an Athletic Department thing. Even the school's own home page make no reference to this whatsoever, only the Athletic Department's does. If the school ever dared to take a fan poll about this, fans would overwhelmingly be opposed to calling us Omaha. The news media here doesn't even do it.

You will NEVER hear our fans chanting "Omaha" at a game, either.

It must make you as happy as it makes me that all of the Frozen Four gear at Lawlor's and the UNO bookstore says "Omaha Mavericks Hockey" rather than "UNO Hockey", "UNO" or "Nebraska Omaha"