BleedGopher
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2008
- Messages
- 62,461
- Reaction score
- 19,351
- Points
- 113
per the PiPress:
A Minnesota lawmaker wants to spend $800,000 to keep the Gophers-North Dakota hockey rivalry alive.
Rep. Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley, introduced a bill on Thursday that would give the University of Minnesota the money if at least one game is scheduled against the University of North Dakota that year.
“We have to maintain that hockey tradition,” said Winkler, who grew up in a hockey family in Bemidji. “I think it’s enough to get the athletics department attention.”
Winkler said he was trying to make a statement with the bill; nothing will happen with it. The two teams faced off in their final conference game on Jan. 19. North Dakota will depart for the newly formed National Collegiate Hockey Conference, while Minnesota will join five other Big Ten teams with hockey programs.
The Gophers will retain their rivalry with Wisconsin, but many Gophers fans would rank games with the Badgers a close second to the grudge matches with North Dakota.
North Dakota and the Gophers will likely face off in non-conference games — the matchup is a big moneymaker for both programs — but that won’t be for at least two more years.
That’s because the schedules have already been set. And the University of Minnesota rule has a rule that its teams can not play non-conference teams with an Indian nickname, said Brian Deutsch, assistant director of athletic communications. North Dakota’s flagship university just dropped its contentious Fighting Sioux nickname last summer.
“We like playing UND. It’s my understanding that we plan to have them back on schedule,” Deutsch said.
http://blogs.twincities.com/politic...wants-800k-to-keep-gopher-und-hockey-rivalry/
Go Gophers!!
A Minnesota lawmaker wants to spend $800,000 to keep the Gophers-North Dakota hockey rivalry alive.
Rep. Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley, introduced a bill on Thursday that would give the University of Minnesota the money if at least one game is scheduled against the University of North Dakota that year.
“We have to maintain that hockey tradition,” said Winkler, who grew up in a hockey family in Bemidji. “I think it’s enough to get the athletics department attention.”
Winkler said he was trying to make a statement with the bill; nothing will happen with it. The two teams faced off in their final conference game on Jan. 19. North Dakota will depart for the newly formed National Collegiate Hockey Conference, while Minnesota will join five other Big Ten teams with hockey programs.
The Gophers will retain their rivalry with Wisconsin, but many Gophers fans would rank games with the Badgers a close second to the grudge matches with North Dakota.
North Dakota and the Gophers will likely face off in non-conference games — the matchup is a big moneymaker for both programs — but that won’t be for at least two more years.
That’s because the schedules have already been set. And the University of Minnesota rule has a rule that its teams can not play non-conference teams with an Indian nickname, said Brian Deutsch, assistant director of athletic communications. North Dakota’s flagship university just dropped its contentious Fighting Sioux nickname last summer.
“We like playing UND. It’s my understanding that we plan to have them back on schedule,” Deutsch said.
http://blogs.twincities.com/politic...wants-800k-to-keep-gopher-und-hockey-rivalry/
Go Gophers!!