USA USA USA

[Ope3]

Lol. With the costs of rinks and ice time and schools having limited budgets this is not going to happen. It is a niche sport and always will be. 1980 was a much bigger accomplishment and should have resulted more popularity but that never happened. Just enjoy it for what it is.

With the 1980 win I think hockey in general and the NHL specifically did result in increased popularity.

Al Michaels was on the Dan Patrick Show yesterday and he noted in 1980, the NHL was comprised of 8% Americans. It's now over 30% in a league which has increased from 21 franchises to 32. That increase is despite the numbers from Scandinavia increasing as well as an influx from the previous Eastern Block/Russia.

There are NHL teams all across the south. Obviously there are other factors (Gretzky going to LA), but no doubt 1980 lit the flame. Just a generation later in the late '90s the US was able to hold their own best-on-best with anyone in Canada Cups and when NHLers were eligible for the Olympics.

The 1980 roster was more than half Minnesotans, 1 from Wisconsin, 2 from Michigan and few more from Massachusetts.

The 2026 team the Captain is from Scottsdale, Arizona.

 

[WinMinGophers!]

Speaking of which...

I am eager to check out the new University of St. Thomas Lee & Penny Anderson Arena, which opened in October 2025.

I will be there for the WCHA Final Faceoff.

University of St Thomas sports has played their cards well.

Not sure St Thomas men will become an NCAA champ EVER but they could sneak into the tournament soon as an at-large bid, and then weird things happen. Right now at #17.

Women have further to.go, 2nd to last in WCHA.

This is going in a different direction, and yet it fits with this thread.

Competition is Good

1. At the upcoming St Thomas-hosted WCHA hockey tournament, I will be in the club seats area. Dying to see what that looks like.

Facilities Lee & Penny Anderson Arena - The University of St. Thomas

Lee & Penny Anderson Arena Completed in 2025, Lee & Penny Anderson Arena is a state-of-the-art, multiuse venue located on the University of St. Thomas South ...

tommiesports.com

Are they raising the game -- competition -- for fan experience.

One great thing about women's hockey is that the prices are way more affordable, so I get to check this out.




Competition is Good

2. One reason St Thomas pushed their sports to Division I, built a business school, and built a law school is they are trying to provide a moderate balance to the urban Minneapolis University of Minnesota. Some would say a little conservative in a Midwest way, this isn't Alabama.

I am just going to leave it at at.

Competition is Good




What does this have to do with the USA thread? Well, the locker room comment...

My view is that people who hate trump go nuclear outrage at anything to manage the news cycle and social media.

And their definition of "inclusiveness" is defined as themselves. Very selfish, and lie and lie. They are outraged by Trump lies, and then they lie and lie. It's now clear the first impeachment was a sham, partly payback for the Clinton impeachment.

So even though Trump is outrageous, I can't say the other side -- spinning hard, selfish -- is speaking to the best of America.

 

[maroonfive]

Stroker, maroonfive and GringaGopher win a little Gold! Congrats guys on making it political

View attachment 42683

If you can't understand facts I can't help you. The initial post was about hockey gaining popularity and I said that should have already happened. Minnesota has 72 co-op boys programs because of numbers. Minneapolis and St. Paul have one team each. Suburban high schools Burnsville, Bloomington Kennedy, Columbia Heights, Coon Rapids, Fridley, Irondale, Richfield, and Robbinsdale Cooper do not have their own team. Rochester Century and JM have to co-op as well as St. Cloud Apollo and Tech. The girls programs are even struggling more. You can add up the numbers on the high school league website. If throws cold water on your rah rah that is your issue.

 

[GoldMedalCounty]

Shattuck, Shattuck, Shattuck.

Every hockey team that won a medal had at least one Shattuck player on their roster. If you want to win an Olympic hockey medal, you need Shattuck players in your lineup.

And if you want Gold or a NCAA title at the U, you better have a guy or two from the far north on Hwy 11!

 

[stocker08]

What does this have to do with the USA thread? Well, the locker room comment...

My view is that people who hate trump go nuclear outrage at anything to manage the news cycle and social media.

And their definition of "inclusiveness" is defined as themselves. Very selfish, and lie and lie. They are outraged by Trump lies, and then they lie and lie. It's now clear the first impeachment was a sham, partly payback for the Clinton impeachment.

So even though Trump is outrageous, I can't say the other side -- spinning hard, selfish -- is speaking to the best of America.

You could have just left it after the first post, but this is straight up cope. In the grand scheme of things, this is nothing compared to the rest of the outright corruption and incompetence of the Trump administration. But playing off what would be a major scandal under ANY OTHER president (yes.....even previous Republican presidents....because we used to have standards) as...."who cares"....or just 'Trump being Trump' is nothing more than cope.

In this particular situation....the FBI director (who only got the job because he wrote some children books portraying Trump as a king and Hillary Clinton as a witch) partying with the team, while under an administration that is laser focused on government "waste" and austerity measures regarding public spending.....is simply rubbing your nose in shit and MAGA voters saying "thank you sir....I like this".

I don't even know how you go about satirizing something like this because it's pathetic beyond belief.

And expecting the president of the United States to show enough restraint as to not take a swipe at our own athletes (who happen to be women) on video I guess is unrealistic? Who needs standards for elected officials at the highest level? It's small potatoes next to the grifting and open corruption, so may as well not care about anything at all.

 

[Lincoln gopher]

Was great! And then last night I watched the Netflix documentary of the 1980 gold medal. Graduated from high school with Eric Strobel (played football and baseball with him), was great to see him and others tell of their experiences. I really enjoyed the comments of Eruzione and Morrow. Didn't realize that Brooks played the role of the prick that completely and ruthlessly. McClanahan had played for him for three years and had never seen Brooks be so harsh. How McClanahan played through that injury I will never know. My wife and I thought some of the guys looked a little old, but she thought that Rob looked like a dapper college professor. Janaszak appeared to be a hell of a guy and awesome teammate. I hope the see Eric at my 50th high school reunion next September. And yes, I remember where I was when "we" beat the Russians.

Janaszak was so unique. A really good goalie that never got to play.

 

[WinMinGophers!]

You could have just left it after the first post, but this is straight up cope. In the grand scheme of things, this is nothing compared to the rest of the outright corruption and incompetence of the Trump administration. But playing off what would be a major scandal under ANY OTHER president (yes.....even previous Republican presidents....because we used to have standards) as...."who cares"....or just 'Trump being Trump' is nothing more than cope.

In this particular situation....the FBI director (who only got the job because he wrote some children books portraying Trump as a king and Hillary Clinton as a witch) partying with the team, while under an administration that is laser focused on government "waste" and austerity measures regarding public spending.....is simply rubbing your nose in shit and MAGA voters saying "thank you sir....I like this".

I don't even know how you go about satirizing something like this because it's pathetic beyond belief.

And expecting the president of the United States to show enough restraint as to not take a swipe at our own athletes (who happen to be women) on video I guess is unrealistic? Who needs standards for elected officials at the highest level? It's small potatoes next to the grifting and open corruption, so may as well not care about anything at all.

You are right. He makes me aghast sometimes. Outrageous!

Trump makes independant swing voters vomit -- who none-the-less plugged their noses and reelected him since the other side is worse.

As I wrote, "So even though Trump is outrageous, I can't say the other side -- spinning hard, selfish -- is speaking to the best of America."

One last question related to the gold.hockey medals, have you been a supporter.of women's hockey for years like me? Season ticket holder here.

 

[stocker08]

You are right. He makes me aghast sometimes. Outrageous!

Trump makes independant swing voters vomit -- who none-the-less plugged their noses and reelected him since the other side is worse.

As I wrote, "So even though Trump is outrageous, I can't say the other side -- spinning hard, selfish -- is speaking to the best of America."

One last question related to the gold.hockey medals, have you been a supporter.of women's hockey for years like me? Season ticket holder here.

See....even your premise of "the other side is selfish" is outrageously off. Trump won a second term on the basis of getting people to believe that immigrants were the reason why they aren't doing better. Why it's someone else's fault that they're struggling. Why taxes that support public programs are bad (unless those programs directly benefit the Trump voters......those programs are really good and need to stay). The entire republican message revolves around courting the most selfish voters in America. Hate to break it to you.

And I'm not a huge hockey fan....period. I watch the random game when I see it being televised. I'd think as a supporter of the team, you'd be more upset about the disparagement of the women's team's accomplishments. But misogyny is kind of built into the republican ecosphere.....which makes this video completely unsurprising and easy for right wing voters to wave off as nothing. Just another example of republican principles generally being flimsy as hell. I remember when (unproven) Biden corruption was the republican stroke out story for several years. Of course.....Trump getting billions of dollars from Saudi Arabia while funnelling government contracts to companies that his sons are involved with (among a bunch of other blatant conflicts of interest) is SUPER OKAY!

 

[bonin21]

Might as well shut this one down

 

[WinMinGophers!]

Sorry. I get a hand slap for this. My bad.

 

[Jack jones]

I wonder who stood for the USA hockey team when they were introduced?