Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: Blowing Off Steam After ANOTHER Frustrating Loss in North Dakota

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Unfortunately, frustration seems to come along with any trip we make to Grand Forks for hockey.

More of it came Friday night, as UMD lost 4-2 at Ralph Engelstad Arena in a game that featured over five minutes of action before the first whistle of the game, two goals scored with UMD skaters laying in the net, what felt like about a ten-minute review of a play that had already been reviewed, and your typical inconsistent call-nothing-and-then-call-everything officiating.

Let's pick apart the important stuff.

Early in the third period, a Michael Parks wraparound attempt appeared to be stopped by UMD defenseman Willie Corrin. Why Corrin? Because he was checked into the net behind the play, and couldn't get out of the crease area before Parks got the puck there.

Only, it wasn't stopped.

Referees Derek Shepherd and CJ Beaurline took a look at the video and quickly confirmed there was no goal scored.

Only, they must not have looked closely.

According to what I was told after the game, it seems UND coach Dave Hakstol told the officials that the team's video coordinator upstairs had looked at the replay and seen it was clearly a goal. Armed with that news, Shepherd and Beaurline went back to the replay monitor and started watching it.

Sure enough, television replays confirmed it was a goal. Then TV showed the replay again. And again. Shepherd and Beaurline must have been watching a riveting hockey game on that monitor, because there's no way it took that long to review the goal and determine the correct time. There was some mumbo-jumbo in the press box that there was a problem with the video, but it seems convenient.

It was one of those moments where I would have really appreciated the officials having to crack open a mic and explain what the hell was going on. Of course, that makes too much sense to ever happen.

Ultimately, this sequence didn't adversely impact the outcome, because UMD responded to it well. That doesn't mean that NCHC officiating guru Don Adam shouldn't lob a call to UMD coach Scott Sandelin Saturday morning to apologize. No excuses, just admit that the guys didn't get it done and they'll all try their damndest to learn and be better next time. Keep it simple, eh?

After that Parks goal, UMD got mad and got a couple quick goals to tie it up at 2-2. On the first one, Alex Iafallo was checked into the crease while UND goalie Clarke Saunders went to try to play a puck outside the crease. As Saunders tried to get back, he stumbled, and a Dominic Toninato shot hit Iafallo and went across the line to make it 2-1. Adam Krause scored on a scramble play 20 seconds later to level.

UMD took a couple penalties, though, including a cross-check on Carson Soucy that led to the game-winning goal by Jordan Schmaltz. The Bulldogs also got nailed with a couple extremely ticky-tack hooking penalties in the final eight minutes, calls that were completely unnecessary and luckily harmless from a scoreboard perspective.

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This brings me to the next point.

There were 18 minor penalties in the game, ten on UMD and eight on UND. As they got into the third period, Shepherd and Beaurline officiated like the game was spiraling out of control. The fact of the matter was that the closest we came to a major fracas was at 17:44 of the first period. Matching two-minute minors were called and life went on.

A huge beef for me over the years with officials has been what I perceive to be a lack of understanding of the game. I'm not just going to attack the guys we have here this weekend, because it's a common thread in college hockey. Either slightly chippy games like the one here on Friday get over-called because the officials are seeing things getting out of hand when they most certainly aren't, or they ignore everything and let the game get out of control.

In Friday's case, it was the former.

Hockey is a fast, emotional, physical game. Things will happen that are in violation of the rules, sometimes because the emotions are so dang high. But games like Friday's don't need to be over-officiated, because they never get close to being out of control. Want to see a game that got out of control? Look at this boxscore.

(In that particular game, post-whistle garbage was let go time and time again until things boiled over. Different officiating crew than what we have this weekend, but the same problem. No real basic idea of game flow, and they let things get out of hand before finally putting their feet down.)

Another complaint: How many times this season has UMD owned puck possession and shots on goal, only to somehow have more power plays against than for? I know we have a couple young guys who have taken dumb penalties along the way, but it's pretty hard to believe that the team chasing the puck a preponderance of the game is the one drawing all the penalties.

Anyway, I've written enough about the officials. Y'all don't pay to watch them work.

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Can you tell some of us are frustrated with playing well here and losing? Going back to last season, UMD has now played 190 generally wonderful minutes of hockey at The Ralph, only to come away from it with just one league point, a tie last season.

It beats the hell out of what has been generally the only other way I've seen UMD play in Grand Forks, which is not very well. But it still sucks, and it's wearing on a few of us who work closely with this team but don't put on the skates.

I can't sit here and complain about very much that UMD did on Friday. I thought the forwards on the penalty kill did a lackluster job helping on a couple clearing opportunities, and the Bulldogs ended up paying dearly for that with the Schmaltz power play goal.

UMD was pretty good on the power play in limited opportunities. The Bulldogs have to find a way to stay out of the box. Six power plays against doesn't sound like a ton, especially when a couple were abbreviated, but it sounds like a ton when you only have three chances of your own.

Dominic Toninato and Alex Iafallo were dynamic at times in this game, and I really liked the fourth line when it got ice time. Cal Decowski continues to take hard hits to make even the littlest of plays, and he nearly set up Charlie Sampair for goals twice.

UMD blocked 23 shots Friday, including 11 in the first period. Corrin, a guy who hasn't played in a while in part because he hasn't been great at some of the little things, blocked a team-high six. Unfortunately, he was stuck in the net for a huge play in this game, as mentioned above.

The Bulldogs need a split here. This is the perfect time to be playing UND, as it is still trying to find itself in some ways. The high-end skill is there, but UND doesn't have the depth UMD at least thinks it has. That depth needs to come to the forefront for the Bulldogs.

If nothing else, for the sanity of certain people, including me.

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When I got to the hotel Friday, I was greeted with an email from the NCAA. In said email was a statement from one of the rules gurus, former CCHA referee Steve Piotrowski. It was sent to clarify a rule about video replay. In part, the statement read:

In order to clarify the rules committee’s position, effective immediately, only games that are being televised (e.g., national/regional network, cable, or recognized broadcast entity) are allowed to be used. Therefore, any in-house camera feeds or video that is being produced for an internet streaming broadcast are no longer allowed for this video review purpose.

This didn't make a lot of sense to me for a couple reasons. For starters, the rule is dumb, and I'll outline that in a second. Also, why was it being sent out? Something must have happened, but no one I mentioned the statement to at the arena was aware of anything.

Thanks to some sleuthing from College Hockey News, we know.

After it appeared UMass tied the game in the third period, Boston College head coach Jerry York called a timeout and asked for the play to be reviewed. After the review, the goal was called back for a UMass player being offsides, however, according to NCAA rules, officials may only review offsides during televised games.

Boston College went on to win the game, 2-1.

"There is a little bit of confusion based on how the rule is worded," said (Hockey East commissioner Joe) Bertagna ... "We can go up and look at and review a bunch of things. ... Offsides and too many men on the ice are not traditionally things you can review. In the current two-year rulebook, it says in championship play, you can review offsides and too many men on the ice. Well, over the summer, the NCAA decided to expand that to any televised games, but it did not really define what it meant by televised games."

Thursday's game was not broadcasted on television, but a webcast was available through the internet.

So in other words, if a rinky-dink cable network somewhere -- a "recognized broadcast entity" -- is airing a college hockey game with two or three crappy cameras and primitive replay equipment, that can be used for video review purposes. But NBC Live Extra's multi-camera, high-quality Notre Dame webcasts can't be.

OK.

Extreme examples, yes. But this rule is dumb. If the cameras and technology exist to properly look at a play like that, do it. Shouldn't matter what those cameras are at the game for. The purpose here should be to get calls right, not confuse everyone and make dumb rules.

Bertagna went on to say that his officials erred in reviewing that UMass goal after being asked to by York. Sound familiar?

(Ah, there I go again.)

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In the NCHC Friday, Denver rallied from 2-0 down to beat Western Michigan 5-3 in Denver. Trevor Moore lit the lamp twice for DU, while Sam Brittain outgoaltended Frank Slubowski. Non-conference, Miami got another Ryan McKay shutout to beat Wisconsin 2-0. UNO got two in the third, including the scorching Josh Archibald's ninth of the year, to upend Michigan 3-2. Also, St. Cloud State edged past Alabama Huntsville 10-0.

(Prediction: Whoever loses to UAH this season will not make the NCAA Tournament.)

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One last thing: UMD's series against Minnesota is listed as Friday/Saturday, but those of you who have tickets to Saturday's game should pay close attention to college football. Why? Because the to-be-determined start time of next week's Wisconsin-Minnesota football game will determine the start time -- and possibly day -- of next Saturday's UMD-Minnesota game.

TV rules the world, after all. Oh, and TCF Bank Stadium was built on what used to be a parking lot for Mariucci Arena. When a football game is happening, there is almost literally nowhere to park on campus. They simply can't cram 50,000 in there for a big football and and almost simultaneously have 10,000 at Mariucci for hockey.

If the B1G decides that Wisconsin-Minnesota will start at 11am, then our game next Saturday will shift to an 8pm start. If the football game is placed in the 2:30pm time slot, we won't play Saturday, and instead will play Sunday at 4pm.

So keep that in mind if you have tickets for "Saturday" or plan to get them.

Commissioner For A Day: College Hockey

I did this a few years ago, back before I had labels on posts, but you can find the 2006 series by searching the site for "Commissioner For A Day."

I'm bringing it back, largely because I'm tired of not writing on the site, and also because I think there are ideas to improve many of the pro sports I enjoy watching.

Oh, and because UMD's offseason is entirely too long because the season ended prematurely.

I figured it was natural to start the series with college hockey, because it's the sport I dedicate a lot of my winter life to covering. It should be noted that the majority of these ideas are mine and none are being blatantly stolen from anyone.

Your input is welcome, as always.

No more regionals at random sites.

The NCAA regional system is completely broken. Not partially. Completely. Inadequate facilities -- bad ice, small locker room areas, poor press accommodations, problems with internet access -- are hosting events in front of small crowds, while fans who can't afford the expensive short-notice flights are stuck struggling to find someone they know who has ESPNU or ESPN3 so they can watch games on television.

The TV ship has sailed. It isn't going to get any better. I've said for years that you need access to ESPNU if you want to watch the NCAA regionals. More than that, a die-hard college hockey fan should prepare themselves to do what is necessary to get BTN, NBC Sports Network, and CBS Sports Network if they want to follow the sport during the regular season. If you get those three channels, you have ESPNU, too. They're usually on the same tier.

So let's work to fix the regional site issue.

A few years ago (not sure the exact moment, but it was between when the funding for Amsoil Arena was approved and when it opened), the decision was made to move regionals to truly neutral sites. Before, places like Mariucci Arena and Ralph Engelstad Arena could host regionals. But the NCAA pushed away from that, deciding that arenas that served as a team's designated home facility wouldn't be allowed to host, and neither would facilities with Olympic-sized ice surfaces.

That rule should go away. Yeah, it's somewhat irritating to watch host schools gain spots in the Frozen Four while playing on home ice (Michigan, Minnesota, and North Dakota have all had this luxury in the past). But it's even more irritating to watch a team earn that spot with practically no one in the stands.

Ticket prices are a problem, yes, but if a St. Cloud State fan could afford to fly from wherever to Toledo for that team's regional this year (during Easter weekend on short notice), the $80 pricetag for a three-game pass wasn't going to stop them. That's pretty simple math.

Lowering ticket prices might draw more local fans to the games, which wouldn't be a bad idea if the NCAA insists on keeping the system as is. But I think a better way about gaining a championship atmosphere is allowing home rinks of 5,000 or more seats to host regionals. Let places like Amsoil Arena, The Ralph, Mariucci, Yost, Compton Family Ice Arena (Notre Dame), Conte Forum (BC), and so many others host these tournaments. Put the games in places where college hockey already has a following, lower ticket prices a hair, and see what happens, even if the host doesn't qualify.

(There is a push for best of three first round series on the campus sites of the high seeds. I like the idea, but it adds an extra weekend to the tournament, and I'm not sure it's feasible. I still think the best way is to give the top four seeds the options of hosting regionals on their home ice, provided some easily-met standards are reached. But there doesn't seem to be a ton of support for this, so I'll compromise and propose what is said above.)

Goodbye, dumb rule where a team that scores on a delayed penalty still gets the power play.

I started calling it the "Double jeopardy rule," after the law that prevents a person from being charged twice for the same crime. I have always thought it ridiculous that the powers-that-be in the sport thought this was a good idea.

Basically, the rule says that if a team scores a goal while on a delayed penalty, the penalty is still called and the power play still happens.

You'll notice that no other level of hockey has thought this was a good idea.

So how did it happen? I was told at the time that the rule basically slipped through because so much attention was paid to an even dumber proposed rule, one that would have kept teams from icing the puck while short-handed.

It's all about increasing offense, which is a fine endeavor, but it goes about it the wrong way. It really has no effect outside of being a dumb rule, because it's so rare that a team would score on a delayed penalty. It's even more rare that said team would then turn around and score on the ensuing power play.

If offense is the goal, let's try actually calling the penalties that are in the rulebook, especially those relating to obstruction. What a concept!

Any body contact foul that drives a player into the boards is an automatic ten-minute misconduct, optional ejection.

It's been a few years now since college hockey instituted a rule that called for mandatory major penalties and ejections for checks from behind that took place along the boards.

Have you noticed yet how the officials handle those?

If they don't want to call it a check from behind, it becomes a boarding penalty, or elbowing, or whatever.

Time for that to go. In order to truly promote safety, that discretion has to be taken away from the officials. But not completely.

There are times where an illegal hit simply doesn't rise to the level of an ejection because of mitigating circumstances. Players are deliberately turning their backs to draw illegal contact, which is beyond stupid because of the risk involved, but whatever. Players will also throw themselves into the boards to "sell" these hits. Yes, really. I've seen it happen.

To give the officials some discretion, any illegal hit along the boards should carry with it an automatic ten-minute misconduct, with the officials having the ability to eject the offending player if the hit is deemed to be severe enough.

Find a way to curtail embellishment.

Calling a coincidental minor for unsportsmanlike conduct on a dive isn't working, stripes. It just isn't.

How about putting a team short-handed because one of its players took a blatant dive to sell a penalty? Do that a few times, and see how that works.

Yeah, coaches hate it when players do something to negate a power play. They hate going short-handed even more, though.

Nic Kerdiles Ineligible For Now

College hockey season is underway, as evidenced by tweets I saw from people relaying actual scores over the weekend.

UMD opens Friday at home against Ohio State, which means I finally have some content for this blog.

There is a potential controversy brewing down the road at Wisconsin. The Badgers played an exhibition game Saturday, whipping the US Under 18 Team 5-0 at the Kohl Center. UW has a number of talented freshmen on the roster, and almost all of them got their first chance to play in a college game over the weekend.

Unfortunately for the Badgers, the best of the bunch didn't get to play, and we don't know when he will.

Forward Nic Kerdiles played for the Under 18 program before enrolling at Wisconsin. An undisclosed issue with the NCAA prevented him from playing Saturday, and he won't play until the issue is resolved -- assuming it is.

A media release said school officials “are working with the NCAA toward a resolution of the situation” with Kerdiles, a second-round NHL draft pick of Anaheim and a strong student who was projected to be a top-line forward for the Badgers.

After his club registered a 5-0 victory before an announced crowd of 7,501, UW coach Mike Eaves would say only the NCAA has been looking into a specific matter “for a while” and he didn’t know when Kerdiles’ status for the season would be known.

“It’s not in my hands right now,” he said.

The fact that the news reports went out of their way to mention that Kerdiles is a strong student should tell you this is not an academic issue.

Some good reporting by Andy Johnson of Bucky's Fifth Quarter and Chris Peters of The United States of Hockey seems to have pinpointed at least the general problem with Kerdiles.

And it's stupid.

From Johnson:

Multiple sources have confirmed that Kerdiles' relationship with advisors from Pulver Sports has been called into question.

Pulver Sports is a full scale sports agency that specializes in the representation of hockey players. The agency is run by Ian Pulver, with some of their clients including Tyler Seguin, Nail Yakupov, and Alex Galchenyuk.

Sources told Bucky's 5th Quarter Sunday that the situation started because a photo on twitter surfaced of Kerdiles out to dinner at the NHL Draft with representatives from Pulver Sports.

Kerdiles deleted his Twitter account in mid-August, and sources have said that this NCAA situation is the reason he chose to delete his account.

Johnson notes that this has been percolating for a while, and UW was aware of the situation months ago. It wasn't sprung on Eaves and company last week or something.

Of course, it's amazing how slowly the NCAA can move when it wants to.

Reports surfaced in the summer of 2010 that Auburn quarterback Cam Newton's recruitment was basically shopped around to the highest bidder by his father. Despite the obvious potential problems with eligibility, Newton was allowed to start the season with Auburn. Conveniently, the NCAA declared Newton eligible on Dec. 1, just in time for the SEC title game and BCS championship.

In this case, it seems Kerdiles may or may not have had a dinner paid for him while he was at the NHL Draft. As a result, he can't play until the NCAA says it's okay.

It's ridiculous. The NCAA is so two-faced that it's beyond anyone's comprehension. Cam Newton can play because "he didn't know his dad was shopping him to the highest bidder," even though he wasn't exactly estranged from his father.

Now, an athlete who might actually have interest in being a student -- even if only for a year or two at first -- is being forced to twist in the wind over a photograph of a dinner with his recognized advisor.

It's hard enough for college hockey to compete for top talent, given the rules that exist, along with the thoughts some NHL organizations have regarding the college route. The NCAA's own archaic rules, seemingly endless investigations, and mind-numbing rulings only make matters worse.

Only the NCAA knows why Kerdiles can't play pending an eligibility investigation, while Newton was allowed to win a Heisman Trophy during his.

But for the rest of us, it's looney-bin worthy.

As a college hockey fan, it'd be nice to see this resolved in UW's favor soon. Kerdiles is a hell of a talent, the kind of kid who would be fun to watch play college hockey. It won't be nearly as much fun to get the news that he's major junior-bound because the NCAA can't figure this out.

(Major junior isn't his No. 1 choice, from the sounds of it, but there's no way he sits an entire season without playing somewhere. No chance. And if he has to go to the WHL to play, he'll go to the WHL.)

Wisconsin visits UMD on Oct. 26 and 27. Obviously, UMD's chances at points are enhanced if Kerdiles isn't playing by then, but I still kind of wish he is able to play. Beating the Badgers at their best would be more fun.

UPDATE (12:45pm, Monday): Per tweets from Johnson and the indefatigable Andy Baggot, Wisconsin is appealing an NCAA ruling that Kerdiles must sit out the 2012-13 season. I don't know this for certain, but it has to be a move that will end up sending Kerdiles to the WHL. I can't see him sitting out a season as a second-round pick, unless he really wants to be a Badger.

Penn State Sanctioned, JoePa Statue Gone, But It's Not Enough

That's what I keep thinking. It's not enough. It will never be enough.

What Jerry Sandusky did to those kids defies any kind of words that I can deliver. And nothing Penn State can do will ever serve as a make-good. You can't retroactively change what happened, or magically heal the human beings affected by Sandusky's inhumane behavior.

However, it's equally unreasonable to expect that nothing be done. Life should not be allowed to go on as normal at that university.

And it won't.

Monday morning, the NCAA announced historic sanctions against the university. Here are the details:

The NCAA has hit Penn State with a $60 million sanction, a four-year football postseason ban and a vacation of all wins dating to 1998, the organization announced Monday morning in a news release.

"These funds must be paid into an endowment for external programs preventing child sexual abuse or assisting victims and may not be used to fund such programs at the university," the statement said.

The career record of former head football coach Joe Paterno will reflect these vacated records," the statement continued.

Penn State must also reduce 10 initial and 20 total scholarships each year for a four-year period, the release said.

Like I said, it's not enough. It's also not enough that legendary coach Joe Paterno's statue outside Beaver Stadium was taken down on Sunday.

"I now believe that, contrary to is original intention, Coach Paterno's statue has become a source of division and an obstacle to healing in our university and beyond," (school president Rodney) Erickson said in his 592-word statement. "For that reason, I have decided that it is in the best interest of our university and public safety to remove the statue and store it in a secure location."

It's not the right decision. It's the only decision.

There is a healing process that the university needs to go through here. It was rocked to its core by this scandal, which didn't even last the length of a pregnancy. The Sandusky investigation results were released on a lazy Saturday last November. From that point, everything seems to have been practically in fast-forward. Paterno was removed as football coach, the university decided to hire an outside guy -- New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien -- to lead the program, Paterno died, Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts related to abusing children, and former FBI director Louis Freeh destroyed any remnants of Paterno's legacy in his report on the scandal, released not even two weeks ago.

Paterno was aware of at least some of Sandusky's behavior; certainly, the former coach knew enough that he had to think someone should stop Sandusky. Instead, he seemed more interested in protecting the minions that "ran" the university, and protecting reputations that didn't need or deserve protecting. He was an active participant in the attempted cover-up, and frankly, based on Freeh's report, Paterno should have been facing federal charges along with former school officials Tim Curley and Graham Spanier, who are facing charges.

These punishments by the NCAA don't solve any of this. Nothing will. The organization felt it had no choice. But more than that, NCAA president Mark Emmert felt a need to protect his phony-baloney job with this action. It's an action he should have taken with rogue schools years ago, but chose to follow the NCAA's horrific processes.

Matt Hayes of The Sporting News believes the NCAA has shown its hypocritical side in all of this.

Excuse me if I can't get excited about an organization that saw Ohio State players accept cash in envelopes after coach Jim Tressel's lies and illegal benefits for players were exposed, but said lack of institutional control wasn't an issue.

If I can't get excited about an organization that knew Cecil Newton was shopping his son, Cam, to Mississippi State — yet let him continue to play at Auburn (and eventually win a national championship) — because it had no rule prohibiting parents from shopping their offspring to the highest bidder.

If I can't get excited about an organization that knows street agent Willie Lyles was paid $25,000 by Oregon for useless recruiting information; that knows Lyles was the "mentor" for five-star recruit Lache Seastrunk; that knows Oregon coach Chip Kelly lied when asked by a newspaper if he knew Lyles (Kelly later said, we call him 'Will'); that knows Kelly told Lyles he needed more recruiting information from Lyles after the fact, yet we're more than a year into the Oregon investigation with no end in sight.

If I can't get excited about an organization that looked at quite possibly the worst case of NCAA infractions in the history of the sport at North Carolina — in its depth and breadth of clear, indisputable illegal benefits and academic fraud issues — and decided it wasn't as destructive as a Southern Cal assistant coach who the NCAA claimed "knew or should have known" Reggie Bush was getting illegal benefits.

What happened at Penn State is the single greatest tragedy in sports history. Whatever penalties the university receives from the NCAA — whether or not the sport's governing body and Penn State agreed on them — isn't the point. If it were up to me, I'd shut down the program for the exact number of years the university hid the child abuse. 

This isn't a bad take at all.

More.

We have to step away from the raw emotions of a horrific moment in college football, and look at the bigger picture. You can't make a quick decision on one case because it's unthinkable in its impact and destruction on so many lives, and then drag your feet on others (Southern Cal, North Carolina, Oregon, Ohio State, Miami of Florida) that cut to the very core of amateur athletics.

You can't claim lack of subpoena power in exposing issues at rogue schools, and then use the Freeh Report as the framework of your sanctions against Penn State — the same Freeh Commission that also had no subpoena power. 

Hayes is right in what he is saying. The NCAA is an athletics institution, yet it has miserably failed to properly govern athletics.

Maybe this will spur some action in that regard. But virtually everything with the NCAA is a process, so don't bet on it.

North Dakota Ready to Move On From Fighting Sioux Nickname

When North Dakota's men's hockey team was preparing for a February visit to Duluth, the team was without a nickname. The "Fighting Sioux" moniker was dropped as of Jan. 1, and the school was planning to go sans nickname for a couple years.

Then a group of petitioners in the state decided to intervene. A successful drive led to enough signatures to trigger a statewide referendum on the nickname. Yes, a statewide vote on the status of a school's nickname.

The school and its alumni association -- which had fought the NCAA "hostile and abusive" bit for years -- suddenly were on the other side of the fence. Led by an emotional men's hockey coach Dave Hakstol, one of the champions of the fight, the school began an initiative to convince voters to allow it to drop the name.



The work was a success.

Voters Tuesday overwhelmingly decided to allow the school to drop the nickname. The guy who started the petition drive isn't ready to let a 2-1 majority stand in the way of what he thinks is right.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed,” said Sean Johnson, Bismarck, spokesman for the group that sought Tuesday’s statewide referendum on the nickname.

He blamed “a lot of false fears generated by the foundation,” a reference to the UND Alumni Association and Foundation, which took the lead in encouraging a vote to allow UND to retire the nickname. Keeping it, the alumni groups and others said, could severely damage UND because of NCAA sanctions.

The alumni groups spent about $250,000 on the campaign, mostly on TV advertising. “When your opposition out-spends you 25-1, they’d better fire their ad company if they don’t win,” Johnson said.

He said nickname supporters will continue to circulate petitions for another vote, an initiated measure that would secure the nickname in the state Constitution. If enough signatures are filed by August, that vote could occur in November, but Johnson said the group may wait to file until December for a vote on the constitutional amendment in 2014.

Brilliant.

Meanwhile, the Grand Forks Herald story linked above indicates that there are some members of the Standing Rock Sioux who want the tribal council to vote on the nickname. A vote in the affirmative by this tribe could have prevented any of this from happening in the first place, but the tribe has yet to vote.

No matter what, it's time to move on. It's been a controversial and very divisive issue in North Dakota, as well as among alumni of the school.

The nickname has already cost North Dakota several competitive opportunities, including a track meet at Iowa that the school had been invited to before the petition drive forced it to reinstate the Sioux nickname. The alumni association's campaign centered around opportunities like this that were going to disappear if the nickname wasn't discontinued. Those opportunities largely involved sports that aren't hockey, as the UND hockey teams don't tend to have any scheduling or conference issues.

Longtime readers and listeners will know where I have stood on this issue. But when the nickname was restored in February, it was clear that more harm than good would come from its continued use. The fact that people like Johnson don't seem to understand that these are real impacts on real student athletes -- even if they don't directly involve hockey -- make me think that this petition drive was the work of either an attention-grabbing or exceptionally misguided individual.

The day that this nickname started having a profoundly negative impact on the student athlete experience at North Dakota was the day that this fight had gone on long enough.

That day has come and gone.

UPDATE: Via Jen Conway (@NHLhistorygirl on Twitter), here's a statement from UND President Robert Kelley:

We are appreciative that voters took the time to listen and to understand the issues and the importance of allowing the University to move forward.  We also understand how deeply this has affected all of us.

Tuesday's vote allows us to focus our attention on our students as we continue to build exceptional programs in all areas of the University.  We appreciate the support that has been expressed for the University of North Dakota over the past several weeks, and especially for UND Athletics.  It is support that will continue to be important as we build a great future for the University and for UND Athletics.

We will continue to work with the State Board of Higher Education, the North Dakota University System, and the leadership in athletics as we move forward.