Well it was a rough weekend for the BSU Men’s Hockey team in Grand Forks and myself personally.  After doing the game on Saturday I had elected to ride back with some friends after the game because I had a work conference in Mpls to travel to on Sunday.  Well, as it happened, they all had a great time at the game and I turned into the designated driver.  That wasn’t a problem, I was more than happy to drive.  What was the problem is the fact they were giving me directions and had the gps.  Little did I know that they never looked at the gps and were just guessing.  Long story short, we ended up in Alvarado and Olso and basically made a 2 hour trip home into a 3 hour ordeal.  Not too funny at the time, but it got more humorous as we got on the right path.  That did serve as a warm up though of what was to come.  I headed out with co-workers to a conference in the cities on Sunday and about an hour into the trip my stomach started rumbling.  I didn’t think much of it until it just kept getting worse and worse.  Turns out, 4 friends/family including me had eaten something on Friday that gave us food poisoning.  Needless to say, it was a long 3 days in the cities.  I guess I got the worst of it, most were pretty bad for 24 hours but for me I’m still feeling the effects some 72 hours later.  It was bad enough as is, but we had a fun couple of days planned that turned into more of a chore than they ever should have been.  I went the the Wild game on Monday night and had suite tickets……Ron Coomer and Lou Nanne were in the suite with us but I just wasn’t very sociable.  I talked very briefly with both but couldn’t muster much energy so I sat idle most of the game….and, of course, the Wild lost.

So, here I am on Wednesday back home and at least able to function.  I figure the worst of it is over and I fully expect to be back to normal by the weekend.  I sure am counting on it.  This should be one of the most exciting hockey weekends of the year with the Gophers coming to town, playoff positioning on the line, and the last home series at the Sanford Center in it’s inaugural year. 

As usual, the hockey itself gets no easier.  Clearly UND had BSU’s number again this year and it showed this past weekend.  They were the better team for all but maybe the 1st period of Sunday’s game.  That’s also why they are the #1 team in the polls and winners of the WCHA regular season title.  BSU is not alone in having trouble with the Sioux.  But that was last weekend and should be put in the rear view mirror.  This weekend a very hot U of M team comes to town riding a 5 game unbeaten streak and the chance to secure home ice for the first round of the playoffs.  You can bet they will be motivated.  On the flip side, BSU wants to try to improve their position in the standings and also give a couple of sold out crowds something to cheer about.  I expect a couple of very close games and an electric atmopshere at the Sanford Center!