After leaving school and moving to Mpls, I had to deal with the whole “living in enemy territory” thing, as well as the pre-internet exposure freeze from living away from Grand Forks. I made some games at Mariucci in the early 1990′s, and even a playoff game against MN at the Civic Center (where I handled Goldy in a throwdown, last game my wife has ever attended with me).

Well, in my memory the early 1990′s were dark days for my Sioux hockey experience. Gino’s teams just didn’t seem to have it other than a few star players, and I was pretty much in a Sioux news blackout environment.

Then about 1994-95, I think, MN came to Grand Forks with a huge winning streak. I think it was Blais’ first year. I decided to go down to Champps which was the only place I could watch the games on TV. There I was, in my Sioux shirt, standing behind all the gopher faithful, watching the Sioux take it to them in the first game. I just tried to blend into the background as they were none too happy that night.

I saw a Sioux team that was different than it seemed in the last couple of years of Gino’s tenure. I saw Sioux players winning races to the puck, and making passes and not playing as individuals. I came back Saturday night and was rewarded with a sweep. Man, was that fun! For me it was a harbinger of things to come.

TV access started getting better, pretty soon access to the Sioux environment through the internet came available, and my Sioux fan life has been completely different. Those games against the gophers were the start of a new era, in my world.