You want answers? 2/8/08

Just a few questions this week (and, apparently, few answers). Feel free to keep them coming, and I'll do another one next week:

What is the status of the proposal for the So MN Hockey Center where the Lady Mavs would play? Was it presented to the house/senate and is it something that might get a vote in an upcoming session? I'm going to be honest here and tell you that this is on my to-do list of things to look into in the next week or so. Stay tuned.

Is Galiardi going to return to the lineup this weekend? When was the last time the Mavs were nationally ranked ahead of the Gophers? What is the Mavs highest ever national ranking? Jutting said that he's sticking with the same lineup tonight as he did in last weekend's games against Denver. However, he did say he'd like to get Galiardi and Friesen in the lineup Saturday if he can.

What happened to Brock Trotter? Why is he done at Denver? Check the post below. Also, here' a good column about the situation by the Denver Post's Terry Frei. Interesting that this is the weekend Denver and Minnesota play each other and each had players leave mid-season for the NHL.

I know it may be a bit soon to ask this question, but I figured I'd throw it out there anyway. I noticed Mick Berge has a little brother playing juniors with the Tri-City Storm in the USHL. Any idea if he might follow in his big brother's footsteps and eventually make his way to Mankato? Has Berge mentioned anything about his brother's hockey career? I actually talked to Mick about his brother a few weeks ago. Mick says Josh is a pretty good player and is interested in college hockey. Mick said he'd love to see him in Mankato but that, of course, it's his brother's decision. I believe Josh is only a junior in high school right now. He's also 5-foot-8, 150 pounds. Here is his USHL profile.

Any prognostications on how many WCHA teams will make the NCAA tournament this year? Perhaps an over/under? If the Pairwise remains the same, there will be five teams in the tournament. Including MSU at No. 10, there are five teams in the top 14. Wisconsin is 15th, which would be on the outside looking in since two conferences with automatic bids -- College Hockey America and Atlantic Hockey -- are not in the top 16. There is still a lot of hockey to be played, but I can't imagine there being fewer than four WCHA teams in the tournament.