LetsGoDU

The "Water"gate Conspiracy

Left: What did Dave Hakstol know and when did he know it? Former A.D. Roger Thomas is "lurking" in the background.

Its six months later, but the incident is still vivid to everyone in Columbus or watching on TV. Early in the Third Period of the 2005 National Championship game between the University of Denver and the University of North Dakota. DU is clinging to a 2-1 lead with 17 minutes remaining in the game, Andrew Thomas of Denver was whistled for holding. UND's Mike Prpich, apparently thirsty, helps himself to a swig of water from Peter Mannino's water bottle. Mannino, eyes bugging out, is about to give Prpich "the business," when DU forward Michael Handza skates over between the two and gives Prpich's a few raps to the body for good measure.

Handza said, “I thought [Mike Prpich] said something to Mannino…then I came a little closer and saw he was drinking out of his water bottle. I gave him a couple of slashes to the wrist and a punch to the head and told him not to do it again. If it wasn’t the national championship game, he might have got tackled.”

Looking back on it six months later many troubling questions remain unanswered. Was Prpich really so dehydrated that he couldn't safely make it back to the North Dakota bench to get some water? Was he checking to see if Mannino was drinking Gatorade, Scotch or Liquid Steriods to be playing so well? Was Prpich so caught up in the game that he mistakenly thought Mannino was Jordan Parise, got confused and went to the wrong goal? OR was the whole incident ordered by North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol to "rattle" Mannino? Finally and most important, was the entire incident "covered up" by the former athletic director or university president?

To get these questions answered once and for all, the investigative team at LetsGoDU has conducted a thorough review of the game video, the press conference transcripts, eyewitness interviews and newspaper accounts of the game.

Earlier, in the Second Period, Prpich was stopped cold by Mannino on a shorthand breakaway attempt (photo-left). The Mannino save was crucial at the time, keeping the momentum squarely behind DU. Did this lead to the "incident" in the Third Period? We believe the answer is "No." Mannino made many other big saves in the game & no one else got thirsty as a result.

Several DU fans near the North Dakota bench thought they saw one of the UND assistant coaches, either Brad Berry or Cary Eadess, pantomime a drinking gesture to Prpich immediately after the Thomas penalty was whistled. This would certainly give credance to a conspiracy therory. To complicate matters, the ESPN cameras behind Berry and Eadess failed to capture the alledged incident. The UND game film, obtained by LetsGoDU, under the State of North Dakota's Freedom of Information Act has a two minute break in the film and it appears to be "edited professionally." All one sees on the film is Thomas being called for the penalty and then Hanza, Thomas & Prpich in the two penalty boxes. Since the recording is digital there are no fingerprints to trace.

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To further complicate matters the UND Athletic Director at the time, Roger Thomas, moved on to become Commissioner of the North Central Conference, less than one month after the game. This unusual career move could only be described as lateral on the most "creative" of resume's. His replacement Thomas Bunning was obviously brought in from West Point to "clean up the program." (Bunning Appointment Article)

So there you have it. A brazen act, perhaps designed by a clever coach and probably covered up by the highest administrators at the University of North Dakota. Stay tuned.