AlphaMikeFoxtrot

A piss poor cross ice pass turning it over and lackluster effort to cover the shooter.

Lots of well-deserved media love for Zellers https://www.masslive.com/bruins/2025/12/bruins-have-greasy-goal-scorer-in-prospect-playing-for-team-usa.html https://www.nhl.com/news/will-zellers-doing-the-right-things-for-united-states-at-world-juniors

I'd heard of it (helps when the team regularly sends players) but this time of year was reserved for ski trips until work became more important than recreation and bachanalia. A year or two ago I got the bar at my local ski resort to switch from a D tier bowl game to a USA WJC game and people tuned in.

A sizeable amount of the MN hockey fandom isn't particularly attached to USA Hockey; might just be a casualty of already following NHL, NCAA and HS. There's also an underlying ethnocentrism about hockey in MN (which is admittedly understandable given the aspects you listed) that no matter how many MN kids are on the team, people want it to be like Team USA in Mighty Ducks 2 with only a few randoms from other states. Personally, I grew up in the cities and didn't start following WJC until the 2012 lockout when it was the only hockey to watch.

Mooney playing PK and on the ice at the end is so blatant in favoritism.

Bob is officially the new Lucia

Freebird is the best goal song, but Major Tom is a great choice by Germany

Watch Kvachnicka (sp) decommit after Bob cut him at the last minute.

OSU has this kid who transfered after a year at Michigan State. Played juniors there so probably has/had a girlfriend in the area. https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/623785/kaden-nelson

https://www.removepaywall.com/search?url=https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6797867/2025/12/20/hockey-chl-ncaa-world-juniors-gavin-mckenna/ Anonymous quotes from both sides on the NCAA/CHL shift. A few interesting nuggets, sounds like certain teams (unnamed) are making enemies up north.

Loveland; attendance at Sioux Falls is not something we would contribute to if Augustana makes it. They aren't the host but they would find a way to place them there. Meanwhile we are 4 and Denver, the host in Loveland is 5. The best thing we can do is be in the same band of four as DU, or the band of four that plays the band of four DU is in for the first round (1v4, 2v3) since they avoid inter-conference matchups. There's also the possibility the committee decides they need us to bolster attendance out east should too many western teams make it; they say a flight is a flight. So 50% SF 25% CO 25% out east is my unscientific probabilities.

https://sabrenoise.com/buffalo-sabres-prospect-praised-for-excellent-play-at-world-junior-a-challenge-01kcphxx86gd Ashton Schultz scouting report

If the Sharks decide to let Dickinson go, Verhoeff is likely out. Sounds like we are saying the same thing with different semantics.

Love love LOVE the attention our current and future players are getting on the Canadian side of the WJC. EMac (give him #2 next year for EMC2) gets a good blurb here. Sounds like Verhoeff making the team is at the Sharks' discretion. https://archive.is/2025.12.17-121221/https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6885017/2025/12/17/canada-world-juniors-gavin-mckenna-camp/

Only a matter of time until they get over the hump. Watch out for Wisconsin as Hastings gets going. We should have 2 big ten teams in our non-conference every year.

https://archive.is/2025.12.16-150712/https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6884984/2025/12/16/carson-carels-2026-nhl-draft-canada-world-juniors/

The only upside is Hockey Least teams are cannibalizing themselves now, hopefully they wind up a one bid conference this year while CCHA gets two.

Blake with the shootout winner tonight.

Sweeping Omaha for the season pretty much guarantees us a home regional in Sioux Falls.

Fun fact: Grimes was modeled after Michael Douglas in Falling Down

Here's a better reference. Gabinet walking into the Ralph:

Ask him if he wants to see a photo of astronauts holding up a UND flag in space!

Can only imagine the headlines if he entered the portal...

So Pilgrim is out?

https://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2025/12/09_Team-of-the-Week-North-Dakota.php Dane on their podcast coming out tomorrow too.