Brett0909

Tough to speculate on how Jonny feels about UND, he’s done some media for the school but doesn’t seem to have the same long-term connection as many others. It’s hard to imagine Captain Serious of all people overreacting to playing time management of a family member- he’s always had a good head on his shoulders and worked harder than everyone around him to earn his spot- and expected the same from other players. I’ll trust IF he didn’t like how it was handled, there’s probably a reason behind the scenes beyond family loyalty. Hopefully no hard feelings, his time at UND mattered for the team, in future recruiting, exposure, and legacy. I’ll always be a fan, and I hope to see him do one last skate someday.

I definitely didn’t have Perron with the best xfer season so far, with OMac playing alright and Boisvert totally invisible. Has to be some pressure if Boisvert got a 6 figure or close NIL as some were reporting. At this rate, looking like the one big outside drawback of Berry’s departure (Boisvert’s hitting the road) may have been a net-win if the locker room reports and problems off the ice were accurate.

Obviously a tough loss. Couple bad decisions marred an otherwise learn and grow kinda game against a pretty good opponent. Jax tried to prepare us for this, but the early results made many of us forget it would be bumpy at first. Completely new PP and PK (coaches and systems). This showed. Every coach either new or playing a new role. Attempting to implement new expectations, culture, and systems to improve where they needed to from the last decade. Record setting turnover to new players and some tough losses from the core. All of the above makes for an almost total reset and rebuild…but Jax has them in the thick of it, vs. settling for multi-year rebuild. Showed some grit at the end to tie it up and flashes of pretty good play through the night. They recruited the players they need to have success, and they’ll grow into their roles. Faced their best opponent by far this year - didn’t have all the answers early but they were visibly settling in and improving as a team throughout the game and will be a better team for it. And they’re a top 10 team who got 45% of a NPI win against a 8-1 UMD team that no one’s had good answers playing, yet. Just my take…It was definitely frustrating at times, but the mistakes are addressable, the systems are getting closer to clicking, and the team’s in a good spot nationally if they can grind through some wins while continuing to build. Probably in as good of a spot as most of us would’ve hoped for right now, before the season. Now, let’s go out and win big tonight!

Pretty telling how much they’ve collectively emphasized a new era of hockey / moving on with accountability and “nobody’s bigger than the program”. Hopefully it translates to wins on the ice (and better effort/continuity). I read it as nobody in that locker room seems to think things were going well before and they’re just making some adjustments to Jax’s style of coaching...

Interesting that with focus on UND’s top-notch facilities, dedicated strength and conditioning, nutrition, etc. advantages that beyond Strinden it’s all freshmen and transfers rounding out the top 5. Hopefully not affected too much by the injuries holding them out from full participation, it’s too early to be dealing with injury limitations.

Interesting collection of NCAA bound player perspectives on the new CHL > NCAA route to the pros. Some UND callouts deeper into the read, once the obligatory McKenna/PSU focus gets out of the way. https://www.nhl.com/news/ncaa-college-hockey-becoming-major-pathway-to-nhl

Seems pretty salty for an organization that has unabashedly recruited / flipped NCAA players - reportedly even broken their own leagues rules in offering cash. IIRC even grabbing players at winter break (Humphrey’s from Mich in January?). Not blaming him for being frustrated, but the hypocrisy to attack the player is laughable.

Definitely creates new and interesting dynamics. With a significantly larger pool of players that you can pull from but only expect one year out of, it may be harder to do when there’s some uncertainty with the serious lower back injury. These types of players have to be taken as what can you give me now, because you likely won’t have a second year. Not saying that UND passed on him, because I have no idea and would be pretty excited if he chose UND over Providence, but certainly adds a new element to how you evaluate talent, and who can immediately make your team better.

FOUR B1G teams with betting odds over the defending champs and a Denver team that seems to be a coin toss to win it all any given year, lately. Seems they’re taking Bucci’s advice on betting on whoever has the sauciest hands and knows where they keep the cookie jar? Not much love for the NCHC which just keeps winning it all. Granted it’s hard not to like those top three, but same could be said for the last decade. Should make for an interesting year.

Right? That one was definitely a surprise. The one that hurt me was seeing Weatherby playing in Czechia. His late departure after all the raving we heard about his camp performance, combined with “what could’ve been” if he’d stayed, wouldn’t sting nearly as much if he’d at least locked down an NHL position. But Czechia?

After what certainly felt like a rough patch all the way around for UND hockey, loving all of the positive news for future and past UND alums. Wishing Kleven and Malone tons of future success!

The speculation is fun and as someone mentioned obviously great for clickbait and excitement. But seems to me all signs are pointing at him being very much undecided. I’ll take some comfort in UND having been linked early on as a top contender, and no reason to believe he’s ruled it out. Even if the recent mention of two more schools to visit is true, that doesn’t mean he didn’t already visit some schools who are still in the running as well. Should be fun to watch, but definitely feeling better about UND’s chances after recently loading up with some top talent. And also feeling better that we’ll be fine either way even if McKenna does land somewhere else.

Hindsight is always an interesting thing. There’s probably a lesson here for many of us… it wasn’t that long ago when some were wholeheartedly defending Barry and challenging anyone who suggested that recruiting, team morale, and effort weren’t where they needed to be. The forum was divisive and split. That whole debate about whether UND was sinking toward mediocrity and if anyone else could lead the team in a better direction. And just earlier today, some were still arguing against landing these recruits or them coming in this year. Not calling others out for this, just something we’ve all been guilty of from time to time and can learn from. We certainly don’t know what the product on the ice will look like, but it’s been very energizing to see how quickly UND could bounce back into being a national player again. This staff definitely has edge and drive that seemed lacking, and I’m relieved the damage was short term. I can’t wait to see how all of this builds into the product on the ice and future rosters. Look out!

Here’s hoping we don’t start to see a lot more “competing interest” just to drive up the NIL offers in this new landscape. Not saying that’s happening here, just occurred to me some will be trying to create bidding wars. Still recall UND being used as a threat for some prospective targets to manipulate the draft by their preferred CHL team. Strange new world…

Somehow it just feels like he missed a real opportunity here for the Waterloo fans…