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Congrats to Dane on getting Coach of the Year!

I want to shout out to Eli King. He gave his all to this program.

I won't leave anyone guessing here...I am a parent of an athlete from this past year's UND Women's basketball team. We have experienced a LOT of basketball over the years following our daughters through their basketball careers. We have been apart of many different coaching regimes over these years; from early grade school, middle school, JV, varsity, AAU and college. We have invested a pile of money, miles, hotels and time in basketball and are due our two cents among the arm chair professionals and psychiatrists. Sorry, this just needs to be said. This past year was not at all fun to be apart of! Of course, everyone wants to be part of a winning team. It's not easy for the athletes or us parents. We as parents want our daughters to give it their all for the sport they love. Believe me, these young ladies want to give everything they have also. Many have weight trained, managed diets and practiced shooting/moves in the off season. They rigorously practice and compete hard for their positions...as they should. We may have been missing some talent/skill this year, but we were definitely not lacking work ethic or determination! These ladies have dedicated years of their lives to basketball and genuinely love(d) the game. However, they ended this season; belittled, discouraged, broken and defeated. Could you see it throughout the last game at the Summit League Tournament??? You should have, it was evident they were beaten before they hit the court. It was a summation of a season that reached its low point unfortunately. We all expected and deserved better from this team and its leadership. For those rushing to defend this coach, you are likely doing so without understanding what many of these players actually experienced this season. What people see during games is only a small glimpse. If you paid close attention to the sidelines and truly listened to what was being said to these players, you might begin to understand the problem here. I can't imagine what was being said to them in the locker room, bus and plane. You don't treat "family" like that, at least we don't in ours. You don't argue with and belittle your assistant coaching staff in front of the players. Lying, frustration, humiliation and manipulation are not successful coaching technics. Some of these ladies have now expressed their hatred for basketball and everything it represents. That should concern anyone who cares about the UND Women's basketball program. Coaching should be about teaching the game, developing skills, exploiting strengths and weaknesses, building confidence and helping athletes grow both on, and off the court. A good coach will scout his players talents/skills and exploit them to the team's benefit, not take the player out of the role they're good at. A good coach should be tough and demanding, but honest and respectful towards his staff and players. Talking about "family" and living living family are two completely different things. Shouldn't a person in this position take responsibility for their actions, or lack there of? Should he continually blame it on lack of player D1 skills for their loses? Or, assistant coaches for not having the expertise to work on defense or offense? You are the head coach, you are the one who is ultimately accountable. The lack of skill here is largely at the top. We were out coached soo many times, it was obvious and embarrassing These ladies deserved better! Chaves was made aware of this by some of the parents and only lame apologies where offered up. For anyone who truly cares about UND and this once proud program let's start out all new. A nationwide search for a QUALIFIED D1 coach should be the only logical solution. This program deserves and is capable of being better. There is another Aaron Johnston or Jory Collins out there, and Grand Forks has just as much to offer a coach and his/her family. On a bright note, our daughter is receiving a world class education and that shouldn't be over shadowed here. In the end, that's what is most important.

Say what you want about Bob Motzko as a head coach, I’m not sure I’d have the heart to continue coaching as long as he did after losing his son. I don’t like the Gophers and his decision-making at the World Junior Tournament in December/January had me scratching my head, but I wish him the best moving forward from Minnesota.

Duluth

https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/dane-jackson-named-nchc-herb-brooks-coach-of-the-year "When Dane Jackson was named head coach on the evening of March 29, he didn't have much time to enjoy the moment. He inherited a decimated roster, and rival teams were working to get even more players in the portal. It looked bleak in the moment, but it didn't turn out that way." What a brilliant turnaround. You know what would be a nice first year anniversary gift - a trip to Las Vegas.

Here is my take (bubble spots are #13, #14, and #15 in NPI): AHA: Eliminates the NPI #16 ECAC: Quinnipiac is a lock (Down 1-0 in best of 3 v Clarkson) Cornell is a lock (Down 1-0 in best of 3 v Harvard) Dartmouth is essentially a lock (Up 1-0 in best of 3 v Colgate) Princeton is up on Union 1-0 in best of 3 If anyone other than Queue, Cornell or Dartmouth wins the ECAC, they take a bubble spot away. Union has a slim chance to get in as an at large, but that would likely only be possible by winning the auto bid anyway. NCHC: All remaining teams are locks (UND, UMD, Denver and Western) and won't take any bubble spots. B1G: Michigan, Michigan State, and Penn State are locks and still alive. Ohio State is the only one here who could steal a bubble spot. Wisconsin is essentially in, but would be a team that could sweat with multiple conference upsets. Hockey East: Providence is the only lock. UMass and UConn could get in if they get to the championship but don't win it ... but will likely need to win it to get in, which would also then put them in the top 15 of NPI. Merrimack, BU, Northeastern, and BC would steal a bubble spot if they won the AQ. CCHA: Augustana has the best chance of making it as an At Large ... Michigan Tech will need to win it to get in and would steal a bubble spot. St. Thomas and Mankato need to get to the championship game to have a chance at an at large. Conclusion: There are essentially 12 locks (current NPI 1-12) leaving 3 bubble spots up for grabs (AHA takes one of the 4 remaining spots). Out of those ranked 13-18 in the current NPI, current NPI #13 Augustana has the best chance of getting an at large without winning their conference tournament, but they would be sweating out the other conference tournament results leaving 2 bubble spots for the other five teams to battle over. UMass (14), UConn (15) and BC (17) from Hockey East and St. Thomas (16) and Mankato (18) are 5 teams battling for those 2 spots. 14-18 are currently separated by only 0.328. After tomorrow we'll know who is still in the running from the CCHA, If St. Thomas and Mankato win, they along with Augustana would still be alive. If either of them lose, their season will be over. The Hockey East is only in their quarter finals and will have their semi finals and finals next weekend, so less will be decided. Providence is the only one who can lose tomorrow and not have their season essentially ended. UConn and/or UMass would still have life, but would need Providence to win Hockey East, Augustana win the CCHA, and for Ohio State to lose in the B1G.

Love it. The most interesting part to me is Jan comes in as a strong but not elite recruit in the first year in recent history that UND doesn’t have a (NCAA championship winning) goalie coach on the bench…and they finally get back to having a top goalie, the first to win it as a freshman no less. After years of poaching proven goalies from other teams, with mixed results…who often regressed here vs. their prior teams. I wouldn’t have guessed it would play out this way after Karl’s departure but Jax just keeps showing he knows exactly what needed to be done. Congrats to Jan and team. Just a couple more boxes to check!

I remember his freshman year 80-81 like it was yesterday. He led the team in scoring by a wide margin, and if plus-minus was a published stat, I'm sure he would have led the team in that too. After the addition of some great talent for 81-82 (Patrick, Tippett, Sherven, Donnelly, Zombo, Archibald), he was a key cog on the NCAA title team of 1982. Another in a long line of "two-way" Sioux forwards (now known as "200 foot players"). UND's first Selke award winner, which came in a year he scored 99 points. Off ice, I remember him as intense but friendly. Later on, definitely enjoyed his insights as a Blackhawks broadcaster. Condolences to his family and friends. RIP.

Now that the season is officially over, it feels like a good time to start looking ahead. University of North Dakota finished the year 18-17 and made an impressive run to the championship game of the Summit League Tournament before ultimately falling short to NDSU. Considering the expectations coming into the season, I would argue this year should be viewed as a success. There were plenty of ups and downs throughout the year, but the team improved as the season went along and showed what it is capable of during that tournament run. Because of that, the contract extension that athletic director Bill Chaves gave to head coach Paul Sather looks warranted. Now comes the fun part of the offseason. Speculating about what next year could look like. Obviously it is still very early. The portal hasn’t opened and roster movement is inevitable. But that never stops message boards from trying to piece together what the rotation might look like. So let’s take a very early look at the 2026-27 roster. First, the things we know. Leaving the program are Eli King, Reggie Thomas and Garrett Anderson. Coming in are three freshmen: Jayden Moore (6’0 PG) – Minneapolis Carter Evanson (6’3 G) – Horace, ND Sage Hanson (6’10 F) – Towner, ND That’s 3 in and 3 out. There has also been speculation that Anthony Doppler and Ryan Erikson may look to transfer somewhere they can get more playing time, possibly at the D2 level. Matthew Bothun has been getting minutes recently due to Josh Jones’ injury but could also be someone who looks elsewhere. For the sake of this exercise I’m assuming Doppler, Erikson and Bothun depart. So let’s build the rotation. Starters G – Greyson Uelmen (6’2) – RS Sophomore Uelmen has already proven he can play at this level and score at a high level. He broke the freshman scoring record at UND and has been one of the main engines of the offense. He gets to the line a ton and is excellent there. He’s also a really crafty finisher around the rim. When he’s open he can knock down a three but the release isn’t quick enough yet to consistently get it off when defenders recover. That’s probably the biggest offensive improvement he needs to make. Ball security is another area for growth. He has the ball in his hands more than anyone so turnovers are expected, but cleaning that up and improving his distribution will take him to another level. And then there was this past weekend at the Summit League Tournament. Uelmen basically carried UND to the championship game. 41 points 28 points 24 points He shot 70.7% from the field and 66.7% from three across the three games. Just ridiculous efficiency. That weekend pretty much solidified him as one of the stars in the Summit League. Now the next question becomes the one every mid-major fan base asks. Can Sather hold onto him? G – Anthony Smith III (6’1) – Sophomore A3 might be the fastest player on the roster. He’s an absolute pest defensively and finishes at the rim incredibly well for someone his size. He also might actually be the better natural distributor compared to Uelmen. You could easily argue he should technically be the point guard with Uelmen playing more off ball. But both guys are best with the ball in their hands so the offense will probably remain pretty fluid. The big swing skill for him is shooting. If he becomes a consistent threat from three it completely changes how defenses guard this backcourt. F – Marley Curtis (6’8) – Sophomore Curtis has shown flashes and is shooting 30.7% from three which isn’t great but can hit an open 3 at times. But his biggest advantage is his size and athleticism at 6’8. That’s something most teams in the Summit simply can’t match. The next step is realizing he doesn’t need to try to score every time he touches the ball. If he focuses on defending, rebounding and taking good shots within the offense he could make a big jump. F – Micah Curtis (6’8) – RS Freshman? Micah is the big wildcard. Coming out of high school he was the more accomplished of the twins but battled through a back injury this season and was eventually shut down. There has been speculation about whether he wants to move on somewhere else while preserving eligibility. Hopefully that isn’t the case. Because the talent is there. I see a little bit of Markell Sutton in him. He will have growing pains but the physical tools are obvious. If he embraces rebounding, defense and toughness first the offensive game could develop quickly. C – Josh Jones (6’9) – Senior Jones has become a bit of a running joke around the league because of the constant illegal screens and foul trouble. Before getting hurt he was actually leading all of Division I in fouls. But his injury also showed how important he is defensively. When he’s on the floor the defense is simply better. He’s not going to give you much offensively but if he can stay out of foul trouble he provides real rim protection and interior defense. Bench Rotation Zach Kraft (6’3) – RS Junior One of the best stories on the team. Former walk-on who has turned himself into a legit contributor. Kraft is an excellent shooter and even though people question his defense he has shown a good ability to get his hands on balls and disrupt passing lanes. He’ll probably start in reality, but I kind of like him as a microwave shooter off the bench. Jayden Moore (6’0) – Freshman The highest ranked recruit in program history. Quick point guard who distributes well and plays solid defense. He’s small though. Probably not even a true 6 feet. That could create some challenges physically early on. Still, he could absolutely push for immediate minutes. Carter Evanson (6’3) – Freshman Local kid that a lot of fans are excited about. In a perfect world he redshirts. But with how college basketball works now that might not happen. If he plays right away it will likely be because he can defend and knock down shots. Guga Natsvlisvili (6’10) – Senior Guga has shown some big flashes this season. The issues are finishing through contact and the free throw shooting which has been rough. He also seems to have lost some of the perimeter shooting that used to be part of his game before adding weight to play inside. He could start but I think he makes more sense as a frontcourt piece off the bench. Wylee Delorme (6’5) – Junior The plan was to redshirt him this year but injuries forced him into action. He made the most of it too, especially with a big performance against SDSU. He profiles as a nice 3 and D type wing who can space the floor and defend multiple spots. Sage Hanson (6’10) – Freshman Another developmental big. Ideally he would redshirt but that’s increasingly rare these days. He’s talented though and likely would have picked up some bigger offers if he had stayed at the prep school he attended during his junior year. The Three Portal Needs Even with this roster there are still three obvious needs. 1. Call BJ Omot BJ Omot returning would instantly solve a lot of problems. He could step right into the 3 spot and give the team a proven scoring option on the wing. I’ve heard he loved his time in Grand Forks so it’s at least worth the phone call. 2. A Legit Shooter Outside of Kraft, shooting is still a concern. Finding a long wing who can knock down threes consistently would be huge. Someone in the mold of Garrett Anderson would fit perfectly. 3. A Real Big For the love of God this program needs a dominant big. Since Filip Rebraca there hasn’t been a true interior force. He wasn’t even a bruiser, but he was just a really good player. Landing a true Summit level interior presence would completely change the ceiling of this team. Looking ahead, there are some really intriguing pieces here. If a couple players take a jump and the portal additions hit, the 2026-27 roster could be really interesting. And if nothing else, the future at least looks a lot more stable now that Sather is locked in.

RIP Troy Murray. F*** cancer

Sunday morning analysis: How nice is it to be closer to 30 wins on the season and IN the NCAA tournament vs scratching and clawing to get to 20 and missing it?

#ExtendBob

Ollie has become one of my favorite players to watch play. His motor and compete are next level.

That 1980 team will always be relevant

Jax said that another school offered Verhoeff about 3x what we offered for NIL. But KV still wanted to come to UND which says a lot about the program and maybe even more about the character of KV. Loved the whole interview with Jax but that was a beauty of a nugget.

Glad that things have worked out with Jax taking over for Berry. I hope something that doesn't get overlooked by some is the people that were brought in. Smaby is a no BS guy who will likely be a head coach somewhere. They brought in JPL to coach the goaltenders and low and behold we've got the NCHC goaltender of the year. Brynn Chyzyk comes in as the GM and it seems to me like we've got a good pipeline of kids coming in to where we shouldn't have to rely on the portal. Yeah we probably hurt some feelings with letting go of KG and Berry, but the moves were necessary and I hope our AD acts in a similar fashion with all sports needing a change of culture.

My favorite part of Coach Carle putting CHN's Adam Wodon in a box was Wodon saying NPI is too volatile and the margins so small that it doesn't make sense to give teams home ice advantage for receiving a top 4 seed. To which Carle responds, but it's good enough to decide whose season ends and whose doesn't?

Nice congrats to Cole! He had a great FR season...with hopefully more to come. Can't wait to see how he progresses in his Soph season.

They kicked our butts, but I need an explanation on the spearing. Especially when I watched Verhoeff get a butt ending major that wasn't even close to being as nasty as the cup check.

Woof. Least interested I've been in a Gopher team in years and years. Rarely bothered to look up game times or watch, hardly gave a sh*t to check the scores. I knew they sucked on night 2 when Michigan Tech took a dump on them. If he's not gone, the next month is critical. Took on a nice addition with Humphrys this week, and the Cullen boys coming in, although maybe Wyatt will be a little green for college hockey next year we've seen that before. The days of Faber, Lacombe and Rinzel and the back end appear to be gone, he's got major work to do there. I'm fine giving Bob one more year but maybe that makes me a moron. If he retires, I'm fine with that as well. I'm all in on Raboin for the next coach, no former players have anywhere near his resume. Good luck to UND the rest of the year. That's a hell of a team. Although if it's UND against a B1G team in the title game I might be pulling for a meteor shower - lol.

What some of you are implying or flat out saying is gross. You better have more proof than smiling in a press conference

Lol I don't even think about DU if we aren't playing them. We are just over here living rent free in their heads.

He can settle for Frozen Four MVP.

Remember children, you've got to win this series or you don't play for three weeks.

Congrats on the Penrose, not our best effort last night.

Same to you, UND is my 2nd favorite team, behind WMU, Michigan Tech, my beer league team, some fictional movie hockey teams, and the red team in bubble hockey.

We need a three generation mural in REA.

I don’t care much about winning the Penrose I do care about seeding the NCAA

I'm not sure how it'd be possible NOT to have that take a massive toll on a father. I can't quite imagine going through that and as a higher profile person, heart went out to him.

I haven't liked how the NCHC had done the awards this year, announcing them randomly through the week.

I don't view UMD as an unbeatable road block, I just find it very annoying to get to the tourney and play the same teams.

They don’t have to deal with COVID, transfer portal, and their location like UND has to

The sooner the refs make an embellishment call, the sooner it stops for the night.

These people are the same jackwagons that ordered their minions to go around the arena a few years back, yelling at parents because their 5-year-old Timmy was eating popcorn without putting his masks up in between bites. But I digress..... Zero reasons for tickets to this game need to be north of $50 regardless of seating level.

One of the downsides of the 3 week conference tournament is the single game weekends. Sure wish there were a game tonight.

Spoons wins NCHC goalie of the year 🧱

It was tragic for us that he was hurt in his sophomore year, as he was good enough to have led us on a run, but this comment seems like a bit of a cheap shot. In his four NHL years, he's played 77, 79, 80 and all 62 games so far this year. This will be his first significant injury since getting his hand stepped on in GF. This year he's first among NHL D in loose puck recoveries, completed stretch passes, 35km/h bursts (tie), and fastest skating speed. Just having a brilliant year. I think he'll end up alongside Belfour and Toews as UND's best players.

Let's hope the Sioux are Latkoczy intolerant this weekend.

Because I thought my humor was obvious. I guess not.

Nice article from Schloss on Emery. Also talks about Akil Adams, UND's first Black player who played at UND from 92-94. https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/as-e-j-emery-becomes-a-campus-favorite-he-reaches-out-to-unds-first-black-player Would love to see him come back for a third year and help lead the defensive group, especially if Liver and Wiebe both turn pro.

Don’t understand this chart at all, considering we are 4th in shooting percentage in college hockey, as well as 4th in goals per game. I will take that any day of the week.

It would be nice to win Friday and take the pressure off.

They honored the two remaining seniors, Ryan Alexander (an ASU transfer this year) and Kaidan Mbereko, along with former Tigers Noah Laba and Gleb Veremyev who recently earned their degrees while playing professionally. The announcer mentioned Mbereko’s 43 saves against North Dakota in a game back in 2024. He truly was and is a special player here at CC. Not only was he the NCHC goaltender of the year and first team all-American his sophomore season, he’s just an all around great kid and ambassador of the program. So good with the fans and kiddos.