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With respect to Brad Berry's letter to the Herald, he went out the same way that he conducted himself throughout his time at UND: with class in every respect. He is a class act and a credit to UND in every respect.

Good news initially, let's hope this is correct: https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/cole-reschny-leaves-unds-4-1-win-over-minnesota-duluth-with-an-injury

I am with @stoneySIOUX Schloss, is a hard worker. He's up late working almost every night. He's focused and many NHL teams would probably love to have a beat writer with his drive. He's always working sources and his job isn't to go out and dig up dirt and nasty rummors. He covers the team and the different stories surrounding the team. Leave that to the anonymous sources. We’ve all heard the rumors coming out of this past season’s team. It was a mess. There's a new Sheriff in town and that's a positive. Attacking Schloss is pointless. I think we’re lucky to have him.

Lol I don’t remember talking to you?

Early on Romfo called a great audible on pass and changed running play where he physically repositioned the blocker. We can listen to what his coaches and teammates say or we can listen to the handful of pissants, who if they even ever played the game (doubtful), never learned to appreciate their teammates especially the backups. He got to his reads quickly and got rid of the ball quickly. He completed 3 of 6 with 2 drops. He hasn’t played meaningful minutes at QB in over a year, but didn’t get rattled. I hope Kaminski recovers quickly, and can play next week, but it’s good to know we have an experienced QB who his teammates and coaches have confidence in. We moved the ball effectively at a crucial juncture in the game. I don’t care who the QB is as long as they play well and do their part to lead this team to another win.

So, what do you do when you are at work and there is no new reading material leading up to a Saturday game against USD. You sift stats and come up with your own stuff. I think there is always some apprehension with USD because it is a familiar foe. There is a lot of history between these teams and history states the location and venue will play a factor in this matchup. Though the same could have been said last year and the bottom line is that UND was not a good enough football team last year. I think that will be the same case for USD this year. The biggest offensive factors to look at are RB and QB. QB - Aidan Bouman has shown what he is capable of in the past but has not played up to that level this season. He gets it done, but we have the far greater QB based on play this season. Defense needs to limit big passing plays, avoid PI penalties and create some turnovers. QB threw several interceptions to start the season but has not thrown one in a few weeks. RB - LJ Phillips has stepped in to the starting role and played at a very high level; currently #2 in the FCS for rushing yards (2 spots ahead of Beau Brungard). That being said, lets add some context to the numbers. In 9 games, Phillips has gone over 100 yards 5 times (with some real monster games). Of those 5 opponents 3 rank at the very bottom of the FCS in rushing D (#116 UNC, #123 Indiana St, #126 Murray St), Illinois St. is at #59 in rushing D and gave up 123 yards to Phillips but no TDs, while Drake comes in at a respectable #18 but has only played 7 games and plays in the Pioneer League which must be considered. Other notable stats: Scoring Offense: #9 UND (40 PPG) / #81 USD (21.9 PPG) Scoring Defense: #17 UND (18.62 PPG) / #53 USD (26.33 PPG) 3rd Down Conversion %: Slight edge to USD, but both teams about 40-41% 4th Down Conversion %: UND at 67% on 12 attempts / USD at 33% on 9 attempts Fewest Penalties: #7 UND (32 for 296 yds) / #75 USD (51 for 477 yds) *USD has played 1 extra game Turnover Margin: UND is +7 / USD is -2 (UND has more interceptions, but USD has fewer fumbles lost) Redzone efficiency: UND is #78 with .795 (44 Att; 35 Scores; 14 Rush TD; 17 Pass TD; 4 FGM) / USD is #11 with .926 (27 Att; 25 Scores; 10 Rush TD; 6 Pass TD; 9 FGM) Redzone Defense: #58 UND / #91 USD KO Returns: #4 UND (13 for 367 yds and 1 TD) / #67 USD (17 for 333 and 0 TD) To win the game you follow a similar formula to what we have already seen. Shut down their key playmaker in Phillips. Get an early lead and force them to throw the ball. I don't trust that Bouman is going to win this game for them with his arm. Philips has been dominant, but more so against terrible run D teams. We know NDSU is elite, but they held him to 38 yards and 0 TDs. Continue to spread the ball around ... they cannot cover everyone. Get SS going early, use X on passing plays but limit touches ... I'd rather see Langama get the ball and a healthy dose of Brunell in the 3rd and 4th quarters. Let Jerry do his thing ... take your shots on short yardage situations. Can we put together 4 full quarters? Can we capitalize in the red zone? Can we limit big plays? If you showed me stats, rankings, scores, opponents, etc. (without telling me the team) I would say that this should be a dominant win by the boys in green, comparable to UNI, but certainly not as difficult as Southern Illinois. That being said, it is USD on the road and we can all attest that there have been some strange matchups in the past. Even so, this is a new team under new leadership. They have shown they can compete consistently on the road and have bucked the road loss issue; so why not roll into Vermillion and dominate? I really do expect to see backups playing back the 4th quarter, but hopefully we see them in the mid to late 3rd. Should be a fun game to watch ... WIN BIG and STAY HEALTHY!!! JYD!!!

my favorite photo from last night! Thanks to @Russ Hons for taking this!!

Some teachable moments out there for the coaches last night but it’s pretty simple. We catch one of those 5 dropped picks and it’s a win. What a performance either way. Quit bitching so much, we had no idea what kind of team we had going in and we just showed serious guts on the road against a ranked FBS team. Lots to build on, we will improve this year.

A sign of things to come. A hawk eating a gopher on the UND campus.

I have a friend who used to work with Brad at the Herald. I’ve met Brad a couple times but we are not friends. I can tell you that his professionalism as a journalist is of the highest standard. College hockey as a whole is fortunate to have a guy like Brad working as a beat writer.

My 2 day update from the WJ tournament. A client had a suite & invited me & a buddy to both games. Being a MN company, there were several former Gopher players there, 3 of them with solid NHL careers. Listening to their take on both games was fascinating. None of them had a single good thing to say about Motzko, & a couple played for him. The main theme, he has no clue how to coach high-end talent players, and letting him coach the WJ's is the worst possible position for Team USA. One guy said the overplaying of Mooney is killing the kid personally, and the most obvious of many horribly bad coaching decisions by Motzko so far. He said all the scouts & coaches see Mooney is clearly out of his league & putting him on the #1 PP & constantly on the PK where he just isn't physically or skill-wise strong enough is embarrassing. They said the kid & his agent know how bad he looks, but Bob doesn't see it or give a 💩 because he's a Goofer. Most were convinced Mooney will cost the U.S. a game at some point. A bunch of agents & NHL scouts dropped in to see the former players. Again, consensus was Motzko seemed to be trying to coach Team USA OUT of the medal round. Every one of them thought it was the dumbest thing in the tournament to not have Zellers out every third shift, second prize, breaking up Zellers, McMorrow & Spellacy. 1 guy played defense in the pros, he said the top 4 for U.S. have been horrible. He hadn't watched EJ at UND, but what he saw in game 2, he would put EJ in top 4 over any of the returning players. The guy hosting let everyone know me & my buddy were UND grads & Sioux Hockey fans, they all said they were very impressed with this year's Sioux team & thought our boys had a chance to make a run. All of them said Motzko was shorting Zellers & scratching Emery because they are Sioux players, no question. One of the scouts showed me his Insta-Stats (SP?) account on his phone & said it is insane to not play Zellers based on all kinds of scoring metrics. He said it was more insane to play Mooney, Lee, McKinney, etc. when their numbers get worse with more ice time. He also showed me the U.S.'s "top 2 lines" data, & said if they were his players he's be worried they would be sent down to the AHL. It was a ton of data that they all knew well, the guy told me basically any coach in the NHL doing what Motzko has been doing would have been fired in less than a month. Someone said too bad Bob didn't get hit with the puck, then they could let Garrett Raboin take over & have a shot at making a medal round. 😬

The Romfo boys are a great college sports story. Small town twins whose greatest obvious assets out of HS were they were winners and good athletes, although undersized. I don’t think you have a clue as to the challenges these guys faced as PWO’s coming to play at UND. Your unhealthy fixation on Simon doesn’t make sense. He didn’t make the decisions to become the starter. He worked his butt off to get to that position. Now Jerry has worked his butt off to earn the starting position. It’s obvious that Simon is still doing whatever he can to help the team. If the time comes I would expect he will be able to step in and show that he is a better QB than he was last year. Regardless, your persistent negative comments are unwarranted this year. I would hope you now realize that even Jerry will miss wide open receivers for a TD at times or one bounce passes to receivers at times. (Please don’t post of them 20 times on ss.com). That doesn’t mean Jerry shouldn’t be QB, it means it happens to all QB’s at all levels. Who cares about whose picture is where? They did an interesting article on Simon who has played well when he has been in. It’s clear how much respect the coaches and his teammates have for him. Championship teams need guys like this. It’s part of learning to win and building a consistent winner. Guys who may have more physical abilities get motivated to do better when they see teammates doing everything they can to help the team. Give that some thought.

Commitments in March and early April. Maybe someone can tell us who was the earliest commitment prior to this in years past. They're identifying who they like early and offering before camp season. And actually getting them to commit. We'll see how it works out. All I know is that Polasek is losing his mind and berating recruits for committing to us so early and before camp evaluations. A certain parent of a certain recruit was not impressed with Polasek's response and lack of professionalism. So I'd say what we're doing is paying dividends in the short term. As I said, we'll have to wait and see about the long term. But I'm f**king here for all of it.

How is everyone doing here? I just thought I would come check to see if it was as bad as our little community on GPL. BTW... Cannot wait to be at The Ralph this fall. We had a great time last time we visited. The staff is always so accommodating and most if the fans are great too. Makes me really look forward to another trip.

Most of us on this board couldn't be bigger fans/supporters of UND athletes. That said, I unfortunately agree with you. I could write a pretty nice check annually (like many on the board), but I just don't see that happening. It feels like ponying up to try to maintain the status quo, with no personal return on investment or societal benefit. This is supposed to be fun and entertaining to take my mind off actual life for a while. My donations will continue to go to local causes that hopefully better the community, not some highly skilled 18-year-old mercenary who doesn't care about UND and is just looking for the highest # as a stopping point along the way to greener pastures. I don't know if I'm in the minority on this, but from my perspective it's sad.

No, he should not. It serves no purpose. When you are privileged to be allowed “inside”, you have an obligation to keep certain things “in the family”. That includes guys like Schlossman, Hennessy, Poolman, team medical staff, locker room staff etc.

Let em walk, they haven’t won !@#$.

Please give me the name of a better college hockey beat writer. I want to follow them on social media like schloss. Go ahead i will wait ....

Congrats to Dane on getting Coach of the Year!

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

Right? Can't believe it's already senior night weekend. Regardless of what happens the rest of this season...it has really been a fun, fun season of UND hockey to watch. Just a crazy turnaround this year, Dane really brought Sioux hockey back and it's been a blast to see it happen on the ice. For seniors, we've been fortunate to get to see James and Strinden for four years in the green&white. And both of them have really stepped it up this year...career years already...both of them already surpassing their career highs in goals & points. We'll miss those boys next year.

Imagine a world in which Schloss posts a tweet about something like this. That world does not exist as he is a professional and the darn good one

Who's obsessing? Simply stating that we're at #3 now isn't obsessing, it's just stating a fact. We're still in great position...and a far better position than we have been in since the Kawaguchi days. Team looked good this weekend despite the split...deserved more than 3pts. Work on fixing the PP and a few mental lapses and all is good. As you said...chill out.

This program just caught in incredible break the last two weeks. Let's pump it up! I'm actually surprised that anyone would hold a grudge against a coach that left at the end of the Bubba tenure. That was a sinking ship. I look at these two ways, not only is Freund a step up as an OC, but with how poorly the 2nd half went last year, I don't know how the Freuchte / Kaminksi era could have been revived. Multiple factors, not all Freuchte's fault, but this is a hard reset for Jerry and the offense. The outlook for next year is different today than it was two weeks ago.

Can we dispense with the 'heartfelt' love letters when players leave a school? They all do it but if they were believed all of what they post they wouldn't be leaving.

Rather than screw up the other FB threads I figured this is a better way to comment. In response to your continued negative comments about Simon, you are correct in that you haven’t commented personally. If you were so inclined you would probably find yourself on your ass, courtesy of Jerry and the rest of the team. Same goes for the 3 Cream Puffs. Simon Romfo is an important part of turning this program around. He has made a similar impression on Danny Freund (before he left), Freuchte, Bubba and now Schmidt. He has earned his playing time at whatever position he plays. The team is better with Simon and other backups all of whom have earned their spots on the team. I’ve tried to explain that the coaches make these decisions as a staff, not just the HC, DC, or OC. With your extensive experience from the vantage point of a bike you insist it was all Bubba. Not only the previous coaching staff, the present coaching staff, the players and a number of area HS coaches believe Kostich is an excellent coach, but also an excellent recruiter. Our special teams have improved and have been very good this year. Our kicker is the exception. That is usually on the kicker rather than the coach. Kostich will have opportunities if he were to leave but he won’t be fired. I suggest you focus on Jerry,who just had his best game, and quit embarrassing yourself with the constant bashing of a player who is doing whatever he can to help this team. Unlike the 3 cream puffs, when you aren’t obsessed with your negative posts on Simon, you have had some decent posts. Otherwise, instead of ruining other FB posts put the crap posts here. Same for the Cream Puffs boys.

Can be on the ice, but can't directly coach the goalies.... I'm going to tell my wife that I'll be in the house, but can't directly parent the kids.

A handful plus of Frozen Fours, and two National Championships, that KG was a part of as a player, volunteer, and coach. Appreciate his commitment to the 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.

As if Senior night isn’t emotional enough, it will be extra hard for Ben with his dad not being there for the parent introduction. Don’t think they’ll be a dry eye in the house when this group has their final skate.

Anyone rooting for NDSU ain't a real fan sorry

Dollars to donuts that he had no idea about UND hockey before receiving that box..he either researched the history of the team & players or Jackson sent him some highlighted points that he could use for his podcast. Regardless, of all the 63 D1 teams, only Jackson or someone on his staff had the foresight to do this. It may seem goofy or just a gesture of goodwill on the surface, but it is another way of getting the UND hockey brand out to a much larger audience beyond what Buccigross can provide. Jackson isn't resting on his laurels, he's doing everything he can to get UND hockey front & center on the national stage again.

There is not a program in the Country that doesn't want to up their talent level. The fact is that we have who we have right now and the coaching staff needs to use what they have to win as many game as possible. All indications are Simon has been a great teammate since he has got here. Just because the previous coaching staff made him the starting QB last year is not his fault. He did the best that he could. Now he is doing all the he can to help the team win. We loved the Brockstar package and when Quincy V would come in and run QB sneak, but when Simon wants to help and the coaches put in packages for him some people have a problem. Simon is a team player and the way he gets crapped on by people on this site is gross and sickening. You may say you have nothing against him personally, but you clearly do. Let it go. Your guy is QB1. Enjoy it. Looks like Jerry is clearly the best QB this year, and I'm surprised the completion was that close in Fall Camp. Its as if you want Schimidt to call and tell the Herald who they should put on the front of the page. I guarantee no one on the team cares, they just want to win.

Thank you for providing the definition of 'front-running'. Absolutely despise and loathe both sides of it. I want UND to be successful in everything. Could not care less about the school in Fargo in the name of state pride.

Absolutely nothing but respect for your program. Tough ending for you today, but you kicked our asses for 50 minutes today (after doing so for 30 last year). And it's rare to see a team handle WaGRIZ the way the Hawks did today. Super impressed. The few ND fans I met were fantastic; just wish I'd seen more around town so I could have bought their beers. Now, go win the Valley and let's meet in Nashville!

Thank you so much, Burd, for you kind words. I'm still around. And right back at you! UND fans know better than any that tradition is everything. And it got me to thinking that so much of Denver's success over the last 20 years or so can be actually be directly attributed to UND's tradition of excellence -- for raising the bar in not only our DU/UND rivalry but for all college hockey. UND winning the NCAA title in 2000 and building the Ralph 25 years go did not just elevate UND hockey, it raised up the entire sport of college hockey and showed DU and the rest of the country what heights were actually possible for a program to achieve. Since then, Denver has spent most of these last 25 years in flat-out chase mode, following behind, and learning from, the excellence of the UND program. For example, the decisive moment in the Pioneers' rise back to national relevance came on a March day in 2004, when Pioneers were quite fortunate to eke out a 1-0 win in that 2004 NCAA regional against a much better, loaded and top-ranked UND team in Colorado Springs. That somewhat unlikely win showed Denver that returning to the pinnacle of the sport after 35 years of mostly drift and dust was even possible, as UND had brought out the best in Denver. If DU could survive Parise, Bochenski, Murray and Stafford buzzing Adam Berkhoel's net in the final frenzied minutes of that game, we sure as hell could survive Junior Lessard/UMD in the NCAA semis and UMaine's six-on-three advantage in the final minutes to eke out a 1-0 win in Boston for that 2004NCAA title That 2004 crown put Denver back on the national map with six titles after 35 years without one, and without learning from UND in the Colorado Springs regional, that recent DU program evolution never happens.... And the 2005 Denver NCAA title win over UND in Columbus was the point when Denver finally pulled even with UND with our seventh crown. The bad blood between the two teams in the Paukovich/Bina/Dasher Dance-era raised the DU/UND rivalry to new heights. That rolling boil of rivalry in the Gwoz/Blais/Hakstol years set the stage for Denver and UND to work together to reset the national bar by being the lead schools in the formation of the NCHC in the 2011-2013 time frame. Once again, our two schools led from the front and showed the sport what was possible, with like-minded, hockey-first investment, leadership and hockey vision. This is the exact commitment that led to the 2016 UND Frozen Four semi win over Denver in Tampa that ultimately put UND back on top of the game over Denver with eight crowns, as everyone knew that once UND beat Denver in the semis, that NoDak would just crush Quinnipiac for the whole enchilada. Denver once again was forced to chase UND, and that 2016 UND title win gave the Pios exact the road map they needed to find another gear the next year, leading to 2017's Denver NCAA title win in Chicago to pull back even with UND at eight crowns. And once again, it was UND thumping Denver around like a rag doll in the Covid bubble season (playing a record seven times in a short season) that led to Denver finding new gears to win NCAA titles in the 2022 and 2024, moving the Pios ahead of UND with 10 crowns. While Denver may be the leader in NCAA titles now, we Pios are still chasing UND in a number of important categories, especially fan base size, fan base fervency, program budget, attracting top blue chip talent, players sent to the NHL and hockey facilities. In fact, with the UND standards still setting the pace in those critical areas, the Pios don't get to 10 without chasing the leadership of UND. And to be quite honest, DU will likely never catch UND in those other program metrics for a variety of reasons. I have no doubts that UND will soon be back in the NCAA title hunt. There is just too much tradition, pride and excellence tied up in the program not to get there again.

Give Blais the 2024-25 roster and he gets four more wins from better line up cards alone.

Anyone else sick of this crap? College hockey isn't even college hockey anymore, it's a completely different sport when you aren't recruiting a kid to develop them into the best player/person they can be. You're recruiting your commits, your recruiting other teams' players, your recruiting your own players so they don't leave. It's wild. All of it points to a GM position like Schloss brought up with Chyzyk, a head coach can't possibly keep up with all of it and still find the time to develop a strategy to break UMD's forecheck the following week.

It's popular now to disparage everything to do with BB, but the facts don't always agree. I was ready for a change, and for me it was getting dominated by CC and Omaha that did it. But the NCHC titles didn't happen by accident. Good players had to be coached well and play hard to win the league. I haven't looked, but I'm guessing nearly all teams had a worse season than UND's worst season during his tenure. Again, I was ready for the change, but I wish people were kinder to someone who gave a lot to the program.

even better confirmation.

When all is said and done, I think we should pray that Thoreson is ok after that nasty nasty butt-end that he got from Verhoeff. Kid could have been seriously injured...so thoughts and prayers to him for a speedy recovery. /s

How does every thread turn into this?! We’re a top 10 team with a chance to get to 6-2 this weekend!

Many of you know me. I was one of the first ss.com members, joining back in 2002. I have been less active in recent years as, in my opinion, the site has been used more for bitching than talking about UND sports. I also tracked and posted UND football, M&W basketball recruiting efforts for many years. More than 3,500 potential recruits were tracked over those years. I am pleased that the tracking of potential FB recruits has continued. After running seven successful Let's Help Bubba (meaning - let's help UND football) fundraising campaigns, I backed away due to my disappointment/disagreement with UND athletic fundraising efforts. Long story short, I feel better about that area now and will likely become more active again. I had earlier posted that my next fundraising effort would be for an All-American Wall in the new football locker room. It would include pictures and brief stories of our past All-Americans, MVPs, championship teams, etc. It would be professionally done in a first-class manner to impress potential recruits and their parents. We did one of these for Rich Glas many years ago and it proved to be a recruiting asset for his basketball programs back then. I had planned to launch the fundraising for the football Wall this summer. Due to the chaos in college athletic funding right now, we are going to put the Wall on hold for a while. With the 701, 1883 NIL Collective, Champion’s Club, the Cost of Attendance and the recent House Settlement affecting mid-level Division I programs in many (some unknown) ways, the focus for the near term needs to change. UND having adequate funds to attract and retain athletes is the priority right now. Therefore, I am recommending and encouraging individual fans to contribute to one of the UND’s 701 Award funds (scholastic or NIL). The 1883 Collective NIL will still be valuable for businesses who want to take advantage of having UND athletes represent their marketing efforts. However, for fans like you and me, we should be contributing to the 701 Fund. It provides UND with the most flexibility in this challenging time. As you may know, you have the opportunity to direct your NIL funds to specific sports or the athletic program in general. Contributions to the 701 are tax deductible, 1883 donations are not. Personally, I have a concern that some fans/businesses may cut back on their Champion’s Club donations in order to help with the NIL efforts. We can’t allow that to happen as the CC provides the funds for our scholarships. Losing scholarship dollars would have a negative effect. So, I am asking that we all donate a little (hopefully, a lot) extra to help UND Athletics. Setting up monthly contributions to the 701 or 1883 would be great. You can be assured that some of our rivals are making this same plea to their supporters. We cannot be left behind. Many or our competitors have been successful in convincing business owners to contribute on behalf of their business AND make individual contributions as well. Many of our supporters already do this but many don't! Convincing these owners and upper management to do so can make a huge difference in our efforts. Here is the link to the 701 Fund: 701 Award | UND Alumni Association & Foundation | University of North Dakota If you live in the area, I encourage you to attend next Tuesday's meeting at the Ralph sponsored by the GF/EGF Chamber. I expect all the specific ways to contribute will be fully explained. https://d15k2d11r6t6rl.cloudfront.net/pub/8ziy/5krpme5r/kjb/sf0/yz0/UND%20and%20Chamber%20logo.jpg Let's do all we can to assist UND Athletics! If you have any questions or concerns about my message, please PM me.

"When Menghini entered the portal Monday, new coach Dane Jackson called him and said, "'We missed on you the first time. We're not going to let this slip again.'" THIS is the exact stuff I want to hear from Jax. God, I love it.

Berry wasn't a super polished public speaker as well, he got better as he went along but I remember him seeming pretty nervous in his first press conference. Also, give him a little grace. This is the biggest moment in his professional life for a school he's stuck with through it all as opposed to taking a pay raise or promotion to an NHL or AHL job. The part where he got choked up thanking his family so he ended with it got me. I know that feeling.

Hey guys, I've been a lurker on your message board for a number of years now. I finally registered so I can fill out a bracket. I'm a Western Michigan alum. You guys have great college hockey conversations every weekend that I really enjoy following along with during the season. It's been a fun journey to see the respect for my Broncos grow over the years by the North Dakota fanbase. You guys have said a lot of good things about Bump & Fersch this year. Much appreciated. When the Big Ten caused the CCHA/WCHA explosion, I wasn't sure how that would effect my hockey fandom. There were actually Western hockey fans who thought we should've joined the WCHA (now CCHA) instead of the NCHC. I don't think there is any college hockey program that has benefited more by the creation of the NCHC and an invitation than Western. We instantly became the only Michigan school in this elite conference. We no longer had to be little brother to Michigan & Michigan St. I've truly enjoyed becoming a conference rival to all of these new teams...and seeing us leave Miami in the dust. Between our success, Fersch as the HC, and a new arena on the horizon, it's a really fun time to be a fan of Western Michigan hockey. Anyways, just wanted to say hi. I'm sure this will jinx us on Thursday. GO BRONCOS.