Kevin G

You equate being quiet with censorship? Time to step away from the keyboard.

Yes, yes he does!

I was going to say that Ness needs to be in the lineup…but then I remembered.

I only saw part of the game, but that was some terrific hocky. You could tell how much that game meant to both sides.

The Ocho?

Ness works hard, always moving his feet. Excellent team player.

As she should be.

Here's a link to Brian Shaughnessy's Frozen in Time on Amazon. (When I searched for his book on Amazon, a whole bunch of other books with the same title appeared.)

Good grief. Not only is the initial crosscheck to the back of the head worthy of a major penalty, so too is the follow-up punch to the back of the head. Maybe there's more to it or something, but what the video shows is pretty bush-league, IMO.

Ahhh...I was wondering why there was no chatter regarding Blake's goal. I rarely leave the "Men's Hockey" lounge.

Jackson Blake scored in USA's 5-2 win over Finland in a pre-tournament warmup game.

So far this year has been disappointing. So out of curiosity (and hockey boredom) I decided to compare this year's team to Berry's other teams. (Note: I copied and pasted the data from an Excel spreadsheet. Hopefully this works...) A comparison of each of Brad Berry's eight teams: Goals Scored/Game Goals Allowed/Game Goal margin/game Win % PWR 2015-16 3.68 1.84 +1.84 0.818 3 2016-17 3.18 2.60 +0.58 0.562 10 2017-18 2.93 2.38 +0.55 0.571 14 2018-19 2.51 2.43 +0.08 0.514 20 2019-20 3.86 1.94 +1.92 0.800 1 2020-21 3.93 1.97 +1.96 0.776 2 2021-22 3.05 2.59 +0.46 0.628 7 average 3.31 2.25 +1.06 0.710 8 2022-23 3.42 3.16 +0.26 0.474 21 A few takeaways: THREE ONE SIX. The current team's Goals Allowed/Game sticks out like a sore thumb. We haven't seen anything like it in Berry's tenure, and it's not particularly close. It's essentially a goal more per game than the average of Berry's seven other teams. Honestly, the biggest takeaway for me has to do with the 2019-20 and 2020-21 teams. I had already forgotten how good those two teams were. Just look at how they compare with the 2015-16 team. You remember correctly: That 2018-19 team just couldn't buy a goal. Hopium: There is still time to improve defensively this season, and (more hopium) I would submit that it's more realistic to improve defensively within a season than to suddenly find a bunch of extra scoring. Last bit of hopium: The last time Berry fielded a mediocre team (2018-19), he followed it up with two of the best seasons (albeit without a championship) in UND hockey history.

I like the optimism. Although I have to wonder, are Gopher fans likely to make the 240-mile drive to Fargo...when they won't even cross the street to watch their team at Mariucci?

Just looking through USHL stats page, and I noticed one of the top defensemen in terms of +/- is Brasen Boser from Minot, currently playing for the Fargo Force. His low point total suggests stay-at-home defenseman. Currently uncommitted, according to his USHL page. Anyone seen him skate? Thoughts on his ceiling?

After looking through a bunch of the stats, there is much more going well for this team than I thought. Special teams, face-offs, and team scoring are solid. We have good balance; every line can contribute something offensively. Penalty-wise the team is pretty disciplined. Team defense and goaltending just have to get much better. IMO, reducing defensive zone turnovers needs to be priorities one, two, and three. Also, Karl needs to work his coaching magic with DeRidder and Hellsten.

At the mid-season break: Games: 19 games (plus one exhibition) completed. 16 games (plus one exhibition) to go. Record: 7-8-4 overall. 3-5-2 in conference. 4-4-1 at home. 3-3-3 on the road. 0-1-0 on neutral ice. Points leaders: Blake (21), Jandric (20), Gaber (19). Goals leaders: Gaber (11), Blake (9), Hain (8), Caulfield (7). Assists leaders: Jandric (18), Blake (12), Gaber (8), McLaughlin (8). Plus/minus leaders: Caulfield (+7), Jandric (+5), James (+4), Sidorski (+4). Plus/minus laggards: Frisch (-9), McLaughlin (-8), Blake (-7), Kleven (-7). Goaltending: DeRidder 2.86 GAA, .890 SV%, over 671 minutes. Hellsten, 3.13 GAA, .859 SV%, over 479 minutes. Team Scoring: 3.4 Goals/Game (10th nationally) Team Defense: 3.2 Goals Allowed/Game (45th nationally) .873 SV% (59th nationally) Special teams: PP: 28.0% (3rd nationally) PK: 89.4% (10th nationally) Face-offs: 53.1% (11th nationally) Penalty minutes per game: 10.3 (36th nationally)

According to WMU's website, Lawson seats 3667. The Lunatics are very active. The PA guy is regularly addressing them by name. "Lunatics, it's time to get loud..."

IMO the lines he used this weekend should pretty much be kept intact moving forward.

Talked to Costantini tonight; he said he just got shaken up on that hit last night but otherwise was healthy. Sitting out tonight was just precautionary.

Not saying the season depends on this upcoming period, but winning it would be a good way to go into the break.

I do believe I heard one of our players say as he came off the ice, "This ice is f***** sh**!"

Yes

Coach Ferschweiler (sp?) thinking about how to stop Gaber.

Saw Matteo in a suit a little while ago. Didn't see a cast on any appendage, so hopefully nothing is broken.

WMU students chanting "You're not the Sioux!" as we walked into the arena. Good energy here! Lots of kelly green around town today.