AJS

This has been my problem for weeks, it's not that I think there's this huge difference between Cam and Thome, but I didn't think Thome was given a fair shot (that has changed recently obviously). Thome does have things that he needs to work on, but when he's in (look at SV% for the season), he's done a slightly better job than Cam of keeping the puck out of the net. I just want one goalie to get hot (doesn't matter who). Give Thome the net on Friday, if he fails, give Cam a shot until one of them sticks.

What problems does Cam have? For a goalie who's SV % is just slightly north of .90, he must have some.

After seeing every NCHC team play UND, I thought Omaha was the least impressive. That being said, Omaha is a much better home team than road. Still think UND is the better team. Friday night, on CBS Sports Network, I can't picture UND winning. With that in mind, I'd go with a split (the usual, Lose on Friday, Win Saturday). If any team sweeps I'd predict it to be Omaha. I really, really want this team to prove me wrong and actually win a game on Friday.

BCHL Stats: Blaisdell '01 (F): 7-12-19 41GP (Played World Junior A) Keane '97 (F): 7-13-20 42GP Weatherby '98 (F): 34-34-68 52GP (Leading League in Points, Tied 1st Goals) Tychonick '00 (D): 9-32-41 43GP (Played World Junior A, 4th League Defensive scoring, 2nd PPG) Reid '01 (D): 1-12-13 47GP Scheel '99 (G): 2.09 GAA .928 SV% (2nd SV% & GAA) USHL Stats: Senden '98 (F): 9-8-17 41GP Mancinelli '01 (F): 10-8-18 38GP Costello '00 (F): 6-1-7 34GP AJHL Stats: Bernard-Docker '00 (D): 15-18-33 41GP (Played World Junior A) NTDP -18: Hain '00 (F): 7-14-21 37GP NTDP -17: Caulfield '01 (F): 11-10-21 34GP High School Donovan '00 / JR (F) - Duluth East: 11-41-52 24GP Randklev '99 / SR (F) - Moorhead: 21-16-37 23GP Frisch '00 / JR (D) - Moorhead: 5-18-23 23GP Kunz '02 / FR (F) - Red River: 18-15-33 18GP Kleven '02 / SO (D) - Davies: 7-5-12 21PG Other Bowen '02 - Fraser Valley - 8-18-26 19GP (Major Midget League, will finish year in BCHL) Pinto '00 - Selects Academy -5-3-8 7GP Sanderson '02 - Edge School Elite 15s - 10-20-30 22GP

I'll die on the hill that it isn't completely a talent issue with this team, I'm not saying they should be a #1 seed, but we've seen this team be very, very good. They can and have played with the best teams in the country. I also don't think they are that far off from being a good team. Last night was a bad loss, but did anyone think CC was a much better team? With the ups and downs of this year, what I'm losing my mind over is special teams. If nothing else, when this team doesn't make the tournament for the first time in 16 years, you can circle that as the # 1 culprit. It's beyond pathetic, Shaw deserves nothing but blame.

What’s so disappointing is we’ve seen this team look really good this year, there were multiple times this year that I never would have believed this team would be in this situation. Like last year, I think this team is underperforming, I’m looking at the coaching staff.

Apathy has fully set in for me, I would have been more surprised if UND won tonight. UND making CC’s goalie / PK look great is the least surprising thing ever. Let Thome start from here on out and work towards next year, this team is done.

Could JBD even come in next year? He (like Mancinelli) has a June DOB, he might just be a junior in HS this year.

The only two I would truly classify as struggling is Keane and Senden (nothing new with those two), outside of that, Costello would be the only other person, but he's also a HS Senior in his first year in the USHL. I don't think you could classify anyone else outside those three as struggling.

Mancinelli looks like he could be a good one, in his first year in the USHL (either Sophomore or Junior in HS - June DOB), he currently has 10 G 7 A - 17 P in 36 GP. Of that total, in his last 16 GP, he's almost averaging a PPG, with 9 G 5 A for 14 P. Obviously, there's a huge step up from High School / Midget to the USHL, no surprise that it took a while to get comfortable. Seems to be taking off now that he got his feet wet.

Need a sweep.

I've always said, if UND only lost players early to pro contracts, that actually played in the NHL, they would be in great shape every year. Last year, no complaints, lose Boeser, Jost, Poolman, all are collecting NHL paychecks. Losing a guy early like Gerisch (previous year Thompson / Johnson) who in all reality have no shot of playing the NHL that year, really hurts. Still have my fingers crossed they'll only lose Wolanin early. Gerisch returning would be such a big deal.

I remember reading a couple months ago, that it was pretty much a given that Gersich leaves early, but I'm still holding out hope, that the longer we don't see another 2018 recruit, he may change his mind. Right now, UND has 4 for sure forward coming in, taking 4 spots (3 Seniors & Gornall). The incoming forwards being Weatherby, Keane, Senden, Hain. The only two that would be eligible in Costello / Randklev definitely need a year of juniors. Here's to hoping that we don't see another '18 forward commit!

Get ready for a frustrating, no shi*t type post, but here it goes. A lot of my frustration last year, with the ILB's, is although injuries to key players ultimately sunk the position, everybody knew going into the year that it was razor thin. It's crazy to me that you basically had Rodgers and that's it as a proven commodity. Add Larson / Hunt who you like to the mix and Disterhaupt, who was too undersized to begin with. After that you pretty much had nobody that should be playing. I just can't understand why they didn't bring in anybody else. Now, looking at next years defense, let's check off the boxes. If you're looking at Safety / Secondary as a huge, huge issue, is this not priority #1? My first sentence about, no sh*t type post applies to that question, because it obviously probably is. I just hope the coaching staff is doing everything they can to bring in 1 more Safety that can make an impact. I can understand how injuries can derail a certain position if they add up, but I'll never understand not being prepared at the beginning of the year to put your team in position to succeed. Being one injury away from disaster (i.e. ILB last year).

"Maybe the best news? My predictive two-deep at inside linebacker features four players who played a total of eight games for UND a year ago. Maybe that sounds strange as a positive, but I think it is considering the results." Miller isn't breaking any news, but this is why I'm extremely optimistic that defensively, last year will be an abnormal blip for UND's defense. Thinking back to games like USD / Montana State where they could run up the middle at will. That won't happen this year. Rankings are obviously subjective, but on a 1-10 scale (10 being the best), what's everyone's rankings for this team defensively: 2016: 7 2017: 3 2018: 7 Does anyone think they'll be back to how they were in 2016? Slightly worse? Slightly better?

By what metric? I'm not saying Thome should play from here on out, or that he's a huge upgrade from Johnson, but I also don't think that Johnson with his play this year (the guy has a .906 SV%) should automatically be the guy. Johnson played well this weekend and I'm all for starting him Friday against CC, but if he has a bad game and Thome plays well the next night, just don't automatically start Johnson after that. Edit: Play the best goalie, regardless of class, I'm just not convinced Johnson is better.

Whatever weakness Thome has, he still has a better SV % than Cam (they are close .913 vs .906). I just think it'd be crazy to play Cam no matter what, given his very mediocre numbers. This isn't saying play Thome every night, but given where we are at, I'd prefer to go with whichever goalie gets hot.

Did you forget how well Cam played his Sophomore year? Do I think they'll get swept if Cam is playing, no, but I am in the corner that there isn't a big difference between Cam / Thome. If both are healthy, I'd like to see them split time and whoever plays better takes over. If that's Thome, then he should be the one in net.

Interesting! Does GF have a Jackson Kunz type player this year, or overall depth (or both)?

I'm actually optimistic going into tonight's game. You'd think otherwise given (1) Special teams in Duluth (2) Playing on CBS Sports (3) Playing Denver who has as much talent as anyone in the country. All these factors are going against UND, but I tend to believe that everything evens out. (1) Special teams can't be as bad as it was last weekend, Duluth's PP percentage was absurd (2) They can't lose every single game they play on CBS Sports, can they? It's time for Cam to step up and possibly steal a game for UND. They need to come out with urgency and play like their season is on the line.

Saying this is a big weekend is an understatement. They need to have a playoff like mentality this weekend. Need to win on Friday.

The blame for their recent play isn't on just a few people, but on the group. That being said, it's frustrating that it appears if you have a letter, you're in the line-up, no matter what. Looking at Simo / Olson, who should be fair game to sit (because they aren't very good), but instead you have guys like Mismash / Adams, who have talent in the stands every other night. Berry, maybe mix in 11 & 10.

Here’s my one huge frustration with Berry (and Hakstol before), it’s clear special teams is a complete disaster, I don’t want coach talk or his normal “we just need to get one to go” quotes. Something is wrong, (1) Figure it out (2) Fix it — a little transparency would be nice, explaining what is wrong and how they plan on addressing the issue. Take some accountability. Year is far from over, but it needs to get fixed now.

Well its sucked for 20 years, so I wouldn’t count on it.

Cam and Special Teams night 2