AJS

Those are the only two names I can say with certainty will never not be in the lineup.

I’d like to talk about Denver for a minute, they are the worst Top 10 team in NCAA history, what they’ve done is remarkable.

Classic. One more night of the season! This can’t come soon enough.

They practiced in Colorado Springs this afternoon and with the interstate now being open, I'm guessing they are making the quick bus drive up to Denver as I write this, if they aren't already there.

That's correct, they also don't have a single '03 American recruit, so they wouldn't have anyone who is eligible. I still cannot believe they only have one '03 recruit currently.

That's all it takes, win the game you should, they played a lot of games against teams 40 or lower, they went 13-1 in those games. 4-0 against teams in the 30s. So, 17-1 against teams they should won. 4-11-1 against everyone else. I've said it before, a sweep against Alabama Huntsville is still better than a split against a Top 10 team. That 17-1 record is pretty remarkable though against poor teams.

Looking at the "conference" part of their schedule last year, the team gave up an average of 21.75 points. Basically split pretty evenly into good / bad type performances (ST's TDs given up counting as well into the total). Overall, not spectacular, but also pretty respectable overall. To take it one step further, adding DE's, the players on the two-deep (or that played) that won't be on the team this fall, Harris (CB), Palmborg (OLB), Williams (ILB), Cieslak (DE). That's pretty remarkable though, 5 of the 6 positional groups being accounted for, only losing 3 starters total and 1 depth player, spread very evenly, no position losing more than one. All 5 of those positions should be in good shape heading into next year. Of course, I left out the NG position. The big question mark heading into next year.

You're correct there. That single game though is a microcosm of how I see things currently between the two athletic programs. As a #4 seed, is anyone surprised by the outcome of the Summit league tournament after SDSU lost? Could anyone picture if the roles were reversed, UND being able to string together three in a row and winning the conference tournament? 2016 was a great year, but also clearly an outlier. Things after have been really bad, like as bad as I can remember. They weren't that great before for non-hockey related sports either. This is far from "luck" obviously, so I don't want it to come off like that, but it's just frustrating watching NDSU during big games, close games, always seems to come out on top and UND (outside of 2016) is the complete opposite. Yes, it's one game, but like I said right away. UND plays Omaha last night, do they win? *I take back the complete losers comment*

I knew my post would probably hit a nerve with some people, but I'll never understand responses like this. Like not at all. I guess you're taking offense to the term "complete loser", probably harsh, but again, have no idea how anyone could correlate that to quitting, but I guess there's at least one. My overall sentiment stands, UND athletics is in as bad of a spot as I've ever seen it, it's genuinely concerning. Could anyone even picture what happened to the NDSU basketball team this year happen at UND? Never. It's an overall culture thing.

Couldn't agree more.

Congrats to NDSU, for me, it's gone from pure frustration / anger during the beginning of this miraculous run they've been on, to more just shrug of the shoulders. Definitely jealous of the success that institution has had. How truly embarrassing for UND, these schools have never been farther apart, one is a winner and one is a complete loser.

Which is why I have my fingers crossed about him sticking around. There's four new players coming in that could put him in a much better situation. I said it earlier, but Rizzo seems like the perfect guy to put him with.

Absolutely. Like the tweet said, huge for ILB depth, now not only returning both starters, but also 2 of the first 3 backups. Haas back will also be a big boost to the OLB position. Is this correct, from the back 7 last year are the only players they lost, that played, Harris (CB), Palmborg (OLB) and Williams (ILB)?

Of course, you're correct with this, he isn't going to do something that he knows would hurt the team, but still, somethings don't make sense. Especially Yon being on a power play unit, I mean come on.

As far as UND goes, this is the first year in a long time that there's no definite flight risk. I look at four as potentials. Poolman, Mismash, JBD, Adams (transfer). I have a good feeling that the first three will be back next year, I wouldn't have had Adams on the list, except for the past couple weeks. Like anytime we talk about players leaving early, it's so key to keep them an extra year. Poolman / JBD are Top pair quality players (as are Kierstad / Bast), we've seen Tychonick really coming into his own as well. Returning 6 guys on defense would be huge, they would have the chance to be the best defensive unit in college hockey next year. Mismash still has so much talent, is a legitimate Top line guy. Adams has the talent, just needs higher caliber players to play with. He's one that could really blow up in the right situation.

I can see Adams potentially leaving too and unlike Wilkie and Murphy, this one is going to really bother me. It's so clear the talent is there, he just needs to be with the right guys (see Rizzo next year). How he isn't with Kawaguchi right now is so frustrating. Even more frustrating seeing 29 getting stuck with Yon and Bowen. Or Yon / Johnson getting power play time for some reason. It appears to me like Berry is playing favorites with local players who clearly aren't even close to the same caliber as player. The big question is why, because it doesn't make any sense. It sounds conspiracyish, but it's like Berry knows he screwed up with the Junior class and instead of admitting it, he's going to give them every benefit (Bowen, Johnson, Yon being local guys) and opportunity to try to get them going (which isn't going to happen). It leaves a guy like Adams on the outside.

Is it still a higher scoring league than the USHL, yes, but the overall numbers have steady decreased over the years in the BCHL. Newhook (Top 10 pick) is the only guys putting up ridiculous numbers and there is only other who is above 1.50 PPG. Really looking at the Top 20, the PPG is just slightly better than the USHL this year. I always make a point when looking at a guy like Rizzo / Blaisdell (who still have good numbers), that they are still Seniors in High school. For guys that have played over 30 games, Blaisdell is 13th in PPG, Rizzo 21st. 14 Guys in the Top 20 have a DOB either 98 or 99, 3 guys '00, Newhook / Campbell are the 01's who are ahead of them in PPG.

I think everyone is correct, the number is one, that's the number of losses UND has over the next two possible weekends for a shot at an at large birth. If the Denver series goes to three games (and they win of course), then it'll take the NCHC tournament championship and the autobid. It'll be a fun weekend of following games, there's just so many things that can alter the conversation night to night.

Given the circumstances UND is in, being on the road and currently 18th in the PWR, this is as good of a matchup as UND could have hoped for. We've seen them play Denver four times and they carried play in three of them (leading to 0 wins and 1 point). Denver also has an NCAA bid locked up, no matter how they do this weekend. There is that mental component where you have one team playing for their NCAA lives and the other who's not, which will be an advantage to UND. Denver is currently #7 in the pairwise, UND can potentially make up a lot of ground this weekend. Denver has also struggled in the 2nd half of the season. There's a lot of things to really like in this matchup, given how this season has gone, I'm probably irrationally confident in UNDs chances this weekend. I like UND in three games. Win and advance. That scenario will most likely lead to UND needing to win the NCHC tournament to get a birth, since any chance at an at large bid, I see only one loss in the NCHC tourney to have a shot.

Do you not follow this at all? Wouldn't take your long to find out UND does have current recruits from Minnesota.

Bowen probably earned himself a spot on the power play after that boneheaded play. You have to have two things to be immune from potentially sitting, no matter what. 1) You have to suck 2) Be local... if you have the combination of both, you're good.

I'm in this boat, where I think the problem is more with the talent on the roster than with the system. We've talked ad nauseam about the Junior class, but it's a genuine problem. It appears starting next year that Berry has learned from this problem, with the forwards that are lined up, so it's really wait and see mode with this offense. Some talk about guys who put up big numbers in Juniors that haven't materialized, which is true, but when you look at this forward group, it probably isn't as big as it may seem. Contributing: Kawaguchi, Jones Falls into that category: Adams, Mismash, Hoff, Weatherby, Gardner, JJ -- outside of Hoff, you can make an argument there's still significant upside with Adams (needs the right linemates), Mismash (had a solid Freshman season with 22 points, hurt most second half) and Weatherby (Freshman). Gardner outside of this year has had a solid (not great) career offensively, but like the rest of the team is having his worst year offensively of his career. Solid Juniors: Hain - Meeting expectations for his Freshman year, but should have been looked at as a Solid 3rd liner on a good team. I don't know what you expected category (Freshman): Senden, Keane -- Senden has wildly outplayed expectations. Keane has been fine, given his junior stats I don't know what you expected: Smith, Bowen, Yon, Johnson After breaking it down, it's a little more 50/50, but my thought still stands on the roster construction. You can't have that many in the 'I don't know what you expected category'. The chances of a guy who doesn't materialize is much higher than someone who can't score in Juniors magically finding a scoring touch in college.

This will sound dumb, given they've won the last two games, but my concern with Berry is I still don't believe he's maximizing the potential of this team with his line combinations. I understand this team is offensively challenged, but what doesn't help is putting the leading scorer with two offensive anchors. You can't spread out the scoring when this team can't score to begin with. Did we find out if Adams is hurt? If not, there's no reason he shouldn't be in the line up. This team needs Mismash to get back to full game action and Adams back in the lineup.

Agreed. Also, Shaw has quietly had a really good Senior year.

Johnson on one power play unit, Yon on the other, I feel like I'm going insane. It's like this coaching staff is hand picking the worst units they can. This coaching staff cannot be criticized enough in my mind.