AJS
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Posts posted by AJS
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3 hours ago, The Sicatoka said:
And that's even if you are Number 12 in fewest goals allowed per game (same link, scroll, 2.38 GAPG).
The defense needs to at minimum hold serve (be as good as this season) and the offense needs to pick it up in 2018-19.Let's concentrate on this team defensively next year. They lose Wolanin, who was their best player, but return everyone else. When looking at how a team will do year to year, what has me optimistic that they will hold serve or be better is they only lost one.
Wolanin- PoolmanShaw - Bast
Peski - Kierstad
Rieger - Johnson (?)
You have 5 players from the starting lineup (plus 2 others who've played) returning, two of the starters being freshman this past year. As a group, they should improve enough to pick up the slack for Wolanin. You bring in Tychonick who by pretty much every metric is their best defensive recruit they've had since Schmaltz. 1st team all BCHL, PPG during regular season, averaging 1.63 PPG in the playoffs, sure fire 2nd round pick in the upcoming draft.
Tychonick - Poolman (Not as dominant as the 1st D-pair last year)
Shaw - Bast (Better)
Peski - Kierstad (Better)
My money as a group, they will be better.
Goaltending:
WIth a solid defense, I think SV% is much more important that GAA, both Thome and Johnson were at .910, which is solid, but not great. Scheel was 2nd team all BCHL, good number (.927) in the regular season, slipped a little in the playoffs.
Like this year, they'll have two solid goalies, I'm sure we'll see them trade off at the beginning of the year.
Overall, you lose Johnson and Wolanin and pick up Scheel / Tychonick. The Scheel / Tychonick combination has to be one of the better G / D incoming combinations in the country.
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32 minutes ago, runaroundsioux said:
Just to get this straight. After complaining all season about UND not having enough high end draft picks, we are now complaining about early departures? Can't have one without the other.
First, that's absolutely not true. My frustration is lately (see past 3 years), is the wide discrepancy between players leaving early between UND and its peers. Frustration is probably the wrong word, it's more jealousy, other teams for whatever reason haven't had to experience it to even close to the same level as UND on as consistent of a basis. I'm not saying UND should change their recruiting at all, it'd just be nice to have one year (see Duluth 2 years ago, SCSU, Denver, Minnesota last year), where everything breaks your way in the early departure front.
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14 minutes ago, tnt said:
Lingren is already gone. Would there be other threats outside of Mittelstadt and Novak?
Sheehy was an All-American after his Sophomore year, but his production fell off last year. It doesn't feel like they'll lose anyone else, besides Lindgren. For the Top programs, you'll see some get hit harder than others each year, it's all a cycle, this current one though is getting pretty frustrating. I know it's not the case, but it seems like UND (& BC / BU) are the only teams consistently getting hit year after year with early departures.
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Reading how many early departures UND has had over the past 3 years and how that compares to other teams was pretty shocking. You can't put enough emphasis on keeping that number down.
I'll be closely watching SCSU and UMD, only because I believe it's a lock that Denver loses Borgstrom, Gambrell and Terry.
Would be nice for teams outside of the NCHC to really get hit this year. Minnesota is one I'll watch closely too, they only lost 1 last season in which they were a #1 seed.
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41 minutes ago, The Sicatoka said:
Off-season homework:
1. If there are issues in the room, resolve them. Everyone pulls on the same rope in the same direction.
I truly believe these issues played a direct role in the complete difference in 1st and 2nd half performance for this team. We've all read the rumors, trying to be as general as possibly, but this off-season will work positively in cleaning up that issue.
Included in this, I trust the staff in making decisions that will positively affect this team next year. If that means other players (pure speculation) have to leave, if it's attitude or school, then so be it. It's crucial that the team that's here next year is all on the same page, with the same goals and the same attitude.
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7 minutes ago, TheFlop said:
They aren't just rumors on this board. If even 5-6 guys on the team like Bowen better it could lead to a fractured locker room again.
Speaking generally, the obvious positive to an off-season is if players aren't the right fit or there are issues like happened last year, this is the time they can be truly fixed.
The locker room chemistry should be much better next year. I love the quotes from both Gardner and Jones, those two will be part of a great leadership group.
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14 hours ago, franchise said:
Or Gersich and Adams leave and then Hain is on the 2nd line
14 hours ago, Oxbow6 said:I think you might be on to something here....................
Is Adams leaving actually happening or is that pure speculation?
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Given the news coming out yesterday, we know what's going to happen with Jones, Poolman and Wolanin. Waiting on Garnder / Gersich how is everyone feeling now? I always thought Gersich / Wolanin would be the only two that leave early, but I'm slightly more optimistic about Gersich. I still wouldn't bet on it, but I'm happy that we really haven't heard much at all.
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50 minutes ago, The Sicatoka said:
I never thought I'd say this but here it is:
Rhett Gardner is more important to return than Shane Gersich.Shane just seemed disengaged on the ice this year. It was probably the difference between having teams focus on Schmaltz and Boeser (not him) and now being the focus and at times shut down. He disappeared for long stretches.
And the numbers don't lie: Look at the second half record with and without Gardner in the lineup.
Hard to argue with that fact.
I was surprised when looking at the stats that Gersich finished with 29 points, which was only 8 less than last year. Really hope we don't have to try to replace his 29 points.
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Assuming that the potential early signees are now Wolanin, Gardner & Gersich, it's critical that 1 of the 3 return. To over simplify it, if one returns, I'd put them in the pre-season 10-15. If two of the three return, I believe they should be a pre-season top 10.
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22 minutes ago, The Sicatoka said:
We as fans (and coaches?) fall in love with the "hard-working third and fourth line" guys.
Well, right about now it feels like we have 12 or 15 forwards that are bottom six guys.Traditionally, post-sophomore year is when guys are 'evaluated' and may move on.
This with Adams, Tambellini being the exception, it's rare to see guys leave after their Freshman year (or during in Tambellini's case), because of playing time. If things are the same after his Sophomore year, then I'm sure there would be a discussion. I'd be shocked if Adams left.
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6 minutes ago, SiouxFan25 said:
Thought about that, but if scoring is tough to come by again next year I think it’d be hard to justify him. He is someone to consider though
I don't think you'd find a UND fan that would disagree with you, except unfortunately, for the head coach. If Senden plays solid D and has absolutely no scoring touch, he won't see the bench his four years.
Edit: Still frustrated with Johnson playing forward down the stretch while others (Hoff, Adams) were in the stands.
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Kawaguchi (5-14-19) - Jones (15-15-30) - Mismash (9-13-22)
This line was very good down the stretch for UND, for having two first year players, those aren't terrible stat lines. This was the 2nd line last year and a pretty good one, could they be a legit #1 line with a year under their belts? If not, UND will have a better 2nd line than they had this year.
Start with that line and start filling in the pieces once we know who's staying and who's going.
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Here's when players made their decisions last year.
Season Ended 03/24
- Boeser - Signed 03/25
- Jost - Signed 03/29
- Poolman - Signed 03/30
- Poganski / Gersich - Said they were returning 04/05
Last year everything happened pretty quickly, Schmaltz didn't sign until June 30th the previous year.
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8 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:
Going forward we’re going to start seeing more and more auto bids. She. You have 1-2 (maybe) ranked teams in most conferences that spells trouble. The of getting in he top 15 are over. If you’re not 13 you’re not getting in.
Agreed, this year will end up being a little out of the ordinary, where I don't think you'll see 13 also get picked off, but I'd say goodbye to 14 from now on. This year was the perfect storm that was set up weeks prior with the Big Ten completely blowing up the PWR rankings with Minnesota / Notre Dame going 0-6 causing Penn State and Michigan to jump into contention.
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What's everyone's predictions on who leaves early? Schlossman named the four who are the most likely in Wolanin, Gersich, Poolman and Gardner. Will there be a Wilkie type that leaves for more playing time?
We all realize this is the game UND has to play to attract the top talent, but what's frustrating is after a year where they miss the tournament, there's still possibly four early departures. Looking at the college hockey landscape, besides BU & BC over the last couple of years, no other team has come close to having to replace more players consistently. It's tough, constantly turning over the roster like they have. Just one year of not getting hit hard would do wonders for the team the following year.
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4 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:
If Colton returns the blueline will be solid. Rieger, minus the huge mistake Friday, will be a solid 4 year guy........as will Peski and Kiersted. Throw in Bast and Shaw. There's your 6. Casey is a defenseman........period.
Tychonick should be an instant impact player as well, he'll be young, but has put together as good of a draft year campaign as an incoming freshman dman has had in a long time. Poolman definitely is the X-factor though, he's so good, would be tough to lose him early.
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I'll start with coaching, what has me slightly concerned is the last two years I would put in the "underachieved" category. They basically made the tournament by one game last year and missed it by one this year. Far from terrible years, but much too inconsistent. This was the first year, that I've ever really questioned the line-ups UND went with, if given the choice, everyone is taking the Saturday lineup this past weekend over Friday afternoons. I'll never understand putting Johnson at Forward and basically having two lines that can't score, while leaving some of the guys they did in the stands.
Next year, my hope relies on a couple things (1) Addition by subtraction - from a talent standpoint, there were a couple Seniors that saw big ice time, that will be easily replaced on the score sheet. Either by incoming freshman or players with another year under their belts. (2) Summer and time off fixes the locker room issues, not putting this all on the leadership group this year, but hopefully a change of guard, they can hit the reset button.
There was a lot to like with this years team, as disappointing as it was, they were close to being a really good team. They took the #1 team in the country to OT three of their last six games. Played Denver close every game. Had a very solid start to the season. They just couldn't put everything together consistently enough.
The outlook for next year will be much clearer once decisions are made from Gersich, Wolanin, Gardner and Poolman. They won't all stay, but if they did, they'd be a Top 5 team next year. Right now, I'd be happy if two of the four stay.
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17 minutes ago, NoDaks said:
Trying to maintain hope, but based on how this year has gone UND will finally beat UMD say 3-2, but won't get help. Season ends today.
This is my line of thinking as well, as bad of a year as I can remember to be on the bubble. Minnesota / Notre Dame going 0-6 a few weeks back allowing Michigan / Penn State to jump into the conversation was just the beginning.
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I don’t know how you can’t question Berry’s line up decision making. This loss is on him. No way they are a better team w/ Johnson at Forward, Rieger on D and Adams / Hoff in the stands.
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7 minutes ago, tnt said:
Or better yet, maybe Cam told Wolanin he should stay his Senior season and become a free agent. O.k., not too realistic, but I can see them doing that to make room for Docker. I would imagine he is moving up rather than down in Central Scouting, so get your years out of him while you can. Sounds very mature for his age in his educational and community dealings.
@Goon posted an interesting quote from a scout about Wolanin on his blog. Basically, Wolanin can become a free agent after this year and the belief is he will.
Edit: http://thesportsdaily.com/goonsworld-blog/corey-pronman-discusses-wolanin-and-poolman/
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1 minute ago, scpa0305 said:
Right. Typically the cutoff is August, each kid is different. You’d think, given his Hockey skills, he would have sped things up a bit. It’s been a while since I’ve heard of a kid potentially going hat high playing another year of juniors. Hopefully CHL folks don’t come knocking...I wonder who has his rights?
I'm with you where I couldn't imagine a 2nd / 3rd rounder playing Juniors of any sort, or the NHL team that drafts him being ok with that. The question then is (1) Is he done with school (2) Alright playing Juniors one more year (3) If he wants to come in, besides Wolanin, who's out
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8 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:
He’s a June birthday...only several months younger than tychonik. Parents must have held him back in school. I’d say they finish that schooling up. Couldn’t imagine a second rounder going back to play juniors...especially the AJ.
That's how grades work, June is one of those in-between months, where it can go either way, March would not be.
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2 minutes ago, jdub27 said:
Gave them a good game, that effort would have won them quite a few more this year. Everyone (hopefully) back except Dale. Add in Moody, McCauley and Bijiek and head to the Summit.
What's the feeling with this? Hopefully not a repeat of last year where any and everyone who can grad transfer does.
Early Departures 2018
in Men's Hockey
Posted
Good luck to Shane, he signed and won't be on the team next year, not sure why it's necessary to continue with the "rumors". Not that they aren't valid, but what's the point now?