AJS

Do you think Miami had more grade A chances than UND last night? UND did get some dirty goals, but Miami's goalie also made some unbelievable saves. I thought UND overall definitely had the better chances.

They will be a lot are available when I logged in.

I believe that, but like I said, better to get these games under his belt after a solid weekend in Wisconsin (has to happen sometime). With non-conference games almost more important than conference games as far as PWR are concerned, you probably couldn't ask for a better opponent to have your home opener against. Far from an easy opponent and these will be close games, but IMO better Miami than pretty much any other NCHC opponent.

This will really pay dividends down the road and will ultimately make this team much stronger if it is indeed just a couple week injury and he's fully healthy against Denver. Gets Thome game reps that he really needed, first on the road and now at home. Took him about a period to settle down last weekend, wouldn't surprise me if his home start is similar. Better to start checking these boxes off now.

Every persons definition of blue-chip varies a little, for me it's a sure fire first rounder. We really don't know since most of the recruits are still a few years off from being draft eligible and things can change quickly the older they get (see Mattson). Tychonick's current draft ranking on a few sites puts him in the 30s, which is borderline 1st, but most likely a 2nd round pick. For their age groups, I'd put potential blue-chippers as 00's - Tychonick, Donovan 01's - Reid, Caulfield 02's Kunz, Kleven, Bowen Edit: There are some very talented players I didn't include that will end up being great college hockey players.

BCHL Stats: Blaisdell '01 (F): 4-8-12 19GP Keane '97 (F): 4-6-10 17GP Tychonick '00 (D): 4-6-10 17GP Reid '01 (D): 1-7-8 16GP Scheel '99 (G): 5-5-0-1 2.38 GAA .924 SV% USHL Stats: Senden '98 (F): 2-2-4 11GP Mattson '98 (F): 3-2-5 11GP Mancinelli '01 (F): 1-0-1 9GP Costello '00 (F): 2-1-3 10GP AJHL Stats: Bernard-Docker '00 (D): 3-6-9 16GP NTDP -18: Hain '00 (F): 1-7-8 13GP NTDP -17: Caulfield '01 (F): 6-6-12 10GP

I took a lot of positives out of last nights game, the final score looked lopsided, but (like most games this year) it kind of snowballed. Yesterday, it was a combination of what has to be the worst 3rd / 4th down defense in the country as far as % of getting a stop and uncharacteristically bad turnovers by Studsrud and the inability to pick up the 4th and short. You make a stop and you get that yard and it's a potential 14 point swing on two plays. As bad as the defense was, it could have easily been 28-27 UND early in the 3rd. Simply put, the defense will be night and day better next year, it won't be even close. The weaknesses that opponents have exploited all year won't be there with the injured players at full health. At full health, they'll be great, but even with injuries, it can't be to the level it is this year and they'll still be greatly improved.

Agreed, I should have clarified since I thought they'd be the strength of the team as well, but I never thought they'd be at this level. This defensive unit is at a rare "elite" status this year, definitely one of the Top 5 collective units in the country.

Neither should have been a penalty shot. Overall, a very good weekend, I'll take 1-0-1 on the road any day against a solid opponent. Fortunate bounce on Gerisch goal negates the awful give away by Simonson on Wisconsin's second. UND was the better team this weekend. Biggest take away from the weekend is UND has a solid #2 in net with Thome. He fought the puck a little Friday, which is expected, but personally felt very comfortable with him in net tonight. Nothing against Pups the last couple years, but feel confident much more comfortable with Thome in net. No worries about goaltending this year with either Cam or Thome. I'd like to see a show of hands if anyone thought UND would be in this position defensively this year after watching the unit last year at any point most of the season. The step that Peski and Johnson have made in a year truly is remarkable. They are flat out really good college defenseman. I really think they are nipping at the heals of the 2016 defense unit. The top 4 was probably better that year, but I'd take Bast / Johnson over Thompson and either a freshman Shaw / Wolanin for the 3rd D-pair. This team can roll four lines, again solid tonight, Wisco goalie was on, but the opportunities were there tonight. This will be a fun team to follow the rest of the way.

I was very, very impressed with the way they looked tonight. I couldn't pick out one guy that looked off or was a step behind. What a difference these new guys are making, Jones does everything right, love watching him play, Mismash looks like he could be the best forward on the team come Christmas and Adams has consistently been a difference maker. Bast is phenomenal on the back end and Thome was solid in his first start. This night had to happen, Cam is the guy, but it was great to see Thome get some action. Slow start which is understandable, but he hung in and ended up having a very good first collegiate start. I'd like to see him get his game this year. Great win, tomorrow has huge implications as a non-conference sweep on the road will do wonders for UND's pairwise down the road.

Correct, his freshman year, he would have been around the # 5 /6 dman on the team at the time. Schmaltz, Ladeu, Stecher, Ausmus & maybe Thompson ahead of him at the time.

Much easier, I would never move the best dman to forward, I'd start with whoever would be the #7 dman that night and move him to the 4th line.

I like it too, I'd go with Pogo - Gardner - Smith Adams - Jones - Gersich Mismash - Hoff - JJ Olson - Bowen - XX

I think if we look at the incomers, although it's early, this has been a pretty strong class as far as being ready to go as freshman. You can take out Jones who's a transfer, but he's been probably better than advertised. Adams / Mismash / Bast / Kierstad have all had strong starts to their careers. Maybe it has something to do with how the returners have started (more looking offensively, defensively the team has been great), but Adams / Mismash definitely don't look out of place and have been consistently in the top 6. Throw in Jones who does center the 2nd line with Mismash / Adams and overall you couldn't have asked for much more out of the 1st year players. Kawaguchi has seemed to be the one that's struggled with the step up in competition. but the others will get even stronger with the way they've started once they get more games under their belts.

Pogo was 5th on the team in scoring last year with 25 points (12 G 13 A) as well as 5th as Sophomore with 25 points (10 G 15 A), he has offensive ability, he's just having an historically slow start. He'll find his way this year.

The only true concern I have right now is with the coaching staff and that being Bubba and Rudy. My hope is Rudy is dismissed after this year as I believe this team will never be able to truly see it's potential with him as OC. What's concerning about it though and I don't know the answer, is how much does Bubba have to say in the offensive game plan. I know it's Bubba ball and he wants to run the ball, which is fine, but the offense having zero creativity, if running isn't working, pass to open up the run and not always the other way around. Will a new OC even matter if he's taking marching orders from Bubba? This year though in a nutshell for me is UND's opponents doing a great job of attacking UND's weaknesses due to injuries. This is a lost year, but if even somewhat healthy at certain positions (ILB / CB), the problem isn't their. Teams are either running up the middle or passing the ball in #12's direction at will. I will have no worries about the ILB / CB position next year. Fix the offensive play calling and this team is back in the playoffs. We talk about lack of depth this year, which is true, but this will pay dividends starting next year.

This, a conference road split is fine. Like @Oxbow6 said though, tonight they need to win. This team does have offensive talent, I think right now it's up to the coaches to find combinations that work. This team has a lot going for it, a very, very good defense & goaltending will keep them in every game. When they find the line combinations, they'll win a lot of hockey games. Coming into the year, I thought they'd be better than last year (4th in league & 10th overall). At this point, I'd double down on that. We all know what Johnson can do with a solid defense in front of him and he has it. I expect this team to have a #1 seed when it's all said and done.

My vote would be for JJ, keep in 29.

UND sits at 4-2-1 and UND hasn't given up more than 2 goals in a game, that's a huge problem, any team with a pulse should be able to score 2 goals. Terrible everything in the first two periods, played well in the 3rd, just couldn't score. Great effort out of Gersich tonight, he was everywhere. Need to find him some new linemates. Need to win tomorrow night, but splits against a team that won't make the playoffs (CC won't), isn't going to cut it.

For whatever it's worth he follows both Berry and UND Hockey Tradition on twitter and they both follow him. He doesn't appear to follow any other college coaches or teams. Does follow both Cawlidge Hawkey Insider and College Hockey Inc. He was given one of two A+ rankings by Jeff Cox of SBNCollegehockey.com during his performance in the BU Prep Showcase. Cox scouting report. SHEPARD, COLE #9 White, 2/1/02, Forward, Shoots Left, Delta Hockey Academy The West Vancouver, British Columbia native is a big time prospect. Shepard was selected in the second round of the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft by the Vancouver Giants. His skating is exceptional. He can fly — straight ahead and he can weave in and out of defenders. His ability to stop and start and stickhandle in tight spaces allow him to maintain possession. He keeps the puck moving and was a step ahead of everyone else. Major junior is a real possibility so it would be a major coup for any college program to land Shepard.

Quick update through 3 series. 4-1-1 record, played well in 5 of the 6 games, 3 of those they struggled to score, but outplayed the opponent. Still like what this team can become offensively, the new guys have been solid (Jones, Mismash, Adams), looking for more from Poganski, Gersich and JJ. I'm stunned where this team is defensively at this point, they were good before Bast (against weaker opponents), but with him it changes the entire D-core. He's so smooth, he's a Top 3 d-man on this team. The PP with him being paired with Wolanin looks, dare I say, really good. With the depth this defense has and Cam playing well (which he does in front of a good d-corps), they'll win a lot of games this year. Edit: As good as this defense is, I'd still like to see Kierstad get in once a weekend. It's important to have 7 guys get minutes down the line. This will be Wolanin's last year, but looking ahead, UND is set defensively for years to come.

BCHL Stats: Blaisdell '01 (F): 3-8-11 16GP Keane '97 (F): 1-6-7 12GP Tychonick '00 (D): 3-5-8 12GP Reid '01 (D): 1-7-8 12GP Scheel '99 (G): 5-2-0-1 1.92 GAA .932 SV% USHL Stats: Senden '98 (F): 1-1-2 7GP Mattson '98 (F): 1-0-1 7GP Mancinelli '01 (F): 1-0-1 5GP Costello '00 (F): 1-1-2 6GP AJHL Stats: Bernard-Docker (D): 2-5-7 14GP NTDP -18: Hain '00 (F): 1-5-6 10GP NTDP -17: Caulfield '01 (F): 4-4-8 7GP Elite League: Donovan '00 (F): 10-11-21 20GP Kleven '02 (D): 1-9-10 18GP Frisch '00 (D): 3-2-5 19GP Kunz '02 (F): 0-5-5 15GP

http://kfgo.com/blogs/und-football-360/30670/four-games-left-what-i-want-to-see-happen/ Agree with everything Kelly said, but I have a couple of other things. Does everyone think it's more important for Mortel to get every snap at LT or rotate him with Bennett? Same goes with Russo, for all I know that's what they are planning on doing.

Anybody know where you can watch the entire Minnesota press conference? They just post a short minute and change video. It was the same thing last year, they have to have the worst pre-game video selection in the country.

Schlossman is a lost cause, it begins and ends with Women's hockey. He'll take any shot he can at Kennedy for as long as he's at the Herald. What happened right away when Kennedy was named President that Miller and the Herald staff flipped a lid over? I remember Kennedy was on a tour of ND and said he'd answer questions when he got back or something like that. Don't remember the exact circumstance, but Kennedy and the Herald didn't get off on the right foot. Schlossman is pretty much unbearable when it comes to anything non - Men's college hockey.