AJS

Yon for sure, but other than that, it's a tough call. Smith is valuable, I think he needs to be in, but I also think we need Mismash and Gooch. I'd go with the lineup they had Friday and make changes (for Smith) for the forward who struggles the most Friday night.

http://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/4341587-lineup-decisions-become-more-difficult-after-uaa-series

Btw, the sophomore class was probably the least heralded class I can remember (outside of Jost of course). I'll continue to eat crow, I think they'll be a fantastic class that outside of maybe C. Poolman will all be 4 year guys. A lot of solid players in Bowen, Smith, Poolman, Peski, Hoff and Johnson.

It's a numbers game for UND that's a problem that the coaches have to like, but will make for some tough decisions on who's in and who's out. They are 15 deep at the forward spot, obviously not all the same abilities, but all 15 that can play. I see it as needing to get Yon / Smith in for the weekend and Mismash / Kawaguchi didn't show enough the night before secure their spot. Obviously it was their first collegiate game, I don't think they played poorly, but somebody had to come out. After watching both games though, it does appear that Yon should be "out" more than he should be "in". He has more experience than Mismash / Kawaguchi at the collegiate level, but not close to as much talent. Smith though is a valuable guy to have in there, injuries will happen and it'll make the coaching staffs life a little easier, but with everyone healthy, I see 13 forwards that should be in with only 12 spots. The same can be said on defense, Bast will need an opportunity, Peski / Johnson seemed to step up their games this year, Kierstad played pretty well his first weekend too. Very deep team this year.

Wasn't able to watch the UNC game, how did Shannon / Canady look?

Add Mattson to the group, as we all know recruiting is the life blood of a program, right now the two you mentioned and Mattson need to show something this year. All three have yet to do it in their junior careers. If you add Frisch and Donovan (00's) that are playing HS, the 00's & 01's (02's too far out) look to be outstanding.

http://kfgo.com/blogs/und-football-360/30670/360-notebook-just-what-the-doctor-ordered/ "Senior A.J. Stockwell started at left guard and freshman Noah Mortel started at left tackle. This is a move to get Mortel valuable reps the rest of the season and have him ready to go for 2018. Both Mortel and Ryan Tobin have been consistent performers up front for UND so far this season" It's exciting anytime you see freshman start and perform well. I'm excited to watch these two players along with Nguon get a lot of reps the rest of the year. Others I'll be watching closely the rest of the year will be Shannon, Canady and Hunt. With so many underclassman playing key roles now because of injuries that wouldn't have originally, if they can be competitive in their upcoming games it's a great sign for years to come. Injuries derailed the team this year, but they could be stronger next season because of it.

Playing down to your competition definitely happens, but it didn't happen last weekend. UND skated circles around UAA dominating them the entire weekend everywhere except the most important place, the score board. Combination of great goaltending for UAA and missing open nets made the scores much, much closer than it should have been.

BCHL Stats: Blaisdell '01 (F): 2-7-9 10GP (Team leader in points) Keane '97 (F): 1-4-5 7GP Tychonick '00 (D): 1-3-4 7GP Reid '01 (D): 0-5-5 7GP Scheel '99 (G): 4-0-0-1 1.45 GAA .952 SV% (2nd in the league in both GAA and SV%) USHL Stats: Senden '98 (F): 0-0-0 2GP Mattson '98 (F): 0-0-0 2GP Mancinelli '01 (F): 0-0-0 2GP Caulfield '01 (F): 1-2-3 1GP Costello '00 (F): 1-0-1 2GP AJHL Stats: Bernard-Docker (D): 1-2-3 9GP NTDP: Hain '00 (F): 1-5-6 5GP

Need a sweep.

On the backend, Wolanin is a stud, he'll be dominant this year. What was a nice surprise is Peski / Johnson seemed to outplay Shaw / Poolman. We know what UND has in Shaw / Poolman and they'll be steady / solid defenders this year, who specifically Shaw had an off weekend. If Peski / Johnson can continue to play well, this will be a very good defensive unit this year and for years to come.

This was as close to a must win as their is two games into the season, absolutely crucial. Anchorage is terrible and will not win many games this year, but good to get out of their 1-0-1. At the end of the year this win counts just as much as if they won 5-0. Positives were they looked good, outside of actually putting the puck in the net, but Mantha had a lot to do with that. I thought Cam looked good, a couple bad turnovers yesterday by the defense ended up in the back of the net, but overall he was solid on the weekend. This team is deep on the forward front, I do think though that Yon will be the odd man out more times than he'll be in. Would much rather see #16 or #29 in the lineup. Adams has locked himself into the starting lineup. On to St. Lawrence, hopefully they'll find the net more next week. These non-conference games against weaker opponents are so important, can't afford a loss.

I'm with you, there are some trends (I'll continue to harp on the PP), that are concerns after seeing it year after year, since that's on the scheme. "Hot goalies" or lack of finishers, I'll need more of a sample size to judge. Last nights game, wouldn't have followed the trend last year, where more times than not, UND made the goalies look better. Mantha was just an animal. One type of advanced stat I'd love to see is compare a goalies Save % at the end of the year and if their games against UND they were better or worse than their average.

From the GF Herald: “That’s something we’re going to have to continually work on to get better,” Berry said. “When you lose a couple of key players from last year, you have to fill those voids and find the strengths of your team. We’re getting some information now. Hopefully, if we can have success -- get one or two power-play goals -- we can get some momentum with those units.” I have a huge problem with this, UND's PP was at 18.5% last year, which is not good. The 18.5% looks better than it actually is, where you'll see two or three games where they really click (4-7 type nights) that bring the average way up. Do you have to go back to the early 2000s, late 90s, where they actually had a good PP? It's so frustrating, because I haven't heard once over 15+ years that it might just be the PP scheme they run. What they've tried over the years isn't working. You have two first round picks and it's only at 18.5%? It's completely unacceptable. For a team that has made 15 straight tournaments, night in and night out, teams that have less talent seem to look better on the power play. This is on the coaching staff. It won't get fixed and it'll be another frustrating special teams year. I just want to for once hear some accountability.

Bubba and the coaching staff have a real opportunity here going forward. Injuries helped get the train off the track, but with what's come to light with Poole, Taylor and Randolph, it obviously went much deeper than just injuries. With the season shot, it's no longer about wins and losses. I know this is a really talented football, so the cupboard is far from bare. They wouldn't be starting from the ground up, like they did when they originally got here. What needs to happen is they have to flush out the bad apples. I'm all for drug testing everyone, giving one warning for those that fail, if they fail again, they are off the team. It's simple, what's more important, playing college football, getting FCOA and an education or smoking weed. I don't care how many players have to go, as long as the ones that are here are here for the right reasons. If I was a player doing the right things (I believe to be the mass majority), I would be pissed about this and would hope the coaching staff would put their foot down. Clean it up now!

I tried to look into tie's and pairwise, but couldn't find anything. If that's the case, that's great, basically just a mulligan when you tie a really bad team.

I thought he was clearly the best player on the ice.

I thought it before the game and UAA reaffirmed they are terrible, I'll strongly disagree with you though about how UND played. I get the frustration with the lack of goal scoring, but they had great chances and dominated about as badly as one team could another. This is a new year and until this becomes a trend again, I'll write this up as 1) Bad puck luck 2) Goalie standing on their head. It's annoying I know to use those same excuses that it seemed we used a lot last year, but it's a new year. Question: I tried to look it up, but how do ties effect a teams pairwise? UAA clearly will be a terrible team this year and a loss would be devastating, but does a tie have even close to the same effect?

I'm all for this.

Clearly many more positives than negatives, the biggest being last year this is a game they lose. It was a completely dominating performance where between missed open nets and Mantha stopping absolutely everything, you just knew they wouldn't score. Reading @SiouxFanatic post, I agree, this wasn't a game where they had a bunch of shots, but not quality chances, Mantha was on fire. Play this game over 100 times with the same chances though and no way Gersich gets held without a goal. The only worry I have is the power play, of course they won't go 0% on the season, but it was a continuation of the last decade where it always looks worse than the opponents, regardless of who they play. It's so incredibly frustrating. UND had momentum the entire 2nd and 3rd, then they'd go on the power play and look terrible. Tomorrow is huge, you can live with a tie and a win coming out of this weekend, but nothing less. Start the count: Games UND dominates, but doesn't win is currently at 1

I just don't see anyway UND loses a game this weekend, UAA was one of the worst teams in the NCAA last year (I get it so was Michigan State). I feel great about this weekends games, one blow out, one closer game than we'd like.

If they were just caught with it, I wouldn't be calling them to get kicked off the team. It's the cops raiding their place and getting an intent to deliver that makes me hope they are gone today. No second chances in this case.

Kick them both off the team.

This teams not that young, it is a tough road trip, but UAA is pretty terrible, I'd be shocked if they lost a game this weekend.