AJS

Article on Hain: http://www.usahockeyntdp.com/news_article/show/832402?referrer_id=654408

I have no doubt this years team will be better than last years and will finish better in the NCHC and pairwise. That's because of one word, depth. UND will lose their "stars" and will need players to step up, but I believe. Better "core" of proven players over where they started last year. Poganski, Gardner, Gersich, JJ & Hoff are Top 6 caliber forwards 2017 incoming players as a group are much, much better than 2016. This will lead to my key of depth. Both offensively and defensively, the bottom 15th forward working on up and 8th dman working on up will be improved from last year. This 2017 will have an easier transition and the 2016 class will now have experience. A lot of returning players on the roster. This incoming class has a lot of talent and they can be sprinkled in the lineup between veteran players. I hope to see a freshman on every forward line, surrounded by two players with experience. I'm excited for this year.

The junior leagues have either started regular season or preseason play. With most recruits being a few years out, I'm keeping a close look at the potential '18 class. F - Mattson (98) - USHL F - Keane (97) - BCHL - 0-1-1 2GP F - Senden (98) - USHL F - Hain (00) - USNDP U18 F - Costello (00) - USHL D - Tychonick (00) - BCHL - 1-1-2 2GP G - Scheel (99) - BCHL - 1-0 .938 2.00 GAA You have 3 Senior forwards and most likely at least one early departure (Gersich), so you need at least 4 forwards coming in next year. The overagers have not performed at all in juniors, so I'm sure the coaching staff will be closely monitoring their situation. If they can't step it up this year, they'll likely be pushed back (Mattson) or let go (Keane). Senden might be Ok, if he's a grinder / 4th liner type guy. Right now, none of those three have shown they are even close to be college type players. Hope they all have big years though. If Hain / Costello can handle their new situations, they could come in as true freshman. Not worried about Tychonick at all, will be fun following his progress in his 2nd year, great player. Will likely step into a great situation at UND who doesn't have any Seniors, but Wolanin will probably be an early departure target.

Here's where UND sits through 3 games. Utah - L - FBS school from a P5 conference, expected, no harm done on the national stage Missouri State - W - Blow out, shut out against a MVFC school -- regardless of how MSU finishes this year, big enough win and impressive enough win where it'll look good USD - L - Blow out loss, looks bad Perception isn't always reality, but there are going to be so many variables going forward that we're far from hitting the panic button. We all know how poorly UND played yesterday and it wasn't indicative of how they started the season. If this was an aberration and they turn it around starting next weekend, the USD loss will just be a blip on the screen. They don't have a bad loss (as far as opponents go) yet, but they'll have the chance to get some quality wins starting with Montana State who took SDSU down to the wire. They still have a chance when people bring up USD down the line this year, you can point to A, B & C.

Besides UND, great job by the Big Sky yesterday! Idaho State / SUU with two huge victories for the conference. Montana / Eastern Washington taking care of business as well, with the only other non-conference loss (besides UND) was NoCo to Colorado. Very important week setting the stage for conference play.

UND needs to be in survival / playoff mode the rest of the season. This game next week will set the stage for the rest of the year. Any updates on the injuries in yesterdays game? Especially the O-Line? Going from a deep experienced group to FR-FR-SO-JR-SO isn't ideal, but could also be exciting, let's see what they have.

After sleeping on this one, and reading through all the comments I think the following are true: The way UND played was completely unacceptable and incredibly disappointing. I also don't think UND could have played any worse. Blame is shared by everyone, nobody was ready. This will be a black eye when it comes to any potential seeding (putting the cart way before the horse) This was a complete failure in one game --- that being said, we have not only two games this year as reference, but also the last two years to know that this was aberation, not the normal. This one game doesn't tarnish what Bubba has built and won't affect anything going forward. A lot of teams (not all), even good teams lay an egg throughout the season. It's definitely gut check time, but they start the Big Sky schedule 1-2, same as last year, but in better position this year --- injuries are pilling up this year, more than any before and it'll be tougher, but everything the team and it's fans want are still very much within reach This UND team is better than last years version, injuries in key positions are throwing guys into the fire, but I think moving forward will be a blessing. If the young guys (OL, ILBs) can improve and hold their own moving forward, it will pay dividends in the upcoming years.

I would love to know this answer.

It's tough to put into words how disappointing of a result this is. I really don't know how they come back from this one, given the Big Sky's current reputation and how they've fared non-conference this year as well as in the playoffs the last couple. Winning in the Big Sky won't do anything for the reputation of UND. They needed to prove it today and they failed miserably. That being said, as much as this one hurts, UND just needs to take it game by game. They're still in a better spot, given their #10 ranking, even if they drop to #20 going into conference play. Start winning and climb back up. This one will take a long time to come back from.

Exactly, we'll find out tomorrow, but if UND is the better team, revenge and all the other factors go out the window.

What's making me nervous isn't just the revenge factor, but the article in the Sioux Falls paper about this being a potential game changing win for their program. Not saying UND won't be ready or motivated, but it seems to be on a whole nother level for USD. Kind of put all your eggs in one basket type game for them. This game is so important for both programs, there's going to be one disappointed fan base tomorrow night.

It's Military Appreciation / Family weekend, which would be my guess on the additional sections being blocked off.

I agree, there'll be a couple different factors, but even if he is 100% going into Montana State, which would put him as the best choice all things considered, if Rastas, Hunt, ect.. are holding their own, I hope they RS. My question would be, not will it make the team better, but would Larson > Rastas be the difference between winning and losing games the rest of the year.

Since it appears he won't be able to go this weekend, I hope they redshirt him. I'm ok putting all out eggs in the Rastas & co basket, even though Larson would obviously help this year.

This will be the last time this year I'll ask about this individual, but does anyone know how Larson is doing? Will he be ready to go this weekend? Anytime soon?

I'm all over the board when it comes to games that have playoff implications. This isn't a make or break game, but it's pretty close. If USD wins, they are 3-0 non-conference with an FBS win and impressive FCS win. If UND wins, they are 2-1 non-conference with their only loss being being to Utah and two wins over MVFC teams. I'm basing the feeling good / concerns based on when these two teams played last year, hopeful category based on both this year and last Feeling Good Offensively UND is in a much, much better spot. Like night and day compared to last year Defensively, still questions, but I'd put them about even (good defensive unit last year). Tough to really gauge based on the two teams they played. I felt ok with Utah, given they are a good P5 team, even giving up 37. MSU with the shut out was impressive, but it's MSU. I have been impressed with not giving up the big plays. Not trying to be harsh on the defense, they were good last year and the only reason UND was in the first four games. Even is a compliment. Overall, a better team than they were week 3 last year Hopeful Basing this strictly on the common opponent of BGSU. UND lost and USD won, but looking deeper for UND, it was part of the first 4. BGSU isn't very good, like with the Missouri State / Missouri game, MSU scored most of their points in the 1st quarter. USD was up big 21-3 after one. Hopefully, it was BGSU getting caught by surprise, along with a couple ST errors to give USD good feel position. USD won, but it wasn't a blow out and ended pretty close. Concerns Road game against a team that I believe is a legit Top 15 team that has a lot of confidence Injury issues for UND > USD Streveler Like UND with Richmond, although USD lost last year, it's a game they think they should have won. They'll want pay back

We all know the reasons (New O-Line, WR's), when UND played USD & Montana State (along with SBU & BGSU), they were terrible offensively. I can't blame peoples opinions on what they see, but it definitely gets frustrating when we know they improved immensely throughout the year (wasn't hard, since they were that bad the first 4 weeks). I think this years offense is much better then where they were last year, at the end, which would put them not even in the same category to where they were the first 4 weeks. The big question we'll need to find out over the next couple of days is how are Larson / Hunt. They need one of the two this weekend.

With the way the Big Sky performed last weekend, it magnified the importance of this game for UND. I'm nervous as I think this is one of the true "pick-em" weekends of the year, with both teams being legitimate ranked / potential playoff teams. I do truly believe that UND has a better team than USD, but playing on the road turns the game into a coin flip. Last weekend was brutal on the injury front, but I feel better about when they took place during the game. Both happened early enough, where UND played basically the entire game without either of them. We'll find out a lot about both teams this weekend, can't wait.

Huge early season game for both teams, a win would go a long ways for whoever comes out on top. The keys to last weekends games remain for this weeks. Red zone offense / defense: Need TDs & not FGs on offense and the opposite on defense. Missouri State was 5 for 5, USD 4 for 5 in scoring TDs when in the red zone. Need to hold them to FGs. UND picked it up, but you can't have two trips and only 3 points like UND started the game yesterday. No big plays This will be a close one, but I got UND 24-20.

In recent memory, this is the fewest tickets I can remember being available a day before the game. Should be a great crowd tomorrow!

I'm hoping this is the case and it's not some glitch, because that was a healthy amount that has recently disappeared. If legit, it'll be very close to a sell out this Saturday. Edit: I didn't see the post above about a section more going to students that wasn't already. I think the package deals was probably the case.

I'd say the safe bets are Rastas / Canady & Izzy.

Mo State scores 43 on Missouri, Utah scores 37 on UND -- does anyone believe that Mo State is better offensively than Utah? I still think it'll be between a 10 / 14 point win, but I feel better and better the more I break down the Week 1 games.

Currently, yes, I think if Larson is good to go by USD then it's almost a certainty he will too. The question is if he's not, how long until it's not worth burning a year?

As impressive as MO State's 43 points were, they also lost by a 29 point differential. Mo State might have a slight edge in offense, but I don't think by much. UND will have a better defense, as I stated in the prediction thread, think Vegas is close w/ UND as 11.5 point favorites. I see between a 10 / 14 point win.