AJS

Couldn't agree more.

This is assuming that the team that wins the regular season also wins the conference tournament. Right now UND would be playing in the play-in game with their RPI, but if they win the Big Sky tournament and there's upsets in some of the other mid-major conferences, that can change.

Went through the RPI's of all 15 & 16 seeds (Per ESPN) 15 CSU Bakersfield - 84 FGC - 86 NDSU - 100 Furham - 104 16 UC Irvine - 156 NC Central - 196 16 (Play in) Texas Southern - 127 Mount St Marys - 157 New Orleans - 167 UND - 171 Any idea why Texas Southern would be playing in one of the 2 play-in games and NC Central, which has the worst RPI, wouldn't? Regardless, UND has to keep winning and hope for upsets in other conference tournaments.

No inside information, but trying to put myself in his shoes, I think how this season ends up may play a small part in his decision. If the team doesn't not only accomplish it's goal, but falls way short (i.e. no playoffs), for me that would leave a very sour taste in my mouth. You don't want that to be part of your legacy (I know it's not his fault), but could be extra motivation to come back for another year. I think it ultimately comes down to are you going to actually play in the NHL most of the year. If yes, it's tough to turn that opportunity down and I wouldn't blame him for signing.

The teams in bold is who we should cheer for, correct? For UND, like you said, win 3 or 4 and your first round playoff matchup and most likely 1 of 2 in Minneapolis.

Poganski is kind of this years team in a nutshell. I too thought he'd be a monster this year. This years team doesn't have a talent problem, it has an underachieving problem from the star players. Starting this year, I thought you had 3 forwards who I'd called established college hockey forwards in Boeser, Poganski and Gardner. Never in my wildest nightmares would I ever think that all 3 would not only improve (even slightly), but really regress. It's stunning the years those 3 have had.

In all reality, what players on this years team would be considered really big loses? (1) Jost (2) Gersich (3) Poolman (4) Cam --- I'm trying not to pile on Boeser, but we're talking about a guy that has 11 goals and basically hasn't scored for the past 3 months. Poganski doesn't even have 10 goals this season. Gage has struggled this year, shouldn't be hard to replace. If they only lose Boeser, T. Poolman, Ausmus, Poganski, I really like them next year. A lot depends on Jost, Gersich and Cam. After what I'd consider a down year with freshman forwards, UND brings in a nice group of 3 Freshman next year.

This team still controls its own destiny. There is no room for error anymore and the playoffs start this weekend. They need to have the lose and you're done mentality. I may be delusional, but I still like this teams chances this year. Win on Friday night and lets go from there. I keep saying it after every weekend, but puck luck, whatever you call it, this team is better offensively than they've shown.

UND jumped up to 170 in the RPI.

Don't tell that to Schlossman,

Really?

I feel great about this weekend, Jost back, Boeser can't be held down for any longer. 5-2 Hawks tonight.

This made me laugh. It's embarrassing, I couldn't imagine how unbelievably frustrating it would be to be Kennedy.

<Insert Sicatoka's response> Not all on Kennedy, but I get it. I don't think you'll find a single person that disagree w/ your take on the begging publicly for their sports. That was awful and should have never happened. I'm sticking with my theory that it has more to do with this causing Anti-Women's hockey sentiment. Could be wrong, but have really been rubbed the wrong way for the past while by him.

No words.

Big time

Love the guy in the stands giving the refs the business, "for crying out loud!"

What a joke

Tough playing on the road, but they need this one (as well as UNC), need to be able to beat the lower half of the league, no matter where you play them. Excited for this game.

Brad is a puppet for the hockey programs, then tries to be a bad ass when it comes to Kennedy. I do think it has everything to do with Women's hockey, very touchy subject with him. Edit: I get it though, you get invested in something, it's easy to get defensive and not look at a situation clearly.

$1.3 million is a pretty sizable chunk. I'd say Women's Hockey is going to be looked at very, very closely.

https://siouxfb.areavoices.com/2017/02/16/spring-ball-right-around-the-corner/ Love the way they talk about this RS Freshman class.

I still think it's a pretty big stretch to think UMD leaving would truly have any impact on UND, basically at all. I think you may be overestimating the rivalry. It's a good one, but really no different than St. Cloud or Omaha for that matter. I agree that the casual fan would be more excited about the Big 10 matchups over the NCHC ones.

No, but that wasn't my argument. If I were to chose to either have Duluth or Mankato in UND's conference, it would be Duluth. Duluth is a stronger program than Mankato, but it wouldn't make a difference financially to UND. They would sell the same amount of tickets regardless. Also, we are talking one hockey series at home a year. So, I'm with you that Duluth is a stronger program, but it also wouldn't really affect anything to do with the conference if it were to happen.