AJS

Is New Mexico State taking over Eastern Michigan in the race for most offers given each year?

This. Still hate at least the optics of the Ethan Bowen decommitment. I hope we see Hedquist next year (along with a Transfer from the Portal).

Anyone listen to Izzo's podcast this today? I'm guessing not but would be interested in your take on his NIL rant if you listened. I've always been jealous of the Fargo Media that cover NDSU. Not breaking any news here, but they are fans of the school's athletic teams that push agendas I would think would be popular among the fanbase. I want to reiterate, I'm absolutely jealous of it. If you have time listen to the start of today's pod and his NIL rant. I found it borderline embarrassing. Not necessarily his point, which is factual, but he was basically begging someone in Fargo to start one. It was kind of bizarre.

2018/19. Football: 6-5 (lost @ NAU to finish the year that cost them a playoff spot) Hockey: 18-17-2 (Missed NCAA Tournament, Lost first round on in the NCHC playoffs @ Denver) Men's Basketball: 12-18 (6-10 in Conference, Lost R1 of Summit League Tourney) Women's Basketball: 12-19 (6-10 in Conference, Lost R2 of Summit League Tourney) Volleyball: 14-18 I would say that's on par with the current state. Chaves was leading the ship during that disaster of a year as well. I cannot agree more, the overall state of the athletics program is not good at all.

Not having a single defenseman recruit ready to step into what we thought was a good situation was frustrating, but not what I felt was disjointed. Wasn't DeRidder either. The Forward situation from my point of view was a mess. Started with no Forwards entering the portal the first few weeks. Decision to bring back both 10 / 19 which I think the majority on here questioned. This is just how it felt, but I didn't think Berry expected both to come back. When you looked at the second half of last years season, I would have told you that the 4th line was > Senden line. Guess what, this year the 4th Line > Senden line. The Spicer situation. Is James coming in or not. Forward logjam. Budy taking another month after Calder enters to finally go. Back to my original post, felt like other schools had a plan in place right away. Didn't feel that way for UND.

Here's the million-dollar question. Is Hellsten on the roster next year? This is going to be a very interesting off-season for Berry. Last off-season was very frustrating to watch. From my point of view, so many schools seemed so calculated. UND's did not appear to be. Felt very disjointed.

For UND they are. I've read a lot of valid, really good discussion points over the last few days of issues with this team. Let's not overcomplicate it though, it's not the only issue, but Goaltending is the issue. I've slowly learned over the years when it comes to UND sports to never think you've reached rock bottom, because it gets worse, BUT, you have to think we are currently watching history this year. We're watching the University of North Dakota Men's hockey team be the worst at something. Not bad, not below average, but the actual statistically worst in the county. Side note: Remember when DeRidder was lights out against WMU in Kalamazoo, also happens to be the only goalie on roster that is a capable D1 goalie and then Berry decided the best bet to win was to not play him against that same Western team? Good times.

Agreed w/ all. DeRidder starts, UND wins. Still cannot get over Berry went Hellsten / Johnson against Western.

Wish he would have given him Friday night instead. I don’t know if it’s fully sunk in yet that Berry thought the combo of Hellsten / Johnson gave this team the best opportunity to win this weekend.

Must win game, Berry starts Johnson who gives up 7 when UND scores 6. That is so absurd. DeRidder the only goalie that has a high ceiling doesn’t play as they get swept. It’s just one of those years. Seemingly ever decision Berry makes back fires.

I think this is a season on the line type of night. As soon as I saw Hellsten was starting yesterday, felt like a WMU sweep. To be fair, they currently are as bad offensively as they are in net. We’ll see what kind of team this is tonight.

Fair. Thought the entire week, if they start Hellsten on Friday they will get swept. It’s going to happen.

Not sure I’ve ever been more confident before a game that this team was going to lose, then before this one. Hellsten was never winning this game. This isn’t hindsight being 20/20 either.

Hellsten in net. Not feeling optimistic about their chances tonight. Hope he proves me wrong.

Reading Schlossman's daily article, you get the feeling based on Berry's comments that we'll see Hellsten on Friday. Really hope they go back to DeRidder. Clearly both goalies have not been good overall, but my feeling has always been, if that position group has any chance of turning it around, it will be DeRidder. I don't believe they can beat Western with Hellsten in net. Hope he proves me wrong.

I'm interested in your take on this question. Not calling out any player by name, but do you think there is anyone who is currently considered a lock to be in the lineup that you question why they are? To me, there are a handful of "locks" that I don't necessarily see the difference between them are others that are in / out of the lineup.

To move up in the PWR and standings, this team will have to sweep a handful of series this second half. That being said, this is the only true must sweep. Anything less and you can throw the PWR out and concentrate completely on the NCHC standings and winning the auto bid.

Non-NCHC games seemed to go UND’s way. Cannot get over how bad the NCHC is overall this year.

Did you have the same opinion following the 2021 season, when they were solid defensively and struggled offensively?

Although UND did drop one spot to #22 in the Pairwise, their RPI is now at .5286 which is up from .5242 (following the Western series weekend). The GLI went exactly how we wanted it to go with Western not only winning it, but Michigan State losing both games (although one was in OT). UMass losing also would fall into the category of what we want to see. These next two weekend are so important. The NCHC needs to outperform what they've done in non-conference up to this point. It would also help for HE / the BIG to take a few hits. Today, hoping for LSSU over UMASS (15). Clarkson over Wisconsin (30). AIC over Cornell (18). Long Island over UConn (10).

Big game today @ 2:37 between Michigan Tech (18) & Western Michigan (23). We're going to need the NCHC to be lights out the next few weeks in non-conference games.

No doubt. @LDL asked about True Freshman, so I didn't include the RS Freshman class.

Elidor (USD) - WR: Austin Peay, NAU, ISU-Red, McNeese State, UT-Martin: COMMITTED Peterson (Iowa State) - D-Line: NDSU, UNC-Charlotte, ISU-Red, Kent State, WKU, ODU, UNI, USD Griffin Jr (Northern Illinois) - D-Line: Murray State, Eastern Illinois, Samford: COMMITTED Saltonstall (New Mexico) - D-Line: Samford, Tarleton: COMMITTED Schuster (Syracuse) - O-Line: NIU, EMU, Ball State, ISU-Red, BGSU, USD, WMU Pait (Fresno State) - DB: Lamar, NAU, Eastern Illinois, Southern Utah, Alabama A&M, Wofford, Stony Brook, Murray State, Bryant Durfee (USF) - D-Line: Committed to Washington

I'm going to pivot a little from your original question of showed promise, because that list of course would be bigger. This is based off of what Tom Miller wrote at the middle / end of the season. The question was phrased, which Freshman could potentially make an impact last year. Besides Dennis, he mentioned Bluiett (CB) and Borud (OL).

Initial thoughts on the D-Line as we believe it will be constructed. Lose: Morrison (Starter), Keech, Thorsness, Ledbetter Gain: Griffin Jr (NG), Saltonstall, Teiken*, Schweigert*, Olson* Return: Johnson (Starter), McNaboe (Starter), Beach, Orlando, Schultz, Lennon, Ogbu (?) *Freshman last year My hope going into this offseason was the D-Line would follow suit of the O-Line last year. What that means is you bring players that will push the returning starters / have others push the 2-Deep. Morrison is the only starter & guy on the 2-Deep that won't be returning. Griffin Jr is such an important piece. I wouldn't pencil him in as a starter, but as 360 tweeted, he adds very important depth to that position. I'm excited to see what Schultz / Teiken can do. I also think Saltonstall will find his way on the 2-deep. That would be very important to the overall success of this unit. No doubt they should be better. Thoughts?