AJS

Jandric looks incredible.

Great second half of the first.

To be fair, Driscoll gave up 3 on 5 shots, so Hellsten had better numbers.

Tough to play your way into a spot if you never play. Like the forward lines.

Still hoping to see Hellsten get the start tonight.

Not having Sanderson of course is a giant blow this weekend, but I do buy into this helping strengthen the team long term. Moore is a new player after getting that extra ice / situations he otherwise wouldn't have if Sanderson was healthy against Duluth. Hoping we see the same this weekend for Johnson / Bast.

Same reason he didn't play against St. Cloud.

Since Montana is playing on the road, I’m not so sure.

It’s a solid number. The game won’t be close, save $ and attend the next weekend where they play a team where there’s a chance the game isn’t over by half time.

Said it recently, that type of portal offer is one that I get really excited over. Give me a proven, All-Conference level D2 player.

As much fun as it is still to follow still, I've definitely backed off on hard judgements, until half way through their Sophomore years. That goes ten fold on recruits until the year prior of them arriving on campus. Then maybe five fold their prior year. Too many times being wrong on what you assumed will do that to a guy.

Completely agree. Where I'm not following you there and the incoming class, is unless something completely unexpected happens, they'll only need to fill one for sure (Sanderson), potentially two (Kleven / Frisch leave early, however doubtful) spots. Spot # 1 going to Livanavage that appears to be pretty high end (not Sanderson / Kleven level, but not many are). Spot # 2, Dunbar, who will most likely be drafted this upcoming year, having a solid year. I have a harder time really digging into Defenseman. I just don't see how Livanavage being the Defenseman you bring in is room for concern.

Hope this isn't going to jinx it, but in my mind I had a clock that restarted after each player entered the portal. I felt if we could make it a week without someone entering, then I would feel good that the hits would stop coming. We're at a week. Has anyone followed how this is going for other MVFC teams (not still playing)?

I always take a few different factors into account, (1) Age (2) League (3) Points (4) Draft stock. This specific discussion appears to be concentrating on Forwards only. I'll give a very high overview of how I felt about the last few Freshman forward classes going into their Freshman years (some end up outperforming, while others underperform from your expectations). 2021 Class: 2022 Clearly better. Kunz was the big name for me (.86 PPG draft year in USHL, Mid-Round draft pick). Schmaltz very good production his last year (PPG / 7th round pick). I was worried about Costantini (.59 PPG after being 5th round pick) and Portz (.77 PPG in final eligible year). 2020 Class: 2022 Better. This class was unique. Gaber (Blake equivalent), Ness (PPG guy), Jamernik (PPG guy AJHL). I liked this class, great production in USHL as veteran players. No NHL draft picks. No way you'd take this class over 2022. 2019 Class: This Class > 2022 (Slightly). Pinto going into Freshman year #1 guy (> Blake). Blaisdell (> James). Spicer (>Caulfield). Strinden (>Albrecht). 2018 Class: 2022 Clearly Better. Liked Hain (NTDP, Mid-Round Draft), Weatherby (Big BCHL Points, Mid-Round Draft), but didn't like Senden, hated Keane. Fun discussion. Obviously, only my opinion and some guys outperform (Costantini seems to be on that path), Senden, Jamernik (appears to be better than I thought). Others widely underperformed (still early, but Ness is on that path), Blaisdell. So, going year by year, absolutely I think the 2022 forward Class is better than average for this program. 2019 I would have taken over it, but not any of the others. Interested to hear where you differentiate.

Really? I'm on the complete opposite side of the spectrum. Taking out Spicer (NTDP) from the USHL point totals, all other incoming recruits are currently in the Top 40 (Blake 2, James 27, Strinden 30, Livanavage 39). Spicer is having a nice year with NTDP. Who would you be looking to flip instead of the recruits we have? Not saying of course that they'll be the Top 5 recruits in the country, but I'm not following where any concern would come from. What are your thoughts on Dylan James? To me he's right in the wheelhouse of an ideal recruit. Mid-round NHL draft guy, putting up a very respectable PPG his draft year. True freshman. Is your worry his age? This would be his 2nd full year of Juniors. IMO he's a Top 6 caliber guy, no doubt.

What a weird, wild first half up to this point. Last two games of the calendar year, with a real opportunity. A sweep puts them in the drivers seat for a regular season title. It puts them in a really good place as well from a national landscape. The inconsistency the last few weeks has been concerning, it also feels though that they've really been battling through roster issues (Flu, Injuries) for most of the 1st half. When is the last time they've had a full lineup? What I would like to see. (1) Hellsten start on Friday. Two goalie system until one proves they are the starter. The defense hasn't helped some nights, but regardless, Driscoll has a .889 SV%, which is awful. In fact only 14 worse (min games component on CHN) SV% in the country. (2) Bast / Johnson get minutes. You only learn by playing. It's at the point where I would prefer they send Johnson back to the USHL for the 2nd half of the year.

I'm taking a leap of faith with the assumption that all key pieces that would have left for the portal have already done so. Initial big thoughts. Offensively: All focus is on the O-line as they're fine everywhere else. They lose two total, both starters, one All-American. I actually have little doubt they'll as a group be improved next year, but by how much is the question. I think there were three main factors in the O-line taking a pretty significant step back from Spring (1) Losing 3 starters (2) Limited offseason (3) Class breakdown (how incredibly young that group was). Now, we're looking at replacing one less, with a full off-season with a roster that is still very young, but getting there. Breakdown currently will be 2 Seniors, 3 Juniors, 6 Sophomores, 3 R-FR. They have a few offers out in the portal as well. Defensively: The D-Line was good last year, only losing one, I think they are the unit that improves the most on the team. I think 2022 will be the year they finally get back to a very good unit. Strength. ILB - Strength. Safety - Solid. They had so many injuries last year, that a lot played. We all could have written the 2-deep for this position, which says something when you lose two starters. CB / OLB. Need a guy in the transfer portal for each position. Like Safety though, the OLB position had so many injuries this year, that so many played. Reading Kelly's write up, that was his only real miss. He said MVJ and Navratil were the only two with any experience. Didn't Mullin play a lot more than MVJ last year? Need to get that 11th game locked in, but I do like the conference schedule structure. The Home / Road breakdown much better. They were close last year, every game (outside of Western) within a TD. I'm confident the offense will be able to pick up that 7 point difference next year. The question then falls on, will the defense be able to match the 2021 team.

I don’t see it happening. Not worth potentially losing recruits that could be great 3/4 year guys, for an extra year of Senden. Not a knock on Senden, I would say that for any player. Too solid a class of Forwars recruits.

Five recruits in the Top 40 in USHL points. Perron is on an absolute tear. 11 points in past 5 games.

What does Griffin Ness do well?

I go Driscoll tonight, but moving forward I’d like the goalies to split the weekend. Hellsten next Friday.

I need an explanation why the goaltending / defense has been so widely inconsistent. Driscoll has had great numbers his entire hockey career. The defense when you go player by player should be good. It just doesn’t make sense.

Going to not overreact to this one. These games do happen where everything goes in. They’ve been playing with fire the last three weekends, have a feeling this will finally be the weekend they get burned. Can’t imagine them winning tomorrow, but thought the same thing the last two weekends and they pulled it off. The lack of discipline is the really concerning thing. I don’t want to see Jandric for the rest of the calendar year. Do players just not fear Berry?