AJS

Chat, is this program cooked?

Interesting timing! Bad luck Berry! Too bad there isn't a collective he could be pushing to help.

I'm going with the narrative from the newest UND hockey podcast. That is correct, no puck luck last Saturday. Won't happen again this weekend! UND Sweeps.

Simon won’t be participating in spring ball because on an injury

I think this would be 100% accurate, I also don't think this is how it would be framed by the local media.

Love this and agreed, UND sweeps. Should have swept last week but no puck luck.

Berry will not go full Bubba. UND in two.

Let's get into a hypothetical situation. UND loses a key player(s) to the portal. In this situation, playing time would not be the reason. That would be a blackeye for the program. Is it fair to assume the narrative from the Berry propaganda machine is it was NIL related? Let's lock that in as the reason. If that is indeed the reason, then what's he doing to rectify that situation? Is that really the entire reason? Hypothetical of course, but I would say this would be another situation where the propaganda machine would direct any blame from Berry and this coaching staff. Why I and others highlight the lowlights, is because others (media, some fans) dismiss them completely.

Getting excited for Spring ball. In the transfer portal era, there's essentially two off-seasons. I place a tremendous amount of value on transfers that are on campus and participate with spring ball. The depth chart that follows, giving the coaching staff a good idea of where they are at. Losing key players after spring ball to the portal is a killer. So far, off-season #1 was the best we've seen (portal out vs in). If they can replicate this spring, I think they can make waves year 1.

100%. Would help if the hockey coaches acknowledged the 1883 collective. New world of athletics, they have to be fundraisers as well if they want to be successful. If you want an example, see Schmidt and his football staff. The drives they are doing for new members.

Good news, nobody knows. At least those that are posting on here. You can go back 4-months and read the Fire Bubba thread. Exact same stuff. A lot of it can't happen, because of the contract. We'll see. Find it hard to believe no changes will be made.

It's also shocking that with the alumni base / incredibly passionate fanbase, that there isn't a handful of people with relatively deep pockets that have had enough. 36-million-dollar budget and we're talking less than 750K to clean up this mess. Save the hockey program. Bridge too far.

Unfortunate that we happen to be fans of the one athletic department where wins and losses happen to be irrelevant to a certain degree. To be fair, not all sports will be treated the same. Clearly, based on funding / fan support / facilities, ect. The only sport on campus I'm genuinely shocked that they let get to this point, is hockey. Beyond comprehension to me. Just crazy. Miss the NCAAs two out of three years. Run it back!

Smaby seems to be a popular pick. How about this situation. Jackson is let go, Smaby is hired as Associate head coach. Berry coaches one more year and then Smaby takes over.

We know that Berry, Sather and Bernhard all have contracts that expire after the 2025-26 season. Chaves contract is also done in spring of 2026. Is there any significance if we don't hear anything on the Sather and Bernhard front? Or is there no correlation at all with what will happen to Berry? Clearly, you can't extend any of them. In the portal era, it takes a lot of the pressure off "lame duck" year. I find it hard to believe nothing will happen to any of the three. Let's subscribe to the theory that Berry is back, regardless. Would we see coaching changes to the assistants? If it's Simpson, I'm guessing that would be incredibly unpopular. Berry pushing the easy button again. What if it's Jackson? KG? I would feel a bit better if it's Jackson. Reason being, I want to get as far away from this era of UND hockey as possible. Worst case scenario being, all coaches return, slight bounce back year, Berry steps down next year, but Jackson is named the successor. Really, really hope someone is willing to write the check after this year. We need a hard stop in the worst way.

Well yeah but are you taking into account the injury situation (Kaleb Johnson out for the year for example!) and no puck luck again this year? Keep the faith, Berry's long run of bad luck is over after this year!

Wrong! They’d have to get so unlucky to lose this series. Just listened to the UND pod. Last Saturday was confirmed classic case of no puck luck. Won’t happen again.

It's really hard to go full Bubba. Losing home ice last Saturday / getting bounced this weekend would be doing it. Have a hard time imagining UND losing this series. UND sweeps.

If Berry is still coaching, not having this year's Seniors class will absolutely do wonders for him next year. Not sure if there has ever been a bigger addition by subtraction from a group before.

I like it. Not ideal, clearly, but as long as Berry is coaching, I hope everyone embraces being the loveable losers. I know I have. Remember when they printed over 10K towels to lay on the seats for the 1st round? Very funny! In all seriousness, Berry's bad luck will turn around! % chance isn't zero either that they win a NCAA playoff game again at some point! Not this year, but maybe next!

On the UND pod two weeks ago (prior to this announcement), Schlossman talked opting in / out for a few minutes. Gave some really good insight. Key takeaways I recall were he felt the main reason UND was going to opt out, is because the settlement wouldn't be completed by April 1st, Chaves wouldn't know what they are opting into. He also thought that UND would almost assuredly opt in year 2. Also mentioned that Chaves felt eventually all schools would have to opt in. Want to pair that with an article @cberkas shared in another topic about MW / PAC and setting the bar at 10 million over 3 years. I didn't realize that Alston counts towards that #, I'm guessing FCOA does as well. What # would UND be at currently? Does anyone else get the feeling that UND might end up opting in? I'm struggling to really see a downside. Roster cuts of course will be tough / messy, but being able to increase scholarships seems like in the long run a better outcome. Rosters would be overall easier to manage knowing you have a cap.

You answered my question. Can you give me your ideal off-season, if you were the GM. Who would you push to the portal vs keep?

My last post for the week on this topic. Feeling confident that if they lose this weekend Berry will not be coaching at UND next year. IMO makes by far the most sense.

Added an important addition.

That certainly is one way to look at it. I see you subscribe to the Schlossman school of journalism. Nothing you wrote is a lie. Some would argue you’re only telling half the story. Regardless, time will tell.