AJS

Game over.

Correct. As others have said, great job by the coaching staff, this was one of the two positions that were big question marks coming into next season. This has solidified that position, him being a sophomore next year is an exclamation point on top of the get.

I love it, the more league teams within driving distance the better.

World Junior A Update: Going into the final day (Canada West has played their 4 preliminary games, every other team will play their 4th today), Blaisdell leads the tournament in goals (4) and is tied for the lead in points with (5). Strictly looking at points, Bast (3 points in 4 games) and Pinto (2 points in 3 games), seem to be holding their own as well.

Craig Button's updated top 62 has: 46. Blaisdell 53. Pinto 59. Caulfield

World Junior A: Blaisdell - 2G 1A 3P (3GP) Bast - 1G 2A 3P (3GP) Pinto - 1G 1A 2P (3GP) Rizzo - 1A 1P (3GP) Frisch / Miller - 0P (3GP) The point leaders are at 4, so a great showing so far from Blaisdell / Bast so far.

At the break UND is 9-7-1 (3-5-0 in conference) and 16th in the PWR. Positives: Scheel: .913 SV%, but if you exclude one game against Western he's at a .923 SV%. If you take away own goals it would be even better. What has impressed me the most is his positioning, the guy always is in control. Being just a freshman, UND will be in great hands for years to come. Defensive Core: We knew they would be solid and deep going into the season and they are. Based on expectations, I would say Kierstad is the guy that has stuck out the most in a good way. He'll be an all-conference player before his time is done at UND. Senden: This guy is the ideal 4th line player, love what he brings. Negatives: Forwards: Overall, they've been the least effective group that UND has had in 20+ years. That being said, their injury situation has been ridiculous and when healthy, they will improve. Special Teams: Again, probably the worst overall (PP / PK combined) that UND has had in 20+ years. The PP is already a lost cause, but I liked the way the PK played down the stretch. That will be better in the 2nd half, we just need to hope that it can play at the level where it ends out canceling the PP. Overall, they realistically are only a game off of where I thought they'd be (10-6-1). Their non-conference record is solid and they played about even (- for Bemidji series, + going 3-0 against Big Ten). The Western Michigan series at home is only series you highlight on the conference portion. Looking ahead: You start with two crucial non-conference games against a bad Canisius team (on the road). Like UAA, those are the last truly "must sweep" weekends of the year. Their second have conference schedule opens and closes with two series against the two worst teams in the NCHC in Omaha and CC, which I like. You split the home / away weekends with the tough portion of you schedule (SCSU / UMD at home), (Denver / Western) on the road. If I were to hand pick those four series, the two I'd want at home would be SCSU / UMD, since I believe those are the two best teams. It's been a roller coaster first half, but believing two things (1) Special Teams can't be worse (2) Overall scoring can't be worse, I think this team has a great opportunity to have a better second half than first half and I think we'll see them in Fargo for the regionals.

Someone recently posted the PP stats from years past and as we all know, it's never been good, that being said, the PP this year is on a entirely different level. It's hard to comprehend how it's this bad. I can confidently say, if they didn't practice it at all and the coaching staff said to the team, you guys figure it out, it wouldn't be any worse. It's not that they just don't score, it kills the momentum they have every time. Here's a guarantee, there will be a couple games in the second half where they will go something like 3 for 5 and 4 for 8, probably against Canisius and Omaha which will somewhat save the overall percentage (from being in the bottom 10 in the country). Others have said it, but it's the timely PP goals that you really need. Not the two they got in in a 6-2 loss to Western.

That was the first gut punch of the season. This isn't the first game they've lost that they probably deserved to win this year, but that they way they lost that one was heartbreaking. Hockey can be a cruel game. It's funny that of the last three games, this one being the loss, it's after this game that I feel the most confident in this team. This team doesn't have and will always lack the top end talent offensively, but I really like where they could get to offensively when healthy. They won't ever be a great offense, but with the goaltending / defense they have, they could end up being a real solid team. The Smith / Senden / Hain line would be a fantastic 4th line. How I'd like to see it. Mismash / Jones / Kawaguchi JJ / Gardner / Adams Hoff / Weatherby / Keane Smith / Senden / Hain That's not a bad forward group.

This It's annoying that both were retaliatory, with the other guy getting nothing, but like @sprig said, slash him back them, don't spear.

It's pretty crazy that you can a quarterfinal game with 100% certainty 5 minutes into the game.

A win tonight and this team gets back to "neutral" in the NCHC standings. They would have officially dug themselves out of the hole they found themselves going into Christmas break. That would be huge.

You're right it's tough to complain after a win, but we all know that doesn't change the overall talent level of the forwards. Talent wise this is the least talented forward group UND has had in 20+ years. That being said, they are solid in net, have a good d-core and tonight found timely scoring. When healthy at forward, they can hopefully find some consistency. I don't think anyone thinks they outplayed Denver. The second game in a row, where I think they got the "breaks".

There's no doubt about that!

The result is all that matters, solid goaltending, penalty kill and timely scoring. They got their split, now let's see if they can steal a sweep tomorrow!

No doubt, this team really needs to get healthy. Having two of your top 6 forwards still out really puts a dent in this lineup, even with Jones back in the lineup.

I thought the same thing at first look. Given who they have healthy currently, they make more sense than at first glance.

Should have clarified, I meant the people who were predicting a UND sweep.

I really like the confidence from this bunch, but it makes me wonder if we've been watching different teams.

Pinto & Frisch selected to play in the 2019 USHL/NHL Top Prospects Game in January.

It'll be interesting to see how this team is health wise this weekend. I don't care how they get it done right now, just scratch and claw your way to a split going into the break. Couple things, Scheel gets both games this weekend regardless, make sure they are mentally tough. Even with the injury situation / forward talent issue overall, if this team plays structured (see Minnesota - Miami stretch) and doesn't get frustrated or try to do too much, they are tough to play against. Just split.

World Junior A Challenge starts on December 9th: Team USA: Pinto, Miller and Frisch Canada West: Bast, Blaisdell and Rizzo

Interesting, do you know if that would have been for next year or two years from now?

Like any team in any league around the world, there's always going to be a talent discrepancy throughout the lineup. There's really no way to sugar coat it, the problem with this years team and injuries to this forward group when it happens like it is currently, is the talent depth at forward is non existent. When fully healthy, this can be an average offensive team. The Top 6 is respectable, the bottom 6 is below average. You take out Jones, Adams and JJ and I realize the last two aren't exactly offensive dynamos (either is Jones, but he is solid), but you are left with the line charts we saw last weekend. This team is solid in goal and in net, so if they get healthy at forward I do think they can play with any team in the country. Let's cross our fingers for a split next weekend and then hit the restart button in January with hopefully a full roster.

Same, I never thought they could pull this out. They just need guys back. The forward talent depth on this team is terrible.