AJS

Talking NCHC Pod and how things look the second half. My biggest takeaway and I'm very relieved that the two groups are similar in terms of talent. In a year where your conference record means everything, it would have been tough to watch someone win the league based mostly on the teams they were surrounded with. Some of my high level observations: Tier 1 UND: This one is tough. They didn't look great the first couple of games. Kawaguchi for example looked really slow. Injuries, losing two to WJ's. They turned it around. 29 looked like a Hobey Finalist. Mismash looks like the guy we all hoped he would be. Valuable minutes for everyone. It's clear to me that when at full strength they are the best team in the NCHC. They just need to hold on until then. Duluth: Impressed. Better than I thought given who they lost. A very good team SCSU: Impressed. Better than I thought going into the year. Tier 2 Omaha: This is based on schedule / scoreboard watching. The only team I didn't watch play. They played Duluth / SCSU well. Losing / Going to OT vs Miami is surprising. Six / Ten games against CC, Miami, Western. Tier 3 Denver: It's a what was expected as I thought they were a Clear 1B starting the year, "unlucky" in one goal games to start out the Pod. Their last 5 games were not good. 1 / 1 vs Miami. Loss / OT vs Western. I do think they will be better second half. Brink coming back is big. Pretty big sample size. They aren't what most thought. I do think they'll be better 2nd half, but a step or two down from expectations. Tough Pod schedule. 6 of 10 games against my Tier 1 teams. Tier 4 CC: Only played 8 games. Played Duluth (win) and SCSU (OT loss) very well. So, why Tier 4? SO / Loss to Western. Not competitive vs Omaha. SO vs Miami. 8 Games, they played a total of 2 vs Tier 1. Weakest schedule. Tier 5 Western: Losing their Goalie, brutal start giving up 18. Fought back to look somewhat competitive. Goaltending is the Key. With it, they are Tier 4. Tier 6 Miami: This was the team when watching UND play against that I thought there was the biggest talent discrepancy. As they proved, Goaltending can steal games, but this is the only team I would have a hard time picturing UND actually lose to.

Done. @UND Fan thank you for setting these up! These are so great.

Things started to turn a little yesterday. The perfect outcomes. UND wins, SCSU / Duluth both lose. This weeks schedule (Wednesday / Saturday / Sunday) seems pretty ideal as well. Three games remaining, if they can string some wins together, as low as things were after the St. Cloud game, they have a chance for a fairly successful Pod. The game of the year coming up on Wednesday. Cannot afford to lose both games to a team you're only going to play twice. Not with so much uncertainty about how the Committee will pick this year field.

I cannot believe this team is where they’re at. I’m honestly stunned. They just aren’t very good right now.

I don't want this to seem like an overreaction. It is clear that I had unrealistic expectations for this team. You look at what they had last year and I truly felt there was more talent on this roster. In that sense, I'm shocked really, that the reality is they are no better or worse than Duluth / Denver. What I mean is I thought they would look a step ahead. You aren't going to win every game, but it's clear they aren't better. A lot of games left, hoping there is an extra gear. There going to win a lot of games if this is what they are, could still win it all, but they really have to buckle down.

I came into this year expecting UND and Denver to be 1a 1b. Overall, last game was a really good showing for both, high level. I haven't watched a Duluth game yet this year, so I'm excited to see how UND stacks up. Duluth is solid for sure, but I'm hoping UND has a half step. Those games could go either way of course, but a game where you can tell one team has the edge. Very important game given Duluth is up by four points.

Let's talk a little more about Moore. A guy who is in the same class as Sanderson and Kleven, so he's definitely been overshadowed. 5th Round pick, coming off a strong year in Juniors (+1, so not a True Freshman, but a year delayed). He was a great recruit. Get's an opportunity against Western, but you can't really take much away from that game, because it ends up in a lot of ways becoming a glorified scrimmage. Yesterday, he's on the 3rd D-pairing with Rieger who being what I'm guessing is a non-scholarship guy (has been strictly depth his entire career - solid for that type of player). I was really impressed with him. He played big minutes against what we all believe to be a Top-5 team, with his D-partner being Rieger. Very excited to watch him develop. What were others thoughts on Moore?

Game came down to two very undisciplined penalties in the last 9 minutes of the game. So frustrating. I thought overall, UND played well. Denver is a really good team, eventually they were going to come out on the winning side of a one goal game. I was really impressed with Moore. I thought he was the 4th best Dman today. Intrigued to see him continue to grow during the pod. Won't call him out by name, but there's a Sophomore that really needs to pick it up. He looked a little better as the game went on today, but he's been bad the first 3.5 games of the year. Had high expectations for him this year, so hopefully he turns it around. This one does sting. They were looking good going into that last ten.

Definitely. There are only two recruits currently scheduled (Morrow + Bast) and they are the only two that are eligible to come in (w/in reason, new Prep recruit won't be coming straight from HS). They lose at a minimum Bast / Kierstad / Rieger and most likely JBD / possibly Sanderson. With like you said how weird of a year it will be with the additional year / transfer portal being like it never has and never will be again, having Roster spots available like UND does, is a very valuable commodity. The Rizzo Forward spot was not filled this year as well.

Puck Preps said it best, Chesley has been the U17 team's best defenseman so far this season and is the top 2004 defenseman recruit still uncommitted. I think for a D-recruit he'd be the Top 2004 Recruit overall though. Tied 3rd in scoring on the team with 15 points (4 G 11 A) in 12 games. He's elite.

This is a big one.

We'll be saying this over and over this year, but as important as every game is this season, this has a little extra importance. Denver is a really good team, who will no-doubt make a run, but UND could start to sort of bury Denver with a win. I would find it hard to believe that a team could win the NCHC starting without a win in their first four. Not that they couldn't finish 2nd or 3rd, but it'd be a long road back. St. Cloud and Duluth are sprinting right now and UND needs to keep pace. With Kleven leaving as well, UND has to cross their fingers that nobody gets injured. As there roster stands now, they are still in good shape, but I believe they only have one healthy scratch.

Right or wrong, you are 100% correct. This sounding like a one-time issue (at least for the hockey team), this was the best case scenario.

One (Sanderson) and after the third game.

Let's wait and see on next years Freshman crop. Schmaltz is tied for the lead in scoring on Green Bay with 5 Goals 3 Assists in 6 Games. Late round pick. Just one example, but as someone who follows recruiting closely, you really don't know until the year before they come in. Gaber might be an exception, but who would have thought when he committed it would have turned out like this? No one.

This. First games always make you a little nervous as I do think they favor the team with less talent. Get the win, knock some rust off and move on. I liked the lines, hope they stick with them. Echoing others, Gaber is going to be a star. I thought him and Pinto were the best two forwards. The key, like last year, will be finding a 3rd for the 2nd line. They never found it last year. More experience / options this year.

I try to look at these things from every angle. Things I understand. The well meaning intention behind JBD's and Jasper's message. Where they are coming from. Why people would be upset with Kneeling for the anthem Things I don't really understand: Why you would do something that although isn't your intent, there's a reasonable reason why it would offend and alienate some. Doesn't seem like an effective way to promote a message. What kind of impact JBD and Jasper think this will have. To me it's a little naïve and self-serving. Things that make no sense to me: Why you would let this act change your opinion on the University / Team. Either withdrawing donations or not attending games in the future. It's bizarre. You go from enjoying something, to being done with it, because two members of the team demonstrate a peaceful protest. Especially when their intentions are pure. I hope both JBD / Jasper feel their impact was made and this was a one time thing. Things can return from normal and everyone can concentrate on the actual games.

The only thing that bothers me, is although it's clearly not their intent to show disrespect, that you couldn't see at least how people could be offended. Does it offend me, no, but I can see how it could. It just seems completely counter productive and in that sense, really short sided and frustrating. Has to be better ways or things you could do that would offend less.

Always love the 360 write ups. One of my big takeaways, and what made me optimistic on the Defensive side of the ball, is their thought that the defensive line was the biggest question mark. My thought being it will be better than last year, still a work in progress, but only losing 1 guy, there should be a lot of improvement.

If you're Berry, are you looking at the Transfer portal? With an increasing amount of Teams shutting down, I'm guessing we'll see the numbers in the Transfer Portal keep increasing. Currently: Goalies: 3 Defense: 8 Forwards: 14 There is a Spot open at Forward. If a Top player enters, do you try to get him? I'd say absolutely.

I like the structure of the question, there are so many factors, big difference between 1 Year vs 2, the kind of impact they made. Kawaguchi is the extreme side of the four year player. As was a guy like Duncan. Because of that I'll remove names. It's easier to play when we know their college careers. It took me a long time and only relatively recently did I get burned enough times to no longer really get too high or low when a player committed. You see the offer list of a 15 year old and think he's the next first rounder. Most times he's not. Likewise you see the 19 year old putting up ok numbers and you wonder why they offered. It's still fun to follow the progress, but I really don't start keying in until the year before they are projected to be here. You do take age into the equation of what to expect, but this is a long winded way of saying I've gotten a lot more excited about the players body of work and not just draft ratings, ect. Take this year for example, it's Gaber / Ness that I'm really excited about. They appear to be the perfect college player. Kind of a cop out, but it's gone from 90/10 in favor of the big name recruits to 50/50 for me.

Can someone ban @gfNDfan and then close this topic?

It's important to note that UND has a very small list of first year eligible players for the 2021 draft. There's only 3 guys who fall into that category, all three being very talented (Morrow / Blake / Hedquist). The year after, UND should be very active (James / Dunbar / Singleton / Spicer / Ausmus / Panzer).

Can we close this one? We get it @RobThomas , you're upset it didn't work for your relative. He's transferred and moved on, it's time you do too.

Mark me down as a huge fan of these. Full disclosure, I couldn't have hated the Grey jerseys anymore, so not seeing those was all I needed. I would prefer Green over Black slightly, but overall think they are sharp.