OgieOgilthorpe

They have 2 Defensemen on one unit and 1 defenseman on the other unit. As mentioned, the 2 d-men unit is because of Wolanin truly acting as a forward but is obviously marked as a d-man.

That's a pretty optimistic review of a game where only 1 goal was scored against a miserable program. I don't think their goalie is anything special, I just think UND has been good at making goalies look leaps and bounds better than they actually are the past 2 seasons. I wouldn't mind it if UAA controlled play the entire game tonight and outshot UND 4-1 as long as UND out scored them by 3 or 4 goals. At least there would be a break in this ugly trend of poor scoring percentages. As we all know, the PP is still miserably bad, but I didnt realize it was 5 shot attempts on 5 power plays bad. Yikes Simo was a beast on the dot last night and was the only guy able to bury one. Good flash of leadership there by him, showing it on the ice where it counts. Nick Jones went 6-0 on the dot as well, so thats a flawless start for him.

Woah, ouch. lol

My optimistic side is saying UND over UNC in a barn burner 31-28, but realistically I don't think UND will be able to stop their offense at all again. I think UNC will win 38-28

Looks like he rubbed off on CC already! 1 scoreless game in the books!

He's a great goal scorer and an awesome player that gives it his all, but just like last season he seems to score all (or most) of his goals when they don't really matter. OT winner for an extra point over Denver, and the first goal in the natty 2 years ago are the only ones that come to mind. I remember a lot of his goals being when UND was already out of reach or already had a good lead.

A new team handling adversity well in my eyes would be a team gutting through a bad game by still coming out on top with a gross win. I don't really see killing off a 5-3 to squeak by with a tie vs a team like that is a very good sign for season to come.They couldn't find a way to win, let alone find a way to score on one of the worst teams in the nation. I don't blame myself or others for being a little bit concerned already.

UND showed some flashes of being solid, but good teams find a way to win and UND couldn't...against a team that won 7 games last season. Sure it's the first game of the season, but keep in mind that the goofs beat these guys 6-0 early October last year. I'm also not too sure I can "trust the process" figuring last year's team seemed to flat line on PP development, scoring and winning in general last season. I'm not to the ledge by any means, but with how familiar things looked last night, I'm surely not very confident in this group yet.

Feels like we've heard that before..."their goalie was hot, their goalie played out of his mind". How many times did und outshoot someone badly and lose last year?

I'll say 1. Gersich 2. Adams 3. Mishmash 4. Kawa 5. Bowen 6. Pogo

I bet he goes pointless through the weekend to extend his streak to 3 straight pointless games this season. But if he lights up noodle arm middlested during the goofs series, I will take back everything bad I've ever said about him!

I agree that he physically has the tools/skills to be one hell of a player, but he rarely shows that in the right ways. It's one thing to get an athlete into better shape, but it's impossible to change a kid's demeanor or personality. I just see him as unenthusiastic lazy type of player that has already topped out because of his attitude. I'm sure he has an enormous amount of untapped potential that will most likely stay untapped due to just not caring enough. This is all just speculation, but it's the vibe I've seen from him over the past 2 seasons. He would be the last player I would put on the penalty kill or the checking line. He's more so the type of player I would post up in front of the net on the power play to get greasy goals since he's probably hard to move. I really don't see him fitting into any other rolls very well after that and I believe that will become more apparent this season. Put the tenacious, feisty and annoying forwards that love to finish hits and go 100 mph on the penalty kill and checking line...not the big slow lazy guy that gets one big hit a game after missing 15 others with his Angus-like reflexes.

All season long. I'm talking total points and offensive productivity. I think POGO has more to offer as an all around player than most of them, but I just don't get the hype with chubcake Gardner

Even if UND has a mediocre to poor game/s, I don't see them dropping one this weekend. They don't really miss a beat on any of the pairings or lines, while UAA definitely does. Mistakes will be made (Wolanin) and there will be goals against, but UND should be a higher caliber team in every aspect. I still think Kawa, Jones, Mishmash and Adams will have more of an offensive impact than Gards and Pogo.

Everything about this team is bad. Dussold is averaging 33 yard punts? WOW, that's embarrassing. I could average higher than that honestly.

Wolanin will create a lot of offense as usual, but he will also create a lot of odd man breaks by forcing the play and by NOT closing the gap like he does so horribly and so often. #Twig hunter I love that kid on the power play but I can't stand his playing style during even strength. I think he will cause more harm than good again this season, but his hand full of sparkly goals will get more attention than his 300 bad neutral zone reads and 300 poorly timed pinches at the blue line that'll cause dozens of goals against. I would hate to be his d partner. I feel like he has great hockey sense and vision in the o zone but in the neutral zone it seems like he only has one eye and drank half a gallon of paint thinner. Gardner will be a disappointment again this season. He gets so much attention for his size and his face off abilities yet he rarely lays the wood (due to being so slow) and really isn't that spectacular at the dot either so I don't get it. FYI, being big doesn't make you physical (I'd rather have a kid that goes 100 mph with a motor that never stops and lays it all on the line than a big slow lazy guy). I get a bad vibe from him and his mannerisms on the ice. He doesn't have the tenacity like a true Sioux player typically has. I anticipate seeing a lot of gliding, rounding circles instead of start-stops, and a lot of hooking penalties since he can't move his fat hoofs. I can't decide if slow or lazy is a better word to describe him. I expect gersich to do his thing again this year but at an even higher rate. He's a goal scorer with speed and grit. I hope they can find some liners to fly with him so he doesn't get held back. With the way he works at practice, I can only imagine he's faster, stronger and even more skilled this year. I doubt his goal scoring will be as far under the radar this season. He might get a little more attention now with jost and boeser gone. By the end of the season I thought poolman was right at the heels of his brother already and actually showed flashes of athleticism that his brother has never showed. He's smart, has speed, great puck skills, quick release and athletic strength...By the end of the season I think we'll see a kid that's better than any blue liner than we've had in the last 5 years...and that obviously would say A LOT. Optimistic statement, but it's very possible IMO from what I saw out of him at the end of last year. I also noticed he sits back into his hits rather than lunging forward with his shoulder. Reminds me of how T.J. Oshie hits. He keeps his hits in his core and keeps both his feet on the ground and squats into the guy rather than just lunging at them with dead body weight. Anyone with separated shoulder problems is most likely a lunger and probably gets licked a lot. Pogo will be our legit grinder forward that he's always been. We know he can disappear during parts of the season but I think he will still produce a respectable amount of offense similar to last year. I will guess that jones, Bowen, kowo, gersich and mishmash will be the biggest producers with jones and gersich leading the way. If peskie improves as much this season as last, we should have a Brett burns on our hands come February March

If they had to keep replaying it and discussing it for 10+ minutes (or whatever it was) then I feel like that falls under the label of disputable.

I hope UND absolutely blows UMD out of the water this year. If I had to chose a sweep between them and the goofs, I would have to think long and thorough.

How am I able to watch the game today? ESPN3?

Were there any casualties in the student tailgating area last home game? Not saying they should, but does anyone know if they're going to crack down on that area from turning into a club again this week? I thought it was great so many kids were there having a good time, and I was impressed how many actually still made it into the game.

With a healthy UND, even after the momentum killer last weekend I would take UND by 10+ but I have a bad feeling about this game. I think the cats control the line on both sides of the ball and we see a 37-24 loss. Hopefully UND gets more guys back before next weekend so they can start an upturn in the season and hold onto that thread of a playoff spot.

No matter how creative an OC is at any level, there aren't many ways to properly use your weapons when you have absolutely ZERO control of the line of scrimmage.

Don't get me wrong, because I'm always excited to get more local kids on the squad...but I just don't see it with Costello. I watched him struggle to create offense in several North Dakota High School hockey games. I watched him go scoreless against Devils Lake and I watched him get absolutely worked by Grant Johnson and the entire central team the first game they played last year. I had to look at the roster sheet several times throughout both games to even figure out which guy he was...which usually isn't a good sign. I see he has the size and good skills for his size, but there must be some potential that I'm not seeing. If I had to guess, I'd say he'll be a dud, if he even makes it to UND at all. I definitely see the potential in guys like Caulfield and Hain, so I don't think my scouting eye is that far off, is it? Anyone agree? I also see why there wasn't much interest in Grant Johnson. He's obviously small, but more importantly it seems he has topped out or peaked already. His playing style and skills fit in perfectly to be a dominant HS hockey player, but I don't see him transitioning to college very well.

We need to get some guys healthy. Along with that, I expect the team to have the right mind set for every game the rest of the season after getting embarrassed like that. If both of those happen sooner than later, I expect to never see that same type of game from UND the rest of the season. At least on the losing end of it!

100% healthy UND I say 6-4 USD. Their D line were miles above our O line in all aspects. And their O line controlled our D line very handily...which is scary because that is UND's strongest position group IMO.