sparky8701

That was the kind of game where a championship team gets a goal from a Schmaltz, Jamernik, James, Strinden, or Perron.

In part I think in part it's a trade-off for Kunz recent success. I've been pumping his tires for awhile, always thought he had more to show offensively. His net front-front presence has been great and he took Johannes spot in the top of the lineup and ran with it. But he plays a different kind of game than he did further down the depth chart, and we've definitely missed some of that heavy play.

I'm not a doomer, I like our current team and believe we can pull it off. If I had to make on critique, it's that we are not a heavy in your face team.

The 2007 Frozen Frozen Four Semi-Final still haunts me.

I think there's underrated skill there too. Maybe not enough to create much offense on his own at this level, but playing him with some higher end guys can bring it out. Look at his pass on the PP to Berg last vs SCSU. He scored 5 less goals in 12 less games than Mclaughlin in the USHL.

I've liked Kunz game the last 2 weekends. He's earned some time higher up in the lineup. Let Johannes get 100%

My thoughts too. None of Bast, Johnson, or Moore were good last year - so not like losing them is the end of the world. However, the lack of development and either the lack of belief the staff had in them returning and improving, or the players lack of belief being a part of this program is in their best interest - that's alarming.

Given their draft status, I have to think 6 and 4 are thinking of the possibility of a future pro career. The fact they believe starting over is best on a new team, new coaches, competing with incoming recruits and returning players VS staying at a program with our pedigree/facilities where prime minutes are ripe for the taking and they've "paid their dues" for 2 seasons...is concerning. We don't know anything and maybe there's other issues of course, but any way you slice it, it's not good.

Exactly - like the scouting report on Bast in that first season or two in the BCHL, dynamic offense and skating from an undersized young D. Then he went to the USHL and the offense was gone.

Tough look losing 15 & 25 to the pros, 3,7, & 2 graduate Only 4 returning - so spots & minutes wide open for everyone 6 and 24 still portal out as jrs. Have to sell transfers on blue line minutes, couldn't/wouldn't sell guys we recruited and coached for 2 seasons with said minutes. Ouch.

I believe 25/K is too old for the contract to slide, and signing him burns a year regardless if he played games in AHL/NHL. They could have signed him to an ATO, to save a year, but he has no incentive to want that

Could go either way. He was a beast down the stretch, when he basically eliminated hitting from his game. He could get some benefit rounding out the rest of his game for an entire season + would get his choice of where to go pro and pick a favorable spot. On the other hand, part of his pro appeal is the physicality, which you're right - is absolutely being officiated out of the current college game. The possibility of a major hanging over your head every time you play the body is not ideal.

Good point. I will amend the comment, and admit hyperbole was used. 4th* best defenseman.

A year of pain to get the recruit pipeline righted and set us up for years to come I'd say is worth it.

That hockeynews article aged like milk in the sun. The piece you referenced makes fair points regarding his production, relative to his age - sure. It also predicted he would be late round pick which never materialized. Like it mentions, the Brooks Bandits ran absolutely ROUGHSHOD over that entire league. They had a 14 game win streak that season, 5 games with 10+ goals. They were blowing out teams every night. Bast was 14th on that team in scoring. He was 4th in D scoring in the reg season and playoffs. Ethan Lund put up close-ish numbers (28 pts vs 35) to him on that team, also as a 17 year old. If you haven't heard of him, it's because he was a freshman this year at Niagra, dressed in 13 games and put up 0 points. Then contrary to what was written, he did not head to UND that fall. Idk if they were just incorrect or if the coaching staff recognized he wasn't ready. 6 put up 3 more points in his single USHL season than 24 did in 79 games over two seasons. Most of that Brooks team who produced more than 24 are depth pieces on lower rung NCAA teams, two are playing D3 hockey. I admit, 5th best is hyperbole but I think I can stand with 4th best on his AJHL team. Look at his brother for comparison, he was...fine. He produced more at the same level. I hope I'm wrong and he takes a huge step next year, we need it.

Yep, played in the USHL in his 17-18 year old season and could have easily done 1 more. Being redundant here, but again, coaching staff tells Scott Morrow he has to wait a year - he bails. So they're brining in a smallish defenseman at age 18, while at the same time telling another defenseman who's 8 months older he's not ready (who a simple google search would tell you had 1st rd pick potential.) Any time the state of our blueline comes up I just can't get over it. Especially seeing as the player has came out and straight up said he decommitted because the coaching staff didn't believe in him. No speculation or room for interpretation there, that is 100% our staff bungling it.

I could live with 24 entering too. He was the 4th or 5th best D on his AJHL team, underwhelmed in the USHL. Give the minutes to a young D.

I think he does get the short end of the stick. Look at the series at Miami (Friday game). Gaber gets into it and throwing full on punches back and forth with a guy, gets 2+2. 30 seconds later in the scrum, Klevin goes at it - it looks objectively less than Gabers mix up and receives 5 + game. WTF?

I'm in agreement with you on most everything, except the last part. Sidorski has been just okay, at best. His peak was the Omaha series where he was not noticeable - a win for him. Farmer varied between bad and just okay. The coaching staff knows it too - how many times a game do you see the Kleven/Frisch pair broken up, or one them getting an extra shift because they don't trust the 3rd pair guys on their own? Jandric was solid though. Any gripes I have with his game, aren't of his doing. On the bluelines of years past, a guy like him isn't relied on to kill penalties or eat big defensive minutes or we'd have a better partner to compliment his game/shore up his defending. Good PP guy and run him out there more when we need a goal. Going back to last year, Brady Ferner brought nothing - I'd rather have one of the young D getting reps in, struggling at times knowing it could pay dividends for another 2-3 years down the road. Maybe with more experience and confidence Moore, Johnson, or Bast look better this season. Obviously the goaltending had it's immense struggles in the first half, but a not-insignificant part of that was the blueline in front of it, so I'd hesitate to say the portal usage to shore up the D has been "very good." Something is awry with our recruiting process. This is from the Umass newspaper on Scott Morrow. He's got 64 pts in 72 NCAA games, 40th overall pick. Stephen Halliday and Massimo Rizzo are both over ppg players and walked.

I think it's a multi-year process, involving a season of pain. Abandon the transfer portal and 5th year players unless there's an extenuating circumstance (late decommit/injury/signing) or the player is a game changer. Recruiting and then managing that pipeline I think is at the heart of our problems, and how things get fixed. I'm not sure why Stephen Halliday changed his commitment to OSU, former teammate of Gaber's too - they were electric together in the USHL. We know with certainty that Scott Morrow, Massimo Rizzo, and Cole Spicer did not want to play another year of junior and as a result decommitted. Spicer has potential to be a good 3-4 year player. The other 3 listed are legit difference makers. Meanwhile we bring in Farmer, Sidorski + Jandric and Ferner the year before on D. Scott Morrow was a star at Shattuck and high in NHL CSS rankings, yet coaching staff insisted he play in the USHL for a season. That's either a skill evaluation misstep, or a cop out due to being logjammed at D. Moore and Johnson haven't taken steps. Bast is just a head scratcher. Look at his junior numbers - nothing there indicates he could become a meaningful player at this level. 5th years from Hain and Senden, who are both fine but don't move the needle much, takes minutes from players that we needed development from this season. We got 1 decent season from Ashton Calder. We've done nothing to recruit or develop a goalie since Scheel left.