SpudsSioux

That one stings, but realistically probably only have room for 1-2 if Simpson, Schultz, Williams and McKamey are all set to come in. That doesn't even include if O'Neil has a good year and comes in. Just land Preston and then this one doesn't sting anymore, haha.

Yup I would think if Wyatt and Brook’s commitments hold than Joey will follow. Beck I think is UND’s to lose.

Swanson doesn’t have the same speed but he still plays hard. I think Swanson and Zellers will be the skill guys that maybe don’t make as big of an impact in the forecheck as the others, but can play smart as an F3 and pick pucks off in scoring areas. You can get away with and need those players too. You just can’t have a ton of them. One per line max.

Forgot Owen Kraft. He’s better than Mason at that age. Laurila’s little brother is good too.

Wanner from last years’ team. Coming up…a ton. Joey, Thoreson, Kortan, Dozark, Buttweiler, Gramer, little Bergeson should all be impact players in college,

This staff definitely seems to be prioritizing speed and guys that are tough to play against. Here’s to hoping this team resembles Western Michigan from this year that just comes at you in waves on the forecheck.

After listening to BC speak on a podcast (I can’t remember which one), he also talked about how this staff is really prioritizing good dudes where they know they’ll fit in the team dynamic and bleed green and he said you just don’t get that before being in a room with the recruit (and their parents, for that matter) for awhile, getting them around the guys, etc. so with the Minnesota kids, they probably took unofficial visits since it’s not a big expense to come for the day. With some of the big targets in Western Canada or across the US, they may have waited until August 1st when they could take visits paid for by the school. I’m as anxious as anyone to hear some big news, but i think a lot of the things we’ve seen play out poorly the last few years are going to be remedied by this new recruiting approach.

Outside of Wyatt (who I don’t think anyone thought was a possibility), is there anyone that’s committed right now that we’d rather have than DuPont, Carels, Fitzhenry, England, Daley, etc? I personally love that this staff is more calculated and doesn’t mass offer on day 1. That’s how you get into the mess we’ve been on with recruiting misses. I trust Chyzyk has a plan (and a plan B, C, D like Schloss always says. I’m glad we didn’t settle for a portal forward and D and waited out Reschny and Voerhoff 😀. Here’s to hoping this is some of the same.

This feels like a big get if it is indeed Williams. Rookie numbers (21-36-57 in 68 games) are in the same ballpark as the rookie numbers for some of the big names that have been thrown around this year: Rechny (21-38-59 in 61 games), Kindel (15-46-60 in 68 games), Bear (25-32-57 in 67 games).

Agreed. That would still be a good start.

I would love to see them add a big CHL name (McKenna, Rechny, Kindel, Bear are my favorites), but I also won't think the sky is falling if we don't this first year. After hearing how absent we've been on the recruiting trail and building relationships with agents/advisors, it's a tall task to expect BC to reel one in this soon. I have no doubt that as he builds relationships (and hopefully we start seeing a better product on the ice and being a contender) that he will routinely be getting 1-2 of those per year. Overall, I'm liking what I'm seeing from a roster construction standpoint. Balancing out the classes a bit and looks like there's more of a strategy around who they're getting and the type of game they want to play. Being able to make a coaching change and retain an all-american, a former USHL player of the year, a first round pick and 2 of the first-team USHL guys from this year is a good sign. If we hadn't made a coaching change and added BC to the mix, I would be much more doom and gloom if they don't get a big name this year. I really do think if it's not this year, it's just a matter of time now.

Interesting. I didn't realize it wasn't higher in 2016. Easy to forget when the end result worked out. Like I said, I don't know whether he was good or bad, but I know that getting rid of him certainly didn't solve the puzzle as it's been more of the same over the last 8 years.

I agree. I remember guys that played for the Force when Herter was there and they often talked about how good he was at skill development stuff (and that included forwards). I know it's a pipe dream and he's probably not in the mix/didn't apply anyway, but if Herter got it, I would have zero worries that he would be able to coach forwards.

Shaw was on the coaching staff that won a national championship, too. Who knows how good or bad he was, but you can only do so much with the skill you have to work with and there was a noticeable drop off the next couple years. If Shaw was the only problem, we wouldn't have seen more of the same over the course of the next 8 years, in my opinion.

NTDP doesn’t play playoffs right? Did their season end this week too? Signs point to Herter or Fohr timing-wise.