hockeytherapy13

I really wish they would have pulled the goalie at some point within the last few minutes. At least to get some 6 on 5 practice. Thats a situation that will come about in the season and to not even take a whack at it for the sake of reps seemed like an odd coaching decision.

Even if we play 50% better than we did tonight, we would likely still get beaten by providence.

This was the big problem. No ability to generate offense is a massive concern for a team that is supposed to be offensively deep

I’m fine losing an exhibition. There just isn’t anything to be positive about in this game. Too far to go before playing a top-15 team next weekend

Heck they even changed goalies. But it doesn’t matter because we aren’t getting grade A chances

For a team with so much offensive depth they have a long ways to go before that starts to show. If every team that has decent 5-man structure can keep us away from getting below the dots most of the game, we are going to have to figure some things out

They are so well structured as a unit in the d zone

I think the energy is there but the lack of offensive chemistry is what the concern is for now. They can’t enter the offensive zone with momentum or maintain pressure there. The first game always has rust but I’ve been watching other teams’ first games this weekend and a lot of them are looking sharp against other D1 teams. Either way I love some adversity in the exhibition game cuz it gets them working harder

Jake schmaltz on the power play….this is seriously concerning that we didn’t learn from last year

Something tells me those 2 are going to be fighting hard for that 4th line spot. Also guessing one or the other will be the extra skater some nights. But Jubenvil will likely be extra skater too some games. Glove that these guys have to battle hard to get into the lineup

Yeah these are looking great. Hope they can get some chemistry with these. Wilkie must be scoring a bunch in practice because you know Swanson is going to be paired with a pure shooter

I love hearing this. I know it's only a scrimmage but these are 2 players that I'm interested to see how they do with a full slate of NCHC play. Wilkie was exceptional in the AHA at a point per game but will he crack 25-30+ points with the daunting schedule we have this year? And with Emery being a string bean (albeit a highly athletic, lean-muscled bean), will he face injury problems late in the season due to facing heavier bodies all year? Excited to see it play out.

I really think Strinden will be on one of the top 3 lines in more of a scoring role than he has been in previous years. Guessing Croal or Littler could be more appropriate grind guys on a line with Jammer and Schmaltz.

Yeah I think this team is going to be setup as a top-9 to bring that constant matchup against teams. So I totally agree that Wilkie will be either 2C or 3C but some of those top 3 lines will be interchangeable for minutes depending on who is running hot. Guessing he or Berg will be the go-to guys that are needed for an important faceoff whether it's D zone late in the game or to win the faceoff on the power play to gain fast possession. Really hope that depth carries over early so that we can get through the gauntlet of non-conference opponents.

And by this you mean: if we see Schmaltz in a top 6 role and frequent power play minutes we are in trouble… cuz he he could be awesome as a 4th line center to give this teams lot of depth; let’s not try to turn him into something he’s not

We may have a pretty good idea of whether or not our guys will make the NCAAs after the first month. We have an absolute battery of a non-conference slate which could make or break our pairwise. BU obviously is a top-4 team, Cornell might be top 7-10 and providence top 10-15. Mankato will be no slouch either since they are older and heavy. Bubs set us up with a beast a few years ago when putting this together haha. With the NCHC being deeper than ever, we need to make hay non-conference. However, if we come out of those first 4 weeks cleanly above .500 that will be a solid start and a crazy way to acclimate freshmen to what the big boys looks like.

Always hard to tell online if this is sarcasm or not haha. But if it’s not: their Ironman is a series of challenges UND does preseason to test strength, speed, endurance, etc. I believe there is a point system for each challenge. With Perron finishing so high this year I’m hoping they means he starts to go through guys while carrying the puck more often. We badly need him to get closer to his potential to fill some of the gap from Blake leaving.

Duluth is coming in with what may be the best freshman class in the country. By the time the conference games are started, those guys will have played some good teams for the first month of hockey and will be close to acclimated. That, combined with a healthy Dominic James means they will be playing at a higher clip than most expect and I really don’t think they will finish as low as 7th.

I think you’re correlating 0 Nattys with diddly squat and I’m not so sure that’s accurate. I’m no fan of the teams in the Big 10 but there is a Big 10 team in the frozen four almost every single year, sometimes more than one. So even though they didn’t win the big one, making the F4 is still a solid accomplishment.

Ha When I was figuring out my rankings I did 3 tiers and grouped them the exact same as you. So it has to play out that way, right?

Here’s my preseason guess for the NCHC 1) DU 2) CC 3) Nodak 4) Duluth 5) Western 6) Clown 7) Omaha 8) ASU 9) Miami Seems like 2-8 might be a blender because any of those teams could get in a log jam. Guessing Duluth makes a big jump compared to last year. Also thinking Arizona had a tougher-than-expected welcome to the NCHC due to their youth and finishes bottom 3.

We just need some of them to eat a few protein bars and hang out with Pooly. Emery is a string bean (172 lbs won’t cut it even if it’s all lean muscle) and will need to be bulking up big time over the next 2 years. He and Boisvert can hit the weights and dining centers together. Still excited to see how Emery uses that long reach to kill plays, though.

I actually had that same setup for top 6 in my first 3 drafts (except Omac starting at center) and I just couldn’t decide haha. I knew I wanted a playmaker like Swanson with a shooter like Perron but I had a hard time deciding where the rest of the top 6 would fall

Yeah we seem to be set up for better depth this year. Our top end is lower initially without Blake and gaber but we have the guys that can grow into it very well. If the 3rd line ends up being some semblance of what I had, that would be a top 6 on most teams.

Well it’s time to start guessing lineups again because I want the season to be here. What do you all think of this? Boisvert-Berg-Kunz Swanson-Omac-Perron James-Wilkie-Strinden Croal-Jammer-Schmaltz Andrew-Monty-Littler Livanavage-Zmolek Wiebe-Emery Strathmann-Macdonald Jubenvill-Komzak Semptimphelter Hedquist Johnson Seems like Kunz will be playing top 6 (or top 9) mins this year for sure based on what Bubs said in the Captain’s article from the Herald. Every forward line has 2 separate guys that can play center. I could maybe see Wiebe playing with Strathmann to start the year since Wiebe can play on the right side well.