hockeytherapy13

Honestly if any defenseman was going to be injured, why does it have to be Pyke? He’s the best all-around defenseman we have and it’s not close. Zmolek is the best shut down D but Pyke can do it all. Man this hurts. I really liked our chances before seeing that but going against such a potent offense we really needed Pyke in with his experience With all that said, I DO like the way our forward lines look.

First couple of goals sounds key. we scored first in 3 of the 4 losses to Omaha and that didn't pan out so great so we need to build ourselves a lead and run with it by actually holding it or just building it further.

I'd say some people are worried because we just got cleanly beaten by a team that is worse on paper than we are. But as good as I think we are on paper, Michigan probably looks better offensively and driving some defense from the back end. So if paper comes to real life along with our recent play, we are going to struggle. If we play the way we did at home against Denver and Western, I think we have a decent chance. Oh and stay out of the box, please.

This team is much better defensively than the Michigan we are used to seeing. Goaltending is just ok, but they have definitely improved on their structural team defense as this season has progressed. They are trending in the right direction at the right time of the year, unfortunately for us.

I actually feel the same way. They are better than we are head to head. We can’t beat them. At least 2 (maybe 3) of the 4 times we’ve lost to them this year we scored the first goal, too

Glass half full, Hobie is doing his part. Can’t blame him For this

Yeah aside from Blake hitting the post on a breakaway we have 0 grade A scoring chances this period.

Yeah I’d say UNO is simply a better team than we are. Again this is not an effort issue. The boys are going all in and we definitely have more overall talent on paper. But they play a smarter and more structured game. It might be for the best that we get sent out East because I don’t want to be in a regional with them. They can duke it out with the gophers for all I care haha

Not sure Gaber has had a SOG or has come even close to having one. Grade A chances have wilted away as the game goes on

Dave I 100% agree with you on the score of our game, I actually think we will sneak out a 1-goal win tonight. But I respectfully disagree with your Bonus Pick. I think Denver will end St. Cloud's season tonight but it'll be a close one. But I also kind of want St cloud to be done and miss the tourney haha. Tonight's game is going to tell us a lot about this UND team. We struggle to come from behind against teams like UNO and CC, so getting that first goal will be paramount. We don't have the consistency, faceoff prowess, or an excellent top line like the 2016, 2020, and 2021 teams did but when we strike first and lock down the good space in front of our net (please seen the home Denver and WMU series for examples ) we are awesome.

Persson. They brought him here to play the big games and they want him rolling strong going into regionals next week. Hobie is the heir to the throne and will be the guy next year. But my guess is that tonight we see Luddy. I feel confident in both goalies and think Hobie would do great; he looked awesome last weekend. But they didn't have Persson transfer here as a senior just to sit out if he's healthy.

I'm not as worried about how we play defensively against them either and I 100% agree about this team and scoring first because they aren't always great game-chasers. I'm worried that we won't be able to score much. I think we only got 1 even strength goal that weekend Omaha and one of our goals was a snipe by Perron when 5x3. Last line change doesn't seem to matter much against them because they stay so strong to their defensive structure and what gets through their D the goalie handles quite well. I'm happy that we get a game against a team that plays like this so close to the tourney because games always seem to tighten up.

Yeah CC may have had a lot of shots but Omaha did a stunningly good job at keeping most shots to the perimeter. CC only got 1 even strength goal the entire series if you exclude extra attacker goals. All their other goals were on the power play. Allowing only 1 5x5 goal in the course of 3 games on the road is an impressive feat and it makes me worried about our chances tomorrow if Omaha scores first.

Yeah it was Gerbe doing the destruction.

This Omaha team is better than their 2015 that made it to the frozen four. They don’t have the same firepower offensively as that 2015 team. However, they have better structure, better goaltending, and they are able to keep everything to the perimeter. We barely got anything going offensively against them at even strength in terms of decent scoring chances the entire weekend. CC only got 2 even strength goals at home over the course of 3 games. All of their other goals were either power play or an extra attacker goal. This UNO team is legit. Im sort of glad we play them Friday because we need practice against a team that plays like that before regionals but I don’t like the thought of playing them in 2 weeks.

Yeah it seriously seems more like 75-80% of the time if you ask me haha

He was a scout for the Montreal Canadiens. The NHL is the top league in the world, in case you were wondering. The guy knows hockey

Yeah UNO is actually a good team. They would be higher up in most leagues this season. But they were also much better than us tonight. They forced turnover after turnover and fully deserved to win the game. And when a team doesn’t cash in on a 5x3 or even get a scoring chance on a 5x3, it’s not a great sign. Tough to watch tonight.

This was a key moment in the game that haunted them later.

We shouldn’t pull our goalie on this draw until we have possession. We’ve lost 60% of the draws tonight and it will end up on an empty net fast if we don’t play it smart

We haven’t gotten a single scoring chance this period.

Again this isn’t an effort problem. They are just getting outsmarted and making awful plays on their own end. We keep turning it over left and right in the D zone

Yeah UNO definitely better at even strength that round. Need to reset and find a way to break the puck out of our zone. Lucky to be tied and big stick tap to Persson that period

Yeah our 3rd line would be a top line on more than half the teams in the country. Enjoy this ride while it lasts because we’ve got some depth, folks

Happy to see 8 on that 4th line since that’s likely the best fit for him this season. No shame in being a big part of shutting teams down.