hockeytherapy13

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.

Reading some of the reviews our guys have had at these types of camps/games over the summer, reminds me how big of a transition it can be jumping to the next level of competition. Reading strathmann struggled, Emery eventually did well after a slow start, and Swanson was decent enough all tempers some of the expectations I may have had going into the season. We play a really tough non conference schedule in the first month and can’t get buried in the pairwise too early as we also have a brutal conference schedule ahead of us. Duluth will be notably better this year, we see Denver twice, and we only get the cellar dwellers of Miami once. I’m not trying to put the cart ahead of the horse, but these boys need to grow up really fast. Blake played a role in 40% of our goals last year between goals/assists; and 34% of our goals are gone from Blake Gaber, and Johannes. I think we have good depth at forward and definitely expect offensive jumps from Perron, James, and Kunz (assuming he plays a bigger role most of the year). Adding in Wilkie will be solid but it’s unlikely he is a PPG guy in the NCHC like he was out East. With a very young d corps and some learning curves to expect, I hope we aren’t trying to play catch up in the 2nd half in a conference schedule that could eat us alive. That being said, I think having Simmer in the mix makes a huge difference for the defense and I’m not going Chicken Little on the season 2 months before it starts. I’m just reminding myself to not get my hopes too high. This team could be decent or very good this year and it is one season away from being scary good as this team ages up with our stellar freshman class coming in this fall. sorry for the TL;DR opportunity here 61 days

I'm guessing Croal is going to be an absolute pest with a heck of a motor, will be excellent on the PK and a great 3rd/4th line player. This incoming freshman class seems to have a lot of potential and will hopefully be rolling strong by December.

Here’s to hoping we have a 20-goal freshman

Heck even if he ends up being solid on a shutdown I think that would be great. I also would rather he not get many reps on the power play again, but maybe I'm missing something haha

I really think that mantra right here should be the mindset of the team this season. And here's to hoping Schmaltz gets more than 1 goal this season.

Similar pace is exactly what I was going for here because I completely agree with how we’ve balanced lines somewhat incorrectly before.

Mine is not terribly different from some of the others. Omac-Berg-Perron James-Boisvert-Swanson Kunz-Wilkie-Strinden Schmaltz-Jammer-Croal Andrew-Monty-Littler Livanavage-Zmolek Macdonald-Emery Strathmann-Wiebe Jubenvill-Komzak Semptimphelter Hedquist Johnson What I have above would be a #1 line with a lot of experience and potential. We need one line loaded to get points reliably each night. Boisvert at center due to his grip strength, size, and high ceiling seems right while moving Omac and Schmaltz to the wings. The 2nd line would be a combo of guys that play with great speed/pace together while the 3rd line is very heavy and hard but has scoring threats. IMO the 2nd and 3rd lines are interchangeable as far as TOI goes 4th line would be a great shutout and high energy line with guys that play solid 200 foot games. Sounds like Croal is an absolute animal and competitor, even though he’s not huge. I’d see Littler challenging him for the other slot on the 4th line Regarding defense, I think the 2nd and 3rd pairing would be similar for TOI but Wiebe is solid on the right side and is comfortable there even for a lefty which is why I have him in that side. Also guessing Jubenvill get plenty of reps, I can see him and littler being the extra skater a lot of games this year

Yeah this team will stumble a bit at the beginning of the year (and I really hope Berry let's them struggle and grow the way they need to) but this is a group that will be very good come playoff time. And looking even farther to the future, this year's and last year's recruiting class will pay even greater dividends when everyone has had another year under their belts. Really looking at an extra year of Perron, Livanavage, Zmolek, Mclaughlin, Wiebe all being guys that take more leaps this coming year and the year after.

Dalton Andrew with a 4-goal game. After watching those goals on Twitter, it’s pretty apparent that he’s not playing against opponents that are challenging him enough. Interested to see if he can break his way into the lineup next year, although I’m sure he knows he’s a depth guy. He’s got a heck of a shot but the game speed of D1 hockey be an eye opener for him.

Based on the article in the Athletic (Goon posted in the Commits page) that talks about Boisvert needing work on his faceoffs, I’m guessing (and really hoping) we see him at 3rd line center with a decent finisher. If these lines are built correctly this team could be rough to play against. But if we see Schmaltz in a scoring role and other guys get buried that have a higher ceiling and should be getting developed, then it could be unnecessarily frustrating.

I'm actually glad to not see the gophs on the schedule this year. I may be in the minority on that but I like a variety of non-conference teams. I'd like to see BC or some other big-name Big 10 teams like Wisconsin. But I think a year off from UMN makes the years we play them even more fun.

I said this in an overly long post above, but Kunz is primed to go 25-35 points this year if he’s with the right guys. He went from 5 points as a sophomore to 19 points as a junior and really only played top 6 minutes half the year. Put him in a top 9 role and have him play with skilled guys. Then we are looking at a guy that could be similar to Malone or Vandevelde in regards to point production in his senior year

I think if we are going top 6 and bottom 6 this looks really good. But like some have said, this team has the chance to have a top 9 and go for goals with 3 lines rolling a lot. With that in mind, I’d flip Kunz and James around so that Kunz can add some size to the line with Boisvert and OMac, and then James can add more speed to the Wilkie and Strinden line. This year Kunz is primed to be a 25-35 point guy if he’s with the right players. He took a big jump from his soph to junior years and he seems like he’ll make another jump this year. But I agree with others in that we HAVE to keep Boisvert in a top 6 role so that he can develop and hit his ceiling faster. But since he’s still a string bean (as is OMac) then having a guy like Kunz can really help give that line some strength. All things considered, if this team goes with a top-9 approach and plays like they are down a goal all the time, they will be able to wear teams down. Plus our 4th line, if it looks the way you have it above, will make it even more frustrating to play against as they could really shut things down.

Yeah RIT's strength of schedule was rated 53rd this past season (as per CHN) so I'd be happy if he ends up being a 20-30 point guy in the NCHC. Let's just hope he can win some D-zone draws unlike the rest of our team the last month of the season.