Brim006

This. And a lot of parents forget that even if your kid truly is elite, and you have the money to support whatever extra development opportunities, that the kid himself still has to want it even more than the parents. You can't force passion, and you can't force true effort on someone no matter how hard you try.

Or just let them enjoy playing the sport of hockey with their hometown friends.

It's a strange trend, and I'm guessing most often it is the parents that want it for their pissing matches. Too many doors have opened just for money making oppurtunities that are posing as development opportunities. It is very rare where we see a kid leaving early being for a legitmate reason. Most often they get little to no benefit from a life altering change. And all for what? Someone should teach parents basic statistics so they can see the reality of their kid playing anything beyond Jr Bs after school.

Gotcha. So Jerry, the SDSU transfer and who's the 3rd?

I didn't follow spring ball coverage whatsoever. I recall Romfo was recovering so he hasnt been playing, but how is the new transfer from San Diego State U doing? Also, curious why it is dumb that Tom said that. Is there a clear 1-2 race or clear #1 in your opinion. Genuinely asking since I have no clue as of right now other than Romfo having a low D3 arm at best.

And it isn't just cow college, as I'd say they are an outlier. SDSU is outlier territory too. So let's look at some of the other peers. USD has had 2 drafted and 3 signed in the past 5 years. = 5 total UNI has had 5 drafted and 5 more signed in the past 5. = 10 total MSU has had 2 drafted and 3 more signed in the past 5 = 5 total Griz has had 1 drafted and 3 more signed in the past 5. = 4 total UND has had 1 drafted and 3 more signed in the past 5. = 4 total (the AI tool I used for this lists Waletzko, Maag, Noah Larson, and Jaxson Turner all drafted for signed. Did Tov never actually sign I suppose? Otherwise that'd be 1+4=5 total.) Doesn't look all that bad actually.

Agreed. Statistically speaking, playing middle of the road ball in the MV and BS for as many years as UND has, they should have had at least twice as many as they have. So even without improvements they would've been bound to have more in the future just by the laws data playing at that level and conference. But with improvements added into the mix as well, I think UND is about to see it happening much more often.

Ah yes, I forgot about Toivonen and Maag. I recall Toivonen getting some playing time and even a few catches in pre-season games. His body type got him the opportunity and he did quite well with his opportunity, but it still wasn't enough for a roster shot unfortunately due to a pretty stacked roster that year. Still pretty wild that quite a few local NSIC D2 teams have been producing comparable numbers of NFL talent as UND. Mankato, Augustana, UMD, and even the late St. Cloud team had a few recently. Mankato likely the most impressive list since 2010 in Thielen, Chris Reed and Shane Zylstra who all had/have substantial playing time holding starting positions for multiple years. Hell even lowly late UMC had a kid who played there for 2 years before they folded and he transfered to NDSU and is still playing in the NFL (Mason Miller).

That's a bummer for Bo, I was optimistically thinking he would at least sneak onto a PS somewhere. I didn't count Kenny G. since he transferred to NIU after UND. But the other guys in that bucket would include Kyle Hergel and Kilty too. Before that I think we have to go all the way back to around 2004-2005 for Chris Kuper. Crazy Nice to see UND winning some of the recruiting battles that they would've been losing in the recent past though. That is a small step in the right direction!

I haven't seen a peep about Bo during or after the draft, so it must be safe to say he doesn't even have a shot at a practice squad or anything at this point? Despite UND being mediocre since the move to FCS, it's actually quite surprising how few NFL players they have produced just solely due to playing in the MV and BS before that. 1 OL draftee who was through and through UND the whole way in the past 10-15 years? Hopefully I'm missing some... Woof Hopefully the development process improvement is as big as the winning culture improvement is with the new coaching staff. It would be exciting to see a guy get drafted at least once in a great while. Or signed afterwards. Some other MV teams are getting more guys drafted in a single day than UND has in the past 2 decades. Bo was debatably one of the best UND players in the past 5-10 years and he doesn't even get interest? Only up to go from here for Schmidt and the boys!

Looks like Team ND beat Michigan U18 today 4-2. Goals by Mattern (shorty), Diehl, Clauson and Deziel (empty netter). Seems like that is a good win and a good start to the tournament. Does anyone know where to watch online? It might be fun to watch Mattern and Morelli on the same line. Looks like they're 1st line together and PP1 together from what I can tell.

Any news of early departures other than Mattern obviously? Or kids transferring in or out of state to other towns/schools? I'll be curious to see what ends up happening with the FN+FS debacle.

Yes they rotate back and forth each year. Had the game been in Fargo between 2 GF teams I doubt they would've gotten 6.5k attendance, thus wouldnt have had to turn people away. But with title games surpassing 5k some years, it does make a good point of not having to turn away fans. But as well all know and have discussed, the second on site rink is a big deal. And until the REA changes their practice rink to a standard sheet with some bleachers it will always have that drawback and the back and forth rotation will continue.

Geez, 6.5k folks at the title game this year is fantastic. From the doom and gloomers on this board, it sounded like there were only 150 people there.

1 temporary step back, 3 long term steps forward.

I just read a story about Grafton Park River area youth hockey numbers growing back to their historically strong water marks. They have 175 in youth hockey and see strong varsity+JV numbers for the foreseeable future. That's encouraging to see and hear, especially if you look at the steady population decline of that area of the state. Anyone know how hockey participation is doing in some of the other "smaller" schools/programs around the state? Bottineau+Rugby, HB, DL+Cando, Mayport, Jamestown+VC? It seems like HB has been hanging on by a thread for years now, and Mayport youth numbers look pretty thin, so I'm wondering if they will be able to continue fielding a varsity team or not. It would be great if Wahp would come back to ND, but I doubt that will happen due to having FAR more success playing in MN than in the EDC since they moved.

This past season I continually heard it was about 3/4 or more of the varsity. Which essentially means just a couple south kids on varsity, but I can't confirm.

That's a tough situation due to the lop-sided numbers. It appears there are only 3 likely possibilities....with a pipe dream 4th. 1. They co-op and have to cut roughly 15 kids - seems like the worst option IMO due to NDHSH needing all the teams and kids they can get but is probably the most likely option at this point. 2. Keep North and South separate, and if South can find a goalie they field only a varsity team that runs a season similar to what Mayport does. 3. Keep North and South separate, but South taps out and South kids are allowed to join or try out for the North team. 4. They co-op but they create 2 North-South varsity teams and 2 North-South JV teams to maximize the 65 available kids, and to avoid having to cut players. Maybe they split the kids up evenly by some sort of hockey-only district line. Seems too far outside of the box and too messy for long term but would be cool to see something happen to avoid the EDC losing a team and kids having to be cut.

I don't know enough about Jax to comment much. But one thing I do know and hope, is that he treats this program like a business rather than a high school team or college teams of years past. Bubs treated it too much like a good ole boys club or Batam B2 team. He allowed his roster to be bogged down with kids that clearly didn't belong on a top tier team such as UND, and often some that didn't belong in D1 hockey all together. He was hanging onto them all 4 years anyways because he was too nice. Casey Johnson, Zach Yon, Dane Montgomery, Bob Anderson....on and on and on. It happens! Players fall off, peak at different times, or just dont transition to the next level for whatever reasons. And recruiting mistakes are surpassable if they are dealt with as fast as possible, rather than just accepted and absorbed. Those depth players make all the difference in this current D1 landscape where nearly everyone can beat anyone on any given night. No more getting by with soft spots that our HC was too nice to deal with. UND needs a HC who's willing to handle those tough decisions and cut the fat when needed. It blew my mind some of them were allowed to stay on the team all 4 years, displacing far more talented players who could have contributed and made a difference in important mid-season games when injury bugs hit and deep rosters make all the difference. Additionally, I know UND has lost some good recruits due to pushing them to wait another year. If you're cutting fat and freeing up those spots, you allow yourself chances to make those small roster improvements and reduce recruit log jams from time to time. Without that you lack depth and don't win those must win games mid-season and late season. HCs should be the commanding officers, making the decisions to produce the best results, not consulting and being buddies with the team about keeping guys around because everyone likes them as a person and are friends. Bubs was likeable and appeared to have a lot of complimentary praise from past players, but he certainly didn't demand the respect or commanding powers to squeeze the most out of his players and teams like Hak and other successful coaches have had. Hearing Jax wants to hire a GM type role, and get more aggressive and up with the times on NIL and other important factors of the reality of college sports today is a great sign of moving things in the right direction. But I'll mostly be interested to see how much he treats this program like a business rather than a friendly group of pals who are okay with prioritizing friendships over performance.

With the instant success of many of these new D1 programs, and the overflowing D1 level talent with not enough teams to support them all, and now even more talent flowing in to displace even more D1 level kids, how many new D1 program could we see pop up over the next 5 years? And honest question, is or should NDSU be considering it? If they were agressive enough and wanted to dominate UND at yet another sport, I’d be willing to bet they could have a consistently stronger hockey program in place within 5 years if they wanted to. The money, the media, the fan support, the airport, and the Scheels rink already in place (until they build their own)…it could easily be done. What better time than now while UND athletics are on their knees in legitimately every single sport, even hockey. I’d unfortunately have to put my money on NDSU over UND for long term success of a hockey program due to being able to win essentially every aspect. Like it or not, crazy talk isn’t so crazy now days since things have changed so fast and I’d be surprised if there isn’t at least a little consideration happening

Serious question. Is it time UND considers the NSIC?

Absent on the recruiting trail? As in, not out there at all for some reason? Or out there but just not grabbing attention of top tier players like UND used to be able to in the past? Blows my mind guys like Schloss and others can say moving on from Berry was a bad move. How can anyone deny the steady decline of the program over the past 8-9 years? As of today is UND even considered a blue chip program anymore? Historically yes, as that will never go away, but as of today I mean. Sadly I'd say no.

Would be nice to get WahpBreck back too actually. That'd be 24 teams, when ND has been as low as 18 teams just 5-10 years ago.

You are correct, and that's the unfortunate reality of the game today.

I'm sorry, I'll admit I just made the assumption that the boys team was the same story as the girls. Which it sounds like it's not! My bad With the girls team, I have seen girls leave for there and asked how that even works. And was told that the girls coaches call around to poach top tier girls to come play for them and they typically offer a MW job that's already lined up to ensure a smooth transition etc. If that is just the girls team doing that, then I spoke out of line. If Warroad boys have been producing such competitive teams year after year with zero imports in that small of a town, that is super impressive.