atxsioux

Yes definitely agreed there's room for improvement for both players. (should have mentioned that part in my original response). But on the positive side Zellers seems to have shown flashes + decent effort level, it's just understanding the positioning part, having better anticipation, etc. If Simpson has a freshman year similar to Zellers on the defensive end I can live with it, will give both of them the benefit of growing and improving in their SO and JR seasons.

Good write up on Cooper Simpson in the Athletic for the Bruins Prospect Pool https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6988769/2026/03/22/boston-bruins-nhl-prospect-rankings-2026/?source=user_shared_article

I’ll take the effort Will shows at least compared to the example of McKenna. My god he could care less to contribute on that end of the ice. Obviously he provides offense but it still doesn’t make it much less maddening to watch

(This isn’t happening obviously) But if they cut the football team the hockey team wouldn’t have to subsidize the football team’s expenses

Plenty of players tear it up D-1 year then fall off the map their draft year. Hopefully he's the opposite where he builds and builds during his draft year.

Selfishly, happy to not really see his name out there but Smaby definitely could be an option for Minny. Not very likely but still maybe something to monitor. (the hope is he stays here and takes the reins from Jax down the line. If the Gopher job gets filled by others I think there are pretty few other opens that would entice him enough to leave UND. All of the blue blood coaching spots will be filled for the foreseeable future.)

Agreed just from a neutral fan perspective. When I sit down to watch the tournament I'd choose to watch some new matchups instead of conference matchups at least in the 1st weekend. Frozen four whatever - the committee can't really control that aspect as much.

Only like 2-5% of players are getting enough money where it’s the main factor for them to leave major JR for the NCAA facilities, free college education in the states, more time for lifting and gaining weight, getting to live in better location (IE say Boston or Tempe) , having a roommate instead of having a billet family, better travel situations, playing against older players, better fan atmospheres, more mental wellness options (team psychologists, etc) You put all of that on to a pie chart and the money sliver is going to be pretty damn small. Feel like a lot of Canadians unfortunately have misconceptions from shotty reporting.

Verhoeff was a post and a sliding save from Gajan away to scoring twice for what it's worth on the offensive side of the puck. Did everyone on this forum forget those moments hahah?

No kidding. Was watching with a neutral fan that has no ties and he was as shocked as me that wasn’t a major

If the team we end up getting paired with is hovering around 20 in the NPI compared to the next team above being 14 in the NPI I would think they’re more likely to keep us paired. Should increase the odds of it at least

This team isn’t the type to throw out excuses. But if Kernan was out with the flu likely it’s still making its way through the team at obviously a bad time of the year. Better now than in the NCAAs though

Saw that recently too. (Obviously its cherry picking) But if you take out McKenna's 8 point game where Ohio State decided not to play defense, Mckenna and Reschny more or less have the same "points per time on ice"

Absolutely. He may give Bryn and Co some flexibility to choose a younger player to come in and play center. They can play Kernan at 2C while a younger C adapts to college playing in the bottom 6. Similar to how Nelson did his freshman year.

It’s a projection from a year out, not a line chart set in stone. Like we’ve already seen this year Kernan, Zakreski, Ollie, etc can all play up and down the lineup. They’re losing 1 center and 1/2 wings that have played in the top 6 for a majority of this year so naturally I left those 2 spots open. The 2 guys they may bring in could fill those spots or even play bottom 6 none of us now how it will shake out I enjoy and appreciate watching an effective 3rd and 4th lines just as much as a highly skilled line. That’s the beauty in hockey, there are many different ways to go about putting the puck in the net

The bottom 6 is quite a log jamb so it was going to be pretty damn hard to slide him in to next year's class. The main openings are a top 6 center and top 6 winger. (Extras would be Brock, Klee, and Andrew) Mac (JR) Reschny Simpson Zellers Ollie Kernan Croal (JR) Menghini (SR) Littler (JR) Zakreski

As a transplant down south I (selfishly) wouldn't be opposed to them getting placed in Worcester. Much cheaper to fly direct to Boston then take a train to Worcester compared to flying to sioux falls hahah.

Per Mike McMahon Boisvert missed a team workout it sounds like.

Would be interesting to see how many times the bracket has spread out 4 teams from each conference since 2005. You can make a solid argument that in regionals it's more fun to see team's from different conferences facing off to see contrasting styles of play that you don't get to see as much during the regular season. (not spreading teams out in the 4 regions decreases the odds of hit happening) BC vs Denver, BU vs Minnesota come to mind as recent regional final examples where it did happen. (From a neutral fan perspective in a perfect world I'd choose these matchups to decide who goes to a frozen four over seeing Michigan st vs Michigan, Penn State vs Michigan, UND vs Duluth, UND vs St Cloud. We can see these matchups every year during conference play) Obviously bracket integrity doesn't always align that way but when it does I'd like to see them lean into trying to increase the odds of those matchups happening. (slim odds of it happening but would help increase the entertainment)

Surprising to see Chicago struggling in the USHL as they're usually a high end team. Don't follow close enough though - assuming theyre starting to go into a quick rebuild?

If Augie ends up being the 13/14 seed it's going to make it an uphill battle for UND to get placed in Sioux Falls IMO. (with the assumption that UND takes the #1 overall seed) Augie is way too far behind Wisconsin it looks like to jump to 12 They'll keep Augie there + probably send Duluth there to help with attendance. Veryyyy slim odds they would break the bracket integrity since not only would UND be facing the 16 seed, that 16 seed is going to technically be around 25-30 in the NPI)

https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/new-broadcast-team-to-call-unds-nchc-semifinal-against-minnesota-duluth A little annoying how the TV productions seem so last second slapped together for the last 3 conference playoff games. Based on the article if Ross Productions have done all the CBS Frozen Faceoff games in the past I'm assuming the production costs are being picked up anyways by the NCHC? So why in the hell didn't they just keep the games on CBSSN for the semi finals + final? Really comes off as needlessly pinching pennies. (silver lining is we get Jake Brandt doing color)

The signing of "pro-players" like schloss + Mike McMahon have mentioned is likely to only last for 1-2 more years max. All of the players signed from the ECHL typically would have been the guys that aged out the CHL then went college. (obviously they had no option to go to college when they had to make that choice so they signed in the ECHL / AHL) Now though those guys will age out and go directly to college.

Think the committee will value bracket integrity over attendance likely. It’s close but I’d put it at 60/40. (Bracket integrity / attendance)

Looking ahead to this weekend I’d like to optimistically think that the flu has run its course thru the team and they all have built up herd immunity. (I’m assuming more than 3 guys had gotten the flu but those guys recovered enough before Friday’s game)