Stack

The Drake

Especially when part of their criteria for the brackets isn't even if they are in the PWR but instead currently lead their league, aka Minnesota at 17 in the PWR.

Just read a story that Jimmy Vesey a senior hockey player from Harvard wrote about his time in college: http://www.theplayerstribune.com/jimmy-vesey-harvard-hockey/ Great read!! I hope our underclassmen read the story and realize the NHL will always be there and their time in college is finite. They can enjoy developing their game while having the time of their lives with the "boys".

I hate to talk about players leaving while the season is still going on. Let's try to enjoy these guys as much as we can. That being said Ladue is gone, Thompson is gone (they wanted him last year. His improvement has slowed this year even though he has an excuse since he is the one that gets the freshman D rotating with him every other game), Schmaltz is gone even though I think he needs one more year of development to make it right away in the bigs. Poolman stays to play with his brother. Stecher will get many offers and it could go either way. The pressing question is Boeser gone too? I cannot remember a player that left after his freshman year except Kevin Maxwell but Kevin left to join the Canadian National Team from 1979-1980. Back in those days there were no pros so you played with the national team an entire year before the Olympics. I think Boeser is actually ready for the pros physically. Who knows.?

You cannot make the NCAA tournament using the Pairwise rankings if you are under .500. However if you win the league tournament you are in no matter what your record is.

No big deal either way. I just happened to see the scoring change on USCHO last night right after the game. They still have it as Gardner but I just checked CHN and they have Johnson with the goal too. So I'm out.

The Luke goal was given to Gardner. with the tip.

Gardner

Boeser

Brock Boeser

Last year Thompson, LaDue, Poolman, all had offers to go pro. I am expecting Thompson and LaDue to be gone for sure. I think Ausmus stays along with freshmen Shaw and Wolanin. The question marks are Stecher and Poolman. I'm hoping Poolman stays to play with his brother similar to Jordan Schmaltz. I have no idea on Stecher. I see Nick Schmaltz leaving for sure. Boeser is a question mark. Usually freshman forwards come in and need to get stronger like Nick did last year. But Brock is already there. I can see him going pro after one year but hope he learns from Toews and Parise and stays for two years so he can go directly to the NHL rather than sitting in the AHL.

Poganski

Gersich

We used to gather also at the small bar in Carrabas near the arena .

Brock Boeser

Luke Johnson

The first half of the season is going to be brutal. 20 games before Christmas of which 13 are on the road. We start with 6 non-conference games, 5 on the road. Then play the Number 11 (Miami- at home) , Number 17 (St Cloud- away), Number 5 (Denver- at home) and Number 2 (Duluth- away). Throw in away games at CC and Michigan State and home games against Wisconsin and you have an extremely tough schedule. Along with a new coach, new goalie, and 10 freshmen what are the odds we come out of the first 20 games above .500? Being realistic, I'm expecting us to be at a 9-11 record before Jan. 1. With enough non-conference losses to keep us out of the NCAAs unless we win the NCHC tourney or are unbeatable the second half of the season. How USCHO could rank us at Number 4 in the country when bringing in 10 freshmen is beyond me. We need to hope for an Omaha like season like they had last year where their freshmen led them in scoring and they got great goaltending from a returning player that was so-so earlier. I am still really looking forward to this season with so many unknowns besides our D.

Drake Caggiula

Speaking of Blais. Omaha was about the worst prepared team I've seen in the Frozen Four in many years. They did not come to play and were overwhelmed. Blais did a horrible job preparing that team for the big stage. They never even put up a challenge.

O'Donnell.

I'm a little tired hearing about how the Fargo regional is a home game for North Dakota. It is not in their home arena so no it is not a home game. It is a neutral site which the NCAA wanted. To have the arena completely fill with North Dakota fans shows how well they follow the team. Fargo is 75 miles from Grand Forks. In comparison: Manchester is 53 miles from Boston (home game for BU?) Providence is 51 miles from Boston home game for BC against Denver? Having these teams travel less than an hour away for regionals is one of the main reasons that they make the Frozen Four so often. Hopefully we can make that same thing happen tonight against Jan Brady State.

To top it off the paved lot are all reserved spots. They sold the reserved parking spaces for $30 each shortly after the tickets were released and they sold out. Also at NCAA events they do not allow any drinking of alcohol except in the suites or in this case at the Highpoint Bar and Grill in the arena. They sold entrance tickets to the Highpoint for $30 a day and you can only get in with one of those tickets. So party before the game if you like since no booze at the game. PS. As someone mentioned if you come for the first game you CANNOT leave between games.

Club seats are simply a row of chairs on the rail behind the regular seats. So club seats are between the suites and the regular seats. Here is a seating chart for Force games: http://www.fargoforce.com/page/show/1274451-seating-chart The dark green section all the way around the arena is where the club seats are.

Parks

Chyzyk