Just Curious

Does anyone know if Cameron Rowe is related to one-time commit Jack Rowe? Both from IL....would be curious if UND would have a knock against them if they were related.

If you do a little more digging, it sounds like he still wants to go to Wisconsin but they want him to stay in juniors longer to work on his game. He has been bumped down to the last pairing and it sounds like he hasn't made the transition as well as expected. I would guess he will need at least another year regardless of where he ends up.

I got the same exact email after sending in a complaint last night. I have had streaming issues for at least part of the game all 3 weekends so far.

I have no idea why I still pay attention to Chris Dilks as he clearly hates UND and cannot give an unbiased report, but here is his conference realignment attempt: http://www.sbncollegehockey.com/2016/4/20/11318170/college-hockey-realignment-big-ten-nchc-wcha-north-dakota

Stetcher bleeds kelly green......I am not saying your are wrong, but I would not be surprised if he stuck around for his senior year. He has only gotten better each year. It may all come down to how the season ends. Winning a National Championship may be the trigger the helps some guys on the fence move on to the pros. A bad loss in the playoffs could push them to stay and try again.

I thought Wilkie and Gersich showed some early chemistry and since they have been separated they have both become far less noticeable. Not sure if it was defensive liability that led to their separation, but their offensive numbers apart are nonexistent while together they were both finding the back of the net.

Yon named an assistant captain for the Force and it appears Cakebread did not make the final roster. Was he traded or sent to the NAHL? http://assets.ngin.com/attachments/document/0083/5268/2015-16_Fargo_Force_Roster__Pronunciations_.pdf

What about Brad Berry? I think he would be a viable candidate as well, or maybe just a safe play for the upcoming season.

So the question is who is the next head coach? Do they promote from within for the upcoming season or do they try to hire a new coach right away? I am also interested in what this does for current and future players. What was shaping up to be another dominate team could definitely take a turn in the opposite direction.

The other thing to note about the addition of Gornall is that most of the incoming forward recruits play more of a Top 6 style of hockey. The same could be said of Murphy and Sanderson (to a lesser extent). Gornall could be brought in as an extra body and/or a player meant to fill a Bottom 6 role. With the losses from the senior class, the team really didn't have enough grinders to fill in the 3rd and 4th lines. Of course I could be dead wrong, but I don't think the addition of Gornall implies UND losses any additional forwards.

Does anyone have any insights into Evers? I know there was a lot of hype when he committed, but his draft rankings have consistently been slipping and from what I could tell the he was essentially demoted to the U17 team for the last month or so. Also, he was omitted from the U18 Worlds roster that is currently playing. Was there an injury or has his development just plateaued? I would think he would play another year in the USHL unless UND absolutely needed another body on the blue line.

Can you elaborate on this comment???

I don't disagree about Bjugs, but to say that Duncan has done NOTHING post college is pretty ridiculous. He was a solid AHL player (in fact I believe he lead his team in scoring at least one year) and has been a top scoring over in the European leagues. I know none of those leagues are the NHL.....but if you think that the NHL is the 'best' league in the world, than you have a pretty narrow view of hockey. Duncan is a different player than Bjugs, but every bit as talented, if not more given the physical differences between the two players.

While I would personally feel much more optimistic about next year's D-core with the additional of a stay-at-home guy like Ausmus; I am also concerned about the possible consequences of UND adding him to the mix would cause. It seems like UND has a stockpile of D-recruits, so asking 1-2 recruits to delay a year (or two) could result in the loss of said recruit. Its a dual-edged sword....pick up a great recruit now, possibly lose one in the next year or two........

Yeah, brain-fart....sorry. Not sure how I made the jump, but in my mind it made sense initially.

I believe that is his Uncle. His father is Craig Simpson, he is an analyst not a GM.

I am curious about this too.... I was under the impression that there were more than enough forwards for the next 2-3 years..... I know the coaches know better than I do, but unless he defers for at least a year you have to start wondering who is going to get playing time and if UND starts to see guys leave for more minutes.

As most people expected..... Maine will be looking for a new head coach: http://www.uscho.com/2013/04/09/report-whitehead-ousted-as-maines-head-coach/

I don't ever remember reading a quote from Grimaldi saying that he would only stay a year. I think when asked to discuss the topic he has implied that he will stay until he feels he is NHL ready and has accomplished everything he wants to at this level. If I am missing something or a specific interview, could you please provide a link??

I think the D-core in general was a liability all year. I am not sure you can argue for one person over another. Simpson was good for most of the year, but still had some very poor games. MacWilliam was basically nullified by the refs all year. Forbort started and ended strong, but had a slump in the middle. Schmaltz struggled all year on both ends of the ice. Gleason and Mattson suffered from being paired together most of the year. Both showed a flash or two, but ultimately they did not play well together (two guys thinknig offense first makes for numerous d-zone errors). I am not trying to advocate for Mattson being perfect, I am simply saying that by singly him out for improvement is overlooking the flaws elsewhere. I think his puck handling and passing abilities will be a real asset next year and his production will increase. I do think he needs to be paired with someone that is more stay-at home and that he needs to put on 10 pounds of muscle so he stops getting beat down-low.

There as been alot of negative reviews on Mattson lately, but personally I think he is doing pretty well considering his size and style of play. He has finally started to show some confidence with the puck, and while he tends to be overly fancy at times and did make some bad turnovers; he is still contributing some offensive pressure from the blueline. He had a few new defensive plays in the NCAA playoffs and another year with Berry will greatly improve that. I thought Gleason was by far the worst defensemen down the stretch and Schmaltz was pretty poor at times. I thought Mattson ranked in the middle. I don't think we will see Stetcher or Ladue play on a regulat basis at the beginning of the year. I think Panzarella will get more icetime as the freshmen are given time to adjust to the college game. UND will be lacking size and strength next year on the blueline, so Panzarella's experience and physical presence wiill come in handy. I think careful pairings will be key to a strong D-core next year.

I don't see Hak and Co. splitting MarkMac and Parks up for too long. Those two played so well together. They both have great speed, good hands, and yet can play that gritty puck-possession along the board game so well. I think you have to move a similar type player in with those two. Grimaldi needs one bigger, tough, cycler winger to play with him and Caggiula. I think Johnson would actually work best with Parks and MarkMac, and Murphy or Tambellini might work with Grimaldi and Caggulia (although Murphy is not a cycler, but his vision and ability to dish the puck could make for an explosive line). It will be interesting to see how the off-seasons goes for allt he current and incoming players. The talent is definitely there for next year, its just a matter of it all coming together better than it did this year.

I actually thought Mattson had a pretty good game in both ends of the ice. There was a time or two where he tried to do too much, but otherwise he made alot of smart plays, played well in his own end, and broke the puck out nice. Gleason, Simpson, and Schmaltz did have pretty poor games. I think some of those guys are hurt worse than usual at this time of year (Simpson for sure). I thought Knight played one of the worst games we have seen from him all year. He wasn't great in the face-off circle and seemed to be fighting the puck a bit. Hopefully the rest will give players a chance to heal and this will be the only time the Sioux outplay a team and get stoned by a hot goaltender.....better now than during the NCAAs.

Not that it's a 100% reliable source, but a Vernon Vipers blogger states that Crisfield will not be returning to the BCHL next year, suggesting he will be coming to UND in the Fall. That would be 3 defensemen for sure coming in, possibly 4. I wonder if this is foreshadowing and early departure or two. http://vipersdiehardfan.blogspot.com/2013/03/vernon-vipers-2013-14-possible-roster.html

I agree here. They are losing the most physical defenseman they have and not bringing in one as a replacement (see video linked above on Crisfield stating the current plan is to play another year of juniors). That leaves Forbert as the most physical (assuming he stays AND Panzarella is given limited playing time), and he isn't that physical. I think the D-core will be dangerous in their offensive zone next year, but UND may get a whole lot easier to play against in the D-zone. After the 2013-2014 season it looks like a better mix of bigger, more physical defensive d-men and those more offensive minded. I am expected a long learning curve on the D side of the puck next year and UND may have to go through some growing pains. Offensively, I think there is more than enough talent currently on the roster and coming in. I think UND sees a more even scoring distribution next year (with the exception of Grimaldi leading by a large margin), but they will still manage to put up a decent goals per game average.