Walsh Hall

It not like these guys (from the rumors of silent commitments) haven’t played in big games. We’ll hopefully have a good chunk of players who have or will be WJ participants. They’ve been playing elite, high pressure hockey for years.

Yep. I like the silent commitments much more than a potential silent de-commitment.

Looks like 2 more for both F and D. I'm hoping for no news for at least the next couple weeks. I believe that would be good news and an indication of where the remaining spots will be filled from.

Exactly. To win a title the “key” is to have a competitive team and have the best goalie in 4 games in a row.

Any idea on how much information the players have as to who's coming in the following year, i.e the hinted at silent commitments or previously arranged portal adds?

No question that with a series system that Michigan wins in 1997. The one-and-done system provides that chip and a chair possibility. High level hockey has, by far, the highest statistical probability of the lesser team winning an individual game, or a team that is out-played winning a game. Even without a statistical deep dive (which I've done) if you look at the odds on individual games, the NHL odds are much more compressed than the other major sports. Just looking at NBA and NHL lines tonight, there are 3 NBA games where the underdog is a 18-1 dog, and highest NHL line is 2.2-1. Of professional and major college sports, NCAA hockey is unquestionably the one with the most randomness. NCAA basketball would be second, but basketball is much more predictable. After high school, I believe that NCAA hockey is the only level that is one and done. It is what it is, and it makes every game have the excitement of game 7, but to claim that there is no luck involved in NCAA hockey is straight-up moronic (not aimed at anyone in particular).

I agree. Hauser played great. Several of the UND shots were ticketed and he just made great saves. Not positioned well and they hit him, but great shot with better saves. I was surprised that Wisconsin generally carried the play, but UND had more than enough grade A chances that just didn't get into the net. Such is NCAA and single elimination hockey. It's not gonna happen, but I sure wish there could be series for the NCAA tournament.

I love the way all those kids play. I wish they weren't going to be watching from JK, but there's not any other options... Someone that's a solid hard-working player is going to be watching instead of playing.

The ROI would be much better in year 2. He'd be an incredible player next year.

I just did a little checking. Jost was the 10th overall pick and is currently 28 years old. The average 10th overall pick since 1975 played 550 games in the NHL and the median being around 400 games (Selanne and Corey Perry and the best 2). Oddly enough, Jost has played exactly 550 games. His points, 160, are in about the 40% percentile so he'll likely end up around average for a 10th overall pick. He's no hall of famer, but he's nowhere near a bust.

From the times I’ve been a goal judge I was very surprised at how hard it is. You could easily miss a quick in and out shot. Lots of bodies, movement, etc. I was always hoping that I wouldn’t need to make a call.

Pats and Seahawks both have middle of the pack O-lines. It seems incredibly difficult for teams to be above average on both sides of the ball. The Rams had the best cumulative ranking this year, followed by the Pats and Bills.

Sure seemed like there were issues with puck handling and getting much on the shots.

I agree. I also think there will be NLI fatigue after a while. If the boosters pony up at all the schools the end result (W-L's) will be essentially the same for the programs, but with millions of dollars transferring from the boosters to the players. Will folks want to be indefinitely writing mid-to-high 5 figure or 6/7 figure checks, year after year with no return on investment? For extremely wealthy folks I suppose it isn't an issue, but for the typical small business owner it's a different story.

Wildcat formation the rest of the way…