Irish

We are probably ranked appropriately given what we did last year but have much greater potential. It's probably going to come down to coaching. Bubba needs to up his game management greatly. Given that last year was his 12th as head coach and probably the worst game decisions of the 12 I am hopeful but not counting on it. He doesn't seem to have an introspective bone in his body. 4th downs aside we were bitten in the butt by special teams and general disorganization. The other coaching factor is strength and conditioning. I hope we are over the great "we need leaner linemen" experiment. We have some talent but they need to be put in a position to win. I am not close to the program but I really hope someone had some conversations with Bubba in the off season. No reason why we can't make a serious run this season.

Exactly this - I'd love for the students to be allowed and have fun but no way to suite owners want to have to stand all game to see - an obvious oversight that no one realized until after the arena opened. At a minimum we need to stop over-policing the students and let them be unless there is a problem and organize some chants and cheers that everyone can get behind. And enough with the enthusiasm killing ads during every break.

How many times when we are rallying or after a strong shift and the crowd is getting into it have we seen some crappy commercial during play stoppage. That is the main buzz killer at the Ralph. Keep the crowd fired up. The Ralph is about ad revenue first and a good hockey atmosphere second.

Good old Carl

One of the worst 4th down decisions ever - not THE worst though. Clearly Bubba has learned nothing since then.

It's safe to say that last year was a tough year for Bubba both on and off the field. Not blaming him for the Weah mess - he took a chance on the wrong kid and got burned but who could predict that. However, he needs to seriously refocus for next year. Change is hard for Bubba but we need to clean up the locker-room mess and fix the coaching lapses during last year's games. We can do it but we need Bubba to lead the changes. Hopefully this won't be too much of a distraction. Time to move on and get it done. Next year is huge for our program.

You're missing the point - I detest Duluth - but want UND to get back to this kind of prominence. That mainly involves improving our tournament performance. If Duluth and Denver can do it there is no reason why we can't.

Pretty pathetic for a fan discussion board - now get back to your Middle School homework.

Minnesota Duluth 2021-22 - Lost in Regional Finals 2020-21 - Frozen Four 2019--20 - No Tournament 2018-19 - National Champions 2017-18 - National Champions 2016-17 - National Runner Up 2015-16 - Regional Final

Wanting more than 1 regional win since 2016 is not unrealistic.

True - but we really need to add tournament success back into our culture.

Yes, I like UND's culture - However Spicer is going to Duluth who has a great culture too - hard-nosed disciplined hockey from end to end and showing up strong at tournament time. We'd do well to borrow a little bit of their culture at times.

Not necessary a lazy take in the context of what it will take to get us to the next level. If Bubba doesn't get better as a game manager we won't make the jump. Sadly, in my opinion, based on his body of work Bubba will not change or improve. And it's not just calls fans don't agree with - some are horrible mistakes that almost no one not named Bubba agrees with.

Simple - Berry wouldn't make the tough decision.

I wish the whole team had a bit more discipline - like we saw with Mankato - they play hard and physical but no stupid penalties. How many times did we take really inopportune penalties this year?

Good points - in those tough losses we struggled to put the puck in the net - that's why I would like some more firepower.

Great research - you went all the way back to 2010 when Hak was recruiting. Not suggesting you do it but It would be interesting to see how many blue chippers have been recruited by current staff. After seeing our lack of firepower this year it may be a concern. Since 2016 there have been 5 Frozen Fours counting this year - none in 21. Denver has made 3, Duluth 4, MInnesota State 2 and St. Cloud 1. We, on the other hand, have a total of 1 regional victory. "Blue Chippers" - meaning first rounders - may not be the solution but more firepower certainly is. Not sure what is causing this but I am hoping for a swift turn-around and winning some recruiting battles would be a good start.

I get your point - In my opinion how to achieve it is hard to quantify. In essence recruiting is basically a sales job. Think of a car salesman - some are very successful and some are not. They are all selling the same basic product - they rely on their personal relationship with their customers, their reputation - especially among former customers, the deal they offer, and the facilities they have to back them up for service and repairs. Our program has a lot to offer - we need to sell it to top recruits.

Along with almost everyone on this board, I have zero insight into Cooley's recruiting process. Apparently Minnesota was able to convince him that his college career, development, and pro prospects were better there than here and he bonded better with the coaches. While we certainly won't get all Blue Chippers to come here we should get more than we have. Denver is in the Frozen Four and has 4 of 6 on the NCHC all rookie team (we have two - one is our pretty untested goalie. The question was "What's needed to hang a green banner" - not so sure why more Blue Chippers is getting such push-back. My second thing would be more team discipline - we had to lead the Nation in inopportune penalties.

Car Wash

It's mainly on the coaches to up their recruiting game. That's a big part of the job. We are losing too many recruiting battles. Mankato had 2 of the 10 finalists for the Hoby this year and have made two consecutive Frozen 4s. It's up to the coaches to evaluate talent and sell our program.

Another thing that would help us win #9 - Better team discipline. I only watched Sioux games but it seems like we would have led the nation in inopportune penalties which sometimes came back to bite us.

Exactly my point. Not saying we should get every blue chipper but we should be getting more. Someone at Michigan must be doing a great job of selling their program. And they're still playing. And they haven't won a Natty since 1998. They have some recruiting advantages we don't have and we have some they don't have. Time for us to up our game.

Best fanbase in the country - usually lead in attendance and travel unbelievably well. Best facilities. Proven track record of producing NHL players. Great player development. 8 National Championships and usually in contention for league championships and almost always make the regionals. Great national reputation. A long history of high end talent including Toews, Parise, Oshie, etc. A good chance of playing in a high profile destination game.

No reason we don't have more high enders - with our recruiting advantages we need to get in some elite front end talent. Coaches need to hit the recruiting trail hard. We should never be caught short. One win in the tournaments since 16 is pathetic. Get it done. How did Mankato get better than us?