Irish

This would be great if Berry was actually making people earn their roster slot for next year - We have seen no evidence of this ever happening with Berry. If he wants to have players prove they deserve a slot on next year's roster it would be the best news we could get. But the optics of JBD sitting while he plays a senior Captain who hasn't scored a goal in about 20 games and runs around willy nilly taking game changing penalties time after time. Seems like there is absolutely no accountability on his team and that is a big problem. We have a ton of dead weight.

This is a perfect description of how Berry handles this - unbelievable. What has Berry done in the second half of the season that shows he is the man for the job?

It's a lot of money - on the other hand can we afford not to? The loss of revenue if we continue to go in the toilet will be great - we are already missing the revenue from home ice this year. This train wreck is getting hard to watch.

Let's sum up the culture and process on display last night - a game in which the Sioux needed to win to keep playoff hopes alive. Another stupid penalty at a crucial time (and one that cost us dearly - and this by a guy who just last week put us in two 5 on 3 situations with the same stupid play) by a Senior Captain who has not scored a goal in the last 19 games. A power play that is an embarrassment to the sport of hockey. Once again a team that is incapable of scoring more than 1 goal. A lack of intensity. And once again absolutely no changes from Coach. If we think some skilled freshmen are going to turn this program around we are delusional. We will be somewhat better next year but will still have a busload of passengers. Berry has shown us he's not the guy to maintain our tradition of excellence. The bigger question is how low must we go before changes are made.

This game is perfectly representative of this season - changes need to be made and right soon - the question is - will the Hockey Program, UND, and the Athleticv Department have the will to do so. This is our flagship program and it has become almost unwatchable.

Not saying Dane should go, but Berry needs to take a hard, serious look at his coaching philosophy as well as the returning roster and coaches. This is one of the hardest but necessary jobs for a head coach. If he want's to be this program's leader he needs to do what is best for the program. After this season, it's crunch time for him.

Mike Eaves 2016-17 - Coaching at St. Olaf in the MIAC

The main things I read here are: 1) They are much less talented than nearly everyone. 2) They are poorly coached. 3) They don't show up. Given that they are playing as well as the best teams in the country, those three things cannot all be true. All of those deficiencies would doom a team, they would be like Canisius (!). In fact, even just one of them probably makes a team uncompetitive against top opponents. Which suggests that actually none of them are accurate. You make interesting points - I know that no one here knows for sure what is really going on. Here are some other ideas about what is happening. First, look at our power play. I have been watching Sioux Hockey for 50 years and can't recall a worse power play. It is also among the worst in the nation statistically. Many times we struggle even getting the puck into the zone. It has cost us dearly. I can only think of two reasons - either we are poorly coached on the PP or we don't have the talent. Can you think of any other possibility? And again as to talent - we don't have a single scorer in the top 100 in the country. Not one. When has this ever been the case? As to not showing up - we are all struggling to explain how we can hang a 5 spot on a good team one night and the next have exactly 3 shots on goal for the entire first half of the game (although stupid penalties by a Captain contributed a lot to this) We seem to struggle stringing two good games together. I think the not showing up idea started after we were rested and mainly healthy after Christmas break and then went to Canesius. Most of the opinions here are pure speculation as is this one - It seems Berry became enamored after the Championship season with "culture". He forgot that the guys who contributed to the great culture during the Championship run for the most part had NHL level talent. We have a lot of dead weight on this team and he doesn't appear to be dealing with it. Like the above poster mentioned - not sure if he has the temperament to make tough decisions and to call out players that need to be called out. We all hope things will get better soon.

You are correct about our talent - that's why this offensive implosion is so difficult to watch. But it's not just the ultra-high end kids we seem to be missing on - other teams seem to be able to find guys who can put pucks in the net - but we don't seem to be able to. Like I said on another thread - out of the top 100 scorers in NCAA Division I hockey we have exactly none. And it's not just the juniors. There are many sophomores on the list, but none of ours. Of the top freshmen scorers in our conference our highest forward is rated number 17 - Denver has 5 - count em - 5 freshman forwards scorfing more than Senden. St. Clown has 3. I'm not trying to bash our younger classes, but his provides a little perspective on why we can't score. I don't believe it is something as simple as missing on the Junior class. There are many very knowledgeable coaches who have huge blind spots. Berry must have one or two for us to fall this far this fast. You don't have to look farther than football Bubba to see a very knowledgeable football mind who has coached the game for many years, yet couldn't recognize a very poor offensive philosophy until it bit him in the butt. Someone needs to take a hard look at what we are doing and make some hard changes. I hope Berry is a guy that can do this.

I agree that we have some frosh and sophs that are developing - however, like I said before we don't have a scorer in the top 100 in the NCAA. There are 23 sophs on that list by my count - none of them ours. As to the freshmen - our highest scoring freshman forward is tied for 17th in freshman scoring in our conference. Denver has 5 - count em - 5 freshmen scoring more than our top frosh forward (Senden). St. Cloud has 3 above Senden. Our highest scoring frosh is a defensman (JBD) who is tied for 7th. Do we have some good youngsters - yes. But this is not the stuff championships are made of. In my opinion we have several things needed to right the ship - 2 or 3 great classes in a row - Having a power play with enough talent to get the puck into the zone - having an offense that can gain zone entry in another way than chipping it along the boards - having the mental toughness not to give up goals within a minute or two of scoring - having enough awareness not to take stupid penalties - giving a consistent effort in two consecutive games (or even two consecutive periods). In my opinion our season results are about half talent, one fourth mental, and one fourth "systems.

I really really hope you are right. I worry that we are looking at next year's class as the saviors of our program when they are a good class, but the kind we should bring in every year. We have a huge amount of dead weight on this team and Berry seems bent on keeping them all instead of bringing in more young talent (culture what ever that means). Remember, we are the team of Toews, Oshie, and Duncan and Schmaltz, Boesser, and Caggiula. We are used to having high end talent. That's why this year is so so frustrating. In just a couple of years we have dug a pretty deep hole. I hope you are correct in your assessment that we are close and next year's class will fill in the gaps. I'm just not so sure that our program doesn't need more than a good class to right the ship.

By my quick count there are 12 Juniors in the top 50 scorers in the nation and 24 in the top 100 - none of them ours. I don't see a Sioux in the top 100 from any class. None. This is unbelievable.

So should we be happy Berry coached them up to overachieve or upset with the total lack of talent he has brought in? I have to say that for us to be very pleased with splits with St. Clown and Duluth because we played over our heads is deeply concerning to me.

Interesting - I haven't read my morning Heraldo yet - I'm assuming they have an even better write up.

Sadly, the operative word here is Izzo - a totally gutless yes man. Expecting a tough interview from him is futile.

I guess at this point we are all speculating. Funny - During Berry's Championship run I thought "at last - a guy who is willing to unleash Hak's talent and let them play". Now, a few years after the Title I am stunned at how far we have fallen - especially when I thought success would lead to more talent wanting to come here. Our team is just tough to watch. I just can't figure out how it happened so fast. Does Berry have a good handle on this and a plan to improve - we don't know and get little to no insight from the program or sportscasters. This leads to much negative speculation. On the positive side we do have a great defense and goalie and a loaded group coming in - on the negative side none of the guys we have brought in to score have been doing much at all. To be honest, I thought with all of the coaching experience we have things would be much better by now. It it talent? system? bad luck? Are we really close or regressing as a program? I guess we need to hope and pray that Berry has the ability to take a long hard look at things and make the needed changes. This program can't afford to slide any more.

If the power play falls on Shaw then why is he still here - and more importantly, will he be here again next year? This has the makings of a Rudy situation all over again. You don't have to look further back than last game to see how much our PP costs us. Also, you can switch lines, but if your offense relies on chipping it in it is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic (no, I don't equate our program with the Titanic, just using because it is an interesting metaphor). The big question is can Berry make the necessary adjustments? At this point no one knows.

This may be true, but we don't have to look any farther than Football Bubba to see an example of a UND coach who had crappy special teams and a flawed offensive philosophy who stubbornly refused to make any changes for far too long and was allowed to stand pat until things were really in the toilet. There is a huge difference between coaches feeling some pressure to do well and having the self-awareness to honestly evaluate what is going on in the program and then make the necessary changes. Some very good sports minds are hampered by a stubborn refusal to change even in the face of strong evidence. I hope Hockey Bubs is not one of them, but there is mounting evidence that he is (see power play for an example).

This is so true - I really worry about what has happened to totally drain the offense out of Berry's teams. Absolutely no scorers. None. Doesn't matter how they were rated coming in they don't score when they are here. I have not seen a team with so much dead weight in a long long time. I used to have faith in Berry, but his total inability to even improve our power play doesn't bode well in my opinion. I wish I knew what was going on (not that I think I will)

And as frustrated as I am we need your perspective on this board too - we are nothing if not reactive. I just hope things change soon.

First, I am not saying Fire Berry after this season. I am saying that we should be concerned and as of now no one is convinced that Berry "gets it". It is so hard to tell through all of the coachspeak and lack of any questions from the press. At a minimum Shaw should be gone. Our power play is an embarrassment to hockey. I think changes need to be made - maybe Berry is willing to make them but who knows. As to the roster being set, quite often in addition to early recruits we bring in the finishing touches. See the championship season with the additions of Boesser and Schmaltz. Now we are losing good players to the very team we got these two studs from.

At least we are properly framing the problem. Here is what many posters are looking at - Berry took over a program loaded with NHL talent and hard chargers. He did a great job and led them to a much anticipated championship. Since then it has been downhill both in wins and talent. We are poised to miss the tournament for the second year in a row after making it 17 consecutive years. The talent is the lowest since the last years of Gino - after 3 bad seasons then we fired a coach that had led us to 3 National Championships. The optics for our program are horrible - absolutely no scoring punch - guys who are not developing. Uneven play. Can't hold leads. Canesius. Not playing a full 60. Ill timed penalties. Guys on the roster for 3 years who bring no scoring to the table. And imagine what this season would be if we didn't have a stud goalie. Many are concerned with the trajectory of this program even more so than missing the tournament for two years. Tell me where I am wrong.

In my opinion, the total lack of information coming from the program and lack of questioning by the press contributes a lot to the frustration on this board (and I'm not saying that we need to be privy to sensitive info about JJ - just commenting on the total lack of explanation about anything) - We are watching a dumpster fire in the program that won #8 just 3 short years ago with as talented a team as I have seen. I am totally baffled by our sudden fall. Our power play is an embarrassment yet no questions or explanations as to what is going on - why can't we even get it in zone? We are world beaters one night and can't hit the ocean the next. We give up leads like no Sioux team I have ever seen. We don't have any scorers on our team. We seem to lack any grit. I don't think coaches are going to admit any mistakes, but it would sure be nice to hear some honesty about our program. All we hear from the media is hot goalie, puck luck, and bad bounces. All we hear from staff is culture and process. Things need to change or we are in big trouble. And I don't think our talent coming in next year will save us. None of the guys brought in to score so far have done squat. Not sure if it is misjudging talent, schemes or what. For once I would like someone to admit there is something amiss and that we have a plan to deal with it. Pie in the sky wish, I'm sure. Looking at you, Schlossman and Hennesy. Ask a tough question for once.

Maybe, but all we get from him is coachspeak about "culture" and "process" - no indication he gets it at all.