Irish

I agree this was a big factor that is often forgotten - although the missed open nets alone was enough to drive me to drink.

I stand corrected, but still maintain that at times this was a tough group to watch.

You are correct on several points - we are bringing in a tremendous D corps. Having said that, I think there are some things in play that worry some fans - not saying they should be worried, but anyway - the first is the noticeable drop in drafted players - too lazy to look it up but significantly down from the championship year (which we want repeated). The second is the misfire of our soon to be Juniors - an underwhelming group. Third was the eye test - it was hard at times to watch our offense in action - we had a tough time with the puck, shooting at open nets, breaking out, and the power play. Only three forwards had a Plus rating for the season, and one was only +1. I agree that it is very hard to evaluate recruits until they have a season or two under their belts. I think we have some good talent coming in. But I think it is safe to say there is not a Jost, Boesser, or Schmaltz in the group. We are used to pulling in those surefire NHL talented kids starting with Parise and on down to Boesser. I hope we can continue.

My opinion - yes we will be better - last year was a perfect storm of injuries, lack of development for the Sophomores, locker room issues, early departures, and lack of a killer instinct/leadership. This year should be much better. As to a Natty - my opinion is we will be good in the next couple of years - especially on the defensive end - however I think we are a couple of blue chippers away from a title - think of our championship team without Boesser and Schmaltz. I think Berry needs to pull in some top talent to get us another championship - Actually, I am surprised he hasn't. Next year will still have some passengers on the roster who get us no offense at all - too many to be a serious contender in my opinion. Others on this board disagree with this assessment and think the blue chipper count is overrated. I think not - we are the team of Oshie, Toews, Parise, Schmaltz etc - and in my opinion the top program in the nation.

The decision to change a community golf course that was gifted to the University into a pasture is one of the most stupid I have ever seen. Acres of proof that those in charge of the University only listens to a few inner circle yes-men. Not much community input. Kennedy seems just fine with this decision.

Time for Kennedy to go - the board made a huge mistake hiring this self-promoting tool instead of Steven Shirley from Minot State. Under his watch anyone with any institutional memory has been unceremoniously booted - The purge is almost complete. Moral could not be lower among the faculty. No one trust the provost who self-admittedly likes to blow things up, just because. Almost every day I drive by the ultimate monument to his arrogance and stupidity - he turned a wonderful community golf course which was gifted to the University and was making money into a poorly maintained pasture. News flash - no one is building a Dinky-Town there - even if someone wanted to, an environmental study with the coolie there would take years. To start a conversation with our biggest donor with "I could sue you" would be almost funny if it wasn't so vintage Kennedy ego. Time for him to hit the road. He is so short of having the leadership our Flagship University needs it is scary.

Great - staff and players have made leadership decisions - now lets work on team unity and set the goal for #9. We need hard work and focus and are capable of doing it - hopefully ending last season early doesn't sit well with this team.

Great - A top program needs to pay top money - especially if we expect top results. A nice step forward.

In order to run the 1 yard plunge effectively and consistently you need to be able to run it from a variety of looks with a variety of different blocking schemes. Otherwise it just becomes a wasted down.

Cole Sheppard, Aiden Hreshchuk, Ryan St. Louis - so there is recruiting going on now - I was told I was an idiot when I hoped for good news on the recruiting trail.

I agree that we have some great talent in the pipeline with the d-men. Usually nothing is as good or as bad as the fan board paints it. I admit to being one who has expressed frustration with our recruiting on offense. I truly hope this idea is wrong. Where did it come from? First, looking at last year's team we had a marked decrease in the number of drafted players - I know, I know - Caggula, but no one appeared to be upping his game last year. Second, our sophomore class - with the number of early departures this group was expected to step up and fill in and for the most part was a bust. Third, the eye test - it was tough watching us fight the puck, chip it off the glass, and not be able to hold leads (to say nothing about our power play). The missing high-end skills were pretty visible. I hope this narrative is only fan over-reaction, but seeing not only Denver, but St. Cloud and Duluth pull in good talent sent a collective worry through many fans. Remember, we are used to NHL talent playing here. Could this be an over-reaction from me and other fans - sure. To be honest, we've had such a good run it is hard to know what to make of the last season. Will Berry right the ship - I really think he will. Should we as fans hope for some more firepower - absolutely.

That may be true - I believe Rizzo is still uncommitted and I periodically hear of other team's signings so there must be some recruiting going on. Maybe I am just hoping for good news in general. I hope the returners are committed to team unity and team improvement and have a fantastic off season. For me, little information is frustrating. I do believe Berry has the ability to turn this around by next season.

I really don't need any crap from you for expressing my opinion.

We're talking about Sioux hockey on the Sioux hockey board and this seems like a pertinent issue - don't like it, don't read it.

Gooch - 5 goals, JJ - 6, Smith - 5, Hoff - 3, Adams - 5, Bowen - 2, Yon - 1. We are as short on firepower as any Sioux team I can remember. Anyone know why we aren't bringing in some serious scoring next year - you know, Blue Chippers and such. We used to get some every year. Are we not landing them anymore? Poor evaluation of talent? Other teams seem to be landing scorers, no reason why we can't. As mentioned, we have 8 players from our championship team in the pros - How many of their replacements are pro material? There seems to be quite a drop-off. The last time we missed the tourney it was mainly a goalie issue - and the next year we brought in Parise and Greene and had Bochinski back as a sophomore. In my opinion we have some work to do - not saying we can't do it.

Coach Berry has certainly shown that he can coach a talented, motivated team and in a sense unleash them and get them to achieve at the highest level. The question is - can he assemble one? Every time I dare mention recruiting I get immediate blow-back, but the fact remains that not only is Denver solid year after year, but St. Cloud and our new National Champions Duluth have very talented youngsters both on their roster now and coming in the pipeline. Duluth won a championship with 5 freshmen defense men and had 5 on the National Junior team while St. Cloud had half of the all freshman NCHC team on their roster. Of the top 25 scorers in the NCHC the only two freshmen were from Denver and Duluth. In addition, compare Duluth's record after leading after two with our play this year. We need a break-out season from many players and the team as a whole. I can live with playing back and forth with Denver, but the thought of being second fiddle to Duluth and St. Cloud makes me throw up in my mouth a little. I hope the many posters on this site are correct and we will be back in a big way soon. I hope among Berry's coaching skills is the ability to re-evaluate and change as needed. Someone mentioned on a thread that coaches don't get stupid overnight. That's true, but some get more stubborn (not saying this is Berry, hoping it isn't). I hope for good news on the recruiting trail soon.

I hope Berry is out recruiting his ass off.

Of course you are right and your logic is correct. No one should want Berry gone because of this season and I believe no one does (well, maybe one). What we do want is for him to up his game especially on the recruiting trail. The optics for this season were frustrating for Sioux fans - we couldn't hold a 2-3 goal lead even in the most important games, couldn't play a full 60, and our offense could be described as "chip it off the glass". In addition, St. Cloud out skated us and Duluth bullied us physically. Looking towards the future, St. Cloud had half of the all freshman NCHC team, Duluth had 5? World Junior players. Of the sophomores in the top 25 in NCHC in scoring, none of the 7 were ours and and the two freshmen on the list belong to Duluth and Denver. There is a feeling that not only is Denver beating us to top talent, but also Duluth and St. Cloud (which drives me nuts). I know we have some good defensive talent in the pipeline, but we are used to being top dog and having top talent. I know we played the top teams tough, but we couldn't put away Miami when we needed to. We have the best fans, the best facilities, and the best tradition in the nation. Time to get in some studs and rule the roost again.

Patience my butt - I am dying for some great news on the recruiting trail.

Are we missing out or getting beaten out for some of these? It's so hard to tell what our strategy is or who we are competitively going after (not a criticism). I just hope Berry isn't changing our focus to rely more on grinders or over-emphasizing "team culture" - we saw how that worked out. Let's sign some talent.

We might just differ over semantics. I think most would agree that we had a lack of firepower and puck skills up front. This was certainly exposed when St. Cloud skated circles around us. I don' care if we have a line of undrafted Caggulas or if we have the Toews, Oshie, Boesser type who are high draft picks. The point is that we need a serious infusion of skill and scoring and right soon. The best way for us on the sidelines to judge talent is to look at draft position. Do all high picks become college stars? Of course not, but it probably is a safer bet they will than a group of undrafteds. We have some recruiting advantages here - tradition, fans, arena, NFL alums. We are also used to getting some studs to play here and not elsewhere - Time to regain some firepower. We are not a program of all 3rd and 4th liners and will never get used to it.

Totally agree - let's hope the coaches are on the trail and sell our program to some studs.

I don't think you can snap your fingers at all - I think it takes a lot of hard work and good player evaluation by the coaching staff who need to sell our program. We do have some things to help us sell however. We have the strongest fan base in the country both at home and on the road. We have the finest arena and live in an area where hockey is king. We have a proven record of developing NHL players and lots of NHL alumni to sing our praises. We have a proven record of championships. We are the team of Parise, Oshie, Toews, Stafford, and Boesser. We should be in as strong a recruiting position as any team in the country. Again, I think it takes much hard work, but that is a large part of our coaching staff's jobs.

Which underlines the need to reload every year.

Agree that it should be a big recruiting tool. Gersich leaving has been speculated on since the beginning of the year. A bigger question is what is our plan to replace his scoring. This didn't happen out of the blue. I'm not sold on counting on player development to take up the slack. We should have some big scorers in the pipeline every year.