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Would be nice to have a separate governing body that is more attuned to the needs & ways of college hockey; instead of just one organization that oversees everything from women's golf to men's fb. The current age issue highlights the ineptness of the NCAA trying to implement a one-size-fits-all rule for different sports with different development paths. If college hockey did break away, it would likely be the lead domino & other sports would follow suit. Having a twelve-member board comprised of two representatives from each of the six college hockey conferences would be one possibility. Having an autonomous board would expedite any changes that need to be made, reduce any unnecessary politics that naturally accompany a bloated national bureaucracy, & would better serve the sport & its unique needs. Biggest obstacle to that would likely be the university presidents, who are gatekeepers for the status quo & don't like to rock the boat.

Davis was a +20 & had only 23 PIM in 59 games this year. Never seen him play, but these numbers suggest that he's a disciplined player.

Correct. Davis is considered a replacement for one of the graduating senior forwards (Strinden, James, Rickwood or Young); meaning Chyzyk very likely had plans for another player as he's probably been mapping the replacements for these 4 players since last year. Something probably happened recently with a plan A or B, & then when Scott became available, the coaching staff started pursuing him. Sounds like the kid can fly, is gritty & has a tremendous work ethic. Could be an unheralded diamond in the rough and a possible 3-4 year player.

Interesting how a Quebec kid like him wound up in the WHL (Brandon Wheat Kings) instead of the QMJHL.

The fact that Strathmann entered the portal right when it opened tells me that UND has a couple of solid (if not elite) d-men already lined up. Don't think Jackson would allow Strathmann to leave so easily if he didn't already know there was someone equal or better than him coming in.

Would be interesting to know if a player can commit simply over a video-call, or if NCAA rules require that one must visit the campus first before committing.

Mildly surprising & somewhat hard to believe that a major school like UND wouldn't already have a marquee CHL name or two lined up by now, effectively leaving UND with just hoping they get a biggie at a later date... With all those talented CHLers/internationals crossing over to the NCAA, figure UND has to be a lock for at least one of them, F &/or D.* Doesn’t make sense to leave it all to chance until after the CHL playoffs. Unless the coaching staff is satisfied for the most part with the talent that is already committed. Like @AJSsaid, it seems like UND is missing one elite forward scorer, especially to make them competitive with a strong B1G Conference next year. *Basing this opinion on the smoke during the WJC that Carels was coming in. Plus that WHL prospects game (or whatever that was) a couple months ago that had the UND logo next to Carel's name on the roster. Hard to believe that was a mistake.

The first sentence in Wodon's tweet.

If a star player is portalling out, a coach would be wise to step back & do his due diligence before pursuing him; because said star player may have been a factor in why his old team didn't do very well (ie, not very teachable, lacks motivation, entitled, etc). Pandolfo said something to the effect that he couldn't connect with his players last year; and if a coach unknowingly brings in a player who doesn't mesh well with the new staff or players, that's the equivalent of throwing a grenade in the locker room. Just because a player is uber-talented doesn't mean he'll be a valuable piece to his new team.

Crack open the checkbooks, teams will be tripping over each other to get to him. If Carels is already slated for UND, UND won't bother putting in an offer for him.

Smaby coached him at Waterloo, so it's not like UND is getting an unknown commodity. Big, physical kid who likes to hit & has a good work ethic. Look at him as being a replacement for Littler (both will be juniors next year) with Lindberg having higher scoring than Littler last year in similar number of games & better mobility, it appears. Upgrade. “He gets to the right areas, he’s got really good timing, he gets to secondary chances, so he scores rebound goals, he creates some chances on odd-man rushes,” he said in mid February. “He’s had some really good looks and it just hasn’t quite popped for him at the level.” -Kris Mayotte, Colorado Gazette, 02/27/25

Two models to consider: A team can either emulate Denver & go for one first-rounder with the rest being very good 3-7 rounders (usually stick around 3-4 yrs); or one can be like Michigan & MSU and be drowning in 1st- & 2nd-rounders (usually 1-2 yr guys). The former owns college hockey & the latter consistently flame out in the postseason.

Have to make room for the 1-2 yr players.

According to Buccigross, Strathmann to Quinnipiac.

This year's UND roster was at 15/9/3, hence why I had stated 9 D. The positive of having 9 D is in case of a spate of injuries, of course. The negative is that UND risks losing a couple of solid D every year due to lack of playing time.