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According to doctors & Poolman, Zakreski appears to be completely structurally healed from his injury; only things, according to Jackson, are for him to regain his timing & build up his endurance. He & Klee in non-contact jerseys at practice.

Not only is Zakreski skating again, he's also practicing with the team. According to Taylor Budge in her reporting of this week's press conference. Having him back in the lineup (at some point) will be invaluable to the team's already significant depth.

Two lessons in this saga: For Boisvert, the grass is rarely greener on the other side. For Pandolfo, not all shiny objects have value. He'll probably due his due diligence next time before bringing in another high-profile portal guy. Tough spot for 17 yo Lawrence to be in: brought in mid-season with no training camp to acclimate himself, coupled with teammates who have either mentally checked-out &/or are simply underperforming.

There are more inside scoops here than the Herald. Their interpid beat reporter hasn't said anything regarding Zakreski since an early January press conference; unless it was noted in one of his articles or podcasts. Will be interesting to see who if anybody gets sidelined when he returns; perhaps Klee.

Snuggerud

Not much movement in the NPI at this point in the season. Before Saturday's game against #44 Omaha, WMU was sitting at #3. WMU only fell 2 spots to #5 after their loss, which isn't much at all considering Omaha was so low; while Omaha only jumped 4 to #40. UND maintained the #3 position during their bye week, which is good considering they could have easily fallen to #5 if WMU & PSU had had better weekends...Ohio St. missed a good opportunity to knock MI down a peg, outshot them both nights & lost in ot yesterday.

According to your tier levels, Michigan can only be beat by MSU, but Ohio St. outshot & almost beat them last night. Michigan is playing on borrowed time with an average goalie. WMU may not have a roster full of high draft picks, but their coaching staff separates them from other good teams. Excellent structure & disciplined play. If Ferschweiler/Herter had UND's players this year, good chance they would be #1 NPI now. Some coaches just have the Midas Touch.

Perron put Michigan on his back with 1g, 2a in 3rd period last night to lead his team to victory. From being a despised non-factor at UND to being one of the the most valuable forwards with 1st line minutes at Michigan. Amazing what a change of scenery can do, or maybe everything is finally clicking for him, or both. OSU was actually doing very well against MI, outshot them & even had a 3rd period lead; but their goaltending was a no-show. With Ivankovic out, MI is very beatable.

Minnesota winning benefits UND in the NPI. Am assuming ASU beating CC is more to UND's benefit than vice-versa, but dunno.

Of the 7 players highlighted above, I don't know in what universe that would even be possible to have all of them on the same team, because it would mean making one of them a 7th D every night or a healthy scratch if you're dressing 13 F. In your scenario, it would look like Laurila would be the 7th D every game (imagine that, an elite D like Laurila possibly being a healthy scratch), with Lindberg or Jubenvill only getting a sniff of ice if there were an injury. Would be surprised if Jubenvill hangs around next year if that were the starting D...which would be unfortunate, because you groom a player for 2 years, only to have him pushed out when his experience as an upperclassman could have been a stabilizing force on the backend.

Dartmouth may not even make the national tourney the way they're tailing off, but can imagine PSU's reaction getting stuck in the same region (Loveland) as WMU & Denver. Good times.

Assuming you meant a future portal pickup. Is your definition of a stop-gap player like a Dalton Andrew (depth) kinda guy?

Provided no forwards leave early or transfer, there are 4 openings for next season. B. Schultz & Simpson being locks. Out of the remaining 2, UND will maybe bring in a high-end guy like Suvanto. If the last spot went to one of the remaining commits like A. Schultz, then the only senior on the team will be Menghini. Hard to win a title with only 1 senior. This year's team has 4 senior forwards & that leadership & experience is paying big dividends.

In a single shift last weekend, Verhoeff made a couple of big blunders (2nd period of Saturday's game): 1) unable to hold the puck in the o-zone with only moderate pressure from an ASU player; 2) while behind his own net & with no ASU player on him, made a drop-pass along the boards that was intercepted & almost led to an ASU scoring chance. All in a span of about 55 seconds. Still very raw, but understandable considering his age. His pace though seems to be improving, but his decision-making isn't quite there yet. He definitely would benefit from another year of NCAA hockey before being thrown to the wolves. Fair to say that it's very difficult to win a title without solid senior leadership & production. And it goes without saying that UND would be nowhere near as good this year without Strinden, James & Rickwood, who will all be gone next year. Will be interesting to see who the senior leaders will be next year as Menghini will be the only one, unless they can get a senior transfer or two. Seniors provide not only experience & maturity, but they bring a sense of urgency as they know this is their last chance to win a title.

Not doubting his high talent, but curious why other big schools weren't after him if he is so good, only UND & UMD.

Indeed, his recruiting is par excellent, but winning a title will elevate his reputation as well as his program's to the next level. It's one thing to recruit well, and another knowing how to coach in big-game situations, like Ferschweiler & Carle. He hasn't demonstrated that, not yet anyway.

Not sure about eligibility requirements in the CHL, but maybe he announced early because he's aging out, like MacKenzie. Both are 19.

Even though UND swept ASU, their NPI percentage barely moved over the weekend: Before Friday: 58.145 Before Saturday: 58.449 Currently: 58.476 Clarkson, Mercyhurst and MN all lost yesterday; & per usual like clockwork, Bemidji St. also lost & is tanking the second half of their season. None of these are helping UND's NPI. Only bright spot yesterday was STT. -------------------------- Michigan (idle over the weekend): Before Friday: 60.117 Before Saturday: 60.448 Currently: 60.386

Rickwood with 6 points on the weekend. (1g, 5a)

Barring an extreme example like a Todd Bertuzzi cross-check from behind, one can usually show the same controversial play to 100 X fans & 100 Y fans & get two polar opinions. That's why it's wise to take any reactions in these highly-charged game threads with a grain of salt. People see what they want to see, because they draw conclusions based on their beliefs, expectations & emotions. No one is immune from this bias if he has a strong stake in the outcome.

Surprisingly, FOX 10 In Phoenix is carrying both games. Quite a few here nitpicked their broadcast team, but they did a nice interview of Schlossman during the first intermission & also of Rickwood at the end of the game. Not many home telecasts (if any) interview opposing players after the game, but they did. They were complimentary of the UND program.

At this point, too many "what ifs" to accurately gauge D line-ups for next year. But like you said, it would be a big loss to lose Jubenvill, who could provide a lot of stability for a title run for the next couple of years with his experience. To prevent him from bolting, maybe guarantee him a minimum 6/7 role next year provided that Livanavage, Wiebe & Zmolek all leave. A junior/senior Jubenvill would be more valuable than a freshman/sophomore Lindberg come tournament time; unless Lindberg comes in as ready as Laurila, which is unlikely. Prioritize keeping the upperclass talent. Capitalize on this relatively short window of having Špunar by having as many seasoned D in front of him as possible. Špunar being one of the backbones of this team who has the skill & poise to take this team deep...Can't afford to lose Jubenvill's experience, especially after UND has spent the last couple of years developing him & if it comes at the expense of a freshman D. Note: am making the Jubenvill/Lindberg comparison because if Jubenvill leaves it may be because he would see himself as being possibly healthy-scratched in favor of a freshman. Would be nice to have Lindberg do another tour of juniors & come in '27 when he's even more mature & there's a lot more room for him in the line-up.

The way he answered you sure sounds like Carels is one of them. During a recent interview, Carels was saying that the two players he models his game after are Heiskanen & Sanderson. That perked my attention as Sanderson may have been a major selling point for getting him to UND. Plus he's probably good buds with Verhoeff & both played well at the WJC when paired together. If no forwards leave early or transfer, there would be 4 openings. B. Schultz & Simpson are supposed locks, with A. Schultz probably coming. Would be nice to have one that is a heavy forward who can replace Rickwood. If Tyson Gross of SCSU enters the portal, UND should be all over him. 6'3", 194 lb right-shot C, winning 62% of his faceoffs & tied for 8th in national scoring (13 g, 18a). In non-technical terms, a beast...But that would be a longshot as every major program would be offering him top dollar; more likely it'll be a CHLer of Suvanto's caliber. Bottom-6 may be too crowded next year for O'Neill or Sanderson.