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UND is carrying 15 F this year. If they go with the same # next year & no one transfers out or leaves early, that would leave the following: Bottom 9: 7 locks: Kernan, Croal, Littler, Klee, Zakreski, Menghini, B Schultz, (2 of the following: A Schultz, Andrew, Sanderson, Williams, O'Neill, Pilgrim) Top 6: Swanson, Josephson, Zellers, Reschny, Simpson, (high-end transfer transfer/CHL) I put Williams in the bottom 9 because, according to @beastandco 's synopsis of Schlossman's podcast yesterday, it sounded like UND would be looking for a F from the portal or CHL who could play up in the line-up, & that wouldn't be Williams, because Williams was mentioned separately as maybe coming. Granted, this is a very rough draft, & projected rosters like this today can mean nothing at this level come April. But there's quite a logjam for the bottom 9 as it currently stands.

Hear what you're saying, but it doesn't make much sense for a guy who makes the WJC prelim. roster & is potentially the best D in the WHL to fall to the 3-5th round. He's gifted with unreal acceleration, a great shot & loves to lay hard checks. A coup of the highest order by Chyzyk. Foley, the metrics wizard on X: "NoDak just… crushed it with this one. I mean, he may be one of the best recruits on the continent."

Pundits are gushing about MacKenzie's talent & versatility, & in the article below, the author said he has a strong claim to be the best D in the WHL this year. He stated also that MacKenzie is still eligible for the '26 draft, but I don't see him rated by any of the draftboards as to what round he may be picked. If anyone knows why he's not being discussed as to where he may be picked when he's still draft eligible, chime in. https://www.eliteprospects.com/news/world-juniors-2026/who-is-ethan-mackenzie-a-look-at-the-surprise-inclusion-to-canadas-2026-world-juniors-camp

Last sentence in the article: "Livanavage and Abram Wiebe are going to the Spengler Cup in Switzerland after Christmas, but that shouldn't affect any time with North Dakota."

Sounds good, where did you hear that?

Switzerland is 7 hrs ahead of GF. Assume they left Switzerland at 8 am on Jan. 2, on an 8-hr flight to NY or ATL, they would arrive at one of those two locations at approx. 9 am GF time, plus a couple hours to make their connecting flight would be 11 am GF time, plus 3 hr flight to Minneapolis would be 2 pm in GF, another couple hours to make connecting flight to GF would be 4 pm GF time, plus the actual flight time to GF of 1.25 hrs & they would arrive in GF at approx. 5:15 pm, disembark time of 10 min to get inside the terminal makes it 5:25 pm, 10 min. drive to REA makes it 5:35 pm. Give or take a couple hours probably.

Is ranked as high as #4 in the 2026 draft by Cam & as low as #14 by Button. Consensus among some pundits is that he would be in the top 3 conversation if he were a little bigger (listed at 5'11', 176). Is smooth as butter (elite skater) & very high hockey IQ. If he lands at DU, he'd be a continuation in style of Z. Buium.

Double-header on BTN tonight. MI/MSU at 4 MT & MN-OSU at 6:30 MT. Many other games as well that have NPI implications for UND, including Cornell at Clarkson. Noticed last night that MN's defeat of OSU marginally bumped up all the NCHC teams' NPI, while marginally bringing down all the B10 teams'.

Reschny didn't get an assist on the winning goal, but he won that faceoff cleanly which made it possible for Zellers' heroics. PP 3-6 on the weekend.

Where is that quote from?

Was checking to see if the MI-PSU game would be on the B1G Network tonight, but thankfully they have women's volleyball on instead. Makes one wonder if wvb would draw more viewers than a college hockey game between two of the better teams in the conference.

The current UND HC has the final say about whether any of his players get to play in Davos. Not having enough D to field a full line-up levels the ice when it would otherwise be fully tilted in UND's favor. Plus it's a given that bottom-dwellers like Mercyhurst play their best games of the season when playing UND. See RMU, Bemidji, Clarkson, Canisius, etc. Nightingale did the opposite & determined that his team's NPI standing was more valuable than any foreign cultural experience for his players. And that should be the lens a HC uses when making roster decisions. PSU has 4 players in the SC, but they conveniently play Sat-Sun that weekend. Others have said that it probably won't matter because it's Mercyhurst, and they're probably right, but it does open the door a little wider for an upset to occur. Losing a close game against them would make UND's NPI dive faster than a whore in Amsterdam. And that would be an unmitigated disaster for the season in terms of seeding.

That's the top 4 D who would likely miss at least Friday's game. Possible that UND would be playing with only 5 D that night; plus you throw in possible injuries/illnesses during that time. PSU has 4 players participating in the Spengler Cup, but they will miss zero games because they play Jan 3-4 that weekend (Sat & Sun); smart scheduling on their part. Even though BU only has D McCarthy gone to Davos, it's a moot point because they only have 1 exhibition game the weekend of 2-3-4 January. All it takes is 1 loss with a depleted roster against a team like Mercyhurst & the NPI takes a major hit. It's negligent as a HC to put your team in that predicament with playoff seeding on the line, unless DJ is planning for them to return & dress for Friday night.

👍 Ch 45 on Directv in Phx for those interested.

What station is channel 9 in Phoenix? Ch. 9 is not available on Directv.

Considering how UND's loss/tie to Bemidji last year hurt them quite a bit in terms of seeding, I wonder how negatively affected Quinnipiac will be this year for losing to Yale.

The conversion to NPI doesn't sound like it's needed then, If it's extremely similar to the PWR with only 2 changes to the tournament field over 20 years. Change for the sake of change, not because it's actually needed.

So if the season ended today, Dartmouth would be the #1 overall seed & Mich. St. would be #10 overall. Throw in Cornell, Yale, LIU & Lindenwood in the top 16 & it appears you have a system that doesn't reward the most talented teams in the hardest conferences with the most difficult schedules. Maine & Quinnipiac would also be on the outside looking in. For those in the know, is NPI a very differently structured format than the PWR? Because Dartmouth at #1 come tourney time would be epic clown world reality.

Do not understand the logic with not playing the hot goalie. If someone's playing exceptional, there is no reason to disrupt the flow.

Pretty much. UND clearly has more depth, but do they have the focus & drive to be able to sweep is another question altogether. Of course they want to sweep, but the jury is still out if they have the mental toughness to do so. Good teams split; very good/great teams find ways to sweep.

It's called the Semptimphelter Effect: a newly-established UND coaching strategy to revert back to the portal goalie, regardless of how well another goalie on the roster played the game before.

Don't know, but I would assume that teams are allowed to bring more than 1 extra player to account for a possible rash of injuries that may occur away from home.

True, but then that 4th line mojo may take a hit. At any rate, give Strinden a clipboard & have him take notes in the stands on Friday. Perfect opportunity to teach a lesson & give the young bull Klee a chance to show what he's got. But odds of that happening are low.

The fact that no adjustments were made after the 1st period was telling. Deja vu. A loud & clear message needs to be sent to the entire team for poor play: dress Klee & bench Strinden next weekend. It would likely boost the 3rd line as Klee is probably jacked to get in the line-up & prove himself. The coach's first loyalty is to the team & its success, not any 1 player. It was sunshine & lollipops for DJ while they were winning, now UND fans get to see how he handles adversity.

Echoes of another team 113 mi east of GF, namely the mighty Beavers, that also like to plug up the neutral zone & who had UND's number last year. Just like his predecessor, DJ didn't make any in-game adjustments tonight after the 1st period in an attempt to change the tempo of the game. The team was clearly struggling, but no adjustments were made for the entire 60 minutes. Call a timeout or put the Sharpie to use & start drawing up some other plans. Do something. It's guaranteed that other mediocre teams who don't have a lot of firepower will look at tape of tonight's game & will implement a similar strategy against UND. The onus is on DJ to find a solution to this nagging issue. If other teams have similar success like MN had tonight, it will mean that DJ & Smaby haven't successfully implemented an offensive scheme yet to deal with it. Plus, not benching Strinden for a game or two sends the wrong message that crappy play will be tolerated. At this point, you'd think Klee couldn't do any worse. A good bet that he's more hungry & disciplined than Strinden currently is because he's desperate to crack the line-up. Benching an alt captain would definitely get every player's attention that there will be consequences for not playing at a high level. So not huge red flags because it's very early in the year & DJ's body of work is too small with which to judge him. But the upcoming games against Clarkson, BSU & Mercyhurst (the NPI killers) will tell a story about whether DJ has left BB's old problems* behind or if they continue to haunt the team. * lack of consequences for substandard play & an inability (or unwillingness) to make in-game adjustments