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Didn't look like it. The last segment of this TTD at the 6:40 mark said 'Tuesday, March 17th' with the team going over video & then showing a few minutes of practice immediately afterward, which showed #8 skating around. The UMD game was March 14th.

On tonight's TTD, #8 was zipping through some drills at a fast pace this week & didn't seem like he was visibly injured. Contrasted with what Jackson said yesterday that it didn't sound like he would be ready for regionals. He didn't appear injured in the least & wasn't wearing a non-contact jersey.

Good point. That being the case & because there's a day off in between, will be interesting to see if Jackson shortens his bench sometimes 5×5; as opposed to rolling 4 lines which he did most of the year.

Time will tell.

Still contend that putting a raw 17 yo on the big stage with top minutes is a liability, but will gladly eat crow if he doesn't make any silly mistakes that lead to a playoff loss. Time will tell. Fingers crossed in the meantime.

Would be interesting to know if the coaching staff sees this situation like we do, or if it's a giant blind spot in their perception & they'll continue to roll KV with big minutes in the regionals. {when I say 'blind spot', am referring to a situation or problem that a coach may not even be aware of because of personal biases or a lack of insight that don't allow him to see something that is obvious to others; making him figuratively blind. That's why it's important for HCes to have assistants who will challenge them; not 'yes' men}. Sometimes coaches can become tunnel-visioned with certain players & better options don't even cross their mind (ie, like Croal being healthy-scratched last year for no sane reason). Great coaches are great because they see the big picture & they're willing to make unpopular decisions. Let KV grow with top-4 during the regular season, but the playoffs are a different animal.

If an illness is making the rounds & the team was lethargic as a result, then great, better now than in 2 weeks. But if not, it's disconcerting that, 37 games into the season, the team is still making fundamental mistakes on defense that should have been cleared up by the new year at the latest. 12 days off can do wonders for healing; but if the team defense is still making pee wee mistakes after 37 games, not so sure another 12 days of lessons will fix whatever the issue is. Would consider activating Jubenvill in the playoffs & giving him more minutes than KV. UND is lucky to have KV & he'll no doubt elevate his game next year; but he's only 17 and very raw, whereas JJ is 22 & a lot more stable on the backend. Those 5 extra years of experience on defense mean a lot in 1-&-done playoffs. It wouldn't be a good look for KV, but winning championships is about doing what's right for the team, not the individual. Jackson is a great recruiter, now fans will get to see if he is a great playoff coach.

Would be interesting if the coaches give KV limited ice time at regionals to reduce the possibility of his big gaffes at times. (Probably not) But hard to imagine Jubenvill being routinely exposed like KV was tonight. Experience matters this time of the year, & Jubenvill is exactly 5 years older than KV (22 vs 17): a big gap in development & maturity, which matters a lot in 1-&-dones...or it could have simply been an off night for KV.

Huge drop-off from #12 Wisconsin @ 99.4% probability to #13 Augustana @ 64%. Wonder if STT & Clarkson winning or losing moves the needle much for UND NPI-wise...#63 Mercyhurst beat Canisius in early March & the results were negligible for UND, a .003 increase.

Which begs the question ... the final roster for 26-27 probably won't be announced until early July sometime, after the NHL draft. Not sure when previous years' rosters came out.

Reports yesterday were that Augustana & St. Thomas reached out to him.

So any Sioux fan who slobbers down a couple brewskies at one of their games is unknowingly enabling the recruitment of players there. Will be interesting if they can land some big names on a regular basis down the road, or if they'll have a recruiting model more like SCSU or Mankato with solid players but not 1st rounders.

Outside of Potter who was a transfer & not an original recruit of ASU, wondering if they will regularly get other 1st-rounders down the road. They don't have the draw of being an upper-class program with a storied history; & not familiar with their NIL financial specs or if they have an aggressive athletic dept. to haul in a Martone or Reschny.

Because the odds of beating a team like HC are substantially better than a much higher-ranked Augustana team with a goalie (Kotai) who may cop an attitude & start channeling his inner Matt Davis. Kotai has 5 shutouts this year & is posting 1.99/.938.

Plus Pilgrim & O'Neill would have been bottom-6 role players, & there simply wasn't enough room there with both B. & A. Schultz likely arriving. There's a logjam currently in the bottom-six. The pressing need for 26-27 is to fill Rickwood's big shoes in the center spot with a guy like Suvanto or a portal transfer; although Suvanto's very young (barely 18 yo once next season starts) & wouldn't have Rickwood's maturity & experience. BU is a good example of wanting to avoid an overabundance of youth on your team.

Strathmann is a good example of someone who agreed to delay coming to UND; worked out fine for him & he's a Chicago boy. There are other examples. Could understand O'Neill not wanting to wait another year if he was committed to a place like Ferris St. or Bemidji, but if you're on target for a big-boy school like UND & your last name isn't Reschny or you're not burning out the scoring light, maybe best to wait until you're actually needed. In the era of the CHL, NCAA schools hold all the cards when it comes to when/if they bring in a mid-level recruit. He's an average-sized fish in a huge pond full of similar-sized fish & bigger. A guy who really wants to play at UND & bleeds green will have no issue going back another year if that's what's asked of him. The fact that he didn't want to wait *may* be a good indicator that he *may* not have been agreeable to other coaching decisions (ie, being healthy-scratched) once he arrived on campus. A good way to test a commit's loyalty before he dons a UND jersey is to see how patient he is. Besides, if no forwards leave early or enter the portal this year, there would only be 4 openings: Simpson, B. Schultz are locks; & the latest Sabres piece on A. Schultz made it sound like he's arriving next year, as well. That would leave room for only 1 more forward if the current roster limits don't change. Am guessing that last spot will be reserved for a top-shelf player.

Would be interesting what the committee would decide if HC is eliminated and UND got #1 overall with Augustana a #4 seed but in the #13 to #15 range.

A strong WMU team is good for the NCHC & provides UND with good competition to elevate its own game. Better he went to the NCHC than the B1G or another conference. Good chance that UND gets one comparable to Benak or even better. Correct. It was previously thought by a few on this board (just last spring, in fact) that a few schools with large NIL reserves would hog all the elite players & make it difficult for UND & others to compete. That's been proven false, because there are simply too many talented CHL, USHL & international players to go around for just a few teams to all get.

There was talk on this board awhile ago about getting this guy into a UND jersey. Quite the acquisition for Mr. Ferschwiler.

How would that be an issue?

UND's NPI ratings: 03/06 (Friday) @ 10:10 PM: 58.686 03/08 (Sunday) @ 4:30AM: 58.687 The Saturday win kept UND in first, but its NPI rating went up only .001 from Friday night...a win against UMD will move the needle a little more.

Is Wodon on some NCAA committee or does he have some other influence that make his opinions on regional site locations matter?

Notre Dame defeated OSU in OT tonight, does that count as a 55/45 win in the NPI like in the regular season, or do teams get full credit (100%) for overtime wins in the postseason?

If you're going to have a sponsor, have a sponsor with deep pockets: Rydell Automotive. It appears he has other ads on the ice & elsewhere the arena, may as well have one on the uniforms, as well. It's a respected name that is recognized throughout the Upper Midwest & in many other states. With said sponsorship funds being funneled into UND's NLI warchest. Although it sounds like UND is currently having no issues with pulling in high-profile recruits anyway; but the extra money wouldn't hurt.

This year's team has been chock-full of freshmen who've acclimated nicely to the college game, with the vote of 'most surprising' going to Laurila for his almost seamless transition to D1 hockey. Sees the game so well, does well in high-pressure situations & doesn't take needless penalties. Comes across a cerebral player who manages his emotions very well, unlike others on the backend who are more likely to take silly penalties in the heat of the moment. Quite the feat for the freshman D.