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Western & Mich. St. both have short turnarounds & play their games on Thursday instead of Friday, after they both went to 2ot last night.

Was being serious about that, many here have good insights into the game. Was joking more about the humor part keeping people here, ribbing @brianvf a little.

Good points. If BB had the insight & courage to flip his style of coaching 180 degrees to make it more suitable for today's game, he probably would have already done it by now. Meaning he's stuck in his ways. Instead of adjusting his approach, he gets a bigger hammer to try & fit a square peg (his style) in a round hole (today's game). And it doesn't help matters if his assistants are agreeing with his approach or not saying anything because they don't want to rock the boat. Like when benching Croal in favor of Montgomery last Friday, makes me wonder if any of them approached him & advised him that doing so was putting the team at a disadvantage.

The nuanced hockey knowledge is what draws most to ss.com, but it's the humor which makes them stay. You're pretty articulate with the pen, write him an email & ask him why he's usually dancing around sensitive issues with the hockey program. You'll likely be ignored like I was when I asked him something on X one time, but at least he's being put on notice when more people write & tell him that his Disney-style reporting isn't doing his readers any service, let alone the program. It takes just a few minutes to pick up the phone & ask Chaves about BB's status for next year...maybe sensitive issues like this are never reported because he's known BB around 20 years & he may very well be a personal friend of his, who knows, just a theory.

That sounds about right. If BB is going to be released, UND/Chaves would probably be announcing it this Monday or Tuesday at the latest. If we don't hear anything by Tuesday afternoon, that probably means in all likelihood that Bubs will be around next year; which would mean that all the big donors probably aren't whispering in the AD'S ear that it's time for a change. Slightly disagree but I get your point. I would call BB's tenure here as being a slow burn, where the program is slowly being dismantled. It's not as alarming as an inferno because he still has regular season successes which are somewhat masking his total incompetency when it comes to the playoffs, thus why he's still here. I would upgrade it from a slow burn to an inferno if UND loses 2 or 3 core players like Boisvert & Livanavage in the portal this off-season, because these 2 are so crucial to the team next year.

If that holds, the Manchester & Toledo brackets are true gauntlets. So was 14 the cutoff this year for an at-large?

Firing a beloved coach is never easy, but sometimes the hardest decisions are the best ones. Just can't muster any excitement if nothing changes with the coaching staff. UND could still have a very talented team next year with the more mature defense & some quality additions at forward, but with the archaic system, bizarro line-ups & favoritism for certain players things won't progress past average.

Thought this format was starting in 2026, this graph says 2027.

Can also put him on the list of possibilities, sounds like he has a very high drive to succeed. Only concern is that former alum who carry some weight in the UND hockey community might push for one of their own, a good ol' boy. Would be ideal if the AD used an advisor or formed a small selection committee of those knowledgeable in the sport when searching for & interviewing the applicants, so that the best possible candidate can be chosen ... to prevent the AD, who probably has no clue about hockey, from making a disaster with the next hire.

Time has a way of weeding out what are facts & what are unsubstantiated rumors & hearsay; with some simply saying stuff to garner attention & get reactions out of people. Fear porn. Being that the portal window is open for 45 days, we will know with certainty by May 15th who bolted & who didn't. Agreed that if he is going to be released this off-season that this needs to happen in the next couple of days. That way the new coach would have ample time to introduce himself & his philosophy, to both the current roster & all future players, well before the portal opens.

Does anyone know if BB was interviewed after last night's game? Looking for a good chuckle.

Haha, basically. It's a win-or-go-home scenario last night, & as a HC you dress your favorite locally-grown senior over a guy that's all energy & can disrupt a D with his speed. And on top of this, you love this senior so much that you put him out there on D, in a position he's not natural at, with 5 min to go against a team with one of the highest scoring averages in the NCAA. Not a fan of clichés, but make it make sense. And am curious if his assistants approve of all these weird line-ups also, or if they just go along with BB for job security. Getting rid of BB is needed, but promoting one of his assistants to HC would not be removing all of the problems that led to this predicament in the first place. A top-to-bottom enema is required. Open the checkbook & bring in a passionate, forward-thinking coach who's not stuck in 2002. And Chyzyk as a GM sounds sounds great. It would free up a lot of time for the new HC & UND would be on top of every talented kid in NA. So here the AD & prez find themselves on March 22, standing on a path that forks in two directions. They can either continue walking the same path with BB, the path of mediocrity, or they can go all-out in a new direction. The state of the program rests in their hands.

Bingo, & if one confirms he's returning, simply transfer his name to the above confirmed players...whereas if one transfers or goes pro, putting a line through his name at the bottom (instead of removing it altogether) would give everyone a running-reminder about how affected UND was by those leaving early during the off-season.

This is a good idea, it's nice to have a visual reminder of where this team is roster-wise for next year. Try to update throughout the off-season as players' intentions become known. And if a player unexpectedly signs or transfers, would be nice if you could strike a line through his name at the bottom to signify that he's no longer with the team.

As a coach, his first obligation to the school & his fanbase is to field the best team he has; to do otherwise is a dereliction of his duties. Great coaches don't let sentimental attachments distract them from their quest of a national title.

Benching your energy guy in favor of local-boy Montgomery just proves that this coach is clueless about how to win.

Maybe so, just haven't seen anything stating such in the literature, which all state that NIL draws its funding exclusively from private sources. We'll see how it draws out in a few years. UND will continue to get its share of studs & be able to compete, provided they get a competent coach. Much of this doomsday talk about no longer getting elite talent is nothing more than fans overreacting. NIL has been around a few years now & the smaller schools are doing just fine.

Good job, Brian. Am wondering though, how can you be certain that your donation will go specifically to the hockey team & not some other sport, like football?

From the article: Gov. DeWine’s order permits “any postsecondary educational institution in the State of Ohio” that is “covered” by the proposed settlement to “offer compensation or compensate an intercollegiate student-athlete for the use of such student-athlete’s NIL” provided that state funds are not used for such purposes." "However, the order enacted by Gov. Kemp is broader in that it allows schools to “facilitate[e] compensation,” which can be read as permitting schools to work directly with student-athletes to secure NIL compensation with third parties."

And also from the article you submitted: "If finalized, the deal would allow the biggest schools to establish a pool of about $21.5 million in the first year to distribute money to athletes through a revenue-sharing plan. Athletes would still be able to cut name, image and likeness deals with outside groups." The revenue-sharing deal is different from anything associated with NIL deals.

NIL vs. Direct Payment from Colleges One key thing to remember is that NIL money doesn’t come from the schools themselves. Colleges aren’t paying athletes directly; instead, NIL deals are between the athletes and outside companies or sponsors. This keeps the focus on personal branding and the athlete’s individual influence, rather than on funding from the universities. NIL allows athletes to use their own hard work, popularity, and personal brand to earn money, completely separate from their college’s support. https://www.gogamechange.com/blog/where-does-nil-money-come-from#:~:text=One of the most common,promote their products or services. -------------------------- "It's important to note college athletes still cannot be paid directly by the school. Instead, that's done through NIL collectives, which organize funds from donors. The money is directed to pay athletes through NIL deals." "Collectives cannot be directly involved in recruiting, just like boosters in the old days. However, most operate in coordination with the schools and tend to be endorsed by coaches and school officials. According to Business Insider, 80% of money going toward NIL comes from collectives, with the rest coming from brand deals." https://www.tallahassee.com/story/sports/2024/03/16/what-nil-college-sports-money-endorsement-deals-name-image-likeness/72998239007/

People keep saying that schools are or will be paying the players directly, yet I can find no evidence online to support this; all articles point towards private donors with regards to NIL money. If you can steer me towards an official NCAA link stating that schools are allowed to do this, that would be appreciated.

The teams that are doing well this year in that conference has less to do with talent via NIL money, & more about having good recruiting classes & developing their talent when they get to campus. I remember last year when the B10 was pretty much dominating the NCHC in the regionals, some here lamented that the B10 was starting to surpass the NCHC. Agreed that the B10 is bound to win a title eventually, it's almost a given, but sports are cyclical & the NCHC isn't going anywhere in terms of relevance. The NCHC will be back.

Exactly, everyone's getting their panties in a bunch over schools like MI, OSU, MSU, PSU & Notre Dame getting more elite players via NIL, when their truly big donors probably don't even give a rat's ass about their hockey programs. Those schools worship at the altars of fb & bb; whereas hockey is a marquee sport at UND.

NIL became official in the summer of 2021, almost 4 years ago. If NIL is so important to be successful at the D1 level, how come no B10 team has won a title yet?