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The game I saw for the first 30 minutes looked like a team in July that was playing their first organized hockey in 3 months. Awful passes, tentative, little chemistry...It was their 7th game for Pete's sake, not their exhibition opener against Augustana. Good teams shouldn't take 30 minutes to start moving their legs. Like others have said, it's not who we're playing, but how we're playing that's disconcerting. It's baffling how a team can be so wildly inconsistent at times. Some fans here are critical of this team's Jekyll & Hyde behavior & rightly so. Another p!ss poor effort again tonight & they'll get swept right out of Ithaca.

What concerns me is the sloppiness & lack of jump to start the game. It's your 7th game & you're playing a team that's only had 1 weak game against Toronto; you should be all over them & taking advantage of any rustiness they may have. Instead, you get a goalie who looked like a deer in the headlights & lazy, uninspired play for the first 30 minutes. It's like their mind is elsewhere. The 1st period looked like the guys had just met in July & it was the first organized hockey that they had played all year. The lack of urgency & erratic play is fast becoming a running theme for this team; it's like the players aren't internalizing the lessons & values of the coaching staff. A disconnect. You try to be optimistic, especially this early in the year, but this team is too inconsistent to get excited about. Great one game, invisible the next. And like you said, an avalanche of injuries all at once. If the team ever needed a win, it's tonight. Hobie will have all the pressure of the program on his shoulders to keep this team from sinking any more; which isn't fair for him, so hopefully he likes the pressure.

Welcome to being the starting goalie, Hobie. TJ is a quality guy, but he's not starter material. Wonder if the team was partly discombobulated with Berg being absent & TJ not being solid. Anyone know if Strathmann or Croal ever returned to the game?

Defense not in rhythm & TJ looked like a deer in headlights.

3-1 Cornell

For those with Directv, Friday's game will be on channel 639 (SportsNet New York). They're covering quite a few ECAC games this year, similar to what CBSSN is doing for the NCHC.

Cool, I had no idea he would be on the roster forever.

UND is currently down to 6 D heading into Cornell. Do you still think 8 is enough?

Buzzsaw means overwhelming opposition & that's probably not how DU will view UND. Better to say instead that any points DU leaves GF with they will have earned.

And then Denver plays Yale & Lindenwood before heading to Grand Forks. They deserve the early #1 because they've earned it & they're currently unbeaten. They're beating teams they're supposed to beat; that's what good teams do. Their PWR isn't taking any major hits. But they've had a very easy schedule compared to UND so far & they'll probably run into a buzzsaw when they hit the Ralph.

Exactly, the last thing you want is bias to creep into what should be a totally impartial process. Let a team's body of work be the judge, not some guy who has an agenda. UND needs to be on their A-game in a 6-game stretch when they play Robert Morris, Bemidji & Miami..a loss against one of them will drag them down a lot. Crush the plebs & strive for a split or better against those in the royal court.

I always assumed Englestads would leave a little extra in the piggy bank for contingencies like this...Wonder if any NIL money was promised to a top gun like McKamey to come here.

What a huge haul this is, fantastic!

Even just 1 loss against any of those 3 teams will probably put a big dent in our PWR. Cracking the top 4 for a #1 seed in the playoffs might be a tough task this year, considering how strong DU, BC, BU, MN & MSU appear to be. A question for those good with numbers/scenarios: Would a split with DU & a sweep of Robert Morris be better for our PWR than a sweep of DU & a split with Robert Morris? (provided that DU finishes near the top this year & Robert Morris near the bottom)

It was a lighthearted jab at Denver, meaning they put more emphasis on winning games & championships than on their uniforms.

Some teams value winning more than aesthetics.

Which makes me wonder what the standard is for the hockey program. Don't know what's discussed behind closed doors, but am assuming that Berry's track record of doing well in the regular season is the main (or only) criterion the AD is monitoring. If they're clicking on all cylinders, like we saw this weekend, they're very difficult to beat. It shouldn't matter who's put before them (DU, BC, MN, etc.), if they can replicate this energy in March & April, I like our chances to go deep. It's those times when the team disappears for large chunks of time which is concerning & frustrating. Keeping them motivated & learning will be Berry's main focus.

Hobie was solid in Mankato, no reason why he couldn't have started once this weekend. TJ has demonstrated that he may have very good nights, but he's prone to lapses like most goalies who aren't named Matt Davis. There's no proof at this point that he's clearly better than Hedquist & that he should be the main goalie. Besides, at some point, the team would be wise to develop their recruited talent & not have to consistently rely on senior transfers; which hasn't gotten us anywhere near postseason success since the portal opened. Time for Hobie to get some regular starts to prepare him for the #1 role next year; plus, he could be a flight risk after this season if he's not getting consistent starts. Rotate now, assign number #1 to the hot one in March & ride him all the way to #9.

What are you guys talking about?

Zmolek day-to-day, but Berry doesn't think he'll be playing this weekend.

Probably find out during the mid-week presser. If Berry says he's a 'game-time decision', that's usually code for 'won't be playing'.

All of whom are currently unranked, & it's not like BU blew them out of the rink either. Can't expect freshmen like Boisvert & Swanson to carry the team. Need players like Strinden & Kunz to get off the milk carton & start producing. It's all hands on deck going into the BU series.

Your sense of humor is appreciated..I always like to get my day started with a good chuckle. Come to think of it, isn't your prediction kind of a curse for UND? I remember you saying in the tournament bracket last March that your picks are usually a kiss of death. Or maybe I'm thinking of someone else.

Berry & his players were honest about how poorly they played in the Augustana game; but you're saying they're in denial or bs-ing about Saturday's game at Mankato? Because I didn't watch either game, I have to rely on the feedback I get from the team & the members here.

This is what's confusing, almost all members in this thread thought it was a sh!tshow; but listening to Berry, Hennessy & the players they thought they played a very good game. Either Berry & his players are describing the game accurately, or the members here are. "I thought we played close to a 60-minute game," UND coach Brad Berry said. "I thought we came out hard, dictated play for most of the first period and I thought it carried over. The problem was we didn't get our first goal. I thought if we could have gotten that first goal to give us a little momentum, we'd be on our way. But it was a lot different than (Friday) night as far as how we played. I think if you play that way for a 60-minute game, normally, we'll get the result. Tonight, we didn't." "Honestly, I thought we played a better game than we did (Friday) night," alternate captain Jake Schmaltz said. "We couldn't get that first one to fall, which ultimately we needed to get some momentum. It wasn't going our way tonight. It's frustrating. It sucks to lose. It's our first loss of the regular season, but I think if we keep playing like that, we're going to get a lot of good bounces down the road."