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A coach's first priority is to put the best product on the ice, regardless of where a player is from, how much he likes his personality, how buddy buddy he is with a player's dad or if he's a senior. Loyalty to the team before any individual players. Simple concept. Have a hard time believing that Montgomery is more qualified to play defense than Komzak. It's these kinds of line-up decisions based on emotions rather than common sense that result in costly losses.

It shows on the official UND roster page that Montgomery is a junior, but you're saying here he's a senior.

DU, because they won the head-to-head.

If one wants to climb the ranks in college hockey & perhaps coach someday at a higher level, UND would be a very sensible segue for someone already coaching at a mid-major. Already mentioned this, but it's akin to, say, an aspiring fb coach at Vanderbilt being offered a hc position at Ohio St or Alabama. Herter also would be a logical choice. He has that magical touch with developing & getting the most out of his d-men at tournament time.

Just realized that Jamernik has been on the team 5 of the 10 years that BB has been a coach. Being he's a pilot, time for him to board a Cessna & fly himself, Kunz, Schmaltz, Wilkie & the entire coaching staff into the sunset. Out with the old, stale & mediocre; in with the young, dedicated & talented.

The reason I included the Cornell, BSU & RMU losses/ties due more to poor play/being unmotivated than injuries is because UND looked really lost in those games; the whole team looked uninspired & I'm not sure Berg would have been a dynamic enough force to swing the team-wide lethargy that we witnessed. But I get your point, it's nice to hash through these issues to gain a better perspective. Offensively-speaking, one sees what happens when you lack scoring depth & 1 of your best scorers is injured. Subtract Berg & UND was relying mostly on an 18 yo Boisvert, Perron & James for the balance of the main scoring. Ideally, UND should have 2 very potent scoring lines as a buffer against any injuries that happen during the season. 2 scoring lines/1 energy line/1 checking line.

One should look at injuries with a nuanced eye. Certainly they were a factor in losses to BU, WMU & DU, but not so much against Cornell, BSU & RMU. In the latter games, the reasons for the Ls & ties were more due to poor, inconsistent play than anything. The win against DU with a very depleted roster proves that the earlier losses to Cornell & BSU (also with depleted rosters) were more due to being unprepared/unmotivated than because of injuries.

Croal missed some games also.

Of those 110 games missed, how many were of those who were actually key players? Subtract Komzak's, Montgomery's, Johnson's, Kunz's missed games from the 110 total & you have a more realistic picture of games missed of players who really mattered.

UND won, as did Providence, Cornell, Bemidji, Mankato & BU..but zero movement in PWR.

There's someone here who has access to BB almost every week. A guy who could ask him if UND is currently gunning hard for some forwards. Put your media access to good use, @Goon, & get an answer from him.

Mostly a 5th wheel. When he's on, he's good (a rarity) .. when he's off, he's invisible. Doesn't strike me as a guy who's passionate about winning.

From what I understand, the 1883 is just a brokerage, not a source of funding. Not much info about NIL on the Internet, but from what I've read NIL money comes from businesses, private sponsors & boosters of which a collective can solicit money from; not the school itself. I would imagine that because UND hockey is so popular in GF & the biggest show in town (borderline cult-like), that there would be some wealthy alumni & local businesses supporting the 1883 for hockey purposes. Just last summer, Dan & Jolene Mikkelson of GF donated $2 million to the hockey program for scholarships. Would be nice if they could use some of that money for NIL purposes, but perhaps the Mikkelsons want it to go solely for scholarships. Then you have the Englestads, Rydell & other very wealthy locals that you would think are gifting NIL money for the hockey program because it's such a staple there. You would probably see more NIL contributions if the IRS classified it as a tax deductible donation, which it currently is not.

Where specifically are you hearing these rumblings from about Perron? Curious why you think Boisvert is almost a lock to go, & why in particular he would go to MSU of all schools if not out east.

So Mankato & Bemidji play each other in their final regular season series. Maybe someone can run the scenarios about who UND would want to win that match-up. Am guessing Bemidji Ws favor UND more, because Mankato Ws would make it more difficult for UND to squeeze in at 13. And maybe someone could calculate how far DU would drop with a Miami win.

Source?

It's mind-boggling why TJ is playing instead of HH. HH needs quality reps to fine tune his game for next year, TJ will be long gone by April 1st. Zero sense.

Better to just pay him out & be done with him, than creating a position that isn't needed in the first place & will only be a waste of money after his contract has expired. Unless perhaps a GM kind of position, but that's not really needed as there are already plenty of ancillary hockey staff that get the job done.

BB has about 450,000 reasons to not simply walk away after this year. He's close to retirement age & he's not going to leave all that money on the table. Only way he's leaving is either a pay-out or if the local Norwegian mafia slips some lutefisk in his food.

In CFB, that would be like the HC at Vanderbilt turning down a shot at, say, Georgia or Alabama. If Raboin wants to climb the hockey pyramid & advance his talents to the highest level possible, UND affords him that opportunity way more than Augustana does. More resources, more visibility, more everything. Raboin is 20 yrs younger than Berry, has good connections w/ the national program, is an excellent recruiter, & I imagine the team would be playing a much more consistent game under his leadership. It's abundantly clear that this program isn't going anywhere meaningful with the current coaching staff. Only question this off-season is will the UND AD have the testicular fortitude & foresight to pull the plug on BB & go a new direction.

Your sense of humor is appreciated, this thread was getting way too serious today.

Please elaborate & include your source(s).

If anyone here thinks this is possible, pls contact me asap for a great financial opportunity. Triple your investment of $1k in just 2 weeks. 100% guaranteed success. But you have to act fast.

@cberkas Can you calculate where UND would be in the PWR currently if they had swept Bemidji & split w/Cornell?