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Ok, guess we shall see this Thursday or Friday if UND will be waiting until after the tournament to announce. Doesn't sound like it though.

But with the hiring window ending 11:55 pm Wed night, it appears that UND wants to get a coach in place by this Thursday; and not wait until after the tournament, which would rule out any coach whose team is currently in the playoffs.

So if wbb was an internal hire & it was done immediately, no reason why if Jackson was the choice that they wouldn't also announce it immediately.

Well, Barr probably isn't the guy since his team is in the tourney this week & the announcement will likely be Thursday. That wouldn't be very inspiring for his players.

Not understanding why Schlossman & another poster here would consider HC Ben Barr of Maine as a possibility. He's already got it made there.

Someone has to be named interim coach in the meantime, so it's no small surprise that it was Jackson since he's got the most seniority of the remaining staff. Meaning he's maybe there to fill the temporary coaching vacancy & no more. Am guessing that if UND were going to go with Hakstol that they would have already announced it, like they did immediately when Berry & Hakstol originally became coaches.

Raboin, Knott & every other coach/asst coach whose team has already been eliminated from the tournament could start at a moment's notice, & most or all of them would probably meet the minimum qualifications.

Only concern w/ Hakstol is that he likely retains the current staff. He's known Jackson for many decades & don't see him letting go a close friend, known Goehring for over a couple decades & Simpson he recruited. Loyalty is a good virtue, but not when it's a blinding loyalty.

Did UND do a national search last time or did they just install Berry? After a new HC is chosen, is it possible to know the others who interviewed for the job but were turned down?

This was under 'Minimum Requirements'. Interesting why the requirement is 8 years.

Considering how very slanted this is towards BB, whose wife probably couldn't write a more syrupy love poem than this article, I would question how much of this is truth & how much of it is trying to make the athletic department look bad. From his article, or hit piece: "Opposing teams have been trying to recruit some UND players to hit the transfer portal since late January." Ok, if that's the truth, then why didn't he report on this in January? And if this actually has been happening, giving Schlossman the benefit of the doubt, then it's safe to say that no players are safe on any team. Not just UND. The UND hockey program needs its main journalist to be its biggest cheerleader now so that the transition can be as smooth as possible, not writing how doom & gloom it is & scaring away players. By acting like this he's pouring fuel on the fire to any player who may be on the fence. You're doing the program no favors now, Schlossman, time to get over your little bro-mance & get back to supporting the team in these critical hours.

That's my #1 concern. It would only make sense for him to form a small group or have an advisor who can assist him with finding the best possible candidate. Not doing so would leave too much room for error. This next hire will define his career, he'll either be remembered fondly for this or the peasants will draw & quarter him.

With the portal opening in < than 7 days, it would be crucial to have a new HC by then. If not, Jackson would be in charge of that, & I don't think many high-end transfers would commit to an interim coach.

He may be a great choice, but why in the world would he come to UND when he's already got it made as HC at Maine?

I haven't been thinking so much of Hakstol being a choice, but like you said, it makes sense that a quiet search has been ongoing for awhile now & that UND already has found its final 3 applicants. I suppose if a final choice isn't made by the time the portal opens that Jackson will be in charge of incoming transfers in the interim.

Bump is a good example of a player hitting his stride later, his being in college. He's a blue chip caliber player even though he was drafted in the 5th round; proof that a team doesn't need 3 or 4 1st rounders in order to be a legitimate contender. He very well may sign after this year, but wouldn't mind seeing him again next year at Western. UND fans should welcome adversity like Bump brings instead of hoping he moves on; he makes UND hockey & the NCHC stronger.

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.