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But back then Bluebloods like Minnesota and North Dakota simply wouldn’t lose to a team like Holy Cross or Canisius. Happens much more often now.

I don’t know if that’s the case or not because parity is so much more pronounced and everybody plays decent defense now, but coming off of last year’s upset you sure can make a case for it. To come out like they did is unbelievable. I imagine the NHL leeches are hanging in the hallway outside St. Cloud’s locker room just like they did when we lost to BU in Fargo. Two years in a row we would have had a nice path to the Frozen Four if we would have made the regional.

Would bet that being he is from the Iron Range that Duluth is very interested as well. In the past I would say regardless of that proximity that UND would have a very good chance because of their facilities and success. Now, we have to lean more on the facilities and hope that guys can see that the pipeline should have us on the rise again.

So why the big secret about who you think it is? It's not like you said it's 100 percent certain. Perhaps you enjoy watching the speculation.

If more of these guys realized that moving to the next level too fast can change the trajectory of your career, maybe more of them wouldn't be in such a hurry to move up too quickly. That can be said at many levels. Mid round range draft guys are most likely going to need a good while to develop anyway, why not stay an extra year in Juniors and be ready to make a splash when you reach the next level, rather than having to sit on the bench while others eat up the big minutes.

I’m hoping this isn’t a situation where the coaches have decided to bring Bast in, and Frisch doesn’t want to wait. Losing Donovan hurt, and they are lucky Senden didn’t decommit when they were going to push him off for Huber. Hopefully communication will help prevent something like that.

Don't hear much about baseball, golf, or women's swimming though and the fact that they weren't as big of a drain on the budget, I would think they would have a bigger axe to grind.

If UND gets minimal help from the incoming freshmen class next year, you know there are some problems. You look at the numbers that guys like Taylor Ward and Grant Cruikshank put up this year and it makes you wonder. These guys didn't have anywhere near as good of numbers as guys who are at UND right now, but seemed to transition well to college hockey. Cruikshank would have been our leading goal scorer. I know there was talk about him being recruited, but I'm guessing we didn't offer.

It's funny how it is o.k. for the Grand Forks Herald and Forum Communications to cut programming and Monday papers and leave a gap in coverage to improve the bottom line, but when UND does the same with the albatross of Women's Hockey it is inherently evil. Absolutely amazing that Schlossman pays more attention to the program now than when they were actually in existence. Of course crusaders and hypocrisy seem to go hand in hand now.

How about a recruit announcement or two during this downtime so the fans can look forward to something other than watching all our rivals in the regionals. Better make the most of this time because I hope we never have the time to recruit during this period again.

UMass scored 1 more goal a game in Cale Makar’s second year. Hopefully UND can gain some more offense in JBD and Tychonick’s second year.

Maybe Pinto or Caulfield would be good net front on the power play.

I would say that Ohio State could give St. Cloud a scare, but it seems every time I have seen them, they take really dumb penalties. If they can wise up a little, they could give St. Cloud a great game.

2 ticket packages in Section 113, Row C, seats 21 & 22.

That was kind of my point, that to me Poolman isn’t saying all the right things like the poster said. To me the semantics don’t matter much anyway. Show me, don’t tell me. We have had way too much talk lately, and not enough action.

I think the top half isn’t good enough. They need to finish top 2 in the league. Other teams are losing guys, so just getting home ice should only be a goal along the way to a high league finish for a program like ours.

Which recruit?

On GPL they are talking about a tweet from Joe Meloni that Westin Michaud of CC will graduate and still have eligibility, and that no decision has been made where he will play. If I were Berry, I would explore that, as with his numbers he would have been our leading scorer. No more Mr. nice guy, we need an experienced scorer.

I agree. Like I said, I can see shifting scholarship money if you think a guy can help you immediately, but to make the wholesale changes doesn't make sense. All those guys would need to learn the systems, which is a recipe for a slow start. I know, I know, the systems might change some anyway, but just familiarity of what to expect in certain arenas and being comfortable in the school and hockey mix all play a factor in a smooth transition to the college level.

So if it is him that is stifling the offense with his schemes and such, what good does it do to throw more last minute recruits into the situation? We have always had role players that didn’t score a lot, but the first few lines put up decent numbers. It seems to me that many of the role players are fulfilling their roles about as good as some of the guys expected to score. Definitely need more scorers, but not usually a quick fix, especially when you want them now.

So we get rid of 4 or 5 more guys, then bring in more dime a dozen guys late in the game with 4 years of eligibility and hope these last minute pick ups will be the answer for us. Then when they aren’t, rinse and repeat. I have more faith in making some changes within the schemes and special teams and get a few more goals to put us over the top, hoping that a few of the freshmen can step up and the other guys make the next step. A game here or there changes a lot of people’s opinion of this team, as evidenced by all the if’s thrown out there concerning pairwise.

What USA team do you coach so we can scutinize the lineup?

Wow, just wow! Point out guys like that who are available for next year. .

...and we know all transition well to college hockey both offensively and defensively!

If there are players that they could get that will be ready to contribute right away, then by all means tweak the roster or scholarships. I just don’t see wholesale changes helping a team that needs scorers. There usually aren’t a ton of guys this late in the game that are going to give you immediate impact, and our problem very well be that they might give you more offense but give up as many the other way. If they can find a grad transfer or someone that has great potential, by all means tweak the roster.