tnt

Constantini isn't lighting it up, but you aren't going to have every kid the stud of their team. He is putting up more PPG than two Duluth commits and probably about 80 percent of the rest of the commitments on the team as well. It isn't always what they can do in Juniors, as I think our coaches develop players pretty well. I sure wish we had another year out of Jackson Keane, who didn't rip up either the BCHL or USHL.

Agree, when nitpicking Touchdown passes not being in stride, it could be a lot worse. How many touchdowns in the NFL are completely in stride? If Tommy threw it long the response would have been, "All you had to do is throw it up and make sure he had a chance at catching it".

Not many teams have done it over the years, and we sure didn’t do it even though we knew exactly what they were going to do. Let’s see if we can impose our will on JMU in the same way, as I am sure they will be focusing on Weah.

You said you realized some were missing due to Covid.

Then why rant on about those things?

Do they not call taunting in college football. I switched over from the UND at the half and saw Bison player get up in someone’s face or stand over them 3 times with no call.

...and only 1 of those goals and 4 points on the power play for Kunz. When I saw that clip of Kunz on Schlossman's Twitter I couldn’t believe how much faster he looked, albeit it’s been a while since I’ve seen him. Schmaltz on the other hand has 10 goals, 8 assists on the power play. Earlier I was thinking Schmaltz might be more of a role player, but he could find time on one of the PP units. It seems like he should be older, because he has been around, but he is a 2001, so nice opportunity for upside yet. If Portz is anything like Jamernik, we could have a nice mix of skill and grit coming in. It would be nice if they were impact guys right away, but with portal help they can grow into their roles without the pressure of huge expectations.

Wonder if the coaches are looking at Noah Sardachny with Salmon Arm. He is tied for the BCHL scoring lead as a 2003. He seems to have nice hands and since his dad is a renowned Power Skating instructor, I would assume his skating would be a strength as well. When all this portal madness settles down it will be nice to see some traditional commitments. I imagine now coaches don’t want to get too many guys in the pipeline if they can pick up a proven stud on occasion from the portal.

Just hope it doesn’t get to the point where the stud players play up the process and make a media event out of it by picking one hat from a list of suitors.

You would think if they were young, you would want players to actually be playing games in Junior hockey rather than sitting in college.

You could say that has been the case for Duluth for quite a while now. That is kind of how you win National Championships if you can somehow get in the tournament.

... and if not for a botched faceoff, who knows? I think they are a top half team next year. They took down good Duluth and St. Cloud teams last year, and just wait until they get fans in their building again. UND has had problems with Western even when they are loaded, and they will most likely take a little time to come together next year.

Agree, but I can't believe the NCAA doesn't see that is what is created by this. If you are not part of the haves, how long are you going to remain interested when your program consistently gets raided.

Hopefully it is the right combination, as team chemistry is a huge component to success. We saw that with all those seniors that all lived and interacted all day after practice. Resentment can sometimes creep in from guys that lose ice time. As long as we continue down the road of open competition and earning your ice time we should be good. I think guys like Ness and Albrecht can be solid contributors finding a role like Keane, and possibly progressing into another role in the future. No doubt we added some nice talent, now we need to mold it.

I can see St. Cloud and Western, but Duluth lost a lot and didn't score a ton to begin with.

Where were any of them but Cates going to go? I suppose Roth could play somewhere, but another year before going to Europe isn't going to make or break him.

If their recruits don't mind sitting in Juniors another year and it doesn't dramatically throw off the class balance then I would think it would be good to get guys back that are that experienced, especially if you think you can win it all, which I am sure is what St. Cloud is thinking. I think it is just going to be such a balancing act for a while because those same teams might need the next batch of guys to stay another year as well to keep the classes balanced. I suppose the portal will also create problems in those configurations.

I have contended from the start that the extra Covid year would hurt UND badly compared to other teams simply because I did not see any of the guys like Kawaguchi, Kiersted, Mismash or Adams coming back regardless. I held out hope for Adams, simply because he was a mid round pick without the size, but I knew it probably wasn't in the cards. That, and the probability of JBD and Pinto leaving as well really puts us in a difficult situation. We need to really find another impact player in the portal. Like people said, Berry is really going to have to earn his paycheck this year. I think the rest of the league should hold their own in Non-conference, but UND is really going to have to bear down against teams like Penn State and Minnesota because I think those leagues will be competing for extra tourney spots next year.

...and we know that Michigan will probably score a ton, which is what the voters focus on. At least next year there will be non conference games to help with comparisons.

We still have no idea who is coming back for Michigan. If Power and Kent Johnson are taken in the top 3 of the draft, they could be gone. Would think Minnesota should be able to score more, but remember Minnesota didn't exactly light it up against defensive minded teams like Notre Dame and Minnesota State. Thankfully for them they play in the wide open Big Ten, but I sure want to see how guys like Lucius react when they are pounded consistently in the scoring zone by guys like Sanderson and Kleven. Certainly they will be high in the rankings, but when adversity hits will tell the tale as to where they end up.

Hopefully this year gives us more momentum in recruiting local kids that could help minimize the number of situations like this that arise, but yeah, the mentality will still be a factor, even with local talent.

He isn’t used to playing in front of fans at home, so he went somewhere that felt comfortable to him.

Hasn’t that been the case for the last 30 years? We’re told all the time how good their recruiting classes are.

It isn't Burgum, it is my understanding that it is an NCAA policy.

But in hockey they have no problem with empty regionals so no team has an advantage at a home site. The NCAA isn't very consistent.