tnt

Unless you're a trash talker, the only poll that should matter to any college hockey fan is the final poll. This isn't college football, there is a playoff system in place that allows for the teams to do their talking on the ice.

"ALWAYS" is hardly the word I would use. You are just asking for some gopher fan to come on here and put you in your place. At least the last two years they have finished higher.

The same can be said of any thread on this website that has people complaining about how the powerplay sucks or the penalty kill, or we don't have any great big men in basketball. Really, none of that is going to lead to positive change. It is more for the fans to point out the areas they have concerns about. True, a "fire Muss" thread takes it to a whole other level, but this kind of thread was kind of a long time building with complaints about the football program.

I am in the camp that says to trade Adrian Peterson for as many draft picks as they can get because they aren't going anywhere anytime soon anyway. His talents are completely wasted because nobody has to respect the passing game. Might as well get a serviceable running back that can catch some balls out of the backfield since they don't have a great downfield threat. Peterson would be great if you could get him in space, but he isn't Rickey Young and right now the Vikings need an outlet for the bad quarterbacks they have.

I kind of had to laugh because the Minnesota football program has the same motto.

At least I haven't heard the injury excuses a lot lately. When you always give those excuses, it gives the players the opportunity to use that excuse as well. Maybe it would just look pathetic to use that excuse when Sacramento State was down to their fourth or fifth running back and they still managed to run the ball well.

It's early yet under a new regime, so who knows how long the learning curve will be for the players. Remember how bad Denver struggled early last year, including a very bad weekend in Bemidji. The strength for Denver will be their defense, as they have a great defensive group. They may struggle to score goals, and if their early games are any indication, they will need some of that offense from LaLeggia, Mackowski, etc.

Good to see Trevor Olson with a goal and an assist tonight and Austin Poganski with a couple PP goals.

Playing against some of the elite talent of Miami, I wasn't sure how the younger players would react in that environment, but I thought just about everybody played with poise. Really liked the line combinations and defensive pairings. Good base to build from.

You are right. Hopefully Hakstol can get the point across that Miami will be very pumped and ready to go because of the Homecoming crowd and atmosphere and seeing North Dakota in town. That said, the Sioux should be pumped as well with the implications of it being against the #1 team and the first game in the new league on television. Hope our young guys won't be running around in that type of atmosphere. If they do, it could get ugly. Hopefully they will play with poise and pluck a win out of the Redhawks.

Seems it is easier to put up better numbers in Major Junior than it is in college though. Guys like David Toews, Corey Fienhage and Charlie Coyle's numbers were a lot better after they left college.

"Pad his stats" was a poor choice of words, but if you aren't producing to the level you want in the BCHL, why not bear down and get it done if you are confident enough in your abilities that you are expecting to possibly be a 1st round draft pick. Could very well be he was unhappy with his decision and it showed in his on ice production, which would explain his decision for a change of scenery and direction.

Yeah, to me if you are just looking to get drafted high to get that one initial big payday, then maybe you should be going to school anyway. If I were scouting him and saw him jump ship because his numbers weren't there, I would question whether he will have the work ethic to get his game to the next level. With all the scouting and physchological tests and things being administered to prospective draft picks in all Major League sports, I would think it would hardly go unnoticed that someone chose to quit at a level he was struggling in order to find a place to pad his stats for the draft. Could just be a matter of wanting a change of scenery or different style of play, but it wasn't really presented that way by the Penticton administration. Don't want to sound like sour grapes because I don't know the kid, just curious how that type of situation plays out with the NHL scouts. Obviously Drake Caggiula left the USHL to play somewhere more comfortable, so not knowing all the facts behind this, I can't really wish bad on Gropp.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking those guys, just saying that Brodzinski wasn't just a toss in on that top line last year for St. Cloud.

Then why do people complain about O'Donnell and Mitch MacMillan if you can just throw any old person out there and they should have numbers. Seems to me O'Donnell did get to play with Knight and Kristo.

Not saying any of those guys will "excel" at UND, but doesn't mean they can't/won't be great role players here. Colton St. Clair is an example of that. His goals went down each year he was in the USHL and people were wondering if he would be able to contribute in college. While he isn't a top scorer, I think most people like his game here.

I will add that some players don't flourish under certain systems. I know Jake Marto was hampered offensively by Mike Hastings system in Omaha, but maybe in the long run it helped him in the defensive end, making the learning curve to college hockey a little easier. UND coaches are up to date on every recruit and letting them know what they need to improve on to get to the next level.

You are worried about Poganski and Wilkie who are playing in a tougher league, but you are upset we lost Gropp who didn't put up good numbers in an offensive league. Put too much stock in numbers.

Thought LaDue played much better on Saturday and gave a glimpse of what he can do. He did a great job killing penalties all weekend. You don't kill off that many penalties without the defense killing them playing well.

Guess I missed your post about Chay too!

Mattson makes mistakes, but then again so do others. Maybe the reason he gets more grief is because he is touted as an offensive defenseman and it doesn't seem the tangible results (goals) are coming from that offense. I think once people zero in on one guy, a lot of people scrutinize that person even more. Heard the same thing about Joe Gleason, and remember the people that couldn't understand why Chay Genoway was playing defense when he should have been playing forward. Mattson has things to work on to be sure, but I like that he inserts himself into the offense, because we are going to need that more this year. Hopefully we have the solid goaltending that will allow for a few chances being taken.

The fact that he is better than the other corners I am sure is very concerning to the majority of UND football fans to begin with, but if that is the case it seems like a message is being sent to the rest of the underclassmen that discipline isn't necessary if you are the better player. I would be putting my foot down at this point if I were a coach, telling the players that if you have a personal foul out of bounds, you will be sitting the rest of the game.

Across college football, that is the difference. We know that penalties that keep drives alive kill momentum. Yet this team still has a penchant for all of these things. The players are the one's making the mistakes, but continuing to throw those same players out on the field that make some of these mistakes enables some of this behavior, especially concerning the penalties. Even after Mackey's personal foul today, there was a circumstance where he started to jaw with an EWU player and the ref was glaring at him like he was getting ready to flag him. UND may have no backup that is better, but by allowing that kind of behavior to continue week in and week out sends a message to the rest of the team. Nobody should be bigger than the team, and consequence is the only ammunition coaches have against a continued behavior. To be one of the very worst in FCS in turnover ratio when that was clearly a point that needed focus coming into the season is hard to believe.

It's hard to say if it is good or bad. Both Rocco and Parks have highlights of a go to move that has worked. Might have to go with a change up in the next shootout.

Saw one, maybe two potential recruits on the bench during pregame warm ups. Anyone have any idea who they were?