tnt

…and you don’t think someone coaching in the fastest league and someone who beat probably the fastest team in Colorado a few years ago, hasn’t added a ton of knowledge to his already extensive coaching background!

So wasn’t Hakstol the last coach to bring the Kraken and Flyers to the playoffs. Beating the Avalanche in a series without the talent doesn’t scream passed him by.

He would know players in the CHL and basically all leagues, but it would be nice to know if the NHL players wanted him out because they didn’t want to play for him, or if that was just rumor, because if paid players couldn’t play under him, would younger players of today? A lot has changed in the period since Hakstol was here.

How many players did Western turn over from last year?

How many players did Western turn over from last year?

Especially since they placed his buddy Jackson as the interim, although they might be looking for a long term David Carle type hire, which may be the way to go, because I’m not positive kids respond to Hakstol’s demeanor anymore, although recruiting for a two time NHL coach might have some cache.

…don’t tell me they had a recruit being shown around when this was happening or Schlossman will go on for years about that.

I like how Goon downvoted this but was all in on Brad Berry and the direction the program was going.

…and I do believe some of the players took advantage of his nice guy demeanor.

His first year was his best and after that only about .500 in a league not as competitive as the NCHC. What about his coaching record in a lower conference gives people confidence he could succeed under a microscope? Remember he had to turnover most of his team the last year, either through bad recruiting or players not wanting to play for him.

But remember when Denver was ousted in the first round of the playoffs but used the time off to rest and get ready for their next game, and winning the National Championship. We’ve seen how motivating it can be to sit for a couple weeks coming off a loss. Really it can go both ways, but if they use the first game to shake off the rust, they could be the better rested team for the regional final.

Yes, this shows Berry’s stubbornness when it comes to his pets. Rather than play someone who is younger and with reps has a bigger upside, he plays a guy with the worst +/- on the team. Not only that he does it for two different positions, one in which Montgomery just started to play this year. If your recruiting is that bad that your depth can’t beat out a guy who just started playing the position, you’ve got problems to begin with. The trouble is you are letting him play over a young guy, Komzak who is 8 goals better +/-, and for forward, he plays over someone with 13 goals better, in Littler. Even if things were equal, why wouldn’t you be playing for the future and the bigger upside? We all know the answer to that is Berry’s nice guy loyalty to guys that don’t have as much talent but have worked hard over the years. Berry gets what he deserves under those circumstances.

With my luck they will lose to Minnesota State and make it easier for Minnesota to make another Frozen Four.

You just gave Schlossman an article idea to show how really tough it was for UND, because he has already done his obligatory, but we were really young and will be really good next year if everybody stays, only this year everybody staying is not a given.

Probably a similar situation to a Boisvert who is minus 4, while you have guys like Littler +9. Since UND and Green Bay need that scoring from those guys to be competitive against the other top lines, they may be less attentive to the defensive end and more wide open. Regardless, probably a learning curve to be more responsible both ways, which means if things remain the same he won’t get as much ice time as he should with his upside.

The Minnesota teams that make the NCAA tournament want to thank the UND administration for bidding on regionals and making sure they will be closer to home. How much is Berry actually costing the University and/or the league with his salary, lost first round revenue, lost regional revenue, and general overall fan apathy which is becoming worse every year. He probably looks at it that he is saving the University by not cashing in on contact incentives. Makes me sick how many opportunities that they have set him up with that he has foiled with his coaching.

Yes, they are only setting themselves up for more pain down the road with any possibility of an extension, because Berry won’t change his stripes and clings to the defensive style he knows. Most coaches get that most games are won with special teams, and if you are going to be the team defending all the time rather than attacking, you are going to be the ones with more penalties. UND has to decide if getting in the tournament 50% of the time with no tournament runs is acceptable. I’m guessing from how bad our athletic programs are, they think it is.

Denver, BC, BU and Minnesota can all lose game 1.

Yeah, we like to start the season strong and work backwards from there under Berry.

I have a feeling it is because Green Bay is a below average team. They have a lot of guys deep into the minus category, one at -27.

The thing with Schlossman is he talks the program up so much, but I think if you looked at his weekly picks when Hakstol was coach and during Berry’s tenure you would see a wide disparity on his picks from one to the other, showing far less confidence in wins under Berry. Would love to see his weekly picks from this year especially.

So by that logic the team that wins the National Championship every year has the most talent. You may want to work on reading comprehension.

Other than Bump, players that have produced a lot better in junior hockey and have been drafted. Not saying they have played more talented. Just like the saying goes hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. Guys like Nehring and Slukynsky sure work hard.

Western is Denvering Denver, in their face all of the time, forcing Denver to defend and block shots. Usually it is Denver wearing down the opposing team in the offensive end. If a less talented team can do that, why can’t a team with more talent? It comes down to will and culture.

…and if hockey is so insignificant, then why give a crap about the outcomes. I think anyone knows the reason, it’s because hockey fans are very passionate about their sport. Give me a Stanley Cup playoff game with the passion and intensity any day over the most popular sport football playoffs where the stars are so full of themselves. So yes, football is more popular with viewership, but hockey is my sport hands down.