tnt

Last week UND was # 11 in the Pairwise, which is pretty close to the bubble, especially when you have teams like Boston College that will be much better at the end of the year and possibly needing to get an automatic to get in. Things change very fast, especially with a loss to teams like Lake Superior or the sort. I remember last year in January people were thinking we had no shot, then later thought we were a shoo-in to make the tourney, only to need Wisconsin's help to eek our way in.

Exactly, we are talking about human nature here. If all the fans are expecting a pounding this weekend with years and years of knowledge that no game is a sure bet, you can assume that college age players are thinking the same way. After the Bemidji State game, the coaches certainly have a tool at their disposal to get the lesson through to the players, and we certainly will learn more about the maturity and compete level of this team.

I guess if we are interested I would like to know the reason he was suspended. When a player that could help an FBS school is given one more chance, I don't know if I would want to take a chance when we are trying to create a culture of accountability. Don't want the win at all costs culture that takes chances because they fill needs. Like I said don't know the circumstances, but it seems odd he is on his last chance with Arkansas. Begs the question what it was he did.

Agree that it is nice to have new blood, but hockey up until now has been relatively clean as far as cheating goes. Does the big-time element of schools from a league like the Pac-12 start to bring in the win at all cost mentality? Not saying it will or won't, just know that college football is a dirty world. On the bright side, if hockey gets a nice following, the NCAA will overlook the cheating in certain circumstances if money is involved.

I guess I look at the term Blue Chipper as someone who is going to come in as a freshman and make an impact right away, to the point of being on one of the all league or all rookie teams. So a recruit can start off looking like a blue chipper, but by the time he gets to campus he might not be. I think Gersich is going to be an impact player with us right away next year. With all the players we lose, he is going to have more of an opportunity to do so.

Just a thought, but the originial conversation about Blue Chips lost to Minnesota, would not be that relevant if we go by 1st round draft status, because I believe Brady Skjei is the only 1st rounder they have. Also, if we use that as the definition, then Tony Hrkac, Greg Johnson, Jason Blake, etc. were not Blue Chip prospects and the buzz around them coming into the program was huge. You don't hear that kind of buzz very often about prospects. And if you go exclusively by that thought process, Joe Finley was Blue Chip, while Rocco Grimaldi wasn't. No disrespect to Joe Finley, but I would consider an undrafted Troy Stecher more of a blue chip prospect. That really takes most small guys like Taylor Cammarrata out of the blue chip picture as well, and he was thought to be one of the big recruits coming into college hockey last year.

Guess we need to define blue chip better because other than Schmaltz, who of Gersich, Poganski and Wilkie were considered blue chips to have some saying it could be one of, if not the best recruiting class ever? Just goes to show how things can change from year to year. Guess I would ask the same of Mismash, then -- is he a blue chip, and by that what do we mean -- 1st round pick, 2nd round pick?

But you also have to keep in perspective what they had left at the end of the season through injuries, defections and getting rid of guys that didn't buy in. You could say that from last years receivers we were at #6 or #7 on the depth chart this year, with the loss of Bridges, McGill and Young and the loss of Hardin (to graduation), Jackson and Golladay. Throw the loss of the starting tight end and running back, top two quarterbacks ... You get the picture. Guess I would be thinking with all of that, UND would be the soft part of everybody's schedule, and for the mostpart, they were not.

Wasn't Minnesota after Gersich and Poganski?

Don't think Murphy has been a liability defensively, but he hasn't found it yet and others might add the harder to play against label. That said, it is nice to have that player fighting to get back in the lineup and eventually prove themselves under game conditions. Like that competition for playing time that they have at all positions but goaltending.

Love a dual threat quarterback in college, especially one who can read exactly when to pull the ball on read options. Just so much more difficult to defend and game plan.

Yeah, don't see St. Louis taking a chance at losing him to free agency.

A guy can dream and hope someone get's pushed back to make room for a Matthews or a Boeser, or both.

They could be a lot better by the end of the year, as they have some young talent that is high end. I guess we will see. Don't feel too sorry for York that Sonny Milano was a no-show.

I assume the nickname Supersonics has some kind of copyright to it, but with the Aerospace department at UND I am wondering if you could use the term Sonic as an adjective to something else Aerospace related and come up with a cool logo. Not only that, but we could have a Drive-in chain as a sponsor.

When I saw the gophers and BC, I thought that there had to be some people in his ear since both said they wouldn't hold to the gentleman's agreement. Don't know if that is the case or not. Was Wisconsin holding to the gentleman's agreement? If they are, they might change their mind in a hurry.

What do you mean?

You wouldn't think so, because how could Alabama pay anywhere in the ballpark of Nick Saban's salary, and why would another coach deserve that kind of pay.

Agreed, it is going to be very tough this weekend. Sioux can't afford to get complacent, and hopefully they remember that horrible game against Miami at the Frozen Faceoff. The fact that they end the season having to travel to Miami, I really hope they can get at least a win and a tie to have a little cushion in a very tight league before we get to the end.

Hopefully Notre Dame still makes the tourney and if Minnesota doesn't have to play us in Fargo, they have to get through Notre Dame at their home rink.

Yet, there are many on this board that would rather win that one Natonal Championship and be irrelevant for years at a time. Can't wait until Hakstol wins an NCAA title and see how many stick to that premise.

Yeah, getting out of that stretch at 4-2 or better would set them up well for the rest of the schedule.

I think it is time to boycott KVLY, as it only mentions UND hockey as an end of broadcast score, while taking a whole segment for Bison football. Others have said they mention other Big Sky scores except UND's at halftime of games. Appears to me that they think if they don't cover Sioux hockey the popularity will suffer. Well you lost one viewer for such stupidity.

... and UND swept CC on the road fairly easy, who in turn swept Huntsville. Anyone can come up with some argument by comparing scores, so unless you actually play head to head, you never know how good you are, and even then it's when you play someone. Usually playing UND early in the year is more beneficial than playing them later, and then you also have injury factors.

Are you talking about a highly ranked St. Cloud team? I would say St. Cloud is a lot better than Bemidji State, and UND hasn't exactly lit up St. Cloud recently. We have a common opponent and they swept, while we split. I would rather they keep that early season bullseye.