tnt

After all that Minnesota State has been through, let's throw them a bone and invite them.

This only makes it more critical that UND sweeps teams outside of their pod, as I believe Denver and Western could beat up on their pods, making it hard for UND to win as many conference championships, although Omaha has been tough at times too. Two teams in our pod have won most of the NCHC conference championships, and the other has done really well on the national level.

Was thinking the same thing. How does a guy who has the background he does, have any snark at all, much less a social media presence. Of course he never did have any self awareness.

It will be interesting to see how it goes with the really high end guys going forward, and I'm talking top 5 or 10. I would be surprised if Fantilli stays another year, and some of the guys that stayed two were a result of Covid. Guessing Cooley might be a result of Arizona's issues. Regardless of those circumstances, I think that Makar has kind of opened people's eyes as to what another year of development can do to make you ready to not only enter the NHL but make an immediate impact. Will be interesting to see how many follow that same path going forward.

So how many times are you going to have a guy that is this highly rated that hasn't committed very early on? Did he have to accelerate to possibly play this year, or why is this recruiting process just coming about now? Will be interesting to see the "more details later" part of the post to see the story behind it.

J.P. Parise wasn't director of the Shattuck program after 2008 either.

He played for Cedar Rapids in the USHL playoffs, so it looks like he is going back there. https://www.thegazette.com/minor-league-sports/cade-littler-finally-makes-his-way-to-cedar-rapids-roughriders/

Didn't work so great for Wisconsin and Tony Granato. Not saying he wouldn't be, but sometimes star players don't make good coaches, and many times they have no passion to do so. A lot of time away from home after you already did it for your whole NHL career isn't always attractive to some.

It will be interesting to see who UND picks as their extra coach. Would have been nice to get Nick Oliver, but there are plenty of nice options out there. Does Jason Ulmer get a chance with all the work he has done with UND as a volunteer, or do they go with someone for recruiting?

My worry about our scoring is that we need to score more 5 on 5, which I think we will do. Beyond that, my concern is scoring against those tough grind it out teams where time and space are tough to come by. Can this group get to the net and grind it out against those teams, or are we going to have to win 2-1 games? Hopefully guys like Strinden take a step forward and Johannes and Emerson have a net front presence to bang home some garbage goals to add to what should once again be a potent power play.

It's too late for Tyler Kleven. Yes, I realize he had quite a few instances where suspension was well deserved, but there were other times where he was held to a different standard. Can't do that if you want to keep NHL caliber talent in the NCHC for as long as possible.

Isn't the big news that Don Adam is out as the head of NCHC officials?

It's pretty clear to you, but playing in the USHL or other junior hockey is not college hockey, so there may be transition time. I think when Ness came out of the USHL after putting up very good numbers people were penciling him into the lineup as well.

But the team that won the National Championship reloaded another way.

Would bet the gophers and BU are right up there for #1 preseason. Hopefully they are as high on themselves in the summer and through the season as everybody else will be. Even though they lost major players on defense, they still have high end guys that have a year under their belt, not to mention they will be spending a lot of time in the offensive end with guys like Cooley, Snuggerud, Moore, etc. Just funny how they have no problem welcoming back guys like Close that are older, when they constantly complained about Minnesota State's players.

I like that they have some shot blockers in the group as well. Need those guys that will sell out and sacrifice their bodies, especially when the game is on the line.

Goodness knows if fan displeasure is cause for dumping a coach, UND would be changing coaches in every sport every year.

Kind of hard to know how he could develop since he has been injured so much in juniors and college, but given who we have as options on the first three lines, I would think a fourth line role would probably be the best scenario for him this year.

…and OM played with James as well in Juniors.

They didn’t break the bank by adding players at the trade deadline, so they still have quite a bit of draft capital, and I would imagine cap space as well. Does Shane Wright make the club next year?

But I don't think offense was going to be the issue. I don't know that the last few weeks are going to make a huge impact as far as solving any defensive deficiencies they want to work on. I imagine if he goes back, he has the chance to be part of the leadership of the team, and that could help him down the road as well.

Was wondering the same thing.

So did Duluth have to push out any players to make room for Pionk? Curious how they made room for a good player, almost like they are doing what’s best to improve the team.

How did Michigan not get that legacy player?

Strathmann also had a goal last night.