tnt

You're not putting him ahead of Joby Bond, are you?

Hakstol's teams were generally not that great before Christmas, but built from there, but just couldn't finish it off. I remember when people mocked the gophers for being a great October, November team, and now our season is over because they didn't produce offensively on the weekend? I think this team has more room for growth than last year's, simply because they have more really young freshmen that hopefully can make a big impact the second half of the year -- Boisvert, Swanson, and Emery.

No, when they allowed the extra paid coach, the volunteer was no longer possible, hence Jason Ulmer not getting to remain to help with faceoffs.

It’s so comical to read the exact same posts after every loss. Yes it isn’t ideal, but I thought we wanted to be a team like Denver that doesn’t start out perfectly but manages to come together better at the end of the year, instead of peaking early.

Really, I expected it to be tough to play against a team like Minnesota State, especially in Mankato. This is good experience to play against teams like this. I do find it funny that people who consistently railed about certain guys needing to be higher up in the lineup, aren’t seeing the results from them having a bigger role. There have always been games like this against tough teams to play against, so not reading too much into it this early.

That’s the thing though, they don’t hold themselves to the same standard in daily life that they hold a college student playing a game!

If we can play decent before Christmas, I think guys like him and Swanson will be impact guys the second half even outside the special teams. Our young defense is going to make steps as well.

Yes, as Hennessy always says “the other team is trying too”. I’m sure some of these guys are 6 years older than guys like Boisvert and Swanson. Of course we’ve got some older guys too, and ultimately those are the guys who got it done in this game.

Nice that the older guys are getting it done on the offensive end while the young guys get their feet wet playing against a tough veteran team like Minnesota State.

Where’s gfhockey to take his foot out of his mouth?

Take a look back at the Fire Hak threads after a Frozen Four loss.

Haven't seen enough of Wilkie, but the scoring end concerns me more than being able to mix it up. None of those guys have been huge scorers for us in the past, and we will need to count on them to come through in games like this. Of course on the other hand, since we have those guys you mentioned, we shouldn't need to score a bunch either. If we can get to 3 goals against them I like our chances.

I am seeing a split this weekend. Another tough team to play against, especially on the road. I think hard nosed teams are going to be the problem area for us. Hopefully I'm wrong and we can get a sweep, as it doesn't get easier after this weekend.

Control what you can control, and we haven't done that. We just need to take care of business, and we didn't do it last year after we beat them, and we certainly didn't show up to give them pause this year.

Still baffles me how Schmaltz keeps finding his way on to the 2nd power play unit though. Let him focus on the penalty kill and get another young gun out there to start growing into that role.

Could be like Schlossman said,when he played with Chicago, he probably deferred shooting to Cellebrini quite a bit.

I see that the Carolina vs. Tampa Bay game for today is postponed. How long before someone demands the Hurricanes change their name, and then someone else suggests the Lightning change their names as well.

What does this mean?

If UND struggles this year and doesn’t even make the tournament, there needs to be serious discussion if the program/programs are going in the right direction. At that point both of the above names should warrant serious consideration. Hopefully the programs move forward and have a good year, but if not we can’t just continue stuck in the mud spinning our wheels when there are talented people out there who are moving other programs forward.

Probably should have been because of how violent he was tossed, but in the same token was the discrepancy of strength allowing him to be tossed so easily an issue as well. If he can be tossed like a rag doll like that in the process of tackling, is that a bigger symptom. I agree the Bison player added more to that tackle than needed which should have probably drawn a flag. Just by the looks of it, that would normally be a penalty.

Wow, when laid out like that, it really puts it into perspective how truly bad they have been on the road.

Lip service seems to be working for him, at least in the eyes of the people that are making the decisions.

I guess I would hesitate to use high ceiling with someone that has been in your program quite a while. Would be nice to have someone with a high ceiling that starts to attain it early in his career and can be a 3 year starter.

So apparently he see's weaknesses in his players better than Carle. Yes, it sucks that they had a poor performance, but let's face it, Berry will be judged where Carle has thrived, in the postseason. How many times has Denver laid eggs early in the season, even against us, but in the end it isn't remembered much because they have reached the ultimate goal quite a bit recently. Plenty of room to build from here.

I’m guessing the possibility of Major Junior players being eligible make decisions about early recruitment that much more difficult. We’ve see the hit and miss on young players by most teams, so now the pool becomes that much larger from which to choose.