tnt

…and we have yet to see how any of this plays out. How many CHL guys are going to be team guys when adversity strikes and they don’t have ties to the program they chose? A highly regarded prospect is good whether they come from the CHL or not, and Minnesota has a ton of draft picks on their team and in the pipeline. I would bet Motzko will entertain CHL players if they can get players that would be bigger impacts than local guys.

We knew they had to replace their top 5 scorers, so I think it is pretty early to form conclusions yet. If UND splits or heaven forbid swept by Minnesota, did UND go down the wrong route?

I care more about them losing when we are playing them. Time to do our part in helping our conference get more teams in the tourney.

Hopefully the focus solely on him creates some locker room issues.

We usually have the game at New Years and get decent attendance, albeit part of the ticket package. So many excuses available at any time from hunting season on down.

Very early. If anything, it might give us a little room when we have a little adversity, which with so many new players and youngsters is inevitable.

Shane Pinto with 2nd goal late against Tampa to put Ottawa up, and Sanderson with 2nd assist.

There is a reason they quit playing NDSU in football. Doesn’t look good when you can’t control the line of scrimmage playing down a level.

Heil goaltender of the week in the USHL.

Maybe they just call it the “M”, as in the Roman numeral for a Grand.

Hard not to refer to it as the “X”. Do they have a new shortened version for Grand Casino? Do they call it “the Grand” now?

How many years does she have?

Shouldn’t he have the same common courtesy for guys like Simon Romfo? He is no longer the starter like many of us had hoped, but he is still being a good teammate, so why continue to rip on him?

…and just to be clear, I have no idea if Emery has made the improvements to be in the lineup ahead of any of those other guys mentioned. The other part of the equation is that what are they looking to do with the defense in any given game. Are they going to be joining the rush, and pinching a lot? Some may be better suited to that. If they are looking to manage the pairs with defensive responsibility with someone who has the green light to go all the time, that might be a consideration as well. The best part is they have the depth to keep the players accountable. I think Jackson is more apt than Berry to keep the players accountable if they aren’t performing or playing the way they want them to. To be sure, I don’t care who is in the lineup, as long as they play hard, fast and relentless and are accountable for the improvement necessary when they inevitably make mistakes.

I think the coaches know that there are going to be some highs and lows, but hopefully they can grow throughout the year, and the mistakes are limited enough where they can learn from them while staying competitive in the national picture. Minnesota coaches will probably be looking for the same.

Or being accused of not having seen Emery yet, and concluding he should in no way be top 6. Because goodness knows that you can’t make huge strides after your freshman season — Mac Swanson!

Someone explain to me how you know he isn’t. Big jumps can be taken over a summer of work at that age, and frankly, none of the new guys have proven in game situations how they will perform. Sounds like you are setting yourself up to go on your rants on who should be in the lineup because you have the pulse of the team. Maybe a more aggressive approach from the defense instead of sitting back as pylons will better suit his game.

Getting worked up about someone’s first exhibition game is futile. If a sampling of plays in an exhibition game is super relevant, Jaden Perron would be in the NHL now.

Super selfish? Sometimes if you are a shooter, shoot the puck. How many games last year did we try to make the extra play, instead of the simple play? Guys like Ryan Duncan and Bochenski shot from everywhere on the ice, but that’s where they thrived.

If he is getting money from Minnesota, it shows you where they are at. Money might help with a bulletproof vest to manage Dinkytown though.

You won’t tell a lot from Manitoba either. St. Thomas will be a better barometer, but really, playing veteran teams will show us where we need improvement. I am just encouraged to see us pushing the puck up the ice, and hopefully that will continue when we get into our schedule.

Coaches will have some tough decisions, as Klee, Zakreski and Andrew certainly didn’t look out of place. Hard to believe Verhoeff just turned 17 a couple months ago. There will definitely be some mistakes along the way, but they should be a fun team to watch. Surprised how well and how fast they moved the puck on the power play. You can tell the skill is there, so hopefully they will really be a very formidable group by the second half of the season, and can do enough early to keep their pairwise decent.

If tonight was any indication, they will be pushing the pace and involving the defense. It seems like we have the group to play uptempo as well. Lot of speed. Absolutely loved the line of Menghini-Strinden-Josephson, very fast. Strathmann and Engel scored in the scrimmage. Reschny and Klee on power play simulation. Zakreski, Menghini and Livanavage on 3x3, and Zellers was the only one of 10 that scored in shootout.

Team Black James- Rickwood-Zellers Livanavage-Verhoeff Croal- Littler - Zakreski Laurila - Wiebe Team Green Kernan-Reschny-Swanson Strathmann- Zmolek Menghini-Josephson-Strinden Engel - Jubenvill Young-Klee-Andrew Emery sat out.

Too bad it is on Thanksgiving weekend, as the Ryder Cup is in Limerick, Ireland September 17-19, 2027.