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Agree about O’Neill, but we may be looking for another top 6 type forward, as we have guys like Josephson, Croal, Littler, Klee, Zakreski, Menghini, Andrew, and probably Brock Schultz for bottom six type roles. Of course some may be able to make that transition upward, but it is possible they look for a high end guy to fulfill that spot. Like I said before though, would hate to lose O’Neill.

I’ve watched Williams a lot, and he really looks to need another year. He doesn’t really stand out when watching, but seems to find a way on to the scoresheet nonetheless. Really needs to up his compete level, especially compared to O’Neill who stands out with his ethic. Don’t want to see someone who comes in and sits on the bench much like Collin Adams did, even though he did play one extra junior year. Will be interesting to see where he goes in the draft. People might not like this, but Klimpke reminds me of Neil Pionk, without the cheapness of course. Has the same frame and skating ability.

There are two people on here that post almost exclusively on political issues. Two guesses who they are.

Jett Prpich is playing his first game for Moosejaw tonight. He is a 2010 defenseman, and assume he is related to Mike since both from the same place.

Yes, and when Berry had a bad year, his team usually rebounded and won the league title the next. It’s like some teams got complacent because they won the league title the year before and didn’t put in the work to bring it to the next level. We have yet to see how Jackson’s teams respond from one year to the next, but I would think Jackson will set the expectation for each player over the summer regardless of what happens from here on out.

…and if my count is correct, we have won 13 league titles since then, 14 if we can finish it off this year.

My point is that he produced at the next level and his recruitment wasn’t based on huge numbers in high school, at least his second recruitment. He played half that year at age 19, was defenseman of the year, led the league in +/-, and led defensemen in goals and points, as well as being on a team that won the championship, so I think most teams would take a player that has produced like that in a league where they actually play defense. He hasn’t played well in college, but that is the case with most players who were studs on their junior teams.

Got it, so UND shouldn’t have bothered with LaDue and the Poolmans, and Western shouldn’t have taken a bunch of the players they took that didn’t produce as much when they were younger, including their current leading scorer Grant Slukynsky.

Would disagree on Gruba, as many on here were super disappointed when we didn’t have room for Gruba because of the numbers he put up in the USHL, where he was a first team all star.

Yes, some guys don’t transition well. Guys like Jimmy Egan, Sam Spehar, Blake Vanek and Mason Kraft aren’t exactly ripping up the WHL. Doesn’t mean they can’t make nice contributions in college, but each step up the ladder gets that much harder.

Schlossman points out that Minnesota has the top power play in the country, and the worst penalty kill. How does clueless Bob take guys from that penalty kill unit to represent us on the penalty kill in the World Juniors?

Let’s give Duluth some credit, they are no slouch. They have the top line in the country as far as I’m concerned, and as Jackson said they play very well defensively.

I’m not sure if they call a 5 on the hit on Strathmann if the puck wasn’t already gone for a while when the hit was made. That, combined with the hit knocking him towards the boards head first probably pushed it to a five. I don’t know how you complain vociferously about that, as it met the definition, even if you felt it could go either way, which they obviously did. It cracks me up that when Dane complained about Rickwood being taken down that would have given us a 5-3 power play like Duluth had, Medak said he whined and it wasn’t a penalty, then changed his view that it was a trip when Dane challenged it for a major. Think he was worried about a replay showing what a complete homer he is.

Pretty crazy that Minnesota leads the country in power play percentage. Can’t imagine where they would be without the man advantage.

Don’t need any help as long as we sweep Miami and St. Cloud.

Played better the first 40 tonight than we did last night, except for the early penalty trouble we had both nights.

That game had me very worried. Didn’t think if we spent that much time in the box that it would come out well. If we take care of business at home against St. Cloud and Miami we can win the Penrose at home and not leave it to the last series at Western. Both series are going to be tough though since both are now fighting Duluth for home ice.

How did that work with D2? Need to communicate with the other schools remaining and make sure things aren’t going to fracture further, or else we’ll be left behind again. Need to get a real picture of NDSU’s costs with expanded travel, adding to Title 9 scholarships and the level of NIL needed to compete at a different level, then make realistic decisions.

I was never a big fan of giving points for a team getting to overtime in the NHL. Many teams play cautious near the end of the game to secure the point. There are teams in the NHL that have 20 plus of 55 games that go to overtime. That’s 40 % of your games being decided by 3x3 or shootout, and we know what a crapshoot that is. Your top 6 players and goaltender are basically deciding that 40%. A team built like UND with great depth, with young, but not yet elite talent is not able to utilize what makes them great. Enough of rant, it is what it is.

They were definitely #2 behind Minnesota.

I would hope that with all the chatter, Eric has been involved and pushing the administration to be ahead of the game with donors to explore options. Is it possible to form a football only FBS conference with MVFC and Big Sky teams? Don’t know all the ins and outs of rules and what not.

…and leave both times after your title runs were over and other teams surpassed you or were well on their way with new coaches and facilities.

This looks about right. Think of who you definitely don’t want to win a national title and the order, and this is it. Michigan would probably be next, because I would like UND to catch Denver and them in titles.

I’m hoping they see that leaving any game to a next goal wins scenario can end in huge disappointment in the NCAA. In other words, it is nice to have that late game confidence to come back if necessary, but play well enough early in the game so you are not putting your season on the line in the NCAA tournament with as little as a bad bounce of the puck. Hopefully Dane is making that very thing clear to them.

It was disappointing we couldn’t get the tie in the NPI, but if we can take care of business the rest of the season, both losses to Duluth this year took long winning streaks against Duluth both home and away off the bulletin board for Duluth for future meetings while still gaining points. That’s the optimistic side, but Duluth is still in fight for home ice with Miami, so we better be ready for another tough one tonight.