tnt

Are you in their inner circle?

Doesn’t matter, from week to week and game to game, a lot of our fans will say we are the worst, or how great we can be, depending on the outcome. Just look at the threads of each of our losses.

Yes, made the big saves when we needed, but also didn’t have to move across the net to make a bunch of saves, making him able to square up to the shooter. Much improved defense with sticks in lanes.

Yeah, now you can’t mock other programs for saluting their fans!

It doesn’t help when you get the ball back with a chance to take the lead and you abandon the momentum of shoving it down their throat like they did on the touchdown. Sometimes I think the OC isn’t thinking about winning, but showing a bunch of different looks. How about going with the momentum and showing the offensive line the confidence you have in shoving down their throats?

Without an emoji there are plenty on this forum that will take it as gospel and run with it.

I meant where he fits in the lineup as a center.

We do need Swanson to make a bigger impact, as he made the bigger impact with the Force than Zam in their two years there. I think that chemistry with his brother has helped Zam make a bigger impact thus far in college, so hopefully Mac can get some chemistry with someone going forward. What do we do with Littler?

Don’t start that. As soon as we lose, someone has a revelation about why. Sometimes the other team just plays better with the skill they have, especially when their losing streak was bound to end sooner or later. Let’s start another winning streak now.

Kind of hard not to get out of position when they are allowing the Plante line to have lanes for their patented cross ice passes.

I agree he needs to clean it up, as do guys like Kaprizov with the Wild, but I don’t know if I would call him absolute trash anymore than I would say that of Kaprizov, as he has had his moments. People said the same thing about Blake 3x3, and he was the last guy back on many occasions when he tried to make that extra play. It’s hard to play totally responsible 3x3 because at some time there are going to be odd man rushes the other way, but it definitely was either hero or bust on that play. Let’s give Liv a little grace and hope he realizes he can still be aggressive and be a bit more responsible, especially since he was the first cornerstone in keeping some semblance of the team together after the coaching change. Could have really gone south without him or James coming back.

That might be part of the learning process, as we have gone from a system of lockdown and defense first to a more aggressive mindset. Just need to make sure we are more situationally sound and know when to live for another offensive chance without allowing outnumbered situations going the other way, especially against the Plante line.

The frustrating part, as Wilbur pointed out, is that the losses to both Minnesota schools were in large part due to upperclassmen being undisciplined and making mistakes.

Doesn’t matter who is in net if they don’t understand the main thing you have to do against Duluth is taking away the cross ice one time pass that gives the goalie no chance. Would have thought that would be a priority, and that they could deal with a sharp shooter that picks a corner.

What was wrong with 5x5 overtime? 3 on 3 overtime bails out teams that are holding on because it is a crapshoot, and hurts teams with momentum. That said, remember when UND had the super skill to thrive in those situations. I as just hoping for a way to get through the first shift so our depth would help. Let’s face it, 3 on 3 only leaves 6 players on each team plus a goaltender to decide the game.

Hardly applies to this game.

Apparently the players don’t understand the philosophy of being aware when the Plante line is on the ice. Take something if given 3x3, but live to get a second unit on the ice where you probably have an advantage.

Hopefully Fitzhenry is in play. Don’t know if he has narrowed anything down yet.

I would take Cullen and Kvasnicka. Kvasnicka is putting up a lot better numbers in the CHL than most of our guys.

We have seen that other than the top CHL talent, the rest have struggled just like any other freshmen. Even Gavin McKenna hasn’t been the dominant force yet many thought he would be. If anything, Motzko should have gone to the transfer portal to get more experience, because as you said before, Minnesota doesn’t have the staff to be able to bring in top CHL talent. Doesn’t help they were missing Ludtke and who knows when they get back Townsend. Wisconsin has some very experienced graduate players that really looked like Minnesota’s defense couldn’t handle. That said, Minnesota should be able to put up a better effort than that against a rival on their opening league games. By the way, does anyone here believe that if we were playing a rival on a Thursday at home it wouldn’t be a sellout? Absolutely pathetic crowd for Wisconsin.

We’ll see if we sweep Arizona State in Arizona, and how the teams we’ve played so far fare going forward. The rest of our non conference is pretty cupcake, so we’ll see if we can win the games we are supposed to win.

Don’t think anyone has played themselves into a regular spot in the lineup. The great thing about depth is that from week to week it is performance and effort based.

Pilgrim was named a Player of the week in the USHL.

Yes, but it also shows that if you are an elite player, then playing in college is going to be better for your development if you are looking to make a step to the next level. So, it probably is a cautionary tale in that playing against mature players is a whole lot different than putting up circus numbers in the CHL, and that for most looking to make the jump, there might be a learning curve just like most freshmen entering college. The reason that some players are pushed by NHL teams is because they are truly elite and ready for that next step of development. Other than that, many should just stay in the CHL to develop until they are ready for the jump as you rightly pointed out, just like staying another year in the USHL would have been better for Cole Spicer.

Yeah, sometimes you are exchanging a year, maybe two with a bit of a learning curve, especially on the defensive side of things, for possibly Junior and senior experience. We have seen the difference those years can make with guys like Wiebe and Livanavage. I think Strathmann’s upside coming in was his offensive ability, and he hasn’t really been able to crack the power play units. Does he leave for a chance to show his draft team his abilities? It’s impossible to know the mindset of the guys now, and hopefully they are all in with the program, but when your future is on the line, you ultimately do what’s in your best interest.