tnt

You do run the risk of a satisfied feeling that needs to be put to bed after a day. Don’t know if that was the case or not, as everyone said they turned the page. Then you have to ask the question is this UND team good or not. The problem as I see it, is that every time the team get’s to the point they have the University’s, town’s and some national attention they fail to take the next step and sustain it. The fact that NDSU has been able to sustain success over that long and not get overly complacent is amazing. When UND consistently fails to capitalize on the attention they have garnered from a big win, I think it makes it that much harder for the fan base and possibly even potential recruits to buy in. At some point you have to take the next step or figure out what needs to be done to do that.

They said it was a salute to the fans, and the way our fans yo yo, I’m not so sure our fans are worthy. It kind of gets me that the stick salute has become some sacred thing when it was copied from none other than Minnesota. I think they have done salutes without sweeps in the past as well. Maybe we should create our own thing and have the players ride a broom down the ice, then doing it without a sweep would really look egregious.

Anyone know if Matvei Gridin is a college hockey candidate. A 2006 leading the USHL in points. Plays on a team with Boisvert and Croal, so I assume the coaches have seen him play.

Nice to have a teachable moment in a win. I was wondering myself about that play.

He came back, but didn’t notice him playing down the stretch. I was surprised Benoit was playing down the stretch, and then was looking for Zmolek. Benoit certainly didn’t look out of place. Nice we could get it done without Pehrson and Zmolek and a non-existent power play.

Did anyone say anything about Zmolek? Would be a shame if he missed the series against his old team.

So you’re back on the bandwagon and off the football bandwagon? Guess like the Dr. Pepper commercial you could be off again after a goal against Mankato.

Last year we scored a pp goal in how many straight games then dropped a bit. Hopefully we can get it going and keep it consistent into the playoffs.

I agree it is too early to overreact, but St. Thomas was able to muster an attack against their young defense, so it is just disappointing that we were kind of a one and done on the offensive end with very little sustained pressure. Need to put one in early tomorrow and hope we can fluster them a bit, instead of the other way around. They got the snipes, so we need Gaber, Perron, Blake, etc. to show some of what we have been seeing on our end.

That is what concerns me, especially this year. After last year, UND has something to prove. Pressure is on even more tomorrow, as they need to get off to the better start that Berry has been stressing.

Like the gophers don’t have a nice weight room and facilities. Usually when you get first round draft picks they have speed and/or strength to their game and a competitive edge. Don’t think UND was totally outclassed, just need some extra effort and play a little more clean. We all said UND would need to come together, so losing to the #1 team in a game where we weren’t crisp is hardly shocking. Hopefully a better effort tomorrow.

Guys like McLaughlin need to fight through a few checks if they aspire to get to the next level. Sometimes when they got rubbed out they let up and allowed the gophers any easy zone exit. Not much cycling this game.

A lot of times when you play rivalry games and NCAA tournament games you need to either have hard skill perform or have your grinders play a big part by going to the net. This is my concern with this team when the power play isn’t clicking, they need some hard work goals to turn the tide. Didn’t get to the net very well, and that includes the guys that have to play that way. I suspect Ness will be in the lineup tomorrow to try add some of that. Let’s see if they can turn it around tomorrow and play with more of an edge.

Certainly would be nice if we could be a great Friday team this year and at least guarantee ourselves a split right after game one of a series. Makes it so much easier for us as fans as well.

I'd have to watch it again, but I didn't see anything egregious, but regardless if Wisconsin gains momentum and wins that game, we would really be up against it this weekend and against BU to make sure we don't get behind like we did early next year. There are ways to get even legally with hits. Probably nitpicking, because Gaber is feisty to begin with, but he is now the captain and needs to set the standard for keeping out of the box.

That's the one.

To that end, Gaber took a bad penalty against Wisconsin when we were only ahead 1-0 and thankfully they didn't score. Good penalties are one thing when playing a rivalry game, but bad penalties can really hurt momentum and crowd interaction, so we need our leaders to demonstrate that discipline.

Yeah, everybody loved the Holy Cross win, but frankly the amount of run that has had seems obsessive. Basically it was just the precursor to the modern day regional where low seeds beat higher seeds more frequently.

Yeah, whether you believe in bulletin board material or not, why give the opposition something to shove back in your face!

Hopefully the physical is clean, because if we give them power plays it might help them get off on the right foot. Would be nice for us to get the first goal and put them behind the eight ball from the start.

Was wondering about Ausmus, because if he was supposed to be more of an offensive defenseman, the numbers in the more wide open BCHL haven't been there.

Yeah, you add the life and death cancer issues of Zach Stejskal and Will Francis and it has been a rough few years for Duluth.

Wow, Biondi last year, now James this year. Losing anybody is brutal, but top guys really hurts.

Just think, if there had never been Covid we might have already hung banner # 9!

Big memory was when Dave Hakstol and Ben Hankinson went at it near center ice. Since Hankinson is a player agent now representing some ex UND players and Hakstol is an NHL head coach, I wonder if they needle each other about that.