tnt

Was Hensler going to accelerate? If so, is he still a possibility with Strathmann, Jubenvil, and Emery set to come in? What about McInnis, is he eligible for 2024 as well? With his injury, maybe he does what Strathmann did and get another year under his belt.

I really wonder what went on with him, going from the all rookie team in the AJHL to not even making it to the regular season with Green Bay. I wonder if he didn’t learn to play both ends of the ice and didn’t see the ice much because of it. He went back to the AJHL and was putting up a point a game again. Hopefully he can figure it out and put it back together. Tucker Poolman was cut by juniors, but he was a late bloomer, but hopefully UND is rewarded for not giving up on a guy who has some deficiencies that need to be addressed if he has any hopes of showing up on campus.

Sadly, and ironically, I was talking to a fellow employee just days ago about how bad Fargo has gotten in their pursuit to be more like Minneapolis. Hopefully a lot of the bad policies don’t follow suit and make things worse.

Both he and Kane averaged about .28 goals per game last year, but truly it is hard to know because of how bad Chicago was last year. I wouldn’t expect huge numbers, but if a team is looking for someone to demonstrate how to be the consummate professional, then he would have a lot to offer in the way of being a mentor.

Not a great recruiting tool, "Come to North Dakota because there is nothing to do but focus on hockey", but maybe we should take what we can get. Guess it is better than "Come to Minnesota and have a great chance to become a victim of violent crime!"

Anyone have a subscription to this care to share some of where the big recruits are possibly heading?

After all that Minnesota State has been through, let's throw them a bone and invite them.

This only makes it more critical that UND sweeps teams outside of their pod, as I believe Denver and Western could beat up on their pods, making it hard for UND to win as many conference championships, although Omaha has been tough at times too. Two teams in our pod have won most of the NCHC conference championships, and the other has done really well on the national level.

Was thinking the same thing. How does a guy who has the background he does, have any snark at all, much less a social media presence. Of course he never did have any self awareness.

It will be interesting to see how it goes with the really high end guys going forward, and I'm talking top 5 or 10. I would be surprised if Fantilli stays another year, and some of the guys that stayed two were a result of Covid. Guessing Cooley might be a result of Arizona's issues. Regardless of those circumstances, I think that Makar has kind of opened people's eyes as to what another year of development can do to make you ready to not only enter the NHL but make an immediate impact. Will be interesting to see how many follow that same path going forward.

So how many times are you going to have a guy that is this highly rated that hasn't committed very early on? Did he have to accelerate to possibly play this year, or why is this recruiting process just coming about now? Will be interesting to see the "more details later" part of the post to see the story behind it.

J.P. Parise wasn't director of the Shattuck program after 2008 either.

He played for Cedar Rapids in the USHL playoffs, so it looks like he is going back there. https://www.thegazette.com/minor-league-sports/cade-littler-finally-makes-his-way-to-cedar-rapids-roughriders/

Didn't work so great for Wisconsin and Tony Granato. Not saying he wouldn't be, but sometimes star players don't make good coaches, and many times they have no passion to do so. A lot of time away from home after you already did it for your whole NHL career isn't always attractive to some.

It will be interesting to see who UND picks as their extra coach. Would have been nice to get Nick Oliver, but there are plenty of nice options out there. Does Jason Ulmer get a chance with all the work he has done with UND as a volunteer, or do they go with someone for recruiting?

It's too late for Tyler Kleven. Yes, I realize he had quite a few instances where suspension was well deserved, but there were other times where he was held to a different standard. Can't do that if you want to keep NHL caliber talent in the NCHC for as long as possible.

Isn't the big news that Don Adam is out as the head of NCHC officials?

It's pretty clear to you, but playing in the USHL or other junior hockey is not college hockey, so there may be transition time. I think when Ness came out of the USHL after putting up very good numbers people were penciling him into the lineup as well.

But the team that won the National Championship reloaded another way.

Would bet the gophers and BU are right up there for #1 preseason. Hopefully they are as high on themselves in the summer and through the season as everybody else will be. Even though they lost major players on defense, they still have high end guys that have a year under their belt, not to mention they will be spending a lot of time in the offensive end with guys like Cooley, Snuggerud, Moore, etc. Just funny how they have no problem welcoming back guys like Close that are older, when they constantly complained about Minnesota State's players.

I like that they have some shot blockers in the group as well. Need those guys that will sell out and sacrifice their bodies, especially when the game is on the line.

Goodness knows if fan displeasure is cause for dumping a coach, UND would be changing coaches in every sport every year.

Kind of hard to know how he could develop since he has been injured so much in juniors and college, but given who we have as options on the first three lines, I would think a fourth line role would probably be the best scenario for him this year.

…and OM played with James as well in Juniors.

They didn’t break the bank by adding players at the trade deadline, so they still have quite a bit of draft capital, and I would imagine cap space as well. Does Shane Wright make the club next year?