tnt

People complain that Berry doesn't change anything. Well, I think Berry realized that they were losing horribly by the defense they were playing and decided to play less aggressively and have the defensemen stay at home a little more. When you do that, you sacrifice offense. Let's face it, they weren't doing a great job outscoring teams, but at least now they are in the games, even though they haven't scored as much. The Minnesota Wild are the same way. The only reason they are still in the playoff picture is because they have won in the 3x3 and the shootouts.

Hedquist was committed to CC at one point, then reopened his recruitment and chose us. Guys like him, Keegan Karki and Cam Rowe were thought to be huge gets when we got them, but goaltending is hard to pinpoint, especially early on.

Most likely if UNO sweeps us, they will play CC, but you never know, Denver might have Penrose hangover and CC could take 4 points from them.

But it seems more people are hoping to play a hot team, than a team that has been slipping lately, like St. Cloud. Basically, if we want to play Omaha, we could probably do it by sweeping them, but then you would need to do the same thing the following weekend. Just need to keep playing well on the defensive end and get to the net and get some greasy goals and get the power play going again, and let the chips fall where they may. We’ve seen before that teams we want to play during tourney time doesn’t always work out great.

…and now Wisconsin isn’t even competitive every four years.

They play a shutdown brand of hockey. Will he change that philosophy with a different recruiting base?

Why at this point are you following since they have no chance to do anything. Sucks to get older, but to get old and crotchety must really suck.

Yes, personally that is another reason I hate the 3x3, because refs don’t want to call anything unless totally flagrant because they know that a 4x3 power play could very well decide the game on a ticky tack penalty.

I didn’t see the interference, was it before they were in the zone? They could have called something on Jandric, but three on three they don’t seem to call little stick work much unless the guy goes down.

But very susceptible with a poor goalie.

He actually jumped toward the Western player to avoid his own player. How can you review that and come up with that? How many times are we discussing bizarre calls when it comes to Denver. There was a head scratcher against Duluth last weekend.

We talk about how just a few games here or there and we would be sitting within the pairwise bubble, but we are calling for someone's head based on possibly one position that has underperformed this year. Yes, the defense hasn't been good, but if we got the goaltending that others have received, I have a feeling we would be uncomfortable as a bubble team, but confident that we could/would get in. Yes, they may have missed on bringing in the right goaltender, but I think a lot of us were comfortable with them bringing DeRidder in, it just hasn't worked out the way we all thought it would, including coaches. Goaltending is a hard position to figure out, as there have been several big name transfers that haven't worked out for the schools that brought them in. I think Wisconsin has had a few misses in that regard. Maybe we need to look at bringing in guys like Denver does that have a winning past, but sometimes those teams that win, do so because they are structured so well that the goalie can look better. At the other end of the spectrum, maybe guys like DeRidder put up decent numbers because Michigan State had so many shots against them, but since they weren't ever in contention the microscope wasn't on the goaltending and hence there wasn't much pressure. Coming to North Dakota is a complete 180 pressure wise. Without blaming it all on DeRidder, the coaches do need to do a better job of figuring out which guy is going to fit in and be able to handle that pressure.

Do those guys that score play together? If so, I would imagine UND would try to match lines the best they can to try shut them down.

There is only one team that ultimately takes advantage, but just having that extra experience for the young guys could pay off in the future. I think if we would have played during the Covid year playoffs we would have been better off the following year when we lost to Duluth in 5 overtimes, and who knows if they lost in the Covid year, the fire burning might have been that much more intense because they know that feeling they never want to experience again.

I have actually been impressed with Gaber lately, as he isn’t nearly as predictable as he was early in the year when he would get his shot blocked often, and would turn over the puck often by holding on to it too long. There has been a few times when he could have dished it, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he is starting to score more when he isn’t the black hole he was earlier.

This quote from a recent Schlossman article on Perron excites me about the prospects for next year, considering the impact Blake has had. Of course how fast he transitions isn’t a given, as evidenced by Isaac Howard’s slower transition for Duluth, but at some point he will make a huge impact. “At 5-foot-9, the knock on Jayden is his size, but he knocks back with his skating, hands and intelligence. Garman says Jayden is comparable to former Steel forward and current Fighting Hawk Jackson Blake in terms of their hockey IQ. But there is a difference. “Blake knew what you were going to do before you did,” Garman said. “I feel like he was always ahead of you. I would say Jayden not only has that ability, but can also manipulate the defensive player because he’s so creative and elusive. And he’s incredibly young. A first-year draft player to have that poise and confidence is pretty exceptional.”

Kinda like an Oshie elevator experience?

But this time we outplayed a team, but weren’t as porous defensively. Before it seemed like we would be playing well in the offensive end, but would give up odd man rushes that would find the back of our net.

But we have no idea who is going to win between the two next weekend, nor what happens between Duluth and St. Cloud the following. Just need to get our own game to the next level down the stretch.

What are the brackets? Who does South play if they beat Century, Legacy or Davies?

It’s very possible that the opening round playoff series for both UND and Duluth will be the same matchup they have during the last regular season games. UND against Omaha and St. Cloud against Duluth.

Another reason that a bigger goalie is preferred, as Castor covered pipe to pipe on that Gaber shootout shot.

I assume home ice is now out of the question since St. Cloud has a better head to head record. Of course Miami would give up a late lead against Omaha.

But here is where I think you see the difference of past teams and this team. Everything was around the perimeter. Where did St. Cloud get their 2nd goal, from garbage time out front, and he is a small player. I saw people skating away from the front of the St. Cloud net on many occasions, when they could be screening the goalie for a shot from the point. Need to get to the dirty areas in the third and either take away the goalies eyes or get a garbage goal. It is like our 5 on 5 is the same as our power play, only St. Cloud has enough guys to defend.

We’re all frustrated by this horrible year, so any positives we can take is something to at least give us hope for the future, even if this season continues down the wrong path. With how things have gone, it’s a positive they didn’t fold when they went down 3-1 after the 5 minute major. Yes, that should be the expectation for UND hockey, but sometimes human nature takes over. Hopefully it’s something they can use going forward this year, but I like some of the pieces they have in place if nothing else.