tnt

Certainly wouldn't be the first time that Jim Rich was wrong. He takes being a homer to another level.

I can picture a scenario late in the season when someone is fighting it out in the pairwise with other teams and they are tied late in the third, that they may need to pull their goalie because 55% in overtime isn't going to cut it. You either have to win in regulation or bust. I also can see some teams being very conservative down the stretch just to get to overtime and that 55/45 split.

Why did his own player stop, waiting for them to call it, if it was a dive?

UND fans should serenade him with “Michigan reject” even though he left because of lack of playing time.

I hope St. Cloud gets Minnesota in a regional and remembers Lafontaine taunting their bench!

And we’ve got you down as your definition of Blue Chippaz as Shaugabay and Clark, so we’ll see where they end up.

Let’s see, the person always crying about blue chippaz is wondering why a team that loses a large percentage of college hockey’s defections to the NHL is going to take some time to come together with 14 new players.

Agree, but those that are of the “Weatherby who” crowd need to realize guys like him succeeding and talking about UND on the NHL Network is good for UND and their future recruiting.

But I would bet for most of us it wasn’t 20/20 hindsight. I said what are you doing when he shot it. If you look at 3 on 3 in the NHL, many times the offensive player will even throw it back to his goaltender to keep possession of the puck. I wish they would still have the 5x5 for 5 minutes, then go to 3x3.

But I would argue, that is why we need few non conference losses, because we may go .500 or a little better in conference and then you are in a dogfight with other NCHC teams in the Pairwise. But yeah, we just need to focus on playing hard all the time and getting the right chemistry in our line combinations. Some of the young guys are doing better earlier than I thought they would.

If they start out next week like they did tonight, we get swept. I don’t think anyone on this team knows how bad Pecknold will be wanting to have his guys ready to beat us next week.

Exactly, you don’t just give away the puck 3 on 3, and that isn’t a 20/20 hindsight thing.

Way too passive when Bemidji State pulled their goalie, even after the Bemidji guy had to go to the bench for a new stick. Expected it to be tight, so good experience to go down to the wire in a hard building to play in and still come out on top.

Even though he played well last weekend, I wonder if Berry sits Constantini tonight and puts him back in at home. That whole line with Kunz and Portz did work well together though, so who knows.

Tickets sold.

I have two tickets for Saturday vs. Bemidji State. End where UND shoots twice. $50 takes both. Call 701-330-8439.

http://www.collegehockeyinc.com/commitments.php Now it looks like Braccini committed to Minnesota again. Seems strange.

Seriously, two exciting goals are scored, and they wait to talk about them, ruining the moment because they didn’t want to interrupt Gretzky.

I think this game is critical in that if we lose this game, I think you lose a lot of guys mentally for the remainder of the season. If you lose the team mentally, I could see an exodus at the end of the year from guys that think they can find greener pastures. It is hard to know the mindset of a lot of the players, but hopefully Kyle Hergel is an example that spots on "more desirable" destinations don't always pan out like they think they will. Let's hope this weekend goes well, and they don't have to go down that path.

Oh, definitely. If you take on a bunch of guys that haven't developed, you are basically signing your own pink slip.

For a fanbase that talks about how bad early recruiting is, and overrecruiting, they sure have a bunch of guys that have decommitted. Sounds like Miller, Braccini, Warner, and possibly a Mittlestadt as well are guys that may not be in the plans anymore, and there were others that decommitted because they were pushed off, would imagine Boltmann and Jensen were in that category. I know I am missing some as well. I think that is going to be as common as the transfer portal, and even moreso because of the transfer portal and the Covid extra year.

Landing players in the portal will be important for filling in gaps, not only landing players, but making sure they will fit in with your team and not create any divisions, or jealousies. A lot of times when you get guys moving on it is all about improving their stock for the next level which could lead to a selfish attitude, but for the most part it should be common sense that NHL teams can spot that kind of attitude easily which wouldn't improve their stock. Some guys move on because they just want to win, which is common for any athlete, but you need to be leery that they will fit your culture on how to go about winning. Can you imagine how much more Jasper Weatherby would have been ripped if he went into the transfer portal to find a team that had a better chance on winning the NCAA title after all our losses to the pro ranks? Berry has said that they had to move fast to do their due diligence once players entered the portal, so I trust they know that players with a one and done scenario can just as easily rip apart a team as add value if they don't come with the right motives and attitude.

If the Bengals don't screw up against Green Bay, the Vikings are only a game back.

Wasn’t it three or four years ago when UND fans were saying we just needed to get a little depth on the lines. Apparently we are in trouble every year if someone goes down. In the trenches, expect injuries, and we need an expectation that we can throw someone in there that can hold their own.

Got to be happy that his decision paid off, but it is just an even bigger reminder how strong we would have been down the middle with Ford, Schmaltz, Senden/Jamernik, and Weatherby. On the positive side one less guy to replace next offseason.