tnt

While I do think that is an outlier and we really do need more guys tough to play against, I think Berry’s loyalty sometimes is over the top. To be honest, that is what got Gasparini in trouble at the end by sticking with two assistant coaches whose expertise was supposedly goaltending in Perry and Scanlan. When Berry pointed out the faceoff win by Senden in overtime on the opening faceoff I was thinking of what you were talking about with them being on the ice for the goals down the stretch, and chance at an open net.

It may come down to the wire, so it isn’t a given that opportunity will happen at the end of the year.

His sense of knowing when to pinch and be aggressive is severely lacking. The fact that it was so obvious to everyone is very telling. A lot of times there are just subtle plays that go wrong, but Moore’s body of work or lack thereof stood out. Bast needs to play tonight.

CC could still pass us, and even if not, I believe Omaha wins the tiebreaker with Western, beating them 3 times. We would probably play them if we lost.

I would guess there is little chance he comes back. I am sure that Ottawa has seen the limits put on his brand of hockey as well and would rather see him in the AHL where he can start playing his style of hockey which will make it easier when he does transition to the big club. Thanks a lot Don Adam.

Most likely he does leave, but it would be nice on his way out if he would send a strongly worded letter to the commissioner and head of officials saying that the league does not want pro talent around if the pro talent plays a physical brand of hockey. Yes, Tyler has crossed the line several times, and I don't think anyone is defending some of those episodes, but there have been several occasions where you look around the league at hits that haven't been punished, and then look at some of the borderline ones that Kleven has been kicked out for, and there seems to be a bit of inequity.

Will Howard commits to Augustana.

Dear Tyler Kleven, I would like to paraphrase some advice from the legendary Gino Gasparini - “If you aren’t going to play with the big club, stay in college and finish your degree.” I know that college hockey has made it difficult to use your physical brand of hockey, but there are still plenty of things to work on to be ready for the next level, including discipline. With the arrival of Jakob Chychrun, making the big club would be a stretch considering some of the defensemen they already have. Sure, burning a year of your entry contract is appealing, but you have potential to be in the league a long time. Would love to have you back to wash out the bad taste of this year.

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?