farce poobah

So ... just like 2015-2016, we beat the Hockey East playoff champ in the Regional Semifinals.

Trivia du jour: Dartmouth hasn't been to The NCAA Tournament for 46 years. I had the privilege of watching their last two games in person ... both vs UND and both UND wins. 1979 in Detroit and 1980 Providence.

Actually got to chant that at the Old Ralph. UND played Moscow Dynamo in the 1988-1989 season. Dynamo was NHL-style good (and professional). And a feeder team for the USSR National Teams. Just a year later they played in the Super Series vs NHL teams https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Series The only game I can recall not being dissatisfied with a loss.

DA! DA! .... Fighting Hawks!

It's signalled already, with Knott named Associate Head Coach, and Oliver named as an Assistant.

20 NCAA titles in Michigan vs 8 in Minnesota.

Yup. https://www.collegehockeynews.com/reports/teamHistory/Merrimack/29 Nothing ever better than that first title.

Dartmouth making the NCAA .... I'm getting serious flashbacks. SERIOUS. Their last two NCAA appearances, UND beat them in the National semifinals. I had the serious fun of being at both. 1979 and 1980.

Is this just Mick Hatten wanting a new coach for SCSU?

32 new players on the rosters for St Thomas and Mankato tonight. Sometimes rebuilding is the way to go ...

Mankato 4-1 over St Thomas. Final

it is kinda fabulous to see Josh Morton doing so well.

reading what other smart people here have written, I feel like we collectively have a strong start.

I look forward to the day when awards ALSO for: * Assistant Coach / coaching staff * General Manager And yes, our guys would be shoo-ins for those awards this year.

I'm hoping they go after Brett Larson. I mean, St Cloud hasn't been trending up since he took over. https://www.collegehockeynews.com/reports/teamHistory/St-Cloud-State/52 I just don't see them ever cracking into CHL talent. (1) all the "better" recruits "right on their doorstep at home" ... and those complaints tearing alumni support apart, and (2) if you're a CHL talent, there's a lot of great places to go that LOVE Canadian hockey players.

Hear hear! And if not for committee reliance on an objective method for selection/seeding (PWR/NPI), we'd be getting a tournament with 6 Big Ten teams, 5 Hockey East teams, and scraps for everyone else. (The polls, all season long, reflected those biases, and only move toward NPI when the data insists they do so.)

Looked to me like we were playing with dead legs. It was so uncharacteristic I can only believe its illness. Count me as in favor of 12 days to the next game.

I'm reviewing the All-NCHC picks, and setting them next to their nominees for top awards, named earlier: https://nchchockey.com/news/2026/3/4/mens-ice-hockey-nchc-reveals-finalists-for-2025-2026-individual-awards.aspx Several things stand out. Bennett Zmolek. He's named one of the conference's top 3 defensive defensemen. But not named to any of the All-Conference teams. Here's rooting for some well-deserved recognition in winning the Best Defensive Defenseman award next week. Dylan James. Finalist for Best Defensive Forward, but no room for him on the All-Conference teams. Would love for him to get that award next week. UND has six forwards with better plus minus than all of the first-team forwards. ================================================================================ Dating back at least to the Gasparini era, the best UND forwards play both offense AND defense. In the late 1970's and early 1980's, it gave the college kids a shot at the big show, despite the bias against college players at the time. Now it seems firmly rooted in our DNA. 11 UND forwards have gone on to finish top-25 in Selke voting (NHL's best defensive forward), and it reads like a whos-who: Dave Christian, Dave Tippett, Doug Smail, Greg Johnson, Jason Blake, Jonathan Toews, Ryan Johnson, TJ Oshie, Travis Zajac, Troy Murray, Zach Parise. And two UND alumni won the Selke (both of whom wore #19 for the Blackhawks) Murray and Toews. The Archetype of a UND forward. Based on the eye test of fan in the stands, it seems this years UND team is committed to team defense in our own zone, and working hard to retrieve pucks and send it forward to create chances. It's been a big improvement, and fast.

Robert Morris vs Air Force is one of the craziest box scores ever. https://www.collegehockeynews.com/box/final/20260308/afa/rmu/

For anyone needing a hockey fix, Mankato vs Ferris? Ferris? Ferris? https://tunein.com/radio/KTOE-1420-s35726/

The "get some rest" concerns I might have are greatly eased by the final weekend being just one game (Sat. March 21). I greatly prefer this playoff format as giving the NCHC better odds of NCAA success.

I remember his freshman year 80-81 like it was yesterday. He led the team in scoring by a wide margin, and if plus-minus was a published stat, I'm sure he would have led the team in that too. After the addition of some great talent for 81-82 (Patrick, Tippett, Sherven, Donnelly, Zombo, Archibald), he was a key cog on the NCAA title team of 1982. Another in a long line of "two-way" Sioux forwards (now known as "200 foot players"). UND's first Selke award winner, which came in a year he scored 99 points. Off ice, I remember him as intense but friendly. Later on, definitely enjoyed his insights as a Blackhawks broadcaster. Condolences to his family and friends. RIP.

https://fightinghawks.com/news/2026/3/7/mens-hockey-north-dakota-mourns-the-loss-of-hall-of-famer-troy-murray.aspx

"You said there would be girls here. WHERE are all the GIRLS?"

I've got Dalton Andrew with the first goal tonight.