skateshattrick

Plantes.

I don't know for sure, but the articles said he did not agree to go to a western conference team for family reasons and was down to Detroit and Carolina

He also was unwilling to go West, meaning the Rangers were down to the Wings and the Canes. You are correct that Drury was asking too much for Trocheck

Along with Ben Strinden at UND, Lincoln Kuehne was at North Star and is at ASU, and Bauer Berry was at North Start and is at St. Thomas. Name 3 kids from ND that stayed in HS through their senior year that went to a blue blood program.

I was addressing the incorrect premise that unless a kid is going in the top 2 rounds of the the CHL or USHL Draft, there is no reason to leave NDHSH early to go to a Tier 1 program. I recognize that some of the kids that finished HS got D1 scholarships, but they also generally had to go the route of the NAHL and did not go to blue blood D1 hockey programs. The kids that went to places like North Star Academy were able to go the USHL route and got into stronger programs like the NCHC. I don't think it is a coincidence. I also don't believe that a Fargo kid like Ben Strinden would have gotten the opportunity to play in the USHL without going to North Star.

This is not accurate. Cole Spicer played one year at GF Central, 1 year at Honeybaked and 2 years at NTDP. Braden Boser did not play HS hockey in Minot. He played with the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes. Lincoln Kuehne did not play HS hockey. He played at North Star Academy and NTDP for 2 years. Ben Strinden played 1 year at Fargo Shanley, and 2 years at North Star Academy. Zach Nehring did not play HS hockey. He played at SSM. Bauer Berry did not play HS hockey. He played at North Star Academy. The players that played HS hockey generally had to go to the NAHL--Will Howard, William Lawson-Body, Brandon Holt, Kirkland Irey and Trent Wiemken. Jaksen Panzer played MN HS hockey in EGF. How does this buttress your argument that ND HS hockey is good for development?

What is the source(s) of your information? It would be helpful if you had a list of the 14 playing D1 hockey. Interestingly, 9 of the 14 did not play their senior season. Why? Was it because they got an opportunity to play junior hockey, which is absolutely necessary to get a D1 scholarship?

Absolutely. If he had not gone to North Star, it is very doubtful that he would have been drafted by an USHL team and even more doubtful that he would have earned a scholarship to UND. How many ND high school kids do you recall that earned a D1 scholarship out of high school, let alone had the opportunity to play in the USHL? It is even more rare if that kid did not go to HS in Grand Forks. There are exceptions like Ryan Potulny, Danny Irmen, Tyler Kleven, etc., but they were already on the radar of college teams before they started HS and Potulny and Irmen still had to play a couple of years in the USHL.

Ben Strinden was drafted in the 6th round of the USHL Phase II draft. He left HS for the North Star Academy.

^ This. Keep in mind that St. Cloud split with DU both at home and in Denver (2-2) and split with WMU at home (1-1). UND was 3-0-1 against SCSU. Also, WMU recently lost at home to Omaha on January 31 and lost to Miami in OT on February 6. WMU is good, but can be beaten. The key will be goaltending. It may be a race to 3 goals.

The east will sweep like usual

Based on what? North (which didn't make state) beat all of the top teams from the west.

For sure no Penrose this weekend. Only 2 points up on DU so even if they get 3 tomorrow they will only be 5 up

4 5 on 5 goals against an average team at home is concerning. Can’t win in the tournament with that effort.

Berry?