PCM

Good points, Canuck. Karl Goehring had some pretty good defensemen and backchecking forwards playing in front of him, too, but nobody seems to begrudge him his place in the record book. In fact, Karl joined the team at a time when the roster was loaded and primed for national championship runs. Brandt didn't have that luxury during his freshman year.

I can't argue with that.

I've posted links to other USCHO articles that I've written and nobody seemed to have a problem with that. The only reason I posted the link was because I thought some people might be interested to know that Roger Thomas had spoken to other candidates and was aware of their interest. I don't know who the Herald's source is, but I do know that my source is the person who will ultimately make the head coach hiring decision. Is there any better source than that? Thomas has never given me a reason to distrust him. But who knows? If Hakstol is named head coach in the next few days, I'll nominate Roger for an Oscar.

If Hakstol is hired before the end of this week or next week, that will likely be my interpretation, too. Right now, I wouldn't bet on it. More importantly, Thomas says that he's talked to some of those candidates. What's the point of that if the skids are greased for Hakstol to get the job? Shouldn't part of the process be to determine how the internal candidates compare to potential external candidates who've indicated an interest? To me it says that if Hakstol emerges as the only viable internal candidate, his experience and qualifications will be measured against potential external candidates. I believe it's a mistake to look at Thomas' comments as a mere CYA exercise. You're right. It's not the case.

Apparently when it came to goaltending, Dean Blais didn't know what he was talking about.

This story regarding the head coaching position at UND was just posted on US College Hockey Online. No anonymous sources were included in the writing of this article.

Unfortunately for Jake, the last game of the season he played appears to be the only one that people remember.

Among UND's all-time goalies, Toby Kvalevog is rated first in games played (121) and second in wins with 52. His .509 winning percentage ranks him 10th. Obviously, he played a lot of games during his four-year career, but only won about half of them. I assume the reason he played so much was because until Aaron Schweitzer came along, the Sioux had nobody any better. Kvalevog's save percentage, win percentage, goals against average and shutout stats are nowhere near Brandt's. I didn't say that. All I'm saying is that right now, Brandt is statistically among the best Sioux goalies ever. If he plays poorly next season, that status could disappear. But if he has another season similar to last season, his name will be in the UND record book in many categories right alongside the goalies you mentioned.

I'm all for competition between goalies. Next season, I hope that they constantly push each other for playing time. Blais, Brandt and Parise all agree that it worked very well for the Sioux last season. If Brandt ends up being the odd man out, it's either because the other goalies are that much better or he's not playing up to his ability. But until that happens, Brandt should be considered an asset to the team, not a liability.

I must have forgotten. Please fill me in. Here's what I know about Jake Brandt. Without some of his clutch performances in key games last season, the Sioux probably wouldn't have won the WCHA. His career record at UND is 31-12-4, a .702 career winning percentage that today would rank him fourth among all-time Sioux goalies. His .901 save percentage would rank third and his 2.5 goals against average would rank second. He's tied for fifth in career shutouts and only needs one more to move into a tie for fourth place. Two more shutouts would move him into sole possession of second place. Why so many people are eager to dump Jake in favor of unproven goalies is beyond me.

Four goalies? That's a lot of psyches to destroy in one season. I hope Dave is up to it.

What would we do without the always calm, senible and reasonable "deeks pizza" to keep us from getting all worked up? Just so you know, DP, I depise it when any form of media uses an anonymous source to break a story. Using the tactic to scoop everyone else on the new UND hockey coach story seems rather silly to me. I'm speaking as someone with a degree in journalism and who worked professionally in the field. But where would I be without you and others on this board to tell me what I should know?

On that point we are in total agreement.

I'm saying that UND has no choice but to "waste" five days reviewing applications from internal candidates because it's the university's official policy.

You're right. I do know how it works. Up until the point that the Forum carried the AP story, the last story the Herald ran said that Thomas had given Hakstol the head coach job. The Herald didn't carry the story about Thomas denying this until the next day. Not that it matters. Hakstol will be the next head coach.

If drafted, I will not accept. If selected, I will not serve.

This is what I don't get. How does Thomas do the CYA thing by making a statement before the application deadline passes that essentially says Hakstol is the only person whose application will be considered? That violates UND's policy just as much as offering the job before the deadline passes. I'd like to think that Thomas has been at UND long enough and hired enough people to know how to properly play the CYA game.

Here's the story from today's Grand Forks Herald.

Here's more on the Hakstol non-hiring from the Fargo Forum.

Wrong. Posting jobs first internally is standard operating procedure at UND. I've said this several times and people for some reason refuse to believe me. It's stated right up front at the human resources Web site where the job is listed.

On Thursday's 6 p.m. WDAZ sportscast, Pat Sweeney reported that Roger Thomas says the Herald's story about Dave Hakstol being offered the head coach job is inaccurate. Sweeney quoted Thomas as saying, "The story is not true. We're in the middle of a search process. No offers have been made." Sweeney also noted that under UND rules, the job must be posted internally for five business days. That means the soonest a new coach could be hired is next Wednesday. It was also reported that Brad Berry would not be applying for the head coach position and that he had no comment on the report that Hakstol had been offered the job. If you want to see the newscast, go here, click on the link for the 6:00 p.m. newscast and move the slider ahead to the 22 minute mark.

How many napkins does one person need?

This could change any minute, but so far this morning, I have not heard Tim Hennessy confirm that Hakstol will be the next head coach. He did quote the Herald article saying it, but he hasn't said it himself.

The Harmeson quote is the most interesting part of the story. However, given the fact that whoever wrote the story apparently wasn't aware that advertising UND positions internally is standard operating procedure, it makes me suspicious of the quote's accuracy.

Perhaps some are reading too much into this. This statement is on the UND Office of Human Resources Web site: