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Big A HG
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Posts posted by Big A HG
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34 minutes ago, Goon said:
I'd rather see a change at AD than the head hockey coach. Honestly, I don't care; the program is better off than when I arrived on campus in 1993. That was a dumpster fire. At the beginning of the season, I predicted this team would be in the Frozen Four when the season ends. If not I will owe @MafiaMan and @Godsmack a dinner at the Texas Roadhouse. I am glad it's not my decision. Berry's Record is 217-111-34, and his teams have won four of the last five NCHC regular season titles. He's not a bad coach. Are we expecting too much? Are we being unreasonable? I don't know. I am not there yet.
Gino did more for UND with less than Berry has. The end of Gino's tenure was not good, but with a new coach, things quickly turned around again. What I want is to get rid of Berry before it starts looking like how it ended for Gino. He's had plenty of time to improve things, but it's more of the same. NCHC regular season titles are weak sauce and drastically overstated. There's a reason only three different teams have won a regular season NCHC title in 11 seasons. This program is predicated on post-season success, not regular season.
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2 minutes ago, Goon said:
Since 2016, only five teams have won an NCAA title. UND, UMD 2, DU 3, UMass, QU.
So, I guess we can argue that it's unacceptable that the following teams haven't won an NCAA title in X number of years. You "could" argue that any of the teams on this list have more resources than UND. Think about it. Michigan in the USDT's backyard. BU loaded up on first-round draft choices and still lost to Duluth in the Fargo Regional. I am not sure what the magic formula is. I am wondering if our expectations are too high. The college game isn't the same as in 1997 or even 2000. I am not sure it's the same as it was in 2016. There's the NIL and big-money schools. We were told that they were supposed to dominate. Yet, DU has been on an incredible run. Who knows how opening up the CHL to the NCAA will affect things? If you can predict that, I'd want to pick my lottery numbers for me.
BC 2012
BU 2009
MSU 2007
Wisconsin 2006
Minnesota 2003
Maine 1999
Michigan 1998
Of all the resources UND can control, UND has the best of everything. UND can't control if they have mountains to look at out the window. They can't control having 70 degree weather in January. They can't control if the USNTDP is in their backyard. But, every last dollar has gone to giving Brad everything he could possibly want to improve the program. REA and UND have spared virtually no expense. He has the rich tradition and HAD recent success to piggyback off of. He has a great fanbase and UND was known as NHL U...a program that was run like an NHL team and developed kids to be pro hockey ready. No one talks about us in that regard anymore.
Also, your own "reading comprehension is hard" quote is quite the bit of irony with your post. For me, national titles aren't an expectation. It should always be the target at a place like UND, though. What I want is to be in the conversation on a reasonably regular basis for one though. I don't think it's wrong to think we should make a Frozen Four on a somewhat regular basis, but we can't even get out of the first round unless we play AIC...if we even make the tournament at all. The title was 9 years ago and it's been pretty rough sailing ever since. Again, in a one-and-done format, you can't ever expect national championships. But, I think you can expect to win regional games more than we have.
Honest question @Goon ...What would it take for you to think Berry is no longer the right coach?
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6 minutes ago, Goon said:
I never said that I think the fanbase is entitled. People are entitled to their opinions; I do not tell someone what to think. Does it matter to you? People from other fanbases read this messageboard. I also had people ask; do you still read that messageboard? Why? There are some interesting conversations on this page.
Really, you have no idea what you're talking about. Recently, I wrote this. This is my end-of-the-year post.
I am not a negative person by nature. Life is too short to continuously grind on how many NCAA games UND has won in the last nine years. Before long, there will be another banner-hanging ceremony, and I will have a shot of whiskey or two in celebration. Yes, I once told a buddy of mine that it's easier to cover a winning team than a losing team. To say no one in the media doesn't ask difficult questions isn't true.
We had the same argument in 2015, and people were ready to burn it all to the ground. After I had written this, I went to JD's radio show to talk about it. This was after Hak had taken the team to the Frozen Four and won a conference championship.
I sat down with Brad Berry on Hockey Media Day, and he was very aware of what the fans were saying. There’s a focus in the locker room on hanging a ninth green banner.
“North Dakota is not for everybody, head coach Brad Berry said. “There’s a lot of pressure here, and within that, you have to make sure that you invest in yourself every day and earn the opportunity to bring it. That’s what I like about our group; they’re buying into how we do things here and are humble, respectful, and hardworking.”
On getting that green banner: “We’ve done a good job getting to a certain point,” Berry said. “We got to get past that point. That’s on us as coaches and players, working together and building the physical and mental side that can take you to that level. We’ve done a few things to talk about, discuss, and work on, and we’re going to continue to do that.”
Berry's been saying the same sh*t for years because it's been years since his team has done anything in the post-season. We aren't jumping ship because this is the first bad Brad Berry year. This is one of many and he's had plenty of chances to correct course and it's just more of the same. I don't think NCHC titles are all they're cracked up to be and don't do much to excite a fan base. All it means is you outperformed 3-4 other teams over the course of a 24 game conference schedule (bad teams omitted from conversation). Nobody is saying we should win a national championship every year, that's silly, but we haven't had our name in the conversation of one going on almost a decade. Again, this isn't the first sign of weakness from UND. The team has every resource under the sun and it makes no difference.
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6 hours ago, Goon said:
Do you ever contribute anything that is positive? Just asking for a friend. UND's is ranked 5th in the nation for power play. But, but, but. Let Fire Berry, the PK is ranked 43rd in the nation. For the ones that care, UND is CHN's team of the week.
What's negative about what I wrote? 16th in the nation is still decent, but total goals is entirely meaningless when A) Total goals are so darn close, and B) we've played as many as three more games than many nearby teams. Take away our last three games and that puts us in 23rd in goals. I didn't even mention Berry, so try again. #KeepShilling
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That bald ref has it out for UND
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Media timeout helps Bama here. A little panic started to set in there.
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We’ve terrible luck with the bounces of the rim on our bunnies this half.
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War Eagle[staff]
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1 minute ago, Oxbow6 said:
Eaglestaff just earning a bag tonight
Has 30
Best player on the floor for either team tonight.
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It was fun while it lasted.
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1 minute ago, forksandspoons said:
Clear offensive foul on Nelson with the forearm
These guys are flopping everywhere and the one bald ref gives them every call. Frustrating.
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1 hour ago, nodak651 said:
If anyone has a picture or video of the ralph during this game I would love to see it. I've been looking for years and they are impossible to find.
I’ve seen one singular photo and it’s been years since I saw it. Also, being so old, the resolution was pretty minimal. I vaguely remember it being a photo from the upper bowl giving a general view of the arena and atmosphere. I did a quick search to no avail. I feel like I saw it on AP or Getty Images, but again, this was years ago.
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5 hours ago, TwamleyShuffle said:
UND is currently ranked fourth in the country with 61 goals scored
Total goals is mostly meaningless.
UND is 16th in goals per game playing a marginally more difficult than average strength of schedule.
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There's a whole book of reasons that I don't think Berry should be the head coach at UND, but this graph visually explains one of those reasons.
The following aren't all facts, some just observations, and are in no particular order.
1) How do you quantify good coaching? It's hard to ask that to anyone, even hockey/coaching experts, much less an internet forum. It's a worthless question. Ask Bobby Knight how to coach, ask Nick Saban how to coach, ask Coach K how to coach and you'll get three different answers. There's no right or wrong way, but the common denominator of a good coach is winning. Sometimes you're a good coach when you're good among your peers, like at a small program far outside the view of the national stage. But, UND is one of the keystones of the national stage in college hockey, and UND doesn't act or play like it anymore. NCHC wins are great, but winning outside of that is a struggle.
2) What's the fan perception? Everyone has an opinion, and those opinions can vary wildly. Some want Berry to stay, some what Berry to go, but words are mostly meaningless. What are the ACTIONS of those fans? Fans still show up to games, but there are frequently open seats and the buzz at the Ralph as at a lower level than in a long time. UND used to do special destination games every two years, but interested waned so much in those that they stopped doing them altogether. Now, they're going back to a another destination game after a hiatus, albeit at a smaller arena. Why has fan interest waned when ticket sales and prices for events are reaching all time highs in many other forms of sport and entertainment?
3) Is the program better now than when Berry started? This can in no logical way be true. When Berry came in, we were essentially NHL U. The program was run like an NHL team and UND was the talk of college hockey every year despite the national championship drought. The national pundits talk so infrequently in comparison these days and no one seems scared of playing a team like UND anymore. The resources off the ice have never been better and yet the product on the ice has not in any way improved.
4) The story about Berry's behind-the-scenes "Nodak" wordmark incident was conveniently swept under the rug, but the truth is pretty damning. The only saving grace of the situation, if true, is that Berry hadn't yet profited from it. But this was the UND Hockey version of Hunter Biden and Burisma and that's all I'll say.
5) The Berry fan bois think that all this Berry talk stems from how this season has started. It's beyond short-sighted and ignorant to play that card. This whole topic has been a growing tumor from our lack of post-season success...ultimately that's the standard for a program like UND. It doesn't mean that the anti-Berry crowd is demanding a national championship every year, it's that we barely sniffed a Frozen Four once in the past eight seasons. UND missed the NCAA tournament 3 times in a 7 year stretch, the only three times in the entire history of the 16 team NCAA tournament. Our only NCAA win since the [awesome] title is against AIC, a team now going Division II. But, that championship is going on NINE years old.
Let's get a fresh face.
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9 hours ago, stoneySIOUX said:
Not arguing any of that. I'm saying... after all the ups-and-downs of this season, we lose in the regional final, the season wouldn't be considered a "success" to me, but my goodness, certainly not gonna fire the coach after it. My opinion.
My overall concept to this thread is that we aren't firing Bubs midseason. What is the point of this now? Let the dang season play out.
He's had plenty of other chances to win a single tournament game after the national championship and has only managed to do it once. How many tries do we give this guy? Honest question, how long do you think Berry should stay and what would it take for you to think he should be removed?
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5 hours ago, Goon said:
FFS! The current team has two number-one draft choices. Have you watched the D-Core? Because of injuries they got valuable time to mature and grow. To say the recruiting sucks is short-sighted. Come on! Sacha, EJ Emery, Livanavage, Wiebe, Strathmann, just to name a few.
Miraculously Berry managed to add those two. He only managed three other first-rounders in his entire tenure otherwise, and one of them was off the back of Haksol's tenure since Jost committed before Berry even coached a game. The only big potential con for a blue chip recruit to not come to UND is the fact it's in the northern plains.
The fact that Berry is using the portal as much as he has, particularly at goaltending, tells me he's a bit lazy on the recruiting trail in my opinion. How we can't recruit a good goaltender after all these years is wild to me.
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2 minutes ago, SiouxFan100 said:
Nice to hear all the optimism
quite the turnaround
It just didn't suck. Long ways from the tournament...
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Finally saw a little hockey this weekend at times.
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GG
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2 hours ago, burd said:
Swanson really works hard.
What coach is backstabbing Berry and telling him to do that?!
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11 minutes ago, MafiaMan said:
Will there be fireworks?
I like to think Berry mandates fireworks at REA, even for road game goals and wins. He's such a nice guy...
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UND squeaks out a sweep and Berry celebrates in the locker room like they won the natty, just like after beating Robert Morris.
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Bring Jerry York out of retirement and Red Berenson as his assistant. Gwoz can be goalies coach since Denver always seemed to have good goaltending.
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NCAA Tourney wins each year since it was a 16 team field.
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Fire Berry Please!
in Men's Hockey
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Remember all the regionals where we’d complain that BC had it made by having the regional in their backyard, Worcester, seemingly every year…so UND set up the same arrangement in Fargo and now we never even participate? Pepperidge Farm remembers…