brianvf

NCHC schedule isn't posted yet, so just non-conf listed as of now. vs. Manitoba (exhibition, single game), Oct. 7 vs. Wisconsin and Army, Ice Breaker Tournament, Oct. 13-14 vs. Minnesota, Oct. 20-21 vs. MSU-Mankato, Oct. 27-28 at Boston University, Nov. 3-4 vs. Bemidji State, Nov. 24-25 vs. Alaska (Fairbanks), Jan. 5-6 Note: UND does not travel to Western Michigan in 2023-24. St. Cloud State does not come to Grand Forks.

Speaking of Gophers...they should be pretty good next season too. Hinges a bit on the decisions of Cooley & Close, but they have the recruit Moore coming in...he's a stud. With how the UND team is shaping up, we'll know right away how we're looking in those early season games against UMN and BU (with Hutson and the insane talent Celebrini arriving).

Haha, those poor refs.

We'll cross all those bridges when we get to them next season. Until then, I'm just impressed that Berry assembled this entire team within a couple weeks of the season ending.

Yeah that's weird, just swapping a 5th year for a 5th year.

Expected Roster as of 4/14/23 - Going by a somewhat typical 26-man roster (15 F / 8 D / 3 G): Forwards (15) Fr - Emerson / Perron So - Blake / James / McLaughlin / Strinden / Montgomery (RS) Jr - Schmaltz / Kunz / Berg Sr - Gaber / Jamernik / Ness Gr - Albrecht / Johannes Defense (8) Fr - Benoit / Komzak / Wiebe / Livanavage / Strathmann So - Zmolek Gr - Pyke / Pehrson Goalies (3) Fr - Hedquist So - Johnson Sr - Persson Portal and/or Recruit D - Maybe one more (depending on Strathmann decision on playing another year of juniors) F - Maybe one more (been hinted that we might carry 16F again this year)

As long as Strathmann is A-OK with doing one more year of juniors, I'd hope that the last dman spot is filled with just a depth add (only plays in case of injury). The flip side of getting all these great dman portal additions is that you don't want another Johnson/Bast situation where a couple freshmen enter the portal next season because they didn't get enough playing time this year. That said...I think Berry really worked wonders on this portal "season". Going from having no returning goalies (other than Johnson) and no returning dmen...this is really turning into a solid team for next season already.

Or split them up and pair one experienced dman with one freshman to break those guys in as well. The team has certainly come together quickly. Last season all these decisions took a few more months to work themselves out.

It seems to be a commit, then a week off, then another commit. Ha. The good news is that all of the portal additions so far have been players that should make an impact. The bulk of the roster is already set now, which is good.

Agreed completely. This portal certainly changed that dynamic. It's part of the game now I guess, so we have to get used to it. But I agree...it's harder to get really "connected" to the players when they might only be around for a year or two and then transfer out. You have to respect the players that stick with the program for their entire collegiate careers...it seems in this new landscape, those players will definitely be far fewer than before.

I saw some reports that he was just going to go pro instead. If so, I'm not sure why he even bothered to enter the portal then...unless he's just putting out some feelers. He'd be a big pickup for whoever can land him (UW??) if he does stick with college.

Another MSUM portal transfer to UW, Simon Tassy, a freshman. Seems weird to bring over so many players and leave MSUM so depleted. And what about the existing UW players and incoming recruits? Are we going to see a massive influx of UW players leave now too?

Agreed. He'll probably get slotted into a higher spot that he would have here, considering they lost their entire high scoring top line. It'll be interesting to see how he does...he had such a great start to his career here...no idea what happened last year with him just disappearing from the scoring.

Not sure on that. Some UMN posters on GPL had him in their top 6 for next season before he announced he was going portal. Not that that means much.

Expected Roster as of 4/11/23 - Going by a somewhat typical 26-man roster (15 F / 8 D / 3 G): Forwards (15) Fr - Emerson / Perron So - Blake / James / McLaughlin / Strinden / Montgomery (RS) Jr - Schmaltz / Kunz / Berg Sr - Gaber / Jamernik / Ness Gr - Albrecht / Johannes Defense (7) Fr - Benoit / Komzak / Wiebe / Livanavage / Strathmann So - Zmolek Gr - Pyke Goalies (3) Fr - Hedquist So - Johnson Sr - Persson Portal and/or Recruit D - Need one or two (depending on Strathmann decision) F - Maybe one more (been hinted that we might carry 16F again this year)

Getting closer on defense. Just need to nail down if Strathmann is coming or not and grab one or two more portals depending on that decision. IMO, they've snagged some excellent portal guys...Persson, Berg, Zmolek, Pyke, Johannes...all should be able to contribute nicely next season.

He did redshirt, but he just entered the portal today so looks like he's going elsewhere.

And...a RH shot. And...he has THREE years left of eligibility. Awesome, great get for Berry and staff.

NICE!!

Perets, QU goalie, has signed as well. That means that all starting goalies from the Frozen Four have signed now except for UMN goalie (so) Close.

Matt Staudacher, Dman from UMN, entered the portal. He's a leftie, but he does have two years of eligibility left. Maybe someone for Berry to check out...although he's a MI native so UM or MSU wouldn't be a surprise destination for him.

AZ only has a couple games left so it wouldn’t make sense for them to burn a whole year of his contract just for a game or two at most. It’s been posted that he’s “50/50” and will more than likely make his decision in the next week or so.

BU jr goalie Commesso and Michigan jr goalie Portillo both signed today.

Agreed.

Yeah none of that.