brianvf

I like it. Really hope that Swanson takes off this year. You know he has it in him with how he did in the USHL.

For DU, losing Davis and Buium will be massive (not to mention Devine, Thompson, and King). WMU lost the best forward in the nation, their best center, and their best 200ft player in Bump, Costantini, and Washe. That said, I totally agree with what you are saying that WMU seems to always lose a ton and then random nobody forwards all of a sudden turn into scoring machines for them. That has to end at some point, right? We'll see if that happens this year or if they continue with that crazy streak. UND has their own question marks with Boisvert, Perron, OMac all gone...but I really think that they will only miss Boisvert from that trio. Plus, UND has a better incoming group (recruits + portal pickups) than WMU and DU imo. Should be an interesting season to follow!

Article from CHN explaining all this pro player nonsense: https://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2025/09/18_Pro-Players-in-College-Hockey.php Is Spicer still not eligible? Plus all these players over 21 won't have the full four years of eligibility remaining:

Schultz injured now too. Not a good start to the season for him and McKamey. Hopefully they both heal up quickly.

https://x.com/PuckPreps/status/1968808781480861726

I think both WMU and DU take a step back this year. Still guessing that they’ll both be in the top 4, but I don’t see either being dominant like they could be at times last season.

https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/article/mckenna-the-unanimous-no-1-in-tsns-pre-season-nhl-draft-ranking/ Verhoeff at #2 Plus a couple potential targets in Carels (#11) and Preston (#13).

These pro players playing college is just crazy to me.

Sold their GF house

James took a nice step (especially in his finishing) last year. Would love to see him take another step for his SR year and really help get that offense rolling.

I'm surprised we haven't heard any snippets from Schloss on this...I know he's mentioned players that look to be performing well in early practices in the past. They haven't done a podcast in quite a long time...I'm hoping the next one covers some of the early practices and who is standing out.

Order is a little off for me, but this is a nice article that breaks down a lot of what other teams lost (and gained) this offseason: https://www.echlocker.com/blog/ech-preseason-top-20-rankings He has UND at #13.

Unbreakable college hockey records: https://www.ncaa.com/news/icehockey-men/article/2025-09-14/7-college-hockey-records-we-think-will-never-be-broken

They announced that JJ has an ankle injury supposedly.

UND's first real opponent this season is picked to win the CCHA:

According to Sikes, we were in on Rooney. We'll see how he does in the USHL as a 16yo this fall and for the next couple seasons...see if that 5-star ranking holds.

Don't mind gfhockey, he got jobbed.

21 days until hockey.

anti-job?

Schloss article on the captains: https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/bennett-zmolek-named-und-hockey-captain

Alternate

More on the Cooper Williams for next season either staying in WHL or coming to UND. Also talks with Harsanyi who is a CC commit. Cooper is interviewed in the clip...he essentially just says that it is still TBD what happens next offseason. Me personally...I'm guessing he'll be at UND if the UND coaches think he is ready to play NCAA hockey. https://x.com/ScottRoblin/status/1966283033427751071

Strinden won the annual IronMan competition...3 time winner! Natural hat-trick of trophies for him. https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/ben-strinden-wins-third-straight-iron-man-competition Also good to see that some of the new players excelled in the competition as well. And no surprise on James winning the skating aspects.