brianvf

New season...new head coach...new Through These Doors episode:

Schloss posted his college hockey preview with a prediction for each conference as well. Very well thought-out and researched article, as usual. https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/the-heralds-conference-by-conference-college-hockey-preview While picking the order of the NCHC this year is a crapshoot with all these CHL, USports, AHL/ECHL players, etc...but his placement of SCSU (4th) and ASU (7th) is definitely a little surprising. I would guess that those two schools would be flipped. Herald predicted order of finish 1. Western Michigan 2. Denver 3. North Dakota 4. St. Cloud State 5. Minnesota Duluth 6. Colorado College 7. Arizona State 8. Omaha 9. Miami

Osh on ESPN as an analyst!

Almost there folks!

+1 Both heading off in opposite directions on player visits. The coaching staff definitely put in the work this offseason.

Agreed. If Berry would have been retained for another season, I'm guessing the roster would look quite a bit different right now. And not in a good way.

A dang good article from Schloss about how UND scrambled to fill the roster spots for this season: https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/the-inside-story-of-how-und-saved-the-roster-this-summer Sounds like the coaches were traveling all over the US and Canada visiting with players, commits, and potential recruits. They certainly earned their paychecks this summer.

The games are showing on the NCHC.tv schedule as well, so another way to watch Mr. McKenna's big debut. Some intriguing (non-exhibition) matchups for fellow NCHC teams this weekend: Miami vs Ferris - Miami needs to start the league off right with some wins against the CCHA UConn vs CC - tough first matchup for the Tigers facing a UConn team that just had their best season ever Penn St vs ASU - big first test for both teams...will be interesting to watch STU vs SCSU - single game, will give us an idea of what to expect the following week for our series vs STU

Sounds like Littler really worked on his skating this offseason: https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/und-hockey-forward-cade-littler-adds-speed-to-sturdy-frame-after-effective-freshman-campaign

Good to see O'Neill getting more offensive in the WHL, he needed to be given the opportunity to expand that part of his game.

Don't go to the UND series!

Add Cooper Williams to the commits that are on the injured list, joining McKamey and Schultz. UND forward recruits having a tough start to the season. Hopefully they all heal up quickly and can get back out on the ice.

I'm just hoping that ASU takes care of business against them this weekend. A decent showing against PSU would help out the league in the NPI at end of season, as you know PSU will feast on the cupcakes and have a good record the rest of the way.

Nice article from Schloss about Dane: https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/dane-jackson-is-ready-to-call-the-shots-at-und

Scrimmage standouts from Schloss: https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/fans-get-first-look-at-und-during-preseason-scrimmage

USCHO posted their NCHC standings predictions: https://www.uscho.com/2025/09/30/nchc-2025-26-mens-hockey-season-preview-conference-looks-wide-open-with-targets-on-defending-national-champion-western-michigan/ 1. WMU 2. DU 3. UND 4. ASU 5. CC 6. UMD 7. UNO 8. SCSU 9. Miami

Those first three weekends will tell us a lot. St Thomas (picked to win CCHA), Minnesota (biggest rival), and at Clarkson (picked 2nd in ECAC). Need some wins there, as that would be a huge boost to the PWR NPI at the end of the season.

Yep! We posted that at the same time.

If they keep those lines moving forward a bit...that 4th line of Croal-Littler-Zakreski might be really tough for opposing teams to match up against. (assuming line 1 is James, line 2 Kernan, line 3 Menghini, line 4 Croal from above) Heck, that 3rd line is super tough too. And a lot of speed on that line as well. Looking good.

New roles for the coaching staff this year. Simpson taking over the PP from Karl. Smaby taking over the PK from Jax. https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/what-will-unds-power-play-look-like-under-dillon-simpson

Goalies looking any decent? Since they're all unknown at this point.

@nodakgirl93 nice! Updates please of any standouts!

Article on ZPar doing One More Shift: https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/zach-parise-to-skate-one-more-shift-at-und-this-season

The Ralph put out a release for new fan experiences for this season. https://www.theralph.com/news/detail/2025-26-fan-experience-upgrades Included was this tidbit to aid the NIL effort:

New era begins Saturday.