brianvf

Take it to the bank, I guess!

The NCHC will be very hard to predict this season. A lot of talent, but every team has a question mark or two (or more). I'm putting them into three tiers of three teams each. But I'll prob be way off anyway. Lower tier: Miami - D & goalie are still an unknown and there isn't a ton of offensive firepower outside of Waldron and maybe QU transfer Fillion. UNO - they lost a lot but picked up a couple quality UAF transfers in Risk & Israels. Latkoczy will need to be good to offset their lack of depth. ASU - nice offensive pieces in the Jackson's, Sillinger, and Lucius but I think the grind of NCHC play will be a wake-up call from their last few seasons of mostly home games. Middle tier: WMU - once again lost a ton on offense...can Wendt & Bump carry their offense alone? Great frosh goalie coming in, but I think a down year for the Broncos. UMD - older D corps, James will need to be good after his injury last season until the Plante bros & Shaugabay get up to NCHC speed...Gajan should be solid. SCSU - Ingram & Miettinen will look to carry their offense...solid but not flashy D...their biggest question mark is in goal IMO. Upper tier: CC - young D corps, Mbereko is a stud, Laba returning was huge...skilled & hard-skating team. UND - another young D corps but good mix of skill & def ability, lost Blake but best offensive depth in the league IMO, will TJ and Hobie rotate or will one emerge early? DU - Buium & Pohlkamp two of the best in league, Devine returning was big because they lost a lot of offense, goalie Davis will need to be consistent during reg season.

Hockey East media poll:

Hell yeah. Let's do this.

I have a feeling it'll be a tough ticket to get with all the UND alumni down here, plus the fans wanting to travel south for some hockey during the midwest winter. That arena won't be able to fit all the UND fans, that's for sure.

Awesome man, we appreciate it! I'll let you know when we finalize plans... We'll be trying to get tickets for the ASU series as well. I'm waiting for their single game ticket sales to open up. Thanks again!

Some more info on the One More Shift duo: https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/dennis-hextall-dixon-ward-to-skate-one-more-shift-at-und This is super cool...at 81 years old! Nice.

Agreed! He was one of my favorite players growing up. My son and I are planning our annual trip to ND again…I know it’s early but please let me know if you might have a pair of extra tickets laying around…it’d be fun to join your group again! Thinking either WMU in mid Jan or CC in early Feb. Thank you!

Some upcoming season highlights. Two guests for One More Shift are Dixon Ward on 10/25 and Dennis Hextall on 2/8.

Still a lot left. Seems like most must be making multiple campus visits before making their decisions.

https://www.therinklive.com/mens-college/big-ten/gophers-likely-moving-on-without-rhett-pitlick Haven't classes already started at UMN...or should be pretty soon. Getting really late to be announcing that you are leaving.

They’re like the Mike Eaves days at UW. Recruit them all! Then turn them loose when you don’t have room for them all.

That'd be my guess as well. It'd be great to snag at least one of them...would two be possible?

Now just waiting on Pitlick to complete the B10 late season signing duo.

Nice snag, assumed he was going UMD. That was in the Manitoba exhibition in his freshman season. Would love to see that clip again.

Tons of offensive potential on that 2nd line, but they might get tossed around a bit since they're all small/slight. So I just put Berg with two of them and had OMac with Boisvert. The rest of my lineup ended up the exact same as yours. Perron - Berg - Swanson OMac - Boisvert - Kunz

Good captain group! Let's get this season rolling!

Ha! Certainly wouldn't be surprising. Deserving captain. Captain Jammer leading us to the promised land...here we go.

Snuggerud returning for them is big, but he had a bit of a letdown season last year after he lost Cooley driving the offense for him. Moore will be better and portal pickup Wood will do well, but I agree that they lost a lot that might bring them down a notch.

Hale would be a very solid pickup and you have to imagine we're definitely in the running with his alumni parents. Been a quiet second week of recruiting cycle. Have to imagine that a lot of the remaining top prospects are getting in their official visits right now. Hopefully we hear some more good news shortly on some of them...

Laba is so good. One of those opposing players that are fun to watch (when he's not scoring against UND, of course). Geez, how many overtime winners did he have last season? Ridiculous.

That'd be a tough late season blow if it happens. Gophers will be strong offensively with or without him, but that would definitely push them down a small notch. Similar to the season when Jasper Weatherby went pro at the end of summer...he would have been such a beast if he returned for that senior season...you could really see him turn a corner the second half of his junior year here.

Most of the US roster is already committed to NCAA schools and are from the previous recruiting cycle (including Cooper Simpson, one of our commits). But there are a few uncommitted players, including Mason Moe from the Schloss list...most UMN fans seem to think he's heading there though. Here's the US roster: https://www.therinklive.com/junior-and-prospects/usa-hockey-reveals-23-man-roster-for-2024-hlinka-gretzky-cup

That's good! Maybe he can flip Carter Murphy from UMD. UND legacy, plus he's having a great few games. One assist in the first game (only 1 USA goal) and then four more assists in their 12-3 win over Germany.