brianvf

Includes a couple notes on UND recruits:

Yeah, it seems most of the UMN fans thought they'd get both Lutner and Berchild from their backyards, and both ended up picking DU.

Good call. Absolutely massive get for them. He's gonna be a good college player. Another very talented MN kid electing to go somewhere other than UMN for school. Pretty crazy how quiet their recruiting cycle has been thus far.

Schloss had his NCHC Preview on his podcast. Lengthy overview of the league. Brief synopsis: ASU - great forward group, not sure who will take the reigns for goalie, experienced group, not much offense from the blueline CC - excellent goalie, great top 6 forwards, unproven d-corps after their top 4 left or graduated from last year DU - lot of losses up front, can Davis repeat his performance, not many question marks, Buium Hobey candidate + Pohlkamp addition huge Miami - had a lot of injuries last year, good depth at center, they'll be better but maybe not enough to move up UMD - not a ton of depth, great recruiting class, will be young but talented, season result will depend on how quickly the frosh develop UND - will go more in depth during next week's podcast, but did touch on the team's excellent center depth UNO - ton of turnover, unknown center depth/leadership/scoring, good portal pickups SCSU - good returning group, big losses at D, improvement at F, goalie question mark, Schloss' surprise pick at 3rd behind DU/UND WMU - ton of turnover - especially at F, offense question mark, reliant on freshmen, similar to UMD...will need frosh to develop quickly, goalie battle

The crazy thing was how crappy Davis was for a good chunk of the early season. He was definitely the weak link on that team for most of the season. But, he certainly pulled it out when it mattered most for his team.

Yeah I doubt that he’ll light up NCAA. He’s just looking to keep playing puck at a higher level.

Here are the "events" in the annual UND Ironman competition:

Lucius will miss some time at the beginning of the season from the sounds of it: https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/nchc-media-day-notes-tommies-confident-in-their-position-moving-forward

Strinden won the Ironman competition for the 2nd year in a row: https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/ben-strinden-wins-second-straight-und-hockey-iron-man-competition

And here we go: https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/41243185/whl-braxton-whitehead-commits-arizona-state-challenging-ncaa-rules

I was looking forward to going to the series with it being a short drive away for me...but not at those prices. Guess I'll be watching on NCHC.tv for this one, unfortunately. I'm pretty sure I spent less than that last year on my trip back to ND for a series...and that included airfare for both my son and I.

Media poll is pretty darn close to what I had thought from my earlier post. Except for UNO. Media has them higher than where I think they end up.

That's a tough one...would you rather he go B10 or NCHC, but to a school other than UND?

Berg and Livanavage on pre-season all-NCHC team: Sounds like the pre-season media poll will be announced tomorrow.

Thanks for the update. I'm hoping we can land at least one. Crossing those fingers...

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.