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JaDubbs

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    Kato GDT

    in Men's Hockey

    Posted

    9 hours ago, ThompHockey said:

    ? Simmonson was absolutely terrible on defense.  He played 4 years at und and had 6 goals.... he will go down as one of the worst players to ever pass though the program

    Wilkie played half his freshman season and had 5 goals. He had size and actually played defense so i have no idea why your trying to make !@#$ up

    Simmonson was terrible on defense...really?  He was a 4th line centerman that also played on the penalty kill...I don't think you through player that plays "absolutely terrible" defense on the penalty kill.  Simmonson and Wilkie are two different players that were brought in to play different roles.  Wilkie played in 62 games for the Sioux and scored 6 goals.  Wilkie is a right winger and Simonnson played center.  Wilkie was brought in to be a goal scorer, Simmonson was not.  It sucked that Wilkie left because we could've used him the last two years but I do believe he left also to play with his brother at CC.  Which that didn't pan out because he's not there yet...maybe next year.  I think Judd will see the ice more more, I thought he has played well so far.  Also Simmonson played on the Championship team as the 4th line centerman, so I don't think he'll go down as one of the worst.

    • Upvote 3

    University of North Dakota Hockey 2019-20 Season

    in Men's Hockey

    Posted

    Kawaguchi - Blaisdell - Pinto

    Mismash - Rizzo - Caulfield

    Hain - Senden - Smith

    Adams - Hoff - Bowen

    Keane - Weatherby - Yon - Johnson

     

    Here's a crack on next year lineup, still only two true Right Wingers on this team Pinto and Caulfield.  I read a lot about dropping dead weight on this team, does this really happen in college hockey?

    University of North Dakota 2018-19 Season

    in Men's Hockey

    Posted

    14 hours ago, jk said:

    More than 15 years ago, I used to spend time here defending the program, as it had stumbled after Mr. Blais's two titles.  Then I defended Mr. Hakstol, who was a terrific GM and coach who just barely failed to win national titles.  I feel that Mr. Hakstol's main problem was that he built teams to win seven-game series, rather than a single-game elimination tournament.  With a different format, he probably wins titles in 2004, 2005 and 2011, perhaps also 2006 and 2007, and maybe a few others.  But it's tiring defending the program on the internet, so I haven't lately.  Now I feel the need again, and it's comical that some of the detractors are the same ones who were on Mr. Hakstol's case, and who probably were Mr. Berry's biggest fans almost three years ago.  Also, sadly, some current detractors are long-time reasonable fans that have surprised me.

    I feel that the state of the program is not materially different than it was under Mr. Hakstol.  UND had a run of NHL first-round talent at forward from 2002-2008, and again from 2014-2017.  In between, the teams usually looked a lot like this one, with more skill up front but less at defense, but with a similar tight-checking style of play.  But "two missed NCAAs!"  2018 was basically no different from a number of seasons under Mr. Hakstol.  Pairwise #14 usually gets in, and last year it didn't.  From a rational evaluation standpoint, that's the same kind of season UND had a few times during the NCAA streak.  This season, although they may still qualify, it seems more likely that they actually miss with a Pairwise finish between 15-20.  But a top 20 Pairwise is not a sign of a program in disarray. 

    How has the team played at the end of the year for Mr. Berry?  In 2016, but for 25 minutes against Denver, they put on a four-game clinic.  In 2017, they absolutely dominated BU and suffered a fate that is exhibit A for how dumb this sport can be.  They didn't allow a shot on goal for the entire first overtime period, they actually scored in overtime but had the goal dubiously reversed, and ultimately two future NHL stars combined to score a goal against them.  In 2018, they played a very good St. Cloud team into overtime before losing, then beat Duluth in a game that Duluth felt it needed to win to get into the NCAA tournament, which it won three weeks later.  UND was basically playing as well as the best teams in the country in March.  This season, it just finished four weeks against teams ranked something like #1,3,5 and 9 nationally.  They split with SCSU, dominating them 5-1 one night;  Lost a "hot goalie" game 2-1, with Denver's goalie stopping 45 of 46, before tying the next night;  Split with WMU, dominating them 5-1 one night.  Split with Duluth, dominating them 4-1 once.  That was in Denver without Poolman, and against Duluth without their goalie and essentially what would have been one of their two scoring lines in Jones, Mismash and JJ.

    With the "hot goalie" and injuries, you can say "excuses."  Whatever word you want to use, a level-headed analysis considers the actual facts of the situation, and those are occurrences that likely affected the outcomes.  To be fair, St. Cloud had ill players when they got waxed, and all teams deal with injuries.  Even setting aside these mitigating circumstances, the truth, both from the results and the play on the ice, is that UND is playing just as well as the top teams in the country.  Could a program in disarray do that?  

    The main things I read here are: 1) They are much less talented than nearly everyone.  2) They are poorly coached.  3) They don't show up.  Given that they are playing as well as the best teams in the country, those three things cannot all be true.  All of those deficiencies would doom a team, they would be like Canisius (!).  In fact, even just one of them probably makes a team uncompetitive against top opponents.  Which suggests that actually none of them are accurate.

    Of course Canisius will ultimately be the reason they fail to qualify for the tournament, if that happens.  It is unfortunately another one of those things that happen in hockey.  The much-derided shots on goal actually do usually reflect play, and if you drop two games when you outshoot the opponent 82-30, you just shake your head and try to make up for it the next week.

    I'm personally proud of how they have persevered, the coaches and players.  My timing for this post may be off, because I suspect next weekend maybe as tough or tougher than the last four.  CC has been consistently good, and at times excellent, since Christmas, and they are hungry and playing at altitude.  I still expect another strong effort from UND, both this weekend and for the rest of the year.  I also think the next three or four years look to continue the run of excellence that started in about 1996, with only a few dips along the way.  

    Well said

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