SiouxScore

Yeah I thought they would've won more last year and probably should've found a way to beat Maryland and Purdue even with the injuries. Think there will be a lot of new faces seeing a lot of time but that doesn't mean they can't win and in most cases it is a good thing. Agree on the QB play being better even though neither guy has made a start. At minimum I think they will be bowl eligible this season.

Kid tweeted out an apology and said things were exaggerated and he has nothing but respect for Minnesota. Fleck says he isn't for everybody and that is alright but he is real. He has already produced some of the highest ranked recruiting classes Minnesota has seen. I would've liked to see him close on a few more of the top guys like Quinn Carroll and Bryce Benhart but as the wins come it will be easier to land those guys.

Fergus Falls I think.

Maple Grove JR goaltender Ethan Haider committed to Clarkson today. I know there was plenty of interest from UND but not sure if there was an offer yet. I really would've liked to land him been a big fan of him since I saw him as a freshman and he reminded me a lot of Jake Oettinger when he was at Lakeville North.

Mismash-Jones-Kawaguchi Hain-Gardner-Weatherby Janatuinen-Hoff-Adams Smith-Bowen-Yon Poolman-Bast Tychonick-JBD Kiersted-Shaw Thome Scheel Anderson Extras-Peski, Senden, Johnson, Rieger, Keane

Would be surprised if Minnesota opened up a scholarship just for the chance of landing Geno. Have to think there was some sort of understanding after meeting that if a scholarship was open Geno would be a Gopher.

Hill-Murray 04 Nick Pierre committed to Wisconsin last night. After getting called up as a 8th grader to the varsity late last season he scored 8 goals and had 3 assists in his first 8 games. He added 2 goals and 2 assists in 5 playoff games.

Minnesota doesn't have any scholarships available and there really isn't any Gopher that I can look at currently on scholarship and say they would be likely to transfer. Looking at his Twitter he is most recent follows are members of the Xavier coaching staff.

Looks like no Huber due to family reasons. Senden can fill a similar role and might even provide a little more PK wise. http://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/hockey/4455698-und-hockey-make-late-roster-change-next-season

Woah big time! I know he has resisted the WHL so far and hopefully that will continue.

Really, didn't realize that just because he has played 2 full years of USHL and played a couple of before/after seasons in high school.

Still had North Dakota listed on the Fargo Force line chart last night although sometimes they can just be slow to update it. I wouldn't be a big fan of this move. I'd much rather bring Senden in over Keane. Great leader, very good defensively, and could slid into a role on the PK right away.

Geno probably wouldn't start but would get plenty of minutes.

Very strong and with the injury issues that Bast has had the past few years having 7 very strong defensemen gives you that feeling of security.

The gentleman's agreement is the stupidest thing ever. Makes no sens for a program like UND, Minnesota, Denver, Michigan, BC, BU to follow it. I'd be very much in favor of the UND staff continue to recruit whoever they think will help UND until that player has signed his NLI.

I don't think a whole lot get turned down probably at most 3 or so a year. I know one guy has already turned them down though. https://www.sctimes.com/story/sports/high-school/2018/04/04/prep-hockey-smith-turns-down-u-s-national-under-17-team-return-cathedral/484166002/

I like the Elite League I feel like it has helped MN high school hockey keep some high end talent that previously would have went to juniors. Also it is flexible enough to allow guys to continue to be multi-sport athletes if they choose. I know a number of guys have played a football game Friday night and played in the elite league Saturday and Sunday even kids that have to travel 3-4 hours each week do it. I also really like the before and after option for Juniors. Still get the increased number of games but still get to represent your community and play high school hockey with your buddies I believe Ryder Donovan will do this next season. If they are good enough does it really benefit them to leave HS early? Each case is different. Depends on the kids maturity level and other things like that. Biggest thing to me is the kid being pushed to be a better player or can they coast at the same level they've been playing at and still continue to dominate. I think a guy like Kunz would benefit from going to JRs because Red River isn't pushed a whole lot. It would really benefit them to try to schedule some metro MN teams and test themselves more outside of ND. A guy like Donovan probably wouldn't benefit as much just because he is pushed more with the competition that Duluth East faces for the most part.

Minnesota kids decline a lot more than anybody else and some have even started to just straight up decline the camp invitation. Especially if it is a metro kid there is no reason for them to have to go to the development program. They get to play strong competition with guys they have grown up with in full arenas and a chance to play in the state tournament that a lot of Minnesota kids dream about from the time they are young. It isn't a crazy reason at all to decline the development program.

Soph Teddy Laggerback. UND was looking at him but I don't think he had a offer. I watched him 5-6 times this year. Good shot, strong along the boards but definitely wasn't a great skater, might've been the biggest thing that held him back from more offers.

Now that it seems like we have a pretty good idea of who will be back I'll throw out my early lineup guess. One thing you notice doing this is we really lack right handed shots up front. Mismash-Jones-Kawaguchi Hain-Gardner-Weatherby Janatuinen-Hoff-Adams Smith-Bowen-Senden/Yon Senden/Yon,Huber,Keane Poolman-Bast Tychonick-Shaw Kiersted-Peski Johnson,Rieger Thome Scheel Anderson

Jayson Hajdu‏ @JaysonHajdu 54s55 seconds ago More It's that time of year where a handful of @UNDmhockey players have to make difficult decisions with regard to their careers. I'm happy to pass along that F Nick Jones and D Colton Poolman have already confirmed that they will be back at UND next year. #UNDproud

Rieger was his recruit too...although in my mind as soon as Berry took the job the entire team and pipeline became his recruits especially because he was in on recruiting most of them. If there was anyone he thought wasn't a good fit or couldn't play at UND he would have cut them lose like Mattson this year.

Put Tychonick in there for Rieger and it looks a lot better. If they keep Johnson at forward and bring in JBD he could push someone else to the seats at times as well like Peski.

Guys that could come in Forwards: Hain, Senden, Weatherby, Keane, Huber Defensemen: Tychonick, Bernard-Docker Goalies: Scheel Only guy I could see not coming in is Bernard-Docker depending on departures unless the staff tells somebody like Keane that he might want to look elsewhere. I guess if you didn't lose any forwards as early departures maybe Hain could be delayed because he is younger but I think he will make the biggest impact next year of the incoming forwards.

Part of not winning any of those overtime games and blowing multiple 2 goal leads late in the season is on the coaching staff though. Some people wanted to crown Berry and give him all the credit for the National Championship and not give any to Hak. So if people wanna give him all the credit why doesn't he deserve blame this year? You stack back to back years together like this and it is big trouble. Now hopefully Berry can adapt and make the necessary changes and improvements to the program to get it back where it belongs next year but lets not act like there weren't some issues this year that were troubling and can't continue to happen.