stoneySIOUX

But for 18, we have 26 who greatly improved. He pointed out a direct correlation to what he learned in practice, to his improved play (skating lower in his stride). I'm curious to watch Matteo down the road. Maybe he just peaked? He wasn't expected to be a big contributor his freshman year and had a great year. Maybe that was his ceiling?

How DARE you like him. No acceptable around here

I agree with that. He should be, and frankly needs to be, a fixture in 23-24.

He was an unexpected surprise after his freshman year, so maybe he just peaked? Got plenty of early opportunities, but lost those down the stretch. Frustrating, but it is what it is. Losing both of these two isn't a good thing, but it does not mean we cannot have a much better season next year. Opens the door for a guy like Emerson to be an early cog in the lineup. Strinden, too.

The automatic 5th year will be gone soon, so you'll see less older players jump, IMO.

You could see the athleticism in him. Just couldn't find the consistency.

Our 8th defensemen and our backup goal leaving led you to this epiphany? Getting rid of Helly has no bearing on how our goalie situation is next year unless we don't find a portal goal better than he is. I'm very confident we'll find a portal goalie better than he is. Same concept, losing Johnson doesn't mean our defense will be worse, better, or the same unless we get a recruit or portal guy that is the same player. Long story short, losing these two isn't a big deal for next year's team and won't determine how good we are.

My logic would be that since we are away, we'd shoot at the visitor side twice. So, whichever side the Wild normally shoot at twice, pick the other side lol. Just a guess, but I think it's a solid one.

*Deep breath* Been thinking about this all week, so let's get it moving in here. After a weird and incredibly disappointing season, UND is one win away from a one-game shot at the national tourney, while playing their best hockey of the season. Greatly looking forward to the environment tonight. Outside of a Frozen Four, this game tonight, and hopefully tomorrow, will be as good of atmosphere as it gets in college hockey. Can't wait to feel that buzz. Here's to hoping the boys ride this wave into the final. 4-2 UND Gaber, Blake, Jandric, Senden

He will command a lot as a free agent. I think people greatly underrate how good Frisch is. He's not gonna jump right into the NHL, but he's gonna have a lot of offers after this season. He's a very good skater, fantastic defensively, great vision and hockey sense, almost always in the right spot and has some good offensive skill. I think and REALLY hope he stays. If he does, he wears the C and is the team's most important overall player, IMO.

Yeah, I wasn't implying that we need to stop recruiting and developing the position. Definitely agree with you there. I'm speaking about next season. To start, it'll be tough. But, we've got a couple really nice pieces coming in and if they grow up quick, it could become a strength. Anyway, I think we're on the wrong thread for this

I mean, we're talking about situations like next year where we need a goaltender as one of those rare situations, correct?

Or, the other possibility is that we don't know the real story and it was an inside joke between the two. I can absolutely see both being possible. Bubbs and the squad have certainly earned some criticism this season, and rightfully so. With that said, he's a human, and I'm sure gets exhausting to hear it nonstop. Maybe some of that bubbled over? Overall, maybe developing a chip on his shoulder wouldn't be a bad thing for a stretch run?

Bubbs made a comment that "Jake will need to keep talking about us" after they won on Saturday. Came off rather .... terse? ... No one knows the real story, however.

Nope. Nothing happened. We all went on our merry way.

I'll never forget that. Went to a buddy's place downtown to watch Sconnie get us into the tourney instead of going to the championship game lol. And then we smoked them in the first round hahaha.

Yep, I'm nervous about an early jittery/slow start, too. Just bring the energy throughout and let the chips fall. This team seems to have found the ability to fire out the gates here recently, in most cases. It has to happen again because Clown will be fired up to shut the crowd down early.

Yep. Just let it all go, baby. Can't friggin' wait.

I'm really excited about it. I think the atmosphere will be almost as good as it gets. The fans have always WANTED us to win and the team sure did, too. But, everyone in that arena will be aware what a loss does. Gonna be incredible, IMO.

Glad you're rolling with the assigned bit good on you, brother. We need consistency here! #

I desperately want this convo to end, but yes, this made me LOL

Schlossman is an absolute stat nerd. It's a pretty impressive stat. Does that mean that the season wasn't a dumpster fire? No. Yeah, obviously We've all got it pinned down. Cripes.

Good god, what an absolute dumpster fire this thread has become. The stat was put out there because it is impressive. Arguing against that is dumb. No one thinks .500 should be the standard. No one thinks Berry should stay JUST because he's been over .500. Can we all stop with the pissing matches? Let's pay attention to a really fun run our team has started over the past month or so and a really big weekend in St. Paul, shall we?

C'mon, man. I think @Goon did that because he believes this program isn't in a bad place as some others do. Why the shot? None of us actually know what was going on between Jake and Berry.

Definitely some nuance, but consistency is a big deal in college sports. At its core, if a program is consistently over .500, they are AT LEAST in the mix. UND has been in the mix for 21 years. Totally understand there's more to that, but it's not a bad thing to be above .500 for this long. It really is quite impressive.