SJHovey

He didn’t attend Cornell. He was a broadcaster for their hockey games for a time. I think his degree is in radio broadcasting from Ithaca College, a private school located in the same city as Cornell.

He did. I think it was even on Wodon's show on CHN. Wodon just had no answers. After the interview, and after he had some time to think about it before he finished up the podcast, Wodon came up with some half-hearted arguments, but even then you could tell he knew he'd been pounded.

The Frozen Four is in Las Vegas this year. There can be only one goal for the team. Or, at least for me.

I think the other thing the liked about Gordon is that he will be a junior, and thus balances out the classes a bit. It's an unfortunate loss, but that will also depend upon who UND can find to fill that roster spot.

A lot of podcasts are interviewing these players, and frequently they are asked a variation of the question, "so, after the draft, obviously you want to move on to the NHL, but if that won't happen this year, do you think you go back to your junior team or do you go to the NCAA?" For the most part you hear them say, a) they think they are ready for the NHL, and the NHL is the goal, and b) they will talk to the team that drafts them and listen to what they have to say about what is best for their development. So, basically, NHL teams are going to decide whether these high end kids go to the NCAA, and if so, probably which school will be best for them. It is going to be absolutely key that UND develop relationships that are positive with the NHL gm's and their staffs. I should note, however, that I have also heard a few kids talk about their loyalty to their junior program, and their dream of winning a Memorial Cup. If it is left up to the kid, I don't think we can underestimate the possibility of that loyalty winning out over a chance to play against tougher competition in the NCAAs for some of these kids.

I think it will be interesting to see, in future years, how programs adapt to what we are seeing this year, and whether we see the same sort of timing of commitments coming out of the CHL. I tend to think that even as the natural flow of kids from the CHL to the NCAA becomes the "norm," we are still going to see a bunch of the high end kids wait until after the draft in late June to decide exactly what they are going to do. That means that programs like UND are going to be sitting here in late June with maybe a forward or defense spot on the roster unfilled, waiting to see what the recruits, their handlers and their drafting teams decide. The college programs won't know whether they are going the NCAA route, or not, or if so, which school, until fairly late in the game. We could then see a bunch of kids sort of sitting in purgatory each summer, not knowing whether their school is going to send them back to the USHL for another season, or ask them to come in as freshmen that fall.

I don’t know. I attended a Dave Gunther basketball camp at UND when I was in 7th grade, and I never got a sniff. Can’t believe that Dave would have already filled the 5’10” slow guy spot on the roster five years early.

Do we want him here four years? I’d like a goaltender pros are begging to sign.

If BU and Michigan keep stealing our players in the portal it will change.

I think people are being very smart if they are reluctant to just jump into NIL with both feet. There are way, way too many questions, and the inevitable changes, to just throw $100,000 at some kid. Say I give a prospect $100,000 to use his NIL, but conditioned upon him coming to play hockey at UND. If I pay Shaq to promote Coke, I'm pretty sure that contractually he's not going to be able to drink Pepsi. So this kid can't transfer, or quit, or sign a pro contract, or maybe take up baseball, while he is under NIL contract with me? As the holder of his NIL contract, can I assign it to someone else? Can a booster at MN offer me $150,000 for the kids NIL deal, and the kid then has to go play for MN? I could probably sit here all afternoon and type legitimate questions that anyone involved with NIL is worried about right now, and doesn't have an answer for.

If everyone ends up going to 26 on the roster, I think the 15-8-3 is going to be pretty standard. Don't know that teams will go with two goalies or 14 forwards.

Right? I've always maintained that you go to a sports book and make a parlay wager, then lose all the picks, you should at least get your money back. Strange, I always lose that argument as well.

And there is only one team that hung four or more goals in a game on Hampton Slukynsky this year, and they did it twice, on back to back games in Kalamazoo.

Just my take, but I think having “balanced” classes is less important because of the portal. I have no problem grabbing a kid or two out of the portal if they are a quality player, but I don’t need someone who is going to play third or fourth line minutes, just because they are a junior or senior. Having 8-10 freshmen isn’t the end of the world. If those 10 make it to their senior year, some will enter the portal when they see quality underclassmen coming behind.

Heard another thing on one of the CHN blogs. Carle talked about how the BC guys with the program were all teasing Zeev two years ago when he was going to Denver alone and they were going to win all these titles together at BC.