SJHovey

I think Red's return signals something else. More particularly, I think it could very well mean we're going to see Connor, Motte and Compher back.

Anyone who thinks the B1G is going to call UND is kidding themselves. It's ASU, people. This isn't rocket science. There is a huge, nationally known university with a hockey program that needs a conference home. If I had to guess, the ASU decision actually preceded the Notre Dame discussions. That is, the B1G reached a decision to offer ASU a spot, with ASU basically verbally agreeing, subject to final agreements in place, and then discussions opened with Notre Dame, who was only too happy to get out of HE.

I believe, in the not too distant future, we are going to see BSU and Mankato in the NCHC and WMU and Miami in a conference with some of their old CCHA foes. It's going to happen, and I don't think it will necessarily be bad for anyone. I don't think this move will be driven by the NCHC. I just think WMU and Miami are going to look to "move" back to the Michigan and Ohio schools, leaving us with 6 teams. BSU and Mankato are logical geographical fits, and probably don't want to be stuck as the two western outliers (besides Alaska) in a conference made up of Michigan and Ohio teams.

I want to see if this UND team has developed the grit necessary to win NCAA tournament games. It's been a pretty smooth season thus far. Relatively easy non-conference schedule where they did what they had to do. Cruised at or near the top of the conference standings all year, and secured an NCAA berth, and #1 seed, early. We've yet to see this team participate in a game they had to win. NU, on the other hand, has basically played "win or go home" games since the first of December. That kind of pressure, and success, even if done against average competition, can build a pretty strong team. I am hopeful the experience of our juniors and seniors will summon the ability to play with urgency that is necessary in the NCAAs.

I agree completely with this. ASU adds nothing, and is a temporary renter in the B1G. It remains to be seen what happens with Notre Dame. Maybe they just continue as an affiliate member, maybe they join the B1G in all sports. I don't think it can be predicted. Hard to believe the school follows the hockey program's lead with respect to conference moves. But in the long term the B1G is going to be fine, and even thrive as a hockey conference. OSU and PSU have seen really nice jumps in attendance since the switch. Wisconsin won't suck forever.

No way. I'd much rather see DU again. Michigan is precisely the type of team that has given us fits this year. Talented forward line. At least we know DU.

I'm hopeful Nick sticks around. Jordan stayed three years, so there is that precedent. Reading between the lines regarding Senior night, one got the feeling that Jordan really missed his time and teammates at UND. Hopefully that's the case and his brother has gotten the message. Nick has to like the prospects of playing with Boeser one more year, assuming Brock stays.

That would be the Daily Double for Lucia. He accomplished that feat in the 1993-94 season, IIRC, while the head coach at CC. Pretty tough to do once, let alone twice, if you're not coaching in the CHA or AHA. But keep in mind he was looking at the same scenario last year before MN won the B1G tourney. Winning two games in St. Paul against a very average OSU squad and then either PSU or Michigan isn't exactly climbing Everest.

Since technically the B1G tournament is the post-season, and all 6 teams get to participate, I'm going with the Gophers.

People are getting way, way ahead of themselves here with this banner talk. As a reminder, in 2002-03 we were sitting at something like 18-1-1 at this point in the season and ended up getting bounced in the first round of the NCAA's, unceremoniously. Like this year, our first half of 2002-03 was filled with a cupcake schedule of the likes of Canisius (3 games), Brown, Princeton, Yale, BSU, and Niagara. I'm as happy as anyone about our start. We have a terrific defensive group. Our goaltending has been better than expected, and we have a very good top line. But we also have some questions this team has yet to answer. Can anyone other than the top line score? At what point, if any, does Cam Johnson tire having played virtually no hockey in the year before? How far can a team go with very average special teams play? We have played exactly two games against a decent team this year. We ground out one win and got slaughtered in the other game. We're going to get just four more tough games before tournament time. Let's see how we do against UNO. If we can play them like we did UMD, then maybe we have something cooking.

Then your "point" was poorly communicated in your post. Your post said that "at this time in 1999, I didn't think we had a snowball's chance of winning it all." It said nothing about wins between selected dates in November and February. My "point" was that at this point in 1999 we were ranked #2 in the country and were 14-3-1, with the unstated point that such pessimism was probably unwarranted.

We were 14-3-1 and ranked #2 in the country at this point in 1999.

Nah. No money to be made betting on North Dakota. Much better payoff if you knock off North Dakota, then toss the championship game against Providence.

So now there is this stuff floating around USCHO and the twitterverse about a possible gambling scandal at BU, maybe even involving last year's Frozen Four. https://twitter.com/jeffcoxsports I guess my only question is, does that mean Hak gets to count the semi-final as a win, and does that change the mind of any of the haters around here?

Has anyone else considered the possibility that we might have three different goaltenders play 10 games this year? I mean, it's not outside the realm of possibility. Hrynkiw has already played 10. Johnson has played 3, and Tomek is supposed to be the guy when he's healthy. We're getting into the part of the schedule where we're playing some better teams. If Hrynkiw struggles, I suspect Johnson will see the ice again at least until Tomek has had a chance to get a feel for the college game. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see Tomek until the UAH game and the Under-18 exhibition, just to let him get up to game speed against lesser competition or in an exhibition game. I'm not sure I've ever heard of a college team who had three goaltenders who each played 10 games in a year, although it's probably happened.

Me

Trap game.

This seems a little overly dramatic. There is a reason that only about a fourth of the eligible voters actually voted the first time around, and probably fewer the next. There's a reason you can go online and for a few bucks buy a vote. There's a reason why no matter what name is selected, it will be fine with me. It doesn't really matter. It's a nickname. UND is going to do quite nicely no matter what name is selected. I think I can say with 100% certainty this will be the most insignificant vote(s) any of you will ever cast, outside of your vote for 7th grade class president.

Honestly, I think this sets up as a trap game for us this weekend, especially Friday. Wisconsin has nothing to lose. First time in a long time they'll play in front of anything resembling a decent crowd. I'm a little worried that our extraordinarily weak schedule to date has created a bit of a paper tiger. Our defensemen are going to have to be especially good, not only in their own zone, but offensively as well, methinks.

Hoff's dad played in the '88, '92 and '94 Olympics as well, according to Wiki.

So with Hoff, that makes 9 committed forwards looking to come in either next fall or the fall of 2017. By my calculation, we have four senior forwards and one junior forward. Either we're going to see some departures, or there are some kids not developing as hoped.

Someone else may have already posted this elsewhere, but I think this is kind of funny. UND has 6 wins and 2 ties thus far. In all 6 wins the final score has either been 5-2 or 2-0.

I fear this may say more about the quality of our competition than the quality of our goaltending. Obviously I have no complaints about the job Matt has done stepping in, but the teams we have played thus far are truly awful.

Exactly. Take our friend, Mr. Tambellini. He left here and then went and scored like a thousand goals in the Western league. Those kinds of numbers aren't going to be possible for someone in NCAA hockey. Will it benefit Adam, or Bracco? Possibly. As you get older you will get stronger. Your scoring gets you recognized and on you go to the AHL. Eventually you may make it to the NHL. But if you aren't one of the very talented players capable of playing for any length of time at the NHL level, it sure is nice to have a big chunk of that college degree out of the way.

This might all just be part of a long con by the administration. We just keep voting on this in an ever changing and more confusing manner, 8-10 years from now no will figure out we never did actually choose a new nickname.