SJHovey

Wasn't the point of my post. My point is, no one is forced to follow or be a fan of the UND hockey program. It's a voluntary activity. As it is, we have it pretty good. I personally can't think of another program that I'd rather be a fan of than this one. I don't go to bed at night wishing, gee I wish our program was as successful as "X program." There is no other program whose success or history I would rather have. So if that's the case, what in the heck are we complaining about? Here is another thing to consider for those who are so frustrated with no national championship in recent years. My dad first took me to UND hockey games sometime back in the 60's, back when they played in the old barn and there was no amount of hot chocolate that would keep you warm. I know what it was like when there was a generation that couldn't recall ever seeing UND win a national title until Gino helped us do it in 1980. There is nothing sweeter. The 1980 title, followed up by the 1982 title. Nothing better. The wait made it all that more enjoyable. It was great winning in 2000. Thoroughly enjoyed it. But I will tell you from personal experience it didn't feel the same. Not having just won in 1997 and with the great 1998 and 1999 teams. There is a line from a Bruce Springsteen song that I've always liked, and that I've always viewed as a bit of a cautionary warning against envy controlling your life. The line is, "Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king, the king ain't satisfied 'til he rules everything." I sometimes feel sports fans, us included, fall into that trap.

Gino got fired. And he won over 40% of our "nattys." This whole discussion, each time it occurs, is silly. But of course it draws me and everyone else in. I just keep reminding myself that probably 90%+ of all college hockey fans, or even sports fans in general, would do anything to have their team have the success our program has. The school has to be doing something right.

I think sports fans are hilarious. We have a great college hockey program. Fans continue to support the team as well as any other time in the past, and greater than pretty much every other college hockey program in the country. UND contends for a title every year. And 50% of all threads around here turn into "Fire Hak!" "We haven't won a 'natty'". And you just know that if UND were to win this year, and three years from now we are in the midst of a two year drought from making the NCAA's the same "Fire Hak" refrain would start up again. "It's unacceptable we aren't in the tournament." As others have pointed out MN has won two championships since our last one in 2000. (This, by the way, is my personal opinion as to why this is such a major issue around here. I've often wondered what these discussions would be like if MN hadn't won any since back in 1979, and it was BU or some other team that we didn't care about that won in 2002 and 2003, but that's a discussion for another day.) So with two championships in the last dozen years, statues should be erected to the head coach, right? Yet a few years ago the drumbeat of MN fans was to send Lucia packing because MN wasn't making the tournament anymore. Same now with Eaves at Wisconsin. He's won the all important, takes precendence over all other things on earth national championship. He's getting fried by Wisconsin supporters. Here is my advice. Free and easy to implement. If you don't like the way a program is running things, and the program won't change because a large majority thinks things are being run just fine, find another program to support.

I don't think we have to worry about it. Jordan Schmaltz gave a verbal to Wisconsin. Jason Gregoire gave a verbal to Denver. Both decommitted and came here and played under Hakstol.

Hammy at MN and Andy Johnson from Wisconsin are reporting that Brent Gates, Jr., just decommitted from Notre Dame.

You are going to see more and more of these decommits, in my opinion. It seems like every year now we see at least one, if not more, top prospects decommit. It's like a divorce. Once there is no longer a stigma attached to something, it just becomes more common. Kids change their mind. As they work their way through the junior ranks, new teammates talk to them about switching schools. The Canadian junior leagues are always there. I would hate to be a college hockey recruiter, especially going forward. It's going to be the wild, wild west.

Would we want to? I think it's great ASU is adding hockey, and I hope others follow. However, I'm not sold on the idea of adding ASU into the NCHC, especially if it means adding additional teams (we all know how they love an even number). ASU will go to the NCHC, WCHA or even the BTHC only until other schools out west add hockey. Then you are right back into the situation we faced a couple of years ago when MN and Wisconsin bailed. If you can tell me only ASU and U of A will add hockey, and they will be members of the NCHC for the next 50+ years, great, bring them in.

I think if you read any of their blogs or fan sites, or articles about the games, the general consensus is that they aren't getting any production out of their older forwards. If you have half a dozen juniors and seniors on your forward lines, and if they produce a half dozen goals total, it's pretty hard to have a ton of success. There seems to be some feeling that BC "missed" with a couple of their classes, which of course is bound to happen. UND has gone through it. MN has gone through it. Michigan and Wisconsin have gone (are going?) through it.

Pretty sure he's not getting them from here. http://www.mcubed.net/ncaaf/tvc/sec/big10.shtml But since it was me who made the comparison between the NCHC conference this year and the SEC West, I apololgize for getting the thread off track.

This reminds me of that old game, "which of these isn't like the others."

UMD will get plenty of love this year from the pollsters. They're a good team. The problem is there are about 6 really good teams in the NCHC this year. It's going to be a little like the SEC West in football. Every week you are playing a team that is probably good enough to make a serious run in the NCAA's. Teams are going to take their lumps, so I don't see an NCHC team going on a long run that propels it to the top of the polls. But that said, a solid non-conference performance thus far should keep 5-6 of the teams in the running for NCAA spots as we head through the second half. Probably more likely that UNO falls back a bit, and I've yet to see DU play. But should be a wild ride.

The kid is from the Twin Cities. He is playing in the USHL with a bunch of kids who have verbally committed to MN. He originally gave his verbal to Wisconsin, but as with a lot of kids, they sometimes change their minds. My guess is that as the signing date got closer he started to think about whether he wanted to go home to the Twin Cities to play college hockey, started thinking about whether he wanted to play with his teammates who have said they're going to Minnesota, and just decided to hold off on signing the LOI. He probably just wasn't ready to take that next step. No big deal. I certainly wouldn't ascribe a bunch of nefarious behind the scenes dealings to either Lucia or York in this case. He just wasn't ready to put pen to paper. That said, I suspect MN has the inside track, perhaps followed by Wisconsin or BC.

I agree with you. Should be a desperate Wisconsin team this weekend. Hopefully we can get on them early before they can shake off 3 weeks of rust.

Told you guys so.

Well, Denver was 4-0 against us that season, with exactly zero games played in Denver, so there's that. They also had the best player in the nation that year, were the defending champs, had probably the best goaltender, and were laden with upperclassmen. Greene, Zajac and Stafford have had nice NHL careers, and Porter is getting his shot. But Stastny, Carle and Skinner haven't fared too poorly either.

I don't make the claim that UND or Hak has had bad luck in the Frozen Fours, certainly not any more or less than anyone else. My take on those Frozen Fours is this. In 2005 (Denver) and 2014 (Minnesota) I thought Hak did a masterful job of preparing his team to play a superior opponent. In both instances I thought UND outplayed the opponent, but they didn't win. That happens. In 2011 I thought we were the best team, and were clearly better than Michigan. But again, I have no complaint about how the team performed or how the staff prepared them. I thought in 2007 and in 2008 we were probably pretty evenly matched against our opponents, but I don't think the UND staff did as good a job getting the team ready to play. We had a great team in 2006, but they simply made too many mistakes in that game. No question it's been disappointing UND hasn't won a title since 2000. There are a lot of people, myself included, who think UND's best team during that timeframe was the 2003-04 team coached by Blais that also failed to win a title. But the reasons I cut Hak some slack are these. First, his teams have always been "in the hunt." That is, there has not been a time where we didn't make the tournament, and furthermore weren't considered one of the few dangerous teams left in that tournament, while he has been coach. Second, I think he is as good as anyone in developing a team over the course of a season. To take a group of individuals and make them perform at a higher level as a team, not just a collection of individuals. Third, I think he gets a lot out of each player. UND has always had very talented players come through the program, but let's be candid. The talent level that we see now as compared with the years of Parise, Toews, Oshie, etc..., is not the same. But he is able to take late additions like Gaarder, Pattyn, etc..., and turn them into useful team players. Fourth, Hak has had some obstacles that have come up during his tenure that were more substantial than what either Blais or Gasparini dealt with, most not of his doing. Some late season defections of very talented commits, the top rated freshman bolting last year mid-season, some key injuries to guys like Toews, Genoway, Grimaldi, Kristo, O'Donnell, Gregoire. Every coach has to deal with those things. But they certainly make it less likely all the pieces come together for a title.

A bit of a "trap" game for UND this weekend. Unheralded opponent. UND coming off of an important non-conference series with a top 5 ranked opponent. Big series against an old rival the following weekend. No time for slip ups. UND's non-conference opponents are a combined 4-27-1 right now (3-25 without the UND games). We've had the one loss we can afford against them (if we could even afford that one.)

What is true is this. Jerry York, Ron Mason, George Gwozdecky, Don Lucia, Red Berenson, Jeff Sauer, and "Badger" Bob Johnson were all D-1 college hockey coaches for 10 or more years before they won a title, and most of those guys have had a pretty good run. True, there have been guys like Dean Blais or Jeff Johnson who came in and won one or two right away. But there have been guys like that who won right away, then spent the rest of their career trying to recapture it. I don't care what kind of advantages or disadvantages a program gives to a coach. It can take very good coaches time to figure out how to win, so to speak. What works, what doesn't work. To adapt to changes in recruiting. If or when the program falls on hard times like it did a bit in the later part of Gino's tenure, I'll have no problem if the school wants to look in another direction. But right now the program is in the running for a title each year, so I'll take my chances.

My guess is they probably had some light interest. MN has a tendency to recruit fewer of the grinder type of players this kid sounds like. Really just comes down to a style of coaching. Sounds like he should be a good fit for us.

Tomorrow is hump day. The 89th day of 177 days without UND hockey this summer. Thank God!

Interesting article on NCAA hockey as it pertains to the NHL draft, relying almost exclusively on Hak for quotes. http://www.washingto...-and-heres-why/

If Rowe doesn't get a shot, he has no one to blame but himself. UND will have, I think, 6 senior forwards on the roster next season. That, together with a possible "one and done" situation with N. Schmaltz, means there are going to be a ton of forward positions open next fall. You figure Yon, Gardner, Gersich and Wilkie come in, and maybe Cakebread. Clearly a team with an open spot or two. As a 21 year old with a ton of time in the juniors, Rowe should have no excuses. I also kind of like how old some of these "kids" are as they hit campus. Poolman, Olson and Simonson are all 21 already, and haven't played a game. Rowe would be 21 before he gets here. Cam Johnson turns 21 next summer. There have been some eastern teams in recent years who have had a lot of success using less heralded recruits who are 25 by the time they are seniors. Plus, it has two side benefits. It aggravates rodent fans to the east, and reduces the risk of those pesky underage drinking issues.

I expect Rocco to be gone. As noted by others, he's already been here 3 years. I seem to recall an interview on draft day where he expressed hope that he could move on to pro hockey within a year, or as quickly as possible. With the possibility of free agency looming for him, as I understand it, I'm sure Florida will look to get him signed. Finally, I'm one of those who think Rocco is actually ready to move on. I think he's the type of player who will thrive in a game that is even faster than the college game, and by playing with players who have a higher skill level than those he's presently with. It'll be a big loss, but the program will survive. Always does.

I agree. Even though his choice may have been dictated in part by a family connection, it would be nice to get a toehold into the Grand Rapids recruiting market. Pretty solid hockey program, and candidly one in which we haven't nabbed a notable player since Jon Casey. I hope the kid progresses as he ages and becomes a force for Grand Rapids, and later for us.

They are in a 3-way tie for 5th.