siouxfan512

I'll take the easy way out on this one .... That is Bryn's job, not mine. If everything comes down to cash ... then college hockey is over. I'd like to think UND and our hockey program has some other selling points.

Glad to see this ... now could we please land Mckenna ... I don't want to hear any more about Michigan. If NIL has to be a thing ... "Pay that man his money!" Seems like the kind of game changing player that (with all these other additions) could truly make us a top contender next year.

name?

He had his chances. Neither of our goalies exactly jumped out or stole any games. I'm hardly going to feel bad for Hobie ... sucks for him, but if you want the job ... earn it.

True, don't know what is going on during practice, but he certainly had plenty of opportunities during games to own the job. Showed flashes, but certainly never dominated or did anything to push TJ out. Might do great somewhere else ... might do great under a new coach .... I wish him the best, but its not like he wasn't given a look. I'll be interested to see where Huson goes. Wasn't he going to go to Omaha before switching to UND?

Completely agree. He doesn't seem to just be going along with the status quo. He is clearly tailoring it to be what he feels we need to compete. Can't fix all problems in a season, but you can bridge the gap and give yourself time to recruit and build a system. -IMO there will be a better effort on recruiting. Thats from a combo of what we were hearing about Berry's efforts in that department and the addition of Chyzk. -Hopefully transfers will dwindle over the next year or two to only include very limited additions year in and year out. -Hoping we can get back to producing some decent goalies that we have for multiple years rather than depending on transfer consistently. Maybe Jackson's effort doesn't pan out, but I'd rather see us try something new and fail, rather than continue the slow decline and mediocrity we have witnessed over the past 8 years.

Simple solution if you don't want to be a backup ... play better. Too many of these kids feel they are owed playing time rather than earning it.

For what its worth, Cooper Simpson sounds like a similar type of player. I was talking to his HS coach (as he coaches my kid's AAA team) the other week and he certainly had great things to say about Cooper...had just talked to him the night before and said everything with UND was still on track despite coaching changes. Skill player, fast player, but will probably need someone who can get him the puck. Excited to see what this kid brings!

Just had this conversation with a buddy yesterday who is a gopher fan and he said the same thing. Gopher always pull in high end skill, but never get the guys who are willing to go into the corners and do the dirty work. Even Alex Bump was the same mold, great player, but if you have a whole team full of that, you will struggle. Need some role players, need some kids who will stick around.

So when does Mckenna commit?🙂 Obviously that is a hope and a prayer at this point, but like that we landed a guy we wanted. Hopefully we see another couple guys soon. A few key additions, some development, a goalie and a coaching change. Hopefully this ship turns around quickly. College rebuilds can be very quick with the right guy in charge. Hope this works out!!

cryptic?

Will make it even sweeter when he announces he is coming to UND. Snubbing Hockey East is up there with snubbing the Gophers.

hopefully coaches are communicating, but we have definitely seen RB injuries in the past. You need a full stable! Guys can get hurt quickly at that position **knock on wood**

Is that just for people to enter the portal? I assume once they are in the portal then commit anytime them want. Correct?

Just messin with you!

You sure you weren't just talking to yourself in the mirror again? JK!

If I recall correctly, and I could be wrong (its been known to happen a lot), wasn't he in charge of the power play and wasn't it just god awful? Not sure how much he contributed. There was a reason UND moved on from him. Then again, maybe Berry was the problem then too...

Like Shaw? That was a disaster too. Saying we need a non-UND guy is as dumb as saying we do need a UND guy. Just find the right guy, regardless of where he is from. For the record, I'm not saying that is Smaby ... just more of a general statement. I was hoping for the long shot with Herter...

Well, it is April and I am starved for some football talk. The portal is open, and I'm hoping to hear to good news this week. There is plenty of excitement for me around the direction of the program and it will be interesting to see what happens for the staff this first season. Seems like they are making moves to get competitive right away, but only time will tell to see if they can execute. Besides wondering how Schmidt will do based on his decisions, there are plenty of other changes in the MVFC that will play into how the season turns out. A bunch of coaching changes and a bunch of transfers. Will this make is easier for UND to get in an compete or tougher? I see McFeely put an article out that talks about some of the MVFC players that have hit the transfer portal. MVFC transfer portal roundup: Coyotes lose several top players to portal - InForum | Fargo, Moorhead and West Fargo news, weather and sports NDSU: CharMar Brown, Nate Forystek, Jalon Peoples, Enock Sibomana. Illinois State: Mark Cannon, Jalen Carr, Quinten Johnson, Xavier Loyd, Teon Parks, Dylan Ritchie, Kylan Stevens. Indiana State: Michael Adams, Zavion Taylor, Alexander Todt. Murray State: Bryson Boone, Adonis Brown, Denard Flowers, Ronald DiPietro, Christian Higgins, Jkobe Jones, Davon Martin, Kamron Robinson. North Dakota: Langden College, Gunnar Lym. Northern Iowa: Carter Hewitt. South Dakota: Quaron Adams, Shahid Barros, Gary Bryant, Joseph Cotton, William Dunn, Hayden Erickson, Bryce Henderson, Samuel Holloway, Josh Larsen, Curtis Thomas. South Dakota State: Jack Amer, James Tateoka. Southern Illinois: Benjamin Bogle, Elijah Gunn, Hunter Simmons. Youngstown State: Dayveon Bates, Isaiah Crozier, Payton Edwards, Sebastian Espinoza, Cole Parvin.

Also, assuming if we really landed a number of these guys that we are after, the staff would cut loose a few kids. They can do that, right? Assuming you don't want to make a habit of just cutting kids late, but in a year where you are a new staff and trying to rebuild/mold the team to what you want, there should be a little flexibility.

Wasn't the staff also talking to a Wyoming RB? What happened with that?

Just another random thought on the Berry situation: I feel like I remember a player way back in Berry's early years saying that with Hak you were scared to lose for him, but with Berry, you wanted to win for him (something to that effect.... - Did Berry try to be more of a friend than a coach? - Did players react better to that hard line/stern approach that Hak may have taken? - Were the inmates running the asylum a little too often? - Will Jackson be able to walk that line and maybe be more of a hard ass, which is often needed with these kids? A lot of questions and speculation here, but just general thoughts. You can't just want to win, you have to hate to lose!

Are we going to get any big news or announcements this week?

I was talking about the initial contact

I've never been a big Bucci fan, but if he is right, I'll appreciate him a bit more. The thing with a guy like Mckenna is that even if you only have him for a year, he can help jump start a program, which is what UND needs. Jump start the existing talent. Jump start the incoming talent. Jump start the winning mentality. It doesn't all rely on him but having a high-end talent that can score and flash and generate excitement and buzz and HELP WIN is something we need right now. My son is a huge UND hockey fan, and I forget that he isn't old enough to really know or understand the Hak years, and what it was like to expect to be in the tourney every year, and a letdown was not making the Frozen Four. Yes, I know he never won a championship, but every year you felt the team was capable. It would be nice to get back to being a perennial top team. I liked Berry as a guy, but apart from winning that first championship .... -Lost our streak hosting the playoffs in the first round ... then put us on the road multiple time. -Had us drop out of the rankings altogether multiple times. -Destroyed the business suit mentality -Recruiting tailed off -Multiple situations of guys having issues with each other off the ice. -Etc. ...Those are all things that contribute to a programs overall culture, and the last 10 years were very different that the 10+ years prior. Hopefully Dane can get us back to being a top team and quick!