yzerman19

Absolutely huge get. Kid would've been a top 5 WHL pick if he hadn't declared his college preference, and he still went 2nd round. He's a perfect example of what could happen with a blue chip player when the rules change...wouldn't he surprised to see him play WHL next season and then arrive at UND. Still crazy that we have a committed 2009!!! The NHL scouts are going to love seeing how top players compete with older competition. He's positioning himself like Toews, Celebrini, Hagens, and Potter...if you can produce at a high level at 17 vs guys who are 21 on average...it projects really,really well

These are all valid points and I respect your point of view. My statement does not take away from yours. It's a different lens. I do think your point about funding is an interesting one. The CHL receives significant $ from the NHL for development. I believe that the development money that goes to the USHL drives the NTDP budget (I might be wrong, but I heard that one time). RFA rules and sending Jr eligible guys back to CHL vs AHL is also important and details that will need to be bargained and addressed. I also don't want to dismiss the appeal of playing closer to home for a 16/17 year old kid. For a Minnesota kid, Des Moines is much closer to home than Swift Current. USHL will still attract high end players for that reason. The stipend $ (with rare exceptions) is pretty immaterial for a business...for most guys it's gas and beer money...

Long term, however it will drive college hockey expansion as barriers to competitiveness will come down. You can get U Washington playing competitive Big 10 hockey pretty quickly by stacking the roster with guys aging out of the WHL. I don't disagree that the pipeline to college hockey gets tougher short term, but won't it also raise the competitiveness of college hockey...I mean all else equal you want the best players on the ice wherever they hail from. For the ultra elite player (chippas) it's amazing...you have more development options without life altering consequences. Say you are a stud at 16/17 and you go major junior on the fast track to NHL, but you hit road bumps in terms of system or an injury or whatever and you end up getting drafted late or not drafted...now, head to college and extend that runway....or maybe you have a great year and go first round, but you are 5'10 165...go to college, play fewer games put on 20 pounds of beef live the college athlete life while in a prep year to the NHL. while I don't disagree it will be much, much harder for NAHL guys to make it to d1 over the short term, I think the long term expansion of college hockey and mitigated consequences for 16-18 year old kids is huge. I also believe that the quality of product on the ice will only get better in college hockey as a result.

Can't have a team of nothing but elite scorers...wouldnt be Sioux hockey without a sandpaper line....Eades and Archibald for sure....

I can't quite put my finger on it, but there used to be certain mystique around Sioux hockey...where you knew they would both out hit and out skill you. You knew you were in for a fast and heavy game.

We can't change the location of Grand Forks, we can't change the fact that you don't get Big10 football or hoops on off days, the Ralph isn't a huge differentiator anymore (although by no means a detriment)...somehow we gotta get the chippas that other chippas want to play with while recognizing the constraints we have vs Big10 and Hockey East. At the peak of our recruiting success, players knew that Sioux hockey was where you played to prepare for the NHL...the coaching, facilities, training was all geared towards that...somehow we have lost a great deal of this, and rather quickly

So what do we have to do to get the swagger back?

I mentioned a couple 2009 studs from minnesota. Crazy to think that 2009s are up next...2010s being looked at seriously...where did time go? These kids were born during the pony express era...

One of the biggest mistakes coaches make is forcing skill guys into systematic players. Why no skilled playmaker is their right mind would pick Notre Dame right now. I've seen it too many times where a dynamic player is forced into a system of pucks deep, work the wall, start the cycle, get net front, stay on the defensive side of the puck...yes those things need to be deployed at times to win games, but when you bring in a kid that scores 2 points per game based on speed, skill, and IQ and you turn him into a cog in the machine...barf

Btw- heard nothing but great things about David Carle...heard he is big time professional and pitches kids on exactly what he sees them doing for the next 2-4 years and how that will develop them and drive their and the program's success. Sounds like he is a great person and a great recruiter

Bobby losing Mikey Berchild is not good for that program. There is a lot of grumping about Motzko not letting the horses run. They lost a committed Eiserman...I'm waiting to see who they land. Next year the two top Minny kids will be Schneider and Fitzhenry. If they opt to go somewhere else....

What about chippas?

Discourse

Interesting perspectives. I enjoy reading this, makes great dis purse (too bad our national politics weren't the same way!) NTDP kids will still go NTDP, get drafted, go to college, likely get six figure NIL deals. No impact there. Kids debating between USHL and CHL now have a choice based on what fits them best...does a kid from minny or GF really want to move to Medicine Hat or swift current? The league is just a league, the kids will now have more choices for the team, coaches, geo that feels best. NAHL and tier 2 leagues...kids in that league are always one cut in the league above from being released. It is a hard grind below tier 1 and always will be. if anything, this could promote parity. The rich won't stay rich. Fledgling programs and historical basement dwellers will give blue blood programs a run with "20 year old Canadians" to quote what the googers used to say about us. as a parent of a hockey player, I love more options for fit and development while still keeping NCAA hockey an option.

Bummy is high end. He's a good get. Not sure who else we are going after hard.