Brett0909

Michigan looks dominant but a bit less world-beating when you look closer at their results. They’ve split with every team they’ve played better than the top 30 except their week 2 sweep of Providence and an OT sweep against Harvard…otherwise they’ve feasted on the bottom with lopsided scores. Splits with the top half of the B10 in Mich St, PSU, Sconnie, and the lone NCHC team in WMU don’t scream “they’re out of our league” to me. They're undefeated in game 1 of series this year though, so teams will have to figure that out. UND’s struggles came in week 2 & 3 before an OT loss to UMD to start week 4 and undefeated since… given a huge incoming class and overhaul of systems with the coaching carousel, I’d say they’re way ahead of schedule. Weird to think that Mich is likely more battle tested than UND so far though, but TBD how strong the B10 is, as always. How often have they been overrated and gotten half their conference into the postseason, only to lose out in the first round to lower ranked NCHC teams? Hopefully a pattern that continues.

If Gavin does fall down the draft board, it’ll be interesting to see how that affects perspective on top CHL draft picks taking the NCAA route. Obviously Verhoeff and others being watched closely as well. On one side, the CHL will be pushing the narrative that it hurts your draft stock and he’s under performing because the NCAA is “bad” in some way, not because the level of play in the CHL (and consequently how it prepares you for the next level) is lower. On the other side, and this is how I feel, if he’s not ready to dominate the NCAA he definitely isn’t ready for the NHL. What would dominating against CHL kids this year have done for his development, versus the NCAA exposing his opportunities and challenging him to raise his performance to meet? I’m sure it will depend on the kid and his family/advisors whether his ego wants to believe he’s the best and needs to be drafted number one, or he’s realistic about doing the hard work to become the best.

Definitely. I just feel so bad for them. Especially after all of the insinuations about what it meant that they were able to poach UND’s “best players”. 🤣 And to think, they went out and spent a bunch of money so they could turn their irresponsible play issues into much bigger (and more expensive) issues…while Jax turned around the locker room issues and gained the flexibility to reinvest into players like Verhoeff and Reschny. Gotta love it.

Tough to speculate on how Jonny feels about UND, he’s done some media for the school but doesn’t seem to have the same long-term connection as many others. It’s hard to imagine Captain Serious of all people overreacting to playing time management of a family member- he’s always had a good head on his shoulders and worked harder than everyone around him to earn his spot- and expected the same from other players. I’ll trust IF he didn’t like how it was handled, there’s probably a reason behind the scenes beyond family loyalty. Hopefully no hard feelings, his time at UND mattered for the team, in future recruiting, exposure, and legacy. I’ll always be a fan, and I hope to see him do one last skate someday.

I definitely didn’t have Perron with the best xfer season so far, with OMac playing alright and Boisvert totally invisible. Has to be some pressure if Boisvert got a 6 figure or close NIL as some were reporting. At this rate, looking like the one big outside drawback of Berry’s departure (Boisvert’s hitting the road) may have been a net-win if the locker room reports and problems off the ice were accurate.

Obviously a tough loss. Couple bad decisions marred an otherwise learn and grow kinda game against a pretty good opponent. Jax tried to prepare us for this, but the early results made many of us forget it would be bumpy at first. Completely new PP and PK (coaches and systems). This showed. Every coach either new or playing a new role. Attempting to implement new expectations, culture, and systems to improve where they needed to from the last decade. Record setting turnover to new players and some tough losses from the core. All of the above makes for an almost total reset and rebuild…but Jax has them in the thick of it, vs. settling for multi-year rebuild. Showed some grit at the end to tie it up and flashes of pretty good play through the night. They recruited the players they need to have success, and they’ll grow into their roles. Faced their best opponent by far this year - didn’t have all the answers early but they were visibly settling in and improving as a team throughout the game and will be a better team for it. And they’re a top 10 team who got 45% of a NPI win against a 8-1 UMD team that no one’s had good answers playing, yet. Just my take…It was definitely frustrating at times, but the mistakes are addressable, the systems are getting closer to clicking, and the team’s in a good spot nationally if they can grind through some wins while continuing to build. Probably in as good of a spot as most of us would’ve hoped for right now, before the season. Now, let’s go out and win big tonight!

Pretty telling how much they’ve collectively emphasized a new era of hockey / moving on with accountability and “nobody’s bigger than the program”. Hopefully it translates to wins on the ice (and better effort/continuity). I read it as nobody in that locker room seems to think things were going well before and they’re just making some adjustments to Jax’s style of coaching...

Interesting that with focus on UND’s top-notch facilities, dedicated strength and conditioning, nutrition, etc. advantages that beyond Strinden it’s all freshmen and transfers rounding out the top 5. Hopefully not affected too much by the injuries holding them out from full participation, it’s too early to be dealing with injury limitations.

Interesting collection of NCAA bound player perspectives on the new CHL > NCAA route to the pros. Some UND callouts deeper into the read, once the obligatory McKenna/PSU focus gets out of the way. https://www.nhl.com/news/ncaa-college-hockey-becoming-major-pathway-to-nhl

Seems pretty salty for an organization that has unabashedly recruited / flipped NCAA players - reportedly even broken their own leagues rules in offering cash. IIRC even grabbing players at winter break (Humphrey’s from Mich in January?). Not blaming him for being frustrated, but the hypocrisy to attack the player is laughable.

Definitely creates new and interesting dynamics. With a significantly larger pool of players that you can pull from but only expect one year out of, it may be harder to do when there’s some uncertainty with the serious lower back injury. These types of players have to be taken as what can you give me now, because you likely won’t have a second year. Not saying that UND passed on him, because I have no idea and would be pretty excited if he chose UND over Providence, but certainly adds a new element to how you evaluate talent, and who can immediately make your team better.

FOUR B1G teams with betting odds over the defending champs and a Denver team that seems to be a coin toss to win it all any given year, lately. Seems they’re taking Bucci’s advice on betting on whoever has the sauciest hands and knows where they keep the cookie jar? Not much love for the NCHC which just keeps winning it all. Granted it’s hard not to like those top three, but same could be said for the last decade. Should make for an interesting year.

Right? That one was definitely a surprise. The one that hurt me was seeing Weatherby playing in Czechia. His late departure after all the raving we heard about his camp performance, combined with “what could’ve been” if he’d stayed, wouldn’t sting nearly as much if he’d at least locked down an NHL position. But Czechia?

After what certainly felt like a rough patch all the way around for UND hockey, loving all of the positive news for future and past UND alums. Wishing Kleven and Malone tons of future success!

The speculation is fun and as someone mentioned obviously great for clickbait and excitement. But seems to me all signs are pointing at him being very much undecided. I’ll take some comfort in UND having been linked early on as a top contender, and no reason to believe he’s ruled it out. Even if the recent mention of two more schools to visit is true, that doesn’t mean he didn’t already visit some schools who are still in the running as well. Should be fun to watch, but definitely feeling better about UND’s chances after recently loading up with some top talent. And also feeling better that we’ll be fine either way even if McKenna does land somewhere else.