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Brett0909
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Posts posted by Brett0909
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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.
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1 hour ago, hockeytherapy13 said:
You hate to see it
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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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1 hour ago, brianvf said:
Dane and Liver spoke during NCHC Media day. Jake already rocking the sweet stache.
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...
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49 minutes ago, brianvf said:
Strinden won the annual IronMan competition...3 time winner! Natural hat-trick of trophies for him.
Also good to see that some of the new players excelled in the competition as well. And no surprise on James winning the skating aspects.
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.
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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 -
11 hours ago, sioux rube said:
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.
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1 minute ago, atxsioux said:
Ya based on watching Reschny this past week he is pretty solidified to be top line center. Unlikely that McQueen and his team want him playing wing or 2nd line center
Also not as confident in how he will jump in to college next year with injury past plus him seeming to be kind of raw so that may have turned off UNDs staff.
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.
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4 hours ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:
How do I bet the farm against Minnesota? They lost everyone and brought in a D3 transfer. Bubble team at best right now.
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.
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3 minutes ago, brianvf said:
Same with Spirko!
Dang, can’t believe Sparky is still out there.
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?
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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!
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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.
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Hindsight is always an interesting thing. There’s probably a lesson here for many of us… it wasn’t that long ago when some were wholeheartedly defending Barry and challenging anyone who suggested that recruiting, team morale, and effort weren’t where they needed to be. The forum was divisive and split. That whole debate about whether UND was sinking toward mediocrity and if anyone else could lead the team in a better direction. And just earlier today, some were still arguing against landing these recruits or them coming in this year. Not calling others out for this, just something we’ve all been guilty of from time to time and can learn from.
We certainly don’t know what the product on the ice will look like, but it’s been very energizing to see how quickly UND could bounce back into being a national player again. This staff definitely has edge and drive that seemed lacking, and I’m relieved the damage was short term. I can’t wait to see how all of this builds into the product on the ice and future rosters. Look out!
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54 minutes ago, beastandco said:
I heard BC offered him 100k from a source that is wrong more than he is right. Considering he recently followed UND, he must have significant interest. I know I would not follow a team for no reason.
Here’s hoping we don’t start to see a lot more “competing interest” just to drive up the NIL offers in this new landscape. Not saying that’s happening here, just occurred to me some will be trying to create bidding wars. Still recall UND being used as a threat for some prospective targets to manipulate the draft by their preferred CHL team. Strange new world…
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9 hours ago, brianvf said:
Somehow it just feels like he missed a real opportunity here for the Waterloo fans…
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13 minutes ago, crb1 said:
Well I guess we will see how this all shakes out but all this NIL money and revenue sharing money these schools have hasn’t gotten them squat yet. At some point these donors are going to be hesitant to keep throwing money in a pit that doesn’t provide any sort of ROI. I don’t care how much money you have.
Guess it depends on how you define success. A lot of these loaded teams are doing well and making the tournament, and sometimes the frozen four. Add on that they get to watch future superstars all season play incredibly entertaining hockey along the way, and I wouldn’t say that they are getting nothing for their investment.
I’m sure some of them expect to be in the running for a championship every year when they load up like this, but associating these top superstars with your school has a huge lasting effect. I, for one, would take watching elite studs do things only top players can do while competing all the way up to a championship, even if they don’t win it every year. Obviously every dimension is a whole lot better than what we’ve been seeing lately...
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22 hours ago, tnt said:
The guy is such an idiot. Playing in front of nobody is not a great experience for any athlete. Wodon will continue to die on that hill no matter how stupid it makes him look.
Plenty of defensible reasons to argue against home ice regionals…and he picks THIS to try to prove his point? Embarrassing for him.
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26 minutes ago, RhettRingers said:
Sandy is also now official. Hobie is gone.
Feel for the kid. Too good to be a third-string but not quite able to put it together as a starter, even after putting in the time. Tough to develop when you don’t get reps. Best bet may be a less competitive league where he can become the go-to guy…wouldn’t be surprised to see him develop quickly in the right situation.
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53 minutes ago, NoDak Hockey Nation said:
It’s probably because the guy running the collective is using it as a side gig to his state government job and running toasted frog and Bonzer’s… Any school serious about NIL has a full time staff running their collective. 1883 is a joke. Might be time for someone else to step up with some financial backing to put together something legit.
Agree on having more dedicated oversight and taking it to the next level. Unless I’m missing something though, seems we owe them our thanks for taking on this unpaid work in addition to everything else on their plate? Without the 1883, we’d have no NIL presence and I don’t believe they’re stopping anyone else from stepping up.
I’m guessing they’d gladly welcome volunteers from everyone here complaining the 1883 should be doing more. Since I’m not helping from Seattle (yet, at least), I’ll try not to complain. That said, if you’re paying attention (1883)…it would help to get some transparency and communication on the effort and where you face challenges or need help.
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12 hours ago, Username Taken said:That’s part of the problem. How are we supposed to know as fans that BB just basically stopped recruiting? We had some studs under the Berry tenure. Crazy to think of what could have been if he actually put some effort into it.
There were signs. All coaches on the bench every game. Not winning many of the highly contested recruiting battles. What the recruits did (and didn’t) say about their experience - ie, no mention of how committed the coaches were to landing them (things we heard regularly under Hakstol), portal goalie U, and the overall drop in quality. Remember how Hak landed Boeser from Wisconsin. That level of commitment vs. convenience matters. Singular incident, but does BB get put on a championship pedestal his first year without Boeser?
Some on here have been calling these things out for years. This part is pure speculation but I wonder if Brad took the Covid switch to zoom etc like many companies- began relying on virtual meetings for interviews, scouting, follow-up, etc. If one coach shows up to your house and games regularly pumping you up and building a relationship with your family, while another is more apt to setup zoom meetings and relying on YouTube selling your facilities, outside of you making a visit on your own dime …I know I’d draw my own conclusions.
Other areas like discipline, playing soft, not getting player progression year over year, etc. that many have been pushing on as signs to move on from BB have also been directly or indirectly supported from the post-BB reporting and Jax’s interviews.
Tough part is there’s also plenty of criticism here that isn’t warranted and hindsight is 20/20…but there were signs.
In good news, in spite of this, BB’s teams weren’t very far away from being contenders at times. Razor thin margin, and hopefully Jax can tune these areas with help from a better staff and get the team back on top.
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I, for one, personally put a lot of stock in the maturity and trustworthiness of a completely unbiased poster (family member) who responds to (or was involved in) fake accounts pretending to be Dane’s son to slander him, and brings such important insights as “super gay” into the discussion.
If nothing else, does perpetuate that there’s some bad blood there which is too bad for the UND family regardless of where we’re at today. Makes you wonder given how emphatically the players got behind Jax.
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Like many others, I’m starting to come around and get on board with Dax. He wasn’t my first choice, as some magical fresh start and mystery candidate that would blow us away was so appealing. But, mostly I was just frustrated with what we’ve seen most of the last decade.
It’s requiring me to put away my Internet ego, that even though I know I don’t have the facts, I somehow know better than the AD & Martinson, previous & existing players, NHL/AHL GM’s, (rumor) Hak’s endorsement, etc.
Some food for thought for those pissed that the “players are holding this decision hostage“.. these players: 1) know hockey at an elite level with exposure to the best, and worst of coaches out there, 2) are deeply personally invested in their development, skills, and ability to get to the next level 3) get to see Jax every day, and are giving their full vote of confidence that they’d rather play for him than any other coach in the country (college or next-level of pro), 4) know that he is going to be no nonsense and push them extremely hard, but are still willing to run through a wall for him, 5) came to UND to WIN, and 6) know exactly what is, and isn’t, going on within that locker room including Barry being out, and are getting immediately behind Jax.
I’m not saying that the players should be able to make the decision or should make threats about the outcome, but why shouldn’t they have an important voice in the hiring decision of who’s the right guy to lead them and their peers? To me, this makes them a very reliable indicator of who’s the right man for the job. If you lineup all of those points above, they hit on nearly everything that we as a fan base want to see in the next head coach, and the players certainly know better than any of us what they’re getting with him.
The biggest thing still remaining for me is can he modernize the game and make the decisions that will keep them at an elite level, given all of his recent experience is executing the systems and product that we’ve been seeing and are frustrated with. I’m cautiously optimistic his choices in the staff he builds around him will be enough to put this to rest.
Plus as an added bonus, the guy will work harder than anyone, bleeds green, and if he does find big success.. is much more likely to stick around and continue it vs. just using it to quickly leapfrog into the NHL.
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2025-26 University of North Dakota Hockey Season
in Men's Hockey
Posted
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.