fightingsioux4life

Roll out the young D men and live with their mistakes. Hopefully, they grow and learn together and develop chemistry.

They peaked too soon.

So the Summit was wrong to take them? They saw the same potential that I and others see. Getting kicked out of the MIAC was the best thing that could have happened to St. Thomas; their full potential can now be unlocked and unleashed. In 5 years, St. Thomas will be a factor in Division I hockey. You cannot say the same thing about Miami.

Pricknold is not my favorite person in the world, but it still beats the other three teams mentioned.

They will outgrow that conference in about 5 years.

I don't know if the coaches are interested in him at all or not, but we cannot adopt a mid-major attitude towards top talent. The B1G is our most dangerous enemy. We have to be willing to engage and fight with them for recruits. There is no getting around it.

As did I.

I know and you are 1000% correct; that was embarrassing. But I also think St. Thomas is a much more attractive school overall.

You are correct. However, with our current problems, this is the worst possible time for that to happen. We need to hit on more than we miss if we are going to turn it around next season and beyond.

Mankato would be another excellent addition. But I would cap the league at 10 teams. The old WCHA got watered down towards the end with 12 teams.

St. Thomas is 10x the school St. Cloud is.

So Ausmus is another recruit that is on the verge of washing out? I certainly hope not.

Quinnipiac is our best hope to avoid having one of those three teams win it.

They'll have their growing pains at first. But with their large and engaged alumni base, they should have no problem getting people to go to the games. Their talent should increase exponentially, as they are a Division I institution now and will attract better athletes and better players. They'll be a tough team to play on the ice in a couple of years. St. Thomas would get the NCHC into the Twin Cities area television market. Their academic profile and reputation would be a great addition to the NCHC. Their alumni base has the resources to make St. Thomas very competitive at the Division I level in all sports (it is only a matter of time before their FB team is invited to the MVFC). There are very few negatives with adding St. Thomas to the NCHC and I really hope the conference does not get hung up on having an odd number of teams (9) as an excuse not to invite them. Opportunities like this don't come up often and the NCHC needs to jump all over this.

Or maybe St. Thomas has an academic program he likes. Or maybe he likes the school. Lots of factors go into someone's choice of a college.

You know doggone well they are in the process of building a brand new arena for their hockey and basketball teams. They mean business with their transition to Division I athletics. They are a sleeping giant. The Summit was smart to snatch them up, the NCHC would be wise to do the same.

Yeah, well it would be a big mistake not to get them in. They are a sleeping giant who will give any conference a boost in multiple ways.

There is no substitute for live, in-game action. You cannot replicate that in practice. So if a younger guy is kept out of the lineup because the coaching staff prefers veterans, that is on the coaching staff and no one else. As for lack of accountability, that is one issue that I am concerned with. It feels like the entire team is not held accountable for bad effort, porous defense and stupid penalties. I know neither Blais nor Hakstol would have tolerated those things for long. Berry and company need to improve this.

The biggest problem is that extra COVID year. It has screwed up the pipeline and caused younger players to sit and watch, which ruins their development. As time goes on, this problem should go away by itself.

Nothing to lose in trying.

Fair enough. Here is to a better 2023-24 season and happier moods on this forum.

Only the coaching staff knows what they are looking for and what they think they need. And we won't know if our moves will pan out until next season. I am just crossing my fingers that our moves work out.

This comment is why @Irish, @SIOUXELEVENS and others feel it necessary to point out the very serious problems this program is facing right now. There are people who seem oblivious to these inconvenient truths and want only positive things posted. Well, it doesn't take long for a program to decay and it can be difficult to rebuild it (Wisconsin is a current example). I would rather avoid that if possible. It is entirely possible we will bounce back next season and earn a high seed in the NCAA tournament. And I think the whole COVID extra year has been detrimental to this program and the further away we get from that, the better. Next season will be important for this coaching staff and the program as a whole.

Not a bad idea.