fightingsioux4life

Those were Transfer Portal additions. When I hear "backfilling with over-agers", I think of settling for kids who have aged out of junior hockey and are still available because they aren't considered top recruits. That would mean fewer postseason trips and even fewer Frozen Four appearances. That is what we cannot afford to have happen.

Let's not bring this out of the closet please:

I don't bring it up because I believe it. I think it's hogwash. I bring it up ALL THE TIME because @scpa0305 keeps insisting that the B1G and the big media market schools out east are going to rule the College Hockey world and that UND and other similar programs will have to settle for "backfilling with over-agers" (that's a direct quote from sometime last season, I am not making it up). Go tell @scpa0305 that he is wrong, because I think he is too. I keep bringing it up because that erroneous notion needs to be challenged whenever and wherever it is propagated. Anyway, you make good points. I am enjoying this season, especially after the past few seasons, which were not as much fun to watch. @krustyklown is right, I will not bring up the topic of championships as long as UND is alive in the postseason.

There are no easy games in the postseason. All the teams are good, that's why they are in the playoffs.

One can enjoy the experience and have certain expectations simultaneously. This season is way more fun than last season.

I can get on board with all of that.

"Parity" didn't stop two fellow NCHC schools from winning two NCAA titles each since 2016. But nobody wants to talk about that around here. I wonder why? The Michigan teams you mentioned were freshman heavy and no matter how talented they are, freshmen are still freshmen and sometimes struggle in the crucible of the playoffs. Finally, no one is saying hanging banners is easy. All I have ever said is that NCAA titles are what people remember and are what distinguish great programs from merely good ones.

I agree with you.

I think the fact that both Duluth and Denver have won two nattys each since we won #8 is what bothers people. We are falling behind in the all-time NCAA title race. With the talent we have had over the past 20 years, we should have passed Michigan in total nattys by now. That has real world consequences for our program. The very notion of North Dakota devolving into a forgotten, also-ran program like both Northern Michigan and Lake Superior State have is nauseating to someone who has been following this team since I was 6 years old. Whatever changes come to the sport of college hockey, our program must adapt.

Shhhh, we aren't supposed to talk about that here.

That is because we have built a fantastic resume with wins over quality teams. That gives you wiggle room for bad weekends like this one.

This team also misses the net way too much. You have a ZERO percent chance of scoring if the puck is wide of the net.

I think we bounce back this weekend with a TCoS on Saturday night.

It sure doesn't. Otherwise, Trey Feeney would have chosen NDSU FB over UND.

Mainly students will live at The Boden. Something I haven't been for almost 24 years.

And if they can't fill them at these prices, I won't feel sorry for them.

I pay $800/month for 1100 Square Feet. And no, it isn't a rat-infested crap hole either.

I won't be applying to live there. Those prices are outrageous. Anyone who can afford that could just as well buy a house.

Opps, I forgot the team that was screwed out of a chance to hang #9 because of COVID. Good catch. I have revised my original message.

The 2016 team would blow the doors off of every team of the past 20 years or so (minus the 2011 and 2020 COVID teams). But this year's team is the best since 2020. What we look like next season and beyond will depend in part on how many guys sign early.

I agree with your post except the bolded part above. Our recruiting has picked up the last couple of years. We have some nice players in the pipeline for the next couple of years and this year's team is the most talented since 2016. My concern now is that we will gradually fade down the stretch and have our season end in March instead of April.

That is where I am as well.

The last time we had seven home games, we finished 3-8 and Mussman was fired. Will history repeat itself? I think the odds are 50-50.

Are you sure both teams weren't sucked into a time warp into the 1980's? And was the game actually at the Met Center?

The goalposts are the same for me all the time: Win the Penrose, do the best you can at the Frozen Faceoff and win the natty. Obviously no team will do all of those things every year, but we have one NCAA win since 2016 (AIC in 2021) and we struggled the last two periods of that game after building a lead. That is what has people restless and I am one of them. Recruiting has picked up and we have a good pipeline for the next couple of years. But at some point, we have to cash in. If this team pulls a disappearing act like the 2022 team (which had a lot less talent than this team), it will be the most disappointing team in recent memory. The next 6 games will determine which trajectory this team will take.