Benny Baker

Hak is done with coaching college and has reservations about UND’s ability to compete in the NIL landscape.

This is like Schlossman-speak promoting UND women’s hockey because they have European Olympians. Some fans might measure UND hockey success because the “NHL loves how UND develops players” for them? (For free and on the public dime!) Others measure UND hockey success by how UND competes against other college hockey teams and whether UND competes for a national title.

Well, I would think so. Junior hockey is usually 20 and under.

Blake was USHL Player of the Year in 1994.

That’s my fear. 2026: Penrose; 0 NCAA wins; but extension 2027: miss NCAAs 2028: make NCAAs, but no wins 2029: Penrose; 0 NCAA wins; extension again 2030: repeat ….

The 2010-2012 era.

Hey, can we not drag the good name of Ohio State hockey down to the level of UND’s?!? The Buckeyes were playing in the frozen four back in 2018. (OSU also won another NCAA game in 2023 too). Good grief, this program has gone off the rails ….

No kidding. Lest we also forget, Jake Brandt pull tabs; TJ Oshie elevator suspension (hey, when you gotta go, you gotta go); the entire Toews/Oshie/Bina underage drinking and then opening up the cop car door at Judy's bonanza; Bochenski's felony forgery (before he even got to campus); I mean the list really does go on with this cultured squad of hockey brethren.

That might be a fair assessment, though, to be honest. "Close to being good" implies that they were not yet a good team, and certainly not great. At 18-17-2, the 2018-2019 team was pretty damn average. "You are what your record says you are." -- Bill Parcells.

Correct. UND missed one regional from 1997-2017. If they can’t make a Fargo regional in 2019, 2023, and 2025, then the AD needs to be the second person fired immediately after the head hockey coach. I’ll continue to say it, if Brad doesn’t make a regional final this season, then he doesn’t need an 11th season behind the bench.

Yes. Perfect example of how every team has luck in the playoffs. BU capitalized on it in 2017. Unfortunately, when Duluth and Notre Dame’s first game winning goals were waived off in 2021 and 2022, unlike BU, UND failed to capitalize.

In 2021, UND was lucky to make it 5 OTs considering Duluth’s first game winning goal was waived off. In 2022, UND was lucky to make it to OT considering Notre Dame’s last second game winning goal was (again) waived off. Every team has luck in the playoffs. Some teams can’t capitalize on it, however. Some teams don’t.

2011-2012 was Hakstol’s greatest coaching performance. Talk about doing so much with so little. Also the season JT Miller bailed right before the start of the season.

Unlike the 06-07 team, somehow I don’t see the 24-25 team getting to April with only 3 more losses. Maybe only 3 more losses by February, but not April.

Or, if you can’t figure out who all of the cupcakes are, you are one of the cupcakes …

Well if they can’t beat Bemidji, maybe the divided locker room can just play against each other from here on out so at least half the team can be winners.

I’m old enough to remember when Robert Morris couldn’t even field a hockey team in 2021-2022 and 2022-2023.

No crap. Michigan can give $10,500,000.00 to ONE athlete while UND is looking to muster a $50,000.00 match for its ENTIRE collective. We can’t beat Michigan when Michigan wasn’t paying their hockey players, at least according to you. (Hell, UND barely beat RMU—a team that didn’t exist in 2022 and 2023—tonight at home). The writing is on the wall.

For sure; I agree. Considering, after all, Michigan was the team to knock UND out of the college hockey playoffs last season.

Damn. Michigan’s collective just offered Bryce Underwood $10.5M to outbid LSU’s $1.5M offer. Here, we’re talking a match “up to” $50k for the ENTIRE collective… Yikes.

Wait for Schlossman’s late March article, which will read something like …. ”#17 North Dakota would have been ranked #12 and playing in Fargo this weekend had it won a November 22nd game against RMU in regulation instead of overtime.”

So UND picked up .67 of a pairwise win against an Atlantic Hockey team? At home? This will still hurt their pairwise. Embarrassing performance.

Lol.

Could have been 4-1 ratio. Pohlkamp took a visit to UND, but said no thanks, and transferred to Denver without any need for a recruiting visit.