Dustin

I think pretty much every UND fan would have been cheering for UMD in that game, including me. Not only the Sandy connection, but UMD had only one title at that point, while Denver was aiming to tie us (again) at eight.

1. Minnesota - have friends and family on both sides of this one, so everything cuts a little deeper. 2. Denver - too many big games against them to not be #2. 3. Duluth - rivalry has been elevated since their first Natty. Throw A few big games in there and they’re easily number 3 now, but maybe not historically. 4. Wisconsin - mostly stemming from the early ‘80s (a time I was too young to remember) but for me I don’t actively cheer against them; in fact quite the opposite. It’s good for college hockey when the Badgers are relevant. 5. St. Cloud State - not as easy to explain as the others, but their attitude towards UND and its fans just seems off-putting. 6. Any of the remaining “blue bloods” - Boston college, Boston university, Michigan I would consider switching the order of 4, 5, and 6.

This could play out big time come playoffs.

I’m intrigued by this, but I’m not sure if it would incentivize scoring, unless that point was needed late season for home ice or regular season conference championship. I feel this would return to the previous OT strategy of “don’t lose.”

Question about Wisconsin - during the “Wisconsin Wars” of the early ‘80s, wouldn’t they have been #2 outright, or did Denver still have a hold on #2 then? I was born at the height of the Wisconsin rivalry, so I was too young to remember any of it. Also, from what I’ve gathered through experience and conversations, Wisconsin was more of a friendly rivalry, with each team’s fans rooting for the other if playing Minnesota.

Is this official yet or still speculation?

They’re also not their in-state rival.

Im glad Eric is HC for this moment and not Bubba.

Totally spaced on the game last night, but came here to read the thread this morning and then watched the highlights. UND needs some way to honor Eli King. He's been an absolute warrior for this program.

Last time UND had players from eastern Europe things worked out pretty well.

Interesting history that I was not aware of.

No. Denver is the only school that will make the tournament that is remotely close to Loveland. The make-up (or assumed make-up, at this point) of this year's tournament teams is not suited very well geographically for where the regional sites are. Right now, 3 of the 4 top seeds are based in Michigan, yet the closest any of them is to a regional site is a 9 hour drive. Not a great set up for fans or the optics of the sport. If the NCAA is not going to allow home sites for hockey regionals, the best idea I've come up with is two 8-team super regionals set in (major) cities within the geographical footprint of college hockey, like Boston, Detroit, Chicago, and St. Paul (and maybe Denver). They would function just like the four 4-team regionals, but essentially you take two of those and lump together in one more appealing (and accessible) site. Then, the Frozen Four should be rotated between two or three warm-weather sites like Tampa, Nashville, and Las Vegas, sort of like a "reward" for the fans who've been in the cold all winter.

Thanks for the reminder. Seems like I always here about the games after they've been played and never actually remember to watch them.

Current NPI would put us in the Denver-hosted regional, however, there's a first round problem in spots 7-10, with 3 ECAC teams, potentially shaking up the straight NPI formula with (a) swap(s) that could affect where those teams get sent. Obviously too early to worry or speculate, just interesting. (3) UND vs. (14) Wisconsin (6) Providence vs (11) Denver

I see. I think also has family ties to northern Minnesota, like Iron Range area.

Are you sure? Unless he's moved in the last few years, he lives in Grand Forks.

Learned something new last night. I was watching Australian Open tennis and Jessica Pegula was playing, so I read her bio. Her dad is Terry Pegula, a billionaire who made his money in oil and natural gas. He owns the Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Bills. He also was the guy who donated to Penn State to accelerate their hockey program's transition into D-I status, thus causing the domino effect that shook up the college hockey landscape. Penn State's arena is named for him (which I didn't know, but many of you probably did.) Anyway, just thought was interesting.

This year's team definitely seems to have that sought-after mix of upper-class defensemen, dynamic scoring youth, and rock solid goaltending. I can't think of a game situation where I wouldn't trust the players to either win a big faceoff, make a big save, or provide relentless sustained pressure.

I would say it's somewhat likely to have a game against WMU in Grand Forks in March.

Agree, we will be net positive in '26 vs. '25.

I think the post was made tongue-in-cheek, knowing that "benching" a player for a weekend with no games was inconsequential.

Current NPI would have a regional (presumably Sioux Falls) look like this: (3) UND vs. (14) BC (6) UMD vs (11) Dartmouth

I can’t claim to know anything about coaching hockey, but that seemed to be Hakstol’s biggest plague - he didn’t/couldn’t/wouldn’t adjust from his 4 line rotation. While Hak certainly had some great teams, the 4 line depth of this year’s team seems capable enough to just be rolled one after the other.

Glad it worked out for Homer to start against his old team in his old arena and get the win. Also glad we don’t have think about it anymore. On to Špunar.

"He's got nicknames!"