jk

Woulda been nice if Perron coulda shoveled that one in with three seconds left.

I think O Mac has taken a big step this year. Last year you could see the talent, but a stiff breeze could knock him off the puck. This year he's protecting the puck better, and the points will come soon.

Definitely the better team tonight. The downside is they're not guaranteed to be the better team tomorrow, which is why you've gotta win when you're better. UND can be really good this year.

Geez UND is bringing it.

No goal, but it was a good PP.

How is that even a penalty?

UND had a nice middle ten minutes. BU pushed back pretty hard in the last five.

I always appreciated that Hrkac's freshman points of 18-36-54 in 36 games made for easy calculating.

Going back a bit, none other than Dean Blais was my PE teacher at Minot High. Because it was lunch hour and the gym was therefore unavailable, we usually spent the hour playing bloodball in the wrestling gym. Good times.

Key takeaway for me is that the two teams are pretty even, which is a big step up from last year, when they decidedly weren't. Last year's split was a gift from the hockey gods, as MN had the puck much of the weekend, but this year UND matched them in possession and chances.

Evolution of our opinions: Off-season: The returning players had great moments last year, and this year they'll play like that every shift. The new guys are the exceptional players their junior coaches describe to Schlossman. Destined to compete with each other for the Calder trophy in a few years. Manitoba and Army: Peak optimism. And a little worry that everyone is so good they're all one-and-done. We're back, baby! The rest of the first half: Uh oh. The other guys want to win too. And holy crap they're pretty good. We're in trouble. Second half: (Hopefully). Made sense the new guys needed time to gel. We're gonna be hard to handle the rest of the way.

On the Herald podcast, they referenced that as a good penalty because it was payback for WI taking liberties with Perron. Early season team building by sticking up for your teammates.

With how full UND's pipeline is now, commitments may be scarce for a while, while other teams pile them up. Works for me.

I couldn't watch, but I'm curious on people's opinions. If say three or four of those posts went in, how does the defense and goaltending feel? Does the defense look like it has a chance to be better than last year? Thanks.

That was no hot goalie, either. They just got worked all game long.

I can't be there, but if there was one "one more shift" I'd want to see, it would be Hrkac. For the youngsters, all I can say is you had to be there. Think of Blake's pass to Schmaltz in the exhibition, then think of it happening all game long, every game, against the best teams in the country.

I've been excited for this season since the off-season began, but how the forwards intend to play and how they're able to play when there's another good team that wants the puck just as much may not be the same thing. If we still think of UND as high flying after the BU weekend, then all the optimism will have been well-placed.

It's fun, but we're not seeing how they defend in their own zone. God they got caved in at times last year. Hoping for more composure and fewer giveaways.

Plenty of ultra talented guys at UND over the years, but I don't think any of them have been more slippery than Blake. He just changes direction and fakes guys out in ways I can't recall seeing. It saddens me that he's gotten so good so fast that he may have to move on sooner than I had thought.

With WI back in the game, I wouldn't be surprised if they charge hard for guys like this. In fact, since they not only recruit nationally but also regionally, I would say that generally recruiting just got a little tougher for UND and MN. That's based on the assumption that the Hastings group is better at both recruiting and coaching than their predecessors.

One thing I recall about Simpson is his play in the national semifinal game, one that ended in bitter fashion, his senior year. MN was fairly impressive that year, and in that game they kept setting a guy up on the back door and trying to thread a pass through to him, especially on the PP. There were several times it looked like it was going to connect, but at the last moment Simpson got his stick on the puck. I felt at the time he single handedly kept that game in reach. He did not quite have NHL feet, but had a good head for the game. Last year's squad gave up quite a few beautiful goals, which are not pretty if you're on the wrong side of them, things like those back door plays. So if he can help the defensemen shut that down, as he did, then sign me up.

#12 is the lead (male) singer for the B-52s.

A specific thing I disagree with them on is Zmolek, who they seem to think couldn't crack Mankato's lineup, but I expect to be a significant part of the team for the next few years. (He was hurt last year.)

It's the most wonderful time of the year, when we only think of the best the players have to offer. I'm chronically guilty of it, including this year. I guess the SC guys have objectivity that I don't, but I'm not nearly so worried as they are. Sounds like they're expecting a train wreck, while I'm thinking big bounce back year.

I believe Blake also scored the game-winner in the state title game as a sophomore.