jk

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.

That there haven't been any UND commitments is fine. I find it odd that the vast majority of today's commitments were on the east coast.

If he wants to step away from a good USHL job, Matt Smaby would fit.

"Time out." Dave Hakstol, 3/16/2012.

As to culture, that's one of the extra benefits to the return of Gaber and Albrecht.

Yeah MN is super loaded. They probably won't lose a game all year.

Making a good impression for the next round of recruiting, out of the portal in a few years.

Lesson from 1984: Try not to get hot goalied by Jon Casey.

Wait a sec. Who were you cheering for when RPI brought their powerhouse into the WSC over Thanksgiving weekend in 1984 for a titanic series? The one with Chris Jensen's OT game-winner.

Is that Carson's wife and kid in the commitment pic? He's ahead of the curve.

As for the narrative of the upcoming season, I think it's the dawn of a new era. I view the last era as one that followed the 2016 title and was ultimately dominated by the Kawaguchi, Adams, Mismash class and Pinto up front. I think the upcoming era will be highlighted and led by the Blake class and some of the talent arriving this fall. The last two years were a bumpy transition between the two, with either a shortage of elite talent, or talent that just wasn't ready yet. I also continue to believe that a healthy Sanderson could have taken the team two years ago on a run. He was already an NHL defender and was the best player in the country. And the team was pretty scrappy.

In the interest of full disclosure, I was optimistic, and wrong, last summer. My reasoning was that you were starting with a solid, if unspectacular, conference championship team, losing very little of it, and adding some much needed offensive flair. I think where I was mainly wrong is that the conference championship was a mirage. It was the product of scrounging out some early season splits despite being outplayed, and then going on a run of low-scoring wins in February that was a product of tight defense, good goaltending and great coaching. It was a heck of an accomplishment, but it wasn't built on a foundation of talent that would necessarily translate to the next year.

It's the time of the year to be optimistic. I only remember the promising moments from returning players, not the gaffes. Incoming players, freshmen and transfers, are the sum of the glowing attributes in their scouting reports, and nothing less. Given all that, with the program earning an A plus plus plus in the portal (see scouting reports comment above), I think this is going to be a fun bounceback year.

I do feel for MN, it was right there. But they were getting worked, and weren't the best team that night. As for the Cooley penalty, Maine 2002 would like a word.

Ideal use of the portal would be to get a D with one year left (Pyke), with two, and maybe even with three, to balance out the classes a bit.

It would be a good opportunity for a western conference reboot, with conferences that make more geographic sense. Get Miami and WMU back to their neighborhood. Somehow bring BSU and Mankato in. Perhaps end up with an additional conference, so you'd have the Summit, CCHA and a watered down NCHC (call it the WCHA).

I hope Wisconsin gets just good enough to beat MN, but that's their major accomplishment each year.