jk

Kinda hate it.

Right, they take one in a real game and serve it in an exhibition, and we do the reverse. You can't make it up.

There once was a player who started at Denver and wasn't cutting it, so he left and went back to the USHL. He tore it up, and UND won a recruiting battle for him. That was Brendan Budy. So I guess I'm leery about a player who couldn't cut it at Northeastern. With the usual caveat that I've never seen him play.

Interesting, thanks.

Well, Rinzel was a first round pick last year. Things are so good for Motzko that he can send a first rounder to play his D+1 year in the USHL without losing him.

In the type of period we've suffered through, shots in the third were 16-2 Mankato, goals 0-2.

Looking to the second half, there are two ways the team can play well and make the NCAA tournament. First, they can win enough to move up to the right side of the PWR bubble. When I look at the schedule, it looks tough to get there. Every league opponent is challenging. I can see them playing over 0.500, but that not being enough. On the other hand, they inexplicably surged last year, so they can do it. The other way is to get to fourth in the NCHC, win a best of three at home against an equally desperate team, and then win against two very good teams (probably Denver and SC) in St. Paul. I can see them getting home ice. If they can play like they just did, and improve on it, they can easily move up the standings. Winning two in a row in the Final Five? It's not an impossible task, but not easy. Check with the hockey gods and DeRidder. If they're not playing well enough to get home ice, it's more into miracle territory.

Regarding lines, I also like Ness, Albrecht and Portz, as I felt like they were a big part of last year's surge. On the other hand, embracing Saturday's lines means relegating Strinden, Costantini and Kunz to the fifth line, which doesn't seem right either. Injuries will probably disrupt things anyway.

There's been some concern here about the future, but if Perron and Swanson come as advertised and join Blake, this could be one fancy-ass team in a couple years. Blake is absolutely slick enough to be a pro, but he needs to get a lot stronger, so hopefully he's still here.

That was a solid road effort. They were doing a lot right in the third until that failed clear ended up in the back of the net. Just think back to the last five minutes of the second, when they were pouring it on. Not scoring there may have cost them the win.

These extra points might be the difference between 4 and 5, and home ice.

Seemed like Blake almost scored with 20 seconds left. Would love some replays.

Uh oh, final minute incoming.

What I meant to say is that Blake is probably the most skilled guy since N. Schmaltz.

Blake is the cleverest character in GF since Brianna Berry.

Who had this game 1-1 halfway through?

Stepped away after the icing and missed it. Up until then I thought it was a solid period. Given how fragile they have been, this doesn't bode well for the rest of the night.

So guys at the bottom of the lineup are in sometimes and out others, and this is supposed to be shocking to anyone? Also, what about merit determining play? I guess if they just played guys based on draft status and they weren't doing well, then it would at least give forum denizens a new and different thing to complain about. As for particular players, Costantini was mia for a lot of the season, and deserved a seat. If we get the post-suit version the rest of the way, who was impressive, I'll be happy to see him in the lineup. People sometimes think UND looks slow. Last year I thought if Kunz could get quicker, he could really be something. It doesn't look to me that he has yet, so I'm not surprised to see him out. Because the team is slower when he's in. The point of depth is injury insurance and competition for playing time driving improvement. But someone has to sit.

It's well established that rest is one of the most significant determinants of results. You're welcome to ignore it, just as I'm able to acknowledge it, over and over if it's relevant. Sorry I missed on the PWR, thanks for noting it.

That sounds dangerously close to analytics, but I agree 100%.

Some things look like excuses, but they're just facts. They finished PWR 1 in back to back years, but in the first of those years the postseason was cancelled, and in the second they got screwed because their lower ranked opponent got a bye while UND played a night game the day before. No guarantees, but in normal circumstances, they probably get more than one tourney win. The recruiting pipeline has some very nice players in it. If we assume every team adds six freshmen every year (might not be quite right in these post pandemic times), then there are something like 360 commitments every year. Do we really need a frowny face emoji after the 354 that commit elsewhere? I'm gonna guess they didn't fade at the end of either of the PWR 1 years, as it would seem to be almost impossible to have accomplished that with a fade, and I know they didn't last year, as it was the big second half run that won the unexpected third title. Now if you mean from 2017-2019, you may be right, but that would seem to indicate they fixed that issue. I will grant you that this year has sucked so far. I hope they can turn it around.

Looks like Blake is getting a well-deserved invite to the US WJC camp.

Panzer and Slipec seem far from ready, based on their current lack of production (I have not seen them play). So at forward next year, they could be in a similar situation next summer to their dilemma on D last summer, unless they can find some uncommitted late bloomers. They could bring in guys who aren't ready, tap the portal, or allow fifth years to return. The lesser of evils I guess.

Regarding the fifth year guys, you're damned if you do, damned if you don't. By taking them back, they were choosing the guys they felt gave them the best chance to win. It was either those guys or freshmen they didn't feel were ready. Obviously the team is struggling, so it couldn't look much worse, but how would it look with freshmen that either can't make the lineup or are overwhelmed when they do? It's also worth noting the two returners are 4th and 6th in team scoring. I think the situation on defense is the result of their older committed guys just flatlining developmentally. Basically they turned out to be the wrong guys. I don't think the plan two years ago was to forego freshmen for the portal, but when you reach last summer and commits aren't ready, you gotta do what you can, which in this case is the portal. Commiting the wrong guys is entirely on the coaches, but that doesn't mean they were wrong last summer in tapping the portal.

Thanks for the update, bale31. Good luck.