COMMITTED UND Recruits

[SiouxFanatic]

12 minutes ago, NoDak Hockey Nation said:

Cooper Williams - Saskatoon Blades possibly? 

UND is now following him on instagram, so probably.

[beastandco]

10 minutes ago, SiouxFanatic said:

UND is now following him on instagram, so probably.

Cooper Williams seems like a good get

[scpa0305]

15 minutes ago, beastandco said:

Cooper Williams seems like a good get

Agreed.

[.357]

18 minutes ago, beastandco said:

Cooper Williams seems like a good get

Did pretty well his rookie season in the WHL. His numbers are quite a bit better than Zakreski's when comparing their rookie seasons in that league. Solid.

Waiting on @nascar99's expert analysis on him since he's the resident expert of that league. 

[brianvf]

 

[brianvf]

46 minutes ago, beastandco said:

Cooper Williams seems like a good get

Very solid numbers for a 17yo in the WHL this past year.

[SpudsSioux]

This feels like a big get if it is indeed Williams. Rookie numbers (21-36-57 in 68 games) are in the same ballpark as the rookie numbers for some of the big names that have been thrown around this year: Rechny (21-38-59 in 61 games), Kindel (15-46-60 in 68 games), Bear (25-32-57 in 67 games). 

[SuhakiYeahYeah]

58 minutes ago, beastandco said:

Cooper Williams seems like a good get

Dane and the coaches he will have before coming here better make sure that he puts on some pounds

[nascar99]

30 minutes ago, .357 said:

Did pretty well his rookie season in the WHL. His numbers are quite a bit better than Zakreski's when comparing their rookie seasons in that league. Solid.

Waiting on @nascar99's expert analysis on him since he's the resident expert of that league. 

Haven't delved into his film yet but 68 GP, 57 PTS in his 16 year old season in the Dub on a team without high end offensive talent is really good. Williams is projected to be 1st rounder in the 2026 NHL Draft.

[tnt]

If it is Cooper Williams, they might as well get Cooper Simpson's teammate last year, Cooper Siegert, and create a Super Duper Cooper line!

[SIOUXFAN97]

My source says it's Williams!!! Locked in

[scpa0305]

20 minutes ago, nascar99 said:

Haven't delved into his film yet but 68 GP, 57 PTS in his 16 year old season in the Dub on a team without high end offensive talent is really good. Williams is projected to be 1st rounder in the 2026 NHL Draft.

agreed….i don’t really think there should be a comparison to zakreski. This would be a nice get.

[brianvf]

2 minutes ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

My source says it's Williams!!! Locked in

Noice.

Great pickup for Chyz and Jax!

[SuhakiYeahYeah]

2 minutes ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

My source says it's Williams!!! Locked in

Seeing as Dylan James and the official hockey account follow him on instagram it's hard to deny now

[Blackheart]

12 minutes ago, tnt said:

If it is Cooper Williams, they might as well get Cooper Simpson's teammate last year, Cooper Siegert, and create a Super Duper Cooper line!

Maybe the 3 of them could wear Cooperalls...

[scpa0305]

Formally announced.  Nice get 

[siouxforce19]

[gfhockey]

Tastes like a chippah

[NoDak Hockey Nation]

Cooper Williams seems to be pretty close with Landon Dupont

[sioux rube]

 

[tnt]

1 hour ago, Blackheart said:

Maybe the 3 of them could wear Cooperalls...

Those looked horrible.  Thought they were going to be the wave of the future when Phil Housley's South Saint Paul team wore them, but I guess common sense prevailed. 

[tnt]

Heard Jax won him over by telling him when Alberta becomes part of the United States he will be eligible for NIL money! 

[brianvf]

41 minutes ago, NoDak Hockey Nation said:

Cooper Williams seems to be pretty close with Landon Dupont

Make it rain, Chyz.  Make it rain.   

[brianvf]

He visited campus last week.  Sounds like it was awesome

Quote

Williams, 17, is expected to return to the Blades next season. His date of arrival on campus is yet to be determined.

Williams, who is eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft, visited UND last week.

"It was awesome," he said. "Everything was so cool. I met a couple of guys on the team. They were awesome. The staff was awesome as well."

Thanks JBD!

Quote

"I was thinking about (college) for a while now, even before the WHL Draft," Williams said. "It was a 50-50 split. It's awesome that the rules changed."

Williams said he knew about UND because of former Fighting Hawks defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker, who helped coach hockey at Williams' elementary school in Calgary.

"I talked to one other school over the phone, but I didn't want to check out other schools," Williams said. "(At UND), the facilities are great, the campus is unreal and it just seemed like the right fit for me."

 

[.357]

"I met a couple of guys on the team. They were awesome."- C. Williams

Like someone else mentioned here, it's nice to have current players who are good ambassadors for the program. Makes it that much easier to sell UND to future recruits. 

A very nice start to establishling the WHL --> UND pipeline. Over a month ago, Jackson told Izzo on a podcast that 60-70% (if memory serves correct) of all CHL talent is in the WHL, which seemed like an exaggeration to me; but he should know, I guess.