UND 2013-14 season

[I Ranger]

I can't see Forbort leaving, but I suppose it's always a possibility. I'm including him until a final decision is made. I also think Tambellini will play center, at least to start anyway.

1st Line: Ma. MacMillan-Grimaldi-Parks

2nd Line: Mi. MacMillan-Tambellini-Caggiula

3rd Line: St. Clair-Johnson-O'Donnell

4th Line: Gaarder-Pattyn-Rodwell

Extra: Chyzyk, Senkbeil, Sanderson, Murphy

D1: Forbort-Schmaltz

D2: Simpson-LaDue

D3: Poolman-Mattson

Extra: Panzarella

Goalies: Gothberg, Saunders

Murphy will be an everyday player. He is probably our best incoming forward although the other two will probably get drafted higher.

[UNDBIZ]

In my highly regarded professional opinion, I'm thinking Parks on the second line because I'm not sure he has the speed to stay with Rocco. 3rd line also built for speed.

Mark Mac - Grimaldi - Caggiula

Parks - Tambellini - O'Donnel (the Pot Line?? haha)

Mitch Mac - Johnson - Murphy

St. Clair - Pattyn - Rodwell

Extra: Chyzyk, Senbeil, Sanderson, Gaarder

Forbort - Schmaltz

Simpson - Ladue

Mattson - Stecher

Gothberg

Saunders

[Walsh Hall]

If Forbert and SImpson stay I'll really not concerned with the back end next year, and believe that our D should be better overall next year. If they leave I'll be very worried. The G situation is fine.

With the returning forwards I see 6 solid top 3 line guys and a heck of a 4th line. Some guys will absolutely need to step up their games, but I see a fairly balanced and deep group. The step up will need to be much greater than what we saw this past year.

We'll need 3-4 freshman to be contributors.

Most of all we need to have some continuity with the lines by the Christmas break. I'd like to hear the actual story of why that didn't happen this year.

[Oxbow6]

I think we are giving the 3 incoming freshman forwards way too much credit before they even hit campus. If OD can figure it out this off season I could see the Mac brothers and him on the same line next year. Seems Hak has a thing for OD and Mitch. Gaarder has a tough time being bumped from the lineup and as I mentioned before I think Chyzyk has excellent upside offensively and next season will be make or break for him. St. Clair will be an every game player as will Pattyn. Rodwell is a lineup question mark. Lots of options, but lineup juggling like this year can't happen if next year's team has any chance.

[SIOUXELEVENS]

_{Caggulia-St.Clair-Grimaldi}

_{Parks-Mark Mac-Tambellini}

_{Murphy-Johnson-Chyzyk}

_{Rodwell-Pattyn-Sinkbeil}

_{Forbert-Schmaltz}

_{Panzarella-mattson}

_{Ladue-Stecher}

[UNDBIZ]

I think we are giving the 3 incoming freshman forwards way too much credit before they even hit campus. If OD can figure it out this off season I could see the Mac brothers and him on the same line next year. Seems Hak has a thing for OD and Mitch. Gaarder has a tough time being bumped from the lineup and as I mentioned before I think Chyzyk has excellent upside offensively and next season will be make or break for him. St. Clair will be an every game player as will Pattyn. Rodwell is a lineup question mark. Lots of options, but lineup juggling like this year can't happen if next year's team has any chance.

But Hak says the line combinations don't matter....

[Oxbow6]

_{Caggulia-St.Clair-Grimaldi}

_{Parks-Mark Mac-Tambellini}

_{Murphy-Johnson-Chyzyk}

_{Rodwell-Pattyn-Sinkbeil}

_{Forbert-Schmaltz}

_{Panzarella-mattson}

_{Ladue-Stecher}

This is what I had envisioned as well. Colton can skate with the other 2 and he can create down low. I like the 2nd line alot as well as the 3rd line. But there is ZERO chance IMO that OD and Mitch both sit regularly based on the ample opportunities Hak gave them this past season.

[Oxbow6]

But Hak says the line combinations don't matter....

And this goes back to the round peg/square hole mentality Hak portrays sometimes IMO.

[watchmaker49]

In my highly regarded professional opinion, I'm thinking Parks on the second line because I'm not sure he has the speed to stay with Rocco. 3rd line also built for speed.

Mark Mac - Grimaldi - Caggiula

Parks - Tambellini - O'Donnel (the Pot Line?? haha)

Mitch Mac - Johnson - Murphy

St. Clair - Pattyn - Rodwell

Extra: Chyzyk, Senbeil, Sanderson, Gaarder

Forbort - Schmaltz

Simpson - Ladue

Mattson - Stecher

Gothberg

Saunders

Is there anyone one to replace Mattson?

[Just Curious]

Is there anyone one to replace Mattson?

There as been alot of negative reviews on Mattson lately, but personally I think he is doing pretty well considering his size and style of play. He has finally started to show some confidence with the puck, and while he tends to be overly fancy at times and did make some bad turnovers; he is still contributing some offensive pressure from the blueline. He had a few new defensive plays in the NCAA playoffs and another year with Berry will greatly improve that. I thought Gleason was by far the worst defensemen down the stretch and Schmaltz was pretty poor at times. I thought Mattson ranked in the middle.

I don't think we will see Stetcher or Ladue play on a regulat basis at the beginning of the year. I think Panzarella will get more icetime as the freshmen are given time to adjust to the college game. UND will be lacking size and strength next year on the blueline, so Panzarella's experience and physical presence wiill come in handy. I think careful pairings will be key to a strong D-core next year.

[watchmaker49]

There as been alot of negative reviews on Mattson lately, but personally I think he is doing pretty well considering his size and style of play. He has finally started to show some confidence with the puck, and while he tends to be overly fancy at times and did make some bad turnovers; he is still contributing some offensive pressure from the blueline. He had a few new defensive plays in the NCAA playoffs and another year with Berry will greatly improve that. I thought Gleason was by far the worst defensemen down the stretch and Schmaltz was pretty poor at times. I thought Mattson ranked in the middle.

I don't think we will see Stetcher or Ladue play on a regulat basis at the beginning of the year. I think Panzarella will get more icetime as the freshmen are given time to adjust to the college game. UND will be lacking size and strength next year on the blueline, so Panzarella's experience and physical presence wiill come in handy. I think careful pairings will be key to a strong D-core next year.

Because Mattson was a liability the entire season. I hope you are right that Bubs can mold him into a good d.

[UNDBIZ]

Because Mattson was a liability the entire season. I hope you are right that Bubs can mold him into a good d.

I'm thinking/hoping it was a sophomore slump and he'll be much improved this fall.

[Just Curious]

Because Mattson was a liability the entire season. I hope you are right that Bubs can mold him into a good d.

I think the D-core in general was a liability all year. I am not sure you can argue for one person over another. Simpson was good for most of the year, but still had some very poor games. MacWilliam was basically nullified by the refs all year. Forbort started and ended strong, but had a slump in the middle. Schmaltz struggled all year on both ends of the ice. Gleason and Mattson suffered from being paired together most of the year. Both showed a flash or two, but ultimately they did not play well together (two guys thinknig offense first makes for numerous d-zone errors). I am not trying to advocate for Mattson being perfect, I am simply saying that by singly him out for improvement is overlooking the flaws elsewhere. I think his puck handling and passing abilities will be a real asset next year and his production will increase. I do think he needs to be paired with someone that is more stay-at home and that he needs to put on 10 pounds of muscle so he stops getting beat down-low.

[Walsh Hall]

It's tough to find a physical D-man that has the skating ability to keep up. Panz. just doesn't have the speed necessary to be a top 6 guy. Even the ultra talented/athletic guys like Commie and Greene took quite awhile to adjust.

He may need to tighten it up, but I like Mattson's skill and potential.

[siouxweet]

just looking at the potential rosters of teams next year, miami and st. cloud look to be stacked going into next year. early nchc predicitons:

scsu

miami

denver

und

uno

wmu

duluth

cc

[watchmaker49]

Could we look at Mattson as getting on the job training versus classroom (practice) training? Better words even with the mistakes in the long run it was better to play him than bench him.

[SIOUXELEVENS]

This is what I had envisioned as well. Colton can skate with the other 2 and he can create down low. I like the 2nd line alot as well as the 3rd line. But there is ZERO chance IMO that OD and Mitch both sit regularly based on the ample opportunities Hak gave them this past season.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, I think OD will be ok but not a real fan of Mitch, great shot not much else going that puts him in the line up night after night. Chyzyk has shown signs of being a player but you have to let him.

[jk]

Schmaltz got worked in his own end, but physical maturity will help with that. On offense, I thought he was terrific, and far ahead of the usual freshman defensemen. He handled the puck at the blueline a lot, and rarely fumbled it or had it go the other way odd-man. I think he's going to grow into a very good college defenseman offensively, and I hope he's able to get there in his own zone.

[tnt]

just looking at the potential rosters of teams next year, miami and st. cloud look to be stacked going into next year. early nchc predicitons:

scsu

miami

denver

und

uno

wmu

duluth

cc

St. Cloud loses their two big guns as well with LeBlanc and Hanowski, and I would bet there will be a lot of interest in signing Jensen, and who knows about Gravel. Might depend on how St. Cloud finishes out. If they reach the pinnacle, who knows. I would think that Miami and Denver are early favorites, but Shore was ready to leave earlier, so who knows what he decides, and do they lose any recruits to the Gwoz firing. Lot of stuff left to be flushed out for all the teams.

[as15]

Schmaltz got worked in his own end, but physical maturity will help with that. On offense, I thought he was terrific, and far ahead of the usual freshman defensemen. He handled the puck at the blueline a lot, and rarely fumbled it or had it go the other way odd-man. I think he's going to grow into a very good college defenseman offensively, and I hope he's able to get there in his own zone.

Totally agree, so much poise offensively for a freshman d-man. This will be his first off-season under an NCAA workout program, hopefully he comes in next fall after adding 10 pounds of muscle in the offseason.

[siouxweet]

St. Cloud loses their two big guns as well with LeBlanc and Hanowski, and I would bet there will be a lot of interest in signing Jensen, and who knows about Gravel. Might depend on how St. Cloud finishes out. If they reach the pinnacle, who knows. I would think that Miami and Denver are early favorites, but Shore was ready to leave earlier, so who knows what he decides, and do they lose any recruits to the Gwoz firing. Lot of stuff left to be flushed out for all the teams.

at this point I think you could flip flop und and denver, but denver could have a few less ?'s with scoring heading into the season. this conference is sick. the one thing I fear going into this conference is everyone will be beating up on each other which could end up lowering pwr rankings. seriously you could win the league and have a team like cc or duluth for your first round series.

[tnt]

at this point I think you could flip flop und and denver, but denver could have a few less ?'s with scoring heading into the season. this conference is sick. the one thing I fear going into this conference is everyone will be beating up on each other which could end up lowering pwr rankings. seriously you could win the league and have a team like cc or duluth for your first round series.

Which is why I have no problem with our Non-conference games with Northern Michigan, Vermont, Bemidji State. The critical thing for the NCHC is going to be that the teams need to take care of the non-conference schedules against those other leagues. Sioux, and others from the NCHC can't afford to stumble against the lesser teams from other leagues. With the new league, non-conference games have gone from important to critical.

[Oxbow6]

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, I think OD will be ok but not a real fan of Mitch, great shot not much else going that puts him in the line up night after night. Chyzyk has shown signs of being a player but you have to let him.

I love what Colton brings but Bryn is much more talented offensively from their days in Fargo. The restriction of Hak's system doesn't bode well for some players. All I know is I play Bryn before Mitch or OD any game from what I've seen of those 3.

[siouxweet]

Which is why I have no problem with our Non-conference games with Northern Michigan, Vermont, Bemidji State. The critical thing for the NCHC is going to be that the teams need to take care of the non-conference schedules against those other leagues. Sioux, and others from the NCHC can't afford to stumble against the lesser teams from other leagues. With the new league, non-conference games have gone from important to critical.

which is why I am okay with adding a robert morris here or a holy cross there. I just don't want to see a stacked nc schedule to go with our nchc schedule along the lines of bc,bu,notre dame and minny/wisc in the same year. that would be commtting scheduling suicide.

[SiouxScore]

St. Cloud loses their two big guns as well with LeBlanc and Hanowski, and I would bet there will be a lot of interest in signing Jensen, and who knows about Gravel. Might depend on how St. Cloud finishes out. If they reach the pinnacle, who knows. I would think that Miami and Denver are early favorites, but Shore was ready to leave earlier, so who knows what he decides, and do they lose any recruits to the Gwoz firing. Lot of stuff left to be flushed out for all the teams.

I agree I wouldn't be suprised if Jensen signs with Detroit with the situation they have with defensemen right now and think LA could be just as likley if not more likely to sign Gravel rather than Forbort. Another guy that could sign for them would be Nic Dowd with the Kings. I see St.Cloud being more around the middle of the pack next year. If I had to rank them right now with just guessing on early departures I would go: 1.Miami 2.UND 3.Denver 4.St.Cloud 5.Omaha 6.Duluth 7.Western Michigan 8.Colorado College