University of North Dakota Hockey 2015-16 season

[UNDBIZ]

"It's a joke. Number one, these kids graduate. They have a higher graduation rate than the younger kids. Number two, what business do we have to restrict the age of who can and cannot play? We all know junior hockey has become a big component in the development of hockey players and kids want to stay in it for different reasons, and they go into college for different reasons. ... (They are) better prepared to go to college for their experiences. I think those kids do nothing but benefit our game."

Who's more likely to take the "student" portion of "student athlete" seriously?  The 18 year old 1st round draft pick likely leaving after his sophomore year or the 21 year old undrafted kid likely to stick around for 4+ years?  If college is truly about educating students, the B1G is on the wrong side of this one.

[Goon]

So who starts in net this weekend?

[Goon]

I was wondering how the CBS Line matches up with some of the other lines during the last 15-16 years .

[Cratter]

I was wondering how the CBS Line matches up with some of the other lines during the last 15-16 years .

Probably not quite the NHL accolades in the future, but the DOT line is comparable to this line with two first round NHL picks with the other being undrafted Hobey Candidate.

[Goon]

Probably not quite the NHL accolades in the future, but the DOT line is comparable to this line with two first round NHL picks with the other being undrafted Hobey Candidate.

For sure... 

[Oxbow6]

This team is 14-2-2 under Berry to date. The offensive mind set is vastly different than what we watched for years under Hak. Gone is the continued dump, chase and cycle philosophy. My question is if Hak were still coaching this team would they be 14-2-2 at this stage?  Berry has been a breath of fresh air into this program. 

[jk]

They're loaded and have the horses this year, and I think they'd be 14-2-2 either way.  The coaching staff has been innovative for years, it just hasn't been recognized in a few places, like here for instance.

[Oxbow6]

They're loaded and have the horses this year, and I think they'd be 14-2-2 either way.  The coaching staff has been innovative for years, it just hasn't been recognized in a few places, like here for instance.

Innovative: featuring new methods, introducing new ideas.

 

Hak was overall successful in his tenure at UND but to suggest his coaching style/philosophy was innovative at UND is a huge stretch.

[keikla]

Innovative: featuring new methods, introducing new ideas.

 

Hak was overall successful in his tenure at UND but to suggest his coaching style/philosophy was innovative at UND is a huge stretch.

Maybe innovative wasn't quite the right word to use, but Hak definitely adapted, which is not something he often gets credit for.  Just look at Montgomery's quote from earlier in the week about how DU had studied UND's PK last year prior to the series.  DU's first powerplay went well, so Hak changed the PK system in the middle of the first period.  DU's second powerplay was completely stymied.

[Cratter]

If Hak were still coaching this team would they be 14-2-2 at this stage?  

 

 

 

Thats an easy one.  No.

Hak had more years to do it than I can count with more talented teams but never did.

Its just pure coincidence its happening this year.

With that said Hakstol peaked in his first season as head coach. Let's hope its not the same for Berry.

Edited December 6, 2015 by Cratter

[snova4]

I don't have the blind disgust for Hakstol, so I'll say yes. What I want to know, is will Berry do as well as Hakstol with teams that aren't this offensively loaded. As much as I loved Pattyn, Macmillan, and Parks, let's not pretend they are on the same level as what we're seeing on the ice this season. You can reach back to the dot years, but did they have the defense to back them up that's here now? I don't believe so. This is a perfect crop of stone cold defense with incoming freshman that are beyond ready to play on the big stage. Instead of looking to the past, let's enjoy what we have, and the very real possibility of what they could do come March and April.

[choyt3]

If they both aren't on that team, something is up. 

[yzerman19]

If they both aren't on that team, something is up. 

conspiracy...the NCAA is anti- Alabama Huntsville

[Cratter]

I don't have the blind disgust for Hakstol, so I'll say yes. What I want to know, is will Berry do as well as Hakstol with teams that aren't this offensively loaded. As much as I loved Pattyn, Macmillan, and Parks, let's not pretend they are on the same level as what we're seeing on the ice this season. You can reach back to the dot years, but did they have the defense to back them up that's here now? I don't believe so. This is a perfect crop of stone cold defense with incoming freshman that are beyond ready to play on the big stage. Instead of looking to the past, let's enjoy what we have, and the very real possibility of what they could do come March and April.

 

I thought this team was suppose to be very young and inexperienced with a crap load of freshman and possible a rebuilding year since UND lost half of its scoring from last year. That was the conscious going into the season from most.

I know we have short memories and all but UND just lot its best goalie in school history ( UND’s all-time leader in career goals against average (2.10) and save percentage (.926) and replaced it with one that had virtually no college playing  experience.

UND was selected to finish 3rd in the league this year (also known as a UND rebuilding year). Where they could very well end up. Anything above that and they are exceeding expectations.

Edited December 7, 2015 by Cratter

[snova4]

What I meant was draft position. The reason we were picked so low was freshman don't typically come in and be as dominant as we've seen Boeser be. Heck, even Schmaltz has looked like a 100% different player this season. Again, we were picked as rebuilding because although the talent was there, the freshman were unproven. 

 

I would still say that the goaltending is a weakness. I was at the games this weekend, and Cam played well, but you can't say they had a whole lot of grade A chances. The goal on Friday night was strictly on Ausmus, there isn't a goalie alive that would have stopped that. Happened literally feet from me.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

 

I thought this team was suppose to be very young and inexperienced with a crap load of freshman and possible a rebuilding year since UND lost half of its scoring from last year. That was the conscious going into the season from most.

I know we have short memories and all but UND just lot its best goalie in school history ( UND’s all-time leader in career goals against average (2.10) and save percentage (.926) and replaced it with one that had virtually no college playing  experience.

UND was selected to finish 3rd in the league this year (also known as a UND rebuilding year). Where they could very well end up. Anything above that and they are exceeding expectations.

The current goalies are playing at or above Zane's career number so far.

I think the factor that no one knew coming into the year was how fast could the freshmen contribute.  The answer is pretty unexpected and has buoyed us so far this year.

I think it's silly to say Hakstol would have or wouldn't have done this because you're talking about a parallel universe that will never exist.  I could say Hakstol would have ben 18-0 and you couldn't prove otherwise so arguing the point is futile.

I'm just enjoying the ride and finding very little to be negative about

[snova4]

As to the dump and chase, I actually noticed them doing it quite a bit this weekend. Lots of soft dumps, but I'm not sure if this is player improvement, added speed, or Denver being slower, but we were consistently beating them to the puck. Many times with it happening so fast it didn't even appear as though we'd dumped it. The puck seemed to stall along the boards just before the goal line in the corner.

[Oxbow6]

The current goalies are playing at or above Zane's career number so far.

I think the factor that no one knew coming into the year was how fast could the freshmen contribute.  The answer is pretty unexpected and has buoyed us so far this year.

I think it's silly to say Hakstol would have or wouldn't have done this because you're talking about a parallel universe that will never exist.  I could say Hakstol would have ben 18-0 and you couldn't prove otherwise so arguing the point is futile.

I'm just enjoying the ride and finding very little to be negative about

On the topic of Zane I talked to someone who is very credible Saturday night and said that Zane wishes he would still be in a UND sweater and not sitting on the bench in Providence.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

On the topic of Zane I talked to someone who is very credible Saturday night and said that Zane wishes he would still be in a UND sweater and not sitting on the bench in Providence.

Ugh, that hurts to hear. This team + Zane would be near impossible to beat... and we are pretty tough as it is.

Goalie seems like a tough position to leave college early to go to the pros for.  You're essentially hoping you have what it takes to be one of the 30ish best goalies in the world.

[bigskyvikes]

 

I thought this team was suppose to be very young and inexperienced with a crap load of freshman and possible a rebuilding year since UND lost half of its scoring from last year. That was the conscious going into the season from most.

I know we have short memories and all but UND just lot its best goalie in school history ( UND’s all-time leader in career goals against average (2.10) and save percentage (.926) and replaced it with one that had virtually no college playing  experience.

UND was selected to finish 3rd in the league this year (also known as a UND rebuilding year). Where they could very well end up. Anything above that and they are exceeding expectations.

most of the talking heads you are quoting or that predicted most of what you said are from this site. So there's that....

 

But you and a couple others seem to think this huge suprise is happening because Berry is here and Hak is gone. That is silly, and im 100% in support of Berry. If the coaching changed didnt happen, we would all be thinking this might be the year Hak gets the monkey off his back...IMO.

[Cratter]

most of the talking heads you are quoting or that predicted most of what you said are from this site. So there's that....

 

But you and a couple others seem to think this huge suprise is happening because Berry is here and Hak is gone. That is silly, and im 100% in support of Berry. If the coaching changed didnt happen, we would all be thinking this might be the year Hak gets the monkey off his back...IMO.

Huh?

The "talking points" are from watching hockey over the years. Not from the "experts" here on this site. You didn't have to pay that close attention to know Zane was awesome and left early and nobody behind him barely played. You didn't have to pay that close attention to know UND lost a lot of scoring and replaced them with freshman.

It is a huge surprise. Virtually nobody saw this coming. There was a lot of unknowns coming into this season. That's probably why they were picked third in the league. UND is doing great. I hope they keep it up. There was only one variable that was replaced. I answered a question if this team would probably have the same record with Hak. I answered with pretty well thought out points of how Hakstol had a lot of years and more talented teams to try and never started a season like this. Some think its pure coincidence and that's just as silly. That isn't to say this team could loss in the first round and Hak could have gotten to the Frozen Four again. Maybe Berry peaks early in the season and Hak's were later in the season. We don't know. We do know peaking later in the season is better than peaking early. Years from now someone might ask "Do Berry's teams peak too early in the season?" That answer could possibly be yes. But we sure hope not.

I don't remember a year we didn't think oh "this might be the year Hak gets the monkey off his back."

But I agree I never said anything about dump and chase.

Edited December 7, 2015 by Cratter

[scpa0305]

On the topic of Zane I talked to someone who is very credible Saturday night and said that Zane wishes he would still be in a UND sweater and not sitting on the bench in Providence.

Sitting on the bench? He plays just as much as Subban.  Either way, Providence is not that great this year so I'm sure it's a different atmosphere than he's used to.

[choyt3]

On the topic of Zane I talked to someone who is very credible Saturday night and said that Zane wishes he would still be in a UND sweater and not sitting on the bench in Providence.

Considering he's played half of the PBruins games, and that they have a history of splitting their goalies at that level at pretty close to 50/50 the last 4 seasons, he shouldn't be surprised??

[Oxbow6]

Sitting on the bench? He plays just as much as Subban.  Either way, Providence is not that great this year so I'm sure it's a different atmosphere than he's used to.

Considering he's played half of the PBruins games, and that they have a history of splitting their goalies at that level at pretty close to 50/50 the last 4 seasons, he shouldn't be surprised??

Yah............I guess his comments were probably "misspoken" then.

[jdub27]

You didn't have to pay that close attention to know Zane was awesome and left early and nobody behind him barely played. You didn't have to pay that close attention to know UND lost a lot of scoring and replaced them with freshman.

 

There was only one variable that was replaced.

You described a bunch of changes and then pointed to a new coach as the only variable that was replaced. Seems contradictory.