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Closing in on Epic Title Drought


Benny Baker

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There was more to Rocky moving on then his on the field results but how ever you need to mold the story to help your cause.

With all the success we've had short of a natty the last 11 years, if Haks was only 2 games above .500 winning percentage, my guess is he would be fired too.  At some schools that might earn an extension though.

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They still play against teams with the same amount of scholarships and teams within the same classification like UND hockey.

And like D-II hoops, they get to play (albeit they earn it by being seeded high enough) all play-off games at home until the title game.  That's a huge factor in play-off runs. 

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And like D-II hoops, they get to play (albeit they earn it by being seeded high enough) all play-off games at home until the title game. That's a huge factor in play-off runs.

Which is very hard to do being #1 at the end of the season.

How many times has UND been #1 in the pairwise at the end of the season... Once (this year) in a decade?

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Reminder to all that ndsu is playing at lower tier D1-AA ftbl level (they're damn good at it, I grant you that) with few NFL draft picks and not at the top tier college hockey level with NHL picks filling rosters. Not apples to apples.

Winning champinships requires a unique level of mental toughness, and an attitude of sacrifice, and not being entitled. Yes, the two programs are not apples to apples.
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Winning champinships requires a unique level of mental toughness, and an attitude of sacrifice, and not being entitled. Yes, the two programs are not apples to apples.

Oh, I get it now. You're saying UND hockey players are not mentally tough, put themselves above the team, and are entitled, thus the programs are not apples to apples.

Go home troll breath.

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You are right, it is 4 titles and not 5. My bad, next time I will look it up first. :blush:

As for the rest of your post, the players do what they are told by the coaches. Hakstol likes his players to play certain systems, which I think sometimes limits their creativity. Once you get to this point in the season, you need all cylinders firing to win. Our lack of goal scoring in some of these games is a problem and at least some of that can be blamed on Hakstol's "Baseline" B.S. You cannot expect your goalie to shut everybody out all the time, so you better be able to "put the biscuit in the basket", as it were.

Also, as I have said before, once you get into March and April, the differences between the teams in terms of talent levels gets narrower and narrower. That is where coaching, strategy and preparation come into play. Now, I don't know if this was the main factor on Thursday, but I think it was during some previous failed Frozen Four appearances and that is why some people are so frustrated right now. It isn't just what happened on Thursday, it's the cumulative effect of a 1-6 Frozen Four record over the past 11 years.

And finally, when you are the CEO of an organization (as Hakstol is), the buck stops with you. Not the captain of the team. Not your assistants (something Denny Green never figured out). You. That is why in collegiate (and more so in professional) sports, you don't get rid of all the players (that would make you an expansion team), you get rid of the coach and/or the G.M.

Hakstol is the only common denominator during the past 11 years, so he will get criticized when the team fails. And I think he understands that it goes with the territory. Too bad some of our fans don't understand it.

I get that he will be criticized but at some point you have to call out your employees (as you would say) for not performing at the level they have been known to do. Hak can only do so much but the players need to step up, but you'll never hear that from the team because they win and lose as a team.

By what you say, it should be BU's coach fault for letting in that goal.

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Winning champinships requires a unique level of mental toughness, and an attitude of sacrifice, and not being entitled. Yes, the two programs are not apples to apples.

Seems like a lot of UND hockey players are there to mainly just train for the next level.

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I get that he will be criticized but at some point you have to call out your employees (as you would say) for not performing at the level they have been known to do. Hak can only do so much but the players need to step up, but you'll never hear that from the team because they win and lose as a team.

By what you say, it should be BU's coach fault for letting in that goal.

You totally missed my main point.  The one common denominator the past 11 years is Hakstol.  The players come and go, even some of the assistants have come and gone, but the CEO, the boss, is the same.  This is his baby, for better or worse.

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Seems like a lot of UND hockey players are there to mainly just train for the next level.

 

 

This!

And, if that is the case, how does preparing (training) for the next level not help this team? Name one person on this past UND team that was there for themselves and not the team. An awful lot of pompous posting from someone that never played competitive sports in these threads. For some of you that are so disgusted by the outcome of the game last Thursday and what you have perceived as a pattern for the program, I don't understand why you put yourself through the continued anguish of being a fan of a team that keeps letting you down. After all, you deserve a championship. If it takes moving on, then move on.

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Seems like a lot of UND hockey players are there to mainly just train for the next level.

I wouldn't say a lot but there are a few that I don't think gave 100% & were not that noticeable - I don't want to name names but 2 were 1st rounders

The last couple teams to win it all did not have any 1st rounders - what did they have ?

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I've tried to stay away from the Sioux hockey forums for the last couple days because I know I am a poor loser and Thursday's game had me very frustrated. For the third straight time at the frozen four the Sioux can say they outplayed their opponent and still lost. McIntyre played one of his worst games of the year. I would say it was his worst since at least 2 goals can be called weak and I would say 3 out of four were weak. Even with the gift O'Connor gave us, we still couldn't overcome the hump. And then yesterday, a team we thoroughly outplayed during the regular season was able to get their first national title much like Duluth was able to in 2011. 

 

I don't know what needs to happen to help us get over the hump. Sometimes firing the coach is the right decision like it was for the Red Sox in 2003. Sometimes it isn't. I think Hakstol has improved immensely as a coach and he is definitely no Grady Little. I didn't follow Sioux hockey too closely until I came to UND in 2011, but I think it is pretty safe to say that Hakstol's early trips to the frozen four led to us being outplayed and losing. That hasn't been the case the last 3 trips. Our team has been ready to go. Hakstol is figuring something out. Our defensive corps no longer includes any pylons and that was a big part of our problem. We can skate with anyone. As long as we keep putting ourselves in position to win it all, we should eventually get it. It will lead to more heartbreak than other programs have to deal with but hopefully some day it will all be worth it.

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I wouldn't say a lot but there are a few that I don't think gave 100% & were not that noticeable - I don't want to name names but 2 were 1st rounders

The last couple teams to win it all did not have any 1st rounders - what did they have ?

I feel like the Schmaltz brothers take a lot more crap than they deserve. Going back to DOT's freshman year, only those three, Gregoire, Kristo, and Grimaldi put up better point totals than Nick as freshmen. That is some solid company. Jordan is consistently in good position and very rarely gets beat one on one by any opponents. He isn't physical but was anyone ever really expecting him to be a physical force? He's been one of our better defensemen in a group that is just about as good as any UND has ever had.

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I feel like the Schmaltz brothers take a lot more crap than they deserve. Going back to DOT's freshman year, only those three, Gregoire, Kristo, and Grimaldi put up better point totals than Nick as freshmen. That is some solid company. Jordan is consistently in good position and very rarely gets beat one on one by any opponents. He isn't physical but was anyone ever really expecting him to be a physical force? He's been one of our better defensemen in a group that is just about as good as any UND has ever had.

I agree, both Nick and Jordan were two of the better players on the ice Thursday night and left it all out there. There may have been a couple games where different guys didn't show up during the season for whatever reason. IMO it is absolute garbage that people are calling out Nick and Jordan for their effort there wasn't a guy on the ice in most games this year who didn't give max effort.

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I feel like the Schmaltz brothers take a lot more crap than they deserve. Going back to DOT's freshman year, only those three, Gregoire, Kristo, and Grimaldi put up better point totals than Nick as freshmen. That is some solid company. Jordan is consistently in good position and very rarely gets beat one on one by any opponents. He isn't physical but was anyone ever really expecting him to be a physical force? He's been one of our better defensemen in a group that is just about as good as any UND has ever had.

Completely agree. Jordan was very good for us. Also nick was good as well. You noted his point totals, his numbers would have been a lot better but he wasn't playing with the caliber of offensive players the others were playing with (excluding Rocco but Rocco generates his own points where nick needs a finisher).

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Winning champinships requires a unique level of mental toughness, and an attitude of sacrifice, and not being entitled. Yes, the two programs are not apples to apples.

Cripes, touchy-touchy and I even praised the Herd.  Point being one game does not justify establishing the better team in hockey (like in baseball), unlike football. Your statement can't be further from the truth.

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Seems like a lot of UND hockey players are there to mainly just train for the next level.

This!

Would love to hear which players you think didn't put it all on the line while wearing a UND sweater. Should be easy since you both feel there are lots of them.
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I was never overly impressed with Rocco either

He was certainly not Parise or Toews but he was still a very fine collegiate hockey player, nonetheless.  I sure wish we had had him back this past season, no doubt.  Admittedly, not sure how successful he'll be at the next level though? 

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Would love to hear which players you think didn't put it all on the line while wearing a UND sweater. Should be easy since you both feel there are lots of them.

 ^this.

 

Our guys have always dished out their fair share of hits and we always seem to be putting our bodies on the line to block shots.  You quite simply do not do that if you are just biding your time until you get to the next level.  The prairie rats to the east have a MUCH bigger problem with this than we do.

 

I don't see anything wrong with our guys having goals.

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