NORTH DAKOTA @ St. Cloud State

[MafiaMan]

3 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

Go old school.......white.

I'm thinking green...stands out in that sea of red, white, and black.

[OgieOgilthorpe]

Granted it is early in the season, but I have been a little frustrated by the LITTLE things this year. 

UND Without the puck

1. Chasing their D-men behind the net when the play isn't there!!! Rather than gliding around the back of the net to keep momentum like a goon, we need to start stopping and starting to stay in the play and to keep yourself in front of the play. Horribly lazy habit and it takes you out of the play right off the bat for their ensuing attack. 

2. Poor dump and chase habits;  If possible, the dump needs to be hard...not sally-flicked to their D-man for a quick turnaround. 1st man needs to be going hard to stop or slow their break-out,  playing the man and disrupting any way possible (not happening). The 2nd man needs to find the puck and gain control...if that task is not there, be 1st man. Far too often our forwards are getting to the dump too late, and/or both guys are getting caught too low when the fore-check is obviously lost. 

3. Bad angles; Plays a huge role in the neutral zone battle. Force a turnover, force them to ice it, force them to make a poor dump in. Getting clowned there so far this season by NCHC teams.

4. D-men stepping up; Mostly about feel, but one thing to know is that if it's an even man rush, you're pretty safe to step up and close on him. That doesn't seem to be happening enough. The D-men are missing opportunities to take the man to stop the rush. On the other hand... a 3-2 rush, hold your spots and ride it out... jumping the gun and causing a 3-1 or even a 2-1 is not worth the highlight hit...which seems to be happening a lot more than it should. 

5. PK...We need our fast, strong, tenacious and hard nosed players out there, not our goal scorers. We are killing a Penalty Barry, not scoring goals. Give the big dogs a rest on PK.

 

UND With the puck

1. Taking shots that aren't there. Sure, I understand getting the puck to the net to create scoring opputunities BUT shooting the puck no matter what is NOT a good choice. I don't recall a team at any level that gets shots blocked more than this team so far. It has been often credited to the other team, but I see us taking poor shots when the lane isn't there. That is unless we are going for the strategy of trying to hurt the other players by hitting them with pucks, because that seems to be working a little bit. 

2. Weak side; Forwards have missed out on countless cake slap rebounds by getting sucked in too far to the crease. Stay back, have patience and wait for the rebound to come to you. It is easy to take a step or 2 forward to slap it in, but having it blast off the goalie and into your feet makes for a much tougher rebound goal. Sometimes I have seen that rebound pop out with the forward no where to be found. Frustrating, but sometimes a sign of over anxious young players. No need to stand on top of the goalie on the weak side. 

3. Boeser needs to be a play maker not a goal scorer this season. We need him to shoot low to create rebounds. We need him to dish it off when he's being hawked. We need him to create goals 3-4 times a weekend, not get one top cheese goal a series. Way way way too many blocked shots on him. H is also turning it over in the slot when there are 3 guys on him and also way too many high shots into the glass when he is trying to snipe when he has a line-mate running to the far post. He needs to step it up, he is failing his leadership role by far the most this season IMO. 

 

 

 

[Oxbow6]

Cole Smith can play at this level but is definitely at this stage a bottom 6 forward.  

JJ IMO is the 6th top 6 guy.

[Oxbow6]

14 minutes ago, MafiaMan said:

I'm thinking green...stands out in that sea of red, white, and black.

Good point

[UNDMOORHEAD]

3 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

Cole Smith can play at this level but is definitely at this stage a bottom 6 forward.  

JJ IMO is the 6th top 6 guy.

I'd agree with that. I like Cole as a third line guy. Hard to play against with occasional offense. I know he's older so not sure if he'll ever be a top 6 guy.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

41 minutes ago, OgieOgilthorpe said:

Granted it is early in the season, but I have been a little frustrated by the LITTLE things this year. 

UND Without the puck

1. Chasing their D-men behind the net when the play isn't there!!! Rather than gliding around the back of the net to keep momentum like a goon, we need to start stopping and starting to stay in the play and to keep yourself in front of the play. Horribly lazy habit and it takes you out of the play right off the bat for their ensuing attack. 

I will say that they did this all of last year and remember someone mentioning this is by design. Not a great hockey mind but may be a better way to press the player into making a mistake

[franchise]

4 hours ago, scpa0305 said:

Olson is a smarter player if you watch him pass.  Doesn't skate well though.  Bowen skates well but isnt the brightest player if you really watch him.  I wouldnt necessarily call Bowen an offensive player, other than single A high school hockey, he has never been a point getter.  Prior to college, Olson has put up nice numbers everywhere he's been.  So far I've liked Yon's game.

Guess I'll have to watch a little closer. I only watched Bowen is HS so that's probably why I see him that way.

I know Olson has had more scoring touch in the past.

[northdakota18]

18 minutes ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

I will say that they did this all of last year and remember someone mentioning this is by design. Not a great hockey mind but may be a better way to press the player into making a mistake

Generally speaking you want to force them to make a play on their backhand 

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

11 minutes ago, northdakota18 said:

Generally speaking you want to force them to make a play on their backhand 

That makes sense

[sioux24/7]

7 hours ago, siouxstudent said:

I think a few of us are meeting at MC Dugout before/after the game.

Do you know if there are any bars that offer a shuttle or anything to the game?

[siouxstudent]

13 minutes ago, sioux24/7 said:

Do you know if there are any bars that offer a shuttle or anything to the game?

I dont and was wondering the same as well

[OgieOgilthorpe]

2 hours ago, northdakota18 said:

Generally speaking you want to force them to make a play on their backhand 

That makes sense. Given their consistency with it, it does make sense it's by design so that helps a little I guess.

 

Getting detailed----I still don't agree with that forechecking strategy though. I'd much rather have him keep leverage and force the d man to make a play while still staying with the play. One more guy to clog up lanes and to clog up the neutral zone. It's common but effective in my opinion. 

[scpa0305]

Big road sweep this weekend will turn the boys around.

[Oxbow6]

With the PK being as it is the big ice will not help if UND continues to march players to the box. This team won't go anywhere until their special teams improve.

[hky]

Boeser Gardner Poganski    (heavy and skilled)

Gersich Jost  Hoff   (fast, all can score)

JJ  Wilkie Bowen   (worth a try)

Smith Simonson Olson   (older, don't let the other team score line)

I like Yon too.

 

[siouxforce19]

29 minutes ago, hky said:

Boeser Gardner Poganski    (heavy and skilled)

Gersich Jost  Hoff   (fast, all can score)

JJ  Wilkie Bowen   (worth a try)

Smith Simonson Olson   (older, don't let the other team score line)

I like Yon too.

 

Pogo and Boeser are both right wings. Not sure we'll ever see them on the same line. 

[Oxbow6]

46 minutes ago, hky said:

Boeser Gardner Gersich    

Pogo Jost  JJ  

Wilkie Hoff Yon

Smith/Bowen Simonson Olson  

 

 

FYP. I'd go with this...^^^

[scpa0305]

43 minutes ago, hky said:

Boeser Gardner Poganski    (heavy and skilled)

Gersich Jost  Hoff   (fast, all can score)

JJ  Wilkie Bowen   (worth a try)

Smith Simonson Olson   (older, don't let the other team score line)

I like Yon too.

 

would be interesting to see Boeser on the left side.  Wilkie is definitely not a C.  I would put Yon over Bowen as well.

Boeser - Gardner - Pogo

Gersich - Jost - Wilkie

JJ - Hoff - Olson

Yon - Simo - Smith (bowen could fit in on the third or 4th) 

[scpa0305]

7 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

FYP. I'd go with this...^^^

however everyone would be on their off hands   all or nothing huh

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

1 minute ago, scpa0305 said:

would be interesting to see Boeser on the left side.  Wilkie is definitely not a C.  I would put Yon over Bowen as well.

Boeser - Gardner - Pogo

Gersich - Jost - Wilkie

JJ - Hoff - Olson

Yon - Simo - Smith (bowen could fit in on the third or 4th) 

It almost seems like Wilkie has been sleepwalking through games, not sure I'd want him in a top 6 role right now.

[scpa0305]

2 minutes ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

It almost seems like Wilkie has been sleepwalking through games, not sure I'd want him in a top 6 role right now.

I know....if he doesn't produce with Gersich and Jost I'm at a loss.  What I was thinking was that playing with these two would open him up.

[Oxbow6]

4 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

however everyone would be on their off hands   all or nothing huh

I was too lazy to put them on their correct side.............................................

[scpa0305]

3 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

I was too lazy to put them on their correct side.............................................

I see....i do like those lines.  I'd worry a bit about that third (unless Wilkie starts playing up to his potential).

[stoneySIOUX]

20 minutes ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

It almost seems like Wilkie has been sleepwalking through games, not sure I'd want him in a top 6 role right now.

He's becoming more and more like Wade Murphy to me, every week. He's just not getting it done.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

4 minutes ago, stoneySIOUX said:

He's becoming more and more like Wade Murphy to me, every week. He's just not getting it done.

He started to put the puck in the net and the end of last year but it was always someone else creating space for him.

He's got a good shot but that's moot if he can't find space to release it.