University of North Dakota Hockey 2017-18 Season

[as15]

My thoughts.  First line is all upper classmen, should be by far best offensive and defensive line.  Second line is two potentially good offensive producers in Adams and Hoff.  JJ brings veteran 2-way play while still producing solid offense.  Third line will be a train wreck defensively, but could be very good offensively.  4th line is a pretty proven energy line, substitute Yon possibly.

Colton Poolman is ready to be the #1 next year.  With his progress this year and given his age, I'm worried that his sophomore year could be his last at UND.  If Wolanin can round out his defensive game a bit more, he might be gone next year as well. 

 

Gersich-Gardner-Poganski

Adams-Hoff-Janatuinen

Mismash-Kawaguchi-WIlkie

Olson-Simonson-Bowen

Wolanin-Poolman

Shaw-Peski

Johnson-Bast

[scpa0305]

5 minutes ago, as15 said:

My thoughts.  First line is all upper classmen, should be by far best offensive and defensive line.  Second line is two potentially good offensive producers in Adams and Hoff.  JJ brings veteran 2-way play while still producing solid offense.  Third line will be a train wreck defensively, but could be very good offensively.  4th line is a pretty proven energy line, substitute Yon possibly.

Colton Poolman is ready to be the #1 next year.  With his progress this year and given his age, I'm worried that his sophomore year could be his last at UND.  If Wolanin can round out his defensive game a bit more, he might be gone next year as well. 

 

Gersich-Gardner-Poganski

Adams-Hoff-Janatuinen

Mismash-Kawaguchi-WIlkie

Olson-Simonson-Bowen

Wolanin-Poolman

Shaw-Peski

Johnson-Bast

Not bad...I still think jones will immediately crack the lineup. Also, I think you're positions are a bit mixed up.  

[tnt]

21 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

Not bad...I still think jones will immediately crack the lineup. Also, I think you're positions are a bit mixed up.  

It's really tough to say how people adjust to the next level and what their new roles will be.  If you went strictly by numbers, Easton Brodzinski should have been playing for St. Cloud before Bowen played at UND, but Bowen fulfilled a role we needed. Jones knows what to expect from college hockey, and even though Kawaguchi put up bigger numbers, they both put up about the same percentage of their teams goals, 35 percent for Kawaguchi, and 33 percent for Jones. The fact that they are both Captains, says a lot about their standing on their current teams.  I suspect both will see quite a bit of action, but if they don't, it means some guys stepped up their games a bit from last year.  Can't complain if that happens.  Bottom line is while the real high end guys might not be here, the competition for ice time is going to lift the level of play for everybody else.

 

[as15]

45 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

Not bad...I still think jones will immediately crack the lineup. Also, I think you're positions are a bit mixed up.  

What positions are screwed up? 

Gersich-Gardner-Poganski:  Those players played 95% of games at those positions this year

Adams-Hoff-Janatuinen:  Adams played LW all of last year, some C this year.  Hoff played both this year.  Janatuinen has played both wings for UND.

Mismash-Kawaguchi-Wilkie:  Mismash plays LW for the USNTDP, Kawaguchi plays C, although he might be a wing in the NCAA.  Wilkie has always been a RW.

Olson-Simonson-Bowen:  Olson has played both wings at UND, Simonson is always a C, Bowen can play C, but also played RW this year.

[geaux_sioux]

1 minute ago, as15 said:

What positions are screwed up? 

Gersich-Gardner-Poganski:  Those players played 95% of games at those positions this year

Adams-Hoff-Janatuinen:  Adams played LW all of last year, some C this year.  Hoff played both this year.  Janatuinen has played both wings for UND.

Mismash-Kawaguchi-Wilkie:  Mismash plays LW for the USNTDP, Kawaguchi plays C, although he might be a wing in the NCAA.  Wilkie has always been a RW.

Olson-Simonson-Bowen:  Olson has played both wings at UND, Simonson is always a C, Bowen can play C, but also played RW this year.

Smith and Gornall need to be out there next year from the start. They are spark plugs for the team and play Sioux hockey.

[scpa0305]

30 minutes ago, tnt said:

It's really tough to say how people adjust to the next level and what their new roles will be.  If you went strictly by numbers, Easton Brodzinski should have been playing for St. Cloud before Bowen played at UND, but Bowen fulfilled a role we needed. Jones knows what to expect from college hockey, and even though Kawaguchi put up bigger numbers, they both put up about the same percentage of their teams goals, 35 percent for Kawaguchi, and 33 percent for Jones. The fact that they are both Captains, says a lot about their standing on their current teams.  I suspect both will see quite a bit of action, but if they don't, it means some guys stepped up their games a bit from last year.  Can't complain if that happens.  Bottom line is while the real high end guys might not be here, the competition for ice time is going to lift the level of play for everybody else.

 

Yes I get Bowen can play a nice 3rd/4th line role (and that he's not as offensively talented as some of the guys that put up (much) bigger numbers in juniors).  I'm just saying that jones will come in as a junior, although he's the same age as a typical overager.  In seeing him play, he's much more offensively talented than a guy like Bowen, but he also plays a nice two way game.  Which would fit in nicely on our 2nd-4th lines.  He's not all offense,  he plays the game the right way.  He probably just went to OSU a tad too early.  We'll soon find out.

[Oxbow6]

12 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

Smith and Gornall need to be out there next year from the start. They are spark plugs for the team and play Sioux hockey.

Ummmmmmmm........that's not allowed here unless you're up to a caning or water boarding (your choice) by some on this site. 

Both those guys needs to play IMO too.

[Irish]

On 3/31/2017 at 11:34 AM, jk said:

I've been kicking around a PP theory, although I haven't researched it.  It starts with the premise that UND has underperformed on the PP since Blais was the coach.  That may not be true, according to the numbers, but it feels that way.  UND pretty much perennially has top 10 talent, and I think it's fairly often in the top 10 in goal scoring, but I feel like it's not often in the top 10 in PP success.  If that's not true, then the rest of this is pointless.

I recall wishing the great teams of the late 1990s could decline PPs, because they just seemed to rob the teams of their momentum.  They were on their toes a lot, heavy forecheck, lots of energy.  That style of play has carried over through two coaching changes, and you saw it on full display against BU.  UND gave BU little time to get anything going, and were very aggressive.  The Sioux had the puck most of the game.

I think UND recruits guys who fit that style, and I'm not sure that is well suited to the standing-still game that is the PP.  Think of guys like Gardner, Poganski, JJ, Hoff, Bowen, Yon, Smith.  I think of them on the move, hounding opposing defenses.  Then think of SCSU's PP, which I have to think is usually top 10; those guys are deadly.  They ping the puck around, rarely giving you the chance to attack a bobble.

If there's anything to this, we may not have the guys for an elite PP, not because they're bad, or the coaching is bad, but because they're better at other things.

An interesting analysis - I certainly buy into your premise that our PP has under performed for years,  especially given our talent, and has cost us when playing better teams or in tournaments.  I'm not sure I buy your conclusion, however.  In watching our power play you see very little bing bing passing for goals and very few back doors.  What you see is endless passing around the perimeter - and not crisp passing either.  Players spend a lot of time stick handling or teeing up the puck which allows the defense to cover easily and often results in a shot into someones pads or losing the zone when pressed.     Goals we do score are often shots that somehow make it through from the perimeter.  Last year, for example, we had guys with mad passing skills.  Why we continue to P*** around with the puck out front is a mystery.  

[scpa0305]

15 minutes ago, as15 said:

What positions are screwed up? 

Gersich-Gardner-Poganski:  Those players played 95% of games at those positions this year

Adams-Hoff-Janatuinen:  Adams played LW all of last year, some C this year.  Hoff played both this year.  Janatuinen has played both wings for UND.

Mismash-Kawaguchi-Wilkie:  Mismash plays LW for the USNTDP, Kawaguchi plays C, although he might be a wing in the NCAA.  Wilkie has always been a RW.

Olson-Simonson-Bowen:  Olson has played both wings at UND, Simonson is always a C, Bowen can play C, but also played RW this year.

Doesn't JJ always play LW?

[geaux_sioux]

1 minute ago, Oxbow6 said:

Ummmmmmmm........that's not allowed here unless you're up to a caning by some on this site. 

Both those guys needs to play IMO too.

Meh, Sioux Hockey is a style of play independent of the nickname, just associated with it. Maybe it should be F'nHawk Hockey since the new nickname has been winning national championships at a 50% clip?

[scpa0305]

2 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

Ummmmmmmm........that's not allowed here unless you're up to a caning by some on this site. 

Both those guys needs to play IMO too.

Obviously your sitting Wilkie but who else would you sit(assuming both those guys play)?

[geaux_sioux]

2 minutes ago, Irish said:

An interesting analysis - I certainly buy into your premise that our PP has under performed for years,  especially given our talent, and has cost us when playing better teams or in tournaments.  I'm not sure I buy your conclusion, however.  In watching our power play you see very little bing bing passing for goals and very few back doors.  What you see is endless passing around the perimeter - and not crisp passing either.  Players spend a lot of time stick handling or teeing up the puck which allows the defense to cover easily and often results in a shot into someones pads or losing the zone when pressed.     Goals we do score are often shots that somehow make it through from the perimeter.  Last year, for example, we had guys with mad passing skills.  Why we continue to P*** around with the puck out front is a mystery.  

I'll be honest, I've always preferred the Gophers PP to ours. Just seems to generate more quality chances consistently. Every time we play them and they get a PP I get a sinking feeling because of it. 

[scpa0305]

3 minutes ago, geaux_sioux said:

I'll be honest, I've always preferred the Gophers PP to ours. Just seems to generate more quality chances consistently. Every time we play them and they get a PP I get a sinking feeling because of it. 

That's because of the type of kids they can recruit.  They all have great hands.

[Oxbow6]

7 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

Obviously your sitting Wilkie but who else would you sit(assuming both those guys play)?

Don't know much about the Fr. coming in but I'd think those two could fill roles the team needs. Of players on current roster Simo.

[geaux_sioux]

Just now, scpa0305 said:

That's because of the type of kids they can recruit.  They all have great hands.

I know our whole roster isn't high end pansies with hands but we should be able to construct two PP units where every guy has good enough skill to make things happen. 

[MafiaMan]

28 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

That's because of the type of kids they can recruit.  They all have great hands.

@ringneck28

They're known for drinking plenty of mimosas on Saturday mornings too!

[yzerman19]

1 hour ago, geaux_sioux said:

I know our whole roster isn't high end pansies with hands but we should be able to construct two PP units where every guy has good enough skill to make things happen. 

I feel like our pp is too regimented and the boys aren't out there playing hockey.  They are trying to do a choreographed routine.  As you grow in the game, you are coached to recognize and take advantage of odd-man situations.  You start to see the ice in terms of a bunch of 2-1 opportunities.  This is hard when its 5 x 5.  On the powerplay, its a lot easier, because there is ALWAYS a 2-1 somewhere.  I feel like we could perform a lot better if the boys were just playing hockey and working 2-1s around the circles.   I'd like to see us do an overload and not focus so much on netfront.  Netfront is great for screens and rebounds and should be critical during 5x5 play, but I think it is less effective on a pp.  It is too easy to defend with a good box.  Our approach typically creates a 4x4, because the weakside winger or D (depending on the pk scheme) is essentially out of the play unless a perfect pass/passing lane happens to occur.  You can sit there and fire bombs hoping for a screen or using your numbers to crash a rebound, but why do that when you have the man advantage?

[fsioux]

2 hours ago, scpa0305 said:

Not bad...I still think jones will immediately crack the lineup. Also, I think you're positions are a bit mixed up.  

I agree, Jones had a pretty good year and also has some college experience at Ohio State.

[fsioux]

1 hour ago, Irish said:

An interesting analysis - I certainly buy into your premise that our PP has under performed for years,  especially given our talent, and has cost us when playing better teams or in tournaments.  I'm not sure I buy your conclusion, however.  In watching our power play you see very little bing bing passing for goals and very few back doors.  What you see is endless passing around the perimeter - and not crisp passing either.  Players spend a lot of time stick handling or teeing up the puck which allows the defense to cover easily and often results in a shot into someones pads or losing the zone when pressed.     Goals we do score are often shots that somehow make it through from the perimeter.  Last year, for example, we had guys with mad passing skills.  Why we continue to P*** around with the puck out front is a mystery.  

My thoughts entirely.  At times I joke that we should decline the penalty.

[tnt]

2 hours ago, scpa0305 said:

Yes I get Bowen can play a nice 3rd/4th line role (and that he's not as offensively talented as some of the guys that put up (much) bigger numbers in juniors).  I'm just saying that jones will come in as a junior, although he's the same age as a typical overager.  In seeing him play, he's much more offensively talented than a guy like Bowen, but he also plays a nice two way game.  Which would fit in nicely on our 2nd-4th lines.  He's not all offense,  he plays the game the right way.  He probably just went to OSU a tad too early.  We'll soon find out.

My point was more about people looking at Jones's numbers and assuming he would be the odd man out of the 3 guys coming in.  Just saying that there are so many more variables to who will end up playing the most.

[geaux_sioux]

2 hours ago, fsioux said:

My thoughts entirely.  At times I joke that we should decline the penalty.

I often call it a power kill

[yzerman19]

It will be really interesting to see how Guch, Mishmash, Adams, and Jones fit into the lineup.  

I might try:

Guch with Gersich and Pogo

Gardner with Adams and Mismash

Bowen with Jones and Olson

4th line depends on the opponent and depends on work in practice

Simo with Gornall and Smith (heavy nights)

Hoff with JJ/Wilkie/Yon (pick 2- scoring nights)

 

 

 

[UNDMOORHEAD]

Does anyone know off the top of their head if it's normal to carry that many forwards?

[UNDMOORHEAD]

Never mind, i guess 14 or 15 seems to be the magic number looking back 6 years anyway. Practice should be intense next year for the guys trying to earn playing time.

[The Sicatoka]

They carried 26 like usual last year, but not in the normal way. Historically it's been 15-8-3; last year was 14-8-4.

Schlossman says 4 forwards coming in. They carried 14 last year; historically they carry 15. Boeser and Jost are gone. That's 3 slots at most; yet the claim is 4 coming in.

The math at defense works: Schlossman says 2 coming; two are gone.

Hrynkiw is gone; assume Thome in. 

So to me the question is what else happens at forward and goal to get to 26 slot roster. Then again, 26 is an assumption.