2020-21 University of North Dakota Hockey Season

[Oxbow6]

13 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

Makes total sense.

Unfortunately it does. Too bad and disappointing to hear. IMO he was way too talented be in a suit as often as he was. Very skilled. He isn't the type of player that's left recently.....Cichy, Murphy and Wilkie to name a couple. Although a different position you could see he was a better hockey player than those that bolted before him.

[AJS]

I will trust the coaching staff with not only the construction of the roster, but also the line up they feel will give this team the best chance to win. Some might disagree, but it's very clear they think it was a distinct possibility that he would be in and out of the lineup again next year. If this goes how I believe it will, with those returning / coming in, I don't see it any differently. 

[scpa0305]

30 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

Unfortunately it does. Too bad and disappointing to hear. IMO he was way too talented be in a suit as often as he was. Very skilled. He isn't the type of player that's left recently.....Cichy, Murphy and Wilkie to name a couple. Although a different position you could see he was a better hockey player than those that bolted before him.

Completely agree and saw this situation playing out mid season.  I wouldn’t be shocked if it had more to do with how he carries himself than his style of play.  It can rub the old school hockey guys the wrong way.

Kid was very skilled who wasn’t given the minutes he deserved. Plain and simple.  Did he make some mistakes, sure...that’s what most underclassmen do. He was number #4 on last years team and got sat anytime he didn’t make a perfect play.  He was in the dog house very early in the season. I can think of another dman that made mistakes almost every shift and had the longest leash I’ve ever seen.  

Tough situation but this can’t become the norm or you won’t get these type of players.  Develop them.

[Old Fella]

54 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

Unfortunately it does. Too bad and disappointing to hear. IMO he was way too talented be in a suit as often as he was. Very skilled. He isn't the type of player that's left recently.....Cichy, Murphy and Wilkie to name a couple. Although a different position you could see he was a better hockey player than those that bolted before him.

I thought the Sioux had a pretty good season last year.

[siouxfan512]

1 hour ago, AJS said:

Good luck to Johnny moving forward, the talent he has is evident and I would say more likely than not he's going to turn out to be a fantastic college player wherever he lands. No inside information, but I would be mindful talking about a players mentality / not being willing to fight for playing time. Not saying this wasn't a mutual decision, but it wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't slightly slanted one direction (coach staff).

Why? It's apparent that there are three Defensive recruits coming in this year no matter what. At an absolute minimum. Sanderson - Kleven - Moore or Miller. As others have said, this means that either JBD / Kierstad will be back, potentially both.

Its a fair point, but without knowing the who story, its easy to ask the question.

[BigGreyAnt41]

I totally thought that was an April Fool's Day joke.  Now I'm disappointed.

[UND1983]

And boom......Kierstsd is back.

[mattim]

8 minutes ago, BigGreyAnt41 said:

I totally thought that was an April Fool's Day joke.  Now I'm disappointed.

I got fooled myself yesterday morning by my wife on a non-hockey matter. So since around noon yesterday I’ve been waiting for the the annual Sioux Hockey April fools joke. JT really is leaving, right? 

[southpaw]

Brad buried the crap out of the lede: https://www.grandforksherald.com/incoming/5026497-Highly-sought-after-NHL-free-agent-Matt-Kiersted-makes-his-decision-I-had-to-follow-my-heart

 

 

[UND1983]

It never ceases to amaze me at how fans question why a guy doesn't play.  Like you know more than the staff.  Tyk didn't play for a reason.  

[mattim]

Just now, mattim said:

I got fooled myself yesterday morning by my wife on a non-hockey matter. So since around noon yesterday I’ve been waiting for the the annual Sioux Hockey April fools joke. JT really is leaving, right? 

I too am sad to see him go, he was very good but unfortunately so were most of the D men on a very talented team! I have to agree with some others that the coaches know better than I on how to handle these things and what is best for the future of this team. We have a ton of D talent coming in next year, if both JDB and K stay, something had to give. 

[crb1]

4 minutes ago, UND1983 said:

And boom......Kierstsd is back.

This is great news however the even bigger news would be if JBD comes back as well. That's the one I am hoping for sure comes back. Oh and Pinto.

[UNDColorado]

2 minutes ago, crb1 said:

This is great news however the even bigger news would be if JBD comes back as well. That's the one I am hoping for sure comes back. Oh and Pinto.

JBD would be huge but I believe Pinto will be back for one more year.

[UND1983]

4 minutes ago, southpaw said:

Brad buried the crap out of the lede: https://www.grandforksherald.com/incoming/5026497-Highly-sought-after-NHL-free-agent-Matt-Kiersted-makes-his-decision-I-had-to-follow-my-heart

 

 

The Forum Comm is working for clicks with no shame these days

[siouxfan512]

3 minutes ago, crb1 said:

This is great news however the even bigger news would be if JBD comes back as well. That's the one I am hoping for sure comes back. Oh and Pinto.

Pretty sure Pinto had already said somewhere along the line that the plan was to be here for 2 years, though you're right, some confirmation would be nice.

and yeah, if JBD comes back, it would be huge!

[streetsahead]

So for forwards who other than Riese Gaber is coming in? I miss Brad's old blog with everything down the side.  Rizzo? Kunz?

[NoDakZ11]

8 hours ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

The article says he hopes to get a release from Berry to play immediately. No conference opponents or rivals/future non-conference opponents if that's the case.

Anyone know for sure what the rule is here? Being able to transfer within conference could really turn out to be a nightmare.

[Wilbur]

1 hour ago, scpa0305 said:

Completely agree and saw this situation playing out mid season.  I wouldn’t be shocked if it had more to do with how he carries himself than his style of play.  It can rub the old school hockey guys the wrong way.

Kid was very skilled who wasn’t given the minutes he deserved. Plain and simple.  Did he make some mistakes, sure...that’s what most underclassmen do. He was number #4 on last years team and got sat anytime he didn’t make a perfect play.  He was in the dog house very early in the season. I can think of another dman that made mistakes almost every shift and had the longest leash I’ve ever seen.  

Tough situation but this can’t become the norm or you won’t get these type of players.  Develop them.

I agree here.  Hate to speculate about what the issue was.  Extremely short leash, spot on. 

Good luck to the kid.  Duluth loses a lot on the back end, wonder if he looks at them as an option.  

[yzerman19]

Have to register now to open any article in the Herald?  Ridiculous.  Continue writing your own obituary...

[TNF]

39 minutes ago, siouxfan512 said:

Pretty sure Pinto had already said somewhere along the line that the plan was to be here for 2 years, though you're right, some confirmation would be nice.

and yeah, if JBD comes back, it would be huge!

I would add Brad Berry to list of people expecting Pinto to be around one more year. 

[SiouxperDave]

Is it too early to start looking at hotels in Pittsburgh?

[NoiseInsideMyHead]

18 minutes ago, SiouxperDave said:

Is it too early to start looking at hotels in Pittsburgh?

COVID-20 says "Yes."

[petey23]

1 hour ago, mattim said:

I too am sad to see him go, he was very good but unfortunately so were most of the D men on a very talented team! I have to agree with some others that the coaches know better than I on how to handle these things and what is best for the future of this team. We have a ton of D talent coming in next year, if both JDB and K stay, something had to give. 

The problem we had and it was a good problem to have was that in Poolman, Kierstad, and JBD we had 3 defenseman that would have been in 95% of the teams in college hockeys top pairing. Bast, Peski, JT, and Frisch would probably be in 75% of college hockey teams top 4 and Reiger would be a top 6 dman for almost every team in college hockey.

I was always surprised when Tychonick wasn't in the line-up, especially when we went with 2 lefties and 4 righties many nights.....but I also realize I don't get paid a few hundred grand to make those decisions and have to remind myself that despite being a great college hockey mind in my own mind that the UND coaching staff have forgotten more about hockey than I will ever know.

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

Tychonick leaving is probably best case scenario at this point. We would only get one more year out of him most likely (top 40 pick), so to keep recruits and existing player(s) higher up the depth chart is fine by me.

[UND1981]

If JBD and Pinto returns with Guchi and Kierstad,  losing JT is an acceptable casualty.