UND visits Miami

[Wilbur]

Alright, UND heads to Oxford for a pair.  An interesting side note, when I googled Miami Hockey it brought up the Florida one and no kidding, Darius Kaspariatis is the head hockey coach there.  If their club team went D1, I'd definitely make that road trip.

The Ohio Miami has only won one of their last six games.  They still have Ludvig, so at any time this weekend we could get hot goalied.  I checked their team stats, and a ton of their guys are in the minus category on the old +- chart....not good.  Their leading point getter is a -6. 

Lets not get cute after we took it to Denver and the red head.  Go in there, play with the identity that we have to play with, and get two wins on the road.  Loved our lines on Saturday night with Ford out.  This has all the makings of a big weekend for Gaber-Schmaltz-Judd. 

The Prediction:

UND 4-Miami 1

UND 5-Miami 2    

[siouxfan512]

Anything less than a sweep is unacceptable! You know it!

[The Sicatoka]

This is a trap weekend. 

[AJS]

With the (at least to me) unexpected results last weekend, this weekend in a way has extra importance. What are this years expectations? I think we'll find out a lot this weekend. Has UND ever gotten both games in Oxford? If they have, I know it's relatively rare. Being realistic, this weekend has split written all over it. Speaking of extra importance, I know my expectations will be adjusted IF they happen to get 5 or 6 points. 

[tnt]

I think this UND team has to stay super focused on weekends like this.  Even though we swept Denver last weekend, it is going to be tough to do that against the elite teams in the NCHC.   I think if UND can make sure they bring it every game against teams they are "supposed to beat",  I think they should finish well in the league.  If they throw away some of these games, it could be nip and tuck all year as to home ice and the NCAA tourney.  Let's face it, against St. Cloud, Duluth, Western, Denver and Omaha splits are most likely going to happen, especially on the road, but if you can take care of the games you should, then you have a little more wiggle room if you have a bad weekend against the top teams. 

[Goon]

1 hour ago, siouxfan512 said:

Anything less than a sweep is unacceptable! You know it!

Got to have a sweep this weekend. Anything less is unacceptable. 

[Kevin G]

It's remarkable how much the results of a single weekend change expectations. That being said, I still think this team needs significant improvement to be a national contender. Reducing turnovers is essential. 

[stoneySIOUX]

Quick, before we move on to Miami

https://daddydumpandchase.blogspot.com/2021/11/roses-and-thorns-und-sweeps-pios-as.html

[brianvf]

1 hour ago, Kevin G said:

It's remarkable how much the results of a single weekend change expectations. That being said, I still think this team needs significant improvement to be a national contender. Reducing turnovers is essential. 

Haha for sure.
Roller coaster of expectations reading this forum after the Nashville weekend compared to the DU weekend.   

[BarnWinterSportsEngelstad]

Maybe a W Friday with an embarrassing L on Saturday - sad ride home.
The L gets the team all fired up for a sweep/sweep for the next 2 weekends at home.
That would be the dogs and then the goofs.
 

[siouxfan512]

5 hours ago, Goon said:

Got to have a sweep this weekend. Anything less is unacceptable. 

So it shall be written, so it shall be done!

[siouxfan512]

37 minutes ago, BarnWinterSportsEngelstad said:

Maybe a W Friday with an embarrassing L on Saturday - sad ride home.
The L gets the team all fired up for a sweep/sweep for the next 2 weekends at home.
That would be the dogs and then the goofs.
 

OR, and stay with me here .... We sweep this weekend, the guys are jacked and have started to figure this out and gel together. Then they still sweep the next two weekends!

[Goon]

5 minutes ago, siouxfan512 said:

OR, and stay with me here .... We sweep this weekend, the guys are jacked and have started to figure this out and gel together. Then they still sweep the next two weekends!

I think they're starting to gel as a team. 

[BarnWinterSportsEngelstad]

11 minutes ago, siouxfan512 said:

OR, and stay with me here .... We sweep this weekend, the guys are jacked and have started to figure this out and gel together. Then they still sweep the next two weekends!

SOLD, I like your plan better!

[siouxfan512]

4 hours ago, BarnWinterSportsEngelstad said:

SOLD, I like your plan better!

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

17 hours ago, tnt said:

I think this UND team has to stay super focused on weekends like this.  Even though we swept Denver last weekend, it is going to be tough to do that against the elite teams in the NCHC.   I think if UND can make sure they bring it every game against teams they are "supposed to beat",  I think they should finish well in the league.  If they throw away some of these games, it could be nip and tuck all year as to home ice and the NCAA tourney.  Let's face it, against St. Cloud, Duluth, Western, Denver and Omaha splits are most likely going to happen, especially on the road, but if you can take care of the games you should, then you have a little more wiggle room if you have a bad weekend against the top teams. 

Nope, we won the regular season series vs Denver 2-0. That's what made last weekend so sweet, they don't get a chance at revenge until (potentially) the postseason.

[Vegas_Sioux]

11 hours ago, Goon said:

I think they're starting to gel as a team. 

They are, passing was 10x better this weekend. They could “feel” each other on the ice.  No selfishness Jammer gave up an easy eng to defend his capt. 

[Godsmack]

1 hour ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

Nope, we won the regular season series vs Denver 2-0. That's what made last weekend so sweet, they don't get a chance at revenge until (potentially) the postseason.

Revenge or tie breakers. We own the tie breaker if I correctly understand that methodology.

[stoneySIOUX]

17 hours ago, Kevin G said:

It's remarkable how much the results of a single weekend change expectations. That being said, I still think this team needs significant improvement to be a national contender. Reducing turnovers is essential. 

I don't disagree, but no team out there is a world beater. St. Cloud, Michigan, Minnesota, Mankato all have holes. I agree that reducing turnovers is essential, but every team will say that. For this team, I do agree that we can't get away with a bad period/shift/game/etc as much as in years past.

To me, we've found our formula. It's how we played against QU on Saturday and how we played against DU -- grinding, puck possession, smart and safe hockey.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

17 minutes ago, stoneySIOUX said:

I don't disagree, but no team out there is a world beater. St. Cloud, Michigan, Minnesota, Mankato all have holes. I agree that reducing turnovers is essential, but every team will say that. For this team, I do agree that we can't get away with a bad period/shift/game/etc as much as in years past.

To me, we've found our formula. It's how we played against QU on Saturday and how we played against DU -- grinding, puck possession, smart and safe hockey.

Also, give the damn puck to Gaber and let him shoot

[Oxbow6]

Get good goaltending and manage the puck well in your defensive end and you'll have an opportunity to win every night. UND checked both those boxes both nights vs DU.

[stoneySIOUX]

11 minutes ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

Also, give the damn puck to Gaber and let him shoot

I mean, that's a good idea, too lol.

[Wilbur]

The power play is basically the Duncan power play except for with Gaber being a right handed shot.  Give Gaber the puck on the right circle and let him walk and shoot.

Memories of Duncan doing the same thing....

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

Would we have heard by now if Kleven was going to be suspended?

[siouxfan512]

1 hour ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

Would we have heard by now if Kleven was going to be suspended?

Why couldn't Kleven have done that against Quinnipiac? I would have loved to see Rand Pecknold's head explode!