UND vs Northeastern

[dagies]

....When you go from an offense that forechecks teams into mistakes and pressures all over the ice to a team that seems to sit back then react it's not he same hockey that Blais was coaching,maybe the players will adjust and maybe the coaching staff will but if they don't it could be a very long year in my opinion.

I agree. It could be a long year. And then again, it may not. Time will tell.

For those above who think that any criticism of the team is being called into question, you're reading too much into your detractors.

No one has to LIKE what's been going on, but analyze the situation with a little perspective before calling for the coaches head, or blaming all our problems on the refs, etc.

I'm critical of a transition game that looked horrible against MN and apparently has been a problem at other times.

I'm critical of forwards to don't come back to help out the defensemen break out of the zone, or coaches who either put a system in place that allows that to happen, or don't correct the forwards RIGHT NOW.

I'm critical of player leadership that appears to take repeated bad penalties on the ice often at bad times.

I'm critical of putting defensemen into roles that they may not be able to handle (if you're asking them to make passes that stretch their capabilities) IF YOU DON'T CORRECT IT IN TIME.

Remember, one way to improve your players is to put them into situations that cause them to stretch their comfort zones. When you do that sometimes they make mistakes. But they might be better in that situation when faced with it later on. Could be the coaching staff is doing this now. OR, is finding out what kinds of things our players are and are not good at, analyzing it, and putting a package together that incorporates their strengths.

I'm critical of players who won't or can't change and adapt how they play to fit how rules are being called on the ice (IF we see other teams/players adapting more quickly) and the coaches who don't assist them in that process by letting them watch the game from a location where things aren't moving so quickly (bench/press box).

I'm critical of officials who have a mandate and sometimes follow it and sometimes don't. Plan your work, work your plan.

As for the officials, we complained for years about the crap our guys had to skate through. Do we honestly think our guys didn't do some of the same things we saw other teams getting away with?? I haven't seen our coach complaining that our problems are caused by the referring, or many players (of any team).

While I will question how few times we've been on a 5x3 PP while we operate 3 men down 2-3 times per game I know from watching the games with MN we USUALLY asked for it. See 3 paragraphs above.

So I say let's have a bit more pride. Quit blaming the refs for all of our problems. Quit calling for the coaches head WAY to early in the process. Quit ripping on the quality of talent on this team.

Let the head coach settle into his role and grasp his responsibilities

Let the players work through their myriad and individual areas for improvement.

Let the officials call the game properly and observe it over a period of time

Let the player leadership mature into their roles.

Yell, scream, and criticize decisions and play if you feel it calls for it. But don't oversimplify the problems, and don't give up.

How would we like it if our team or coach did that?

[cfm567b27]

Part of the problem is that the Sioux fans have been incredibly spoiled over the years with arguably the best program in the conference year in and year out. One thing is for certain you won't see the Minnesota fans using the "weak early season" schedule excuse this season. Arguably the Sioux have played the toughest 8 games so far this season (ahh maybe minus Mankato) of any team in the country.

[OETKB]

UND doesn't have the same kind of team that it used to have. Realistically speaking UND is pretty young.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

These kind of comments make me wonder. UND returns 20 players from last year, and brought in what could be the best recruiting class in the country. They are anything but a young team, unless you are referring specifically to the most talented forwards (Murray, Stafford, Zajac).

So far, UND is flat-out underperforming - coaching change notwithstanding. This is a team that should, above all else, play excellent positioning and maintain puck control for the majority of the games, which they are failing to do so far.

The last time UND had 10 upperclassmen with only a few freshmen (in the regular lineup) was in 2001, when they returned to the Frozen Four after winning it the prior year. This year's team really has no excuse to perform badly.

[Smoggy]

PS - In the future, can't we get a someone like UMD to go along with us on these types of trips so we don't have to play a rested Northeastern squad after going full-tilt-boogie the night before against BC.

Proposed schedule:

Friday: UMD @ NE, UND @ BC

Saturday: UND @ NE, UMD @ BC

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

BC came here last year for two, why couldn't we have played them twice this year? For that matter, why will only a few east coast teams bother traveling west? Too rough? Too expensive? Or is it because they'll lose?

The really odd thing is BC is only playing 1 game a week. I would think that will put a drain on your team by the end of the season when they are fitting all their games in.