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Western Michigan at UND 2/25 - 2/26/22


SiouxFan100

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1 minute ago, SiouxFan100 said:

Western Michigan is 4th and we are 6th in the Pairwise. Big series. Bigly fun.

pumped to be able to showcase the Ralph and UND hockey to three first timers to the Ralph on Saturday night.

Rock the Ralph fans

It would be nice to get a couple guys back for the weekend...

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7 hours ago, Blackheart said:

It would be nice to get a couple guys back for the weekend...

Getting anyone back (just one) would allow a full lineup with extra skater. I’m comfortable playing the guys that are available but we need more bodies, hard to believe team is playing so well without Senden, Gaber and Sanderson.

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5 hours ago, mattim said:

Getting anyone back (just one) would allow a full lineup with extra skater. I’m comfortable playing the guys that are available but we need more bodies, hard to believe team is playing so well without Senden, Gaber and Sanderson.

Don't forget Hain too. Those guys being out has really allowed some others to step up and mature. Guys like Bast and the entire freshmen crew have really upped their game. And yes, Driscoll has put the team on his shoulders. It's fun to watch. Give Bubs and his staff a lot of credit. What we are seeing stems from a lot of drills and discipline in practice. The naysayers being damned - the system works. 

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23 minutes ago, ND_Texan said:

Don't forget Hain too. Those guys being out has really allowed some others to step up and mature. Guys like Bast and the entire freshmen crew have really upped their game. And yes, Driscoll has put the team on his shoulders. It's fun to watch. Give Bubs and his staff a lot of credit. What we are seeing stems from a lot of drills and discipline in practice. The naysayers being damned - the system works. 

Talked to Hain's mom in Daloot, Gavin will not be on skates before this season is over... Too bad, he is a spark plug!

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30 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

Wednesday Berry presser....

Ferner and Senden are in

Gaber is a maybe

Sanderson and Hain are out

So Johnson is probably the odd man out on d, unless we dress 7 d men, which is also a possibility if Gaber can't go.

I think the series at Lawson proved these teams are pretty close.  Hopefully the home crowd can push our guys to at least four points.  

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Get a win*, lock up no worse than second, guarantee that you play 7 or 8 at home in three weeks, and not the worst of the 4-5-6 schmozzle which still ends up being a pretty darn good team** (not saying 7-8 are slouches). 

 

*UND needs any combination of four points, either won by UND or lost by WMU, to lock second. 

**UMD, SCSU, UNO

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https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/jake-sanderson-returns-to-grand-forks-mark-senden-expected-back-in-lineup-for-senior-weekend

Quote

Sanderson sustained an upper-body injury during his lone game at the Olympics, missing Team USA's final two contests.

Berry indicated the defenseman's injury isn't as bad as initially feared, though he won't play against the Broncos.

"He's back and he was skating today, so that's a good sign," Berry said. "But he's probably just a few days out. The good sign is he looked really good on the ice today. I think it's probably closer than what we expected for his return. Whatever that looks like will be dependent on the next few days moving forward. He'll be unavailable for the weekend, but great to have him back, skating and doing the majority of our drills."

UND's leading scorer Riese Gaber missed last weekend's series finale at Minnesota Duluth due to an undisclosed injury he sustained while crashing into the boards during Friday's series opener.

Gaber is questionable for this weekend's series.

"He's day-to-day," Berry said. "Not ruled out for the weekend. He's getting close here as well. Tomorrow brings another day and we'll see where that's at."

Good news that both Sanderson and Gaber are getting close.  Hopefully Gaber can play this weekend.

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Current NCHC Standings:
1. UND.....45 Points.  (Western, @Omaha).....Extremely likely top two finish for UND.  Control their destiny.  But then again Omaha can help. 
2. Denver.....44 Points. (@Omaha, Home/Away CC).....I'll say that Denver wins the league based on them getting CC to end the season.  
3. Western Michigan....37 Points. (@UND, Miami).....The three seed is where they'll be. 
4. Duluth....31 Points. (@Miami, SCSU).....Getting Miami at the right time, then home against their likely first round opponent. 
5. SCSU......26 Points (CC, @Duluth)....Sweep CC at home, won't be enough....likely split in Duluth.....likely double trip to Duluth.  
6. Omaha....25 Points (Denver, UND)....Could be super and sweep Denver this weekend....
7. CC....18 Points (@SCSU, Home/Away Denver.....Either in Grand Forks or Denver. 
8. Miami....14 Points. (Duluth, @Western).....The last place finishers unless something special happens. 

 

Wilbur's First Round NCHC matchups:

Miami @ Denver

CC @ UND

Omaha @ Western

SCSU @ Duluth

Lets hope I'm wrong (again) and we are sharing the Penne Rosa at Baxter.  

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12 hours ago, mattim said:

Getting anyone back (just one) would allow a full lineup with extra skater. I’m comfortable playing the guys that are available but we need more bodies, hard to believe team is playing so well without Senden, Gaber and Sanderson.

It appears that our D corps has benefited from the absence of Sanderson.  They had to step up and answered the bell very well.  We will be all the much better for it when Sanderson returns.  Same can be said for the forwards who had to step up and answered the call due to injuries.  With the team playing so well who do you sit when players begin to return from injury.  Portz, Albrecht and Ness are playing too well as a unit to sit any of them.  Bast is showing some Denny Savard type moves on the blue line.  Hard question on who to sit.

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7 hours ago, ND_Texan said:

Don't forget Hain too. Those guys being out has really allowed some others to step up and mature. Guys like Bast and the entire freshmen crew have really upped their game. And yes, Driscoll has put the team on his shoulders. It's fun to watch. Give Bubs and his staff a lot of credit. What we are seeing stems from a lot of drills and discipline in practice. The naysayers being damned - the system works. 

I'll admit I was down on the team when they went through the rough stretch after Christmas.  I should have more faith in the character of the team and the coaching staff.

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I think dressing 7 D is the best option with Ferner the extra skater. Senden for Montgomery. If Gaber can go Budy sits and Kunz Jamernik with Senden. Got to keep Johnson and Bast in the lineup at this point.

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38 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

I think dressing 7 D is the best option with Ferner the extra skater. Senden for Montgomery. If Gaber can go Budy sits and Kunz Jamernik with Senden. Got to keep Johnson and Bast in the lineup at this point.

Kunz or Judd with Jammer and Senden? Judd has been playing/scoring well recently and that started when he played with Sanden/Jammer line.

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Pretty big weekend, though a difficult one.   The McNaughton used to be a big accomplishment, certainly bigger than the conference tourney.  The Penrose may even be a bigger deal, given the strength of this conference.   That said, the pairwise implications of these last games may even be of more importance than the Penrose,    With Western coming in this weekend and some pairwise points to be had (or lost) beginning with the second round of the conference tourney, this team could a 2 or even 1 seed.   1 is not likely, but possible.    4 is also possible, of course.   Dont know the system well enough to know whether missing the bubble is possible, though I'd guess it is.  

Ordinarily, I'd say that seeding isn't that big a deal, since they have to beat all comers eventually anyway.   But this team is not going to overpower the field, and they will need every advantage they can get to get very far in the tourney,  Should they sweep this weekend, the Penrose chances look pretty dang good, which would be an amazing accomplishment for this roster.   Slam dunk COY, IMO (though that award should be coaching STAFF of the year--for any team).  

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