2022-23 University of North Dakota Hockey Season

[Oxbow6]

There isn't a line that is close to generating offensive like Blake McLaughlin and Gaber. Are they a shutdown line....nope but their minus ratings have a lot more to do with other factors then them defensively. 

[scpa0305]

7 hours ago, AJS said:

After the first half of the season, they are currently sitting at 23rd in the PWR and 7th in the NCHC standings. 7-8-4 (3-5-2) record, not great. Taking a page from @jk post, what needs to happen in the 2nd half. 

They are in a pretty bad spot, but the results @ Western might have saved the season. I believe that's how close they were to the ledge of the season being more or less over from a practical making the playoffs standpoint. 

Let's start with the Pairwise. Their RPI is currently .5242 (23rd). The 24th place team is .5083. They are RPI points wise as close to 17th as they are to 24th. The NCHC standings. They are only 3 points away from the 4th place team. They aren't in a great spot, clearly, but they are closer to the surface then we might think.

My ultimate reason for optimism, is this team has the talent. That has never been the issue. The pieces are there defensively / in net (DeRidder) to turn that very negative first half performance into a positive. We just saw a glimpse in Western. Where I might disagree with @jk is I think the 2nd half of the schedule is favorable. 5 Home vs 3 Road series. The road series @ Denver (tough as it gets), but then @ CC, @ Miami. Although favorable to really turn things around, they would have too more or less have to use the formula that would win the league (win home games, split on the road). 13-3. That would get them on the right side of the PWR and clearly home ice as well. I would think 12-4 would do it too, would 11-5? 

I do feel confident that they'll be able to get home ice. I also feel confident that they'll put themselves in position to make it at the very least interesting (in the mix) for an at large bid. 

But how good is Western…really? They’re like a sliver better than we are. It’s not like we did that against Denver or SCSU. Sorry negative Nelly. 

[burd]

32 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

There isn't a line that is close to generating offensive like Blake McLaughlin and Gaber. Are they a shutdown line....nope but their minus ratings have a lot more to do with other factors then them defensively. 

I certainly don't question your knowledge, Oxbow, but which other factors have a lot more of a role in their bad plus/minus ratings

[AJS]

24 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

But how good is Western…really? They’re like a sliver better than we are. It’s not like we did that against Denver or SCSU. Sorry negative Nelly. 

I would say they are on par with a lot of other NCHC teams, not named Denver. I don't think SCSU is that much better either. Honestly, outside of Denver, I don't think the NCHC is that tough. This team talent wise is Top 2 in the NCHC. I do believe that.

[burd]

Just now, AJS said:

I would say they are on par with a lot of other NCHC teams, not named Denver. I don't think SCSU is that much better either. Honestly, outside of Denver, I don't think the NCHC is that tough. This team talent wise is Top 2 in the NCHC. I do believe that.

As far as conferences go, the (rightfully) hated B1G is probably the strongest, though it is sure nice to see Mich take its lumps.  

[SuhakiYeahYeah]

 

 

[Kevin G]

After looking through a bunch of the stats, there is much more going well for this team than I thought. Special teams, face-offs, and team scoring are solid. We have good balance; every line can contribute something offensively. Penalty-wise the team is pretty disciplined. 

Team defense and goaltending just have to get much better. IMO, reducing defensive zone turnovers needs to be priorities one, two, and three. Also, Karl needs to work his coaching magic with DeRidder and Hellsten. 

[Oxbow6]

1 hour ago, burd said:

I certainly don't question your knowledge, Oxbow, but which other factors have a lot more of a role in their bad plus/minus ratings

Amount of ice time played in 5x5 situations, outside of last series porous goaltending and defensive pairings and their lapses.

There was a stretch earlier this season when 15 and 25 were on the ice for 11 of 13 5x5 goals against. Most likely based on ice time those two Fr. were on the ice for a few of those.

Frisch was outstanding this past series and Kleven was good too but that has not been the case for most of this season so it is a little disingenuous to look at two Fr. as the defensive liabilities based on +/-.

McLaughlin is the best playmaker at center since Nick Schmaltz. Blake is well.......just special. 

[siouxkid12]

If we didn’t lose to Arizona state and we swept bemidji, we are 16th in the pairwise.

I said this before but that loss to Arizona state is going to hurt us later on I believe. I hope I’m wrong and someone comes back to this post at the end of the year and reminds me of it.

[Godsmack]

15 minutes ago, siouxkid12 said:

If we didn’t lose to Arizona state and we swept bemidji, we are 16th in the pairwise.

I said this before but that loss to Arizona state is going to hurt us later on I believe. I hope I’m wrong and someone comes back to this post at the end of the year and reminds me of it.

Yah, as much as I hate to, we need to be rooting for ASU the rest of the season. 

[hockeytherapy13]

1 hour ago, siouxkid12 said:

If we didn’t lose to Arizona state and we swept bemidji, we are 16th in the pairwise.

I said this before but that loss to Arizona state is going to hurt us later on I believe. I hope I’m wrong and someone comes back to this post at the end of the year and reminds me of it.

No loss is hurting us worse than our home loss to Miami 

[tnt]

4 hours ago, scpa0305 said:

But how good is Western…really? They’re like a sliver better than we are. It’s not like we did that against Denver or SCSU. Sorry negative Nelly. 

Who knows, but they always play pretty tough at home. Lost to Michigan by a goal in Ann Arbor outshooting them slightly, then lost in overtime the next night outshooting them 45-27 but gave up 4 power play goals.  I’m sure Michigan wanted to pummel them because the accusation they dodged them last year, but they held their own.

[1972]

12 hours ago, siouxkid12 said:

If we didn’t lose to Arizona state and we swept bemidji, we are 16th in the pairwise.

I said this before but that loss to Arizona state is going to hurt us later on I believe. I hope I’m wrong and someone comes back to this post at the end of the year and reminds me of it.

as soon as we lost to arizona, i turned to my wife and said "we are screwed".   i hope i am wrong,as well, but this is a huge uphill battle from here on out.   we shall see......

[siouxkid12]

11 hours ago, hockeytherapy13 said:

No loss is hurting us worse than our home loss to Miami 

I converted the loss to Miami to a W and it only brought us up to 17th. The NCHC is so deep and usually has everyone ranked pretty high that losing a conference game doesn't hurt our PWR rankings. Non-conference games are killers compared to conference games; we just can't lose them.

[The Sicatoka]

I made one change (split with DU): PWR 17

I made us 4 losses (Q, UMn, DUx2): PWR 8

I made us 3 losses (Q, UMn, DU): PWR 1

Getting swept by DU hurts more than we choose to admit. 

[siouxkid12]

11 minutes ago, The Sicatoka said:

I made one change (split with DU): PWR 17

I made us 4 losses (Q, UMn, DUx2): PWR 8

I made us 3 losses (Q, UMn, DU): PWR 1

Getting swept by DU hurts more than we choose to admit. 

I guess I was wrong on the conference game's part. 

[scpa0305]

15 hours ago, AJS said:

I would say they are on par with a lot of other NCHC teams, not named Denver. I don't think SCSU is that much better either. Honestly, outside of Denver, I don't think the NCHC is that tough. This team talent wise is Top 2 in the NCHC. I do believe that.

Really? They lost to AA, ND, swept against Michigan, lost to an iffy UMD squad, got swept against Omaha, and then basically got swept at home against us. They don’t come across as a very good team. They can score but can’t keep the puck out of their net.

[The Sicatoka]

20 hours ago, The Sicatoka said:

If the Saturday @ WMU team and goaltending shows up for 2023 I like our chances.

If the Saturday @ SCSU team and goaltending shows up for 2023 it'll be a long winter with no spring. 

Upon further pondering ... 

[farce poobah]

Only 7 guys have played all 19 games.   If we get more stability in the lineup, I like our chances.

Also, raise your hand if:

 -- You had Judd Caufield leading the team in plus minus at the holiday break. 

 -- You had Jackson Blake with a 10 game point streak at the holiday break. 

[AJS]

1 hour ago, scpa0305 said:

Really? They lost to AA, ND, swept against Michigan, lost to an iffy UMD squad, got swept against Omaha, and then basically got swept at home against us. They don’t come across as a very good team. They can score but can’t keep the puck out of their net.

Yeah. What NCHC teams do you think are good? Denver. St. Cloud is clearly solid as well. Do you think Omaha is good? CC? Duluth? Miami? I guess my point is, I think the NCHC overall is really down this year. I don't think Western is very good, but I don't think many other teams are either.

[brianvf]

https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/und-hockey-completes-nonconference-schedule-for-next-two-seasons?fbclid=IwAR1VZWgSziD-e6O48QnVzt1jOCouyvc__MkE0Q6L9GtGq3-YEC1Zzg0MiHw

Playing Robert Morris for the 24/25 season.

Quote

In 2024-25, UND will have two-game home series against Robert Morris and Boston University. It will take on Minnesota State-Mankato and Cornell in two-game road series. The Fighting Hawks will host Providence in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game, and they'll play a two-game series against Bemidji State with one game in Grand Forks and the other in Bemidji.

 

[NoiseInsideMyHead]

46 minutes ago, brianvf said:

Playing Robert Morris for the 24/25 season.

Depending on how things shake out during the second half this year, we may be better off scheduling Philip Morris.

[scpa0305]

1 hour ago, AJS said:

Yeah. What NCHC teams do you think are good? Denver. St. Cloud is clearly solid as well. Do you think Omaha is good? CC? Duluth? Miami? I guess my point is, I think the NCHC overall is really down this year. I don't think Western is very good, but I don't think many other teams are either.

Completely agree. At least that’s how it appears right now. FYI, I read your response wrong the first time around.

[Blackheart]

1 hour ago, NoiseInsideMyHead said:

Depending on how things shake out during the second half this year, we may be better off scheduling Philip Morris.

I was thinking Garrett Morris.

[Blackheart]

2 hours ago, brianvf said:

https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/und-hockey-completes-nonconference-schedule-for-next-two-seasons?fbclid=IwAR1VZWgSziD-e6O48QnVzt1jOCouyvc__MkE0Q6L9GtGq3-YEC1Zzg0MiHw

Playing Robert Morris for the 24/25 season.

 

Road trip to Mettl...I mean Mankato? Let's Go!