2022-23 University of North Dakota Hockey Season

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

Jason Smallidge is a right hand D with NCHC experience, and as a MN resident gets a discount on tuition in lieu of a scholarship.

[The Sicatoka]

8 minutes ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

Jason Smallidge is a right hand D with NCHC experience, and as a MN resident gets a discount on tuition in lieu of a scholarship.

Right shot, eighth slot, ... the tuition angle is an interesting spin. 

 

[scpa0305]

2 hours ago, SIOUXELEVENS said:

Paging Mitchell Miller , (I know I know not going to happen )

Absolutely. This absolutely has to happen.

[BusinessSoot]

43 minutes ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

Jason Smallidge is a right hand D with NCHC experience, and as a MN resident gets a discount on tuition in lieu of a scholarship.

Question is who is willing to come in and be ok in the 8 spot for one year? There will be little to no room for playing time unless injury etc. Clear message that they are going with the 6 returning guys, as the guys who will be playing along with Farmer. Brining in Farmer and putting him in the 4 slot, bumped everyone else returning down a notch. ("Hey thanks you 7 dmen for carrying the load last year, but this group is not quite good enough we are brining is a guy and putting him right into the 4 spot") Can't imagine that went over very well. But is what it is.

We just saw a guy with 99 college games under his belt, and from all reports a great teammate and locker room guy, leave.  Ferner likely told he will not play as much/if at all, stick around if you'd like, no hard feelings if you don't. (Guessing same message for Calder). The business side of things in college sports right now is very tough. 

Will be interesting for sure to see who they grab out of portal.

[The Sicatoka]

5 minutes ago, BusinessSoot said:

Ferner likely told he will not play as much/if at all ... 

He was told that when he was originally brought in. He knew he was fourth pair from day one in Grand Forks. We only saw him because of injuries. 

[BusinessSoot]

3 minutes ago, The Sicatoka said:

He was told that when he was originally brought in. He knew he was fourth pair from day one in Grand Forks. We only saw him because of injuries. 

Respectfully disagree. There were no injuries at the beginning of the year. In my opinion he must have earned the right to play to start the year and did so while others got caught up to speed/develop. No way Johnson and Bast were even close to being ready for the college game at beginning of the year and Moore was very raw as well. Ferner then gets injured misses a month, more injuries to others and the younger guys finally got a chance to play on a regular basis. A blessing the young guys got to play and get the experience.

My two cents.

 

 

[The Sicatoka]

Johnson started the season hurt. Bast wasn't ready until second semester. (I feared that when I saw him in a USHL game that spring.) The coaches expected neither of those. Ferner was a nice insurance policy eighth defender that worked out massively well. Bravo coaches. 

You are right however, he earned the right to play. That's what you have to do if you're brought in as a fourth pair. 

But now with Johnson and Bast up to speed, even without Farmer he'd be seven at best (behind Frisch, Kleven, Jandric, Moore, Johnson, Bast). 

[stoneySIOUX]

1 hour ago, scpa0305 said:

Absolutely. This absolutely has to happen.

Wish it would, but this will almost certainly be filled with a walk on guy with no scholly. 

[The Sicatoka]

Just now, stoneySIOUX said:

Wish it would, but this will almost certainly be filled with a walk on guy with no scholly. 

Defensive #grindaz ? 

[brianvf]

52 minutes ago, BusinessSoot said:

Brining in Farmer and putting him in the 4 slot, bumped everyone else returning down a notch. ("Hey thanks you 7 dmen for carrying the load last year, but this group is not quite good enough we are brining is a guy and putting him right into the 4 spot") Can't imagine that went over very well.

Respectfully disagree with this.
First, Sanderson left for the NHL, so every returning dman moved up one spot essentially since he was the best dman in the NCAA.
And I'm guessing that Farmer will earn his position in the lineup, just like all the others.

[BusinessSoot]

2 hours ago, The Sicatoka said:

Johnson started the season hurt. Bast wasn't ready until second semester. (I feared that when I saw him in a USHL game that spring.) The coaches expected neither of those. Ferner was a nice insurance policy eighth defender that worked out massively well. Bravo coaches. 

You are right however, he earned the right to play. That's what you have to do if you're brought in as a fourth pair. 

But now with Johnson and Bast up to speed, even without Farmer he'd be seven at best (behind Frisch, Kleven, Jandric, Moore, Johnson, Bast). 

Coaches expected neither of those??? My guess is if they told Johnson to play another year of Jr's, he walks elsewhere . In fact he doesn't play the minute he does after Xmas, he considers walking after this year, my opinion. But that is neither here nor there. Johnson and Bast are not up to speed. Getting there, but not up to speed. Go and re-watch the  ND regional game and make note of every single puck battle lost down low, wrong angle to puck/player in d zone etc and watch the terrible first 5 min of the game by all 6 dmen that saw the ice....it was not good at all watching it live, even worse watching it on the replay. Playoff time and our d core at regionals were subpar. 

A lot of hockey maturing  over the summer needed by 4-6-24 to make the bottom pairing a factor. Hopefully the experience they got this year helps with the process.

[BusinessSoot]

2 hours ago, brianvf said:

Respectfully disagree with this.
First, Sanderson left for the NHL, so every returning dman moved up one spot essentially since he was the best dman in the NCAA.
And I'm guessing that Farmer will earn his position in the lineup, just like all the others.

Farmer has been told he will be a top 4 dman. 

[BusinessSoot]

BTW, I appreciate everyone's insight and opinions on this forum. Wished I would have chimed in years go.

Go Sioux

[scpa0305]

2 hours ago, stoneySIOUX said:

Wish it would, but this will almost certainly be filled with a walk on guy with no scholly. 

Yes…I obviously get this. Don’t kill my day, beautiful outside

[BusinessSoot]

2 hours ago, brianvf said:

Respectfully disagree with this.
First, Sanderson left for the NHL, so every returning dman moved up one spot essentially since he was the best dman in the NCAA.
And I'm guessing that Farmer will earn his position in the lineup, just like all the others.

And with Sanderson not playing many games, the 7 d carried their weight as best they could and the pecking order w/o Sanderson in the lineup was assumed to be somewhat set for 22-23, until Farmer was plucked out of the portal.

[brianvf]

19 minutes ago, BusinessSoot said:

And with Sanderson not playing many games, the 7 d carried their weight as best they could and the pecking order w/o Sanderson in the lineup was assumed to be somewhat set for 22-23, until Farmer was plucked out of the portal.

It was assumed right at the beginning of the offseason (by almost every one on here, Schloss, etc) that Berry was going to go to the portal to replace the Sanderson lineup spot since none of our dman recruits were quite ready to move up to NCAA hockey.

Most of us were hoping that he would have snagged someone that had more than one year of eligibility remaining since we assume greater D losses next year, but if Farmer improves this squad (even for just one season), then I'm onboard.  Were you hoping that they would have gone a different direction?

[BusinessSoot]

19 minutes ago, brianvf said:

It was assumed right at the beginning of the offseason (by almost every one on here, Schloss, etc) that Berry was going to go to the portal to replace the Sanderson lineup spot since none of our dman recruits were quite ready to move up to NCAA hockey.

Most of us were hoping that he would have snagged someone that had more than one year of eligibility remaining since we assume greater D losses next year, but if Farmer improves this squad (even for just one season), then I'm onboard.  Were you hoping that they would have gone a different direction?

"Were you hoping that they would have gone a different direction?"..........................yes.

[brianvf]

3 minutes ago, BusinessSoot said:

"Were you hoping that they would have gone a different direction?"..........................yes.

A different portal guy?  Or bring in one of our current recruits?  Maybe get the UND President to allow Miller a 2nd chance? 

Or just not a fan of Farmer?

[stoneySIOUX]

1 hour ago, scpa0305 said:

Yes…I obviously get this. Don’t kill my day, beautiful outside

HA! I was gonna say .... buddy, you're always on the right track... optimism is a good thing haha

[stoneySIOUX]

Farmer is definitely going to be slotted as a Top 4 guy. He's an absolute stud d-man. Incredibly smart and responsible. I'd expect him with Moore playing the same role he did with our favorite UMass defender ... fireman. He'll let Moore make plays and shutdown anything coming back the other way.

Would I have liked a guy for one more year? Yes. Am I very happy with Farmer being on our team this season as we try and make a run? Without a doubt.

[crb1]

5 hours ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

Jason Smallidge is a right hand D with NCHC experience, and as a MN resident gets a discount on tuition in lieu of a scholarship.

If I remember correctly Smallidge has a hell of a bomb from the point and has burned us a few times. If I recall correctly I am ok with this happening. 

[SIOUXELEVENS]

Wonder why he only played 8 games last season?

[BusinessSoot]

50 minutes ago, brianvf said:

A different portal guy?  Or bring in one of our current recruits?  Maybe get the UND President to allow Miller a 2nd chance? 

Or just not a fan of Farmer?

 

I guess I' m a bit old school and would have liked the 7 eligible returning dmen to get a chance to grow together one more year, rather than pick up a top 4 guy and rattle the depth chart.   Farmer a good player? For sure he is. Is he the answer to get past regions and into a frozen 4? He could potentially help, but if the guys up front can't score...........

Hoping for a a better record/finish in '22-'23 with the players remaining and that are coming in.

[The Sicatoka]

I can argue both ways.

One year rental: Bring in a one year top four guy and take a run at a green banner. The younger portion of the corps gets more time to ripen. Farmer (plus Hain and Senden) tells me what I need to know: this is the plan. Farmer is the right fit: right shot, and can cover if Jandric or Moore "make him like clothesline". 

- or - 

Guy with eligibility: A year from now Jandric is done. Frisch will be entertaining FA offers; OTT will be pressuring Kleven. And if Moore were to progress, who knows. Yes, there's a real scenario where the defense could be down to Johnson, Bast, (Sanderson's replacement), and (Ferner's replacement). In this scenario bringing in a guy with more than year (instead of Farmer) would make sense. But, now with Farmer here you're going to only get a fourth-pair guy because there's no minutes.  

What do I believe we'll be talking about in 12 months?
Expected case: A year from now it'll be Moore, Johnson, Bast, (Ferner's replacement), and four well-rounded ready incoming freshmen. 
Best case: See Expected case but Frisch spends his Covid year at UND (I expect Kleven to go), which also means three freshmen (because one isn't ready).
Worst case: Johnson, Bast, (Ferner's replacement), and four well-rounded ready incoming freshmen, and an upperclassman portal. 

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

1 hour ago, SIOUXELEVENS said:

Wonder why he only played 8 games last season?

Wrist injury and then knee injury.

https://unothegateway.com/from-car-ride-to-concussion-omahas-jake-harrison-and-jason-smallidge-share-unique-bond-through-injury-plagued-season/