2022-23 University of North Dakota Hockey Season

[stoneySIOUX]

4 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

There were some signs, yes.

But if it does not carry over to this weekend and next weekend and so on, it won't help us much.

I think that was the point. He's saying he's seeing signs, so he's confident it'll continue.

[siouxnatty#8]

On 11/28/2022 at 12:27 PM, brianvf said:

No longer ranked in the polls.
When's the last time that happened?

Playing #3 SCSU this weekend...chance to move up...or a chance to sink even further.

I'm bullish on us this weekend.

[90siouxfan]

Sweep, calling it.

[The Sicatoka]

13 minutes ago, 90siouxfan said:

Sweep, calling it.

 

If you offered "split and don't even start the bus to travel" I'd ask "where do I sign." 

[brianvf]

37 minutes ago, 90siouxfan said:

Sweep, calling it.

Which team is doing the sweeping?
Legitimate question.   

[brianvf]

On 11/30/2022 at 4:54 PM, 90siouxfan said:

Sweep, calling it.

 

On 11/30/2022 at 5:32 PM, brianvf said:

Which team is doing the sweeping?
Legitimate question.   

[brianvf]

The team's poor play has me looking ahead to the 23/24 season.   Unfortunate, but it is what it is.

Schedule
Some tough non-conference opponents, but IMO an easier lineup than this year (UW, Army, BSU 2x, UMN 2x, @ BU 2x, MSUM 2x, and Fairbanks 2x).
UMN will lose a ton this off-season but will still be good, BU is looking stronger and has some good recruits lined up, and Mankato seems down a bit this season.
Plus, all games are at home except for the BU series.

Roster
Definitely gone: D(3) - Sidorski, Farmer, Jandric  F(2) - Hain, Senden  G(1) - DeRidder
Potentially gone: D(3) - Moore (if DET wants him), Frisch (5th year option), Kleven  F(3) - Albrecht (5th year option), Gaber (free agent signing), Caulfield (5th year option)

Anywhere from 3-6 Dmen gone, which if it's toward the 5-6 number would be a huge number of starters to replace.  Would definitely need to hit the portal to bring in some 1-2 year guys if that's the case.  Could see Albrecht and Caulfield using their 5th year option if given the choice by the coaching staff.  Could also see some guys hitting the transfer portal too if the locker room atmosphere is a mess and they want a fresh start.  Gaber's decision is huge.  If he returns for his senior year, it automatically boosts our offense quite a bit.

Recruits
From our current recruit list, the guys that seem the most ready to come in next season:
F(2) - Croal and Perron
D(4) - Benoit, Wiebe, Livanavage, and Strathmann
G(1) - Hedquist

Hedquist isn't having a great season in the BCHL, so not sure if the coaches would bring him in or look for another recruit or portal goalie.

Outlook
Honestly, if Gaber returns I think that our offense is even better next season than this year.  Perron is the real deal and you'd get Blake/OwenMc/James/Strinden all with another year of experience under their belts along with a group of Schmaltz/Costantini/Jammer that shows signs of breaking out.
Defense and goaltending is the question mark once again.  Can Hellsten carry the goaltending load?  Bast would be the anchor of the d-corps with hopefully an improved Johnson (and Moore/Frisch if they return).  The dmen recruits will all make freshmen mistakes, but all have skill that will benefit from the extra playing time.  And honestly, can't be much worse than what we've seen at times this year.

[scpa0305]

2 hours ago, brianvf said:

The team's poor play has me looking ahead to the 23/24 season.   Unfortunate, but it is what it is.

Schedule
Some tough non-conference opponents, but IMO an easier lineup than this year (UW, Army, BSU 2x, UMN 2x, @ BU 2x, MSUM 2x, and Fairbanks 2x).
UMN will lose a ton this off-season but will still be good, BU is looking stronger and has some good recruits lined up, and Mankato seems down a bit this season.
Plus, all games are at home except for the BU series.

Roster
Definitely gone: D(3) - Sidorski, Farmer, Jandric  F(2) - Hain, Senden  G(1) - DeRidder
Potentially gone: D(3) - Moore (if DET wants him), Frisch (5th year option), Kleven  F(3) - Albrecht (5th year option), Gaber (free agent signing), Caulfield (5th year option)

Anywhere from 3-6 Dmen gone, which if it's toward the 5-6 number would be a huge number of starters to replace.  Would definitely need to hit the portal to bring in some 1-2 year guys if that's the case.  Could see Albrecht and Caulfield using their 5th year option if given the choice by the coaching staff.  Could also see some guys hitting the transfer portal too if the locker room atmosphere is a mess and they want a fresh start.  Gaber's decision is huge.  If he returns for his senior year, it automatically boosts our offense quite a bit.

Recruits
From our current recruit list, the guys that seem the most ready to come in next season:
F(2) - Croal and Perron
D(4) - Benoit, Wiebe, Livanavage, and Strathmann
G(1) - Hedquist

Hedquist isn't having a great season in the BCHL, so not sure if the coaches would bring him in or look for another recruit or portal goalie.

Outlook
Honestly, if Gaber returns I think that our offense is even better next season than this year.  Perron is the real deal and you'd get Blake/OwenMc/James/Strinden all with another year of experience under their belts along with a group of Schmaltz/Costantini/Jammer that shows signs of breaking out.
Defense and goaltending is the question mark once again.  Can Hellsten carry the goaltending load?  Bast would be the anchor of the d-corps with hopefully an improved Johnson (and Moore/Frisch if they return).  The dmen recruits will all make freshmen mistakes, but all have skill that will benefit from the extra playing time.  And honestly, can't be much worse than what we've seen at times this year.

wow this is a bit depressing actually. 

[Sweethockey]

I like your outlook for the team next year. There’s some optimism that could easily become reality. Some coaching issues that need to be solved first before next season. Some confidence in our coaching staff would go a long way toward that optimism of which I’m not feeling right now.

[brianvf]

24 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

wow this is a bit depressing actually. 

Yep.

20 minutes ago, Sweethockey said:

I like your outlook for the team next year. There’s some optimism that could easily become reality. Some coaching issues that need to be solved first before next season. Some confidence in our coaching staff would go a long way toward that optimism of which I’m not feeling right now.

It'd be great to see a bit of a Hakstol-like 2nd half with this team...not sure if that'll happen but we'll see.
But I'm optimistic that the cupboard isn't too bare for next season as well.

[iluvdebbies]

9 minutes ago, brianvf said:

Yep.

It'd be great to see a bit of a Hakstol-like 2nd half with this team...not sure if that'll happen but we'll see.
But I'm optimistic that the cupboard isn't too bare for next season as well.

I'm not sure if Hakstol could turn this around.....even if he had 10 timeouts.

[The Sicatoka]

11 hours ago, iluvdebbies said:

I'm not sure if Hakstol could turn this around.....even if he had 10 timeouts.

... and two middle fing... nevermind.  

[The Sicatoka]

I see needing four D (Kleven gone, Frisch uses the fifth year, DET sees Moore can't handle DU/SCSU speed much less COL/TBL speed). 

I see needing four F (let Albrecht and Caulfield decide where to use their Covid year other than GF; hope to hang onto Gaber).

I see needing at least one G (play Johnson and see if he rises in game situations). 

I'd like only two "fifth year" guys: Frisch and a goalie if it can be managed. 

Bring in 4D: Benoit, Wiebe, LIvanavage, Strathmann. If you need a fifth (yikes) it's Jubenvill.

Bring in 4F: Croal, Panzer, Perron, Slipec. 

G? Hedquist and ____? 

[ksl_sioux4ever]

This is assuming nobody jumps into the portal

[AJS]

Let's revisit this last off-season. I wasn't the only one that was very frustrated with how clunky it appeared. Other programs seemed so much more calculated; those decisions made sense. How many were neutral at best to Berry deciding to bring back two bottom 6 forwards for their 5th year causing a logjam at forward? Then there was the which freshman are coming in / players who need to be pushed to the portal, which ended with Spicer decommitting. That played out so much longer than it should have. I found the coaching staff not having ONE freshman defenseman that was ready to come in to be very frustrating. Having to lean on the portal not once, but twice. 

My plea would be, use the portal minimally. If there's a perfect fit, one guy, ok. No more 5th year guys. I'm talking both via the portal or in-house. 

[jk]

Regarding the fifth year guys, you're damned if you do, damned if you don't.  By taking them back, they were choosing the guys they felt gave them the best chance to win.  It was either those guys or freshmen they didn't feel were ready.  Obviously the team is struggling, so it couldn't look much worse, but how would it look with freshmen that either can't make the lineup or are overwhelmed when they do?  It's also worth noting the two returners are 4th and 6th in team scoring.

I think the situation on defense is the result of their older committed guys just flatlining developmentally.  Basically they turned out to be the wrong guys.  I don't think the plan two years ago was to forego freshmen for the portal, but when you reach last summer and commits aren't ready, you gotta do what you can, which in this case is the portal.  Commiting the wrong guys is entirely on the coaches, but that doesn't mean they were wrong last summer in tapping the portal.

[BarnWinterSportsEngelstad]

1 hour ago, ksl_sioux4ever said:

This is assuming nobody jumps into the portal

And a few could jump the way this season is playing out.

[jk]

2 hours ago, The Sicatoka said:

I see needing four D (Kleven gone, Frisch uses the fifth year, DET sees Moore can't handle DU/SCSU speed much less COL/TBL speed). 

I see needing four F (let Albrecht and Caulfield decide where to use their Covid year other than GF; hope to hang onto Gaber).

I see needing at least one G (play Johnson and see if he rises in game situations). 

I'd like only two "fifth year" guys: Frisch and a goalie if it can be managed. 

Bring in 4D: Benoit, Wiebe, LIvanavage, Strathmann. If you need a fifth (yikes) it's Jubenvill.

Bring in 4F: Croal, Panzer, Perron, Slipec. 

G? Hedquist and ____? 

Panzer and Slipec seem far from ready, based on their current lack of production (I have not seen them play).  So at forward next year, they could be in a similar situation next summer to their dilemma on D last summer, unless they can find some uncommitted late bloomers.  They could bring in guys who aren't ready, tap the portal, or allow fifth years to return.  The lesser of evils I guess.

[AJS]

For a program like UND hockey when it comes to recruiting, I would simply say, be better. That staff is given every advantage, so figure it out. This is in regard to not having a single freshman defenseman they felt was ready. By Christmas last year they should have been looking for someone then. All this talk recently about the UND culture. I just don't understand how turning this program into Transfer U helps. There is no reason this team has to rely on the Transfer portal and 5th year guys to fill out their roster. Again, I'm not saying never use the Portal, if the perfect one-off type of situation arises. What I'm seeing though, is it's being used as a crutch by this staff, because they don't have the proper recruits lined up. 

[siouxforce19]

10 minutes ago, jk said:

Panzer and Slipec seem far from ready, based on their current lack of production (I have not seen them play).  So at forward next year, they could be in a similar situation next summer to their dilemma on D last summer, unless they can find some uncommitted late bloomers.  They could bring in guys who aren't ready, tap the portal, or allow fifth years to return.  The lesser of evils I guess.

Slipec in particular plays 4th line minutes on a deep team so he should definitely play another year in the USHL so he can potentially earn increased minutes next season once some of the Steel’s top guys move in to college. 

[The Sicatoka]

For two guys with power forward builds, I've never seen two guys drive to the net less and with less passion than Caulfield and Kunz. 

[Siouxperfan7]

This years team is not good.  Might be one of the most dissapointing team since 2001-2002 season.  I take a heartbreaking loss in the first round of the NCAA's at this point!!  Better than a NCHC quarterfinal sweep on the road!!  

[1972]

10 minutes ago, Siouxperfan7 said:

Better than a NCHC quarterfinal sweep on the road!!  

yeah...pretty sure thats what we are gonna get

[The Sicatoka]

13 minutes ago, Siouxperfan7 said:

Better than a NCHC quarterfinal sweep on the road!!  

They'll take it to three games, only to give up six unanswered in game three. 

[Oxbow6]

26 21 18 IMO need to be in the lineup every night from here on out. Might as well put 29 in that group.