2023-24 University of North Dakota Hockey Season

[Oxbow6]

11 minutes ago, jk said:

Haven't you just described how they have used the portal?  They had issues at G and D and plugged those holes with the portal.  There was not one portal forward on the team this year..

Not in reply to you necessarily, but the bulk of the complaints are about forward usage.  I'm sorry people's pet forward did not earn the ice time or line placement you desired, because they weren't good enough and didn't earn it.  18 got his shot and for whatever reason did not have it.  It's hard for fans to let go of their imagined ceilings for guys, but you have to open your eyes.  Likewise, 22 is going to be a great player, but early he struggled defending, and in the O zone the play was dying on his stick.  He needed to be moved down.  He's a gorgeous skater and I expect him to be great in the next few years.

Goaltending is a huge issue and I have no idea how they let it come to this.  To me it's the giant question mark hanging over KG.  I assume he calls the shots on both recruiting and development there (maybe I'm wrong), but having to go three straight years without a home grown goalie is not acceptable.

On defense, since Sanderson and Kleven they've just missed.  Either missed on guys they wanted or went after the wrong ones.  This next batch has to hit or it will likely be the end of the current regime.  I'd say portal usage to fix the D misses has been very good.  Jandric and Sidorski were both better than solid, and Farmer was just ok. 

What was 10 19 27 and 28 ceiling? What we witnessed 2 or 3 seasons ago is the correct answer.

"Pet forward".....BB is holding on line 2 for you.

[Oxbow6]

8 minutes ago, AJS said:

8 is not a Top 6 if the Forward group is solid. 

I'll disagree.  If he centers you and me he wouldn't shine either. 

[Kevin G]

12 minutes ago, AJS said:

8 is not a Top 6 talent imo

Maybe, maybe not...but we need 8 to keep growing into his ceiling because he's likely going to get top-6 minutes by virtue of being the team's best faceoff man. 

[sparky8701]

6 minutes ago, jk said:

 

On defense, since Sanderson and Kleven they've just missed.  Either missed on guys they wanted or went after the wrong ones.  This next batch has to hit or it will likely be the end of the current regime.  I'd say portal usage to fix the D misses has been very good.  Jandric and Sidorski were both better than solid, and Farmer was just ok. 

I'm in agreement with you on most everything, except the last part. 

Sidorski has been just okay, at best. His peak was the Omaha series where he was not noticeable - a win for him.

Farmer varied between bad and just okay. The coaching staff knows it too - how many times a game do you see the Kleven/Frisch pair broken up, or one them getting an extra shift because they don't trust the 3rd pair guys on their own?

Jandric was solid though. Any gripes I have with his game, aren't of his doing. On the bluelines of years past, a guy like him isn't relied on to kill penalties or eat big defensive minutes or we'd have a better partner to compliment his game/shore up his defending. Good PP guy and run him out there more when we need a goal. 

Going back to last year, Brady Ferner brought nothing - I'd rather have one of the young D getting reps in, struggling at times knowing it could pay dividends for another 2-3 years down the road. Maybe with more experience and confidence Moore, Johnson, or Bast look better this season. 

Obviously the goaltending had it's immense struggles in the first half, but a not-insignificant part of that was the blueline in front of it, so I'd hesitate to say the portal usage to shore up the D has been "very good." 

Something is awry with our recruiting process. This is from the Umass newspaper on Scott Morrow. He's got 64 pts in 72 NCAA games, 40th overall pick. 
Stephen Halliday and Massimo Rizzo are both over ppg players and walked. 
 

Quote

He did play a few games in the USHL despite turning the league down multiple times. He played a total of eight games, two being with the Youngstown Phantoms and six playoff games with the Fargo Force.

With the lack of USHL games, the college that Scott had originally committed to, the University of North Dakota, told him that he must play a year in the USHL to come play for them and start his freshman season in 2022-23. Scott wanted a college that believed in him, so he decided to decommit from North Dakota and find a better fit elsewhere.

 

[tnt]

14 minutes ago, sparky8701 said:

I'm in agreement with you on most everything, except the last part. 

Sidorski has been just okay, at best. His peak was the Omaha series where he was not noticeable - a win for him.

Farmer varied between bad and just okay. The coaching staff knows it too - how many times a game do you see the Kleven/Frisch pair broken up, or one them getting an extra shift because they don't trust the 3rd pair guys on their own?

Jandric was solid though. Any gripes I have with his game, aren't of his doing. On the bluelines of years past, a guy like him isn't relied on to kill penalties or eat big defensive minutes or we'd have a better partner to compliment his game/shore up his defending. Good PP guy and run him out there more when we need a goal. 

Going back to last year, Brady Ferner brought nothing - I'd rather have one of the young D getting reps in, struggling at times knowing it could pay dividends for another 2-3 years down the road. Maybe with more experience and confidence Moore, Johnson, or Bast look better this season. 

Obviously the goaltending had it's immense struggles in the first half, but a not-insignificant part of that was the blueline in front of it, so I'd hesitate to say the portal usage to shore up the D has been "very good." 

Something is awry with our recruiting process. This is from the Umass newspaper on Scott Morrow. He's got 64 pts in 72 NCAA games, 40th overall pick. 
Stephen Halliday and Massimo Rizzo are both over ppg players and walked. 
 

 

Moore has nothing to do with playing time, as he stood out as a pleasant surprise last year.  He has just regressed, and it appears to be more mental than physical.

[brianvf]

21 minutes ago, sparky8701 said:

Something is awry with our recruiting process. This is from the Umass newspaper on Scott Morrow. He's got 64 pts in 72 NCAA games, 40th overall pick. 

Stephen Halliday and Massimo Rizzo are both over ppg players and walked. 

It’s no question that there have been some recent recruiting misses on some big time recruits. Morrow, Halliday, and Rizzo should all have been at UND and the skill level would be noticeably higher (last year and this year) with the three of them wearing green and white. 
And then the near miss on Cooley as well. 
If even two of those four make it to campus, we’re looking much better the last couple seasons. 

[tnt]

Next season starts by the coaches forcing themselves and their team to watch the NCAA selection show today and knowing they all had a hand in us watching rivals being seeded in what should have been our regional.  Maybe they will work this off-season to correct that.

[Godsmack]

12 minutes ago, tnt said:

Next season starts by the coaches forcing themselves and their team to watch the NCAA selection show today and knowing they all had a hand in us watching rivals being seeded in what should have been our regional.  Maybe they will work this off-season to correct that.

Definitely not much fun here as a UND fan to be watching the selection show but I’m going to suck it up and watch. I hope you’re right that Berry and the team also watch as well. 

[Oxbow6]

If 15 comes back next year's team makes the NCAA. Without him they won't.

[petey23]

20 hours ago, SiouxBoys said:

Let's take a look at Kleven's stats throughout his career.

2017-18     Fargo Davies     Games Played: 27     Penalty Minutes: 54

2018-19     USNTDP     Games Played: 52     Penalty Minutes: 96

2019-20    USNTDP    Games Played: 45     Penalty Minutes: 63

2020-23    UND       Games Played: 95     Penalty Minutes: 214

At some point people have to stop claiming the league is out to get him and just realize this is who he is as a player. Always has been and always will. 

Commodore-UND  106 games 382 PIM...484 NHL games...23 million in career earnings

Greene-UND 120 games 337 PIM....615 NHL games...25 million in career earnings

[SiouxBoys]

4 minutes ago, petey23 said:

Commodore-UND  106 games 382 PIM...484 NHL games...23 million in career earnings

Greene-UND 120 games 337 PIM....615 NHL games...25 million in career earnings

What's your point? The only point I was making is that the league isn't having secret meetings in a smoke-filled room trying to figure out how to screw UND/Kleven over. This is the player he is.

[brianvf]

15 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

If 15 comes back next year's team makes the NCAA. Without him they won't.

I'll say...

If 15 comes back, we're top 10 in PWR.
If 15 doesn't come back, we're a bubble team but I still bet we'd make the NCAAs.

[SiouxBoys]

9 minutes ago, petey23 said:

Commodore-UND  106 games 382 PIM...484 NHL games...23 million in career earnings

Greene-UND 120 games 337 PIM....615 NHL games...25 million in career earnings

We also took Greene and Commodore for what they were. Big, punishing defensemen who would find themselves in the box frequently. Do we think the league was out to get them as well?

[sparky8701]

5 minutes ago, SiouxBoys said:

What's your point? The only point I was making is that the league isn't having secret meetings in a smoke-filled room trying to figure out how to screw UND/Kleven over. This is the player he is.

I think he does get the short end of the stick. Look at the series at Miami (Friday game). Gaber gets into it and throwing full on punches back and forth with a guy, gets 2+2. 

30 seconds later in the scrum, Klevin goes at it - it looks objectively less than Gabers mix up and receives 5 + game. WTF?

 

[The Sicatoka]

21 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

If 15 comes back next year's team makes the NCAA. Without him they won't.

I agree 15 is a key piece but I need a goaltending solution before I get that bold. 

[Godsmack]

1 minute ago, The Sicatoka said:

I agree 15 is a key piece but I need a goaltending solution before I get that bold. 

Yep. CC proved what a great goalie can do for an otherwise not very deep team. 

[Kevin G]

Good goaltending covers a multitude of sins. 

[Oxbow6]

Just now, Kevin G said:

Good goaltending covers a multitude of sins. 

So does character and leadership

[brianvf]

2 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

So does character and leadership

#culture

[petey23]

8 minutes ago, sparky8701 said:

I think he does get the short end of the stick. Look at the series at Miami (Friday game). Gaber gets into it and throwing full on punches back and forth with a guy, gets 2+2. 

30 seconds later in the scrum, Klevin goes at it - it looks objectively less than Gabers mix up and receives 5 + game. WTF?

 

Western Michigan at the Ralph. Ref jumps out of way of puck that Tyler is chasing down and turns his head away from the play. WMU lays a text book 5 minute checking from behind hit on Kleven and puck squirts toward corner and Kleven gets up(rather than lay on ice) and the puck comes back towards him and he gets up and starts moving puck behind the net and receives 3 successive slashes and gives WMU player a cross check and gets one in return and then gives WMU player another cross check and hits him in shoulder and the hit continues and makes head contact. Is that a penalty on Kleven? Sure, contact to head. Does the play happen if the referee doesn't give the WMU player carte blanche to commit 21 minutes worth and 4  blatant penalties on Kleven since he is the larger, stronger player? Tyler gets a 5 and 10 and WMU player receives nothing for a dangerous hit and then 3 slashes to instigate the entire situation. Kleven was on receiving end of far more uncalled penalties than he committed this season.

[SiouxBoys]

5 minutes ago, petey23 said:

Western Michigan at the Ralph. Ref jumps out of way of puck that Tyler is chasing down and turns his head away from the play. WMU lays a text book 5 minute checking from behind hit on Kleven and puck squirts toward corner and Kleven gets up(rather than lay on ice) and the puck comes back towards him and he gets up and starts moving puck behind the net and receives 3 successive slashes and gives WMU player a cross check and gets one in return and then gives WMU player another cross check and hits him in shoulder and the hit continues and makes head contact. Is that a penalty on Kleven? Sure, contact to head. Does the play happen if the referee doesn't give the WMU player carte blanche to commit 21 minutes worth and 4  blatant penalties on Kleven since he is the larger, stronger player? Tyler gets a 5 and 10 and WMU player receives nothing for a dangerous hit and then 3 slashes to instigate the entire situation. Kleven was on receiving end of far more uncalled penalties than he committed this season.

There's being biased, and then there's whatever this is. 

[jk]

4 minutes ago, SiouxBoys said:

There's being biased, and then there's whatever this is. 

I mean, look at the tape.  

[SiouxBoys]

9 minutes ago, jk said:

I mean, look at the tape.  

I did look at it. Was there a missed boarding on Kleven? Yes. Was there a single slash from Polin on Kleven after? No. Did he receive a cross check from Polin? No. Did Kleven's crosscheck start at Polin's shoulder and move to his head? Nope, it was straight to the face. If you think what he posted tells the story of that incident, then yikes.

[siouxweet]

1 hour ago, petey23 said:

Commodore-UND  106 games 382 PIM...484 NHL games...23 million in career earnings

Greene-UND 120 games 337 PIM....615 NHL games...25 million in career earnings

Had both of them played in today's game their penalty minutes would have doubled.  The physical part of the game has been taken out by the NCAA.   Kleven hasn't adjusted game to what is and isn't allowed and put himself in the position he was in.

[brianvf]

24 minutes ago, SiouxBoys said:

There's being biased, and then there's whatever this is. 

I'd have to rewatch that incident to see if your recollection is closer to what actually transpired or if petey is closer.

That said, if most of the posters on here are biased to the boys in green, usually your bias (when it comes to officiating) is biased to the opposing team.
I don't think the refs are "out to get Kleven" by any stretch, but I've certainly seen many instances where he takes some punishment with nothing called and then he gets called for something very similar shortly after.  He's a big boy and is very strong on his skates.  Was it this year or last year when the refs reviewed for a major when an opposing player ran into the back of Kleven and they called Kleven for a penalty?  It was checking from behind...from behind.  That was comical to say the least.