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Minnesota @ UND Saturday GameDay Thread


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16 minutes ago, tnt said:

Probably more of a mess because of the outcome, but I can think of 3 or 4 chances that would most likely result in goals in most circumstances.  Close was great and probably stole a couple, which would give us about 20%.  Winning the draw was huge on those power plays where we did get chances. 

There was one power play in the third period for UND that comes to mind where they did all the right things but score. I recall Berg camped out in front of Close and getting a couple nice looks where Close just stoned us. 

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When Blake missed a wide open net on a rebound in the first period, were we on a power play? I don't remember.

Close gave up a ton of juicy rebounds this weekend. We need to get guys in position to take advantage of those when they are available. That could help us win some games going forward.

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3 hours ago, Godsmack said:

There was one power play in the third period for UND that comes to mind where they did all the right things but score. I recall Berg camped out in front of Close and getting a couple nice looks where Close just stoned us. 

Justen Close was really good this past weekend. He was very sound positionally. Berry gave him a lot of credit in the post-game pressers both nights. Both goalies were really good. 

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10 hours ago, siouxforce19 said:

Yes they are complaining about it. Every one of their penalties was a dive apparently… :whistling:

They thought on Friday that when Logan Britt was cross checked into the goal post that that was a dive. Which is absolutely ridiculous. 

I swear, the way Britt went off after that, that his wrist was broken...so relieved  when he was back on the bench

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44 minutes ago, brianvf said:

Pretty darn cool:

 

Hrkac was just the best. The best player on the best college hockey team ever who had the best season scoring-wise in college hockey history. 

 

(That Cornell team would not have gone unbeaten had they played in the WCHA.)

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2 hours ago, Goon said:

Justen Close was really good this past weekend. He was very sound positionally. Berry gave him a lot of credit in the post-game pressers both nights. Both goalies were really good. 

They have a very solid team and the 34 yr old Canadian Close is great.  They are probably the favorites to win it all.  Can’t wait to see them choke again. 

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8 minutes ago, SiouxFanatic said:

Mike Schmitt(Director of Officials) went to MSU-Moorhead. He lives in Minot. Dreger is an CC alum and Hankes is a Minnesota alum. The linesman, Liffrig and Stephens are North Dakotans. Liffrig is a U-Mary alum and Stephens is a Minot State alum. 

Sounds like those GPLers are horrible at research and fact-checking.  ;) :D 

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15 hours ago, Godsmack said:

To your fourth point about defensive commitment and sticks in lanes, was that Schmaltz who got a critical poke check on a Gopher player in the dying seconds of last night’s game that prevented them from getting a grade A shot off? Whoever it was, it was a huge defensive play! 

I just watched the highlights again...and yes, it was Schmaltz.  Just got his stick on it from behind as the Gopher player was about to get the shot off from right in the circle.
Great team defensive effort in that Saturday game!

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Thoughts:

  • Close was the player of the weekend (credit where credit due) ... < joke here about the wife and kids and a minivan > 
  • Persson was right behind 
  • Losing Pehrson Friday and Zmolek Saturday ... let's hope they're more 'hurt' than 'injured'. 
  • This team needs to play "fast and north" all the time
  • I'm glad they stayed "fast and north" and didn't go "shell" with five to play on Saturday 
  • Mistaking 7 for 77? Give Huglen not Pitlick? I blame the bench as much as the refs. Show some integrity. (That should maybe be a bench minor.) 
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12 minutes ago, SJHovey said:

It always sucks when UND fails to sweep the gophers, especially in Grand Forks.  But splits are generally the norm for this matchup, so whatever.

I will say this, however.  If you had asked me before the games which team was likely the better or stronger team, I probably would have told you Minnesota.  They brought back a ton of talent from last year's title game team, and added some outstanding freshmen.  UND had/has a lot of unknowns.

I'm not so sure, after watching this past weekend.  A lot of the talk on social media, here and on gpl, has been about how good Close was this weekend, and he definitely played great.  But he had to play great.  I thought that even though the games were sort of mirror images of each other, with one team controlling play for two periods one game and one period the other, North Dakota overall had a higher number of really quality scoring chances.  North Dakota gave up probably too many breakaways.  But I thought that North Dakota had more chances in close, in the slot, and with some odd man rushes.

I also thought that even though neither team scored with the man advantage, North Dakota had much better looks than did Minnesota, especially in game two.

Just my two cents.

I told a buddy of mine that after game 1, the exact opposite in game 2 would happen, and I nailed it. Overall, I think Minnesota is a little deeper and their back end has more "talent", but I think our defensemen know how to play the game a bit more, namely because of seasoning. That's not discounting our freshmen because goodness Wiebe was good on Saturday. Livanvage was good, too. 

Lots and lots of plusses this weekend.

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One thing I really noticed with this group is the D-corp (and forwards helping out) are not letting letting nearly the amount of backdoor one-timers and tap-ins happen. Someone this fall mentioned when they hired Simpson they wondered if he would be able to teach that awareness and sticks in the traffic areas (because he was one of the best ever at it). It sure seems like that has been a focus point. There were multiple times last weekend it looked like one was going right to a Gopher forward and our D would get a stick on it at the last second to negate it.

They are still allowing too many breakaways, but it looks to me like some of those are just not being super crisp with our passing yet. Forwards get a pass picked off and a good transition team goes the other way fast. But I would think goalies would take a breakaway over a cross-ice pass to a wide open back door player any day.

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One more ...

  • if just one of the two wide open blasts from JPerr* (off beautiful cross crease passes) had hit on Saturday ... 

 

*Jayden, you're on 192% adrenaline compared to practice; dumb as this sounds, get the shot off as fast but think more aim less 'gusto', your body has the 'gusto' covered compared to practice. 

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57 minutes ago, stoneySIOUX said:

I told a buddy of mine that after game 1, the exact opposite in game 2 would happen, and I nailed it. Overall, I think Minnesota is a little deeper and their back end has more "talent", but I think our defensemen know how to play the game a bit more, namely because of seasoning. That's not discounting our freshmen because goodness Wiebe was good on Saturday. Livanvage was good, too. 

Lots and lots of plusses this weekend.

I think UND is just as deep as Minnesota, especially at forward.  When you have a 4th round draft pick sitting in Jackson Kunz, that is saying something.  Also, when you look at Junior numbers, guys like Pinoniemi, Mittelstadt,  and Strobel weren't exactly world beaters.  Of course numbers aren't the be all end all, but our forward depth is pretty good. 

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9 minutes ago, tnt said:

I think UND is just as deep as Minnesota, especially at forward.  When you have a 4th round draft pick sitting in Jackson Kunz, that is saying something.  Also, when you look at Junior numbers, guys like Pinoniemi, Mittelstadt,  and Strobel weren't exactly world beaters.  Of course numbers aren't the be all end all, but our forward depth is pretty good. 

That's why I said "a little" deeper lol. 

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12 minutes ago, stoneySIOUX said:

That's why I said "a little" deeper lol. 

Just saying you have 3 guys that were in Minnesota's lineup that accounted for 30 goals their last year of juniors in 135 games, and a guy that wasn't in UND's lineup that accounted for 23 goals in 50 games.  

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31 minutes ago, The Sicatoka said:

You mean a geometric Indian headdress? No bueno. 

Yes, I think it would bring back the nostalgia of the days when they played.  When I look back at all the photo's at the Ralph and see the history, I can feel that emotion rolling over me as I recall those days.  It may not mean much to the newer fans, but for those that have been watching for the last 50 years, there is definitely some emotion there. 

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37 minutes ago, tnt said:

Just saying you have 3 guys that were in Minnesota's lineup that accounted for 30 goals their last year of juniors in 135 games, and a guy that wasn't in UND's lineup that accounted for 23 goals in 50 games.  

It’s really about structure. Friday, Minnesota played very sound team defense, and got into UNDs head. 
 

Saturday, UND was better with their forecheck, and Minnesota got into penalty trouble. Close kept the Goofs in the game during the second period, and that allowed them to get back into the game in the third. 
 

UND will need to start capitalizing on the scoring chances, because turnovers and odd man rushes will be plentiful against them. Team defense should improve, but you have to bury your chances against good teams like Minnesota.

If the defense can stay healthy, this team could be close to unbeatable by the end of the year.

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