Bulldogs coming to town

[cowboys5xsbs]

Feels like a good spot to get a sweep and right the ship.  The history between these teams scares me into thinking the dogs will steal one.  Will berry stick with Persson through his funk and what lineup changes are coming to get us back on track.  It's going to be a big weekend for our season.  

[SIOUXELEVENS]

Lineup changes , your kidding right. 

[stoneySIOUX]

4 minutes ago, SIOUXELEVENS said:

Lineup changes , your kidding right. 

He quite literally made them on Saturday. If Johannes come back, he'll make them again.

[hockeytherapy13]

3 hours ago, cowboys5xsbs said:

Feels like a good spot to get a sweep and right the ship.  The history between these teams scares me into thinking the dogs will steal one.  Will berry stick with Persson through his funk and what lineup changes are coming to get us back on track.  It's going to be a big weekend for our season.  

I’d like to see hedquist due to Persson’s complete lack of consistency for weeks. But since we need to get in a rhythm leading into playoffs I’m guessing Berry plays Persson to see if he can get out of his funk and start playing well every night to the level we know he can play at. But our play in front of him was a massive problem all weekend so if we clean that up, I like our chances this coming weekend. I don’t see us getting 6 clean points but I think we get 4-5 out of the weekend and “win” the series. Although we should get 6 against them at home just looking at paper and computers haha 

[fightingsioux4life]

In order to win the Penrose, I think we need to win all 6 of our remaining games. I do not want a repeat of 2022, where we beat Omaha on the road on Friday to clinch a share of the Penrose, then lost the next night and failed to win the league outright. Then in the first round of the NCHC playoffs, we didn't look impressive in a home sweep. We looked punchless in the Frozen Faceoff vs. Western Michigan and in the NCAA first round against Notre Dame. I want us to have momentum and confidence going into the postseason, two things we do not have right now. Duluth cannot be allowed to "steal" any points this weekend.

[brianvf]

25 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

In order to win the Penrose, I think we need to win all 6 of our remaining games.

I just don't see a scenario where we win all 6 remaining games.
WMU is a tough team this year with a potent top line (again)...I could see us dropping points there.  UNO always seems to save their best games for us, and we'll be on the road too.  While I think we could still win the Penrose even if we drop points to those teams, after what we witnessed this past weekend, I'm not optimistic.
That said, we're still in the driver's seat for the Penrose...boys just need to play like they did against DU.

[fightingsioux4life]

32 minutes ago, brianvf said:

I just don't see a scenario where we win all 6 remaining games.
WMU is a tough team this year with a potent top line (again)...I could see us dropping points there.  UNO always seems to save their best games for us, and we'll be on the road too.  While I think we could still win the Penrose even if we drop points to those teams, after what we witnessed this past weekend, I'm not optimistic.
That said, we're still in the driver's seat for the Penrose...boys just need to play like they did against DU.

I refuse to believe that the same team that beat quality teams all year (including on the road) is now going to fade away down the stretch. But if we fade down the stretch like 2022 and pull another one and done NCAA tournament disappearing act, it will be the most disappointing team in recent memory. And I will begin to believe in the Brad Berry Late Season Swoon theory that some people are buying into. This is where coaching becomes vital to a team's success. The talent is there, but the coaching staff has to get the most out of them, especially as we move into the NCHC and NCAA playoffs.

[brianvf]

1 hour ago, fightingsioux4life said:

I refuse to believe that the same team that beat quality teams all year (including on the road) is now going to fade away down the stretch.

I don’t think they’ll fade away…I just don’t see them winning all 6. 
That said, I’d love for them to prove me wrong. 

[burd]

22 hours ago, fightingsioux4life said:

I refuse to believe that the same team that beat quality teams all year (including on the road) is now going to fade away down the stretch. But if we fade down the stretch like 2022 and pull another one and done NCAA tournament disappearing act, it will be the most disappointing team in recent memory. And I will begin to believe in the Brad Berry Late Season Swoon theory that some people are buying into. This is where coaching becomes vital to a team's success. The talent is there, but the coaching staff has to get the most out of them, especially as we move into the NCHC and NCAA playoffs.

I'd agree.   And hopefully Karl can help settle Ludvig down.   Ludvig is capable of helping them go deep, and no team wins it all without strong tending in the tournament.    

[fightingsioux4life]

8 minutes ago, burd said:

I'd agree.   And hopefully Karl can help settle Ludvig down.   Ludvig is capable of helping them go deep, and no team wins it all without strong tending in the tournament.    

I think we bounce back this weekend with a TCoS on Saturday night.

[brianvf]

28 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

I think we bounce back this weekend with a TCoS on Saturday night.

I sure hope so, both for the team confidence and for posters here.   

[TwamleyShuffle]

Student hockey tickets vs Duluth officially sold out. Hope they can give the team an extra jump and make things tough for UMD

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

42 minutes ago, TwamleyShuffle said:

Student hockey tickets vs Duluth officially sold out. Hope they can give the team an extra jump and make things tough for UMD

Hell yeah, that's some good news

[hockeytherapy13]

On 2/19/2024 at 7:06 PM, fightingsioux4life said:

In order to win the Penrose, I think we need to win all 6 of our remaining games. I do not want a repeat of 2022, where we beat Omaha on the road on Friday to clinch a share of the Penrose, then lost the next night and failed to win the league outright. Then in the first round of the NCHC playoffs, we didn't look impressive in a home sweep. We looked punchless in the Frozen Faceoff vs. Western Michigan and in the NCAA first round against Notre Dame. I want us to have momentum and confidence going into the postseason, two things we do not have right now. Duluth cannot be allowed to "steal" any points this weekend.

We also were without Sanderson (easily our best player that season) for the frozen faceoff and NCAAs in 2022. I honestly think we may have beaten 1 or both of those teams with him because those were close, winnable games.  If we would have had that punch on the power play and could have driven more offense from the back end, we have a way better chance. 

[jk]

1 hour ago, hockeytherapy13 said:

We also were without Sanderson (easily our best player that season) for the frozen faceoff and NCAAs in 2022. I honestly think we may have beaten 1 or both of those teams with him because those were close, winnable games.  If we would have had that punch on the power play and could have driven more offense from the back end, we have a way better chance. 

Considering that he stepped into the NHL six months later and was easily Ottawa's best defenseman his whole rookie year, I'd say he would have made a difference in his 30 minutes per night down the stretch for UND.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

3 hours ago, hockeytherapy13 said:

We also were without Sanderson (easily our best player that season) for the frozen faceoff and NCAAs in 2022. I honestly think we may have beaten 1 or both of those teams with him because those were close, winnable games.  If we would have had that punch on the power play and could have driven more offense from the back end, we have a way better chance. 

Completely agree. He was at the point of his development that he could take games over single handedly and no one could skate with him.  Very few players at UND have had that ability.  And the fact that he was injured diving across the crease to save a goal that clinched a 1st round win and got his hand sliced open makes me like him even more.  We were robbed as fans not getting to watch him in the playoffs.

[brianvf]

From the sounds of this, I would be surprised if Johannes plays this weekend.
He's practicing, but still wearing the red no contact jersey.

The article doesn't mention if Pehrson is practicing or not, but says there's a "great chance" that he'll play.

https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/und-forward-hunter-johannes-nearing-a-return

Quote

"He looks really good," UND coach Brad Berry said. "He's skating every drill with us right now. He's questionable for the weekend, day-to-day here, but he's real close."

Quote

"We have to make sure we're doing the right thing," Berry said. "We're going to have a long run here down the stretch. We'd love to have him in the games this weekend. That might happen. But if we don't have him in the games, it's a situation where we have a really good chance to win games and have a long journey, and make him be a part of that."

 

[brianvf]

Duncan talks about his One More Shift, this Sat:

https://www.nodakice.com/news/ryan-duncan-returns-to-the-ralph-to-be-honored-during-unds-one-more-shift

[thUNDer]

20 minutes ago, brianvf said:

Duncan talks about his One More Shift, this Sat:

https://www.nodakice.com/news/ryan-duncan-returns-to-the-ralph-to-be-honored-during-unds-one-more-shift

Thanks for sharing 

[SiouxFan100]

Not a big fan of Duluth 

[Teeder11]

Sorry if it's been mentioned already but we've got some special guests on campus this weekend for the Bulldog series. 

 

[brianvf]

Trying to monitor Persson's workload and Sandelin talks about slowing down the UND talented players:

https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/und-closely-monitoring-ludvig-perssons-workload-as-season-progresses

Quote

Through the first 14 games, Persson was 11-2-1 with a .924 save percentage. His wins came against some of the best teams in the country — No. 2 Boston University, No. 3 Denver, No. 6 Wisconsin and No. 8 Minnesota.

But as the season has worn on, Persson's save percentage has slowly dwindled.

After allowing 10 goals in a pair of losses to Colorado College last weekend, Persson's save percentage has dipped to .899. Since suffering an injury over Christmas break and battling an illness, Persson is at .881. Considering that, UND has emphasized rest and recovery during the week.

Quote

"You've got to pay attention to those guys. And even when you do, Blake is special. He's a special player, a lot like his dad. I got to coach his dad. He's a special player."

How do you combat UND's top players?

"Pressure them," Sandelin said. "They turned over a lot of pucks against Colorado College. If you don't pressure them, I don't care who you are, they're going to make plays. We've got to put pressure on them when we can pressure, take time and space away. That's all you can do."

 

[Dave Berger]

Weekend Preview: UND vs. Minnesota Duluth

Discuss. 

Dave

[bcblues]

Well, homestretch. Time to put up or shut up. We need some stability and good solid back-to-basics hockey.

 

1) Persson need to bring his A game. Cut down on the deflections, and distribute the puck wisely.

2) We REALLY need to put an end to the give-away-to-the-opponent passes in out D-zone. Several of our losses this year can be attributed to this.

3) Our scorers need to score.

4) And for Christ sake, don't take stupid penalties!

[RedFrog]

7 hours ago, bcblues said:

Well, homestretch. Time to put up or shut up. We need some stability and good solid back-to-basics hockey.

 

1) Persson need to bring his A game. Cut down on the deflections, and distribute the puck wisely.

2) We REALLY need to put an end to the give-away-to-the-opponent passes in out D-zone. Several of our losses this year can be attributed to this.

3) Our scorers need to score.

4) And for Christ sake, don't take stupid penalties!

 

1) Persson played well tonight ... a couple of great saves in the third period, but not much challenge otherwise.

2) Giveaways in the D zone were there for the taking tonight, Duluth just wasn't pressuring.  It seemed to clean up the second half of the game, but it was still a problem.

3) Scorers scored, Gaber, Blake, Berg (x2), Perron, and McLaughlin.  Now it's time to get Schmaltzy his first of the year.

4) Jamernick's penalty was of the stupid variety, otherwise I thought the boys played pretty disciplined.  I am getting tired of seeing Ludvig get bumped constantly and wouldn't mind someone taking a roughing to send a message.  Was good to see some of that when the boys took exception to the scrum with Blake in the third.