NCAA tilt: UND vs the Maize and Blue

[tnt]

6 minutes ago, jk said:

Well, sometimes I think I was watching a different game.  First, MI is really good.  It's easy to see that their guys have that polish that points to an NHL future, just so fast and slick.  

But I thought through two periods UND had played a terrific defensive game.  Not perfect, because the other team is good too and will have its moments, but how often did you see a developing chance for MI get thwarted by a backcheck or a seam pass get deflected?  And how many times was Ludwig asked to make an exceptional save?  I'm thinking it was never.  This was night and day different from the last game against Omaha, where Hobey faced so many great chances.  

This'll be the more controversial part, but even when they got caved in to start the third, they actually still covered guys in the defensive zone and limited great chances.  MI was going to push at some point, and they did, but the point is to survive those stretches until you can work out of it.  MI's fourth goal was pretty, but their first three were hockey bounces, which UND got none of.  

I thought UND played solid playoff hockey tonight and deserved a better fate.  The whole "have to play sixty minutes" thing is a joke.  What is that, you have to dominate the other team for sixty minutes?  Momentum changes in hockey, sometimes you have it, sometimes the other guys do.  

They got caved in by Denver in the semis in 2016 for the first 14 minutes of the third period, but they kept playing and came out the other side and eventually won.  This team also turned the tide in the last third of the third, and had some terrific one-timer chances (that were better chances than almost anything MI had all game), but could not get them to go.  The difference is that Denver didn't get a bunch of hockey bounces like MI did in this game.  

So, to summarize, I disagree with many here and thought they showed up and played hard and well against a very good team.  I was down on their recent performances, but felt like they really turned it around tonight.  Despite that, it wasn't meant to be.

Michigan is good, which is why you needed to take care of business against Omaha and set yourself up in Sioux Falls.  When you look at that graph and realize over a third of the teams in college hockey have as many or more tourney wins since 2017, it is a stark reality that despite many advantages, they have underachieved big time when it counts.

[brianvf]

Truly a disappointing end to a season that showed so much promise at times. You could see things coming off the rails in the second half against CC and UNO. 
Berry and Co are gonna need to take a hard look at how things have been progressing as a program lately and make some changes. The tourney results since the last title don’t lie. 

[Kab]

2 hours ago, SiouxScore said:

Disappointing crash to a season that showed so much promise at times.

Too many missed opportunities in the 1st. Leaving that period at only 1-0 was trouble. Too many turnovers in the 2nd half of the game just got extremely careless. Michigan definitely got some puck luck but back breaker was Persson giving up the 2nd, just cover the damn puck. Not enough urgency and getting pucks to the net, content to play on the perimeter.

Brady Berry clock is ticking. 1 ncaa win since the national championship and 3 missed tourneys when we hadn’t missed one in forever. Some say parity and I’ll never agree with that, watch the spittin chiclets video and try to sell someone on parity how many other places are even in the same ballpark with those amenities maybe a couple. Frozen Fours should be the expectation around here.

The AD doesn’t have any coach on a ticking clock 

‘only clock is extensions’

the UndCulture, one and done, 4 sports this year 

[Prison_Mike]

Before criticizing Berry, please try walking a mile in his shoes…

 

[Oxbow6]

6 hours ago, Shawn-O said:

Pretty much nailed it.  The building and the amenities inside have eclipsed any accomplishments on the scoreboard.  And yet nothing will change until attendance dwindles and interest wains.  But why would attendance ever dwindle? The game night experience is second to none! It’s a weird conundrum.  

For a few years now after every home win all we talk about in our section is how much closer UND is to winning the Penrose.  

That is the ceiling now.......

[hockeytherapy13]

7 hours ago, UNDMOORHEAD said:

I think that's what sucks so bad. We lost a winnable game. It would be different if they just couldn't hang, but that didn't seem to be the case.

This is 100% why that loss ended up being so painful. We were there and we were the better team for a larger portion of the game. 

[108498]

The 2011 team was a great example of how UND hockey has changed since then Hakstal left. The 2011 team won the regular season title and the conference tournament and yet didn't touch either trophy. Although it was supor hard seeing them shutout by a great goal tender in the national tournament, that team was lazer focused on reaching a national title and you saw it.  UND no longer knows how to win in post season. It is one thing when football struggles, but that is hard to swallow considering the resources and history of UND hockey. 

[Oxbow6]

@MafiaMan posted earlier the after the 2016 Natty Berry's post season record is 3-12 with 1 NCCA win. Again let that soak in. Then add in 3 missed NCAA appearances during that stretch. 

[Oxbow6]

5 minutes ago, 108498 said:

The 2011 team was a great example of how UND hockey has changed since then Hakstal left. The 2011 team won the regular season title and the conference tournament and yet didn't touch either trophy. Although it was supor hard seeing them shutout by a great goal tender in the national tournament, that team was lazer focused on reaching a national title and you saw it.  UND no longer knows how to win in post season. It is one thing when football struggles, but that is hard to swallow considering the resources and history of UND hockey. 

This program hasn't had a Malone or a Hextall since then. Don't even know if they make guys like that anymore. Put one of those two guys from 2011 on this team and there's zero chance they lose last night.

[Username Taken]

For all this “culture” talk it sounds like the majority of us went into this game hoping to win (obviously) but expecting to lose. That’s the definition of a losing culture. That’s the reality. Opposite of clutch. Fade away when it matters. 

[90siouxfan]

Our culture is "entitled"...

[I Ranger]

I don't know if I have ever seen a UND team get so manhandled physically by a team not remotely known for that type of play. Not sure if anyone has mentioned this, but I think Michigan's physical play was one of the reasons we looked totally gassed in the third. Other than Johannes, every forward seemed to take a beating and I think that won the game for Michigan. 

[scpa0305]

59 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

@MafiaMan posted earlier the after the 2016 Natty Berry's post season record is 3-12 with 1 NCCA win. Again let that soak in. Then add in 3 missed NCAA appearances during that stretch. 

Tough metrics to look at. Yesterday’s game was tough and that was a 50/50 game to begin with. But I wasn’t overly shocked when the puck dropped, we had them. In one and done games, sometimes those games happen. 

But…those games seem to never go in our favor anymore. Since the natty, we’ve most likely been the lowest blue blood program out there. Other blue bloods have had the volatility as well (missed NCAAs, etc) but they’ve had far more success than us in the NCAAs. We seem to be good enough to slug out regular reason games…but flame out by the end of the season. It’s all cyclical I suppose, hopefully they start getting lucky.

[scpa0305]

54 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

This program hasn't had a Malone or a Hextall since then. Don't even know if they make guys like that anymore. Put one of those two guys from 2011 on this team and there's zero chance they lose last night.

We have role players…albrecht, jammer, Johannes, Kunz, strinden, etc. I honestly don’t think that’s the issue.

[Oxbow6]

4 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

We have role players…albrecht, jammer, Johannes, Kunz, strinden, etc. I honestly don’t think that’s the issue.

It's a stretch to consider Malone or Hextall "role players" in their day. Then add in their leadership and toughness.

Kunz on this squad is top 6 amirite??

[scpa0305]

4 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

It's a stretch to consider Malone or Hextall "role players" in their day. Then add in their leadership and toughness.

Kunz on this squad is top 6 amirite??

I’ve liked Kunz the past 5-6 weeks. He is not the issue. 
 

I just looked, too three ushl point leaders…Swanson coming here obv, the other two are going to Mich and that isn’t including NTDP.

[SIOUXELEVENS]

Berry swoon is real.  Berry to the team after last night, aw shucks we lost again but when  we get home you can jump on the zero gravity beds and we can talk about our #culture. It’s unreal how much he talks about culture and tradition and all he adds to is how to lose in the post season. PS he did add to Cc and omahas. Season sweep for CC and first sweep by the Mavs and another one done added. 

[KetoChronos]

1 hour ago, Oxbow6 said:

For a few years now after every home win all we talk about in our section is how much closer UND is to winning the Penrose.  

That is the ceiling now.......

I know you all hate me because I am a Denver fan, grew up near GF but in Boulder now. But, point is that I think UND comes off to other teams in the NCHC as being laser focused on winning the Penrose. So much press attention to the Penrose. Honestly, we have DU season tickets and as a fan, I never hear about the Penrose Cup. So, there is something to it with UND’s post season trials. 
As a DU fan I haven’t cared much about the Penrose or even NCHC tournament, except that it matters for NCAA seeding, and you want to go into the NCAA on the upswing. In Denver it really is all about the NCAA championship.
That said, with so many excellent teams in college hockey, we know that no matter who your team is, winning the Championship is extremely difficult. It’s an uphill battle for everyone, and you have to leave it all on the ice. It takes some luck too, the kind of luck Michigan had last night. 
NCAA tournament pairings are painful. Denver has had to travel to Massachusetts to play two teams with a massive local fan base. For DU they aren’t just road games, they’re games in a hostile atmosphere. And, UND had to fight through a regional that featured two strong Big Ten teams. Let’s face it, no matter how talented you are, winning in the NCAA tournament is very difficult. 

[siouxweet]

8 hours ago, KetoChronos said:

Sorry, parity is real. 6 of 8 games decided by 1 goal. 6 of 8 games that could have gone either way. 3 of 8 games ended in OT. 
The NCHC plays tough hockey, but 3 of 4 NCHC teams in the tournament are already headed home. Denver is the only quarterfinals survivor, and Massachusetts played Denver even. 

Parity is real. 

Parity was just starting to set in when Hak left.  Teams like Yale, Providence and Union were starting to get players they never would have a decade or two ago and win.  Some of Haks teams would have been buried by Jan and never recovered to make the tournament today.

[Oxbow6]

16 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

I’ve liked Kunz the past 5-6 weeks. He is not the issue. 
 

I just looked, too three ushl point leaders…Swanson coming here obv, the other two are going to Mich and that isn’t including NTDP.

Won't belabor this issue. We aren't seeing the same point.

[siouxweet]

1 hour ago, Oxbow6 said:

This program hasn't had a Malone or a Hextall since then. Don't even know if they make guys like that anymore. Put one of those two guys from 2011 on this team and there's zero chance they lose last night.

I said it before these players are different than they were 10-15 years ago.   The deep pride and jump on my back and I will lead you isn’t there.  UND is just a stepping stone to the pros and how fast can I get there and if UND can't help me I will go somewhere else.  The name on the back is far more important than the one on the front. 

[ChrisUND1]

Any word on the health of Blake?   What an awful, awful look.  

[MafiaMan]

15 minutes ago, siouxweet said:

Parity was just starting to set in when Hak left.  Teams like Yale, Providence and Union were starting to get players they never would have a decade or two ago and win.  Some of Haks teams would have been buried by Jan and never recovered to make the tournament today.

Oh please.  Not a single program recruited Shayne Gostisbehere and he stuck with Union because they were the first one to make him an offer.  I’m also old enough to remember a no-name Harvard team beating Minnesota’s Pride on Ice in St. Paul in 1989 so spare me talk of revisionist history of the Hakstol era being exaggerated to “parity” today.  Hak had his teams firing on all cylinders come tournament time while Berry’s squads are always out of gas.  And that’s not an anomaly now, it’s a full-blown pattern with Berry.

[BusinessSiouxt]

8 hours ago, Cratter said:

Lesser talented teams have to "grind/cycle."

Skilled teams use skill and don't "grind," it would be a waste of talent.

All 8 games were more or less skilled vs grind teams....all close games...with all non grind teams winning. (Cornell vs Maine and Michigan vs UND = tossup....evenly matched)

But in each case, the skill team is relied on “puck luck“ to win the game. OK, exception is Boston College, but Isn’t it always?

[SIOUXELEVENS]

Don’t you make some of your own puck luck?