2024-25 University of North Dakota Hockey Season

[siouxweet]

7 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

Agreed. And they can’t really split, they need something like a DU sweep on the road, etc

Yep and the WCHA days of a good 3 point weekend don't exist anymore.

[burd]

Unless they are a 2 seed or better, which will not happen, I really don't care if they have to win the conference tournament to get in.   They would have to beat DU anyway, so might as well line em up right away.  

[tnt]

1 hour ago, burd said:

Unless they are a 2 seed or better, which will not happen, I really don't care if they have to win the conference tournament to get in.   They would have to beat DU anyway, so might as well line em up right away.  

The last Frozen Faceoff at the “X” would be a good one to get us in the tournament if the pairwise hill is too high to climb.

[MafiaMan]

29 minutes ago, tnt said:

The last Frozen Faceoff at the “X” would be a good one to get us in the tournament if the pairwise hill is too high to climb.

Yes sir!  And with Berry’s track record of having his teams firing on all cylinders heading into conference tournament semi-final games, this should be NO PROBLEM for North Dakota to snag an auto-bid to the dance, right?

[Blackheart]

23 minutes ago, MafiaMan said:

Yes sir!  And with Berry’s track record of having his teams firing on all cylinders heading into conference tournament semi-final games, this should be NO PROBLEM for North Dakota to snag an auto-bid to the dance, right?

Sarcasm is like a second language to me.

[siouxfaninseattle]

2 hours ago, Blackheart said:

Sarcasm is like a second language to me.

And to Mafia it look like

[Blackheart]

1 hour ago, siouxfaninseattle said:

And to Mafia it look like

Mafia my boy!

[tnt]

13 hours ago, MafiaMan said:

Yes sir!  And with Berry’s track record of having his teams firing on all cylinders heading into conference tournament semi-final games, this should be NO PROBLEM for North Dakota to snag an auto-bid to the dance, right?

Let's face it, most of those years they were coming off league titles and they were fat and happy, so instead of tuna on toast, chicken salad on rye untoasted. 

[MafiaMan]

11 hours ago, siouxfaninseattle said:

And to Mafia it look like

Shizzo my bazizzo 

[brianvf]

https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/e-j-emery-hampton-slukynsky-named-to-preliminary-u-s-world-junior-roster

Emery on the prelim roster for WJC team.
Strathmann and Swanson were also at the showcase earlier this year, but didn't make the prelim roster.

If he makes the team, he won't miss any games other than the Manitoba exhibition.

[MafiaMan]

1 hour ago, brianvf said:

https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/e-j-emery-hampton-slukynsky-named-to-preliminary-u-s-world-junior-roster

Emery on the prelim roster for WJC team.
Strathmann and Swanson were also at the showcase earlier this year, but didn't make the prelim roster.

If he makes the team, he won't miss any games other than the Manitoba exhibition.

I was told that this year’s World Junior USA team will be made up primarily of players from RMU and Bemidji State.  

[SIOUXELEVENS]

Never have I heard so many complaints about poor passing and lack of basic skills , does the coaching staff no see this or don’t they believe it’s an issue. 

[crb1]

I remember when Rocco played here at UND, he was a real good player, but I think it was after his injury when he came back that he had all that trouble scoring. Basically missing the net on many opportunities. I have that same feeling this year but on a larger scale, like the whole team, they just can't seem to hit the net and when they do its usually right in the numbers. Now there are a few exceptions with Boisvert and Berg, who seem to have pretty good shots and can bury it most times if given a good look.

[tnt]

35 minutes ago, SIOUXELEVENS said:

Never have I heard so many complaints about poor passing and lack of basic skills , does the coaching staff no see this or don’t they believe it’s an issue. 

I guess these are the players they have recruited, and outside of going into the game themselves, I don't know what else you can do as coach.  Like I said before, obviously NHL teams have been poor in their assessments if these guys don't have basic skills.  I suspect it is more of a need to bear down, and if these guys don't have the self motivation and competitive nature to take this upon themselves, maybe their scholarships need to be looked at.   Maybe this is our chance as fans to single out the guys that have made NIL money that are under performing and give them the reality of what it is like to play for money and the expectation that goes with it. 

[MafiaMan]

1 hour ago, SIOUXELEVENS said:

Never have I heard so many complaints about poor passing and lack of basic skills , does the coaching staff not see this or don’t they believe it’s an issue. 

Maybe the players read about it here, eh @Oxbow6?

[hockeytherapy13]

57 minutes ago, tnt said:

I guess these are the players they have recruited, and outside of going into the game themselves, I don't know what else you can do as coach.  Like I said before, obviously NHL teams have been poor in their assessments if these guys don't have basic skills.  I suspect it is more of a need to bear down, and if these guys don't have the self motivation and competitive nature to take this upon themselves, maybe their scholarships need to be looked at.   Maybe this is our chance as fans to single out the guys that have made NIL money that are under performing and give them the reality of what it is like to play for money and the expectation that goes with it. 

It's not that the players not physically make a pass. It's that the team doesn't have enough plays or options through the neutral zone. They often make a single stretch pass cross ice that is easily read by the other team, therefore we either turn it over right before the blue line, or we don't have enough momentum and speed to retrieve the puck once we have to quickly dump it in. We need to start having 2-3 quick passes to come with speed through the neutral zone so that we aren't getting sniffed out after one pass. Some of these more skilled teams that can use their skill and speed often start with a cross stretch pass and quickly follow up with a bump/touch pass toward center ice to the next forward supporting with speed. The coaches need to get some serious reps in practice regarding play through the neutral zone and practice it to the point of cognitive muscle memory so that these guys have options. If they are practicing plays like that, it hasn't shown up in games consistently. Because on the occasion they actually perform 2-3 quick passes back to back to back, thats when they start to actually create some space and chaos on the other end. 

[1972]

53 minutes ago, hockeytherapy13 said:

It's not that the players not physically make a pass. It's that the team doesn't have enough plays or options through the neutral zone. They often make a single stretch pass cross ice that is easily read by the other team, therefore we either turn it over right before the blue line, or we don't have enough momentum and speed to retrieve the puck once we have to quickly dump it in. We need to start having 2-3 quick passes to come with speed through the neutral zone so that we aren't getting sniffed out after one pass. Some of these more skilled teams that can use their skill and speed often start with a cross stretch pass and quickly follow up with a bump/touch pass toward center ice to the next forward supporting with speed. The coaches need to get some serious reps in practice regarding play through the neutral zone and practice it to the point of cognitive muscle memory so that these guys have options. If they are practicing plays like that, it hasn't shown up in games consistently. Because on the occasion they actually perform 2-3 quick passes back to back to back, thats when they start to actually create some space and chaos on the other end. 

to a point, you are right, but the amount of times that they are passing in to each others skates, 2 strides ahead of the other person, or behind them, is really glaring.  tape to tape is a very rare thing with this team

[Godsmack]

5 hours ago, MafiaMan said:

I was told that this year’s World Junior USA team will be made up primarily of players from RMU and Bemidji State.  

Pics or it didn’t happen…

[Blackheart]

On 12/3/2024 at 6:30 PM, Godsmack said:

Pics or it didn’t happen…

Cmon, those guys were really good.

[SiouxFan100]

How’s the locker room holding up?

[brianvf]

1 minute ago, SiouxFan100 said:

How’s the locker room holding up?

Word on the street is that they held another players only meeting but only the new goalie and Zmolek showed up. 

[Blackheart]

7 hours ago, SiouxFan100 said:

How’s the locker room holding up?

What's a schism?  gfhockey?

[90siouxfan]

Is there an OF page for this locker room disruption, asking for a friend.

[SJHovey]

Every UND hockey team I've ever seen play always has to learn how it must play to win a game.  The "how" is different for every team.

Some teams, with more established lineups, figure it out sooner rather than later.  Others, especially teams with a lot of young players or injuries or the like, it takes longer.  Jeebus, I remember the 2006-07 team stumbled into Christmas something like 7-10-1 and in fact were 1-7 in their last eight before heading out for the holidays.  But there were still some young kids on that team, and it took awhile for them to figure it out.

I'm not saying this team will figure it out, or do so in time.  Massive lineup disruptions caused by people into and out of the lineup affect that learning curve.  But there is still time.

You can play around with CHN's pairwise customizer.  Basically, you can fill in the outcomes for future UND games, and their customizer figures out your most likely pairwise position.  I believe what they do is predict the outcomes of all other college games using KRACH.

If UND sweeps Miami, sweeps Duluth at home, and sweeps Omaha at home, but splits with everyone else, the customizer says we'd be about 16 in the pairwise.

If we follow the old mantra of "sweep at home, split on the road," the customizer predicts we'd be about #9.  That includes a split this weekend.  #9 in the pairwise is basically a lock for the tournament, even before conference tournaments begin.

Defending home ice and gaining a split on the road is not an impossible task for any hockey team.

[tnt]

35 minutes ago, SJHovey said:

Every UND hockey team I've ever seen play always has to learn how it must play to win a game.  The "how" is different for every team.

Some teams, with more established lineups, figure it out sooner rather than later.  Others, especially teams with a lot of young players or injuries or the like, it takes longer.  Jeebus, I remember the 2006-07 team stumbled into Christmas something like 7-10-1 and in fact were 1-7 in their last eight before heading out for the holidays.  But there were still some young kids on that team, and it took awhile for them to figure it out.

I'm not saying this team will figure it out, or do so in time.  Massive lineup disruptions caused by people into and out of the lineup affect that learning curve.  But there is still time.

You can play around with CHN's pairwise customizer.  Basically, you can fill in the outcomes for future UND games, and their customizer figures out your most likely pairwise position.  I believe what they do is predict the outcomes of all other college games using KRACH.

If UND sweeps Miami, sweeps Duluth at home, and sweeps Omaha at home, but splits with everyone else, the customizer says we'd be about 16 in the pairwise.

If we follow the old mantra of "sweep at home, split on the road," the customizer predicts we'd be about #9.  That includes a split this weekend.  #9 in the pairwise is basically a lock for the tournament, even before conference tournaments begin.

Defending home ice and gaining a split on the road is not an impossible task for any hockey team.

I guess my problem is more the sense of desperation and urgency doesn't appear to be there, except when they are behind.  You would think with the injuries that at least the veterans would come out with that sense of urgency.  We just seem to have a lot of guys that are soft and not fighting through the adversity.  Hoping that urgency shows up this weekend, because this really could be a tipping point one way or another.