2024-25 University of North Dakota Hockey Season

[Oxbow6]

On 4/14/2024 at 4:41 PM, SiouxScore said:

As of now I'd go

Swanson-Berg-Perron

James-Boisvert-McLaughlin

Kunz-Wilkie-Strinden

Schmaltz-Jamernik-Croal

Livanavage-Zmolek

Wiebe-Emery

Strathmann-MacDonald

Jubenvil

Hedquist

The top 2 lines.......100% agree with

[SIOUXELEVENS]

9 hours ago, Oxbow6 said:

The top 2 lines.......100% agree with

Might need to split up Swanson and Perron , pretty small line up.

Swanson-Berg-Kunz

James-Boisvert-McLaughlin

Perron- Wilke- Strinden 

Jammer- Schmaltz- Croal

 

[burd]

Just under 6 months to puck drop.    Wooo hooo!   Game thread?

Not much in my life between now and then. 

[Oxbow6]

1 hour ago, SIOUXELEVENS said:

Might need to split up Swanson and Perron , pretty small line up.

Swanson-Berg-Kunz

James-Boisvert-McLaughlin

Perron- Wilke- Strinden 

Jammer- Schmaltz- Croal

 

Nope.....can't keep burying Perron in favor of Kunz. Kunz has 30 total points so far in his career at UND. Again DU had 11 guys with 30+ points this past season. Just for one season I'd like to see this coaching staff let their top talent roll. Let them develop together. 

[hockeytherapy13]

On 4/14/2024 at 4:41 PM, SiouxScore said:

As of now I'd go

Swanson-Berg-Perron

James-Boisvert-McLaughlin

Kunz-Wilkie-Strinden

Schmaltz-Jamernik-Croal

Livanavage-Zmolek

Wiebe-Emery

Strathmann-MacDonald

Jubenvil

Hedquist

I think if we are going top 6 and bottom 6 this looks really good. But like some have said, this team has the chance to have a top 9 and go for goals with 3 lines rolling a lot. With that in mind, I’d flip Kunz and James around so that Kunz can add some size to the line with Boisvert and OMac, and then James can add more speed to the Wilkie and Strinden line.

This year Kunz is primed to be a 25-35 point guy if he’s with the right players. He took a big jump from his soph to junior years and he seems like he’ll make another jump this year. But I agree with others in that we HAVE to keep Boisvert in a top 6 role so that he can develop and hit his ceiling faster.  But since he’s still a string bean (as is OMac) then having a guy like Kunz can really help give that line some strength. 

All things considered, if this team goes with a top-9 approach and plays like they are down a goal all the time, they will be able to wear teams down. 

Plus our 4th line, if it looks the way you have it above, will make it even more frustrating to play against as they could really shut things down. 

[hockeytherapy13]

1 hour ago, Oxbow6 said:

Nope.....can't keep burying Perron in favor of Kunz. Kunz has 30 total points so far in his career at UND. Again DU had 11 guys with 30+ points this past season. Just for one season I'd like to see this coaching staff let their top talent roll. Let them develop together. 

I said this in an overly long post above, but Kunz is primed to go 25-35 points this year if he’s with the right guys. He went from 5 points as a sophomore to 19 points as a junior and really only played top 6 minutes half the year. Put him in a top 9 role and have him play with skilled guys. Then we are looking at a guy that could be similar to Malone or Vandevelde in regards to point production in his senior year 

[Sweethockey]

3 hours ago, Oxbow6 said:

Nope.....can't keep burying Perron in favor of Kunz. Kunz has 30 total points so far in his career at UND. Again DU had 11 guys with 30+ points this past season. Just for one season I'd like to see this coaching staff let their top talent roll. Let them develop together. 

You mean like the CBS line? That makes too much sense to happen. I like Kunz, a really nice kid. I would like to see him on a “heavy line” with Strinden. Those two could do some damage in that role.

[Wilbur]

3 hours ago, Oxbow6 said:

Nope.....can't keep burying Perron in favor of Kunz. Kunz has 30 total points so far in his career at UND. Again DU had 11 guys with 30+ points this past season. Just for one season I'd like to see this coaching staff let their top talent roll. Let them develop together. 

If Perron puts it together on the d zone side of things this line could roll.  Watching Mac on the power play last night for the Force...just tremendous vision and really an understanding of the timing of the entire operation.

 

 

[skateshattrick]

5 hours ago, Oxbow6 said:

Nope.....can't keep burying Perron in favor of Kunz. Kunz has 30 total points so far in his career at UND. Again DU had 11 guys with 30+ points this past season. Just for one season I'd like to see this coaching staff let their top talent roll. Let them develop together. 

Agreed. I like Kunz and he might have a breakout year, but Perron is a special talent that I foresee taking the place of Blake. He will score 20+ goals this year if given the opportunities.

[SiouxScore]

4 hours ago, hockeytherapy13 said:

I think if we are going top 6 and bottom 6 this looks really good. But like some have said, this team has the chance to have a top 9 and go for goals with 3 lines rolling a lot. With that in mind, I’d flip Kunz and James around so that Kunz can add some size to the line with Boisvert and OMac, and then James can add more speed to the Wilkie and Strinden line.

This year Kunz is primed to be a 25-35 point guy if he’s with the right players. He took a big jump from his soph to junior years and he seems like he’ll make another jump this year. But I agree with others in that we HAVE to keep Boisvert in a top 6 role so that he can develop and hit his ceiling faster.  But since he’s still a string bean (as is OMac) then having a guy like Kunz can really help give that line some strength. 

All things considered, if this team goes with a top-9 approach and plays like they are down a goal all the time, they will be able to wear teams down. 

Plus our 4th line, if it looks the way you have it above, will make it even more frustrating to play against as they could really shut things down. 

One of the biggest things I was looking at and it is something I don't think Berry looks at enough is trying to put guys together that play with the same pace/skating ability. Trying to get speed guys together and really push the pace.

[scpa0305]

On 4/19/2024 at 9:06 AM, SIOUXELEVENS said:

My top six

Mclaughlin/Berg/ Perron/James/Boisvert/Swanson 

third shut down line  Jammer/Wilkie/strinden

With all due respect, I’m not sure Wilkie was brought in to play bottom 6. He’ll get top 6 to start the year…100%.

[scpa0305]

20 hours ago, Sweethockey said:

You mean like the CBS line? That makes too much sense to happen. I like Kunz, a really nice kid. I would like to see him on a “heavy line” with Strinden. Those two could do some damage in that role.

I like Kunz in a top 6 role when he’s moving his feet. He’s not a bottom 6 player. He’s only productive playing with offensive players. 

[scpa0305]

23 hours ago, Oxbow6 said:

Nope.....can't keep burying Perron in favor of Kunz. Kunz has 30 total points so far in his career at UND. Again DU had 11 guys with 30+ points this past season. Just for one season I'd like to see this coaching staff let their top talent roll. Let them develop together. 

I think we’ll have more of a top 9 this year. 2 good PP’s. Top 6 will obv be heavy, but our third line will have skill. Maybe the young guns on one line? Swanson-Boisvert-Perron

[burd]

56 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

I like Kunz in a top 6 role when he’s moving his feet. He’s not a bottom 6 player. He’s only productive playing with offensive players. 

He knows how to screen a goalie and needs to be on a line with at least one sniper to take advantage of that. 

[Oxbow6]

So Wilkie and Kunz top 6? Who with better skill and talent with a higher ceiling do you bury down the depth chart?

This top 9 is not happening cause there is zero chance Schmaltz and V get 4th line minutes.

 

[scpa0305]

20 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

So Wilkie and Kunz top 6? Who with better skill and talent with a higher ceiling do you bury down the depth chart?

This top 9 is not happening cause there is zero chance Schmaltz and V get 4th line minutes.

 

They’re two diff positions. I think Wilkie will start out 2C.
 

I think Schmaltz may be that 4th line C…in looking at the C’s. Boisvert is a sold two way player. He’ll get a top 9 C look the entire year plus he’ll play PP. I think he’ll start out 3C but he’ll have skilled linemates and probably play PP1 at worst PP2.

[siouxforce19]

UND basically has 8 guys you could argue could play top 6, so I think most of them you could move around in a variety of spots in the top 9 and justify it. 
 

IMO, These guys are the top 9: Berg, OMac, Perron, Boisvert, Swanson, Wilkie, James, Kunz, and Jamernik. Jamernik is for sure third line, but the other 8 you could make a case any of them would fit in a top 6 role. 

[Oxbow6]

4 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

They’re two diff positions. I think Wilkie will start out 2C.
 

I think Schmaltz may be that 4th line C…in looking at the C’s. Boisvert is a sold two way player. He’ll get a top 9 C look the entire year plus he’ll play PP. I think he’ll start out 3C but he’ll have skilled linemates and probably play PP1 at worst PP2.

If Boisvert gets less quality minutes as a first round draft pick than a 5th year portal guy than the "chippas" (trademark @gfhockey) might be looking elsewhere in the future. 

[Oxbow6]

3 minutes ago, siouxforce19 said:

IMO, These guys are the top 9: Berg, OMac, Perron, Boisvert, Swanson, Wilkie, James, Kunz, and Jamernik. Jamernik is for sure third line, but the other 8 you could make a case any of them would fit in a top 6 role. 

The bolded 6 are your high skill high ceiling guys. The other 3 are a solid 3rd line but then Strinden gets buried another year.

[scpa0305]

1 hour ago, Oxbow6 said:

If Boisvert gets less quality minutes as a first round draft pick than a 5th year portal guy than the "chippas" (trademark @gfhockey) might be looking elsewhere in the future. 

Good point, that’s why I was noting 3C with skilled linemates (maybe a young skilled line) plus pp1 time. At worst pp2.

Out of the gate, Berg will be 1C (even though he skates like a W). Wilkie will get a crack at 2C…or else why did he choose us over Wisco? Boisvert will be fine (initially) at 3C assuming he get very solid PP time. I’ve heard he’s taking the slow approach which is great. Put Swanson and Perron (or Jammer, etc) and that’ll be a nice line. Bubs rolls his lines for the most part at evens 

[The Sicatoka]

1 hour ago, Oxbow6 said:

If Boisvert gets less quality minutes as a first round draft pick than a 5th year portal guy than the "chippas" (trademark @gfhockey) might be looking elsewhere in the future. 

In fairness, that fifth year portal guy has pretty solid resume. 
https://fightinghawks.com/news/2024/4/17/mens-hockey-carter-wilkie-transfers-to-north-dakota-for-2024-25-season.aspx 

We'll need Wilkie to be solid at the start while Boisvert adapts to college. Both will be top nine; they'll likely change roles in late January if Boisvert makes the college transition. 

[tnt]

When does the schedule come out for next year?  It has to be pretty soon. 

[scpa0305]

44 minutes ago, The Sicatoka said:

In fairness, that fifth year portal guy has pretty solid resume. 
https://fightinghawks.com/news/2024/4/17/mens-hockey-carter-wilkie-transfers-to-north-dakota-for-2024-25-season.aspx 

We'll need Wilkie to be solid at the start while Boisvert adapts to college. Both will be top nine; they'll likely change roles in late January if Boisvert makes the college transition. 

I honestly don’t think Boisvert needs too much “adapting”. He’ll be good day 1. He needs to keep beefing up. But he has an unreal shot and he backtracks really well for a younger kid. He’s going to be really good right away, hopefully we get him for two years.

[cberkas]

43 minutes ago, tnt said:

When does the schedule come out for next year?  It has to be pretty soon. 

This week for NCHC games

[I Ranger]

2 hours ago, scpa0305 said:

Good point, that’s why I was noting 3C with skilled linemates (maybe a young skilled line) plus pp1 time. At worst pp2.

Out of the gate, Berg will be 1C (even though he skates like a W). Wilkie will get a crack at 2C…or else why did he choose us over Wisco? Boisvert will be fine (initially) at 3C assuming he get very solid PP time. I’ve heard he’s taking the slow approach which is great. Put Swanson and Perron (or Jammer, etc) and that’ll be a nice line. Bubs rolls his lines for the most part at evens 

So Omac goes from 1C to playing wing next year? I know he struggled on draws and a bit in the D zone but are we certain he's not a center next year? It seems we have a ton of guys that are natural centers on the roster; Omac, Berg, Wilkie, Strinden, Jammer, Schmaltz, Boivert. I get someone is going to have to play wing just not sold it's Omac. And like others have mentioned, Strinden needs to play with more skill next year. I mentioned this for this years squad but I'd love to see a James-Strinden-Perron line. Don't think we will though.