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Providence @ UND


stoneySIOUX

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My take on the game. First 5 minutes looked an awful lot like last weekend - very slow start. Second period was exactly what we want to see the rest of the season. The third period was reminiscent of the third period against Michigan last spring, although not as bad. Lots of players with a very strong game. Not the much desired 60 minute game. They will be real hard to beat when they get it together for 60 minutes.

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6 hours ago, siouxfaninseattle said:

My take on the game. First 5 minutes looked an awful lot like last weekend - very slow start. 

Watching it I had that "oh boy" feeling.

What flipped it?

A shot after a whistle. 

Croal's reaction to that (and the ensuing support by his teammates) woke them up. 

I consider that Croal's first self-nomination for a letter one day. 

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14 hours ago, brianvf said:

We had to shut the Sioux Sports forums down for like a week during that time.
It just got too out of control.

There was a Sioux sports forum back then ?

or letters to the editor and calls to Knox 

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Outside of the first 5 minutes where Providence came out firing, that was a pretty dominant performance. Glad to see the bounce back.

I LOVED the lines. Strinden on the top line is a perfect fit for Berg and OMac. Sasha's line had tremendous balance of skill and size. The bottom two grind and set pace. Thought the pairings were smart and helped guys like Strathmann play their game. I hope Bubs keeps this lineup again

Croal was a man on Saturday and he'll be a big-time contributor if that continues. 

MacDonald and Emery are both very, very good defensemen. Glad to have them on our team. 

T.J. looked the part. 

Perron continues to, unfortunately, go invisible for long stretches in games. I do love the line combo with Kunz and Sasha, though. Those three could build some chemistry, IMO. 

All-in-all, that was good stuff. Lots of great puck movement on the offensive side and smart, responsible play in the defensive end. Great start to the season.

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3 hours ago, The Sicatoka said:

Watching it I had that "oh boy" feeling.

What flipped it?

A shot after a whistle. 

Croal's reaction to that (and the ensuing support by his teammates) woke them up. 

I consider that Croal's first self-nomination for a letter one day. 

Berry said the shot after the whistle played a role. 

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3 hours ago, The Sicatoka said:

Watching it I had that "oh boy" feeling.

What flipped it?

A shot after a whistle. 

Croal's reaction to that (and the ensuing support by his teammates) woke them up. 

I consider that Croal's first self-nomination for a letter one day. 

Reminds me of the "Who do you play for?" scene in Miracle.

*Shot gets past T.J. ... Croal charges Friar d-bag*

"I play for..... the University of North Dakota!"

*Camera pans to Bubs* "That'll be all, gentlemen"

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10 hours ago, siouxfaninseattle said:

My take on the game. First 5 minutes looked an awful lot like last weekend - very slow start.

This is what concerns me. It seems like the team as a whole is unable to be self-motivated & requires an external circumstance to kick it into higher gear .. like the late shot by a Friar player. It baffles me to no end how this can happen, not just by a couple of players but by most of the team. It's as if they're in a trance for long stretches.

Clearly what Berry is telling them in the locker room is not translating to the ice. Part of the reason I included that quote on Gasparini earlier was to highlight what should be expected of a coach at UND: to always have your team competing at the highest level, something Gino was a master of & which Berry is still trying to figure out.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that this team will never go far in the tourney if they can't be self-motivated to play a full 60. The win against Providence felt good, but one swallow does not make a summer. They simply cannot have that lackadaisical approach, because every team they face will be playing at a higher level to try & beat them. Having that ho-hum attitude against PWR-killers like Robert Morris or Bemidji St. will put a serious dent in their playoff hopes. Showing up to play every night for the entire game should be a given.

An off night here & there happens, but the repeated pattern of non-urgency for long stretches is a legitimate concern. The team will not be hanging #9 by playing only 40-50 minutes/game.

 

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3 minutes ago, .357 said:

An off night here & there happens, but the repeated pattern of non-urgency for long stretches is a legitimate concern. The team will not be hanging #9 by playing only 40-50 minutes/game.

This is what must change this season. A slow, but steady, improvement in being ready to play at the opening faceoff must happen or we'll have the same putrid postseason results.

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7 minutes ago, stoneySIOUX said:

I think what FS4L said makes more sense.... I think it's fair to say that we've had runs of in the recent past where we didn't play well at the drop or lulled during the game. To be a champion, we have to be as near as close to perfect in this area as possible

This has to be instilled by playoff time. You can lay some eggs during the regular season (most teams do), but that has to be ironed out before the postseason starts.

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Some good nuggets from the Providence game:

https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/und-will-go-a-full-calendar-year-without-losing-at-home-in-regulation

Quote

UND will go a full calendar year without losing in Ralph Engelstad Arena in regulation.
Since losing to Minnesota 4-0 on Oct. 20, 2023, the Fighting Hawks are 18-3-1 in The Ralph. All three losses came in overtime.

Maintaining that dominance in The Ralph won't be easy.
UND's next two home series are against No. 3 Boston University (Oct. 25-26) and No. 1 Denver (Nov. 15-16).

Quote

One measure of a player's effectiveness is by tracking how many chances are generated when he's on the ice vs. how many chances are allowed.
Advanced analytics use expected goals to measure it.

While UND's entire team graded out well in that area, one line in particular stood out — Louis Jamernik V, Jake Schmaltz and Cody Croal. All three had even-strength scores better than 96 percent. It's rare to score that high for skaters who play more than 10 minutes. That line tilted the ice more than any other line for either team Saturday night.

Providence barely even attempted an even-strength shot when Jamernik, Schmaltz and Croal were on the ice, and had no scoring chances.

Quote
  • Midco Sports had a surprise guest on the season-opening broadcast. Former analyst Jake Brandt, who stepped down after last season, came back to join Taylor Budge at the desk for Game 1. Midco is expected to use a rotating set of panelists at the desk, including former UND players Monique Lamoureux-Morando, Erik Fabian, Dean Barsness and Brett Hextall. Jim Scanlan took over for Brandt as the analyst alongside play-by-play man Alex Heinert this season.

Brett Hextall will be fun to have as a panelist...

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3 hours ago, stoneySIOUX said:

I LOVED the lines. Strinden on the top line is a perfect fit for Berg and OMac. Sasha's line had tremendous balance of skill and size. The bottom two grind and set pace. Thought the pairings were smart and helped guys like Strathmann play their game. I hope Bubs keeps this lineup again

Loved them when they were posted pre-game, loved them even more after the fact. You get the feeling that any one of the four lines can score at any time, that's rare. 

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34 minutes ago, stoneySIOUX said:

I think it goes without saying that a team wants to start fast. But to make large, sweeping statements like a team is unable to be self-motivated based on an exhibition and one real game feels incredibly short sighted. UND gets EVERY team's best from the drop of the puck every night, especially when we're at home. 

 

It goes beyond this season & extends into the last month of the last season. Technically, the poor performances & lapses go back for a good chunk of the previous 8 years; it's not exactly a new development. 

 

37 minutes ago, stoneySIOUX said:

The second paragraph.... you're saying Gino always had his teams playing from the drop of the puck and Berry doesn't get this out of his team, correct? So, we're saying players on Gino's team never lost the first five minutes? Always delivered in the clutch? Also, can we also realize the difference in the world of hockey we're in? Why do this to ourselves? Comparing Gino and Bubs is just a waste of energy.

Gasparini had some stinkers for games, but for his first 8 years compared to Berry's, he almost always had his teams clicking in the playoffs. As does Carle in the modern era, who may be a world apart from Gasparini in terms of changed attitudes, but his teams still "bring it" every March/April. Therein lies the difference.

So comparisons are not good? To not compare a previous era to the current one leaves no standard by which to judge your program. Especially when a certain window within that previous era ('79 - '87) was the shining star of the program's history. Comparisons are natural in sports & life, that's how we gain perspective, establish a baseline & improve. It also serves as a model to today's players on how they're expected to perform. Like you mentioned previously, nothing happens in a void.

Looking forward to this team playing like they're capable of & going deep in the playoffs this year. Berry certainly deserves #9 based on his endless hours of work & his obvious passion for the program; whether he actually achieves it is another hand-wringing, nail-biting matter.

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