2025-26 University of North Dakota Hockey Season

[ND_Texan]

1 hour ago, hockeytherapy13 said:

I think the article said those guys fly back on Friday the 2nd. So I'm guessing they sit that one out, then (hopefully) play Saturday, even if it's limited minutes. 

They fly back that day. So what? They are young strong college athletes. They’ll put their skates on and play that night and should be expected to play hard.

[brianvf]

13 minutes ago, .357 said:

All it takes is 1 loss with a depleted roster against a team like Mercyhurst & the NPI takes a major hit. It's negligent as a HC to put your team in that predicament with playoff seeding on the line, unless DJ is planning for them to return & dress for Friday night. 

I would guess that Liv and Wiebe both play Fri but just with more limited minutes.
The coaching staff is viewing this the same as the WJC tourney, in that the players gain experience and get the school some exposure...and hopefully come back fired up and with more confidence for the 2nd half.

I would rather be a little shorthanded during WJC/SC than the approach that the MSU coach is taking and not allowing players to participate in a cool holiday tourney like the Spengler Cup.  This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for these players.  

Plus, you know guys like Strathmann, Jubenvill, Laurila, and Engel will be very excited to show us something with their expanded minutes.  And Zmolek keeping it all together.

[cberkas]

15 minutes ago, brianvf said:

I would guess that Liv and Wiebe both play Fri but just with more limited minutes.
The coaching staff is viewing this the same as the WJC tourney, in that the players gain experience and get the school some exposure...and hopefully come back fired up and with more confidence for the 2nd half.

I would rather be a little shorthanded during WJC/SC than the approach that the MSU coach is taking and not allowing players to participate in a cool holiday tourney like the Spengler Cup.  This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for these players.  

Plus, you know guys like Strathmann, Jubenvill, Laurila, and Engel will be very excited to show us something with their expanded minutes.  And Zmolek keeping it all together.

They are looking at 5-6 players at WJC. It's not like this was known a year in advance

[Blackheart]

9 hours ago, The Sicatoka said:

Truth to @Oxbow6 and @Blackheart enrolling for spring semester? 

I'll have to check with my PO first...

[nodakgirl93]

This was a fun one. Hopefully get a sweeeeep this weekend and keep it going.

https://youtu.be/zln7nvOkZaM?si=1vAz1Em_5KHNDkCY

[hockeytherapy13]

4 hours ago, ND_Texan said:

They fly back that day. So what? They are young strong college athletes. They’ll put their skates on and play that night and should be expected to play hard.

I see where you’re coming from, but they could play up to 4 games in 6 days, have 1 day off, and then deal with a 7 hour time difference with the travel being on game day. That’s tough even for strong young athletes. The “so what” is one or both of them getting injured from playing while over fatigued. If they make it back in time, I’m Guessing they’ll be on the bench as needed playing limited minutes, but assuming they’ll be good to go for full game mode could be reckless. 

[hockeytherapy13]

4 hours ago, .357 said:

That's the top 4 D who would likely miss at least Friday's game. Possible that UND would be playing with only 5 D that night; plus you throw in possible injuries/illnesses during that time. PSU has 4 players participating in the Spengler Cup, but they will miss zero games because they play Jan 3-4 that weekend (Sat & Sun); smart scheduling on their part. Even though BU only has D McCarthy gone to Davos, it's a moot point because they only have 1 exhibition game the weekend of 2-3-4 January. 

All it takes is 1 loss with a depleted roster against a team like Mercyhurst & the NPI takes a major hit. It's negligent as a HC to put your team in that predicament with playoff seeding on the line, unless DJ is planning for them to return & dress for Friday night. 

This statement is a little over the top. Berry didn’t know we’d have have 2 guys playing in Spengler because it wasn’t even certain NCAA guys would be playing. Plus our roster was t built in such a way that we’d be missing this many players for WJC

Jax is ensuring that Wiebe and Liv get to play in a special tourney that few players will ever get the opportunity to play in. That’s a big sell for snagging future recruits. 
 

Barring injuries, We’ll have just barely enough to scrap together a full lineup Friday and those players aren’t scrubs.  (And maybe 25 and 4 will get a few reps in that night). I’m guessing Wiebe and Liv get back to business for the Saturday game