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

[dustnyou]

14 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. 

I believe the games against Mercyhurst were scheduled before Dane was named HC… 

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

21 hours ago, siouxforce19 said:

I think there is a zero percent chance we are missing all these guys so I’m not worried. 

I'm worried because even missing some guys I think they are literally the biggest games of the season.  Of course we SHOULD beat them. Mercyhurst is the worst team in college hockey and even allowing a Robert Morris like goal to go to OT would be a disaster.  On top of that we're coming out of the break with no students in the stands.  If this isn't a trap series, I don't know what is.

[fightingsioux4life]

1 minute ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

I'm worried because even missing some guys I think they are literally the biggest games of the season.  Of course we SHOULD beat them. Mercyhurst is the worst team in college hockey and even allowing a Robert Morris like goal to go to OT would be a disaster.  On top of that we're coming out of the break with no students in the stands.  If this isn't a trap series, I don't know what is.

I think this team will be okay. Unlike Canisius, this will be at home. Also, this team has a more focused and disciplined attitude under Jackson. We'll win both games and move on from there.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

1 minute ago, fightingsioux4life said:

I think this team will be okay. Unlike Canisius, this will be at home. Also, this team has a more focused and disciplined attitude under Jackson. We'll win both games and move on from there.

I get it, if I had to put money on it I think they'll win too.  It just makes me nervous is all.  Younger team, missing key players, after holiday break. We had these duds under Hak too

[fightingsioux4life]

3 minutes ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

I get it, if I had to put money on it I think they'll win too.  It just makes me nervous is all.  Younger team, missing key players, after holiday break. We had these duds under Hak too

Did those games even count in the PWR? Being Canadian teams, I am thinking not.

[ND_Texan]

11 hours ago, hockeytherapy13 said:

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. 

Meh. They will sleep on the plane and be chomping at the bit to play. When they aren’t playing games during the week, they are practicing hard. I expect DJ to put them on the ice, perhaps limited time but they definitely should play.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

22 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

Did those games even count in the PWR? Being Canadian teams, I am thinking not.

Nope but I'd liken it to losing to Manitoba, possibly worse... 

[.357]

10 hours ago, hockeytherapy13 said:

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

The current UND HC has the final say about whether any of his players get to play in Davos. Not having enough D to field a full line-up levels the ice when it would otherwise be fully tilted in UND's favor. Plus it's a given that bottom-dwellers like Mercyhurst play their best games of the season when playing UND. See RMU, Bemidji, Clarkson, Canisius, etc. 

Nightingale did the opposite & determined that his team's NPI standing was more valuable than any foreign cultural experience for his players. And that should be the lens a HC uses when making roster decisions. PSU has 4 players in the SC, but they conveniently play Sat-Sun that weekend.

Others have said that it probably won't matter because it's Mercyhurst, and they're probably right, but it does open the door a little wider for an upset to occur. Losing a close game against them would make UND's NPI dive faster than a whore in Amsterdam. And that would be an unmitigated disaster for the season in terms of seeding. 

[siouxfaninseattle]

55 minutes ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

I get it, if I had to put money on it I think they'll win too.  It just makes me nervous is all.  Younger team, missing key players, after holiday break. We had these duds under Hak too

I was at those games. Ugly hockey.

[JacksonW]

25 minutes ago, .357 said:

The current UND HC has the final say about whether any of his players get to play in Davos. Not having enough D to field a full line-up levels the ice when it would otherwise be fully tilted in UND's favor. Plus it's a given that bottom-dwellers like Mercyhurst play their best games of the season when playing UND. See RMU, Bemidji, Clarkson, Canisius, etc. 

Nightingale did the opposite & determined that his team's NPI standing was more valuable than any foreign cultural experience for his players. And that should be the lens a HC uses when making roster decisions. PSU has 4 players in the SC, but they conveniently play Sat-Sun that weekend.

Others have said that it probably won't matter because it's Mercyhurst, and they're probably right, but it does open the door a little wider for an upset to occur. Losing a close game against them would make UND's NPI dive faster than a whore in Amsterdam. And that would be an unmitigated disaster for the season in terms of seeding. 

Strongly disagree on which lens to use. 
Never had to travel to Amsterdam for female companionship, I’ll defer to your experience 

[nascar99]

Schloss Cast update: Hasn't been showing up on Apple Podcasts for me but is on the Grand Forks Herald site.

 

[Godsmack]

I already told my wife that for the first time in almost two years, I will be buying a Mega Millions ticket for tonight’s billion drawing and when we win, we’re giving all of it to the University of North Dakota athletic department. 

[brianvf]

2 hours ago, .357 said:

Nightingale did the opposite & determined that his team's NPI standing was more valuable than any foreign cultural experience for his players. And that should be the lens a HC uses when making roster decisions. PSU has 4 players in the SC, but they conveniently play Sat-Sun that weekend.

So we agree that if Liv and Wiebe are able to play that weekend (which they will, unless injured) and UND sweeps Mercyhurst, that it was a win/win all-around?

UND players gain a valuable experience, and UND sweeps against a team they should sweep.

[RedFrog]

I think that providing the opportunities for our players to play in events such as the World Juniors and the Spengler Cup has to be a recruiting boon and you give each and every player that is provided those opportunities the support they need to participate in those.  

I think moving forward, there will obviously be more attention provided to the schedule surrounding the holiday season because of these events and the potential impact on our roster.

Do I want to risk losing to Canisius Mercyhurst?  Not really, but the long term benefit of that risk far outweighs the potential short term benefit, IMO.  I also like the fact it gives some of those guys who haven't necessarily received the ice time to do so and earn more playing time.  

I remember the season we dressed the only 17 healthy skaters we had and made a run to make the NCAAs and win a regional.  If Jackson is truly bringing us back to a higher standard, then this should not be an issue.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

32 minutes ago, RedFrog said:

I think that providing the opportunities for our players to play in events such as the World Juniors and the Spengler Cup has to be a recruiting boon and you give each and every player that is provided those opportunities the support they need to participate in those.  

I think moving forward, there will obviously be more attention provided to the schedule surrounding the holiday season because of these events and the potential impact on our roster.

Do I want to risk losing to Canisius Mercyhurst?  Not really, but the long term benefit of that risk far outweighs the potential short term benefit, IMO.  I also like the fact it gives some of those guys who haven't necessarily received the ice time to do so and earn more playing time.  

I remember the season we dressed the only 17 healthy skaters we had and made a run to make the NCAAs and win a regional.  If Jackson is truly bringing us back to a higher standard, then this should not be an issue.

The guys also come back better players with experience in big moments. No question you send these guys to these tournaments 100 out of 100 times