2025-26 University of North Dakota Hockey Season

[fightingsioux4life]

1 minute ago, nascar99 said:

Carle stole Mazur (Jackson Michigan) away from Michigan State. They don't win the 2022 National Championship without Mazur. Most national championship winning teams need to win at least one recruiting battle that isn't super favorable to begin, so yes, Chyzyk will need to win battles.

Agreed.

[beastandco]

Just now, fightingsioux4life said:

I think most of us understand it's a complicated process and what looks good to one recruit won't necessarily look good to another.

I just want us to be aggressive and show some swagger in recruiting. Look at what Eric Schmidt is doing with FB. His aggressive, take no prisoners attitude toward recruiting is already starting to pay dividends and he hasn't even coached a game yet.

Off topic, I think Schmidt is doing a hell of a job so far. Looking forward to seeing what this fall brings.

I think Dane has an opportunity to do the same. I look at this roster and think we are one or two guys up front away from being a top team. 

[RhettRingers]

4 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

I think most of us understand it's a complicated process and what looks good to one recruit won't necessarily look good to another.

I just want us to be aggressive and show some swagger in recruiting. Look at what Eric Schmidt is doing with FB. His aggressive, take no prisoners attitude toward recruiting is already starting to pay dividends and he hasn't even coached a game yet.

Ding Ding Ding

[fightingsioux4life]

Just now, RhettRingers said:

Ding Ding Ding

My point is, he's getting interest from top prospects despite no tradition of winning at the FCS level and a lot of mediocrity. Attitude and posture matter. If the coaching staff can't get excited about the program, you can't expect the kids to get excited either.

And FWIW, Jackson hasn't coached a game as head coach yet either. But his recruiting prowess during the coaching transition will be crucial to having some success early on, which will largely determine how much success he has in the years to come.

[beastandco]

Just now, fightingsioux4life said:

My point is, he's getting interest from top prospects despite no tradition of winning at the FCS level and a lot of mediocrity. Attitude and posture matter. If the coaching staff can't get excited about the program, you can't expect the kids to get excited either.

And FWIW, Jackson hasn't coached a game as head coach yet either. But his recruiting prowess during the coaching transition will be crucial to having some success early on, which will largely determine how much success he has in the years to come.

I lived with two guys on the football team this year and they both said after Schmidt’s team introduction that he is exactly what this program needs. It seems like Bubba and Brad were similar in the fact that players respected them as a person, not necessarily their ability to coach. Schmidt seems to bring the element and hopefully Dane does too

[tnt]

52 minutes ago, RhettRingers said:

McKenna is generational talent. Will be at whatever college he chooses for one year. Maybe we are looking at guys that are the after thoughts. The guys who will buy into the program and be here for 3-4 years. That's the model that seems to win in early April.

Agree that McKenna has the tools to be a very special player, but I think the phrase generational talent gets used quite a bit these days.  We have heard the same about McDavid, Bedard, and I think even Lafreniere was said to be a generational talent.  If any of these are once in a generation players, so far it looks to be McDavid.  

[RhettRingers]

5 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

My point is, he's getting interest from top prospects despite no tradition of winning at the FCS level and a lot of mediocrity. Attitude and posture matter. If the coaching staff can't get excited about the program, you can't expect the kids to get excited either.

And FWIW, Jackson hasn't coached a game as head coach yet either. But his recruiting prowess during the coaching transition will be crucial to having some success early on, which will largely determine how much success he has in the years to come.

So Menghini, Rickwood, Gordon, Kernan, Homer and Spunar didn't do it for you?

[fightingsioux4life]

1 minute ago, RhettRingers said:

So Menghini, Rickwood, Gordon, Kernan, Homer and Spunar didn't do it for you?

I am not knocking anyone we have landed so far. I just want us to get some impact players that can add some juice to an offense that was, to put it mildly, vanilla at best last season.

I am very much looking forward to seeing Jackson's team in action. Same with FB and WBB.

[RhettRingers]

Just now, fightingsioux4life said:

I am not knocking anyone we have landed so far. I just want us to get some impact players that can add some juice to an offense that was, to put it mildly, vanilla at best last season.

Won't need to score much with our back end...

[beastandco]

Just now, RhettRingers said:

Won't need to score much with our back end...

Our back end also provides scoring. Wiebe and Livanavage are elite

[fightingsioux4life]

Just now, RhettRingers said:

Won't need to score much with our back end...

Good point. I am looking forward to what this team looks like with Jackson as the bench boss.

[nascar99]

2 minutes ago, RhettRingers said:

So Menghini, Rickwood, Gordon, Kernan, Homer and Spunar didn't do it for you?

It's not sexy, but sometimes, the under the radar moves are better for winning. Just need one or two more elite scorers to complement those guys. Would help if Swanson takes the next step and we get a full year of consistency from James.

[RhettRingers]

Just now, nascar99 said:

It's not sexy, but sometimes, the under the radar moves are better for winning. Just need one or two more elite scorers to complement those guys. Would help if Swanson takes the next step and we get a full year of consistency from James.

Strinden will be solid. 

Swanson, Littler and Croal I think all will be impact players.

[beastandco]

4 minutes ago, RhettRingers said:

So Menghini, Rickwood, Gordon, Kernan, Homer and Spunar didn't do it for you?

All were good gets. It is encouraging that they chose UND over many big ten schools. 

[.357]

8 minutes ago, RhettRingers said:

I don't think a lot of you understand how many different factors come into play when landing these guys honestly. 

I think most people here are nuanced enough to know the intricacies of modern-day recruiting. 

It's not like UND has the stature of a team in the AHA. The fact that UND has a long history of being a feeder program for the NHL is but 1 of many baits that it can use to lure a top talent.  If there are 15 high-profile CHLers going the NCAA route, don't see why UND couldn't land at least 1 of them.

[tnt]

2 minutes ago, RhettRingers said:

So Menghini, Rickwood, Gordon, Kernan, Homer and Spunar didn't do it for you?

I think with these guys, you are looking to get scoring by committee.  It is nice to have someone with special skills that can take over a game.   We saw what Boisvert did for us as a freshman in big game situations.  Where would we have been if he didn't produce in those situations.  That doesn't mean these guys are chopped liver, but we will need each of them to produce when the others aren't because I don't know that individually they will be able to take over games on a consistent basis.   

That said, Western Michigan had the scoring by committee when their difference maker was held in check in the post season.  When you can get consistent scoring from different lines that can make it pretty tough for teams to focus on shutting down one player.   One thing I like about this group of recruits is it seems from the talk about them is you are going to get consistent effort, which is something we have been lacking.  

[beastandco]

3 minutes ago, .357 said:

I think most people here are nuanced enough to know the intricacies of modern-day recruiting. 

It's not like UND has the stature of a team in the AHA. The fact that UND has a long history of being a feeder program for the NHL is but 1 of many baits that it can use to lure a top talent.  If there are 15 high-profile CHLers going the NCAA route, don't see why UND couldn't land at least 1 of them.

The only thing UND doesn’t have that other teams do is money. I don’t even know if there is more than 5-7 teams that would outbid us. 

[beastandco]

3 minutes ago, tnt said:

I think with these guys, you are looking to get scoring by committee.  It is nice to have someone with special skills that can take over a game.   We saw what Boisvert did for us as a freshman in big game situations.  Where would we have been if he didn't produce in those situations.  That doesn't mean these guys are chopped liver, but we will need each of them to produce when the others aren't because I don't know that individually they will be able to take over games on a consistent basis.   

That said, Western Michigan had the scoring by committee when their difference maker was held in check in the post season.  When you can get consistent scoring from different lines that can make it pretty tough for teams to focus on shutting down one player.   One thing I like about this group of recruits is it seems from the talk about them is you are going to get consistent effort, which is something we have been lacking.  

I would argue that the players that gave the most inconsistent effort left in the portal. I don’t think I ever doubted the effort that the guys on this roster now put in last season

[.357]

6 minutes ago, nascar99 said:

Just need one or two more elite scorers to complement those guys.

Agreed. Seems like UND is structured a little like Mankato was last year: a heavy, older team that was solid defensively & had good goaltending. But they lacked an elite scorer & never made it past the first round of regionals.

[.357]

12 minutes ago, beastandco said:

The only thing UND doesn’t have that other teams do is money. I don’t even know if there is more than 5-7 teams that would outbid us. 

I think the really good players, the guys who will be millionaires in a couple of years, are more concerned about fine-tuning their game before heading to the NHL than choosing a school that can give them $100k more in NIL money.

[beastandco]

4 minutes ago, .357 said:

Agreed. Seems like UND is structured a little like Mankato was last year: a heavy, older team that was solid defensively & had good goaltending. But they lacked an elite scorer & never made it past the first round of regionals.

I think Zellers can have a season similar to Jackson Blake’s freshman season. Is it unfair of me to say anything less than 25/30 points from him would be disappointing? He was by far the best forward in the USHL last year offensively 

[nascar99]

1 minute ago, beastandco said:

I think Zellers can have a season similar to Jackson Blake’s freshman season. Is it unfair of me to say anything less than 25/30 points from him would be disappointing? He was by far the best forward in the USHL last year offensively 

I think it depends on how much he produces on the power play. Would be nice to have Swanson on one side of the power play sending cross ice sauce passes to Zellers for the one T snipe.

[beastandco]

9 minutes ago, nascar99 said:

I think it depends on how much he produces on the power play. Would be nice to have Swanson on one side of the power play sending cross ice sauce passes to Zellers for the one T snipe.

Other than Hutson, I don’t know if there is a better quarterback of the power play than Livanavage too. Jake might be the best defenseman in the country next year (hot take)

[scpa0305]

55 minutes ago, beastandco said:

I think Zellers can have a season similar to Jackson Blake’s freshman season. Is it unfair of me to say anything less than 25/30 points from him would be disappointing? He was by far the best forward in the USHL last year offensively 

True…but I had higher hopes for Swanson too. Just playing devils advocate. 

[scpa0305]

1 hour ago, beastandco said:

All were good gets. It is encouraging that they chose UND over many big ten schools. 

Agreed. We still could use a dynamic scorer though.