Non-UND College Hockey 2025-26

[cberkas]

Interesting the NCAA President and PWHL are going to be there. 

[mikejm]

8 hours ago, dustnyou said:

If I was paying a player $100k, it would be spread out over equal monthly payments for the season. If he bolts the payments stop. Or I would do the payments on a per game played basis. Say $2k per game. Payments made at the end of each month based on number of games played previous month. Something like that to protect myself. 

In all honesty, this makes me sick to my stomach. I realize it is the reality of college sports today, but this is nauseating 

[Sodbuster]

10 hours ago, mikejm said:

In all honesty, this makes me sick to my stomach. I realize it is the reality of college sports today, but this is nauseating 

I totally agree.

[brianvf]

Dang.  Wonder if his brother follows him now:

 

[nodakgirl93]

^ better than the gophers or Michigan 

[nascar99]

13 minutes ago, brianvf said:

Dang.  Wonder if his brother follows him now:

 

Will depend on who drafts Michael and what development situation they want for him. Certain teams love the NCAA route, some are meh on it, and some much prefer to sign their prospects right away & have them in training camp. Will depend on what the CHL-NHL Agreement looks like in the future and if CHLers are still barred from the A until their 20 year old season

[tnt]

36 minutes ago, brianvf said:

Dang.  Wonder if his brother follows him now:

 

You can't tell me that some of the steam that Penn State has received in their program lately is from their Frozen Four run.  The people that kept with mantra of "next year" really brought our program down a notch in the eyes of many people, including recruits.  We really need to take the next step to get that steam back, and I would say that Chyzk is a good start in that direction.  

[cberkas]

 

[cberkas]

6 minutes ago, tnt said:

You can't tell me that some of the steam that Penn State has received in their program lately is from their Frozen Four run.  The people that kept with mantra of "next year" really brought our program down a notch in the eyes of many people, including recruits.  We really need to take the next step to get that steam back, and I would say that Chyzk is a good start in that direction.  

An easy way to do that is make the NCAA and win more than one game in 10 years.

Success gets more eyes on the program and more recruits wanting to come where you play in April.

[NoDak Hockey Nation]

1 hour ago, cberkas said:

 

This better not be for an auto bid. That’s a joke if it is.

[brianvf]

13 minutes ago, NoDak Hockey Nation said:

This better not be for an auto bid. That’s a joke if it is.

It won't be.
It's a nice thing for the indy's to keep their seasons going just a few more games though.

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

If/when UNLV announces they are moving up, there will be a conference of sorts waiting for them.

[ChadR]

 

[Scratch]

I'll never hate Denver in the same way as Minnesota but all news being good news out of them for the last decade or so is getting annoying

[brianvf]

18 minutes ago, Scratch said:

I'll never hate Denver in the same way as Minnesota but all news being good news out of them for the last decade or so is getting annoying

At least Buium signed. 

[siouxweet]

3 hours ago, ChadR said:

 

Is that student enhancement fund their NIL?

[SIOUXFAN97]

2 hours ago, brianvf said:

At least Buium signed. 

they'll just signup a new and better dman to replace him...rince/repeat

[fightingsioux4life]

3 hours ago, Scratch said:

I'll never hate Denver in the same way as Minnesota but all news being good news out of them for the last decade or so is getting annoying

Agree 100%

But all we can do is get our own house in order and get back to the top of the mountain in this sport. And I'm not talking about the Penrose either.

[cberkas]

3 hours ago, ChadR said:

 

Not surprised he's staying. With how the NHL treats head coaches and how outspoken he is about the regionals, I didn't see him leaving.  

[burd]

16 hours ago, Scratch said:

I'll never hate Denver in the same way as Minnesota but all news being good news out of them for the last decade or so is getting annoying

For me it helped that they had such a strong hockey tradition, even though they had not won a big number of natties.   It didn't hurt that they had an A-1 hockey fan (and expert, really) in Puck Swami in the early years of USCHO.   I recall being very happy for Swami when DU won their first title in many years.  He is pure class and a good ambassador not only for Denver's fan base but for college hockey in general.  

[puck swami]

Thank you so much, Burd, for you kind words. I'm still around.  And right back at you!

UND fans know better than any that tradition is everything.  And it got me to thinking that so much of Denver's success over the last 20 years or so can be actually be directly attributed to UND's tradition of excellence -- for raising the bar in not only our DU/UND rivalry but for all college hockey.  UND winning the NCAA title in 2000 and building the Ralph 25 years go did not just elevate UND hockey, it raised up the entire sport of college hockey and showed DU and the rest of the country what heights were actually possible for a program to achieve. Since then, Denver has spent most of these last 25 years in flat-out chase mode, following behind, and learning from, the excellence of the UND program.

For example, the decisive moment in the Pioneers' rise back to national relevance came on a March day in 2004, when Pioneers were quite fortunate to eke out a 1-0 win in that 2004 NCAA regional against a much better, loaded and top-ranked UND team in Colorado Springs. That somewhat unlikely win showed Denver that returning to the pinnacle of the sport after 35 years of mostly drift and dust was even possible, as UND had brought out the best in Denver.  If DU could survive Parise, Bochenski, Murray and Stafford buzzing Adam Berkhoel's net in the final frenzied minutes of that game, we sure as hell could survive Junior Lessard/UMD in the NCAA semis and UMaine's six-on-three advantage in the final minutes to eke out a 1-0 win in Boston for that 2004NCAA title That 2004 crown put Denver back on the national map with six titles after 35 years without one, and without learning from UND in the Colorado Springs regional, that recent DU program evolution never happens....

And the 2005 Denver NCAA title win over UND in Columbus was the point when Denver finally pulled even with UND with our seventh crown.  The bad blood between the two teams in the Paukovich/Bina/Dasher Dance-era raised the DU/UND rivalry to new heights.  That rolling boil of rivalry in the Gwoz/Blais/Hakstol years set the stage for Denver and UND to work together to reset the national bar by being the lead schools in the formation of the NCHC in the 2011-2013 time frame. Once again, our two schools led from the front and showed the sport what was possible, with like-minded, hockey-first investment, leadership and hockey vision.  This is the exact commitment that led to the 2016 UND Frozen Four semi win over Denver in Tampa that ultimately put UND back on top of the game over Denver with eight crowns, as everyone knew that once UND beat Denver in the semis, that NoDak would just crush Quinnipiac for the whole enchilada. Denver once again was forced to chase UND, and that 2016 UND title win gave the Pios exact the road map they needed to find another gear the next year, leading to 2017's Denver NCAA title win in Chicago to pull back even with UND at eight crowns.  And once again, it was UND thumping Denver around like a rag doll in the Covid bubble season (playing a record seven times in a short season) that led to Denver finding new gears to win NCAA titles in the 2022 and 2024, moving the Pios ahead of UND with 10 crowns.   

While Denver may be the leader in NCAA titles now, we Pios are still chasing UND in a number of important categories, especially fan base size, fan base fervency, program budget, attracting top blue chip talent, players sent to the NHL  and hockey facilities.  In fact, with the UND standards still setting the pace in those critical areas, the Pios don't get to 10 without chasing the leadership of UND. And to be quite honest, DU will likely never catch UND in those other program metrics for a variety of reasons.

I have no doubts that UND will soon be back in the NCAA title hunt.  There is just too much tradition, pride and excellence tied up in the program not to get there again.

 

 

[siouxfaninseattle]

1 hour ago, puck swami said:

Thank you so much, Burd, for you kind words. I'm still around.  And right back at you!

UND fans know better than any that tradition is everything.  And it got me to thinking that so much of Denver's success over the last 20 years or so can be actually be directly attributed to UND's tradition of excellence -- for raising the bar in not only our DU/UND rivalry but for all college hockey.  UND winning the NCAA title in 2000 and building the Ralph 25 years go did not just elevate UND hockey, it raised up the entire sport of college hockey and showed DU and the rest of the country what heights were actually possible for a program to achieve. Since then, Denver has spent most of these last 25 years in flat-out chase mode, following behind, and learning from, the excellence of the UND program.

For example, the decisive moment in the Pioneers' rise back to national relevance came on a March day in 2004, when Pioneers were quite fortunate to eke out a 1-0 win in that 2004 NCAA regional against a much better, loaded and top-ranked UND team in Colorado Springs. That somewhat unlikely win showed Denver that returning to the pinnacle of the sport after 35 years of mostly drift and dust was even possible, as UND had brought out the best in Denver.  If DU could survive Parise, Bochenski, Murray and Stafford buzzing Adam Berkhoel's net in the final frenzied minutes of that game, we sure as hell could survive Junior Lessard/UMD in the NCAA semis and UMaine's six-on-three advantage in the final minutes to eke out a 1-0 win in Boston for that 2004NCAA title That 2004 crown put Denver back on the national map with six titles after 35 years without one, and without learning from UND in the Colorado Springs regional, that recent DU program evolution never happens....

And the 2005 Denver NCAA title win over UND in Columbus was the point when Denver finally pulled even with UND with our seventh crown.  The bad blood between the two teams in the Paukovich/Bina/Dasher Dance-era raised the DU/UND rivalry to new heights.  That rolling boil of rivalry in the Gwoz/Blais/Hakstol years set the stage for Denver and UND to work together to reset the national bar by being the lead schools in the formation of the NCHC in the 2011-2013 time frame. Once again, our two schools led from the front and showed the sport what was possible, with like-minded, hockey-first investment, leadership and hockey vision.  This is the exact commitment that led to the 2016 UND Frozen Four semi win over Denver in Tampa that ultimately put UND back on top of the game over Denver with eight crowns, as everyone knew that once UND beat Denver in the semis, that NoDak would just crush Quinnipiac for the whole enchilada. Denver once again was forced to chase UND, and that 2016 UND title win gave the Pios exact the road map they needed to find another gear the next year, leading to 2017's Denver NCAA title win in Chicago to pull back even with UND at eight crowns.  And once again, it was UND thumping Denver around like a rag doll in the Covid bubble season (playing a record seven times in a short season) that led to Denver finding new gears to win NCAA titles in the 2022 and 2024, moving the Pios ahead of UND with 10 crowns.   

While Denver may be the leader in NCAA titles now, we Pios are still chasing UND in a number of important categories, especially fan base size, fan base fervency, program budget, attracting top blue chip talent, players sent to the NHL  and hockey facilities.  In fact, with the UND standards still setting the pace in those critical areas, the Pios don't get to 10 without chasing the leadership of UND. And to be quite honest, DU will likely never catch UND in those other program metrics for a variety of reasons.

I have no doubts that UND will soon be back in the NCAA title hunt.  There is just too much tradition, pride and excellence tied up in the program not to get there again.

 

 

Very nice words from a true college hockey fan.

[Sodbuster]

For sure!

[nascar99]

5 of the 6 commitments from yesterday were CHLers. The NCAA's demographics will change to even split or possibly plurality Canadian in the coming years.

[fightingsioux4life]

Just now, nascar99 said:

5 of the 6 commitments from yesterday were CHLers. The NCAA's demographics will change to even split or possibly plurality Canadian in the coming years.

There are more Americans playing hockey than ever. Some of those kids will end up in NCAA hockey.