Prospective Recruits

[beastandco]

1 hour ago, siouxfan512 said:

Any new info on Mckenna? I know some on here have said we had no shot at him, but his season is over and still no commitment, which makes me wonder if he is still openly being recruited. Rumors? Thoughts?

Schloss emphatically shut down any McKenna speculation a couple of days ago on his podcast

[nascar99]

Just now, beastandco said:

Schloss emphatically shut down any McKenna speculation a couple of days ago on his podcast

Schloss said McKenna to B1G probably, which means Michigan or Penn State (if he wants to accept the massive NIL deal that is apparently on the table).

[burd]

37 minutes ago, beastandco said:

Schloss emphatically shut down any McKenna speculation a couple of days ago on his podcast

What?  Rumors count for nothing?

[gfhockey]

We didn’t want him per soutce

[yzerman19]

I think that our deal has got to be that we teach pro habits in a pro environment, so if you want the NHL this is the ONLY real choice.  

[skateshattrick]

20 minutes ago, yzerman19 said:

I think that our deal has got to be that we teach pro habits in a pro environment, so if you want the NHL this is the ONLY real choice.  

I agree with that assessment, but it is not the only selling point. UND not only has the best facilities in the country, and historically sends a lot of players to the professional ranks, but hockey is by far No. 1 at UND so the players are big fish in a small pond. At the Big schools and BC, hockey takes a back seat to at least football and basketball. 

[siouxfan512]

21 minutes ago, yzerman19 said:

I think that our deal has got to be that we teach pro habits in a pro environment, so if you want the NHL this is the ONLY real choice.  

It's not a bad pitch, but what do you base that off of? I think UND and Jackson need to somewhat re-establish themselves in terms of preparing guys for the NHL. I don't have the numbers, but I feel like someone else mentioned on the board somewhere that we just haven't churned out NHL players at the level we used to. Of course there will be some of those high end guys, but are we taking more of the mid-tier guys and helping them make the jump? I have no idea, just playing devil's advocate here.

Not trying to turn this into a Berry bashing convo but I think Jackson has some work in front of him to repair some of the damage Berry did since the Hak years. I'll never forget the championship, which was fantastic! The covid year was clearly out of his control and certainly didn't do Berry any favors, but UND has hit a level of mediocrity we haven't seen in a long time. Jackson is going to have to prove success to be able to establish his own recruiting pitches. I like what I have seen thus far though!

[siouxfan512]

4 hours ago, beastandco said:

Schloss emphatically shut down any McKenna speculation a couple of days ago on his podcast

Where did Schloss have Western finishing the year?

Joking of course!

[RedFrog]

2 hours ago, gfhockey said:

We didn’t want him per soutce

Source?

[burd]

6 minutes ago, RedFrog said:

Source?

Gf is a pro; he doesn’t disclose sourcesc.

[skateshattrick]

12 minutes ago, siouxfan512 said:

It's not a bad pitch, but what do you base that off of? I think UND and Jackson need to somewhat re-establish themselves in terms of preparing guys for the NHL. I don't have the numbers, but I feel like someone else mentioned on the board somewhere that we just haven't churned out NHL players at the level we used to. Of course there will be some of those high end guys, but are we taking more of the mid-tier guys and helping them make the jump? I have no idea, just playing devil's advocate here.

Not trying to turn this into a Berry bashing convo but I think Jackson has some work in front of him to repair some of the damage Berry did since the Hak years. I'll never forget the championship, which was fantastic! The covid year was clearly out of his control and certainly didn't do Berry any favors, but UND has hit a level of mediocrity we haven't seen in a long time. Jackson is going to have to prove success to be able to establish his own recruiting pitches. I like what I have seen thus far though!

I don't know if we have had as many players turn pro, but we have recently had some good ones playing in the NHL: Jackson Blake, Jake Sanderson, Tyler Kleven, Shane Pinto, JBD, Troy Stecher and Brock Boeser have done well. Tyson Jost has been a little disappointing, but he's still playing in the NHL. 

[yzerman19]

40 minutes ago, skateshattrick said:

I agree with that assessment, but it is not the only selling point. UND not only has the best facilities in the country, and historically sends a lot of players to the professional ranks, but hockey is by far No. 1 at UND so the players are big fish in a small pond. At the Big schools and BC, hockey takes a back seat to at least football and basketball. 

The facilities are great, but chippaz are only choosing facilities as a tie breaker.  Other top programs aren't exactly playing with chickenwire and garbage...the hockey as #1 on campus is a pro and con.  You don't have big time hoops and football to watch live while you walk around campus ...the chippas have beautiful girls all over the country talking to them, so being a leg up over the QB for the local bombshell isn't a big draw.  
 

the fair assessment is we have got to overcome the handicap of Grand Forks being where and what it is, and (to your point) the fact that we aren't the factory we were under Blais and Hak. 
 

favilities plus path to the show is the only way.  Path to the show isn't going to happen overnight.  As much as we love Chyzy and Jax, we need Toews, Oshie, Parise, Stafford, Zajac, Greene, Nelson, Boeser, Schmaltz, Pinto, Sanderson pumping how playing at UND was instrumental 

[yzerman19]

The other key thing is this:  we haven't had a great pipeline into the NTDP...that doesn't matter as much now.  We need to cultivate our kitchen....western Canada and the WHL...stud US kids are now seriously looking at WHL for their 17yo season to go as high as possible in the NHL draft...pipeline:  US high school or Tier 1 to WHL to UND.  Which brings up the issue of not much legit Tier 1 west of the Mississippi in the US.  

[nascar99]

4 hours ago, yzerman19 said:

The other key thing is this:  we haven't had a great pipeline into the NTDP...that doesn't matter as much now.  We need to cultivate our kitchen....western Canada and the WHL...stud US kids are now seriously looking at WHL for their 17yo season to go as high as possible in the NHL draft...pipeline:  US high school or Tier 1 to WHL to UND.  Which brings up the issue of not much legit Tier 1 west of the Mississippi in the US.  

Should be able to get a handful of solid to higher tier Minnesotans regardless and need to hit on more high end Western Canadians and the Dub as a whole. Would like to see the coaching staff target more Illinois (Chicago) & California (Southern & some Northern) kids since those states are consistently producing high quality players now. Texas and Arizona are producing more players too, areas to keep an eye on. I wouldn't close the door on Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, & Ontario, but we know where those guys go for the most part so Chyzyk and Jackson have to be targeted/realistic. We know that the vast majority of New York, New England, Quebec, and Maritimes guys will likely stay in Hockey East/ECAC territory, but still have to monitor and make pushes for guys who aren't automatic Boston College/Boston University locks.

As you said, need to leverage the UND Alumni connections to help build stronger relationships throughout the hockey world again, especially in Canada. Would be nice if Brad Malone (Oshawa) & James Patrick (Victoria) would steer some 2008s, 2009s, and beyond in the direction of UND.

[beastandco]

2 hours ago, nascar99 said:

Should be able to get a handful of solid to higher tier Minnesotans regardless and need to hit on more high end Western Canadians and the Dub as a whole. Would like to see the coaching staff target more Illinois (Chicago) & California (Southern & some Northern) kids since those states are consistently producing high quality players now. Texas and Arizona are producing more players too, areas to keep an eye on. I wouldn't close the door on Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, & Ontario, but we know where those guys go for the most part so Chyzyk and Jackson have to be targeted/realistic. We know that the vast majority of New York, New England, Quebec, and Maritimes guys will likely stay in Hockey East/ECAC territory, but still have to monitor and make pushes for guys who aren't automatic Boston College/Boston University locks.

As you said, need to leverage the UND Alumni connections to help build stronger relationships throughout the hockey world again, especially in Canada. Would be nice if Brad Malone (Oshawa) & James Patrick (Victoria) would steer some 2008s, 2009s, and beyond in the direction of UND.

Cole Reschny plays under James Patrick and he seems to be between UND and BC (instagram follows). I don’t necessarily know if Patrick would want to encourage Reschny to go to UND because he’d lose him next year in the CHL. Kind of a weird dynamic. If he is losing Reschny to college no matter what, I am sure he’d encourage him to come to Grand Forks. It will be interesting to see how many top guys stay in the CHL after being drafted.

[atxsioux]

11 hours ago, nascar99 said:

Schloss said McKenna to B1G probably, which means Michigan or Penn State (if he wants to accept the massive NIL deal that is apparently on the table).

To expand on what Schloss said he didn’t say it’s a done deal either way. He is just guessing (like yall said) based on the offers that he’s heard thrown around for McKenna.

 

For what it’s worth the gents on the called up prospects pod seemed to think he wouldn’t just take the biggest bag (safe to assume he’s gona make plenty of money in the show) The number one aspect is the school is going to have to sell him on how they can better him as a hockey player. Could just be them being naive but who knows 

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

6 hours ago, yzerman19 said:

The other key thing is this:  we haven't had a great pipeline into the NTDP...that doesn't matter as much now.  We need to cultivate our kitchen....western Canada and the WHL...stud US kids are now seriously looking at WHL for their 17yo season to go as high as possible in the NHL draft...pipeline:  US high school or Tier 1 to WHL to UND.  Which brings up the issue of not much legit Tier 1 west of the Mississippi in the US.  

Littler's dad, a Minot native, runs hockey in Wenatchee. Cade definitely should not be in suit based on his play alone as a freshman, but that is an incredibly important connection to nurture.

[cberkas]

Nolan Flamand to Merrimack 

[nascar99]

Looks like Mason West (2007) choosing hockey over football.