Manitoba @ UND exhibition game

[Und Princess]

For those that haven't seen. My postgame update is up. Two-for-One Saturday: A Double Dose of Victory (Football and Hockey). What an AWESOME game yesterday!!! https://ftstspotlight.blogspot.com/2025/10/a-double-header-special-football-team.html?m=1

[Oxbow6]

Thought the forward lines were really well put together. 

Swanson Reschney Kernan looked great.

Ollie's line had some great shifts. Strinden is a Cole Smith with better skill. 

Top line has potential. Zellers has a little Blake in him. Super skilled but tried to do too much at times.

Kudos to Jackson.

 

[tnt]

3 hours ago, Oxbow6 said:

Exactly.  Laurila was terrific....but go easy my friend or you'll be accused of going on a rant and/or having a pulse of the team. No subjective opinions allowed here.

Or being accused of not having seen Emery yet, and concluding he should in no way be top 6.  Because goodness knows that you can’t make huge strides after your freshman season — Mac Swanson!

[tnt]

58 minutes ago, burd said:

A lot to be optimistic about after last night.   Hopefully, we’ll still feel this way next Sunday. 

I think the coaches know that there are going to be some highs and lows, but hopefully they can grow throughout the year, and the mistakes are limited enough where they can learn from them while staying competitive in the national picture.  
Minnesota coaches will probably be looking for the same.

 

[SpudsSioux]

17 minutes ago, tnt said:

Or being accused of not having seen Emery yet, and concluding he should in no way be top 6.  Because goodness knows that you can’t make huge strides after your freshman season — Mac Swanson!

Haha correct. I think Emery is going to take a huge jump this year. Older, put on some weight, and the game should have slowed down for him.

I wasn’t advocating for him being out like Oxbow was. I was just reiterating I thought Laurila was very good first game (as was Strathman). I would be shocked if they don’t run 7 most games 

[tnt]

13 minutes ago, SpudsSioux said:

Haha correct. I think Emery is going to take a huge jump this year. Older, put on some weight, and the game should have slowed down for him.

I wasn’t advocating for him being out like Oxbow was. I was just reiterating I thought Laurila was very good first game (as was Strathman). I would be shocked if they don’t run 7 most games 

…and just to be clear, I have no idea if Emery has made the improvements to be in the lineup ahead of any of those other guys mentioned.  

The other part of the equation is that what are they looking to do with the defense in any given game.  Are they going to be joining the rush, and pinching a lot?   Some may be better suited to that. If they are looking to manage the pairs with defensive responsibility with someone who has the green light to go all the time, that might be a consideration as well.

The best part is they have the depth to keep the players accountable.  I think Jackson is more apt than Berry to keep the players accountable if they aren’t performing or playing the way they want them to.  
 

To be sure, I don’t care who is in the lineup, as long as they play hard, fast and relentless and are accountable for the improvement necessary when they inevitably make mistakes.

 

[90siouxfan]

Did I fall asleep and miss all the poor play that Emery is getting poked for?

[Oxbow6]

1 hour ago, 90siouxfan said:

Did I fall asleep and miss all the poor play that Emery is getting poked for?

If you count what he's going to do if/when he takes the ice....who knows? From some here when he does play and UND rolls 7 Dman he basically will be a pairing by himself!!

Guess actually seeing the load of talent on the back end play last night is irrelevant. Laurila and Strathmann were really solid. 

My initial comment on EJ after watching last night was he IMO is not secured a top 6 spot. Apparently some disagree.  It's all good. 

[SiouxFanatic]

11 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

If you count what he's going to do if/when he takes the ice....yes.  From some here when he does play and UND rolls 7 Dman he basically will be a pairing by himself!!

Guess actually seeing the load of talent on the back end play last night is irrelevant.

My initial comment on EJ after watching last night was he IMO is secured a top 6 spot. Apparently some disagree.  It's all good. 

If Emery is playing, I trust the coaches decision that it is warranted. It’s like we forget the likes of Tychonick and Brent Johnson bailing because they weren’t earning it.

PS This was an exhibition game. Being excited is one thing but let’s have a little levity as well. 

[The Sicatoka]

Friday I figured we had eight plus one D. Sunday I think we might have nine. Who sits … 

And it’s nice to see Swanson and Zellers on the bench but know there’s still offensive skill on the ice. I think we may have moved from top six / bottom six to top nine and a checking line. 

[brianvf]

 

[cberkas]

Emery was on the ice for warmups so whatever he has isn't going to keep him out long

[hockeytherapy13]

14 hours ago, Sioux90 said:

It’s really not that big of a deal. EJ is the perfect athlete to learn to play both sides. NHL loves it.

What I’m saying is that they’ll probably try to have a right D-man on the ice any time they can when 5x5. We have 3 RHD so the likelihood of 2 being on the same pair for a full game is lower. 

[Stack]

23 hours ago, .357 said:

Any thoughts on the much-anticipated Verhoeff? A lot of hype on him this off-season, but not much talk of him in this thread.

Littler looks like a moose without antlers, guy's a specimen. 

Watching Verhoeff he reminded me of Victor Hedman. Big guy that is very smooth on his skates. Takes away a lot of space when defending and closes fast when they get in our zone. He's as good as advertised and may only be a one year guy but I'm hoping for two from him. 

Another guy that impressed me that I didn't know a lot about was Jack Kernan. At 6'1" and 193 pounds and a freshman he also looks like the real deal. Got himself open many times and could have had a hat trick if not for hitting Reschny in front of the goal. If that line stays together with Swanson and Reschny it will be hard for anyone to play against. 

 

Overall I thought the team was much faster than last year. Josephson is really fast. 

[.357]

47 minutes ago, Stack said:

Watching Verhoeff he reminded me of Victor Hedman. Big guy that is very smooth on his skates. Takes away a lot of space when defending and closes fast when they get in our zone. He's as good as advertised and may only be a one year guy but I'm hoping for two from him.  

Others have also speculated that in all likelihood he will be gone after 1 season; but he would be awfully young to make an NHL team as a young 18 yo D...Makar & Q. Hughes, the standards for the modern D, each played 2 seasons of collegiate hockey, as did Sanderson; but I don't think they had the physical maturity as 18 yos that Verhoeff already possesses & that Dahlin possessed at that age. Dahlin hit the ground running in the NHL as an 18.5 yo.

I guess it all depends on how well he acclimates to a tough NCHC schedule & if he has any concerning hiccups in his development here. A positive is that his close friend & roommate Reschny will likely be a 2-year player at UND, which may be enough to tip the scales in favor of him staying an extra year if he's on the fence. 

[beastandco]

16 minutes ago, .357 said:

Others have also speculated that in all likelihood he will be gone after 1 season; but he would be awfully young to make an NHL team as a young 18 yo D...Makar & Q. Hughes, the standards for the modern D, each played 2 seasons of collegiate hockey, as did Sanderson; but I don't think they had the physical maturity as 18 yos that Verhoeff already possesses & that Dahlin possessed at that age. Dahlin hit the ground running in the NHL as an 18.5 yo.

I guess it all depends on how well he acclimates to a tough NCHC schedule & if he has any concerning hiccups in his development here. A positive is that his close friend & roommate Reschny will likely be a 2-year player at UND, which may be enough to tip the scales in favor of him staying an extra year if he's on the fence. 

I would guess that Vehoeff is a two year guy based off of him turning 17 a couple of months ago and how beneficial that extra year has been for defensemen in the past. Especially when Artem Levshunov signed right away and played the whole year in the AHL.

If he has a great year and leaves after this season, I will gladly take that. That would mean he is everything as advertised and some.

[.357]

17 minutes ago, beastandco said:

Especially when Artem Levshunov signed right away and played the whole year in the AHL.

 

Levshunov was also quite a bit older than Verhoeff when he played his freshman season at MSU (17 yr, 11 mo vs. Verhoeff's 17 yr, 4 mo when they played their first puck at their respective schools). Levshunov had a longer runway as they say.