Nonconference Schedule Now and in Future under new leadership

[hawksfan12]

I thought we should have a thread to discuss the UND mens hockey nonconference schedule especially since there is a new coach leading the program.

Do we know the rationale used to decide the schedule? I have to be honest, UND has some pretty mediocre programs consistently on the schedule relative to the program status (ie Bemidji, Mankato, Manitoba). Is it travel budget? Pairwise gaming? Coaching relationships? Look at Denver this year, they play both BC & Minnesota this year. 

Second question, if you could develop a priority list of protected opponents, who should we prioritize? My opinion:

- Minnesota every year (the only one on this list they have done a good job playing consistently)

- Wisconsin every year

- Michigan every 2-4 years 

- getting BU/BC every 2-4 years (maybe create a 4 way thing with BC/BU/Minnesota/UND where UND & Minnesota swap the other east coast school Friday vs Saturday night)

- consider programs like Maine, Michigan State, Harvard, Notre Dame, Cornell, Michigan Tech that have some hockey history as fillers every 5-10 years (good programs but not quite at blue blood status)

- or heck create some type of tournament like Beanpot with other bluebloods (MI, WI, MN, BC, BU, Denver) like college basketball does all the time

- get Bemidji, Mankato off the schedule long-term... other programs we've played I don't get -> Lindenwood, Holy Cross, Niagara, Alaska schools, Canisius 

I also think the coaches should seek to insert the program into hockey hotbeds for recruiting...get a series in Michigan every 2-4 years, east coast / Massachusetts every 2-4 years. That way, the program is present in mind of recruits and they can see the program / fan support. I think we have opponents that are complete throwaway games in terms of optimizing the schedule.  Make every one of these games count!

[brianvf]

For the most part I think UND does a good job of mixing the OOC schedule with tough opponents and a couple non-blue blood programs. I’d rather not play BSU every year but I understand the rationale for them scheduling them. 
I’m glad that UND doesn’t schedule majority cupcakes (PSU comes to mind), but you also can’t schedule nothing but traditional top 15 teams, as you run the risk of having a rough NC record and missing the tourney. 
I also like that UND seems to like to schedule some destination games for the fans and players. 

[siouxfaninseattle]

I'm hoping for a 7-3 OOC record. Pretty achievable. 

[cberkas]

If they would dump the yearly Bemidji game (or make it a permanent exhibition game). UND could bring in others like Wisconsin every year or a BC/BU every year or a two-year rotation going there and play one each night. 

Would like to see UND finally play old WCHA teams that it sounded like it would do but never did.
Best way to play against Bemidji/Mankato is to have a system with St. Cloud to split opponent each night. One year NCHC is the road teams next the CCHA is the road teams. 

 

[The Sicatoka]

Under the PWR they tried to play a team from each conference. 

[hawksfan12]

25 minutes ago, cberkas said:

If they would dump the yearly Bemidji game (or make it a permanent exhibition game). UND could bring in others like Wisconsin every year or a BC/BU every year or a two-year rotation going there and play one each night. 

Would like to see UND finally play old WCHA teams that it sounded like it would do but never did.
Best way to play against Bemidji/Mankato is to have a system with St. Cloud to split opponent each night. One year NCHC is the road teams next the CCHA is the road teams. 

 

Do you think Michigan is worth getting on the schedule?

[cberkas]

1 minute ago, hawksfan12 said:

Do you think Michigan is worth getting on the schedule?

Sounds like Michigan doesn't want to play UND unlike Michigan State

[hawksfan12]

2 minutes ago, cberkas said:

Sounds like Michigan doesn't want to play UND unlike Michigan State

What's your source for that and what would Michigan have against UND? They have played UMD,  SCSU, and Mankato recently. 

[cberkas]

1 minute ago, hawksfan12 said:

What's your source for that and what would Michigan have against UND? They have played UMD,  SCSU, and Mankato recently. 

That been the talk on here, do I think it's true, no. Red was going to go to UND before he made a last minute visit to Michigan. 

[The Sicatoka]

7 minutes ago, hawksfan12 said:

Do you think Michigan is worth getting on the schedule?

It takes two to make a deal.

[Blackheart]

Dump Bemidji

[brianvf]

1 minute ago, Blackheart said:

Dump Bemidji

The sooner the better IMO.

Their trap game is just not entertaining to watch at all.

[sioux24/7]

The only nice thing about Bemidji is for those that travel that way for lake season and have year round cabins but they always seem to play there Friday when it would be much more convenient Saturday. 

The Michigan thing intrigues me. I’ve always wanted us to play them and would be the easy choice for my groups annual away hockey trip.

[hawksfan12]

1 hour ago, sioux24/7 said:

The only nice thing about Bemidji is for those that travel that way for lake season and have year round cabins but they always seem to play there Friday when it would be much more convenient Saturday. 

The Michigan thing intrigues me. I’ve always wanted us to play them and would be the easy choice for my groups annual away hockey trip.

Not only playing Michigan but being in Michigan. It's a big hockey state, NDTP is there, hockey town. I think it helps UND stay relevant across the country with fans and young players.

[nascar99]

2 hours ago, hawksfan12 said:

Do you think Michigan is worth getting on the schedule?

Michigan is worth getting on the schedule every year or every other year. Seems like Red Berenson & Dean Blais didn't get along & Red didn't want to go to the Ralph for a series, thus a Cold War between Michigan and North Dakota.

[Blackheart]

10 minutes ago, nascar99 said:

Michigan is worth getting on the schedule every year or every other year. Seems like Red Berenson & Dean Blais didn't get along & Red didn't want to go to the Ralph for a series, thus a Cold War between Michigan and North Dakota.

Gordon was kind of a prick that way.  I loved it when Michigan had to come to REA for NCAA regionals and the Sioux just steamrolled them.

[Vegas_Sioux]

4 minutes ago, Blackheart said:

Gordon was kind of a prick that way.  I loved it when Michigan had to come to REA for NCAA regionals and the Sioux just steamrolled them.

Best press conference answer ever that f…king puck went in we should have just gotten back on the bus. Red on the atmosphere after having to play und after mn lost to Holy Cross. 

[nodakvindy]

2 hours ago, nascar99 said:

Michigan is worth getting on the schedule every year or every other year. Seems like Red Berenson & Dean Blais didn't get along & Red didn't want to go to the Ralph for a series, thus a Cold War between Michigan and North Dakota.

It goes way further back than that. We don't need to grovel to play them. Much rather play the Boston schools, a resurgent Maine or even the Q.   

Like the idea of hosting a tourney. Would love to see the Woody Keeble cup annually the weekend before Veterans Day. With either Army or Air Force every year along with an eastern team and a ccha team. 

I think the NPI is going to punish teams like Penn St. That load up on cupcakes, so you may see more series between heavy hitters moving forward. 

[siouxfaninseattle]

The Michigan thing goes back to UND and DU having "25 year old Canadians" and Red refused to play them. To this day Michigan would play either team in their rink but won't do a return series. Screw 'em.

[Dustin]

I would like UND to schedule any of those teams in the first post.  Any B1G teams and any Hockey East teams.  Don't know what the appetite is for OOC, but I think it would be great for college hockey if the NCHC, B1G, and HE had an OOC scheduling agreement where every school from those conferences played a series against a school from one or both of the other conferences every year.  

[The Sicatoka]

You’d think Uncle Andy could get USAFA for a military appreciation weekend. 

[gfhockey]

Maybe und princess could blog about it? She has inside info

[hawksfan12]

6 minutes ago, gfhockey said:

Maybe und princess could blog about it? She has inside info

Yes have someone blog about the schedule.

Or have Brad write an article. I don't know why this doesn't get more attention from a program under the microscope like this. Go look at Alabama / OSU for football, Duke for basketball...the nonconference schedule gets a ton of speculation and questions from those fanbases of those programs. 

It seems people just accept our schedule as is every year. I wanna hear Dane Jackson explain the program's philosophy on the schedule.

[90siouxfan]

25 minutes ago, gfhockey said:

Maybe und princess could blog about it? She has inside info

A write up on the gobc would get some traffic....

[dustnyou]

UND’s non-conference schedule is put together very thoughtfully with the #1 goal of receiving an at large bid to the NCAA tournament. Splitting it between traditional powerhouse / rivalry programs (quality wins / strength of schedule) and high win % chance / games we should win 90% of the time. Dave Hakstol was very successful making the tournament with this formula. As fans we all want every non-conference game against blue bloods and desirable destinations but there is actually a very methodical reason for who they schedule. Conference realignment played a big part in this. There’s teams we play that don’t get everyone too excited about but in theory, it’s great to play the top teams of weaker conferences. This is huge in the pairwise. We also need to play “weaker” non-conference opponents for high win chances because of how strong the NCHC is.