NCHC Semifinals-Here come the Dawgs

[atxsioux]

2 minutes ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

You have to look at the big picture I think.  It's easy to overreact to this bad game and he did make rookie mistakes(I was cursing his name too on those plays).  But consider  you're saying Jayden Jubenvil(I love the guy btw) has played 52 games and has 2 goals and 6 assists should play over Verhoeff who, in 33 games, has 6 goals and 14 assists.  Which one of these players has more of a potential to change a game in your favor?  If your answer is defense, JJ is a +8 to KV at a +6.  Not sure that merits the swap.

Verhoeff was a post and a sliding save from Gajan away to scoring twice for what it's worth on the offensive side of the puck. Did everyone on this forum forget those moments hahah?

[ND_Texan]

I want KV to be in there for the regionals to gain that "big game" experience and confidence for the Frozen Four. The more minutes the better.

[cberkas]

40 minutes ago, .357 said:

Still contend that putting a raw 17 yo on the big stage with top minutes is a liability, but will gladly eat crow if he doesn't make any silly mistakes that lead to a playoff loss. Time will tell. Fingers crossed in the meantime. 

And Canada found out he should have played more at the WJC, he’s played in big games he’ll be fine.

[Big A HG]

12 hours ago, .357 said:

...it's disconcerting that, 37 games into the season, the team is still making fundamental mistakes on defense that should have been cleared up by the new year at the latest. 12 days off can do wonders for healing; but if the team defense is still making pee wee mistakes after 37 games, not so sure another 12 days of lessons will fix whatever the issue is.

 

 

I think many are overreacting, but I think there's an interesting question in what you said.  Before I get to it, everyone should remember how difficult we've been to score against all year.  As the season has gone on, the stakes have ramped up, and we still kept pushing higher in the NPI despite playing what looks like looser hockey.  I think our opponents place a bigger target on our back when we're ranked as highly as we are and the season starts culminating toward playoff hockey.  Does that mean a 5-1 loss on home ice is suddenly acceptable?  No, but not a huge cause for panic quite yet.  Duluth is a top 6 team in the country, hates us, and has a multiple-time championship head coach.  In a one-and-done, if you don't bring your A-game, this will bite you.  Dane will use it as a teaching moment and we'll be ready to go in Round 1 of the NCAA.

But, jumping back to .357's point...assuming these mistakes are as prevalent as what some want to say...I wonder if there's a difference in having a head coach now who played as a forward throughout his career versus having Brad or Hak who were both defensemen.  I don't think it means much, especially with Dane having been behind the bench for almost 20 years in some capacity, and we have Smaby and Simpson helping out (both defensemen), but was just an interesting thought.

[ND_Texan]

Spoon has not been as sharp in the past half dozen games or so. To win in the nationals our goalie needs to be as good or better than the other guy. Not much has been said here in that regard. 

[.357]

42 minutes ago, skateshattrick said:

Kind of like putting a raw 17 year old Jonathan Toews out on the big stage? 😲You really just stop because you don't know what you are talking about. 

Time will tell.

[UND69er]

1 hour ago, Big A HG said:

 

I think many are overreacting, but I think there's an interesting question in what you said.  Before I get to it, everyone should remember how difficult we've been to score against all year.  As the season has gone on, the stakes have ramped up, and we still kept pushing higher in the NPI despite playing what looks like looser hockey.  I think our opponents place a bigger target on our back when we're ranked as highly as we are and the season starts culminating toward playoff hockey.  Does that mean a 5-1 loss on home ice is suddenly acceptable?  No, but not a huge cause for panic quite yet.  Duluth is a top 6 team in the country, hates us, and has a multiple-time championship head coach.  In a one-and-done, if you don't bring your A-game, this will bite you.  Dane will use it as a teaching moment and we'll be ready to go in Round 1 of the NCAA.

But, jumping back to .357's point...assuming these mistakes are as prevalent as what some want to say...I wonder if there's a difference in having a head coach now who played as a forward throughout his career versus having Brad or Hak who were both defensemen.  I don't think it means much, especially with Dane having been behind the bench for almost 20 years in some capacity, and we have Smaby and Simpson helping out (both defensemen), but was just an interesting thought.

I may be wrong, but wasn't Dane a D also? Perhaps Liv and Verhoff need to be reminded they are Ds first.

[brianvf]

1 minute ago, UND69er said:

I may be wrong, but wasn't Dane a D also? Perhaps Liv and Verhoff need to be reminded they are Ds first.

Dane was a forward. 

[hockeytherapy13]

KV going -4 in 16 mins on the ice compared to Liv being -3 with 24 mins on the ice are pretty different. This team can generate offense very well but this team giving up 3+ goals an many times as they have in the last few weeks is our bigger area of concern. That's why Verhoeff is not yet built for big minutes during a 1 and done situation in a tight game. I love that Verhoeff has gotten to play big-time minutes all year. That's why I said Jax has been raising him up the right way getting him what he needs because a guy should have the opportunity to fail and learn from it. Verhoeff has good but not great skating, bobbles the puck when pressured along the boards, and still hasn't fully connected with his body enough. He's going to be unbelievable next year but he's not the one we want out there in a tight 1-goal lead against a team's top lines with 2 mins left- with Save that for Liv, emery, Wiebe, and Zmolek.

Also anyone comping having a 17-year old defenseman to Toews as a 17-year old forward needs to step back and take a moment to realize the massive differences in how those 2 positions translate to college hockey. 

[Clark17]

1 hour ago, Big A HG said:

 

I think many are overreacting, but I think there's an interesting question in what you said.  Before I get to it, everyone should remember how difficult we've been to score against all year.  As the season has gone on, the stakes have ramped up, and we still kept pushing higher in the NPI despite playing what looks like looser hockey.  I think our opponents place a bigger target on our back when we're ranked as highly as we are and the season starts culminating toward playoff hockey.  Does that mean a 5-1 loss on home ice is suddenly acceptable?  No, but not a huge cause for panic quite yet.  Duluth is a top 6 team in the country, hates us, and has a multiple-time championship head coach.  In a one-and-done, if you don't bring your A-game, this will bite you.  Dane will use it as a teaching moment and we'll be ready to go in Round 1 of the NCAA.

But, jumping back to .357's point...assuming these mistakes are as prevalent as what some want to say...I wonder if there's a difference in having a head coach now who played as a forward throughout his career versus having Brad or Hak who were both defensemen.  I don't think it means much, especially with Dane having been behind the bench for almost 20 years in some capacity, and we have Smaby and Simpson helping out (both defensemen), but was just an interesting thought.

Panic starts the last weekend of March if we aren't on the right side of the score 

[skateshattrick]

1 hour ago, hockeytherapy13 said:

KV going -4 in 16 mins on the ice compared to Liv being -3 with 24 mins on the ice are pretty different. This team can generate offense very well but this team giving up 3+ goals an many times as they have in the last few weeks is our bigger area of concern. That's why Verhoeff is not yet built for big minutes during a 1 and done situation in a tight game. I love that Verhoeff has gotten to play big-time minutes all year. That's why I said Jax has been raising him up the right way getting him what he needs because a guy should have the opportunity to fail and learn from it. Verhoeff has good but not great skating, bobbles the puck when pressured along the boards, and still hasn't fully connected with his body enough. He's going to be unbelievable next year but he's not the one we want out there in a tight 1-goal lead against a team's top lines with 2 mins left- with Save that for Liv, emery, Wiebe, and Zmolek.

Also anyone comping having a 17-year old defenseman to Toews as a 17-year old forward needs to step back and take a moment to realize the massive differences in how those 2 positions translate to college hockey. 

You and .357 can keep agreeing with each other on the worst take I have heard all year. Keaton Verhoeff had a bad game, but is top 4 on any college hockey team in the country and for many games this year, was UND's best defenseman. Any college coach in the country would gladly take him and put him in the top 4.  He is a phenomenal hockey player and UND is very lucky to have him. I hope he plays in all situations in the regional because I am extremely confident with him out there. 

[burd]

Didn’t think we’d see the lobby by the elevator door filling up this year after the break.   But while the Ledge is still mostly vacant, you can see folks jostling for position to reclaim their places up there.   

[The Sicatoka]

That was our "yellow socks" game for the rest of this season. 

[Dustin]

If this year's team is lacking anything that would pay off big this time of year, it's upper class defensemen.  2 Juniors and a Grad Student.  Not saying our underclass D-men aren't good, but the best formula for success in March and April in college hockey is upper class defensemen complimented with elite scorers and/or goaltending.

[I Ranger]

I'm certainly not thrilled with the performance on Saturday but I think we should all take a deep breath and remember where this program was at exactly one year ago! 

[fightingsioux4life]

12 minutes ago, I Ranger said:

I'm certainly not thrilled with the performance on Saturday but I think we should all take a deep breath and remember where this program was at exactly one year ago! 

You are correct, we were staring into an abyss exactly one year ago. I just think people are anxious to get back to winning at a high level in March and April.

[RhettRingers]

See you boys in Vegas in a few weeks.

[brianvf]

1 minute ago, RhettRingers said:

See you boys in Vegas in a few weeks.

If UND is there, I'll see you there.   

[RhettRingers]

6 minutes ago, brianvf said:

If UND is there, I'll see you there.   

They will be.

[siouxfaninseattle]

1 hour ago, brianvf said:

If UND is there, I'll see you there.   

Me too.

[hockeytherapy13]

I'm nowhere near the ledge and am jacked up to see this team play in a regional. Honestly most  teams that could get paired with us are not really going to know how to counter-attack when they get a taste of our depth at Forward and Defense. I want Verhoeff to play but It's perfectly acceptable to want older defenseman to play top-4 minutes when the game is down to the wire and we need an experienced defender. That's not a crazy take and having that preference does not mean I'm a ledgie -but I'm also an optimist in general haha. This team has a leg up on pretty much any team it plays- especially the nonconference suckers that haven't had the pleasure of playing a 4-line team. Add in the Dane Jackson x-factor they've developed where they don't stop coming in waves even if they are down by a few goals and don't appear to get mentally rattled. 

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

We just need Spoon Man to be solid in net.  Not spectacular, just solid, and I like our chances. 

[Goon]

1 hour ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

We just need Spoon Man to be solid in net.  Not spectacular, just solid, and I like our chances. 

In Spoon’s defense his d-men left him out to dry and he probably wanted a few of those back, too. — that was the nexus of Jax’s comments post game. 

[JacksonW]

1 hour ago, hockeytherapy13 said:

I'm nowhere near the ledge and am jacked up to see this team play in a regional. Honestly most  teams that could get paired with us are not really going to know how to counter-attack when they get a taste of our depth at Forward and Defense. I want Verhoeff to play but It's perfectly acceptable to want older defenseman to play top-4 minutes when the game is down to the wire and we need an experienced defender. That's not a crazy take and having that preference does not mean I'm a ledgie -but I'm also an optimist in general haha. This team has a leg up on pretty much any team it plays- especially the nonconference suckers that haven't had the pleasure of playing a 4-line team. Add in the Dane Jackson x-factor they've developed where they don't stop coming in waves even if they are down by a few goals and don't appear to get mentally rattled. 

As games have longer commercial breaks, top heavy teams can play best players more.

[.357]

7 minutes ago, JacksonW said:

As games have longer commercial breaks, top heavy teams can play best players more.

Good point.

That being the case & because there's a day off in between, will be interesting to see if Jackson shortens his bench sometimes 5×5; as opposed to rolling 4 lines which he did most of the year.