2026-27 University of North Dakota Hockey Season

[farce poobah]

13 hours ago, brianvf said:

That's pretty much a wrap on next season's roster, aside from adding a third goalie!
Just a super deep team.  Looking at this list, I honestly can't tell you which 3F and 2D will be sitting to start the season.  Other years, you had guys like Andrew, Engel, etc that you could pencil in for being in the stands.  None of that this year.

Forwards...scoring by committee.  This team will win a lot of 3rd/4th line matchups just due to their depth...even more than this past season IMO.
Defense...super skilled & young.  Really excited to see Verhoeff progress and see what Carels & MacK bring to the ice.
Goalies...now that's a skilled goalie tandem!

Forwards (15 of 15):
SR - Magnussen, Malinoski, Menghini
JR - Croal, Lindberg, Swanson
SO - Josephson, Kernan, Reschny, Zakreski, Zellers
FR - Davis, A.Schultz, B.Schultz, Simpson

Defense (8 of 8):
SR -
JR - Boser, Emery
SO - Laurila, Verhoeff
FR - Carels, Dumanski, Lindberg, MacKenzie

Goalies (2 of 3):
SR - 
JR -
SO - Spunar
FR - Heil

So in 14 months, only 3 players remain from the Berry era.  Wowsers.

Rebuilding is no longer a 3-4 year project for a new coaching staff.

[Oxbow6]

55 minutes ago, farce poobah said:

So in 14 months, only 3 players remain from the Berry era.  Wowsers.

Rebuilding is no longer a 3-4 year project for a new coaching staff.

Good. Watching some of those teams was not worth the price of admission.

[Fratt Mattin]

19 minutes ago, Oxbow6 said:

Good. Watching some of those teams was not worth the price of admission.

There were a few like that, but the 2018-2019 and 2022-2023 teams stick in my memory. The former because they couldn't score a goal to save their lives and the latter because they couldn't stop one.

I still don't understand what the guiding philosophy behind our roster building was supposed to be during the Berry era. Never seemed like the coaches knew what they wanted the final product to look like

[tnt]

54 minutes ago, Fratt Mattin said:

There were a few like that, but the 2018-2019 and 2022-2023 teams stick in my memory. The former because they couldn't score a goal to save their lives and the latter because they couldn't stop one.

I still don't understand what the guiding philosophy behind our roster building was supposed to be during the Berry era. Never seemed like the coaches knew what they wanted the final product to look like

I will only say that when you had a heart and soul guy like Cody Croal sitting in the stands when guys that wouldn’t engage physically were staples in the lineup was an indictment on how far we moved away from our culture, which is why the overuse of the word “culture” irritated many who believed their eyes rather than a catchphrase.

[Scratch]

8 hours ago, Big Green said:

What is it with this board?  Seems like posters are planning on players leaving all the time, some before they even step on campus.  

I think part of it is there's media guys like Cam Robinson on podcasts a week ago saying he thinks whether Carels goes straight to the NHL depends on who drafts him. Granted, media says things like this, but I believe Robinson first confirmed in late 2025, early 2026 (maybe around world juniors?) that Carels was going to UND in the first place. 

[Sioux90]

1 hour ago, tnt said:

I will only say that when you had a heart and soul guy like Cody Croal sitting in the stands when guys that wouldn’t engage physically were staples in the lineup was an indictment on how far we moved away from our culture, which is why the overuse of the word “culture” irritated many who believed their eyes rather than a catchphrase.

While I agree, it should be noted that Croal was a Freshman, and his game was much progressed, year to year. Now the type of game he plays, speaks more to his character on the ice, and what Jackson is trying to build.

[Wilbur]

22 hours ago, Oxbow6 said:

Good. Watching some of those teams was not worth the price of admission.

I think the Friday night game against Omaha in the playoffs summed up the end of his tenure to a T.  Up a goal in the third period, and you got outshot 17-0 while sitting back and taking punches from Omaha like they were the Soviet Red Army team.  Murdered in the faceoff circle, outhustled, outhit, out whatever you want to call it, yet after the game we talked "culture" and "finding a way" and "a full sixty on Saturday" when our goalie just stood on his head so we could barely get to the finish line.

I don't know if that, or needing to beat Robert Morris in OT and getting pushed to the brink by them after having to beat them in OT was the low point.      

[cberkas]

2 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

I think the Friday night game against Omaha in the playoffs summed up the end of his tenure to a T.  Up a goal in the third period, and you got outshot 17-0 while sitting back and taking punches from Omaha like they were the Soviet Red Army team.  Murdered in the faceoff circle, outhustled, outhit, out whatever you want to call it, yet after the game we talked "culture" and "finding a way" and "a full sixty on Saturday" when our goalie just stood on his head so we could barely get to the finish line.

I don't know if that, or needing to beat Robert Morris in OT and getting pushed to the brink by them after having to beat them in OT was the low point.      

The moment the ASU loss in Tempe happened he was fired. 

[cowboys5xsbs]

 

[cowboys5xsbs]

Rules Committee Approves Changes to Hand Passes and Equipment Standards : College Hockey News

 

[Sioux90]

2 hours ago, Wilbur said:

I think the Friday night game against Omaha in the playoffs summed up the end of his tenure to a T.  Up a goal in the third period, and you got outshot 17-0 while sitting back and taking punches from Omaha like they were the Soviet Red Army team.  Murdered in the faceoff circle, outhustled, outhit, out whatever you want to call it, yet after the game we talked "culture" and "finding a way" and "a full sixty on Saturday" when our goalie just stood on his head so we could barely get to the finish line.

I don't know if that, or needing to beat Robert Morris in OT and getting pushed to the brink by them after having to beat them in OT was the low point.      

Wrong thread men. We live in the present, here.