Since UND is playing the U-18 team and the skating mullets are in Hamilton NY for a "who cares?" series against Colgate we might as well spend 2 weeks talking about Erin Marvin and all the non-calls/bad penalty calls against UND.
The Huskies travel to UND for their first taste of NCHC action and a chance to take some very important points home. Below are the pre-season capsules from college hockey news.
North Dakota
Head Coach: Dave Hakstol
2012-13 Record: 22-13-7, 14-7-7 WCHA (3rd)
Changes: Almost half of the team’s scoring from a year ago will not return for the 2012-13 campaign in Grand Forks, and that includes graduated seniors Corban Knight (49 points last season) and Danny Kristo (52 points).
Strength: Goaltending. Last year, now-sophomore Zane Gothberg and now-senior Clarke Saunders split time in the crease for the Sioux, and the tandem proved to be successful. In the NCAA tournament, Gothberg earned a 2-1 win in the first round against Niagara, but it was Saunders who earned the start for the West Regional final that ultimately saw North Dakota fall to eventual national champion Yale. The duo will battle for playing time this season, but expect Hakstol to start the year with the familiar rotating starters, as he did in the opening weekend against Vermont.
Weakness: Although North Dakota has a tendency to reload its squad year after year, it’s certainly conceivable that last year’s losses to graduation – with all of the scoring left to find elsewhere this year – may be too much to replace, at least in the short term. Expect senior defenseman Dillon Simpson to help guide North Dakota in its early NCHC era.
2013-14 Outlook: North Dakota has developed a reputation for being a late-blooming team but can ill-afford to fall behind quickly in what will be one of the most competitive leagues in the new-look college hockey landscape. ND kicks off the NCHC schedule with a trip to Miami in what will be a battle of arguably the top goaltending duos in the league, and two of the most accomplished teams in college hockey over the past several seasons.
Said coach Dave Hakstol about the outlook for his squad, “Our season will be dictated by the work has done over the summer, over the last three weeks, and what our guys are doing to get better today. The predictions are all left to somebody else. I won’t be making any.”
St. Cloud State
Head Coach: Bob Motzko
2012-13 Record: 25-16-1 overall, 18-9-1 WCHA (1st)
Changes: There’s no doubt the Huskies will miss 2013 Hobey Baker winner Drew LeBlanc. Signed as a free agent by the Chicago Blackhawks after the Huskies fell to Quinnipiac at the NCAA Frozen Four last April, LeBlanc led the team in scoring with 50 points. Between LeBlanc, Ben Hanowski and Nick Jensen, all with powerful scoring abilities, the Huskies lose a lot of firepower. Fortunately, they have incoming recruits like Ben Storm, a 6-foot-6 Colorado Avalanche prospect out of the USHL, to help fill the voids.
Strength: The Huskies only lost four players from a season ago, and as a result, will return an experienced team that just played in a Frozen Four. St. Cloud also returns three of its top four scorers from a year ago and boasts developing stars like Joey Benik, who displayed his capabilities late last season after returning from an injury.
Defensively, Andrew Prochno has a strong presence on the ice, and combined expected solid goaltending from Ryan Faragher, the Huskies should be able to keep their goals-against count reasonably low.
Weakness: A void on defense. “I really think the biggest hole we have to fill this season is Nick Jensen,” coach Bob Motzko explained. “He wasn’t just one player; he was the heart of that defensive core, he was the heart of our penalty kill, he was the heart of that last minute of play. In big moments, he was the guy on the ice.”
2013-14 Outlook: The experience of advancing to last year’s NCAA Frozen Four, while boasting the nation’s Hobey Baker winner, was undoubtedly an invaluable experience for the Huskies, who have the makeup to make another run in post-season action.
The Huskies travel to UND for their first taste of NCHC action and a chance to take some very important points home. Below are the pre-season capsules from college hockey news.
North Dakota
Head Coach: Dave Hakstol
2012-13 Record: 22-13-7, 14-7-7 WCHA (3rd)
Changes: Almost half of the team’s scoring from a year ago will not return for the 2012-13 campaign in Grand Forks, and that includes graduated seniors Corban Knight (49 points last season) and Danny Kristo (52 points).
Strength: Goaltending. Last year, now-sophomore Zane Gothberg and now-senior Clarke Saunders split time in the crease for the Sioux, and the tandem proved to be successful. In the NCAA tournament, Gothberg earned a 2-1 win in the first round against Niagara, but it was Saunders who earned the start for the West Regional final that ultimately saw North Dakota fall to eventual national champion Yale. The duo will battle for playing time this season, but expect Hakstol to start the year with the familiar rotating starters, as he did in the opening weekend against Vermont.
Weakness: Although North Dakota has a tendency to reload its squad year after year, it’s certainly conceivable that last year’s losses to graduation – with all of the scoring left to find elsewhere this year – may be too much to replace, at least in the short term. Expect senior defenseman Dillon Simpson to help guide North Dakota in its early NCHC era.
2013-14 Outlook: North Dakota has developed a reputation for being a late-blooming team but can ill-afford to fall behind quickly in what will be one of the most competitive leagues in the new-look college hockey landscape. ND kicks off the NCHC schedule with a trip to Miami in what will be a battle of arguably the top goaltending duos in the league, and two of the most accomplished teams in college hockey over the past several seasons.
Said coach Dave Hakstol about the outlook for his squad, “Our season will be dictated by the work has done over the summer, over the last three weeks, and what our guys are doing to get better today. The predictions are all left to somebody else. I won’t be making any.”
St. Cloud State
Head Coach: Bob Motzko
2012-13 Record: 25-16-1 overall, 18-9-1 WCHA (1st)
Changes: There’s no doubt the Huskies will miss 2013 Hobey Baker winner Drew LeBlanc. Signed as a free agent by the Chicago Blackhawks after the Huskies fell to Quinnipiac at the NCAA Frozen Four last April, LeBlanc led the team in scoring with 50 points. Between LeBlanc, Ben Hanowski and Nick Jensen, all with powerful scoring abilities, the Huskies lose a lot of firepower. Fortunately, they have incoming recruits like Ben Storm, a 6-foot-6 Colorado Avalanche prospect out of the USHL, to help fill the voids.
Strength: The Huskies only lost four players from a season ago, and as a result, will return an experienced team that just played in a Frozen Four. St. Cloud also returns three of its top four scorers from a year ago and boasts developing stars like Joey Benik, who displayed his capabilities late last season after returning from an injury.
Defensively, Andrew Prochno has a strong presence on the ice, and combined expected solid goaltending from Ryan Faragher, the Huskies should be able to keep their goals-against count reasonably low.
Weakness: A void on defense. “I really think the biggest hole we have to fill this season is Nick Jensen,” coach Bob Motzko explained. “He wasn’t just one player; he was the heart of that defensive core, he was the heart of our penalty kill, he was the heart of that last minute of play. In big moments, he was the guy on the ice.”
2013-14 Outlook: The experience of advancing to last year’s NCAA Frozen Four, while boasting the nation’s Hobey Baker winner, was undoubtedly an invaluable experience for the Huskies, who have the makeup to make another run in post-season action.
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