UNO 2015-16 Season Thread: Frozen Four, New Barn, What Next?

[Tipsy McStagger]

Re: UNO 2015-16 Season Thread: Frozen Four, New Barn, What Next?

Well, as stated previously before the winter break, we have no idea who this team is yet. And still don't. Three straight home losses. I don't care about the parity of the NCHC, you shouldn't lose to Miami at home. Evan Weninger is a lot more important to this group than we think. We seem lost without our starting goalie.

I only got to see the last half of the 3rd period, but I am not sure goaltending is the problem. I mean, it is legal to score more than one goal. UNO seems like a one line team. I am not saying they aren't a dangerous team, but it is starting to seem like they aren't as good as they appeared to be during their non-conference schedule. In conference play, they are being outscored by Western Michigan.

[gomavs#1]

Re: UNO 2015-16 Season Thread: Frozen Four, New Barn, What Next?

I only got to see the last half of the 3rd period, but I am not sure goaltending is the problem. I mean, it is legal to score more than one goal. UNO seems like a one line team. I am not saying they aren't a dangerous team, but it is starting to seem like they aren't as good as they appeared to be during their non-conference schedule. In conference play, they are being outscored by Western Michigan.

I think the goalie issue is more about how well they play in front of their starting goalie. Like a baseball team that has their ace on the mound...they step up play a bit more. But I agree, Blankenburg didn't play too bad, and certainly wasn't the reason for the loss. I think you hit the nail on the head and it's pretty obvious at this point: they aren't as good as they appeared during the non-conference schedule.

[Tipsy McStagger]

Re: UNO 2015-16 Season Thread: Frozen Four, New Barn, What Next?

Touchdown Miami!

[omahasioux1]

Re: UNO 2015-16 Season Thread: Frozen Four, New Barn, What Next?

Ouch.

[omahasioux1]

Re: UNO 2015-16 Season Thread: Frozen Four, New Barn, What Next?

I have no idea what last weekend has to do with my basic fundamental statement about where these two programs are. In the FWIW category, as far as I am personally concerned, the conference race is irrelevant to me and I could care less if we win a conference titles or not. What I care about is making the NCAA tourney and winning NCAA titles. Period. And, we now play in a league that facilitates that. And, UNO is currently #3 in Pairwise on January 16th and just beat the #1 team in the nation, on the road, with a goalie in net starting and playing in his first ever collegiate game. The ship is heading in the right direction, overall, solely based on my "wants".

Show me any team that ever got to the Frozen Four by accident. We played whoever they put in front of us to get there. That's certainly not UNO's fault. Sorry if we didn't beat the "right" teams, whoever they are, to do so.

What does North Dakota have that UNO does not now have?

A beautiful, state of the art, on-campus facility in which to play and which is a huge asset to recruiting? We both have that. A fanbase that sells out all our games? That is true of both programs now that we play in a place that is more reasonably sized. Huge booster groups supporting both teams? Check. Excellent, proven head coaching? Oops! Exactly what advantage does UND enjoy over us now, or in foreseeable future? You seem to have not noticed the qualifier in my post above about what I said in my statement regarding the place(s) the two programs are currently in:



Obviously, UNO does not compete well with North Dakota's past. Big deal. This ain't the past and they haven't won a title since the year 2000. We are close to the point now where no player on North Dakota's team will have been alive the last time they won one. They can throw their legacy around all they want but they haven't won in something approaching a generation. In fact, approaching the same length of time we've even had a program here.

It's similar to (but not the same as) Nebraska fans here that think the program should be respected and revered by all, no matter what, because they have won 5 national championships, except, they haven't won any since 1997 and haven't played for one since 2001.

If and when Dean Blais walks off into the sunset, if you don't think there is going to be a line for his job, you are the one that is delusional. Dean Blais is one of the highest paid coaches in all of college hockey:

http://www.omaha.com/uno/new-deal-ma...b77f64009.html

....and the school can now afford to pay someone worthy of the job even more than that if they want to or need to.

Baxter Arena was the final piece of the program's puzzle and it was and is a complete game-changer for the hockey program here. We built an arena that compares favorably with anyone's. Is the Ralph nicer? Yup, but it isn't enough nicer that it is going be the difference it once was. Would you rather live in Omaha or Grand Forks? That's an easy one. Throw in a proven championship coach on top of that. UNO is one of the "haves" of college hockey, now, and that isn't changing anytime soon. The only real threat to that I can see on the horizon is if the wrong choice of successor to Dean Blais gets made.

We get to see if North Dakota gets off the mat tonight. Looking forward to it. If they are a great team, they'll rebound. if not, they won't. Even if we beat them tonight, that doesn't mean they couldn't end up winning a title this season (although doing it with a first year head coach makes this EXTREMELY unlikely, IMHO). This is a brutal league where it is kill or be killed. If you don't show up, every night, it will be more of the later than the former.

Oh my.

[MAVFANJEFF]

Re: UNO 2015-16 Season Thread: Frozen Four, New Barn, What Next?

Touchdown Miami!

No kiddin. Another Chernobyl in the making.

[omahasioux1]

Re: UNO 2015-16 Season Thread: Frozen Four, New Barn, What Next?

It's hilarious that I somehow seem to have stuck in SCSU fan's craw, of all things today, somehow, despite the fact that we put them in first place last night. They don't like what I post, I suggest they not read it. There is a handy feature here called ignore. And now, someone thinks SCSU is "ahead of us (and UND) in all things that matter", because they apparently think I care deeply, somehow, about the conference race.

The things that matter to me are:

1. Facilities
2. Recruiting
3. Coaching

You have all those boxes ticked (and, we do, now) everything else will take care of itself. Let SCSU and UND fight over pretty much meaningless (to me) conference titles if they care to. They serve little useful purpose from my vantage point. They aren't the big picture at all. And, if it were up to me, I'd eliminate conference tournies altogether. It minimizes and diminishes the regular season of whoever did win the real conference title and provides more wear and tear on your team, to say nothing of increasing the chances for injuries to occur, and makes the season even longer than it already is. You can't get into the post season on the merits of what you did during the regular season, then I say too bad. Not a fan of these in basketball or in hockey.

Even if UNO makes it to the Frozen Faceoff, I'm not wasting any of my hard earned money going up there for it. I want to end up at and be at the Regional in either Cincinnati or in St. Paul where something that actually matters to me is on the line.

I think Coach Blais knew that Blankenberg could probably not have been any worse than Thompson has been. He rolled the dice and won making a dare to be great decision. If last night is who Blankenberg really is, that has me thinking that Thompson is the one that might be disappearing from the scene next year, senior next season or not. We sure aren't going to carry 4 goalies.

You have one. Coaching.

[gomavs#1]

Re: UNO 2015-16 Season Thread: Frozen Four, New Barn, What Next?

You have one. Coaching.

Possibly. Say, omahasioux1, if I gave you $1,000 would you trade your fandom for an equally good team in UNO? $1,000,000? What amount of money would it take for you to switch allegiances? Since, you know, your team and UNO are pretty much on the same level.

Because, I don't know about you, but I'll take getting swept (BADLY) at home against Miami over an extremely lucky 5 points at home against CC.

[AkSarBen]

Re: UNO 2015-16 Season Thread: Frozen Four, New Barn, What Next?

I was at the UNO-Miami game last night. I don't know what's gotten into this team, but they looked beyond disinterested for the first 40 minutes. Thompson is not a good goalie, but they could have had Brodeur in his prime in net and still given up 4 goals with how the defense was hanging him out to dry. It took one of Miami's players tackling Thompson, then Thompson getting up and leveling him with his blocker for the team to finally wake up, but by then, it was 7-1. What a joke. That's five of the last six.

And I felt the need to register just because Red Cows is making UNO fans look like the most obnoxious of Oregon football fans with how he talks about facilities and recruiting placing UNO on par with UND. Come on, now. You can care all you want about facilities and coaching, I'll take trophies in the case, and UNO hockey has a nice, fat 0. The baseball and soccer teams are more decorated when it comes to D-1 championships, and hockey has had a 15 year head start on them. This program's accomplishments are well behind programs such as Lake Superior State, Bowling Green, Northern Michigan, Union, and RPI. That's not even getting into the Michigans and North Dakotas of the world. They're in a completely different galaxy at this rate. UNO didn't get into the NCHC because they won, they got in because of the fan and financial support, and I'm sure their old relationship with UND in the NCC factored in as well. We are in no position to say we're ahead of anybody, regardless of how well we're doing at the moment. This is still a team that completely gags in postseason play and slumps badly after New Year's, preventing it from winning any sort of hardware on the conference level.

I love this team and I hope that they have a bright future ahead of them, but let's not kid ourselves about what UNO's done over the years, and that's absolutely nothing of merit. Let's just hope that changes.

[SJHovey]

I was at the UNO-Miami game last night. I don't know what's gotten into this team, but they looked beyond disinterested for the first 40 minutes. Thompson is not a good goalie, but they could have had Brodeur in his prime in net and still given up 4 goals with how the defense was hanging him out to dry. It took one of Miami's players tackling Thompson, then Thompson getting up and leveling him with his blocker for the team to finally wake up, but by then, it was 7-1. What a joke. That's five of the last six.

And I felt the need to register just because Red Cows is making UNO fans look like the most obnoxious of Oregon football fans with how he talks about facilities and recruiting placing UNO on par with UND. Come on, now. You can care all you want about facilities and coaching, I'll take trophies in the case, and UNO hockey has a nice, fat 0. The baseball and soccer teams are more decorated when it comes to D-1 championships, and hockey has had a 15 year head start on them. This program's accomplishments are well behind programs such as Lake Superior State, Bowling Green, Northern Michigan, Union, and RPI. That's not even getting into the Michigans and North Dakotas of the world. They're in a completely different galaxy at this rate. UNO didn't get into the NCHC because they won, they got in because of the fan and financial support, and I'm sure their old relationship with UND in the NCC factored in as well. We are in no position to say we're ahead of anybody, regardless of how well we're doing at the moment. This is still a team that completely gags in postseason play and slumps badly after New Year's, preventing it from winning any sort of hardware on the conference level.

I love this team and I hope that they have a bright future ahead of them, but let's not kid ourselves about what UNO's done over the years, and that's absolutely nothing of merit. Let's just hope that changes.

Red Cows is ok. He's just passionate about his opinions, and that's fine. UNO fans shouldn't worry about other NCHC fans coming here and rubbing his nose in it. That's a USCHO tradition. We recognize everyone benefits by having a lot of strong programs in the conference.

[omahasioux1]

Re: UNO 2015-16 Season Thread: Frozen Four, New Barn, What Next?

What ever happened to addicted to hockey? Is his book store still open?

[MAVFANJEFF]

Re: UNO 2015-16 Season Thread: Frozen Four, New Barn, What Next?

I was at the UNO-Miami game last night. I don't know what's gotten into this team, but they looked beyond disinterested for the first 40 minutes. Thompson is not a good goalie, but they could have had Brodeur in his prime in net .

Don't you mean Belfour?

Thompson will probably not play for UNO after this season. ONce Weninger is back Kirk will likely be the doorman. I'm totally disgusted with UNO's performance at home since the holiday break. It was embarrassing to watch.

[SCSU Euro]

Re: UNO 2015-16 Season Thread: Frozen Four, New Barn, What Next?

Curious what anyone who watched the game tonight thought

[MAVFANJEFF]

Re: UNO 2015-16 Season Thread: Frozen Four, New Barn, What Next?

Curious what anyone who watched the game tonight thought

Didn't watch it. Glad I didn't waste the time.

[omahasioux1]

Re: UNO 2015-16 Season Thread: Frozen Four, New Barn, What Next?

Curious what anyone who watched the game tonight thought

Watched a period and they played like they have won 7 titles.