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

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

Dear lord man. We beat UND in overtime. We made the Frozen Four last season for the first time. You say that we are about to be a mainstay. Is it possible that it was an anomaly? Comparing North Dakota history to Nebraska football history is simply absurd. Nebraska hasn't sniffed a conference championship or BCS berth in well over a decade. UND is in the running annually and has been for the last decade. You just sound uneducated when you make that type of statement.

We were beat 5-1 tonight. That must mean that we are the worst team in the NCHC. It must mean that we are out of the running. Since every win/loss is the deciding factor for everything. Man alive...take a step back. Look at the bigger picture here. We were SWEPT at HOME by Denver. We beat UND in OT. Then got steamrolled the next night. The next four or five weeks will tell us what this team looks like. These posts come off as extremely delusional. Is Dean Blais a better coach than UND's current? Who knows. The guy started Thompson tonight, so what does that tell you? UNDs history is a difference maker when it comes to recruiting. Is UNO on a bit of a roll? Sure. But only time will tell what type of difference Blais, a new arena makes. UND all ready has it all. We can only HOPE to become half of what UND has become.

I just hope we make the second round of the conference tourney. An NCAA berth would be nice. But UND EXPECTS it. As they should. We hope.
 
Re: UNO 2015-16 Season Thread: Frozen Four, New Barn, What Next?

Tipsy McStagger said:
It isn't UNO's fault for taking advantage of that. But you now seem to think they are a Frozen Four mainstay despite the fact that they have only made the NCAA tournament at a once-every-six-years clip.

A full trophy case, a bigger fanbase, better facilities, Toews, Parise, Oshie, Ed Belfour, Brock Nelson, Drew Stafford, Travis Zajac, and many other players that they can point to as players with long and successful NHL careers. You can write off the history as not being important but there is literally nothing more important. North Dakota can say "while you are here, you will be playing for one of the top teams in the country, in the top facilities in the country. You will be competing for a league title and national title every year. You will follow in the footsteps of these players that are now stars in the NHL." Dean Blais can't say that. Tell me what player chose UNO over North Dakota. Maybe one or two guys.

UNO HASN'T WON ANYTHING, EVER!!! Seriously.
No conference tournament titles. North Dakota has 5 since UNO went D-I. Since joining the WCHA UNO hasn't even ever made it out of the first round of the conference tournament.
No regular season titles. I don't think they have ever even finished second. North Dakota has 7 regular season titles.
UNO has 1 Frozen Four appearance since 97-98. North Dakota has 9.
Your program can't even point to one year in it's whole history that it was better than North Dakota. Not one. And now Omaha is somehow on equal footing? Dude, no one believes that but you.

Except not the same at all, because if Nebraska had played in 9 BCS bowls in that time, they still would be respected and revered by all.

There will be a line... filled with USHL coaches and probably no that has ever won anything as a head coach in D-I college hockey.
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Good stuff there. Agreed with the history and impact of it all. It is convenient to look at last year's Frozen Four and a new arena and recent success and suggest that UNO is on the upswing. But to put UNO and UND on the same level is just a bit delusional. When it comes to recruiting, history plays a MAJOR role. UND can say that when you arrive, go ahead and pencil in the NCAAs. You can tell your family to reserve some hotel rooms a year in advance. UNO doesn't have the history. And that does matter to recruits.

The only point I disagree with is when Blais retires. Not that UNO is such a destination job that it will attract top-notch coaches. It has more to do with money. If UNO throws another 4-year, $1 million contract to the next coach, experienced coaches will be interested. Simply for the money.
 
Re: UNO 2015-16 Season Thread: Frozen Four, New Barn, What Next?

Tipsy hit it pretty much on the head. And good to see other UNO fans can see it as well. To be clear, I do think UNO has a lot to be excited about. Frozen Four trip, new arena, trending up on recruiting and a solid coach. But any statement you're anywhere close to equal to UND is completely delusional. History matters to recruits. PROGRAM matters a lot which is why an unproven coach (at least as a head coach) could step in at UND and have tremendous success immediately. We'll see how he does when the teams he has are truly his but I have a feeling they'll be just fine, unfortunately for the rest of us who get to deal with them every year.

Last thing, teams that win conference titles aren't on the bubble of making the big tournament. Shooting for 3rd to 5th place won't guarantee a trip. And I'm pretty sure there isn't a sign in any locker room that says "Play like a 3rd place team today."
 
Re: UNO 2015-16 Season Thread: Frozen Four, New Barn, What Next?

Omaha has two Hobey nominees for the the 2nd time in school history. They're pretty good so you should vote for them. #guentzelortega2016
 
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.
 
Re: UNO 2015-16 Season Thread: Frozen Four, New Barn, What Next?

gomavs#1 said:
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.
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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.
 
Re: UNO 2015-16 Season Thread: Frozen Four, New Barn, What Next?

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

Red Cows said:
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-m...cle_07371eb8-cfec-5131-bf92-8f2b77f64009.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.
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Oh my.
 
Re: UNO 2015-16 Season Thread: Frozen Four, New Barn, What Next?

Red Cows said:
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.
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You have one. Coaching.
 
Re: UNO 2015-16 Season Thread: Frozen Four, New Barn, What Next?

omahasioux1 said:
You have one. Coaching.
Click to expand...

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

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

Curious what anyone who watched the game tonight thought
 
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