UND Gets a Commitment from Grant Mismash

Another great pickup for the University of North Dakota on the recruiting front. Today, Grant Mismash from Shattuck St. Mary's committed to the University of North Dakota. Here's the link to his Elite Prospects page.

Proud to announce my commitment to play college hockey at the University of North Dakota. Thank you to all my friends and family #Nodak #UND
— Grant Mismash (@GMISH16) March 31, 2015

Game Day A few Things

Electronic billboard greets @UNDmhockey fans driving south into #Fargo. pic.twitter.com/fe0R9gZPrq
— Kirsten Stromsodt (@AgweekNews) March 27, 2015

The NCAA playoffs start today. You could say, today, is the first day of the rest of your season. Lose and your team goes home. Win and you move on. Only one team in the NCAA playoffs is going to win their last game. A reporter from Fox asked Hakstol about the playoffs and this is what the head coach had to say.

“You said it. It’s one-and-done," Hakstol said. "Winner moves on, loser does not.”

FRIDAY vs. QUINNIPIAC TV: ESPNU, DirecTV 208, DISH Network 141, TSN3 WEB/MOBILE: WatchESPN, TSN Go RADIO: UND Sports Radio Network
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDmhockey) March 27, 2015

Believe in the process, believe in the people. Believe. #UNDproud pic.twitter.com/jaLeDBLcYG
— Jayson Hajdu (@UNDSID) March 27, 2015

With Video - UND HOCKEY: Ready or not, NCAAs are here for UND: http://t.co/H6HhoD1FeM pic.twitter.com/mQm6d2h3OI
— Grand Forks Herald (@gfherald) March 27, 2015

UND Looks to Knockout Bobcats http://t.co/8bCb85WMwl
— Eric J. Burton THW (@goon48) March 27, 2015

A Few Quotes from the West Regional Media Day http://t.co/7DeOMoNX2e pic.twitter.com/ydojeJI4BK
— Eric J. Burton THW (@goon48) March 27, 2015

Montgomery, 'the Quality of the League; It's High-End' http://t.co/mBPRRcE3MM @theNCHC
— Eric J. Burton THW (@goon48) March 26, 2015

@theNCHC Hockey: Super Conference or down Year? http://t.co/1s4EM462oB #THW http://t.co/2CHG9xTPra
— Eric J. Burton THW (@goon48) March 26, 2015

A Look at the Pairwise with One Game Left

According to Brad Schlossman, he seems to think that with the win, UMN will be heading to Fargo, ND. With the win, SCSU is in the tourney. UND is now the number two team in the Pairwise.

Conor Gaarder, UND's Mr. March

In UND's last seven March games, Connor Gaarder has five goals & four of them were game-winners. #MrMarch @UNDmhockey pic.twitter.com/QBvL6rg73G
— Jayson Hajdu (@UNDSID) March 15, 2015

I love this picture. Maybe we're on to something, in UND's last seven March games, Connor Gaarder has five goals & four of them were game-winners. This isn't a one-time thing either, last year, in UND last four games of the season, Gaarder scored four goals in four games.

UND remains number one in USCHO Poll

A Picture is Worth A 1,000 Words

@aoldenbu @SchlossmanGF pic.twitter.com/tyXe0WADU5
— Bri Harmeson (@BriHarmeson) March 15, 2015

This kind of sums it all up. Guy can barely walk after his surgery and he's out on the ice lifting the Penrose Cup above his head. Mark MacMillan is a character guy, a glue guy on this UND hockey team.

Connor Gaarder's game-winning goal vs. Colorado College (Video)

Coming into Saturday night’s game, Connor Gaarder had scored four game-winning goals. With his eighth goal of the season, Gaarder would add another game-winning goal to his total. Gaarder has scored five goals in the last six games, four of which have been game-winning goals. Gaarder’s five game-winning goals also leads UND.

Big Game Gaarder. UND goes up 3-2 with 1:22 to go.

Mark it down. RT @_m1key: gaarder goal upcoming
— Eric J. Burton THW (@goon48) March 15, 2015

gaarder goal upcoming
— _m1key (@_m1key) March 15, 2015

— Brad E. Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) March 15, 2015

UND Hockey: Tradtional Circle of Sticks with the Penrose

A photo posted by Eric J. Burton (@eric.burton.94801) on Mar 14, 2015 at 7:46pm PDT

UND seniors with the cup.

A photo posted by Eric J. Burton (@eric.burton.94801) on Mar 14, 2015 at 7:51pm PDT

NCHC Regular Season Champions and Frozen Faceoff bound! Congrats, @UNDmhockey! pic.twitter.com/fgu2wDTdAt
— Stay A Sioux (@StayaSioux) March 15, 2015

Pride. Honor. Courage. #UNDProud

A video posted by Erik Martinson (@erikmartinson1) on Mar 15, 2015 at 12:12am PDT

Friday Morning Links

Good Morning, the NCHC playoffs are finally here. The second season is upon us. Let’s take a look at what’s happening today.  It's really hard to believe that the season is winding down already. Next weekend Frozen Faceoff.  

Predictions Stoney Sioux says sweep...It's Hard to End Somebody's Season

Schloss is going with a sweep as well.

The University of Hockey Sweep it is.

UND looks to End Tigers Season

USCHO has UND sweeping this weekend as well: NCHC picks: March 13

CC Tigers hope to surprise everyone but themselves in NCHC playoffS

BU phenom Jack Eichel learning lessons on, off the ice

UND Clinches the Penrose Cup

I have covered this team for four years, I couldn't be more proud of them. They work hard and take nothing for granted. We march on to the playoffs. This was a big win tonight. UND wins the Penrose Cup outright and plays Colorado College next weekend in Grand Forks, ND.

Gar line hungry for some Penne Rosa

A photo posted by Coltyn Sanderson (@coltyn_sanderson) on Mar 6, 2015 at 6:29pm PST

Hard not to be there playing with them, but extremely proud of the boys for clinching outright #PenRose #siouxbuiis
— Mark MacMillan (@EasyMac_16) March 7, 2015

UND vs. Miami Lines

FRIDAY @ MIAMI TV: @CBSSportsNet, DirecTV 221, DISH Network 158 WEB: None RADIO: 96.1 FM (flagship), UND Sports Radio Network
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDmhockey) March 6, 2015

In-Zane Run has UND thinking Hobey Baker for McIntyre - http://t.co/nKuWnbEB6N #hockey #THW pic.twitter.com/nkwl0gAr2Z
— The Hockey Writers (@TheHockeyWriter) March 6, 2015

FRIDAY LINKS: Let's Overdose on Hockey

Good day. To quote the late Bob Johnson, "Today is a great day for hockey."

What a weekend of hockey ahead. The men are in Miami and tonight's game is on CBSSN, game time 5:30 p.m.. That is not a misprint, there's a double header on CBSSN tonight.

The women's team play Saturday and hopefully on Sunday. I will be at the Ralph for the Women's WCHA Final Faceoff.

Finding her home away from home: Playing hockey at UND has been a great fit for Winnipegger Meghan Dufault

Can Poolman be another Buff? Jets draft pick blossoms into Mr. Versatile for top-ranked UND

In-Zane Run has UND thinking Hobey Baker for McIntyre

Dave Berger: Weekend Preview: UND at Miami

UND Looks to Clinch Title Outright against Miami

Friday Gameday: Burn the Ships

THA Schloss predicts a split as well. Let's hope his prediction is wrong again this week. Last week, he predicted that SCSU and UND would split.

USCHO: NCHC picks: March 5... Both Candance and Matt predict a series split as well.

Weekend Predictions- ‘Welcome to Miami’

UPDATED: Mark MacMillan to have surgery

Per Brad Schlossman, via UND sports chat and twitter today. Not very good new, but it was kind of expected.

UND announces Mark MacMillan will have surgery tomorrow and is "out indefinitely." UND not ruling him out for the year yet.

So you're saying there's a chance... UPDATE: Here's the official word from UND.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – University of North Dakota men’s hockey coach Dave Hakstol announced today that senior forward and assistant captain Mark MacMillan will undergo surgery on Wednesday, March 4, to repair a lower body injury and will be out indefinitely. MacMillan suffered the injury during North Dakota’s 3-1 victory over St. Cloud State last Saturday in Grand Forks. The Penticton, British Columbia, native leads top-ranked UND with a career-high 16 goals in 29 games this season and ranks third on the team in scoring with 25 points. He also leads UND in faceoff percentage (57.2) and his 13 goals during conference play lead the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC).

A fourth-round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 2010, MacMillan leads all active North Dakota skaters with 99 points (46 goals, 53 assists) in 151 career games. He is a finalist for both the 2015 Hockey Humanitarian Award and the 2015 Senior CLASS Award.

North Dakota closes out the regular season on Friday and Saturday at Miami in Oxford, Ohio. UND clinched at least a share of the Penrose Cup as NCHC regular-season champion last Saturday and can claim the Cup outright with one point in the series against the RedHawks.

UND Leads Nation in Attendance

Enough said...

At home or on the road, it’s "Always a Home Game!" UND leads @NCAAIceHockey in attendance (as of Feb. 20): pic.twitter.com/3XUhAKzKmc
— North Dakota MHockey (@UNDmhockey) February 25, 2015

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll

February 23, 2015

	Team	(First Place Votes)	Record	Points	Last Poll
1	North Dakota	(45)	22- 6-3	995	1
2	Minnesota State	( 3)	23- 6-2	941	2
3	Michigan Tech	( 2)	24- 7-1	876	4
4	Boston University		19- 6-5	822	3
5	Miami		19-10-1	774	6
6	Minnesota-Duluth		19-12-1	747	7
7	Denver		18-10-2	700	9
8	Nebraska-Omaha		17-10-3	636	5
9	Boston College		18-10-3	566	10
10	Quinnipiac		20- 8-4	562	11
11	Bowling Green		18- 9-5	470	8
12	Yale		16- 7-4	431	13
13	Providence		19-11-2	423	12
14	Massachusetts-Lowell		17-10-5	269	16
15	Minnesota		17-10-3	260	17
16	Harvard		14- 9-3	228	14
17	Michigan		17-11-0	198	15
18	Vermont		18-11-3	180	18
19	St. Lawrence		18-11-3	165	20
20	Robert Morris		21- 6-5	94	19
Others receiving votes: St. Cloud State 76, Colgate 40, Northeastern 15, Penn State 11, Bemidji State 7, Notre Dame 6, Bentley 4, Merrimack 3, Canisius 1.

 

NCHC Hockey: A Look at the Pairwise Rankings

If the NCAA playoffs started today, six-of-eight NCHC teams would make the NCAA tournament. That's the best of any of the six leagues. Also, the more NCHC teams that are number one seeds will mean that they will have to go to separate regionals and can't be double up.  Currently, three-of-four are NCHC teams.

USCHO.com Division I Men's Poll

February 16, 2015

	Team	(First Place Votes)	Record	Points	Last Poll
1	North Dakota	(35)	20- 6-3	980	2
2	Minnesota State	(10)	23- 6-2	909	1
3	Boston University		19- 5-4	902	3
4	Michigan Tech	( 5)	24- 7-1	856	5
5	Nebraska-Omaha		17- 8-3	798	4
6	Miami		18- 9-1	752	7
7	Minnesota-Duluth		18-11-1	693	6
8	Bowling Green		18- 7-5	617	8
9	Denver		16-10-2	557	9
10	Boston College		18-10-2	528	10
11	Quinnipiac		20- 8-2	526	13
12	Providence		18-10-2	466	11
13	Yale		15- 7-3	362	15
14	Harvard		13- 8-3	336	14
15	Michigan		16-10-0	258	12
16	Massachusetts-Lowell		17-10-4	248	16
17	Minnesota		16- 9-3	237	NR
18	Vermont		17-11-2	183	17
19	Robert Morris		20- 5-5	131	18
20	St. Lawrence		16-11-3	39	20
Others receiving votes: Northeastern 29, Penn State 27, Colgate 23, St. Cloud State 22, Bentley 6, Merrimack 6, Bemidji State 3, Western Michigan 3, Notre Dame 2, Mercyhurst 1.

 

I wonder if there will be streamer and balloons in the UND coaches’ office today.  J