UND beat writer Brad Schlossman reports that freshman forward Brendan O'Donnell is out for the season with a shoulder injury. Surgery is soon to come. This means that we've now lost three for the season: 2 freshmen (O'Donnell and Grimaldi) and 1 sophomore (Rodwell).
What it also means is that we have exactly ZERO depth as UND will dress EVERY healthy skater they have. They will only have one healthy scratch overall: Tate Maris. What does this mean?
For me, as a realist (ok cynic), it means that everything we do in the second half that is positive comes with added bonus. It also means that the chance of a "Fire Hakstol" thread appearing on SS.com and other message boards will increase exponentially. The haters will start appearing in force and demanding change. No, I don't think the masses will rise up, but the haters always become more vocal (and therefore more visible) when bad news rears its ugly head.
Which leads me to wonder:
1. Can they convince the Lamoreaux twins to get boy cuts and certain cosmetic alterations so as to boost our depth?
2. Is there a way that UND could go out and hold tryouts for depth players? If we get further injuries, things could get worse!
3. If we make the NCAAs this year with all the adversity behind the nickname distraction and all the injuries, would Hakstol be considered for coach of the year (haters need not answer this one. We already know what you'd say).
4. If we stop being able to dress 4 lines of forwards and 3 lines of D, how will expectations for this team be affected?
5. What about physical play? If we start dropping like flies, will our playing style have to change? I'd think it'd have to...
