Another weekend, another college hockey series. This weekend, the University of North Dakota entertains another former Western Collegiate Hockey Association foe. UND’s opponent, the Minnesota State. The Mavericks invade the Ralph Engelstad Arena in an important two-game tilt. Yes, it’s been a while. The two teams haven’t played since the 2012-13 season.
All-time, UND is 38-11-7 (.741) against the Mavericks, but that stat is meaningless. None of the current players on either team have played in this series.
The negative. Last weekend, the Hawks were on the wrong side of a non-conference tilt against the Bemidji State Beavers. UND was only able to secure a single point (1-2 L, 1-1 tie).
This weekend, won’t get any easier, the Mavericks have been near the top of the WCHA and the national rankings since re-alignment. UND could be facing a buzzsaw if they don’t start scoring some goals.
The Hawks won’t take the Mavericks lightly, but they have some offensive issues to work on pre-series. Through two games, UND is 0-8 on the man advantage and has scored a total of two even-strength goals on 56 shots. For those interested in the math, that’s a .035 shooting percentage. You’re not going to win a lot of hockey games with that shooting percentage.
Including the exhibition game against the Manitoba Bisons, UND has scored four goals in three games. That’s an average of 1.33 goals per game.
No, that’s not a misprint, that’s very un-UND like. That’s not good enough to win a lot of hockey games. The low goals per game total give the defense and the goalies little room for error.
Yes, it’s early, and it’s a very small sample, but there’s a pattern developing. Stats aside, the coaching staff is addressing these issues in practice.
“You’ve got to practice every single day, head coach Brad Berry said. “It’s not just practicing without resistance. It’s practicing game-like situations with resistance — simulations of five on five, the power play. Game like situations and having the finish part of it.
“We went through drills this week. Not just going through the drill, but finishing the drill. Staying on it till you finish the drill. There are details of the drill and then there’s the tenacity or mentality of the drill. We worked on them early on and we’ll continue to work on it through the week.”
How does the coaching staff intend on correcting the lack of scoring on the power play?
“For the first time, we saw frustration come into our game on Saturday night — through the entries,” Berry said. “Lack of entries coming into the zone. That’s always kind of been a strength of ours coming through the neutral zone. Getting into the offensive zone. Now, once you get into the offensive zone, that’s another thing.
Berry continued, “It’s really a situation where number one, let’s start with the puck. Let’s win a faceoff, having the commitment and the tenacity to win the draw. So that we start in the offensive end.”
This past weekend, I thought some of the Hawks players were gripping the sticks too tight. When that happens, sometimes players get out of their role and start pressing.
“When you’re pressing, I think everyone tries to do too much,” Berry said. “Or they try to do something different, out of the ordinary.
“I think that’s what happened. Guys were trying to press and do more than what was expected, instead of their job. When you don’t do your job, that’s what happens. Again, we have to get everyone into a line, as far as doing your job and staying on the (same) page.”
Again, it’s early in the season. There’s no panic in the UND locker room. Moving forward, the players’ weren’t pleased with last weekend’s effort.
“It was a disappointing weekend,” senior forward Joel Janatuinen said. “Especially Saturday, our effort was there, but our execution really wasn’t. It’s disappointing, not the way we wanted to start our season.”
“Unacceptable,” an exasperated Nick Jones said after Saturday’s 1-1 tie. “Disappointing. Can’t have that. Come out and get a loss and a tie. Embarrassing is the only word I got.”
“Not enough,” sophomore forward Grant Mismash said post-game. “We need more from the whole team in general, just bearing down on our chances.”
Not enough, unacceptable, disappointed. I think many in the UND fan base will agree with that assessment. All this will go away if the Hawks start scoring goals and putting teams away.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
