Local players in the pros

Bjugstad with more body checks tonight than the whole season with Gophers
Nate Schmidt gets an assist in 1st game with Hershey tonight.

Potulny from Schmidt and Taffe on the PP today.

Quote of the day on NHL.com

Geico Quote of the Day

You don't score goals in this League unless you have that competitive edge. That's just white noise when people talk about him not being competitive. He's never going to be a player that is going to run guys over or put guys through the glass, but he gets in there and he's pretty strong when he gets in battles.
— James van Riemsdyk on Leafs teammate Phil Kessel, whose two goals lifted Toronto to a 4-3 win over the Rangers on Monday

Good news is the Wild/'Hawks are the lead of the day. The bad news is they have two No Names in the picture.

Apparently the double stick salute after the Bruins v Sabres game was Vanek's idea. :dup:

Drew LeBlanc is debuting with the Blackhawks tonight.

@The Exiled One wrote:

Drew LeBlanc is debuting with the Blackhawks tonight.

He's had a hell of a month or so. Frozen Four, Hobey, and now he gets to suit up with the likes of Toews, Kane, Hossa, etc.

@gopherguy13 wrote:

@The Exiled One wrote:

Drew LeBlanc is debuting with the Blackhawks tonight.

He's had a hell of a month or so. Frozen Four, Hobey, and now he gets to suit up with the likes of Toews, Kane, Hossa, etc.

Not bah, eh? He's actually on a line with Kane (1.24 ppg) and Sharp (0.69 ppg), so he has a very good chance of tallying a point tonight.

Looks like Bjugie just got his first NHL goal

Phil the Thrill just got number 20 on the shortened season and Goligoski scored on his own net.

P.S. I still don't know if WCHA Minnesotans means they have to be former WCHA players from Minnesota or what we were going for here...

Couple of other notable former Gophers this year.

Vanek ended up with 20 goals and 21 assists for 41 points in 38 games.
Wheeler had 19 goals and 22 assists for 41 points in 48 games.

@frozen4champs wrote:

Couple of other notable former Gophers this year.

Vanek ended up with 20 goals and 21 assists for 41 points in 38 games.
Wheeler had 19 goals and 22 assists for 41 points in 48 games.

I can do a little elaboration on that.

[attachment=1:3uvdt98m]NHL Stats2012-2013-Regular Season-Goalies.pdf[/attachment:3uvdt98m]
[attachment=0:3uvdt98m]NHL Stats2012-2013-Regular Season-Skaters.pdf[/attachment:3uvdt98m]
[attachment=2:3uvdt98m]NHL Stats2012-2013-Ranks-Totals.pdf[/attachment:3uvdt98m]
[attachment=3:3uvdt98m]NHL Stats2012-2013-Ranks-Per Game.pdf[/attachment:3uvdt98m]
[attachment=4:3uvdt98m]NHL Stats2012-2013-Ranks-Per 20 Minutes.pdf[/attachment:3uvdt98m]

Edit: Corrected for rankings errors in Regular Season-Skaters file. Should be good to go now.

@Bonin21 wrote:

Phil the Thrill just got number 20 on the shortened season and Goligoski scored on his own net.

P.S. I still don't know if WCHA Minnesotans means they have to be former WCHA players from Minnesota or what we were going for here...

At least when I was in charge of this thread everyone knew the parameters. They may not have liked all those included, but they knew to expect them. :biggrin2:

U.S. - Germany just starting on NBC Sports network

@Iceburg wrote:

U.S. - Germany just starting on NBC Sports network

Lot of WCHA names on this team.

@streakygopher wrote:

@Iceburg wrote:

U.S. - Germany just starting on NBC Sports network

Lot of WCHA names on this team.

And Oshie will be joining them next game

Just one season after some Pens fans were calling for him to be released, Paul Martin is having a playoff run. He's currently 4th in playoff scoring with 9 points. Fifteen points in his last 16 games.

Nate Schmidt with a great assist in tonight's exhibition game.

Mark Alt in the lineup for the Flyers vs Rangers tonight on NHL network.

Nick Bjugstad starts the season on IR with a concussion

Nate Schmidt recalled by Capitals. Will make NHL debut on Saturday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capitals-insider/wp/2013/10/11/john-erskine-injured-capitals-recall-nate-schmidt-connor-carrick-and-michael-latta-sent-to-hershey /" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Update on Schmidt:

He's played 3 games for Caps since being called up and is a -2 with 7 SOG. He played over 20 minutes last night so he seems to be gaining the trust of the Caps coaching staff. I asked a few Caps fans on the HFBoards to comment on his play so far and here's what they had to say.

"He's been good, he's using his skating and vision to make some pretty good pinches. No egregious defensive mistakes."

"He played 20 minutes, I think, because there was a lot of 4 on 4 early in that game and he gets primary ice time in that it seems. He is on the 3rd pair and under normal conditions would not have played quite that much but I think he looks like a real good player coming"

Pretty positive reviews from a fan base that is pretty upset with most of their team this year.

@frozen4champs wrote:

Nate Schmidt recalled by Capitals. Will make NHL debut on Saturday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capitals-insider/wp/2013/10/11/john-erskine-injured-capitals-recall-nate-schmidt-connor-carrick-and-michael-latta-sent-to-hershey /" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I thought Schmidt looked really good the other night. Made one "mistake" that might have prevented a goal but overall thought he was solid. Better than a few of the Wild defenders we've been watching.

Schmidt is now playing on the top D pair with Mike Green

Bjug is back from his concussion too

awesome for schmitty.

@Jaykay3 wrote:

Schmidt is now playing on the top D pair with Mike Green

Bjug is back from his concussion too

Nice!

Taylor Matson shootout winning goal posted by the Iowa Wild

https://vine.co/v/hpJPuxvvYX0#IAWil d"> https://vine.co/v/hpJPuxvvYX0#IAWild

I saw on Twitter where the Fargo Force put up the NHL banner for Schmidt. That's pretty cool. I'm really happy for the kid. Especially after all the questions he endured after his freshman year.

Danny Irmen--you are one of my favorite all-time Gophers, but this has got to be one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. What was the team thinking???

http://www.hctg.ch/1_mannschaft/kader/irmen-60.htm l" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Aaron Ness scored his first NHL goal last night

I was just talking about that with some co-workers this morning, good for him. Here's a question that I can't remember discussing here on GPL...how much better of a player would Ness have been if Guentzel would have been his defensive coach? My bet is a lot.

Leopold can't catch a break. Out 8 weeks with an injury to his hand.

@g_manpucker wrote:

I was just talking about that with some co-workers this morning, good for him. Here's a question that I can't remember discussing here on GPL...how much better of a player would Ness have been if Guentzel would have been his defensive coach? My bet is a lot.

I think if you look at Ben Marshall you can see the difference. I know they were not the same player, but they were very similar. Smaller defenseman who could move the puck and quarterback a strong powerplay. Ness just didn't live up to all the hype and apparently really hated Hill. Good for him that he's getting a chance in the pros.

@g_manpucker wrote:

I was just talking about that with some co-workers this morning, good for him. Here's a question that I can't remember discussing here on GPL...how much better of a player would Ness have been if Guentzel would have been his defensive coach? My bet is a lot.

Ness didn't do himself any favors by finishing high school early and coming to the Gophers right out of high school. As a freshman at the University he was the same age as a senior in high school. He would have been much better off either staying in high school, going to Penticton or playing a season or two in the USHL.

I just don't think he was physically or mentally ready to step in and be successful with the Gophers under those circumstances. Add to that the amount of hype accompanying his arrival. Some people were expecting the second coming of Mike Crowley. He was never anywhere near Mike Crowley and having Hill or Guentzel as a coach wouldn't have changed that fact. Ness was never going to be that good. He had one of the worst shots I can remember for a D-1 player to boot. :ddown:

Hindsight is always 20-20, and in Ness' case, I don't think having Hill or Guentzel as his coach played nearly as big a part as the bad decision he made to come in early.

I also think it's well past the time to bash Hill. He was just the wrong guy here at the wrong time. Turn the page.

I don't think you or anyone can deny how abysmal the defense was while Hill was at the helm, sorry for dragging up an old subject and I'm not bashing Hill as much as stating how I saw things while he was here. As for Ness I will definitely agree that coming in early out of high school without the experience of juniors under his belt hurt his development. I have heard stories of how dominant he was in high school and I just didn't see it when he arrived to play for the Gophers. Like you said hind sight is 20/20 and Ness could have done things a million different ways that he did...hell does any recruit ever really do things the right way?

Seth Helgeson called up to the NHL with the Devils

@frozen4champs wrote:

Seth Helgeson called up to the NHL with the Devils

Sounds like it was more of an emergency call up and he won't play tonight but good for Helgy!

Hope he gets a chance soon.

not sure where to post this but next season, from Pioneer Press: Don't be surprised if the famed Roseau, Minn.-raised Broten brothers -- Neal, Paul and Aaron, all of whom played in the NHL -- comprise a line for a Gophers men's alumni hockey exhibition game early next year. :dup: :dup: :dup:

When are we going to rename this thread to "Big Ten/Minnesotans in the pros?"

@Norm wrote:

When are we going to rename this thread to "Big Ten/Minnesotans in the pros?"

Why not drop the qualifier altogether, and just rename it "Minnesotans in the pros"?

omfg. If someone doesn't fix the apostrophes in the title I may have a psychotic breakdown.

fixed

*runs to the nearest living thing and stabs it*

better?

@Jupiter wrote:

better?

Only if you're catering to that RWD guy.

@5 O.T. wrote:

@Jupiter wrote:

better?

Only if you're catering to that RWD guy.

I think his name is Don?

Ugh...

"Minny"...

*cringes*

@5 O.T. wrote:

@Jupiter wrote:

better?

Only if you're catering to that RWD guy.

:rotflmao:

Heh heh heh, love this place

Players Dat Ya Kant Watch at Da Local Rink No More

"Local" players? What, are we leaving out the players in the northern part of the state, now?

Pathetic thread title