Local players in the pros

With his assist tonight, Travis Boyd has 13 points in 26 games this year.

[media] https://twitter.com/NYRangers/status/1085231295922429952 [/media]

Is anyone still doing updates on Gophers in the pros?

Lindgren played ok. Solid first game. Nothing really good or bad. Played a little over 15 minutes and was a -1. Got 2 minutes for slashing.

Kloos to the Ducks for Pontus Aberg

http://www.startribune.com/wild-trades-justin-kloos-to-anaheim-for-pontus-aberg/504452232/

Perfect timing. It was suppose to be Kloos bobblehead give away on Friday in Iowa. Hope Justin gets a shot with the Ducks.

Ducks on a 12 game losing streak, I bet it ends tonight

Weird stat of the day. Kessel is -78 in his NHL career and Vanek is a +5.

Kessel stats -- 960 games 348 goals 444 assists 792 points 10 --20 goal seasons, needs 2 more goals for 20 this year

Vanek stats -- 1005 games 366 goals 407 assists 773 points 11-- 20 goal seasons

I know +/- is a goofy stat, and I thought Kessel would pad his + numbers with the Pens, but hasn't. Kessel had a -20 and -34 for Toronto that killed him. Vanek's worst year was a -12, and that is this year. Plus, it's weird how close these players stats are.

Phil the Thrill is only 31. What a monster

Playing for those crappy Laffs teams will do that to anyone. For Vanek it looks like that one +47 year (career high sh% and Ryan Miller) is really skewing things.

Yeah, but with his (lack of) fitness, he will not be in the league much longer unless he changes that drastically.

He’s so out of shape that he’s played 738 games in a row.

The amount of lame criticism you see on here for the two most skilled Gophers in the last 20+ years is ridiculous.

I don’t recall Wheeler being criticized ? :biggrin2:

He is an ELITE talent, no doubt. But as he ages if he doesn't start getting serious about his fitness he will drop off quickly. IMO obviously.

What is lame criticism about pointing out a professional athlete who does not want to work on his fitness?

What is wrong with Kessel's fitness?

Do you have the same concerns about Henrik Lunqqvist's offseason workout routine?

Sorry guys, not trying to start something here. I thought it was pretty common knowledge that Phil does NOT like to work out. Anyways, moving on...

Mike Szmatula an ECHL All Star. https://www.echl.com/en/teams/eastern-conference#select_team-stats=0&select_team-roster=0&select_team-schedule=0&tab_team-stats-players=forwards&tab_team=stats.

Sounds about right.

Since there's no game tonight if I'm bored I'll pull NHL appearances and points for Gophers this year and the comparison against our two main rivals and peers. #2@#1 in the NCHC on FSN+ may distract me though. Guessing it'll have a solid announcing team including Pat and everyone's favorite SCSU employee.

Kloos playing today for Anaheim.

Wonderful.

Was checking around a bit - nice to see Boyd has spent most of the year up with WAS.

Is Holl injured? Per db only 2 GP with Toronto and reporting none in the AHL.

Pretty sure that Holl is just Toronto's version of Prosser this year.

Not injured. Just think he's the 8th d man in Toronto, and is a cheap insurance policy that isn't a huge cap hit. Plus, I'm guessing he is a hard working, team guy who isn't going to complain about sitting in the press box.

I have the data on this year's Gophers in the pros and will post it in a bit. Kloos is the 20th Gopher to make an appearance this year. That's about in line with when I used to track this around 2014-2017.

Apparently last year 27 Gophers made an appearance. I can't find one of them, though.

20

- Lindgren (debut)

+ Schroeder, Martin, OB, Rau, Ness, Fasching, Wilcox

= 26

Paul Martin?

I listed him right there.

:dope:

Gopher Forwards Part 1: The Old Guard

Blake Wheeler

9-51-60 in 47 GP. Captain of the team leading the Central Division. On pace for what I'm guessing would be the second 100 point Gopher season ever (Broten 85-86). The best representative we have in the league right now. One of four NCAA forwards to average more than a point per game since 2016-17. At 32, hopefully he has at least four good seasons left in him and could reach 1,000 points. 665 points so far. 21:27 TOI/GP.

Phil Kessel

19-33-52 in 47 GP. The only Gopher with more than 10 goals. Phil the Thrill does a lot of his damage on the deadly Penguins PP. Along with Wheeler, one of four NCAA forwards to average more than a point per game since 2016-17. At 31, also hoping Phil gets at least four more good seasons in. Should definitely hit 1,000 points. 793 so far for the 2X champ. 18:00 TOI/GP.

Thomas Vanek

9-12-21 in 41 GP. Recently hit his 1,000th career NHL game. Turned 35 today, so there may not be many seasons left in the Gopher legend. 774 points so far. 13:53 TOI/GP.

Kyle Okposo

8-11-19 in 48 GP. Health issues have hurt his career but he's still had a very respectable one. 477 points in 718 career games. Could make money as a role player for a while still, at 30 years old. 14:06 TOI/GP.

This made me laugh given the recent topic

https://twitter.com/Casual_Mats/status/1086826286914420738?s=19

Legend

T.boyd with a helper today

Lindgren sent back to the minors.

Kloos sent to the minors by the Ducks

Gopher Forwards Part 2: The Rest

Travis Boyd

4-11-15 in 30 GP. The fan favorite that evolved into a great all around player over four years is leading all post 2008 Gopher forwards in points. Crazy, but you have to like this guy. He may be playing his way into a full time NHLer in WSH next season, and I hope that's the case. Most interesting part about his stat line? He's averaging just 10:30 TOI/GOP.

Casey Mittelstadt

7-7-14 in 48 GP. The Chosen One to take over for the Old Guard of Wheeler/Kessel/Vanek. Do I think he should be in maroon and gold still? Absolutely, but the decision was made and now he's grinding through his first NHL season on a team that has cooled off a lot lately. Almost all of his peers around the same age and draft position aren't in the show yet, so I'd still classify him as a solid pick at 8 overall. I hope that he stays healthy this year, maybe hits 30 points, and maybe gets a taste of playoff hockey. I still have full confidence he can become a point per game player in the NHL. 13:13 TOI/GP. Who else will take over for Wheeler and Kessel to represent us? Right now Lucius has the highest upside of any Gopher or Gopher recruit, but also the most unknown. Personally, I thought it would be this next guy, but...

Nick Bjugstad

5-7-12 in 32 GP. Injuries have plagued the big man's career. Last year was his first 82 game season, and he put up a respectable 49 points. This year hasn't been so great. As I mentioned, I thought the Bjugie Monster would be the next NHL superstar for us. At 26, maybe he'll still turn the corner but I don't think he's going to be a major point producer. Hopefully he can bury 30 in a season some day with that wicked shot. 14:30 TOI/GP.

Erik Haula

2-5-7 in 15 GP. Another Gopher fan favorite, with some of the most legendary celebrations I can ever remember, suffered a bad leg injury early in the year. We can only hope it doesn't impact him long term. His move to the upstart Golden Knights ignited his with a career high 55 points last year. Like Bjugstad, I hope he can put in some 60 point seasons in the rest of his career. 16:35 TOI/GP.

Vinni Lettieri (AHL now)

0-0-0 in 16 GP. A hard worker with an effort level that allowed him to make the show. He's at a point per game in the AHL, and I would not be surprised if he continues to get chances in the NHL. It also wouldn't surprise me to see him become a full time NHLer some day. 8:54 TOI/GP.

Justin Kloos (AHL now)

0-0-0 in 1 GP. So many fan favorites from recent years on this list. Though we'd have loved to watch him play at home, hopefully the move to Anaheim allows him to get a shot in the NHL. In some ways similar to the career path as Rau, I'd expect similar appearance numbers over the next few seasons. The question then will be whether he can stick full time unlike Rau. 7:04 in his one game with the Ducks so far.

Overall, 10 Gopher Forwards have made NHL appearances so far this year. Schroeder, Rau, and Fasching are all possibilities to add to that (and get us to 12 forwards for those that like to make all Gopher teams on NHL video games like I used to).

329 games played

65 goals (~.2 per game)

139 assists (~.42 per game)

204 points (~.62 per game, which is close to when I tracked this in 15-16)

14:01 median TOI/GP. Wheeler, Kessel, and Haula the only guys getting more than 14:30 a night.

114 points from Wheeler and Kessel.

Taylor Cammarata traded to Wichita last week. https://www.echl.com/en/news/2019/1/echl-transactions-jan-25.

Steve Johnson released from PTO with Hershey (AHL), back with Reading (ECHL).

Bischoff might get a shot with Vegas. I have the stats but might take me a bit to do the write ups on the D.

Teddy Blueger finally got his shot with the Penguins this week and was a +1.

Bjugie Monster to Pitt! Two of my favorite Gophers ever on a Stanley Cup caliber team. Hope that's the change of scenery he needed for the 30 goal seasons I mentioned above.

Cullen, Kessel, Blueger, and now Bjugstad. The Minnesota roots are strong in Pittsburgh.

Throw Crosby in there too then lol

Hey....there's that one guy...you know...his Dad coached at someplace that is loosely related to this website... :confused2:

We try not to acknowledge that. We are happy we got Tony out of the three coach's kids options.

And I even went to see the cup in Woodbury when Jake brought it back here. I’m getting older by the day it seems.

Hope it works out well for Bjugstad. I'd like to see him get things on track