Can’t wait for the absolute melt down on here when McKenna goes to one of those three conference rivals and we get to see all of wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth. Let’s just see how it all plays out before we start freaking out. The last four champions were teams that were built top to bottom for the playoffs and actually had very few “generational talents” and even first round picks. Look at DU, WMU, and Q.
The portal has changed the value equation. If I were a coach, I'd take a player like Alex Bump or Isaac Howard over a one- year phenom any day.
I am curious what is the attraction for these kids from the CHL coming down to play in the NCAA. Unless they are an American kid coming back no foreign students can receive NIL or revenue sharing. They are on student visas and are therefore not eligible to earn income in the US. Also all kids in the CHL sign contracts with their junior team that are almost always four years, so are these junior teams just letting them out of the contracts to come and play in the NCAA. With Porter Malone why would his junior team let him out of his contract? There is no benefit to them to do so, same goes for the other top end players like Misa.
believe they can make money in Canada, via nil deals that their organization makes for them in Canada provided the company and advertising is there. It’s the advantage that Michigan and PSU have being right next to major Canadian metros
think that’s why you see the guys that und is getting are from former players pipelines vs PSU, mich bc bu and msu getting all the eastern guys without ties
In a sport with 22 year old freshmen and refs that call nothing when the phenoms have liberties taken against them I tend to agree. That said the Gophers don't really tend to build their roster that way so they're more reliant on attracting some of those types.Can’t wait for the absolute melt down on here when McKenna goes to one of those three conference rivals and we get to see all of wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth. Let’s just see how it all plays out before we start freaking out. The last four champions were teams that were built top to bottom for the playoffs and actually had very few “generational talents” and even first round picks. Look at DU, WMU, and Q.
It is quite interesting that PSU is suddenly the cat's ass.
What's happening now with Gopher recruiting reminds me of the end of Woog's tenure. You have to adjust to the times.... they are a changin'.
It is quite interesting that PSU is suddenly the cat's ass.
What's happening now with Gopher recruiting reminds me of the end of Woog's tenure. You have to adjust to the times.... they are a changin'.
I’m perfectly ok with not being the cats ass. One of the weirdest phrases for something good
Per his advisor, McKenna waiting until post nhl draft. Shocking that none of the twitter experts know anything with any degree of detail/truth
There’s reason to be concerned about Bob not adapting to the times, but the reality is that in this day and age it only takes a single offseason to remake an entire team. Look at what Nightengale did at MSU. So either Bob adapts or he’ll move on. Either way this program will be fine in the long run.
ryder ritchie (Wild 2nd rounder) commits to BU
Pierce Mbuyi (08 OHLer expected to be a high 2026 draft pick) to PSU. Would expect he's not coming in this fall though
Everything’s fine!
Everything’s fine!
Chooses hockey over football ✔️
Gophers' back yard ✔️
Edina pipeline ✔️
MSU ✔️
wait, whaaaa?
This is a massive Motzko miss.
Suddenly, MSU and Penn State are making the Gophers look like Bemidji State.
NLI talks.
Also the Gophers iirc have lost as many former Hornets as they've landed going back decades.
This one hurts me
Thought everyone knew he was going elsewhere?
Mason West goes to Chicago at pick 29. If he does end up making it to Michigan State, it won't be for long. Chicago loves pulling their players out quickly.
Side note, they said that he is the first player from Edina to go in the first round. Hard to believe with all the talent they've produced.
Maybe the first player to still be playing for Edina when he was drafted. Kiefer Bellows and Joe Finley were both 1st rounders that played for EdinaMason West goes to Chicago at pick 29. If he does end up making it to Michigan State, it won't be for long. Chicago loves pulling their players out quickly.
Side note, they said that he is the first player from Edina to go in the first round. Hard to believe with all the talent they've produced.
Maybe the first player to still be playing for Edina when he was drafted. Kiefer Bellows and Joe Finley were both 1st rounders that played for EdinaMason West goes to Chicago at pick 29. If he does end up making it to Michigan State, it won't be for long. Chicago loves pulling their players out quickly.
Side note, they said that he is the first player from Edina to go in the first round. Hard to believe with all the talent they've produced.
I’ve seen that fact checked a few times on Twitter. Bucci just read the card he was given. He may not even have read it correctly.
Mason West goes to Chicago at pick 29. If he does end up making it to Michigan State, it won't be for long. Chicago loves pulling their players out quickly.
Side note, they said that he is the first player from Edina to go in the first round. Hard to believe with all the talent they've produced.
Mason West is a good player but using a first round pick on him is a little crazy imo. Super raw you don’t really know what you’re getting. I guess it was Chicago’s 3rd pick of the 1st round so they could afford to take an upside swing on someone. Same logic they used to pick Rinzel back in 2022, although Rinzel was more put together then than West is now.
Mason West goes to Chicago at pick 29. If he does end up making it to Michigan State, it won't be for long. Chicago loves pulling their players out quickly.
Side note, they said that he is the first player from Edina to go in the first round. Hard to believe with all the talent they've produced.
I would guess West is at MSU for 2-3 years unless he totally explodes (after his year in Fargo this fall unless something changes). He's extremely raw. Draft rights changing means he's 18 when he hits campus and they have him until he's 22 so he'd finish his 21 year old season as a So. In theory they could have him play his 22 year old season and sign him to burn a year late. Would envision they're viewing this just like Rinzel and any team is happy when you get 2 years+ out of a 1st round draft pick.
Maybe the first player to still be playing for Edina when he was drafted. Kiefer Bellows and Joe Finley were both 1st rounders that played for EdinaMason West goes to Chicago at pick 29. If he does end up making it to Michigan State, it won't be for long. Chicago loves pulling their players out quickly.
Side note, they said that he is the first player from Edina to go in the first round. Hard to believe with all the talent they've produced.
@j22 Sammy Walker was also drafted (7th rd, Tampa) the summer before his senior year. He played his senior year for the Hornets and won Mr. Hockey.
I remember being very surprised that Sammy in 2018 was Edina's first Mr. Hockey winner ever, in that school's long and storied history. Lotta of bridesmaids, very few brides I guess.
Edit: I misread, I see now that you were talking about first round picks specifically. Whoops!
I am curious what is the attraction for these kids from the CHL ... With Porter Malone, why would his junior team let him out of his contract? There is no benefit to them to do so, same goes for the other top end players like Misa.
a player who doesn't want to play for you is basically dead weight.
BU will have 14 players on the roster next year that were drafted in rounds 1-3. 4 more drafted in later rounds.
Only so much ice time to go around. Imagine that parent group.
Will be interesting to see if they win it all or if the trend of teams not fully stocked with draft picks continues.
The transfer portal beckons
I was surprised by this stat about the Whioux.
I was recently informed by a GPLer that I'm related to Airey
To be fair our last drafted goalie was 2018 Moe. If you don’t count Laffer transferring in
To be fair our last drafted goalie was 2018 Moe. If you don’t count Laffer transferring in
Correct. I just wanted to point out that the Gophers are not the only team that has had an issue with finding drafted goalies.
I was recently informed by a GPLer that I'm related to Airey
McKenna to PSU it sounds like. money talks
Per the story
“Penn’s operation is one of the best in college hockey,” one NCAA source said. “They’ve built an environment that's very competitive financially, but also a highly attractive experience for the student-athlete.”
It is discouraging that Penn St plan was to get Mckenna and our plan is to see if Jimmy Clark or Erik Pahllson get alot better.
I guess we'll see if they (or MSU) get him or some of the other top CHL guys. If they do then yeah I tend to agree.
It is discouraging that Penn St plan was to get Mckenna and our plan is to see if Jimmy Clark or Erik Pahllson get alot better.
On the contrary, I like our plan a lot better. I’d rather have our recruits and players who want to be Gophers. Let’s play the game the right way with our guys. Not a bunch of hired guns. Maybe I’m being too idealistic or stuck in the past but I’m sorry, I don’t really care about a bunch of Canadians coming down here looking for the biggest paycheck and playing for their team for a year or two. Let’s play this team sport with our team. Majority Minnesotans with a few good players from elsewhere. I’d much rather build up and grow our players and recruits over their college careers than go big for some one-and-done, flash in the pan Canadian mercenary.
It is discouraging that Penn St plan was to get Mckenna and our plan is to see if Jimmy Clark or Erik Pahllson get alot better.
On the contrary, I like our plan a lot better. I’d rather have our recruits and players who want to be Gophers. Let’s play the game the right way with our guys. Not a bunch of hired guns. Maybe I’m being too idealistic or stuck in the past but I’m sorry, I don’t really care about a bunch of Canadians coming down here looking for the biggest paycheck and playing for their team for a year or two. Let’s play this team sport with our team. Majority Minnesotans with a few good players from elsewhere. I’d much rather build up and grow our players and recruits over their college careers than go big for some one-and-done, flash in the pan Canadian mercenary.
if we win a title, i don't really care where they came from. I 100% would've been in on the McKenna bidding as it's exactly what you're saying
recruit MN at a high level and sign a good crop of the top in state talent every single year plus plug 3rd-4th line with guys who bleed maroon and gold. Plug and play guys from anywhere to push a really solid roster over the top.
Rinse and repeat.
Basically I view them as the same as Cooley, Knies, Vanek, Haula, etc., in that we should be in the running but haven't pulled any, which is a little discouraging that either we aren't willing to spend (we need to get over this or we're going to fall behind whether you want to admit or not, there are a lot of good facilities now and some really good coaches in college hockey) or we aren't trying. I get the "I want guys who want to be Gophers", but that's exactly what Cooley did once he was here and even kicked coming back for a bonus year. No reason to say that McKenna wouldn't have felt that way had he hit campus (whether you're paying him or not, guys can absolutely still want to be here and be part of something) and we didn't even get within earshot.
I feel like the discourse from college hockey fans on this goes back and forth every year. When the Gophers lose with a bunch of first rounders they were all “distracted” and looking ahead to the NHL. Well now we have a bunch of middle round picks & heart and soul guys (Denver recipe) and now we aren’t keeping up with the Jones’s.
Historically, super teams haven’t been the recipe, and that was before they were playing for a check. We’ll see how she plays out.
(For the record I’d take a half-assed McKenna on my team any day of the week lol he may be an exception)
It is discouraging that Penn St plan was to get Mckenna and our plan is to see if Jimmy Clark or Erik Pahllson get alot better.
Overall I agree it’s weird to be a top program and essentially not even be relevant in the CHL discourse. The coaching staff has clearly taken their stance on this, I’m fascinated to see how it all plays out.
BU will have 14 players on the roster next year that were drafted in rounds 1-3. 4 more drafted in later rounds.
Only so much ice time to go around. Imagine that parent group.
Will be interesting to see if they win it all or if the trend of teams not fully stocked with draft picks continues.
when even was the last time that a true super-team won it all? BC in 2012?
Well now we have a bunch of middle round picks & heart and soul guys (Denver recipe) and now we aren’t keeping up with the Jones’s
Denver had Buium, an elite defenseman, and Thompson, Harris, and Devine, all good players. They are also well coached. They also had a tournament goal tender the last couple of years.
Not to be overly critical, but I'm not persuaded Motzko can put together or coach a team like that to play that style of hockey.
Well now we have a bunch of middle round picks & heart and soul guys (Denver recipe) and now we aren’t keeping up with the Jones’s
Denver had Buium, an elite defenseman, and Thompson, Harris, and Devine, all good players. They are also well coached. They also had a tournament goal tender the last couple of years.
Not to be overly critical, but I'm not persuaded Motzko can put together or coach a team like that to play that style of hockey.
Thompson, Harris and Devine are 3rd, 4th and 7th rounders respectively, which is kind of my point.
As for Buium, we all know Mooney is a first round talent in a 5’7 body.
Well now we have a bunch of middle round picks & heart and soul guys (Denver recipe) and now we aren’t keeping up with the Jones’s
Denver had Buium, an elite defenseman, and Thompson, Harris, and Devine, all good players. They are also well coached. They also had a tournament goal tender the last couple of years.
Not to be overly critical, but I'm not persuaded Motzko can put together or coach a team like that to play that style of hockey.
Thompson, Harris and Devine are 3rd, 4th and 7th rounders respectively, which is kind of my point.
As for Buium, we all know Mooney is a first round talent in a 5’7 body.
I have a tendency to bury the lede. ☺️
I'll stand on the singular point that Motzko cannot build and coach a team like Denver's.
The argument that reducing draft-status players and building a team of plucky overachievers has happened exactly zero times since Brooks-era Gophers hockey.
I tend to agree, not because I think Bob's teams are poorly coached per se but he generally doesn't have an answer to older defensive oriented teams that thrive on refs who swallow their whistles. This was definitely true against the cows 2 years in a row, last year vs ND (though they actually did get some calls in that final game), last year vs MSU, and there's probably some other games and series I'm forgetting. Also the goaltending, I don't think it's been bad overall but even Close as good as he was let in some stinkers vs BU and wasn't exactly outperforming Michigan's goalies in any of those years. Ideally you'd just get your goalie to play above average at the right time for once (IDK if that's on Motzko per se but that's where you just try and get an elite goalie rather than hoping someone overachieves).Well now we have a bunch of middle round picks & heart and soul guys (Denver recipe) and now we aren’t keeping up with the Jones’s
Denver had Buium, an elite defenseman, and Thompson, Harris, and Devine, all good players. They are also well coached. They also had a tournament goal tender the last couple of years.
Not to be overly critical, but I'm not persuaded Motzko can put together or coach a team like that to play that style of hockey.
Thompson, Harris and Devine are 3rd, 4th and 7th rounders respectively, which is kind of my point.
As for Buium, we all know Mooney is a first round talent in a 5’7 body.
I have a tendency to bury the lede. ☺️
I'll stand on the singular point that Motzko cannot build and coach a team like Denver's.
The argument that reducing draft-status players and building a team of plucky overachievers has happened exactly zero times since Brooks-era Gophers hockey.
As someone kinda on the outside (being a UMD alum) looking in…what made 2023 such a bitter pill to swallow is that the Gophers on paper & for the most part on the ice…WERE the best team in college hockey. And they had a 2-0 lead in the title game. That said, the program has always been near the top & that’s not likely to change, even with NIL & Major Junior players being allowed to play D1 hockey.I tend to agree, not because I think Bob's teams are poorly coached per se but he generally doesn't have an answer to older defensive oriented teams that thrive on refs who swallow their whistles. This was definitely true against the cows 2 years in a row, last year vs ND (though they actually did get some calls in that final game), last year vs MSU, and there's probably some other games and series I'm forgetting. Also the goaltending, I don't think it's been bad overall but even Close as good as he was let in some stinkers vs BU and wasn't exactly outperforming Michigan's goalies in any of those years. Ideally you'd just get your goalie to play above average at the right time for once (IDK if that's on Motzko per se but that's where you just try and get an elite goalie rather than hoping someone overachieves).Well now we have a bunch of middle round picks & heart and soul guys (Denver recipe) and now we aren’t keeping up with the Jones’s
Denver had Buium, an elite defenseman, and Thompson, Harris, and Devine, all good players. They are also well coached. They also had a tournament goal tender the last couple of years.
Not to be overly critical, but I'm not persuaded Motzko can put together or coach a team like that to play that style of hockey.
Thompson, Harris and Devine are 3rd, 4th and 7th rounders respectively, which is kind of my point.
As for Buium, we all know Mooney is a first round talent in a 5’7 body.
I have a tendency to bury the lede. ☺️
I'll stand on the singular point that Motzko cannot build and coach a team like Denver's.
The argument that reducing draft-status players and building a team of plucky overachievers has happened exactly zero times since Brooks-era Gophers hockey.
I have always thought the 2023 team should have won, but never felt they were the best team in hockey that year. I thought Michigan was better, especially after they beat us 2 out of 3 on home ice near the end of the year. I remember being in Tampa pulling for Qunnipiac to beat Michigan, and then after watching that game thinking the Gophers were in trouble. Quinnipiac was 34-4-3 that year. They were the better team.
it really comes down to whether you think Q was actually the more talented team or just better coached to win college hockey games. Given how poorly the Gophers executed for 2/3 of that game with the talent they had I tend to think it's the latter but we've been over this a million times and I don't wanna beat a dead horse.
Minnesota and Michigan were built similarly that year and all of those games could have gone either way. What made the older Q formidable is they were built to shut down teams like Minnesota and Michigan whose rosters were elitely talented by comparison.I have always thought the 2023 team should have won, but never felt they were the best team in hockey that year. I thought Michigan was better, especially after they beat us 2 out of 3 on home ice near the end of the year. I remember being in Tampa pulling for Qunnipiac to beat Michigan, and then after watching that game thinking the Gophers were in trouble. Quinnipiac was 34-4-3 that year. They were the better team.
Quinnipiac survived that tournament and should not have gone 2-0 versus Michigan and Minnesota consecutively. But that's the way that tournament goes. They threw one off the rear end of Michigan's goalie and got the benefit of a hack ref call (plus the stupid decision by Cooley to give a dumb ref a chance to get into the game), a marginal goal tending performance by Close, and a coach's decision to play a game they never tried before (despite his claim to the contrary).
but we've been over this a million times and I don't wanna beat a dead horse.
As Minnesota fans, it's all we got (though most of the losing lore belongs to one team...the whiskey bottle game, The Disco Darrin drop, the taking a knee, the first missed FG of the year, the Walsh shank, the Favre brain fart.)
Bingo! It’s largely attributable to the Vikings.but we've been over this a million times and I don't wanna beat a dead horse.
As Minnesota fans, it's all we got (though most of the losing lore belongs to one team...the whiskey bottle game, The Disco Darrin drop, the taking a knee, the first missed FG of the year, the Walsh shank, the Favre brain fart.)
Q wasn't better coached for roughly 2 periods. if the Gophers continued playing the style of game that built them the 2-goal lead they win that game with a score similar to the win vs. UNH.
Still a coaching failure in the end but there's nuance to it.
Now it may never happen again with tBob as the landscape has drastically changed which sucks.