Johnny Mitts with his 1st of the year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Shots for the period are 8-0 and 27-19 for the game.
Being Pairwise/RPI #12 out of 64 is slightly above average? 🤔
Pull Close
He has to step up and make the saves in the third.
Being Pairwise/RPI #12 out of 64 is slightly above average? 🤔
we should not be on the tourney bubble with this roster.
SNUGGY SNIPS AGAIN!!!!!
Bad rebound by Close but all of that pressure starts because our defenseman just turned and blindly threw it up the wall straight to a CC player. This team just needs to be better about taking care of the puck.
LAMB!!!!!!!!
Airey tomorrow night, Close in not the answer.
Fish is a complete liability. Airey should start tomorrow
Shots for the game Gophers 37-29, scoring chances 15-14.
CC got the puck luck on their 1st and 5th goals which allowed them to have a 5-4 lead setting up the empty netter for a 6-4 final score.
We need to clean some things up but puck luck matters and it wasn't on our side tonight.
Coach gave credit to CC for playing hard and earning the win but said we need to be better with the puck. He said we were great at times but made too many mistakes.
This one hurts. Puts us firmly on the bubble if we weren’t there already. As others have said, this team shouldn’t be on the bubble. Clearly they can score. We saw it tonight and we’ve seen it most of the season. But they are unable to keep the puck out of the back of the net. We have also seen that tonight and most of the season. Bad rebounds. Bad outlet passes. Too many mental lapses and unnecessary, unforced errors that just don’t need to happen. I like the urgency and the energy in the third but where was that all game? Forget about getting a one seed or challenging for a league title, this team needs a come to Jesus moment asap because we are playing ourselves out of the tournament. With this roster and this coaching staff there is no reason that we should be in this position.
Team defense is a problem.
Today, Close did not bail them out.
Johnny Mitts with his 1st of the year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Shots for the period are 8-0 and 27-19 for the game.
I get that the 4th line scored a goal tonight, but the way Gopher coaches from Lucia to Motzko uses the 4th line in regular rotation is one reason that has kept this team back.
Gophers score first goal. Have momentum. Bob puts the 4th line out there, its 1-1.
The intact 4th line should only play 1-2 shifts a night and if this team really needs a 4 line rotation, it should be a 4th line centered on Jimmy Clark and another of the top 6 forwards playing one of the other wings.
The name of the game in college hockey is to have more talent on the ice than your opponents. Eventually that will work in your favor. But if you put out players that are not as talented 25% of the time, you are putting your team in a hole.
You can disagree all you want, but coming into tonight's game the 4th line players outside of Jimmy Clark have a combined total of 1 goal and 3 assists. That is not good enough.
Too early to watch PWR….. don’t look.
I’d play Airey tomorrow because if nothing it gives this team a jolt. Team defense and taking care of the puck continue to be issues and it’s up and down the lineup. Cannot win this way when you don’t have Faber, Johnson, Lacombe on the back end bailing you out and having the speee to get back on the back check.
as an aside, is it just me or is the ice bad in the end we attack in twice? So many guys falling, pucks bouncing, etc. and it’s seemed like it’s been all year.
Team defense is a problem.
Today, Close did not bail them out.
Been saying this all year. This team has no concep of how to do that and that starts with the coaches. I mean, they just gave up a 6 spot to fricking CC.
Gophers were terrible in the second period, losing almost every race and puck battle. Close was as leaky as his defense tonight.
Johnny Mitts with his 1st of the year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Shots for the period are 8-0 and 27-19 for the game.
I get that the 4th line scored a goal tonight, but the way Gopher coaches from Lucia to Motzko uses the 4th line in regular rotation is one reason that has kept this team back.
Gophers score first goal. Have momentum. Bob puts the 4th line out there, its 1-1.
The intact 4th line should only play 1-2 shifts a night and if this team really needs a 4 line rotation, it should be a 4th line centered on Jimmy Clark and another of the top 6 forwards playing one of the other wings.
The name of the game in college hockey is to have more talent on the ice than your opponents. Eventually that will work in your favor. But if you put out players that are not as talented 25% of the time, you are putting your team in a hole.
You can disagree all you want, but coming into tonight's game the 4th line players outside of Jimmy Clark have a combined total of 1 goal and 3 assists. That is not good enough.
tonight is maybe one of the nights you needed them (with the WJC guys coming back) but I agree with you most nights. They play 2 games a week, it’s ok to double shift guys/not play the 4th line regularly. It’s less egregious now with only the one stoppage, but in the postseason with the extra media, no reason to get lay those guys regularly
Take nothing away from CC but this is yet another game this year where we seem to have to work for pretty much every goal and yet we basically hand the opposing team a goal or two. It’s just too easy to score against us. With the way we’re playing we might as well spot a team a goal before the puck is even dropped.
Clark is +4
Johnny Mitts is even
Storbel is even
Pino is -3
Yes the 4th line doesn't score much but they also haven't give up much.
as an aside, is it just me or is the ice bad in the end we attack in twice? So many guys falling, pucks bouncing, etc. and it’s seemed like it’s been all year.
I agree, since when has the ice crew had to MOP the ice after the Zamboni leaves? I thought we’d see better ice with the new installation, not worse. It’s too wet.
Note: Due to inflation dirty deeds will no longer be done dirt cheap.
Maybe just seems like it, but I swear almost every time we score this year we immediately give one up. Frustrating.
No, you’re right. That’s exactly what has been happening. Since the first game against Wisconsin there have multiple games where we give up a goal just a shift or two after scoring. It is indeed very frustrating.
Who cares about plus minus.
Those stats would be fine if they played an irregular shift here and there. But they are part of the regular rotation. Take away Clark's points when he was not playing 4th line such as the OT winner he had, they produce NO SCORING and very little pressure. Other teams don't play their 4th line against them and they often flip their first lines out on the ice.
AS another poster pointed out, and I have before, this is especially true when we are playing in the playoffs. The TV timeouts are interminable. But often, Bob, and Don before them, would put the damn 4th line out on the ice after a TV timeout. That TV timeout is a skip in rotation and you put your top line back out.
Johnny Mitts with his 1st of the year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Shots for the period are 8-0 and 27-19 for the game.
I get that the 4th line scored a goal tonight, but the way Gopher coaches from Lucia to Motzko uses the 4th line in regular rotation is one reason that has kept this team back.
Gophers score first goal. Have momentum. Bob puts the 4th line out there, its 1-1.
The intact 4th line should only play 1-2 shifts a night and if this team really needs a 4 line rotation, it should be a 4th line centered on Jimmy Clark and another of the top 6 forwards playing one of the other wings.
The name of the game in college hockey is to have more talent on the ice than your opponents. Eventually that will work in your favor. But if you put out players that are not as talented 25% of the time, you are putting your team in a hole.
You can disagree all you want, but coming into tonight's game the 4th line players outside of Jimmy Clark have a combined total of 1 goal and 3 assists. That is not good enough.
tonight is maybe one of the nights you needed them (with the WJC guys coming back) but I agree with you most nights. They play 2 games a week, it’s ok to double shift guys/not play the 4th line regularly. It’s less egregious now with only the one stoppage, but in the postseason with the extra media, no reason to get lay those guys regularly
The 4th line plays way too much. And like you said, they are on the ice in head scratching situations. After TV timeouts, after we score (like tonight), in D-Zone draws, etc.
The 4th line has not held the Gophers back during the regular season the past few years, and tonight it was far from being one of their only problems.
The 4th line has not held the Gophers back during the regular season the past few years, and tonight it was far from being one of their only problems.
Was hoping for a strong start in the second half. Instead, we got run and gun pond hockey and defense optional. Very disappointed in this game.
Motzko better coach this team to play defense because if he doesn't they might not even get to St. Paul in April.
Only 4 of 64 teams will make it to St. Paul.
Fish is 4th on the team with +4. Chesley, Moore, Thomas are the top three.
Snuggy and Pitlick need to be better defensively they are one and two in most points on the team yet are both even so obviously they are on the ice for a lot of goals against.
BTW they are probably my two favorite players on the team but I try to be fair when pointing things out.
MN lives and dies on the transition and if you don't back check you don't get to play the transition game.
“When your best friend is the son of God, you get tired of losing every argument.”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
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Only 4 of 64 teams will make it to St. Paul.
Fish is 4th on the team with +4. Chesley, Moore, Thomas are the top three.
Snuggy and Pitlick need to be better defensively they are one and two in most points on the team yet are both even so obviously they are on the ice for a lot of goals against.
BTW they are probably my two favorite players on the team but I try to be fair when pointing things out.
I don’t put a ton of stock in +/-. They both just picked a minus up on the EN at the end. That’s said, Snuggy is a plus shooter and probably a B in the offensive zone but doesn’t do much defensively. Major area he needs to work on. Pitlick is hard on the puck frequently but his size is an issue. This team seems like they just don’t have a system for how to be hard on teams defensively and to retrieve pucks. They take far too many long d zone shifts where they all just float around. The turnovers are something you can fix however and it’s why I still have hope for this team to figure it out. However time is starting to run lower and lower. Just get in and give it a go. If this team is on they can beat anyone
as an aside, is it just me or is the ice bad in the end we attack in twice? So many guys falling, pucks bouncing, etc. and it’s seemed like it’s been all year.I agree, since when has the ice crew had to MOP the ice after the Zamboni leaves? I thought we’d see better ice with the new installation, not worse. It’s too wet.
The reason CC got the penalty in the early third is because the puck stopped in a puddle of water on Rinzel and had to stop to reach for it. Even after the hit, the CC player tried to move it and was stuck. Downside to the 12 minute intermissions. Not enough time for the ice to set up.
That's what I've been seeing. 12 minutes just doesn't seem to be enough.Downside to the 12 minute intermissions. Not enough time for the ice to set up.
B1G refs... corrupt, or just incompetent?
I agree +/- isn't the be all end all but when your top two scores have same +/- as your 4th line that doesn't score goals it shows who is on the ice for a lot more goals against.
You expressed my thoughts likely better then I have in earlier posts. I am not as worried as other people seem to be. Yes this team needs to clean things up but it's not like they have to play a lot better than they have to make the NCAAs.
Once you make the NCAA it's about playing two good weekends.
Plus IMO fans worry way too much about the winning the Chip. Only one team gets to win the Natty.
Why worry about the future?
The past is history, the future is a mystery, today is a gift that is why we call it the present.
Every game is a chance to get better and the journey of this season is less than half over (counting playoffs) there are plenty of interesting twists and turns left in the season. I am excited to see what they are.
Top 5 worst set of of complaints in GPL history.
That's what I've been seeing. 12 minutes just doesn't seem to be enough.Downside to the 12 minute intermissions. Not enough time for the ice to set up.
YE and I were talking about that before the third started, there may have been whitecaps on a couple of those puddles.
“When your best friend is the son of God, you get tired of losing every argument.”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
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Once you make the NCAA it's about playing two good weekends.
well a good start would be pulling together two 60 minute games for two full wins in a weekend.
we have some work to do if we are going to win four in a row.
Four games in seven days now and then the big ten - it doesn’t get any easier from here.
I guess in the next few weeks we’ll see what this team is really made of!
Btw It feels really weird to have to get ready to go to work tomorrow yet have to pack a bag to head straight to the game after. It feels like it should be Saturday night! 😂
The team two years ago was 15-11 on February 1st and people where saying they would likely miss the NCAA tournament especially trying to win with a walk on goalie. Two years ago I said better days were ahead. I saw that the team was growing even though it wasn't always showing up in the final score.
They ended up 6th in Pairwise and made it to the Frozen Four.
None of us know how tomorrow's game is going to go let alone the last 20+ games (counting playoffs) of the season.
I suspect this team will be better in the 2nd half of the season than the 1st half of the season. This team reminds me a lot of the team two years ago.
Maybe I will be proven wrong but does anybody really hope I am proven wrong? 😉
This was a game where Close once again got outplayed, this time resulting in a loss to a team you kinda need to beat. Defense certainly wasn’t perfect either and the breakout needs work but it doesn’t help if you’re playing from behind the entire game after letting in a few rough ones (that’s not to say he didn’t make some nice saves too but you kinda need to at this level), especially against a team known for its defense and goaltending.
As for the fourth line, they kinda just waste time and if it’s true that they play too much (we dont have time on ice stats to go off) then that isn’t ideal. Wish we had some hard numbers to see how it compares to other teams across the league.
+\- is a completely useless stat with so many glaring holes it’s not even worth talking about. Players that don’t score on a 6 on 4 almost always end up with a minus, it can be swung drastically by goaltending due to how small the sample size is, and it’s easily one of the worst predictors we have of future on ice impact.
CC just swept the whioux, they are actually pretty decent. The Gophers need to play Gophers pride on ice hockey. You can't win them all, but If they get swept on home ice by these guys they may not even make the tournament this year. There are a lot of good teams and the remaining schedule is tough.
If they win the next five then nobody is gonna care about this one. Given the competition and the games being at home it’s certainly doable but they need Close to be more consistent (or get Airey in there) and figure out how to break out with better consistency.
I agree that +/- is a poor indicator of the future but it clearly shows Snuggy and Pitlick have been on the ice for a lot of goals against. Your top players shouldn't be even (room for improvement) and if your 4th line players are even they aren't killing you.
Bottom line so far this season the 4th line hasn't scored much and hasn't given up many goals hence being even.
Snuggy and Pitlick have scored a lot more but have also been on the ice for a lot more goals against hence also being even.
People are complaining we need to do a better job of keeping the puck out of our net and saying we need to play the 4th line a lot less. I was just pointing out some context regarding this season so far.
As was point out this isn't really a great predictor of the future and I suspect Snuggy and Pitlick will end up as positives.
Warning-- Snarky post---
Not sure who has more turn overs lately, the Vikings Qb's or Carl Fish
If you are going to disrupt the schedule for games ( Sun-Mon ) so that the players can come back from the World Juniors, YOU BETTER WIN THOSE GAMES 😉
I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
They are “even” in a stat that pre-selects an outcome based on arbitrary rules that make zero sense. 6 on 4 empty net goals count against but short handed goals count in your favor 🤔… it’s a stat that pre-selects who it applies to and favors, top 6 players who are out for empty net situations by said stat’s design are at a disadvantage. And when your goalie struggles to be consistent you have nights like tonight where Snuggy was probably a minus despite being the best player on the ice because he was on the ice for the empty netter.
That’s not to say Snuggy has zero room to improve defensively or that the fourth line is our biggest problem this year, just that said stat should be abolished for being useless.
In theory I think it could all come together if the breakout gets better, Close starts playing more consistently, and the team isn’t constantly chasing leads after having one for all of a minute. The urgency was there and the execution wasn’t bad on offense against a good defensive team and goalie. Being behind and having to press generally isn’t without risk though.
Our issue right now is not scoring or goaltending. IMO It continues to be our play in our defensive zone. We struggle to clear the zone, have way too many turnovers and are way too passive.
Other teams have figured our zone break out ( up the wall / CC flooded the zone w 4 guys on the wall)
We continue to chase the puck in our zone vs being more aggressive and forcing other teams into turnovers.
The amount of careless turnovers continue to end up in our net.
Bob could not have liked tonight's D Zone performance.
Close let in a five hole shot from above the circles I wanna say while their goalie didn’t give up any cheap ones. This isn’t the first time this year that he got outplayed either, Augustine, badger goalie, the Duluth goalie and Mbereko all come to mind.
But yes the breakout is also bad, way too often they just flip it off the boards straight to their opponent. This team does have a number of games where they gave up way too many shots and chances against, the games vs OSU, PSU, and MSU all come to mind. I haven’t compiled shots against per game but I imagine this team is below average there.
I got caught up on the game/postgame finally after a long weekend of youth hockey coaching, certainly a lot to talk about with the program right now. I'll be ready to share some thoughts at Tom's Watch Bar tomorrow and will have some swag to give away to GPL'ers if you come say hi. There are also two free Duck Duck Beers to those who come as well if you don't want to say hi and just want to show up. Not sure how well our livestream of the event will work, but I'm giving it a shot.
https://twitter.com/JohnMittelstadt/status/1743727941744197639
Just watched the postgame interviews on the Rink Live. Tonight might have been “a kick the trash can night” from Bob. He seemed pretty pissed. He also might have just said what he needed to say and then let them sit in it. Sometimes that can be more effective. Kind of “alright, the coaches and I have done all we can now you all have to figure it out”.
Side note, I also really appreciate Snuggerud mentioning the fans. Basically talked about how the fans showed up and got loud for the team but the team didn’t respond for the fans and how that’s not ok. Said it’ll be different tomorrow.
The Gophers have only given up three empty net goals this season so it isn't changing players +/- that much.
If Close is playing worse on average when Snuggy and Pitlick are on the ice vs. when other guys are on the ice my question is why are Snuggy and Pitlick making Close play worse? 😉 (kidding)
I agree regarding the sample size point that 19 games of +/- isn't an indication of what will happen in the future but it does tell us what has happen so far this season.
In the end what has happen so far is the past every game is a new opportunity. On to tomorrow (actually later today). Score early and often plus I would love to see Closer get a shut out which would be his 12th moving him within one of Briggs and Wilcox who are tied for the all-time Gopher record.
Earlier this season he had back to back shut outs. Here is a quote after the second one.
“There are two games when you play North Dakota. The first ten minutes and the next 50,” Gophers head coach Bob Motzko said. “We had to adjust on the road in the first ten we were down 7-0 in shots but in the next 50, we hunkered down and played hockey. That was an excellent team victory tonight. Close was brilliant tonight.”
After a bad game it is fun to remind myself that there has been plenty of good games too.
3 goals against in a stat that negatively affects the top 6 exclusively is significant when the sample size is already tiny, the standard deviation in the nhl over 82 games is like 9. They’re the best players on the team and yet get punished with three minuses for no reason other than the guy who made up the rules for the stat did so in a way that makes zero logical sense. It also doesn’t explain the source of the problem, we can clearly see that the biggest problems with the team are mainly due to the breakout, more defensive gaffes from a less experienced blue line (Fish being a glaring example), and goaltending. Snuggy didn’t go from being well into the + last year to even this year because his defensive play got 1000 times worse lol. If that were the case I’d be happy to have him for a third year but I think we all know that isn’t true.