Couldn't help but think of last year's Q game. We get up 2-0, then let them totally dominate us.
I said the same thing during the third. We get in our own heads and stop playing Gopher Hockey. Hopefully out of our system for the season.
Crossing fingers we get to see the boys in person again before April!
I mean…they don’t call it the most dangerous lead in hockey for no reason.
Couple of thoughts from last nights game--
I always wondered how Brodzy got the nickname Bruce. Last night they played a bit on the scoreboard having some players explain what their nicknames are. Some were obvious-- Lamb is Lammer or Chop. Brodzy said he got Bruce because when he was younger they screwed up his name on his passport and had his name as Bruce Brodzinski. From then on, that is what his teammates called him.
Closer was one of the few players that came to play last night. His save% is now 923, which is close to his career average.
Was not really a fan of having John Mittelstadt with Moore and Pitlick. I guess Bob had to give it a try. That said, no one was really doing anything after the 1st period.
Snuggy is the leader on the team in PIM with 42, which is helped by 2 fives and 2 tens. Huglen is second with 21 minutes. 2 guys I did not see leading the team in that category. Snuggy was first last year with 42 as well.
Pitlick, Brodzy, Farm Kid, Lamb. Huglen, Kurth, Thomas and Close 😎 have career high in points this year. Luke and Chesley are 4 points away. Most of the 4th liners are also within a few points, but that is not saying much.
I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
Nelson got big and strong from growing up baling hay. All I got out of it was a miserable bad back!Was anyone else aware that Nelson grew up on a farm? 🤣
This game was basically a carbon copy of the semi final against Penn State two years ago. Up by two, get complacent, Penn State is fighting for their lives and grows into the game. They tie it up and every time they come down the ice you think it’s over. Good blue line keep late in the game by a gopher and then we score on a slick pass across the crease and the place goes wild.
Was not really a fan of having John Mittelstadt with Moore and Pitlick. I guess Bob had to give it a try. That said, no one was really doing anything after the 1st period.
I was glad Mittelstadt was the one rewarded instead of Pino, but agreed that he didn’t do much with the opportunity. Perhaps Bob is starting to see what we all see with Pino.
On the other hand, the fourth line was awful without Mittelstadt. I think they had two shifts early in the third spent entirely running around their own zone and didn’t see the ice from there on out, with the exception of Clark, who played up with other lines.
If Bob doesn’t want to use the portal, here’s hoping the freshmen next year can give Strobel and Pino some real competition for minutes.
Was not really a fan of having John Mittelstadt with Moore and Pitlick. I guess Bob had to give it a try. That said, no one was really doing anything after the 1st period.
I was glad Mittelstadt was the one rewarded instead of Pino, but agreed that he didn’t do much with the opportunity. Perhaps Bob is starting to see what we all see with Pino.
On the other hand, the fourth line was awful without Mittelstadt. I think they had two shifts early in the third spent entirely running around their own zone and didn’t see the ice from there on out, with the exception of Clark, who played up with other lines.
If Bob doesn’t want to use the portal, here’s hoping the freshmen next year can give Strobel and Pino some real competition for minutes.
Next years 4th line will be competitive with Falloon joining the fold. (Plus I think Nevers comes back in a 4th line role).
Falloon-Mittelstadt-Nevers is a line that could score goals.
J Mittelstadt is an everyday player next season (4th line center).
I don’t see Pino and Strobel that way. Hopefully Bob realizes this once season is over and brings in replacements/way more competition for them.
Minnesota got lucky last night, but I thought Kurth looked good this weekend. He had some jump for both games and last night, he set up the GWG with a nice backcheck. They gave up 45 shots to lowly PSU, but fortunately, they finished one of the few scoring opportunities they had. (They hadn't earned any for two periods.)
I still can't figure out why PSU's third goal was overturned on an offsides call. I swear I saw white between the puck and the blue line in the video replay--and I never saw the puck clear the zone. The refs must have had a good look at it because they reversed the call.
Postgame--
I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
Minnesota got lucky last night, but I thought Kurth looked good this weekend. He had some jump for both games and last night, he set up the GWG with a nice backcheck. They gave up 45 shots to lowly PSU, but fortunately, they finished one of the few scoring opportunities they had. (They hadn't earned any for two periods.)
I still can't figure out why PSU's third goal was overturned on an offsides call. I swear I saw white between the puck and the blue line in the video replay--and I never saw the puck clear the zone. The refs must have had a good look at it because they reversed the call.
The linesman's skate kept it from getting in the zone. Pretty lucky for us, but it's about time we got a break like that.
I watched the penalty filled 6 minutes of last nights game. Since it happened on the opposite end of the arena, I did not have a good look until I saw the replays. Most of the penalties were pretty close. I felt Snuggy's was a 5, but without the 10 added. Chesley and Nelson's were questionable at best. The non call on Fish was a penalty. It was a 2 for sure, and because his shoulder only glazed the boards and not the glass is why I think they didn't call it a 5. Since the refs missed it, they can't call it a 2 on review. Also, I felt one of the calls on Penn St, the one where Huglen went down, was a weak call, but after all of the BS calls against the Gophers during that time, I will take it. I'm sure if you asked the refs after the game, they will play the "judgement call" card on all of those calls.
I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
Funny how every "judgement call" in the past couple months has gone against the Gophers though. The ones where there's a clear question "was contact made to the head?" "was the puck over the line" etc, those seem to be called right, but every "Judgement Call" goes the other way.I'm sure if you asked the refs after the game, they will play the "judgement call" card on all of those calls.
B1G refs... corrupt, or just incompetent?
Was not really a fan of having John Mittelstadt with Moore and Pitlick. I guess Bob had to give it a try. That said, no one was really doing anything after the 1st period.
I was glad Mittelstadt was the one rewarded instead of Pino, but agreed that he didn’t do much with the opportunity. Perhaps Bob is starting to see what we all see with Pino.
On the other hand, the fourth line was awful without Mittelstadt. I think they had two shifts early in the third spent entirely running around their own zone and didn’t see the ice from there on out, with the exception of Clark, who played up with other lines.
If Bob doesn’t want to use the portal, here’s hoping the freshmen next year can give Strobel and Pino some real competition for minutes.
I have been a critic of using the 4th line except in very rare occasions when the other team has their 4th line.
I was at Friday's game. Whenever Bob put the 4th out on the ice, Penn St. put their first line out on the ice. This gives such an edge in play to the opponents and on the ice matchups are one of the few things a head coach can do that influences the game.
Why does he surrender this advantage on such a consistent basis? It would be different if we did not have last change and in the playoffs there isn't long television breaks. And what advantage does this serve? We won Friday, but we should have won. On Saturday did the Gophers have more energy that PSU or more rested? (I was at family funeral so I did not watch but heard enough) Answer is no.
Lucia did this too, especially when playing weaker NCAA playoff teams like Yale. In the playoffs hockey is a two line game. You rotate your third line in sporadically. When the television commercials happen because ESPU U has to make their money, Lucia and Motzko will just sent their normal rotation line out.
Instead, he should send his TOP line back out on the ice after the commercial. They will be fully rested.
THE MORE YOUR BEST PLAYERS PLAY, the better your results will be.
Last note on this continuous complaint of mine: this worked back in the days when the Gophers team had talent up and down the lineup. Sometimes their 4th line was better than other teams 3rd/4th and competitive with their second. But NCAA D1 hockey has expanded and there is lots of talent on every team. We cannot continue to coach like we have this dominance anymore.
Our top line scores the most goals but they also give up the most goals.
Hopefully we see less of that in the NCAA where the games matter more. Earlier on I think playing the 4th is fine mainly because you don’t want to burn guys out and overdo it. It’s a long season and that game on Friday never really seemed like it was in doubt so giving the fourth line more time is fine.Was not really a fan of having John Mittelstadt with Moore and Pitlick. I guess Bob had to give it a try. That said, no one was really doing anything after the 1st period.
I was glad Mittelstadt was the one rewarded instead of Pino, but agreed that he didn’t do much with the opportunity. Perhaps Bob is starting to see what we all see with Pino.
On the other hand, the fourth line was awful without Mittelstadt. I think they had two shifts early in the third spent entirely running around their own zone and didn’t see the ice from there on out, with the exception of Clark, who played up with other lines.
If Bob doesn’t want to use the portal, here’s hoping the freshmen next year can give Strobel and Pino some real competition for minutes.
I have been a critic of using the 4th line except in very rare occasions when the other team has their 4th line.
I was at Friday's game. Whenever Bob put the 4th out on the ice, Penn St. put their first line out on the ice. This gives such an edge in play to the opponents and on the ice matchups are one of the few things a head coach can do that influences the game.
Why does he surrender this advantage on such a consistent basis? It would be different if we did not have last change and in the playoffs there isn't long television breaks. And what advantage does this serve? We won Friday, but we should have won. On Saturday did the Gophers have more energy that PSU or more rested? (I was at family funeral so I did not watch but heard enough) Answer is no.
Lucia did this too, especially when playing weaker NCAA playoff teams like Yale. In the playoffs hockey is a two line game. You rotate your third line in sporadically. When the television commercials happen because ESPU U has to make their money, Lucia and Motzko will just sent their normal rotation line out.
Instead, he should send his TOP line back out on the ice after the commercial. They will be fully rested.
THE MORE YOUR BEST PLAYERS PLAY, the better your results will be.
Last note on this continuous complaint of mine: this worked back in the days when the Gophers team had talent up and down the lineup. Sometimes their 4th line was better than other teams 3rd/4th and competitive with their second. But NCAA D1 hockey has expanded and there is lots of talent on every team. We cannot continue to coach like we have this dominance anymore.
Our top line scores the most goals but they also give up the most goals.
I think his overall point is there is a huge drop off in talent/scoring with our top 3 lines versus the 4th line. I agree with him. The 4th line should get less ice time than they do.
To your point, I’m not sure we have a sure fire “1st” line. But, we certainly have 3 lines that should be rotated more often.
If the 4th line is out against the other team's top line as much as was indicated in the post above then they have done a great job defensively against them.
Clark, Strobel, Johnny Mitts and Pino have scored a total of 8 goals this season yet are +6, +2, +1, and -2 so clearly teams have scored very few goals against them.
They don't hurt us when they are on the ice. Keeping the puck out of our net is just as important as having talent to score goals. The 1st and 3rd lines clearly give up the most goals on the team.
The 4th line will play less minutes than the top 3 lines in the playoffs but will get some time because they are responsible in their own end.
In the playoffs hockey is a two line game. You rotate your third line in sporadically.
D1 college hockey is not a two line game.
If the team has a top line this year it seems to be on a rotating basis. It escapes my memory if we have had many games with balanced scoring from the top three groups. We seem to run so hot and cold it makes for some Forrest Gump hockey. You really never know what team you are going to get. Thankfully someone seems to step up at some point but I sure would like us to start firing on ALL the cylinders instead of this sputter style we throw out there every couple games. There are no excuses. The Gophers have the pieces but everyone needs to start finding their best hockey and putting it out there every game.
If our 4th line is playing the opponent's top line to a standstill, that sounds like a big win for us. Then our top lines are playing against their lesser lines.If the 4th line is out against the other team's top line as much as was indicated in the post above then they have done a great job defensively against them.
Clark, Strobel, Johnny Mitts and Pino have scored a total of 8 goals this season yet are +6, +2, +1, and -2 so clearly teams have scored very few goals against them.
They don't hurt us when they are on the ice. Keeping the puck out of our net is just as important as having talent to score goals. The 1st and 3rd lines clearly give up the most goals on the team.
The 4th line will play less minutes than the top 3 lines in the playoffs but will get some time because they are responsible in their own end.
J Mittelstadt is an everyday player next season (4th line center).
I don’t see Pino and Strobel that way. Hopefully Bob realizes this once season is over and brings in replacements/way more competition for them.
With Pino getting more playing time than Strobel (who knows why) could Strobel be one to head to the portal for a new team for more playing time. I like the way the kid plays I would rather have him out there over Pino Just my 2 cents
Wonder what Close's save % was vs PSU this year. Had to be incredibly high.
95.73Wonder what Close's save % was vs PSU this year. Had to be incredibly high.
B1G refs... corrupt, or just incompetent?
