Balls
What a bad final couple minutes
My new calculations now have us at #64 in the PWR.
Well, upside:
-Airey looked pretty darn good tonight, the reason it was tied in the first
-the 3rd period looked much better than the first two, finally got a bit of pressure and more even play, some much better chances at least
Use that to build on tomorrow.
Between the crowd and the product on the ice I thought I was watching a game from the late 2010s.
We’ll see what the guys have in their bag for tomorrow night because that was pretty meh. We knew this would be a process and a rebuild year but good lord that was tough to watch. I don’t even think BC was really that great but the Gophers just looked like they couldn’t get anything going. I already mentioned it but just disconnected and too often looked like they were a bunch of individuals out there and not a team.
"he made a comment on the attendance, and how he expected more."
That's not what he implied. They asked what he expected coming home to MN and playing at Mariucci, he said he played here with Cretin for the State Tournament and was expecting a bigger crowd for this game than that one. And it almost certainly was a bigger crowd tonight than for that consolation bracket game.
He was commenting on how there were more people here this time.
Well at least the effort wasn't nearly as putrid as the 2nd game vs Tech, unfotunately BC is just a way better team with a good goalie it appears and the Gophers are pretty clearly outmatched this weekend. Airey had a good game, credit where it's due. This wasn't as bad as watching some of those bad Lucia teams play Denver but kinda reminded me of that. Barring BC not taking the game seriously tomorrow I don't see how we split this series if I'm being honest but crazier things have happened.
Between the crowd and the product on the ice I thought I was watching a game from the late 2010s.
We’ll see what the guys have in their bag for tomorrow night because that was pretty meh. We knew this would be a process and a rebuild year but good lord that was tough to watch. I don’t even think BC was really that great but the Gophers just looked like they couldn’t get anything going. I already mentioned it but just disconnected and too often looked like they were a bunch of individuals out there and not a team.
Ditto on that first part. Tough crowd. It’ll be packed tomorrow night though hopefully the team can respond with more than one rouser.
When your margins are this small, my goodness you need to hit the net and stop overpassing
I know no one wants to hear it after a loss but steps were made tonight. The issues that we are all aware of are still very evident but you can slowly start to see the freshmen settle in. McLaughlin had his best game of the season. Rombach didn’t seem like a giraffe as much as Tech.
Let’s get Mariucci packed for homecoming and respond tomorrow. A split would be just fine.
I think it was Clymer that mentioned maybe splitting up Mooney/Ziemer which wouldn't be a bad idea. You need lines that are balanced rather than having both guys on the wing being perimeter guys followed by a line with two guys who are good at driving the net on each wing (Lamb/Hendrickson). Switching Mooney with Lamb would probably help.When your margins are this small, my goodness you need to hit the net and stop overpassing
Hendrickson had a good game I'd add that to the list.Well, upside:
-Airey looked pretty darn good tonight, the reason it was tied in the first
-the 3rd period looked much better than the first two, finally got a bit of pressure and more even play, some much better chances at least
Use that to build on tomorrow.
I think it was Pahlsson who got the puck right in front of the net and inexplicably passed it straight to the BC Dman 😩. There were other instances as well though that was probably the most egregious.When your margins are this small, my goodness you need to hit the net and stop overpassing
As shaky as things were at times, still a Begley turnover away from 1-1🤷♂️.
I mean how brutal was that. Way to show your coach you can’t be thrown over the boards ever.
As bad as Begley is it's hard to scapegoat him when the team just can't get anything going in the offensive zone when they do have the puck, which they didn't for far too much of the first two periods.
Someone should math out our regular season record on non-Friday/Saturday games in the past decade or two. I feel like we have historically not played well on Thursday and Sunday games. Those days are also not well attended, regardless the opponent.
Agreed that when we finally bring a premier ooc matchup like this to town we shouldn’t schedule it on days that don’t start with Friday or Saturday. I don’t know why it is so hard to pack the barn on the other days.
Kids need a little fire under their asses tomorrow.
I’ll feel better going into the weekend with a W and a good effort.
BC is just a way better team with a good goalie it appears and the Gophers are pretty clearly outmatched this weekend. … Barring BC not taking the game seriously tomorrow I don't see how we split this series …
I disagree. I think the Gophers lost this one more than BC won it, in the sense that this game was decided by a constant stream of fairly minor individual errors + 1 giant comedy of them by one player in one shift during the 1st. If you take away the one-pass-too-many that killed a lot of chances and I think we probably win in ugly fashion; or with some better puck luck for Jimmy Clark.
Ultimately BC’s defense looked way more experienced, mobile, and calm under pressure than ours, and our inability to break out cleanly nor sustain offensive zone time with low-to-high plays makes it particularly hard to watch. Lastly, I hope Whipple gets encouraged to skate it out of our end if need be, as I noticed him relieve pressure well that way a few different times.
p.s. We can’t let that giant oaf Dean Letourneau score his first NCAA goal here. Announcers kept hyping him up but if you pay attention, he’s a black hole out there; plays always die on his stick whenever he touches the puck. Think he even got knocked off his feet once by a much smaller Gopher.
As bad as Begley is it's hard to scapegoat him when the team just can't get anything going in the offensive zone when they do have the puck, which they didn't for far too much of the first two periods.
NCAA D-men should literally never fumble a D-to-D pass under very mild pressure like Begley did. Yeah, stuff happens, but he was then completely unable to recover, instead blowing his coverage on the ensuing chance and goal. It’s like he didn’t even think what his next step was gonna be.
I’m truly, pleasantly surprised that Bob didn’t send him back out after that. Thank goodness Carl Fish isn’t here to play top-4 minutes anymore, I think I’d have an aneurysm.
-Props to Airey for playing a very good game. I have been very tough on him. Credit where it is due.
-I’ll say it again… truly shocking Axel Begley is playing hockey in a Gophers uniform
-Hendrickson is playing good hockey
-Pahlsson passes up scoring opportunities to pass WAY too much
-Whipple is showing signs of life. He is skating well. Hopefully the decision making will improve
-it’s going to be a turbulent season. Yikes.
When they move without the puck good things might happen.
I left the arena with a much better taste in my mouth than I did last Saturday.
“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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Need to be more cohesive as a team. Breakouts work about 25% of the time. Mostly it’s just slapping it up the boards without looking and hoping. When we do break it out, we’re always looking for the rush opportunity. Sometimes you have to dump it and get the puck back. If you do dump it, don’t do it as a last ditch effort when everyone is standing at the blue line. You’re not getting that back. Lastly, shoot when you have the opportunity. Create rebounds and chaos.
BC is just a way better team with a good goalie it appears and the Gophers are pretty clearly outmatched this weekend. … Barring BC not taking the game seriously tomorrow I don't see how we split this series …
I disagree. I think the Gophers lost this one more than BC won it, in the sense that this game was decided by a constant stream of fairly minor individual errors + 1 giant comedy of them by one player in one shift during the 1st. If you take away the one-pass-too-many that killed a lot of chances and I think we probably win in ugly fashion; or with some better puck luck for Jimmy Clark.
I kinda have my doubts that BC played their A game and they outshot and outchanced the gophers 2-1 for two periods, the third was basically dead even. Yes Clark and Hendrickson had some good chances but BC had plenty as well which is why I said Airey had a good game. The outcome reflected those observations imo, good goaltending kept it low scoring and the team with more puck possession and chances eeked out a win. Sure if the Gophers made zero mistakes in that one they could've maybe taken it to OT 1-1 but good teams can afford to make a mistake or two and overcome it. Also good teams aren't playing Begley in the first place, you're absolutely right that he shouldn't be out there.
Their defense is far better in terms of skating and can break the puck out by themselves while Mittlestadt seems to be the only one on the Gophers that can do that, though Thomas showed a little competency in that area as well.
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kind of wanted to give it the overnight to think on, but some good and bad from tonight.
Airey deserves a ton of credit. he battled last night and kept his team in a game BC was begging for us to tie it up in the 3rd.
Thought Rombach played perhaps his best game so far. Still have strong hopes for him and he seems to be starting to adjust to the speed.
Overall the team played "better" defensively from an assignment standpoint and wasn't running around as much, which is good.
Lot of frustration from tonight, but the biggest thing to be is this team has nowhere near the identity I would've assumed they'd have based on Bob's comments of wanting to get older and heavier and their styles of play are wildly discrepant. In addition to being outchanced last night, they were heavily outhit and the BC forwards were in on our defensemen consistently all night. This should be a lunch pail type team that should be dumping pucks and trying to staple opposing Dmen to the boards on the forecheck and get a cycle going. Instead we just throw pucks in as a last ditch and skate all 3 off and BC breaks out for free or we try a low percentage pass and it gets turned around the other way (think Mooney threw about 3-4 last night, which is in part because he can see those plays but also is him trying to do too much at a level you can't get away with that).
Think we all, as some of the most diehard fans, understand its a building year where you're hoping this specific team manages to stay level 1st half, peak 2nd half and you're building into next year on a super young team (despite being upward skewed by having Weise, Begley, Rud, and Harris all rostered). I'd be perfectly fine with Bob sitting guys for periods/parts of periods until they learn (Javon Moore, please for the sake us all, hit someone every time you come in on the forecheck; that is your path to the NHL), but right now it instead looks like we're just trying to play the same Gopher hockey style with too many square pegs in round holes this year. this team is thinking way too much, afraid to make mistakes, and panicky at times, and that's classic early player mentality. Simplify the game this year, get north and south, and be harder on pucks. This team will have way more success playing like WMU or QU than they will trying to play like Michigan.
Edit: well i apparently took a long time writing this. agree with Bob's sentiment entirely.
A few things...
- There will be no band for tonight's game. Even the alumni band participates in the Homecoming Parade.
- I was the only media member in the scrum last night. It's tough for me to ask questions when I see only a small portion of the game when I am behind the camera. But I am guessing I will be the only one in Grand Forks next weekend, so I will get Bob to myself again for post game. 🤣
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No band tonight and not a single Lets Go Gophers chant last night. Let's hope the students find a way to get a few more beers in them than the 8pm Thursday start.
Javon Moore might want to break a sweat on the ice one of these games
Luke M and Whipple skating the puck out of our zone has been the most only effective breakout 3 games in.
I think they should shuffle lines each game until they find something that clicks. I believe it was stated above, but this team will need to rely on cohesion and chemistry between players to score goals.
Between the crowd and the product on the ice I thought I was watching a game from the late 2010s.
We’ll see what the guys have in their bag for tomorrow night because that was pretty meh. We knew this would be a process and a rebuild year but good lord that was tough to watch. I don’t even think BC was really that great but the Gophers just looked like they couldn’t get anything going. I already mentioned it but just disconnected and too often looked like they were a bunch of individuals out there and not a team.
Ditto on that first part. Tough crowd. It’ll be packed tomorrow night though hopefully the team can respond with more than one rouser.
Do you think it will be with the Homecoming parade happening? Will the students be out there boozing it up?
Javon Moore might want to break a sweat on the ice one of these games
he's been noticeable good and bad to me both weekends. The power move to the net vs MTU was nice. He flashed some speed at times last night. He looks tentative out there and kind of "floats". He's exactly the type of kid that seems like you could coach a little harder as he should be putting defensemen into the boards almost every shift he's out there. Just needs a sense of direction imo as the package is there, but super super raw.
Between the crowd and the product on the ice I thought I was watching a game from the late 2010s.
We’ll see what the guys have in their bag for tomorrow night because that was pretty meh. We knew this would be a process and a rebuild year but good lord that was tough to watch. I don’t even think BC was really that great but the Gophers just looked like they couldn’t get anything going. I already mentioned it but just disconnected and too often looked like they were a bunch of individuals out there and not a team.
Ditto on that first part. Tough crowd. It’ll be packed tomorrow night though hopefully the team can respond with more than one rouser.
Do you think it will be with the Homecoming parade happening? Will the students be out there boozing it up?
looking at the number of tickets online right now, it's going to be an ugly looking crowd again. The prices the U charges for hockey are going to kill the walkup market for what should've been a super easy way to sell a bunch of casual parents tickets if the prices weren't $40-60
Anyone have a guess as to how much of a cluster duck parking is going to be with the homecoming parade at 6pm tonight? I plan on trying to get there at 5 pm but don't have a parking pass. (if anyone has one for sale let me know)
Edit:Found one. You all are awesome
Anyone have a guess as to how much of a cluster duck parking is going to be with the homecoming parade at 6pm tonight? I plan on trying to get there at 5 pm but don't have a parking pass. (if anyone has one for sale let me know)
I am thinking it is going to be a mess haha. I pre-bought a 4th st ramp pass, so hopefully that works. We are planning on getting there at 4:30 and making a trip to the bars.
Javon Moore might want to break a sweat on the ice one of these games
he's been noticeable good and bad to me both weekends. The power move to the net vs MTU was nice. He flashed some speed at times last night. He looks tentative out there and kind of "floats". He's exactly the type of kid that seems like you could coach a little harder as he should be putting defensemen into the boards almost every shift he's out there. Just needs a sense of direction imo as the package is there, but super super raw.
Agreed on all comments. The problem is he has played this way his whole career. Doesn't engage in the play. Waits in the neutral zone trying to jump on loose pucks.
I’ve never done the pre pay at the ramps but wanted to do that for the game today. Does anyone know if there’s a certain time the event parking starts? Wanted to be up there early like 3:00 and I’m not sure if that’s too early for the event parking? Thanks!
“Good pace, a lot of north and south, or it could be east and west, I’m not sure but either way…” Wooger
Pohlad baseball ⚾️ it’s not arrogance, we really are “that good” #”Hey Siri, play “faithfully” by Journey max volume”
For me last night was definitely steps forward; some real positives but overshadowed but glaring weaknesses. Mooney is really fun to watch and some of those absolutely horrid blind passes to the other team will find their way out of his game.
Luedtke is a very nice add and I really feel like Hendrickson is so close to being a factor on a consistent basis
Growing pains for sure this year and I'm working very hard to change my mindset so I'm not so worked up during the games and enjoy the evolution.
Sadly I just don't see this team being over .500 this year. I'm ok with that so long as it means they are building for something.
My biggest question is where the new core of D is coming from. I'm not seeing anything on the roster that will be able to step in for Thomas and Mittelstadt next year let alone create depth.
Luke M and Whipple skating the puck out of our zone has been the most only effective breakout 3 games in.
I think they should shuffle lines each game until they find something that clicks. I believe it was stated above, but this team will need to rely on cohesion and chemistry between players to score goals.
Hot take but I thought the lines for the Tech series were good and I would’ve liked to keep them for a week. Just because our defensemen couldn’t get them the puck with any amount of time or space doesn’t mean the lines themselves are incorrect. Ziemer-Ludtke-Mooney was noticeable most times out on the ice. Hendrickson-Pahlsson-Pritchard was a good identity line that actually played below the dots. Clark and Lamb seem to have something together.
Obviously any coach would’ve shaken up the lines after the catastrophe that was Saturday vs Tech so I’m not really even calling out Bob on this I just felt I thought they could’ve worked if given a real chance.
Airey playing again. Javon moved to 4th line.
https://twitter.com/GopherHockey/status/1976754625245331732
I don’t mind playing Airey a second night. He definitely earned it after last night. If he wins play him Friday in Grand Forks, if he loses and they get swept go with Luca in Forks.
Let’s see what kind of pushback this team has
Airey playing again. Javon moved to 4th line.
To have a chance at winning Bob needs to get the top 2 forward lines out on the ice as much as possible. AS a mediocre team at best, that is how you create enough offense to have a chance at winning games. Sitting back and rotating through 4 lines is how you generate 14 shots/game. We just are not good enough to do that.
Back in the olden days it made some sense to play 4 lines because your top 6 forwards were getting a lot more power play minutes and often those same guys killed penalties too. But in today's college hockey power plays are rare. IN 5 games so far this season, we have had 5 power plays, less than 2 a game and we have had only 3 penalty kills, 1/game.
Bob needs to utilize every mechanism to get Mooney and the other top guys on the ice. TV time out? The top line comes out. Even in a normal situation this should be the case, but I can never get over the number of times Bob returns the team after a long TV timeout and there is the 4th line on the ice.
To have a chance at being competitive the coaches need to win the matchup battles especially at home when they have last change.
Students showed. Rest of the rink, let’s hope they file in here
Airey playing again. Javon moved to 4th line.
To have a chance at winning Bob needs to get the top 2 forward lines out on the ice as much as possible. AS a mediocre team at best, that is how you create enough offense to have a chance at winning games. Sitting back and rotating through 4 lines is how you generate 14 shots/game. We just are not good enough to do that.
Back in the olden days it made some sense to play 4 lines because your top 6 forwards were getting a lot more power play minutes and often those same guys killed penalties too. But in today's college hockey power plays are rare. IN 5 games so far this season, we have had 5 power plays, less than 2 a game and we have had only 3 penalty kills, 1/game.
Bob needs to utilize every mechanism to get Mooney and the other top guys on the ice. TV time out? The top line comes out. Even in a normal situation this should be the case, but I can never get over the number of times Bob returns the team after a long TV timeout and there is the 4th line on the ice.
To have a chance at being competitive the coaches need to win the matchup battles especially at home when they have last change.
he needs to stop putting the 4th line out for offensive faceoffs, basically ever.
BOOOOOOM!!!!
We registered a shot!!!! Hooray!
When you tell somebody somethin', it depends on what part of the United States you're standin' in... as to just how dumb you are.
That’s a call I guess. Yikes
I can’t believe Hendrickson passed there. Jesus.
Forecheck leads to goals. Moore 1-1
1-1 end of 1