We started physical but didn’t keep it up. UMD is good, we have some youth at key positions and they will get better. D is going to have to play physical and move bodies instead of trying to play the puck.
From the day Faber stepped on campus in Fall 2000 until March 2025 (for 5 straight years) Gophers had a very talented, deep roster. And in 2023 they were an absolute WAGON. But with the numerous early departures at the end of last season, without pulling in 5-6 players from the transfer portal (like NORTH DAKOTA has been doing) Gophers were going to take a step back this year…and they have, it’s that simple. You can’t lose guys like Snuggy & Rinzel and not feel it. But what’s really hurt them is guys like Chelsey, Kurth & Moore leaving when all are in the AHL. UMD is much improved from past 2-3 years, Plante, Shaugbay, Plante are a damn good line & effective on the PP. Gajan is a good goalie. Kleber, Hanson & Pionk are solid D. And I thought Airey made several good saves in the 3rd period too. FR Moe played really well too. But guys like Lamb, Zeimer & Clark need to step up along with Luke Mittelstadt. Mooney is fun to watch too, but he’s a FR & isn’t his cousin talent wise…very few are.You could see this coming from March. You can’t lose 9 high caliber college hockey players and replace them with freshman who are on the 3-4 year development curve and expect to compete.
I still like the outlook of this team in 26-27 & 27-28 but this year is gonna be rough. Play the young guys, get them minutes.
Pahlsson has got to figure it out. He has not impressed me at all beyond a handful of games last year vs. Wisconsin and… Mercyhurst. A random Peewee B could probably also get 15 assists just by playing with Snuggerud, Rinzel, Koster, Ziemer all the time, like he did last year.
He plays a very soft passive game, I don't think he has what it takes mentally to be an impact player at this level of hockey.
Pahlsson is brutal. No other way around it.
Ludtke was a healthy scratch.
Sounded like an "uninjured, but not healthy" scratch. If there is a bug going through the locker room and he just has it worse today, that could explain how bad last night looked all around.Ludtke was a healthy scratch.
Friday night the Gophers were dominated. Tonight was more of an effort, they ran into a hot goalie this weekend. The refs were terrible tonight!
Hopefully the Gophers turn things around and get another crack at UMD in the tournament.
Go Gophers! 
Ludtke was a healthy scratch.
Bob on the radio said he’ll miss a few weeks. If it’s not an injury idk what the hell it could be.
Rombach was recruited and drafted on his ability to play boring hockey effectively. He needs to be a little more boring right now.
Rombach was recruited and drafted on his ability to play boring hockey effectively. He needs to be a little more boring right now.
He's just not ready to play at this level.
You need only look at my signature block to get my general opinion on B1G refs, but I didn't see any real problem with them this weekend. Certainly not compared to what we saw last weekendThe refs were terrible tonight!
You need only look at my signature block to get my general opinion on B1G refs, but I didn't see any real problem with them this weekend. Certainly not compared to what we saw last weekendThe refs were terrible tonight!
Hope this works. Classic clip of Don Adams.
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.
It is though, to argue that team deserved to win that game the way they played would be delusional, they played to run out the clock ala a Hastings/Sandelin team but that roster wasn’t constructed to win games like that in the first place. They got gifted the first goal by a goalie misplay behind the net in a relatively even game and had a 2-0 lead but after that the game was literally unwatchable, you couldn’t pay me enough money to watch that game back. They threw the puck around and iced it about as many times as they had all year over the course of two periods and the rest is history.You're not wrong but they definitely didn't deserve to win that game and they didn't so here we are.
“Deserving” to win that game is not the correct way to look at it. They stormed out to a 2-0 lead early with contributions from our depth players, top line grinded out lots of chances well into that hellish 3rd period. Our defense played impeccably well, beyond the entire team struggling to break out late. Yes, 15-2 shots in the 3rd, but the shot chart itself is mind-boggling; QU only had like 1-2 shots inside the house over the entire 3rd, and got basically zero second chances.
If the roles were reversed and we were unable to tie it late despite a push like that, our opponent would absolutely be viewed as deserving the win. See: last year’s losses vs. Bemidji and then vs. Notre Dame in game 1 of B1G playoffs.
Obviously none of that matters now, the talent level of the team is way down and needs to be coached up to be successful but… they scored one goal in two games at home vs Duluth. Injuries certainly didn’t help but one injury to this squad means you have Begley in and tonight you also had the Augsburg guy playing. I can’t say I’m surprised, even without the injuries I kinda doubt the outcome would’ve been drastically different.
Rombach was recruited and drafted on his ability to play boring hockey effectively. He needs to be a little more boring right now.
Rombach is 2nd on the team in +/- at 4. Only Hendrickson is ahead of him at 6. So I think he is doing just fine.
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11 new faces this year. top 5 scorers from last year gone. We need to Manage our Expectations as the underclassmen develop to the college game. Yes, we all want Frozen Four teams every year but there are times you need to rebuild.
Rombach was recruited and drafted on his ability to play boring hockey effectively. He needs to be a little more boring right now.
Rombach is 2nd on the team in +/- at 4. Only Hendrickson is ahead of him at 6. So I think he is doing just fine.
No, he’s not fine. That stat has been argued to be useless and misleading for years with good examples to support that theory. He and McLaughlin are both in over their head. Actually feel bad for Rombach and McLaughlin. It’s the coach that has failed them with the position he put them in.
The sheer arrogance Motzko showed in the spring/summer with Canada and the portal an option and still think they are fine should be mind boggling and unacceptable to all.
He fumbled the roster construction 2 years ago and did it again this year. But hey, 27’-28’ here we come!
11 new faces this year. top 5 scorers from last year gone. We need to Manage our Expectations as the underclassmen develop to the college game. Yes, we all want Frozen Four teams every year but there are times you need to rebuild.
You’re not wrong but one goal over an entire home series and looking completely lost for the better part of two games is rough.
They did not look lost last night. The difference in that game was special teams. 5-on-5 Gophers had the edge but just couldn't leverage it for goals.
Look, you can't sugar coat the fact that 2-5-1 just flat out isn't good enough, but you also have to give credit where it is due. Last night was a good effort against a good team. UMD is much better than they have been the past 2 years
Since a lot of negatives have been beaten into the ground in this thread, and rightfully so after the weekend at hand, I thought I’d throw out a positive I noticed:
John Whipple’s development curve has been the steepest of all the underclassmen so far. Amazing what a bit of confidence can do to a players psyche. He looks like a completely different player with the puck than he did even 3 series ago. Still has a ways to go but the growth is promising.
Since a lot of negatives have been beaten into the ground in this thread, and rightfully so after the weekend at hand, I thought I’d throw out a positive I noticed:
John Whipple’s development curve has been the steepest of all the underclassmen so far. Amazing what a bit of confidence can do to a players psyche. He looks like a completely different player with the puck than he did even 3 series ago. Still has a ways to go but the growth is promising.
Weird how this works. A freshman defender gets time, doesn’t always look the best, but get the experience and improves year over year. Almost as if that’s the plan for McLaughlin and Rombach. They will improve, but it’s not always visible week to week.
I was told player developm---
Not Faber, not LaCombe, not Johnson, Lamb, Nelson, Meyers, Blake M, Bryce, Reedy....
I'll admit I didn't watch yesterday's game super closely, I sorta skimmed through a lot of it after drinking a bit at a party. The expected goals was basically 2-2 so they probably deserved better than a 4-1 loss to your point. That said 1 goal over an entire home series is brutal no matter who this team plays against.They did not look lost last night. The difference in that game was special teams. 5-on-5 Gophers had the edge but just couldn't leverage it for goals.
Look, you can't sugar coat the fact that 2-5-1 just flat out isn't good enough, but you also have to give credit where it is due. Last night was a good effort against a good team. UMD is much better than they have been the past 2 years
Since a lot of negatives have been beaten into the ground in this thread, and rightfully so after the weekend at hand, I thought I’d throw out a positive I noticed:
John Whipple’s development curve has been the steepest of all the underclassmen so far. Amazing what a bit of confidence can do to a players psyche. He looks like a completely different player with the puck than he did even 3 series ago. Still has a ways to go but the growth is promising.
Weird how this works. A freshman defender gets time, doesn’t always look the best, but get the experience and improves year over year. Almost as if that’s the plan for McLaughlin and Rombach. They will improve, but it’s not always visible week to week.
Whipple played in 29 out of the possible 40 games last year. The last time he saw the ice his freshman year was Jan 31st against Wisconsin. And even on that night he only saw 02:57 of ice time. He didn’t play because he wasn’t ready or good enough. Rombach and McLaughlin don’t have that luxury this year.
I was told player developm---
Not Faber, not LaCombe, not Johnson, Lamb, Nelson, Meyers, Blake M, Bryce, Reedy....
When Faber, LaCombe, and Johnson came in, they were all immediately our most reliable defenders for their respective roles. Lamb, Brodz, Nelson, and Reedy all played heavily sheltered minutes when they were freshmen, sometimes as a sophomore-junior too. Blake McLaughlin is not the best example here because he didn’t develop all that much as a player and his role actually diminished over four years. Meyers was a 20 or 21y/o freshman.
I was told player developm---
Not Faber, not LaCombe, not Johnson, Lamb, Nelson, Meyers, Blake M, Bryce, Reedy....
When Faber, LaCombe, and Johnson came in, they were all immediately our most reliable defenders for their respective roles. Lamb, Brodz, Nelson, and Reedy all played heavily sheltered minutes when they were freshmen, sometimes as a sophomore-junior too. Blake McLaughlin is not the best example here because he didn’t develop all that much as a player and his role actually diminished over four years. Meyers was a 20 or 21y/o freshman.
don't know if I quite agree with the first part. People were ready to pull the plug on Lacombe (foolishly) his freshman year, which in huge part was because he came straight in from Shattuck. They did have some capable guys around as well in Nanne, Zuhlsdorf, and Brinkman, though I get what you're saying. The rest I agree with and its the unfortunate part of we have nowhere to hide most of these guys to develop nor are they as good as the crew you're mentioning at this same point in time and that 19-20 team was not very good either despite playing in a down big ten.
Get what people are saying in that this group will need to develop, but the difference in trajectory is you were developing 1st and 2nd rounders on defense who then were your pillars for incoming forward talent. Hopefully this is the grouping that will take its lumps like Bob's first 2 years and rebuild, but going to need more kids to look like Whipple (who was also written off way too early) to say it looks encouraging given we're starting from a group that looks to have lower ceilings and floors
Yeah I was gonna make a similar reply, I wouldn’t argue that Motzko can’t develop talent at all but he had a lot more to work with in the group of players being mentioned. Also you’re probably never gonna see guys get a fifth year like Nelson and BB did, that certainly don’t hurt because they were long projects. BB might’ve developed quicker if he got to play with Nelson and more compatible line mates too, it never really made sense having him play with the speed demons.I was told player developm---
Not Faber, not LaCombe, not Johnson, Lamb, Nelson, Meyers, Blake M, Bryce, Reedy....
When Faber, LaCombe, and Johnson came in, they were all immediately our most reliable defenders for their respective roles. Lamb, Brodz, Nelson, and Reedy all played heavily sheltered minutes when they were freshmen, sometimes as a sophomore-junior too. Blake McLaughlin is not the best example here because he didn’t develop all that much as a player and his role actually diminished over four years. Meyers was a 20 or 21y/o freshman.
I was told player developm---
Not Faber, not LaCombe, not Johnson, Lamb, Nelson, Meyers, Blake M, Bryce, Reedy....
When Faber, LaCombe, and Johnson came in, they were all immediately our most reliable defenders for their respective roles. Lamb, Brodz, Nelson, and Reedy all played heavily sheltered minutes when they were freshmen, sometimes as a sophomore-junior too. Blake McLaughlin is not the best example here because he didn’t develop all that much as a player and his role actually diminished over four years. Meyers was a 20 or 21y/o freshman.
The fact is all 3 of Faber, LaCombe and Johnson improved year over year and regardless of supposed "sheltered minutes" those subsequent players left as better players including BM who's point totals were 20, 24, 28 and 33 respectively. Yes his PPG did regress a bit his final year, but you can't claim one year means he didn't leave better than he arrived. And now being an older Fr negates progression? Going from 26 pts to 28 and 41 is just something that happens I guess.
Look I'm all for a rational discussion about Bob leaving but let's keep it actually rational.
It only took 8 games, but the noble GPL community is getting into full meltdown.
Usually I am angry and irrational on here.
Let the season do the talking re: development.
Bob made the comment about letting the team fight through it Friday. Well he’ll need to fight through this season and reflect on CHL and portal decisions he did or didn’t make and take the opportunity to correct. I am OK letting him see out his contract as he’s earned the opportunity to fight for a Natty as HC before he retires.
Much like the Vikings, the Gophers are saying without saying, "This is a rebuilding year." If good things happen, yay. If not, *shrug*.
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.
I was told player developm---
Not Faber, not LaCombe, not Johnson, Lamb, Nelson, Meyers, Blake M, Bryce, Reedy....
When Faber, LaCombe, and Johnson came in, they were all immediately our most reliable defenders for their respective roles. Lamb, Brodz, Nelson, and Reedy all played heavily sheltered minutes when they were freshmen, sometimes as a sophomore-junior too. Blake McLaughlin is not the best example here because he didn’t develop all that much as a player and his role actually diminished over four years. Meyers was a 20 or 21y/o freshman.
You do not remember Jackson LaCombe’s freshman year like I do
I was told player developm---
Not Faber, not LaCombe, not Johnson, Lamb, Nelson, Meyers, Blake M, Bryce, Reedy....
When Faber, LaCombe, and Johnson came in, they were all immediately our most reliable defenders for their respective roles. Lamb, Brodz, Nelson, and Reedy all played heavily sheltered minutes when they were freshmen, sometimes as a sophomore-junior too. Blake McLaughlin is not the best example here because he didn’t develop all that much as a player and his role actually diminished over four years. Meyers was a 20 or 21y/o freshman.
don't know if I quite agree with the first part. People were ready to pull the plug on Lacombe (foolishly) his freshman year... They did have some capable guys around as well in Nanne, Zuhlsdorf, and Brinkman, though I get what you're saying. The rest I agree with and its the unfortunate part of we have nowhere to hide most of these guys to develop nor are they as good as the crew you're mentioning at this same point in time and that 19-20 team was not very good either despite playing in a down big ten.
Yeah I mean, I still remember those days when Nanne would get penciled in at 2nd line RW, with like 2 or 3 goals on the year from him because aside from the Ranta-Meyers line and flashes from Sammy/Blake, we just could not create consistent offense to save our lives. Even when that team went on a run down the stretch it was a lot of 1-0, 3-2 type Ws, before COVID denied us a crack at then-dominant PSU (B1G semis were gonna be the best possible circumstances for us that year too).
Hopefully this is the grouping that will take its lumps like Bob's first 2 years and rebuild
Everyone likes to talk about the success stories of Faber, Johnson, LaCombe as long-term investments but no one ever seems to bring up the guys from those years who fell by the wayside. Like Stucker, Burke, Brinkman, Perbix among others all never really lived up to their respective potentials as Gophers. And it’s especially bizarre to see people cite Brodzinski (everyone’s #1 whipping boy right up until the day he left) positively, when talking about players who developed well over a longer timeframe.
all that to say: I think that it’s going to get worse before it gets better, and it’s going to be brutal to watch. But, we should be able to turn it around fairly quickly, and a brief downturn is okay given our success over the last 5ish years. Not all of these guys are going to pan out, but hopefully enough will.
You do not remember Jackson LaCombe’s freshman year like I do
It was my junior year at the U. He was the only one capable of running a powerplay night in night out. Versus Nanne who was a one-timer merchant. Our next-best option for QBing the PP after him and Johnson that year was… Robbie Stucker.
I was told player developm---
Not Faber, not LaCombe, not Johnson, Lamb, Nelson, Meyers, Blake M, Bryce, Reedy....
When Faber, LaCombe, and Johnson came in, they were all immediately our most reliable defenders for their respective roles. Lamb, Brodz, Nelson, and Reedy all played heavily sheltered minutes when they were freshmen, sometimes as a sophomore-junior too. Blake McLaughlin is not the best example here because he didn’t develop all that much as a player and his role actually diminished over four years. Meyers was a 20 or 21y/o freshman.
The fact is all 3 of Faber, LaCombe and Johnson improved year over year and regardless of supposed "sheltered minutes" those subsequent players left as better players including BM who's point totals were 20, 24, 28 and 33 respectively. Yes his PPG did regress a bit his final year, but you can't claim one year means he didn't leave better than he arrived. And now being an older Fr negates progression? Going from 26 pts to 28 and 41 is just something that happens I guess.
Look I'm all for a rational discussion about Bob leaving but let's keep it actually rational.
(1) as to Blake, his deployment changed significantly; as a senior he was able to focus on offense and closing out PKs most of the time, with a vastly improved defense to break out of our end and contribute some offensive support, instead of Blake being relied upon to do it all for entire games like he was in 2018-2020.
(2) an older and frankly better freshman, like Meyers was, makes much fewer glaring errors that potentially decide a game, can be trusted w/ critical roles sooner, etc.
