McManus with his 1st AHL goal.
[media] https://twitter.com/abbycanucks/status/1512629575846572032 [/media]
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Russo talks with Mike Guentzel on his podcast. Covers everything from Jake, his days at the U, players he coached and Ben Meyers. Russo asked a lot of Gopher questions, including a lot about this years team. Mike talks a mile a minute...
[media] https://twitter.com/RussoHockey/status/1513556646764720135 [/media]
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[media] https://twitter.com/MarkDivver/status/1514017231730094089 [/media]
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La free fall
La free fall
Professional hockey is a difficult road. Look at the last several goalis: LaFontaine, Robson, Schierhorn, Wilcox.
Lots of awards including Richter and Big Ten Goalie of Year. All American teams. Hobey Baker Finalist.
Wilcox's career is over at 27 with 1 total NHL game played.
Schierhorn only played 2 years of professional hockey, one partial year in ECHL after he left U and one foreign season.
Robson is bouncing between AHL and ECHL and that generally means that your career has peaked.
And LaFontaine is going to that status in a hurry.
Pro hockey is such a dire reality that sometimes I wish most of the kids would just play their 4 year college career. I get there is money involved, but the signing bonuses aren't all that massive anymore and I think the prestige of playing for a major college hockey team is better than riding the bus for the Norfolk Admirals.
I think that the NHL should push their draft picks to stay all 4 years in college (which would require a change in their draft protection rules).
I believe that college hockey players should enter their freshman year much earlier, and the NHL pushing their draftees to stay 4 years would give entering freshman incentives to start earlier. If all college teams had younger freshman, the level of play would match.
Get that experience. GET THAT DEGREE. The NHL should be pushing this and when you see all of the kids who will not have their dreams fulfilled, facing reality at a very young age, this makes a lot of sense.
Lots of awards but everyone with eyes saw this would happen.
I think that the NHL should push their draft picks to stay all 4 years in college (which would require a change in their draft protection rules).
I believe that college hockey players should enter their freshman year much earlier, and the NHL pushing their draftees to stay 4 years would give entering freshman incentives to start earlier. If all college teams had younger freshman, the level of play would match.
And all the good players will go to the CHL. No thanks.
"The level of play would match" What does that mean? The level of play overall would go down.
I would say at least get rid of the third year of juniors post HS graduation first. And eventually hopefully the second year, or shift the second year to be the third year rule (limited players).
Lots of awards but everyone with eyes saw this would happen.
Sure. These are young men. The leap from college hockey to the NHL or even the AHL is huge.
Lots of awards but everyone with eyes saw this would happen.
Sure. These are young men. The leap from college hockey to the NHL or even the AHL is huge.
Particularly for goaltenders.
Not sure where to put this, so I will toss it in here.
[media] https://twitter.com/MN_NorthStars/status/1514621441479790594 [/media]
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Oh man that is so sad. He was one of my favorites. 
“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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Oh man that is so sad. He was one of my favorites.
Cicarelli-Broten-McCarthy line was an all timer
I'm a little young to remember him but I recognized the name. It's from watching old replays of North Stars games with my dad. Looked him up, guy's life could be a movie!
?
Ben Meyers' NHL debut. :dup:
https://twitter.com/Avalanche/status/1515513518392549385?cxt=HHwWkoC5wf7gl4gqAAAA
Oh man that is so sad. He was one of my favorites.
Jughead was a real character, that's for sure.
Mike Bossy, RIP
https://twitter.com/penguins/status/1516801482896687105
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https://twitter.com/GopherHockey/status/1517866544944005121
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Haula...
https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1518387166665228294
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Best Wishes Chaz ( not quite certain of the number games you played, but was looking forward to watching you next season . . . )
Not knowing what to do, they do what they know . . .
Knowing what to do, they sometime don't do it . . .
The 26th year of the Gopher Men's Hockey Profile got to be too much for this ol' codger to handle . . . what with all of the possible activity on the transfer portal . . . . So, I'm closing it down at the 25th year . . .
Laffer rejoins the NHL Jennings Award winning goaltending group up in Carolina for the start of the playoffs.
https://twitter.com/SaraCivian/status/1521228892832415750
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But I'm 99% sure they don't get paid during the playoffs.
Looks like his career earning so far are about 150K, 89K of which came from signing. No contract beyond this year yet.
I think they get a "playoff bonus" from the NHLPA based on how far their teams advance. It isn't very much though I'm sure.
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Better than nothing
Carolina's current goalie situation--
Anderson-- Injured before playoffs
Raanta-- Started in place of the injured Anderson
Kochetkov -- Replaced Raanta after he got hurt tonight
Laffer-- Currently the 3rd goalie on the roster and will be the backup if Raanta can't dress on Friday...
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Carolina goalie doesn't speak any English, gotta be tough
Definitely the one position where you can get away with it. And I doubt he’s the first NHLer that couldn’t speak English.
Laffer is ready for action.
https://twitter.com/emilymkaplan/status/1522013406433361920
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Laffer is ready for action.
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I hope they at least gave him a tv to watch the game. ?
Why does he have to wait in a chem lab?
Laffer is ready for action.
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"Put me in coach. I'm ready to play"
Time permitting I've been watching the USA games, and Ben has really stood out and making the Gophers proud. He's definitely ready to make the jump, but his goal scoring ability will be sorely missed. Tough to replace a guy with such a knack to score from the "dirty areas".
Time permitting I’ve been watching the USA games, and Ben has really stood out and making the Gophers proud. He’s definitely ready to make the jump, but his goal scoring ability will be sorely missed. Tough to replace a guy with such a knack to score from the “dirty areas”.
I felt Meyer's best play for the Gophers was in the second half of this past season. Before that, he was good but a little inconsistent.
He's one of these kids who was a little overlooked coming out of high school and really improved steadily in college. Good kid and hopefully a productive career ahead of him.
It’s always interesting to see who sticks in the NHL and who doesn’t. When they were on campus people were saying Novak was too soft and Reedy was too slow to crack the NHL yet here we are. And then there’s guys like Fasching that seemingly have every tool in the toolbox but just can’t seem to make it work in the NHL for whatever reason.
It’s always interesting to see who sticks in the NHL and who doesn’t. When they were on campus people were saying Novak was too soft and Reedy was too slow to crack the NHL yet here we are. And then there’s guys like Fasching that seemingly have every tool in the toolbox but just can’t seem to make it work in the NHL for whatever reason.
And then you have Justin Holl. Steady improvement over his college and NHL career.
It’s always interesting to see who sticks in the NHL and who doesn’t. When they were on campus people were saying Novak was too soft and Reedy was too slow to crack the NHL yet here we are. And then there’s guys like Fasching that seemingly have every tool in the toolbox but just can’t seem to make it work in the NHL for whatever reason.
And then you have Justin Holl. Steady improvement over his college and NHL career.
Yep. Justin Holl is the biggest shock to me in awhile. Fine college player. Did not expect him to have the NHL career he’s having. Good for him.
A few former Skippers have had more than a cup of coffee in the NHL lately. 
It’s always interesting to see who sticks in the NHL and who doesn’t. When they were on campus people were saying Novak was too soft and Reedy was too slow to crack the NHL yet here we are. And then there’s guys like Fasching that seemingly have every tool in the toolbox but just can’t seem to make it work in the NHL for whatever reason.
During his freshman year, Fasching looked like a lock NHL player to me. Agree that Novak looked too soft.
I'm not as shocked by Reedy and Holl.
It’s always interesting to see who sticks in the NHL and who doesn’t. When they were on campus people were saying Novak was too soft and Reedy was too slow to crack the NHL yet here we are. And then there’s guys like Fasching that seemingly have every tool in the toolbox but just can’t seem to make it work in the NHL for whatever reason.
During his freshman year, Fasching looked like a lock NHL player to me. Agree that Novak looked too soft.
I’m not as shocked by Reedy and Holl.
Even professional scouts have a hard time projecting high school and college kids as NHL talent. There's just no surefire way to determine if they'll make the climb to the NHL from where they're at in college or high school. Then you have players who look NHL ready, such as Jordan Shroeder, who can't translate his game to the NHL.
Novak has some skills and can skate. Those are great fundamentals, but I doubt there are many fans or even professional talent evaluators who had him as a lock to play in the NHL. He did play soft for the Gophers and did not in any way dominate at the college level.
Players like Holl and Novak are good examples of what can happen if you're patient and work hard. You just never know until you give it your best shot.
https://twitter.com/usahockey/status/1534656519777681409
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Carolina does not extend a qualifying offer to Laffer. He now becomes a free agent. It was a nice run 
https://twitter.com/chrismpeters/status/1546604318735859714
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Ryan Johnson's Dad has a new job.
https://twitter.com/AnaheimDucks/status/1546630161843425280
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Carolina does not extend a qualifying offer to Laffer. He now becomes a free agent. It was a nice run
There were teams waiting for LaFontaine's draft rights to expire to sign him, but I wonder how many of those clubs will still be interested. One of the weirdest prospect stories I can remember. 75 minutes of NHL playing time after leaving Minnesota late in the season. https://t.co/AoYOWQVNFs — Chris Peters (@chrismpeters) July 11, 2022
Will the wild sign him and send him to Iowa?
Aloha!
Carolina does not extend a qualifying offer to Laffer. He now becomes a free agent. It was a nice run
There were teams waiting for LaFontaine’s draft rights to expire to sign him, but I wonder how many of those clubs will still be interested. One of the weirdest prospect stories I can remember. 75 minutes of NHL playing time after leaving Minnesota late in the season. https://t.co/AoYOWQVNFs — Chris Peters (@chrismpeters) July 11, 2022
Will the wild sign him and send him to Iowa?
I'm not sure how any of us would know the answer to that, but would you really want him in the Wild system if he didn't play for the U? He hasn't played well since the 2020-21 season.
The 2022 Roseau Hockey Reunion is a wrap. Thanks to all the volunteers that helped to make it a success. Check out our Facebook page for more photos/videos from Saturday night’s festivities. @RoseauRam @ramhockey pic.twitter.com/wGq5QAI0VO— Roseau Rams Hockey Assoc (@RamsAssoc) July 17, 2022
Is Aaron really wearing socks and sandals? 😛