The fact we’re even entertaining the idea Motzko would be replaced is laughable. The guy recruited Logan Cooley and Cole Eiserman to play for the Gophers. That alone is reason to keep him. Reason 1 of many.
Only with Gopher Hockey do we have people talking about moving on from the Coach of the Year recognized by college hockey and his conference because of one bad period, moving on from a 19 goal scoring player that could take advantage of an extra year to play college hockey when Minnesota is usually one of the youngest rosters in college hockey and thinking one of the team's top centers should just go play minor league hockey since he's not good enough to be an NHL anyway because the fans would like new blood at one of the most difficult positions to acclimate in the Big Ten.
One heck of a year... a dissapointing 20 minutes and 10 seconds.
Age is merely a factor. Sure, a 25 year old ham and egger with little upside probably doesn't do you much good.Who went and changed the rules about bringing facts?I don't care what any of you think.
We need to get older and bigger especially now that we are playing on a NHL sheet full time.
Quinnipiac was a whole 1 year and 2 months older on average than us. SCCC was older than them and we beat them. Canisius was one of the oldest teams in the country and we beat them. Boston University was older than us and we beat them too. Ohio State was older than Quinnipiac and Quinnipiac beat them. Look at the oldest teams in the nation how many of them made the tourney? Of the 20 oldest teams in the nation 4 made the tournament. (Canisius, Mankato, Ohio State and Michigan Tech) 3 of the 4 lost in the first round. Ohio State lost in the second round to the eventual champ who was younger than them. Of the 20 youngest teams in the nation 5 made the tournament. (Minnesota, Michigan, Harvard, Boston University and Denver) 3 made it out of the first round and those 3 all made the Frozen Four with of course 1 playing for the title.
Age is a convenient excuse and it is lazy. Minnesota and Michigan were the two youngest teams in the nation and they both made the Frozen Four. (just like last year) They didn't lose because of age, they lost because of a lot of different factors not the least of which was Quinnipiac was a lot better than most of us gave them credit for. Hell everyone seemed to fear a game with Michigan for the title and they were friggin younger than us!
tl;dr: facts disprove your hypothesis.
But then you have players like LaComb and Brodzinski, for example, who both showed a noticeable jump in development from last season to this one. That single year made a big difference. Imagine if those guys came in as 20 or 21 year old freshmen? Brodzinski would be in the middle of his college playing career, not at the end.
I wouldn't minimize at all what a year or year and a half means to a player in this age group. Some kids grow a few inches after they leave high school. For a team that relies on system hockey versus skill, maturity is probably even more important. Bigger, older guys win puck battles.
I can't venture a guess at what advantage it was for Q this season, but apparently they loaded up with the right transfers--and they weren't 18 year olds.
NMU has no pressure compared to what he will see at the U. I mean the parents alone...
Are you serious? Didn't Lucia famously once say, "Hey, I don't deal with parents".
There was a clip posted a few months ago where he alluded to a part of the job he hated was hockey parents. Plenty of stories out there from his time of parents who were PITA.
wasn’t it something like the only job better than his would be running an orphanage - because there are no parents?! I’m sure someone can find the clip. ?
Yep!
Who went and changed the rules about bringing facts?I don't care what any of you think.
We need to get older and bigger especially now that we are playing on a NHL sheet full time.
Quinnipiac was a whole 1 year and 2 months older on average than us. SCCC was older than them and we beat them. Canisius was one of the oldest teams in the country and we beat them. Boston University was older than us and we beat them too. Ohio State was older than Quinnipiac and Quinnipiac beat them. Look at the oldest teams in the nation how many of them made the tourney? Of the 20 oldest teams in the nation 4 made the tournament. (Canisius, Mankato, Ohio State and Michigan Tech) 3 of the 4 lost in the first round. Ohio State lost in the second round to the eventual champ who was younger than them. Of the 20 youngest teams in the nation 5 made the tournament. (Minnesota, Michigan, Harvard, Boston University and Denver) 3 made it out of the first round and those 3 all made the Frozen Four with of course 1 playing for the title.
Age is a convenient excuse and it is lazy. Minnesota and Michigan were the two youngest teams in the nation and they both made the Frozen Four. (just like last year) They didn't lose because of age, they lost because of a lot of different factors not the least of which was Quinnipiac was a lot better than most of us gave them credit for. Hell everyone seemed to fear a game with Michigan for the title and they were friggin younger than us!
tl;dr: facts disprove your hypothesis.
Sorry my bad!
BLAME SNUGGY AND PITLICK!!!!!
We need to be careful about why a coaching change. It's a rumor based on Bob retiring, not on the U wanting a change.
Is there an actual rumor or is it just one poster's wishful thinking?
Regarding the "get older" b.s.:
32 teams were older than Q this season including Mankato, Ohio State, Michigan Tech, Western Michigan and Penn State.
For recent champions:
Denver's average age last year was 21.4.
UMASS was 21.9
UMD was 21.6 in '18 and '19
Denver 21.9
UND 21.2
Providence 21.1
Anyway today I was walking around Yangon with a Gophers T, a hat on and a smile on my face for the first time since the loss after reading through the Former Players thread. Really happy for those guys.
Plenty to be grateful for and plenty of reason to be optimistic for next year.
Age is merely a factor. Sure, a 25 year old ham and egger with little upside probably doesn't do you much good.Who went and changed the rules about bringing facts?I don't care what any of you think.
We need to get older and bigger especially now that we are playing on a NHL sheet full time.
Quinnipiac was a whole 1 year and 2 months older on average than us. SCCC was older than them and we beat them. Canisius was one of the oldest teams in the country and we beat them. Boston University was older than us and we beat them too. Ohio State was older than Quinnipiac and Quinnipiac beat them. Look at the oldest teams in the nation how many of them made the tourney? Of the 20 oldest teams in the nation 4 made the tournament. (Canisius, Mankato, Ohio State and Michigan Tech) 3 of the 4 lost in the first round. Ohio State lost in the second round to the eventual champ who was younger than them. Of the 20 youngest teams in the nation 5 made the tournament. (Minnesota, Michigan, Harvard, Boston University and Denver) 3 made it out of the first round and those 3 all made the Frozen Four with of course 1 playing for the title.
Age is a convenient excuse and it is lazy. Minnesota and Michigan were the two youngest teams in the nation and they both made the Frozen Four. (just like last year) They didn't lose because of age, they lost because of a lot of different factors not the least of which was Quinnipiac was a lot better than most of us gave them credit for. Hell everyone seemed to fear a game with Michigan for the title and they were friggin younger than us!
tl;dr: facts disprove your hypothesis.
But then you have players like LaComb and Brodzinski, for example, who both showed a noticeable jump in development from last season to this one. That single year made a big difference. Imagine if those guys came in as 20 or 21 year old freshmen? Brodzinski would be in the middle of his college playing career, not at the end.
I wouldn't minimize at all what a year or year and a half means to a player in this age group. Some kids grow a few inches after they leave high school. For a team that relies on system hockey versus skill, maturity is probably even more important. Bigger, older guys win puck battles.
I can't venture a guess at what advantage it was for Q this season, but apparently they loaded up with the right transfers--and they weren't 18 year olds.
Like I said, age is a factor, but if all it took was older players to win the Frozen Four would have looked very different. Talent is needed and Quinnipiac had plenty of it despite what some claim. They were in the top 4 all year (top 2 a lot of it) it isn't like they were conference qualifier.
This isn't like when Mariucci refused to play Denver because they recruited guys who were already collecting pensions...
wasn’t it something like the only job better than his would be running an orphanage - because there are no parents?! I’m sure someone can find the clip. ?
It is in the first 30 seconds of this video/speech.
Clearly it was like a Comedy Central roast.
That being said, being a coach dealing with sports parents is not great. I have been fortunate to coach kids with 99% of the parents are great…friends even. But there is always 1 or 2 parents every season that is that parent.
I would expect Bob to know and understand how parents are these days, but part of me what’s to give Lucia a pass on it due to the different “generations” of coaches. I struggled for 2-3 years of coaching before I understood that not all parents were like mine and those that spent equal money to play association hockey, why they didn’t get equal playing time. Now I get it.
Curious if anyone thinks we might grab someone in the porthole? Can't help but notice there is a 40 point guy (jr) from Mankato in there. I find myself wondering what that becomes on an offensive oriented team. I feel like scoring will still be good next year, but we'll be missing a piece.
We Obviously can't replace Faber and LaCombe, but I still think the defense will be pretty strong next year.
For the first part I’d be curious to know how much of that was PP based production, there’s only so many spots to go around there. But I get what you’re saying.Curious if anyone thinks we might grab someone in the porthole? Can't help but notice there is a 40 point guy (jr) from Mankato in there. I find myself wondering what that becomes on an offensive oriented team. I feel like scoring will still be good next year, but we'll be missing a piece.
We Obviously can't replace Faber and LaCombe, but I still think the defense will be pretty strong next year.
As for the D I agree, I think post 2014/15 they missed badly on the D recruiting (specifically ones with offensive ability and above average passing) and it really bit them in the ass for years to come. Next year Luke Mittlestadt and Koster should be back so I’m not worried about having at least two offensive Dmen who can QB the power play. You also have Staudechar coming back. Guys like Thomas and Chesley should improve. It’s not quite as stacked but should still be effective at transitioning and giving the offense room to operate.
Curious if anyone thinks we might grab someone in the porthole? Can't help but notice there is a 40 point guy (jr) from Mankato in there. I find myself wondering what that becomes on an offensive oriented team. I feel like scoring will still be good next year, but we'll be missing a piece.
We Obviously can't replace Faber and LaCombe, but I still think the defense will be pretty strong next year.
If we get 24 and 22 back we shouldn’t have to look to the portal. If those two come back AND Cooley stays we’re literally only replacing Knies. We have Moore and Hendrickson coming in so we’ll be fine as long as we don’t lose over 2 forwards. I like our chances of getting 24 and 22 back. Cooley idk. I guess Schmidt graduated too.
In terms of D we won’t be as good as this year obviously but we’ll still have the best d core on paper for what, the 4th year in a row? Rinzel should step right in and QB a PP unit.
Curious if anyone thinks we might grab someone in the porthole? Can't help but notice there is a 40 point guy (jr) from Mankato in there. I find myself wondering what that becomes on an offensive oriented team. I feel like scoring will still be good next year, but we'll be missing a piece.
We Obviously can't replace Faber and LaCombe, but I still think the defense will be pretty strong next year.
If we get 24 and 22 back we shouldn’t have to look to the portal. If those two come back AND Cooley stays we’re literally only replacing Knies. We have Moore and Hendrickson coming in so we’ll be fine as long as we don’t lose over 2 forwards. I like our chances of getting 24 and 22 back. Cooley idk. I guess Schmidt graduated too.
In terms of D we won’t be as good as this year obviously but we’ll still have the best d core on paper for what, the 4th year in a row? Rinzel should step right in and QB a PP unit.
Those 3 and Close come back it's going to be a wagon.
Sounding like the Coyotes want to sign Cooley. It will be entire up to Logan what happens next.
Looking at the picture on the main page all off season is a killer.
We need 1 off season article to make that go away.
Duh. Almost all top draft NHL draft picks that play college hockey play one year after their draft year. Michigan seems to have the complete market on Fall 18 year olds who start their freshman year at 17 years of age and undrafted and get two years of play:
Matty Beniers Nov 5 2002 Owen Power Nov 22, 2002 Kent Johnson Oct 18, 2002 All of them played the 2020-21 season as freshmen at Michigan, were drafted in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft and played one year after their draft year.
Cooley was born May 5, 2004 which made him eligible for the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, and played his freshman season in Minnesota druign this past season 2022-23, being 18 years old before the season began.
I might be in the minority, but Cooley should not even thing about turning professional and I think Jimmy Snuggerud should turn pro, and that St Louis should want him to sign. Both players have some development to do, but it certainly would be in their interests to do this development while being paid rather than strictly as an amateur. For St. Louis, why take the risk that one of their first round picks extends his stay in college hockey and they lose him someday. Add to the injury risk, that while it can be somewhat insured, can really impact their future professional careers.
For example, the insurance can only cover if their career is impacted by the injury. IF instead Snuggerud is injured in a way that just makes him miss much of the season he is in the same spot, just one year delayed. Then does he want to stay for a junior year and risk the same problems?
I think its a no brainer for him.
I hope Snuggy and Chesley are eating Chipotle with Cooley now trying to pitch him on coming back..
I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
https://twitter.com/andystrickland/status/1645854351548723201?s=46&t=AvtsG2WfNuGRyXzbYJqB7g
Oh yeah??
Good first domino. An unexpectedly strong retention rate like last year would be very welcome.
C'mon Cooley... one more year!
I think Snuggy was the one we all assumed was coming back of the 3. That Cooley is still weighing his options is nice and a good sign. (for now)
Gopher fans refreshing Twitter every 2 minutes waiting for off season news.
I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
Honestly, if Cooley returns with Snuggy that would equal the good news we had last summer with those returners. Nelson and Brodz would be icing on the cake if Bob gave them year five.
I am the official Iowa Hawkeye football fan of GPL!
My fellow schedule dorks, what’s the non-conf looking like for next season?
I wonder what changed. Why didn't he transfer last year?
Maybe Ryan Johnson is coming back
So who does that leave on the blue line? Mitts, Chesley, Thomas, with Koster and Fish coming back hopefully? Then Rud and Rinzel coming in correct?
I am the official Iowa Hawkeye football fan of GPL!
So who does that leave on the blue line? Mitts, Chesley, Thomas, with Koster and Fish coming back hopefully? Then Rud and Rinzel coming in correct?
Best guess is these are the seven on the roster next fall.
I suspect an 8th defensemen is going to be added for some depth. Maybe Fish playing well late in the season when given the chance due to injury caused the change where Matt became more concerned about how much playing time he would get.
It is great news that Snuggie is coming back.
Does anyone know what Brodzinski and Jackson's interest are in returning? Brodzinski was a 7th round pick and Nelson undrafted. They both can be free agents and sign with any team in the NHL so they have lots of professional options.
I think both of them took steps every year in their college career to improve their games. Bryce went from 7 goals as a freshman to 8 as a sophomore, then 12 as a junior and 19 as a senior. I bet he is a rare player with over 40 career goals that has more goals than assists (46 - 37 - 83). Can he jump to the next level of point scoring and improve his skating and defense even more?
Jaxon Nelson had a big jump his senior year in scoring to the 25+ point level and double digit goals for first time in his career. He is the type of player that could make the biggest jumps going to professional hockey with his size/speed and skill set.
Basically from a pure statistical standpoint, both of them seem to have the same quesiton about returning for a 5th year: can I move my production to the next step which would be 35+ point scoring on the year. TO get there they would have to make some incremental improvements in their personal game, but also spend significant time on the first power play unit.
WOuld making Jaxon Nelson the team captain induce him to stay?
Unrelated to this thread is this question: why did Bob take Nelson off the first power play unit? I thought we really suffered not having him to take the draws and also get in front of the net.
The silver lining is more minutes for Fish!! I’m all for that! Good luck to Matt, wherever he ends up.
Even though he is in the portal, it doesn't mean he will 100% leave. He could be testing the waters to see if there is any interest from a school that could provide more playing time. Augustana?
If he does leave, he appeared to be nothing but a team player. The summer Gopher Hockey softball team will also miss him.
I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
Koster-Chesley
Mittelstadt-Rinzel
Thomas-Fish
is nothing to sneeze at
Not surprised on Staudacher. Good luck to him, seems like a good kid and a team player.
The source I have from Luverne who worked with the Luverne hockey program told me around Christmas time or shortly there after that he didn't believe Nelson would be coming back as he was getting interest from a couple NHL teams. Don't recall which ones he said but I thought the Blues and the Canes may have been the named ones. Could have changed by then or he could have been blowing smoke up my a$$ but he's had plenty of news on Nelson in the past for me before it was reported so I would have zero reason to doubt him.
Seems like everyone has a hockey camp these days.
I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
Does NIL money play any role in this? I have no idea how much Gopher hockey players get from NIL, if much. If they do make some, and the choice is making around 100K in the AHL on a two-way contract (I did a quick google search and couldn't find exact amounts and this is my estimate) - or less in ECHL, that may play a role. I can't imagine that Broz or Nelson are stepping into right into NHL. As I think tDon used to say, would your rather ride the bus in the AHL/ECHL or play major college hockey?
This is simply a consideration that I have not heard from others
@coondog Hockey is very little. Obviously Cooley has the Chipotle deal and there may be others. I know Dinkytown athletes has an option to choose to donate to the hockey program when you become a member so you can pick the sport you donate to but I don't think they bring many recruits in by promising them NIL money.
BTW, IMHO this talk about Motzko is not grounded.
He was the first Gopher COY in 70 years, was about 3 minutes from the first Natty in 20 years (and to me the call on Cooley ranks up the Skarda post in terms of pain), he has a great class coming in, and — as far as I can tell — no Mel Pearson type issues.
Plus the AD has had to replace two highest profile women's coaches this year, plus has a mess of a men's BB program to deal with ( I am not blaming the BB coach, many factors are playing into it). But the AD isn't thinking "I need to replace the coach of hockey program who had the most successful season in 20 years, but I sure should keep the coach of the second biggest revenue sport who just had the worst season — maybe ever".
If he leaves it is because it's his decision.
Coyle was very clear at a social hour we attended that we do not make any NIL promises to recruits or athletes. We play the NIL scenario very straight and risk adverse.
@goldygopher81 that is what I thought, but wasn't sure. I wonder if it impacts many college hockey teams — one I could think it may would be NoDak, but considering the exodus of players, there isn't much evidence.
Maybe the cost of posting to GPL is a $1 per post and that is contributed to NIL fund. 
Again what "Motzko talk" is there beyond one guy here?
Well, he is a "well connected poster" according to one former GPLer who has been 86'd to Gopherhole. ?
I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
Great to have Snuggy back, lets get his line mate back (Hobey?) as well for one more romp through the B1G conference and Frozen Four in our own backyard. That would help ease the pain of having to look at the main page.
