Here we go. The road to St Louis starts here...
I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
With the schedule we have, combined with the team we’ve put together, safe to say my expectations for this season are very high.
Here we go. The road to St Louis starts here...
From St. Cloud to St. Louis - let’s get this wagon rolling! Everyone hop on, it’s going to be one helluva ride! Very excited for season 104 to get underway!
lol Rhett…!!!
Either chasing a GF or he got an NIL deal……🤨
Let’s get it started! This has the makings to be a great roster
Either chasing a GF or he got an NIL deal……🤨
They just started a hockey focused collective here in Mankato which doesn’t have any money right now . Also the focus of the collective is to make up the difference between what they get for a partial scholarship and a full scholarship. So he isn’t getting paid to come to Mankato.
I am the official Iowa Hawkeye football fan of GPL!
I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
Interested in how a team with so much firepower handles the 2 power play units. Who would be the 10 players over the boards? Strictly talking ten guys in aggregate, not talking specific units, unless people want to.
D-man locks (in my opinion):
Rinzel, Koster, Mittelstadt
Forward locks:
Snuggy, Moore, Wood, Lamb
That’s 7 players in total which leaves 3 spots between the likes of Kurth, Ziemer, Gruba, Huglen, Clark, Pahlsson, Hendrickson and even Nevers who has played the bumper spot well at times.
Certainly seems like if guys aren’t working hard to retrieve pucks on the power play the coaching staff is more than enabled to replace them with someone new.
Every time I see Leo Gruba, I have to remember that it's not Ryan Johnson. He looks very similar.
@maroon_and_gold it wouldn’t surprise me if Gruba plays pp minutes. Then given you need a center, I’d imagine Huglen draws another spot.
Every time I see Leo Gruba, I have to remember that it's not Ryan Johnson. He looks very similar.
I’m sure I’m alone on this but I am reminded of a younger Tim Curry. 😂
Interested in how a team with so much firepower handles the 2 power play units. Who would be the 10 players over the boards? Strictly talking ten guys in aggregate, not talking specific units, unless people want to.
D-man locks (in my opinion):
Rinzel, Koster, Mittelstadt
Forward locks:
Snuggy, Moore, Wood, Lamb
That’s 7 players in total which leaves 3 spots between the likes of Kurth, Ziemer, Gruba, Huglen, Clark, Pahlsson, Hendrickson and even Nevers who has played the bumper spot well at times.
Certainly seems like if guys aren’t working hard to retrieve pucks on the power play the coaching staff is more than enabled to replace them with someone new.
PP1: Rinzel, Snuggy, Wood, Moore, Ziemer
PP2: Koster, Kurth, Lamb, Huglen, Nevers
I think Påhlsson is most likely to sneak in of those not mentioned.
Interested in how a team with so much firepower handles the 2 power play units. Who would be the 10 players over the boards? Strictly talking ten guys in aggregate, not talking specific units, unless people want to.
D-man locks (in my opinion):
Rinzel, Koster, Mittelstadt
Forward locks:
Snuggy, Moore, Wood, Lamb
That’s 7 players in total which leaves 3 spots between the likes of Kurth, Ziemer, Gruba, Huglen, Clark, Pahlsson, Hendrickson and even Nevers who has played the bumper spot well at times.
Certainly seems like if guys aren’t working hard to retrieve pucks on the power play the coaching staff is more than enabled to replace them with someone new.
PP1: Rinzel, Snuggy, Wood, Moore, Ziemer
PP2: Koster, Kurth, Lamb, Huglen, Nevers
I think Påhlsson is most likely to sneak in of those not mentioned.
I like the looks of those units. Hendrickson has also played goal line/net front on the PP before to much success. Also hard to keep Gruba’s shot off the PP. Going to be hard for the coaching staff to narrow it down.
I love the optimism but when was the last time they had two PP units fighting for ice time?
I'm not sure you want 4 righthanders on the same PP unit, but it would certainly make it difficult for teams to prepare for. Also wonder if Snuggerud and Wood can work on the same unit?Interested in how a team with so much firepower handles the 2 power play units. Who would be the 10 players over the boards? Strictly talking ten guys in aggregate, not talking specific units, unless people want to.
D-man locks (in my opinion):
Rinzel, Koster, Mittelstadt
Forward locks:
Snuggy, Moore, Wood, Lamb
That’s 7 players in total which leaves 3 spots between the likes of Kurth, Ziemer, Gruba, Huglen, Clark, Pahlsson, Hendrickson and even Nevers who has played the bumper spot well at times.
Certainly seems like if guys aren’t working hard to retrieve pucks on the power play the coaching staff is more than enabled to replace them with someone new.
PP1: Rinzel, Snuggy, Wood, Moore, Ziemer
PP2: Koster, Kurth, Lamb, Huglen, Nevers
I think Påhlsson is most likely to sneak in of those not mentioned.
There’s a 1.1% chance Luke Mittelstadt isn’t on one of the top two power play units…jeezInterested in how a team with so much firepower handles the 2 power play units. Who would be the 10 players over the boards? Strictly talking ten guys in aggregate, not talking specific units, unless people want to.
D-man locks (in my opinion):
Rinzel, Koster, Mittelstadt
Forward locks:
Snuggy, Moore, Wood, Lamb
That’s 7 players in total which leaves 3 spots between the likes of Kurth, Ziemer, Gruba, Huglen, Clark, Pahlsson, Hendrickson and even Nevers who has played the bumper spot well at times.
Certainly seems like if guys aren’t working hard to retrieve pucks on the power play the coaching staff is more than enabled to replace them with someone new.
PP1: Rinzel, Snuggy, Wood, Moore, Ziemer
PP2: Koster, Kurth, Lamb, Huglen, Nevers
I think Påhlsson is most likely to sneak in of those not mentioned.
Here is the promotions schedule as of now. The only things they are giving away are pom poms and a rally towel. Most of the other promotions are discounts on ticket and beverage packages.
I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
I don’t know that I would classify a towel or a pom-pom as a giveaway….
Going cheap this year I guess. 😂
Super Cheap! I’m sure both the towel and the pompom will have sponsors so it costs the U virtually nothing.
Going cheap this year I guess. 😂
Note: Due to inflation dirty deeds will no longer be done dirt cheap.
To be fair, they do add in some of the larger giveaways into the schedule later in the year where for whatever reason they may not have all the details now....but yeah I'm not expecting anything grandiose...
New Radio Crew:
TL;DR: Home games will be a rotation of Jack Ramsey, Eric Schierhorn, Sam Rossini and Gopher VB PBP Tanner Hoops.
Road game swill be Pat Micheletti.
After more than a decade of the same crew broadcasting Minnesota men's hockey over the airwaves of the Gopher Radio Network, the 2024-25 season brings a change following the retirement of longtime analyst Frank Mazzocco.
This year, play-by-play broadcaster Wally Shaver, who has been calling Gopher men's hockey games on the radio since the 2001-02 season, will be joined in the booth by a variety of former players and local talent as every regular season and postseason contest can be heard live on the Gopher Radio Network 1130 KTLK-AM/103.5 FM.
"You don't simply replace a legend in Frank Mazzocco, so we've decided to take the unique approach to this season as a way to involve many different personalities surrounding Gopher men's hockey," said Greg Gerlach, Vice President and General Manager of Gopher Sports Properties. "I'm excited to listen to that group all bring their own flavor, history, and experiences to the broadcast team with Wally Shaver. They're all excited for the opportunity and care deeply about our tradition and passion Gopher fans have for Coach Motzko and this program."
During home games at 3M Arena at Mariucci, a rotating committee of Jack Ramsey, Sam Rossini, Eric Schierhorn, and Tanner Hoops will don a headset and provide commentary for Minnesota.
Ramsey was a four-year letter winner with the Maroon and Gold and made 143 career appearances between 2015-19. He served as an assistant captain during his senior season and helped Minnesota capture two-straight Big Ten Conference regular-season championships in 2016 and 2017. A native of Chanhassen, Minn., Ramsey closed his tenure with 24 points behind eight goals and 16 assists as a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection.
Rossini became the Gophers' first five-time letter winner in program history after he skated in 52 career games from 2017-22 with 14 points (three goals, 11 assists). The product of Burnsville, Minn., was named to the Academic All-Big Ten Team four times and won both a B1G regular season championship (2021-22) and a B1G Tournament title (2020-21), reaching the NCAA Tournament twice.
Two-time B1G Goaltender of the Year, Schierhorn put together one of the best careers between the pipes in Minnesota history as he ranks near the top 10 for shutouts (12), wins (59), save percentage (.905) and goals against average (2.65). An Anchorage, Alaska, native, Schierhorn backstopped Minnesota to two-straight B1G regular-season titles in 2016 and 2017 during his four-year career.
Hoops started working with the Gopher Radio Network in the fall of 2021 and is the play-by-play voice of Minnesota volleyball, while serving as a studio host for football. No stranger to the rink, he spent two years as the sports director at ESPN Radio Upper Peninsula in Marquette, Mich., and closely covered Northern Michigan hockey. Originally from Storm Lake, Iowa, Hoops also is the voice of the Sioux Falls Canaries in the American Association of Professional Baseball for each of the last three summers.
When the Maroon and Gold hit the road this season, a familiar voice joins the call as former Gophers' All-American Pat Micheletti will serve as the broadcast's analyst. Hailing from Hibbing, Minn., Micheletti was a 1985 First Team All-American at Minnesota and is the program's second all-time leading scorer with 269 career points in 162 games. He has spent a decade with the Gopher Radio Network and works as a TV analyst for the Big Ten Network and FOX9.
Well, Rammer, Schierhorn and the Rat are all fairly vocal proponents for the program. Don't know about Sam or Tanner, but I suspect they didn't just pull those names out of a hat, so, I'll be interested to see how this goes.
B1G refs... corrupt, or just incompetent?
Not considering goalies. Which side of the ice will be stronger than the other? Defense or offensive forwards?
Not considering goalies. Which side of the ice will be stronger than the other? Defense or offensive forwards?
Beautiful part about this team is it’s anybody’s guess. Both look remarkably strong on paper.
Bob said he usually tries not to get too excited about a team preseason but he can’t help himself with this team (paraphrasing).
Also made Vanek comparisons in regards to Wood😳
@maroon_and_gold If Woods is comparable to Vanek, we are all going to be very happy.
@maroon_and_gold If Woods is comparable to Vanek, we are all going to be very happy.
Yeah, I expect he will be very good, but I'll withhold my expectations on him being at a Vanek level. Seemingly at times in every game, the opposing team just had no answer for him, especially in the tourney. Seemed like he had a couple jaw-dropping plays every weekend. (Not that I have a perfect memory.) Didn't he have like 31 g and 31 a both years?
I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
Here is the full GPL Video with Motzko, Koster, Snuggerud and Chesley from this afternoon.
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Forward lines based on what Vegs tweeted out a bit ago:
Wood-Moore-Snuggerud
Ziemer-Clark-Kurth
Falloon-Huglen-Lamb
Hendrickson-Pahlsson-Nevers
Don’t hate getting Falloon in the mix even if I am GPL’s biggest John Mitts fan. Obviously these are anything but set in stone but these wouldn’t be crazy to start the year.
The team’s optimism and excitement is infectious. Drop the puck already!
I do not remember so much optimism externally communicated from Motzko in the past. Is that just me?
Really excited for the season and to get a look at the newcomers.
What are the thoughts on split goalies? On one hand competition makes people better, but my personal opinion is to have elite elite goaltending they are creatures of habit and need all the games as the season goes on.
Why are you so high on Ziemer? Seems like a long term guy to me
Really like this lineup. Exciting that we went from JMitts as by far the best 4th liner to 13thF.I thought Hendrickson and Falloon were C’s in the USHL and Pahlsson was a winger?Also good sign in terms of Clark’s offseason if he is 2C.Ziemer and Kurth are both really gritty.
I’d imagine lines 2/3 are interchangeable and not really a hierarchy. Hopefully he can grow into that dependable 200ft role that we saw Nelson fill so well
I do not remember so much optimism externally communicated from Motzko in the past. Is that just me?
Really excited for the season and to get a look at the newcomers.
What are the thoughts on split goalies? On one hand competition makes people better, but my personal opinion is to have elite elite goaltending they are creatures of habit and need all the games as the season goes on.
Think he was this optimistic with the Cooley team because of the defense but this is nice to see if he thinks this team is on par.
as far a goaltending, don’t think it’s super imperative during regular season and then you ride the hot hand for your stretch run. I mean hell the best goaltending team at the highest level alternated guys every night (Boston). More depends on if the goalies in question can handle it mentally and stay prepared/focused playing one game a week with how they approach practice. As long as they know which night they’re starting and the expectations, I don’t see any problem at all splitting goalies from Bob
Go every other night with the goalies until there is a clear winner. Zero problem with that
I feel like splitting to start the year and then riding the hot hand for goalies is generally the best way to go. Both these guys should be capable at the very least which wasn’t always true in previous years.I do not remember so much optimism externally communicated from Motzko in the past. Is that just me?
Really excited for the season and to get a look at the newcomers.
What are the thoughts on split goalies? On one hand competition makes people better, but my personal opinion is to have elite elite goaltending they are creatures of habit and need all the games as the season goes on.
Why are you so high on Ziemer? Seems like a long term guy to me
To make a long explanation short, there’s a lot of Rau to him. Sure he’s highly skilled, but he makes all the little plays that coaches love. Works his tail off in all 200 ft of the ice and excels in the dirty areas. Perfect complementary player. Not sure if there’s an NHL player there which is great for us cause it means we get him for 3-4 years. Was the captain of the USA U18’s so there’s a track record of leadership there.