Since the Gophers hit the ice today for the 1st time, I think it's time to fire up the season thread. The road to Vegas starts in 25 days.
@eric-vegoe was at the practice and posted a story about it on the main page with preliminary lines.
https://gopherpucklive.com/news/gophers-get-in-first-skate-of-season/
I was recently informed by a GPLer that I'm related to Airey
I was recently informed by a GPLer that I'm related to Airey
Great article Vegs. Mentioned how Bob likes to find pairs at forward and fill in a third. This year the thirds will likely be the freshmen. It’s just one day of practice but right now some pairs are emerging:
?-Ludtke-Lamb
?-Clark-Ziemer
Hendrickson-Pahlsson-?
Townsend-Moe-?
Leaving: Mooney, Moore, Pritchard, Mittelstadt, Falloon (and Harris but he’s mostly a practice guy)
Four open spots and five capable players. Should be good competition. Mittelstadt & Falloon project to be bottom 6, Mooney projects to be top 6 and Moore/Pritchard could be anywhere based on the right fit.
Vegs also mentioned finding two lefties to play RD since Gruba is the only righty. McLaughlin played on the right side pretty consistently in juniors so he’s an option. I’d go:
Whipple-Gruba
Rombach-Mittelstadt
Thomas-McLaughlin
Anticipating some bumps and bruises at the beginning of the season but I’m actually excited to see this team work through that and continue to develop. The early adversity of a bunch of new players and possible early struggles may bond them together as the season matures.
I also tend to root for the key role players that continue to bring energy/physical play.
Keeping an eye on Falloon. Really liked what I saw and hope he establishes himself in the lineup. Also think John Mittlestad’s role will be critical to build around in the bottom 6 & PK
drop the puck! Let’s go!
Anticipating some bumps and bruises at the beginning of the season but I’m actually excited to see this team work through that and continue to develop. The early adversity of a bunch of new players and possible early struggles may bond them together as the season matures.
I also tend to root for the key role players that continue to bring energy/physical play.
Keeping an eye on Falloon. Really liked what I saw and hope he establishes himself in the lineup. Also think John Mittlestad’s role will be critical to build around in the bottom 6 & PK
drop the puck! Let’s go!
Couldnt agree more on Falloon, I think he’s style of play is exactly what this team needs. Only problem is I’m not sure who I’d sit to fit him in the lineup. Guys like Pritchard, Moore, Townsend and Moe all have higher offensive ceilings. And I don’t think sitting Mittelstadt is an option personally.
Anticipating some bumps and bruises at the beginning of the season but I’m actually excited to see this team work through that and continue to develop. The early adversity of a bunch of new players and possible early struggles may bond them together as the season matures.
I also tend to root for the key role players that continue to bring energy/physical play.
Keeping an eye on Falloon. Really liked what I saw and hope he establishes himself in the lineup. Also think John Mittlestad’s role will be critical to build around in the bottom 6 & PK
drop the puck! Let’s go!
Couldnt agree more on Falloon, I think he’s style of play is exactly what this team needs. Only problem is I’m not sure who I’d sit to fit him in the lineup. Guys like Pritchard, Moore, Townsend and Moe all have higher offensive ceilings. And I don’t think sitting Mittelstadt is an option personally.
I also liked Falloon’s limited showings this past year. His style of play reminded me of Budish and Ambroz, but that was so long ago / the game is so different now, that I might be totally wrong.
My guess is that Moore is likely first to get pushed down/out of the lineup on a given night, but we’ll see.
As to Mittelstadt getting a bigger role, especially on PK, I will say that one of my main irritations with Bob is: he often doesn’t give players reps in those key roles before they’re set to fill said role, or it falls on them by default, due to departures, injuries, etc. For example…
- Faber never got any PP time, aside from rare one-off situations like a 5min major.
- Clark and Lamb both got minimal PK time until the Nelson/Nevers duo was out of the picture.
I would think that, if Bob envisions a player might fill a certain special-teams role in their junior/senior year, some shifts in that role their frosh/soph years would go a long way in making that step-up easier. Especially since a lot of our gaps, struggles, and frustrations the past 2-3 years kinda come down to, bumpy roster transitions at [X] or [Y] key position.
I’m hoping for bumblebee throwbacks!
