Let the interesting off season begin. Who stays, who goes, who comes in?
I actually give a @#$* about the Twins
Looking down from my High Horse
Morality Police
NEED back: Ziemer, Mooney, LDP, Whipple, Moe, Moore
I think you add Rombach to that list. He got better and you can teach his size. He’ll make a jump going into next year.
Meh, only NEEDS for me are Ziemer, Mooney, and Whipple. (The latter simply because he’s a defenseman)
I’d sure like Moe, Moore, and Luca back though. Next group after that includes Townsend and Hendrickson.
NEED back: Ziemer, Mooney, LDP, Whipple, Moe, Moore
this
good to have back adds a guy like Hendy plus maybe Rombach as he’ll get better and you can’t bring in 15+ guys.
New ohl guy plus Kvas and 2 Cullens and there’s a least the starting of a good team.
fuck ethics. You need to be raiding on the ccha. This team needs upperclassmen skill the same as the freshmen to get better becoming sophs. No reason to not pillage and try assemble as much an all star group as you can and then dangle some cash into the Canadian leagues and see what happens.
I think Luca is a need simply because the team needs a goalie and you likely won't get anyone better than him. The rest I agree, I'd like to see the other two back as well but it's not nearly as important as Mooney and Ziemer.
If Mooney or ziemer leave it would make me think they know already how next year is gonna go here. Feels like recruiting your current players is as important now as finding new.
“Good pace, a lot of north and south, or it could be east and west, I’m not sure but either way…” Wooger
Pohlad baseball ⚾️ it’s not arrogance, we really are “that good” #”Hey Siri, play “faithfully” by Journey max volume”
If Mooney or ziemer leave it would make me think they know already how next year is gonna go here. Feels like recruiting your current players is as important now as finding new.
jf either of them are leaving, and that’s part 1 of getting them to go with something along the lines of saying they’re reupping with DTA à la Snuggy when he came back, you move on from Bob immediately as it means he’s lost the guys he has. Neither is an immediate nhl skater and if they’re transferring it’s even worse
Regarding Rombach… he was clearly deep in the doghouse (for good reason). He was benched multiple times in the second half of the season for long stretches. That doesn’t happen often to a 2nd round draft pick. Wouldn’t be a big surprise to see him transfer out as his own decision.
Gruba is flat out brutal. Sorry, I’m not going to sugarcoat it. I’d tell him to hit the portal and take my chances with basically anyone else. They can’t be much worse.
Whipple is the only defenseman that you need to return. Great skater and plays hard.
Ziemer and Mooney are vital to keep, but I’m not holding my breath. Ziemer is just a total hockey player and the Sabers might entice him. Mooney isn’t a Minnesota kid, so he doesn’t have that inherent “loyalty” to our state. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him at Penn State or Michigan State next year.
You really want to keep Moe, Moore, and LDP. They all showed a lot of promise as the season went on.
If Bob returns, he needs to get rid of Steve Miller and Ben Gordon.
I’d bet Luca stays for the same reason he chose to come. He’ll get to play and The U has the rocket scientist program he’s into.
Posted this in the commits thread but Mooney posted a gif “ok let’s ride” on Humphrey commitment post. Things can change but that at least makes me believe currently he will be back next year.
tBob is the hare, and the fans/admin are the hounds. NSFW, but I feel this is apt:
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.
Team stayed engaged and for each other all year. Doesn’t seem like a bunch of guys looking for greener pastures
Team stayed engaged and for each other all year. Doesn’t seem like a bunch of guys looking for greener pastures
I was 100% in on that until the first 2 periods tonight. It felt like they were uninterested in going hard after it until it was too late and came out of the gates ready to be done. That said, I could be way off, I’m not in the locker room or know anything about where they’re at personally mentally and it’s very possible that this is an overreaction to just a bad game and that next year looks good to them. They just didn’t seem like a team on that mission in a must win game. That was a hot mess on the ice for 40 minutes.
“Good pace, a lot of north and south, or it could be east and west, I’m not sure but either way…” Wooger
Pohlad baseball ⚾️ it’s not arrogance, we really are “that good” #”Hey Siri, play “faithfully” by Journey max volume”
I feel confident that Mooney stays, 1 he’s a sorta legacy; 2 he has clearly enjoyed being a Gopher and never not been engaged and competing hard
When I saw Humphreys mitted I looked up his ep and it said he played 10 games at the university of Michigan in the 24-25 season then went back to the O, and then played there this season as well. What’s up with that??
IALTO
Team stayed engaged and for each other all year. Doesn’t seem like a bunch of guys looking for greener pastures
They just lost 7-1 on home ice less than a week ago, where the coach ripped them in the postgame. Not saying effort is even close to the biggest issue, but I don't exactly agree with your statement.
Team stayed engaged and for each other all year. Doesn’t seem like a bunch of guys looking for greener pastures
They just lost 7-1 on home ice less than a week ago, where the coach ripped them in the postgame. Not saying effort is even close to the biggest issue, but I don't exactly agree with your statement.
the team was not good and when you're not good, you're going to get smacked in the mouth hard any night you're not on your game. Listening to basically any of them talk about each other, the team, etc., they all were still trying for each other. Effort is not always going to be perfect night in and night out on any team and some nights you will just be "off" (even our national title running up team got shut out by SCSU and slept walked through a later season game with a terrible Wisconsin team). More mean they didn't "quit" on each other with guys talking about moving on or seeming like a locker room divided (See BU this year, UND last year)
That said, the number of bystanders/passengers on this team from a talent/generation standpoint is hugely problematic and part of why the roster needs to be gutted. I just didn't see any of those high impact guys looking like they didn't care anymore and were ready to move on (ie Ziemer, Mooney, Moore, Whipple amongst returners). If your lower tier guys want to for the sake of playing next year because you're bringing in new talent, that's fine
Who goes? Bob, hopefully
Team stayed engaged and for each other all year. Doesn’t seem like a bunch of guys looking for greener pastures
They just lost 7-1 on home ice less than a week ago, where the coach ripped them in the postgame. Not saying effort is even close to the biggest issue, but I don't exactly agree with your statement.
the team was not good and when you're not good, you're going to get smacked in the mouth hard any night you're not on your game. Listening to basically any of them talk about each other, the team, etc., they all were still trying for each other. Effort is not always going to be perfect night in and night out on any team and some nights you will just be "off" (even our national title running up team got shut out by SCSU and slept walked through a later season game with a terrible Wisconsin team). More mean they didn't "quit" on each other with guys talking about moving on or seeming like a locker room divided (See BU this year, UND last year)
That said, the number of bystanders/passengers on this team from a talent/generation standpoint is hugely problematic and part of why the roster needs to be gutted. I just didn't see any of those high impact guys looking like they didn't care anymore and were ready to move on (ie Ziemer, Mooney, Moore, Whipple amongst returners). If your lower tier guys want to for the sake of playing next year because you're bringing in new talent, that's fine
I think that’s an accurate assessment and more than fair. The 7-1 loss isn’t what bothered me personally because they came back the next night and showed character with the tie which is what I sold my soul to going into last night. They looked like the skating dead for a team in desperation mode until they found their legs too late in the 3rd. I just wasn’t expecting that but it’s wasted energy at this point and I’ll just hope for the best this offseason and deal with the cards dealt in October like everyone else. It’s been a year to remember like walker mentioned last night. It’s gonna be that much sweeter when it all comes together again.
“Good pace, a lot of north and south, or it could be east and west, I’m not sure but either way…” Wooger
Pohlad baseball ⚾️ it’s not arrogance, we really are “that good” #”Hey Siri, play “faithfully” by Journey max volume”
Team stayed engaged and for each other all year. Doesn’t seem like a bunch of guys looking for greener pastures
Let’s wait til the portal opens before we start saying this lol
Let the interesting off season begin. Who stays, who goes, who comes in?
Since Bob likes to play 7 defenseman, the team needs 5 new defenseman for next season. Rombach and Whipple are the only 2 that should be back. You just hope Rombach lives up to the potential. Begley can come back and be a practice player.
Add Harper and Grimes, plus 3 established college hockey defensemen from the portal and they should be in good shape. Up front, Falloon, Ludtke, Clark, Harris, Townsend, and Pahlsson shouldn’t have roster spots for next season.
No excuse for a program like Minnesota to miss the tournament in today’s college athletics. They absolutely can’t miss it 2 years in a row. Bob’s got work to do if he is the coach in 26-27. Can’t just wait for the “fabled” 27-28 class to save the day.
what do people think is the timing if we're moving on from Bob? Imagine the closer we get to portal time, the more likely it is he's back
For context, Berry was fired by UND the day after their season ended last year. Lucia was a couple weeks after the season ended (timing probably more similar to Bob, but with the portal things are quite different now).
what do people think is the timing if we're moving on from Bob? Imagine the closer we get to portal time, the more likely it is he's back
For context, Berry was fired by UND the day after their season ended last year. Lucia was a couple weeks after the season ended (timing probably more similar to Bob, but with the portal things are quite different now).
If they were to move on from Motzko (I don't think they do but also what do I know), I would think in the next week. Give Motzko some time to regroup and show appreciation for what he has done - possibly open the door for the soft landing of a retirement - while still giving a new HC ample time to restock the roster.
I'll just bring this over here since it's probably a better place to discuss it than the game thread. I think you have a valid point, even I think it's not totally impossible that Motzko could turn this roster around as this is the game guy who pulled the rabbit out of a hat to get Cooley. It's a really tall task and not all that realistic but also not impossible. The U probably has other issues it needs to deal with for all sports regarding NIL and that's not entirely Motzko's fault.
That said this is the same guy who couldn't win it all with Cooley and the most loaded roster this program has had since... 2003? And I'm not gonna beat a dead horse but I think that was at least partially on him. Even if he somehow turned around the roster talent to something like that in the last year of his contract (I think we agree that's unlikely for next year, probably isn't that likely two years out either) do we really think he's the best guy to get the most out of such a roster? I think it's a fair question at this point, this was Motzko's 7th year and while I realize college is a bit different in the sense that you're going on four year cycles (arguably shorter cycles because our best players typically don't stay 4 years) and maybe the 7 year shelf life that applies to the NHL might not apply here, it doesn't appear that he's shown a great ability to adapt to the changes of the college hockey landscape or even during games for that matter. They just cycle four lines even if they're down a goal against Notre Dame, they still have Begley coming in down a goal etc.
I also don't think you're really going to improve NIL if you keep him around as the coach for another year. While that's not entirely on him I do think it'd be an easier sell to whatever NHL alums or investors if you have a new coach come in and sell a new vision.
And finally I just don't see what keeping him around for two years accomplishes, unless you're looking to see if he can turn things around in two years and then possibly extend him at age 67 or whatever it will be. That'd be a hard pass for me but as far as I know I don't think he even wants to do that either. So the question remains, the only counterpoint I can think of is being loyal to a coach who was good up until this point. But loyalty just for the sake of it doesn't seem like the wisest move when thinking of the future of this program, recruiting (especially being competitive in terms of getting top CHL talent, where we don't really have much going unlike the Michigan teams), fixing the NIL situation, the fact that filling the stadium isn't exactly a given, and the fact that this is a city with a ton of other entertainment options that people can spend their disposable cash on (which doesn't go as far as it used to). Gopher hockey fans don't exactly grow on trees either, the season ticket holders that do exist are on the older side for the most part and replacing ones who check out or pass away isn't exactly an easy thing to do. Maybe some of the students who graduate can afford to replace some of them but that probably isn't a big number or a sure bet after a season like this.
IDK, the whole thing is a mess and my primary concern is not seeing the apathy around the program creep back to what we saw for most of the 2010's. I appreciate what Motzko has done and if he is back hopefully he can pull more rabbits out of the hat for 2 years but this seems like as good a time as any to move on. Hopefully he retires early but if not the AD might want to think about this from a business perspective because another year or two of limbo seems directionless and just puts you that much further behind the competition in a conference that's gotten significantly more difficult.
edit: can move this discussion to future thread if that's better too, this season is a wrap :chainsaw:
Bringing this to this thread since I didn't realize the other thread was gonna get locked. The one counter point I could maybe see is if Ziemer and Mooney are only willing to stay if Motzko remains the coach. I kinda assume most of the players come to this program due to its tradition, track record of getting guys to the NHL, and facilities more so than who the coach is. But if they only want to stay with him as coach and he's going to be gone in 2 years anyhow (assuming Ziemer moves on after next year and Mooney is a 3 year guy who stays until Motzko's contract ends) then maybe you keep him around just for continuity sake. Not sure that'd be ideal but it'd maybe make sense in that you don't want to absolutely tank next season (which would probably be the case without those two). I don't pretend to know one way or the other what those two are going to do or why but I guess that'd be one potential scenario where you might want to keep him around for another year.
I'm kinda torn on Bob at the moment. On one had, this last 12 months couldn't have been handled any worse. On the other hand, the pipeline is real nice.
So if he stays and keeps the recruits, what changes will the program make to get over the hump? How is he going to handle the Portal, restocking the Defense and potentially dipping into Canada?
Or...reach out to commits to keep them with the program, and then step down on your own accord.
There's all sorts of directions this thing can go but it can't be any worse than the way the last 12 months was handled.
I'm kinda torn on Bob at the moment. On one had, this last 12 months couldn't have been handled any worse. On the other hand, the pipeline is real nice.
So if he stays and keeps the recruits, what changes will the program make to get over the hump? How is he going to handle the Portal, restocking the Defense and potentially dipping into Canada?
Or...reach out to commits to keep them with the program, and then step down on your own accord.
There's all sorts of directions this thing can go but it can't be any worse than the way the last 12 months was handled.
Fairly straightforward IMO. Hire an Associate HC who is the heir apparent to build stability with the pipeline. ‘27-28 is his last year and we win the Natty prior to handing over. Everyone wins.
I'm kinda torn on Bob at the moment. On one had, this last 12 months couldn't have been handled any worse. On the other hand, the pipeline is real nice.
So if he stays and keeps the recruits, what changes will the program make to get over the hump? How is he going to handle the Portal, restocking the Defense and potentially dipping into Canada?
Or...reach out to commits to keep them with the program, and then step down on your own accord.
There's all sorts of directions this thing can go but it can't be any worse than the way the last 12 months was handled.
Fairly straightforward IMO. Hire an Associate HC who is the heir apparent to build stability with the pipeline. ‘27-28 is his last year and we win the Natty prior to handing over. Everyone wins.
A top-tier head coach is not going to accept a role as an associate head coach and wait out Motzko’s contract. That’s not a realistic option. There are really 3 scenarios here:
1. Commit to Motzko for the remainder of his contract.
2. Fire Motzko and hire a new head coach.
3. Appoint Motzko to some made up administrative job in recruiting that sounds important and allows him to save face and appoint someone new as head coach.
I favor the 3rd option, which maintains the pipeline (assuming recruits actually care about the coach over the prestige of the program) while creating a new chapter for Gopher hockey. A new chapter is needed in my opinion, and that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate and applaud everything Motzko contributed to Gopher hockey.
I know the idea has been thrown about, but what about getting a General Manager? The 🤮 did it this year and it has seemed to work out. What kind of options would we want for that position? I don't think it would be a current coach as that is a waste for them. Maybe a younger former player who doesn't want to be an agent, but can talk to agents/advisors?
I know the idea has been thrown about, but what about getting a General Manager? The 🤮 did it this year and it has seemed to work out. What kind of options would we want for that position? I don't think it would be a current coach as that is a waste for them. Maybe a younger former player who doesn't want to be an agent, but can talk to agents/advisors?
You either pick someone well respected with tons of connections across hockey or someone with GM experience, preferably both.
Very different job in being a GM and essentially executive scout versus an agent/advisor. Chyzyk has been a boon for UND because he was a director of scouting and then GM for Waterloo.
If you're just looking for someone to schmooze after the talent is already identified, I think you're missing the point but then you need someone who's a big time name (likely with heavy ties to MN hockey or the NTDP), not just a random younger guy who played for the Gophers.
Matt Cullen probably would get a lot of push from fans for this role. Potulny would get some thought as well. Raboin would be good at it but he clearly wants to be a HC. I don't think there are a ton of former Gophers involved in coaching trees and scouting. There are a couple that are at the agencies around town. I don't know of any in say the USHL or Canada but some others may
Darby Hendrickson?
Very different job in being a GM and essentially executive scout versus an agent/advisor.
Guentzel has been scouting for the Mammoth, right? Maybe he’d want to come back…
Ben Hankinson is the first guy I would call. I would think that he could give you a few names who would be good at it
Very different job in being a GM and essentially executive scout versus an agent/advisor.
Guentzel has been scouting for the Mammoth, right? Maybe he’d want to come back…
I think that bridge has been burned.
Yeah there is no way Guentzel comes back unfortunately.
He’s also 63.
Coyle won't let Bob hang in the wind in this current sports environment. Both Ben Johnson and Lindsay Whalen were fired within 48 hours of their losses in the Big Ten Tournament. If Motzko is still the head coach on Monday, he is back next year.
You're probably right, though I think it might be better to wait until the portal opens up to see if anything happens there. I think the worst case scenario would be losing one or both of the two top 6 forwards on this team and Motzko sticking around.
You're probably right, though I think it might be better to wait until the portal opens up to see if anything happens there. I think the worst case scenario would be losing one or both of the two top 6 forwards on this team and Motzko sticking around.
re Ziemer: he's the only pro flight risk. Buffalo beat writers seem to feel he is not NHL ready and they're playoff battling so they're not just going to throw him in. Given that, seems not in either sides better interest to go pro unless Ziemer wants to give up being a captain here to go play in the AHL which would be quite surprising.
would envision Bob has some rather serious talks with whoever he views is the leadership group of this team going forward over the next week or two. you know none of these guys want to sit around and be on a team that will not contend next year. I still will be surprised if Ziemer isn't on the team next year and if he's not, it won't be because of the portal.
There are some obvious talent ceiling upgrades coming in next year with Kvasnicka, W Cullen and Humphreys (who has ties to both Ziemer and Mooney plus others obviously). I dunno, I expect (and partially hope) there is attrition in the bottom and middle of the roster not at the top and we some things like we saw with the Pino and Strobel transfers.
Playing 1st line, PP1, PK1 (and captaining for Ziemer) at a B10 school is a pretty good gig. It's on Bob to sell them that the roster he's going to manipulate is better than hitting the portal and hoping for an opportunity that's similar. At the end of the day, the guys you're talking about want to play in the NHL and you need opportunities to develop to do that, winning aside which is the added bonus.
Between Lamb and L.Mitts we need to replace at least 60 points’ worth of production and ~15-20 goals. 20pts x3 incoming forwards gets us there on paper, but we really need, at bare minimum, 1 big portal get on D. And that’s just to match this season’s production, which wasn’t nearly enough
Those are all good points and hopefully they both return, all I'm saying is that their decision is probably the first domino unless Motzko decides to retire or they decide to get a new coach. I don't think some of these decisions are or should be totally independent of each other.
Coyle firing Bob should be basically out of the picture because it won’t happen. It’s on Bob to retire or not.
You’re probably right but for Coyle that probably isn’t without risk. The football team has definitely gone backwards since the start of PJ’s tenure, the basketball team is on its second coaching change under Coyle I wanna say, and we all know where (men’s) hockey is at. Obviously there’s other considerations beyond those three programs’ success levels and the U doesn’t seem to care about athletics as much as some other B1G schools but I can’t imagine his job is totally safe if that trend continues. His contract goes until 2030 and idk what the buyout is or if the contract is fully guaranteed but I can’t imagine another lackluster season would benefit his cause.
This team needs Ziemer as the captain next year and that was all but written even before he came here. Folks that were familiar with him said that he is a true captain and has done so on many teams if I recall.
He’s a complete player and it’s evident that he draws respect from his teammates.
i personally think with Ziemer as the true captain, the team instantly improves.
i really like Lamb. I have always pulled for him and Cal but they seemed like the quiet type and maybe the team was lacking something from this years captains? We’re obviously not in the locker room but just seems like they were a bit reserved if that makes sense.
Im hopeful that we retain the key guys and get some nice add on/unexpected commits like Humphreys and lets go
Ben Barr fans, Maine is done after getting smoked by BC in the HE quarters.
Resume
SSM then Rensselaer for college
As a HC
Under Barr (5 seasons): 87-71-20
1 conf tourney title
2 NCAA tourneys, 0 wins
Loss as a 1 seed. Loss as a 2 seed.
As an AC
Helped AC to recruit players for several national titles out east and was part of staff for UMass's title.
Rabs' Augie team takes the ice tomorrow and would be highly unlikely to make the tourney with a loss. so many peoples' top 2 could be available as soon as Saturday.
Ben Barr fans, Maine is done after getting smoked by BC in the HE quarters.
Resume
SSM then Rensselaer for college
As a HC
Under Barr (5 seasons): 87-71-20
1 conf tourney title
2 NCAA tourneys, 0 wins
Loss as a 1 seed. Loss as a 2 seed.As an AC
Helped AC to recruit players for several national titles out east and was part of staff for UMass's title.
Rabs' Augie team takes the ice tomorrow and would be highly unlikely to make the tourney with a loss. so many peoples' top 2 could be available as soon as Saturday.
Yeah not a great season for Maine but Barr built that team up from scraps to top 5 teams the previous 2 seasons
Ben Barr fans, Maine is done after getting smoked by BC in the HE quarters.
Resume
SSM then Rensselaer for college
As a HC
Under Barr (5 seasons): 87-71-20
1 conf tourney title
2 NCAA tourneys, 0 wins
Loss as a 1 seed. Loss as a 2 seed.As an AC
Helped AC to recruit players for several national titles out east and was part of staff for UMass's title.
Rabs' Augie team takes the ice tomorrow and would be highly unlikely to make the tourney with a loss. so many peoples' top 2 could be available as soon as Saturday.
Yeah not a great season for Maine but Barr built that team up from scraps to top 5 teams the previous 2 seasons
I think Rabs would take the associate HC with a plan to succeed Bob after 2027.
Would it be too much to ask for to have one captain and 2 assistant captains from now on? Giving half the team a letter is a pet peeve of mine.
I totally agree. I think that BOB couldn't decide and so he gave out Captain letters to all "deserving"
players. Totally bad form.
Bob needs a spine. Or please just LEAVE.
QoGH
Augie loses. Now sitting at 16. Chance they could get back ahead of UMass or UConn if they lose their next game, but looking real questionable to dance.