Yeah I’m a little baffled by starting Airey given that Di Pasquo was playing lights out hockey. Would have preferred he go with the philosophy of playing the goalie that’s hot until they’re not. Airey got some bad bounces, but also let in at least two that he should have stopped which is often the difference between winning and losing. Still major deficiencies in our PK, ability to break out, and ability to sustain o zone pressure.
Not a strong game by Airey. Defense had lapses. Refs were atrocious and Ohio State took advantage of the refs incompetence and gooned it up and got away with it. Rest up over Christmas Break and come back rested and refocused! Go Gophs!
While I’m never a fan of the goonery, especially from my own team, I sometimes wish that when other teams gooned it up against us and the refs decide to call nothing that we go out and match it. Why not? We might as well. The refs aren’t going to do their job and Ohio State is going to think they can pull whatever dirty crap they want.
That likely shoots chances at the tournament without a ridiculous turnaround in the second half.
40% of a win on the road will not be what sinks their NPI. Basically a tie for NPI purposes.
Considering we’ve got 4x MSU, 4x Michigan, 2x Wisconsin & 2x PSU on the schedule, their destiny is definitely still unwritten.
dropping any of the “easiest” (relative) points available just makes it that much harder. I’m not sure we really have the pieces to go .500 vs. Michigan and Michigan State, but I’ll gladly eat crow if we do come out firing on all cylinders in the 2nd half.
Not a strong game by Airey. Defense had lapses. Refs were atrocious and Ohio State took advantage of the refs incompetence and gooned it up and got away with it. Rest up over Christmas Break and come back rested and refocused! Go Gophs!
While I’m never a fan of the goonery, especially from my own team, I sometimes wish that when other teams gooned it up against us and the refs decide to call nothing that we go out and match it. Why not? We might as well. The refs aren’t going to do their job and Ohio State is going to think they can pull whatever dirty crap they want.
Not a strong game by Airey. Defense had lapses. Refs were atrocious and Ohio State took advantage of the refs incompetence and gooned it up and got away with it. Rest up over Christmas Break and come back rested and refocused! Go Gophs!
While I’m never a fan of the goonery, especially from my own team, I sometimes wish that when other teams gooned it up against us and the refs decide to call nothing that we go out and match it. Why not? We might as well. The refs aren’t going to do their job and Ohio State is going to think they can pull whatever dirty crap they want.
Refs always have an eagle eye for any Gopher extracurriculars, or they just imagine some where none occurred (see: Michigan series @ Mariucci last year).
The angel on my shoulder says it’d be unwise to respond, because (1) PPs are usually imbalanced in our games, it’d give all these clown refs a prime opportunity for some “game management” crap to balance that stat. And (2) our PK is sooo bad- we can’t risk it.
Not a strong game by Airey. Defense had lapses. Refs were atrocious and Ohio State took advantage of the refs incompetence and gooned it up and got away with it. Rest up over Christmas Break and come back rested and refocused! Go Gophs!
While I’m never a fan of the goonery, especially from my own team, I sometimes wish that when other teams gooned it up against us and the refs decide to call nothing that we go out and match it. Why not? We might as well. The refs aren’t going to do their job and Ohio State is going to think they can pull whatever dirty crap they want.
Because they call it against us haha
Right. They don’t expect it from us so they don’t let us get away with it….
Yep lol. In the Michigan shutout sweep last year @ Mariucci, Lamb got 2min for not even defending himself as Hallum wailed away on his head, long after the whistle. Chesley took a 5min in that Friday night game for mildly bumping a Wolverine who had literally just tried to take Whipple’s head off.
Chesley also took a 5min in the last regular season game @ PSU when their little guy literally put his head down and ran straight into Chesley, head-first, milked the call, and was immediately on the ice for the ensuing PP (lol)
I’d be very interested to see, statistically, whether B1G reffing of our games changed much after we won the first 4 season titles in a row.
That likely shoots chances at the tournament without a ridiculous turnaround in the second half.
40% of a win on the road will not be what sinks their NPI. Basically a tie for NPI purposes.
Considering we’ve got 4x MSU, 4x Michigan, 2x Wisconsin & 2x PSU on the schedule, their destiny is definitely still unwritten.
dropping any of the “easiest” (relative) points available just makes it that much harder. I’m not sure we really have the pieces to go .500 vs. Michigan and Michigan State, but I’ll gladly eat crow if we do come out firing on all cylinders in the 2nd half.
Idk, taking 1.4/2 possible NPI points on the road is a good weekend I feel. It’s not like OSU is awful either they’re mid 30’s NPI. I just don’t see this week being the weekend we go back to at the end of the year saying we needed more. They did their job.
Wisconsin got 2 points out 6 at home against Ohio State (5-1 loss, 4 on 3 OT power play goal win)
Gophers got 4 points out of 6 points on the road against Ohio State (regulation win, 3 on 3 OT loss).
Two goals off of defensemen skates and many "interesting" calls/non calls by the refs was too much to overcome but it is still a road series win taking 4 of 6 points.
While I’m never a fan of the goonery, especially from my own team, I sometimes wish that when other teams gooned it up against us and the refs decide to call nothing that we go out and match it. Why not? We might as well. The refs aren’t going to do their job and Ohio State is going to think they can pull whatever dirty crap they want.
Because they call it against us haha
It’s been a few years now and I still can’t get over how spineless B1G was re: OSU’s captain skating over to our bench to try and spear Snuggy in the throat.
I think it was the same year a different Buckeye called a black MSU player that racial slur, took a 5min major in-game for it (so the ref clearly heard), and both OSU and B1G just shrugged.
OSU men’s hockey will always be a garbage irrelevant team to me. I’d hate them more, but it’s hard to when they seem to have less fans than my old high school’s JV team.
That likely shoots chances at the tournament without a ridiculous turnaround in the second half.
40% of a win on the road will not be what sinks their NPI. Basically a tie for NPI purposes.
Considering we’ve got 4x MSU, 4x Michigan, 2x Wisconsin & 2x PSU on the schedule, their destiny is definitely still unwritten.
dropping any of the “easiest” (relative) points available just makes it that much harder. I’m not sure we really have the pieces to go .500 vs. Michigan and Michigan State, but I’ll gladly eat crow if we do come out firing on all cylinders in the 2nd half.
if they don’t go .500 against Michigan and Mich st, this series doesn’t matter even if we win tonight. The damage of LIU and MTU is going to need that flip to really float the NPI.
Fair that they would call it against us. I’m going to say the most obvious thing ever on this site but boy is it infuriating. We’re biased but I just don’t see it happening to other teams nearly as much. One of the most satisfying things to watch was in the last regular season game of 2022-23, ironically against Ohio State, they were pulling their usual goonery crap and Knies and Snuggy decided to throw it back in their face. They took penalties, Buckeyes went up 2-0, and because we were so automatic that year we easily brushed them aside and won 5-2.
Fair that they would call it against us. I’m going to say the most obvious thing ever on this site but boy is it infuriating. We’re biased but I just don’t see it happening to other teams nearly as much. One of the most satisfying things to watch was in the last regular season game of 2022-23, ironically against Ohio State, they were pulling their usual goonery crap and Knies and Snuggy decided to throw it back in their face. They took penalties, Buckeyes went up 2-0, and because we were so automatic that year we easily brushed them aside and won 5-2.
That was when they both took 5 on the same play right?
Was pretty apparent tonight this team was playing its 3rd game in 6 days (May be part of why Luca didn’t play). Lot of tired legs tonight. Good grit and I’ll take that series every time on the road. Margin for error is razor thin
up to 24th (edit, now 22nd and I’m sure will go up as more games come in) in KRACH which is going to be a little more accurate now. Get healthy, work on what are things you absolutely can improve (miller get your fucking shit together and whoever is drilling these guys on faceoffs needs to change their tactic as we cannot get THIS worked on the road), and we’ll see where the cards fall. Have to probably finish the second half plus 3-4 in the w/l column which is certainly doable. Massive series with PSU (who will likely still be Finkless) to start the second half. No “lighter” weekends until February. We’ll find out real fast if they learned anything in the first half or not and their fate in January
Yeah, I guess I’m still thinking like in past years when we’d steamroll our OOC and could safely assume sweeping most of B1G.
LIU may not be the worst L we take this season, and that reflects very poorly on the CCHA’s performance I must say. The BC loss could also be a thorn in our side seeing how all the big name eastern teams have fared.
Ohio State's defense wasn't good, and their goaltending wasn't either. I thought both games were similar and either team could have won.
Minnesota again struggled to get shots (14 after two periods and added only 5 more in the third). That's a symptom of a team that can't control the puck, and this team turns over the puck constantly. (Rud did it on the rying goal and Brody Lamb did it in OT that lead to the GWG).
The Gophers can't hold a lead. They gave up 6 goals to OSU. I'll be surprised if they eke out a win against the MI teams...could be 0-4.
Airey was average at best. His performance wasn't half of his counterpart's the night before. If you have to play lights out to beat the bottom of the league, what's it going to take when you play the top?
Not only do they fail to get shots, they give up a lot of shots, sometimes almost twice what they take.
I'd like to think this team could be like the Wild, a team that doesn't need a lot of shots to win, but the Gopher defense is weak and their goaltending inconsistent.
I didn't see much of anything this week to get me excited though Ziemer looked good and Moore is improving. This season of pain will continue.
Yeah, I guess I’m still thinking like in past years when we’d steamroll our OOC and could safely assume sweeping most of B1G.
LIU may not be the worst L we take this season, and that reflects very poorly on the CCHA’s performance I must say. The BC loss could also be a thorn in our side seeing how all the big name eastern teams have fared.
luckily BC is about to have won 7/8. That one will be fine. The ECAC will all start dropping and that is going to change the NPI quite a bit such as Cornell who will drop losing to clarkson (down 4-1 late). Hard to read into much of the npi right now, same as pwr at this time. Trouble is I think we’ll end up being that 5th big ten team just a hair outside needing to make a run (or sweep on the road) in the B10 Tourney to get in
It’s not like OSU is awful either they’re mid 30’s NPI.
Beyond ~25th place or so, the objective ranking tends to clump into 2 tiers that a team might make big jumps within, but can’t really climb out from: (1) bad, but can hang w/ tourney teams for limited stretches and even steal a game here or there; and (2) really bad, like Mercyhurst/Robert Morris-level bad.
Seeing how many basic hockey plays OSU bobbled this weekend I think they’re closer to a (2) type than a (1) type. I believe both St. Thomas and ND finished in the 30’s of the Pairwise last year, to give you some sense of just how bad a 30-40 range team is.
(side note: what the hell is going on over at Mercyhurst these days? Did their entire program just give up? They have a conference and some marginal bits of history…)
Fair that they would call it against us. I’m going to say the most obvious thing ever on this site but boy is it infuriating. We’re biased but I just don’t see it happening to other teams nearly as much. One of the most satisfying things to watch was in the last regular season game of 2022-23, ironically against Ohio State, they were pulling their usual goonery crap and Knies and Snuggy decided to throw it back in their face. They took penalties, Buckeyes went up 2-0, and because we were so automatic that year we easily brushed them aside and won 5-2.
That was when they both took 5 on the same play right?
lol yeah, that’s correct. It was honestly hilarious watching the young Gophers giving it back to the Buckeyes and then almost all too easily running up five on Ohio State.
Fair that they would call it against us. I’m going to say the most obvious thing ever on this site but boy is it infuriating. We’re biased but I just don’t see it happening to other teams nearly as much. One of the most satisfying things to watch was in the last regular season game of 2022-23, ironically against Ohio State, they were pulling their usual goonery crap and Knies and Snuggy decided to throw it back in their face. They took penalties, Buckeyes went up 2-0, and because we were so automatic that year we easily brushed them aside and won 5-2.
That was when they both took 5 on the same play right?
lol yeah, that’s correct. It was honestly hilarious watching the young Gophers giving it back to the Buckeyes and then almost all too easily running up five on Ohio State.
it was a great weekend, I remember we straight-up embarrassed Dobes and wiped his stupid smirk off his face after he tried pulling his classic “knock off the net on every Gopher chance” move a few too many times. I still think about that Knies -> Cooley drop-pass/dangle goal.
Ohio State's defense wasn't good, and their goaltending wasn't either. I thought both games were similar and either team could have won.
Minnesota again struggled to get shots (14 after two periods and added only 5 more in the third). That's a symptom of a team that can't control the puck, and this team turns over the puck constantly. (Rud did it on the rying goal and Brody Lamb did it in OT that lead to the GWG).
The Gophers can't hold a lead. They gave up 6 goals to OSU. I'll be surprised if they eke out a win against the MI teams...could be 0-4.
Airey was average at best. His performance wasn't half of his counterpart's the night before. If you have to play lights out to beat the bottom of the league, what's it going to take when you play the top?
Not only do they fail to get shots, they give up a lot of shots, sometimes almost twice what they take.
I'd like to think this team could be like the Wild, a team that doesn't need a lot of shots to win, but the Gopher defense is weak and their goaltending inconsistent.
I didn't see much of anything this week to get me excited though Ziemer looked good and Moore is improving. This season of pain will continue.
every game is different. They gave up 4 in a weekend to PSU and 5 in a weekend to BC. Was pretty apparent tonight that was their 3rd game in 6 days and they gave up 2 ppg, 1 4x4 and 1 3x3.
hockey is weird. We all know it is. Team has made strides. I don’t think they’ll get all the way there to make the postseason, but I would’ve said 0% chance 3 weeks ago and that’s a lot higher than before.
even in a tough year, there are fun things to follow and watch. Moore growing into a very solid player has been super fun to watch. Rombach no longer continually looks like a baby giraffe on skates. Mooney has some of that electric ability to stop you that we have always seen with gopher hockey.
happy to see the growth. Very clear Bob hasn’t lost his ability to coach and teach based on what we’ve seen, but yes it’s going to be apparent at times we’re playing 14 underclassmen
Fair that they would call it against us. I’m going to say the most obvious thing ever on this site but boy is it infuriating. We’re biased but I just don’t see it happening to other teams nearly as much. One of the most satisfying things to watch was in the last regular season game of 2022-23, ironically against Ohio State, they were pulling their usual goonery crap and Knies and Snuggy decided to throw it back in their face. They took penalties, Buckeyes went up 2-0, and because we were so automatic that year we easily brushed them aside and won 5-2.
That was when they both took 5 on the same play right?
lol yeah, that’s correct. It was honestly hilarious watching the young Gophers giving it back to the Buckeyes and then almost all too easily running up five on Ohio State.
it was a great weekend, I remember we straight-up embarrassed Dobes and wiped his stupid smirk off his face after he tried pulling his classic “knock off the net on every Gopher chance” move a few too many times. I still think about that Knies -> Cooley drop-pass/dangle goal.
That was indeed a fantastic weekend. Friday 4-0 shutout where Mikey Koster got two. Then that Saturday game, the one we’re talking about, was awesome! That globetrotters goal that you referenced was sick but my favorite moment was Knies scoring off of Snuggy’s rebound to tie immediately after Huglen scored our first.
I guess people forget Airey had a pretty good series vs Penn St...
He also looked very good against BC.
He didn’t look settled tonight though. Definitely struggled moving laterally. I don’t blame the L on him, but he didn’t do much to help.
I understand the rationale behind splitting, given 3 games in 7 days and Di Pasquo working hard the last two, but I agree that Airey did not look confident. Despite being a bigger body, I think 31 sees the puck better and moves more quickly, and as I mentioned earlier I would have put him in the net for overtime but totally understand why you wouldn’t switch a goalie at that point in a game.
OSU didn’t look that great, but we continue to show improvements and I like the optimism!
I guess people forget Airey had a pretty good series vs Penn St...
He also looked very good against BC.
He didn’t look settled tonight though. Definitely struggled moving laterally. I don’t blame the L on him, but he didn’t do much to help.
Penn St and BC are two teams who like to carry the puck into the zone instead of dumping it. Ohio St tonight played dump and chase quite a bit. Airey is obviously very slow getting out of the net on dump ins. It really hampers our breakout. I wonder if starting Airey against more puck control teams and Di Pasquo against more dump and chase teams might help.
Stole a point and got 40% of a win. Thats a solid weekend if you ask me.
Fix the penalty kill and start 31 and we’re fine.
Maaaaaybe win a couple more faceoffs too…
41 to 18 tonight…
I played basketball so don’t have an appreciation for faceoff ability. For the hockey aficionados, is it sort of like free throw shooting in that a lot of it is mental and a kid can work on it but they largely will be what they will be in a game? Just don’t understand why this seems to be a problem the past few years?
Ohio State's defense wasn't good, and their goaltending wasn't either. I thought both games were similar and either team could have won.
Minnesota again struggled to get shots (14 after two periods and added only 5 more in the third). That's a symptom of a team that can't control the puck, and this team turns over the puck constantly. (Rud did it on the rying goal and Brody Lamb did it in OT that lead to the GWG).
The Gophers can't hold a lead. They gave up 6 goals to OSU. I'll be surprised if they eke out a win against the MI teams...could be 0-4.
Airey was average at best. His performance wasn't half of his counterpart's the night before. If you have to play lights out to beat the bottom of the league, what's it going to take when you play the top?
Not only do they fail to get shots, they give up a lot of shots, sometimes almost twice what they take.
I'd like to think this team could be like the Wild, a team that doesn't need a lot of shots to win, but the Gopher defense is weak and their goaltending inconsistent.
I didn't see much of anything this week to get me excited though Ziemer looked good and Moore is improving. This season of pain will continue.
every game is different. They gave up 4 in a weekend to PSU and 5 in a weekend to BC. Was pretty apparent tonight that was their 3rd game in 6 days and they gave up 2 ppg, 1 4x4 and 1 3x3.
hockey is weird. We all know it is. Team has made strides. I don’t think they’ll get all the way there to make the postseason, but I would’ve said 0% chance 3 weeks ago and that’s a lot higher than before.
even in a tough year, there are fun things to follow and watch. Moore growing into a very solid player has been super fun to watch. Rombach no longer continually looks like a baby giraffe on skates. Mooney has some of that electric ability to stop you that we have always seen with gopher hockey.
happy to see the growth. Very clear Bob hasn’t lost his ability to coach and teach based on what we’ve seen, but yes it’s going to be apparent at times we’re playing 14 underclassmen
Need to convince the sophomore class and freshman class to stay 2 years. Probability low, but a guy can dream. Moe/Zeimer/Hendrickson are pushing people around now…
For sure this team is trending in the right direction. A 6-5 OT loss at OSU is sure better than a 6-2 home loss to LIU. Di Pasquo played amazing against Denver, but also was goalie for one of the teams most embarrassing losses. Airey looks amazing some nights, but other nights seems almost like he is in slow motion. So no matter what goalie plays the whole team needs to play much better, and not take any shifts off.
Leading the nation in blocked shots is not necessarily a good thing, because it means the other team is having a shooting gallery at our goalie most nights. This needs to change. The second half they need to spend much more time in the offensive zone.
I'm very hopeful after the break they will continue to improve. This team can play with the best and win. They will need to win the ones they should and a few they shouldn't, make a deep run or win the BIG tourney. Not what we're all used to, but for sure it's shaping up, and will be exciting to watch.
On the bright side, it was another winnable game. I think they had 4 games in the 1st half they could/should have won that they didn't. Last night was a snapshot of this team. Outshot by a ton, face-offs were terrible and the PK was not good. I still don't get why John Mitts isn't on the PK or take more face-offs. His face-off numbers are a lot better than any other player. Crazy stat of the night. OSU had 87 shot attempts to the Gophers 28. Until they fix the face-off and PK issues, the goalies need to be lights out every game, and to expect that from them is not realistic.
My bright spots for the 1st half-- Ziemer, Lamb, Rombach, Luke Mitts, Thomas, Hendrickson and Mooney. Hendrickson is a plus 14, by far the best on the team. I like the growth in Moore, and I think he will have a huge 2nd half. Getting Falloon and Gruba back will be big as well. Not sure how long Pahlsson will be out, and I know he seems to be the whipping boy this year, but he is still a valuable member of the lineup. I know some want him on the 4th line, but he is not a fit on it. Maybe move him to wing on the 3rd line.
The boys better rest up, because they have a hell of a start to the 2nd half with PSU, Mich, Sparty, and UW.
Looking down from my High Horse
Morality Police
Not very objective
The NPI is so volatile right now we actually moved up after last night to #27. At 8-10-1 idk how we make up 2 games in the back half with that schedule. We’ll have to sweep someone along the way and not get swept by one of the big dogs. Maybe scrape together a couple win & tie weekends to scratch and claw back to .500.
In all my years watching Gopher hockey I don’t remember a schedule this difficult top to bottom before. Maybe it just feels that way because the team is down, but I swear this is the hardest I can recall.
The NPI is so volatile right now we actually moved up after last night to #27. At 8-10-1 idk how we make up 2 games in the back half with that schedule. We’ll have to sweep someone along the way and not get swept by one of the big dogs. Maybe scrape together a couple win & tie weekends to scratch and claw back to .500.
In all my years watching Gopher hockey I don’t remember a schedule this difficult top to bottom before. Maybe it just feels that way because the team is down, but I swear this is the hardest I can recall.
Overall very difficult schedule. A couple of added factors. One, like you said, the team is down this year. Two, some of the teams we thought we could sweep are much better than we thought. MTU was no slouch. UMD has been much better than who we thought they were when we were looking ahead in August. Even LIU is much better than some of us probably initially gave them credit for. Not to beat a dead horse, just an observation, it would interesting to see how this first half goes if just last year’s seniors graduate, Snuggy, and maybe Wood leave (felt like he was probably only going to be here for a year and he’s doing pretty well in the league this year). Having Rinzel, O. Moore, Kurth and Chesley on this team changes the outlook dramatically. Even if just Kurth and Chesley had returned. But they didn’t and as many of us have pointed out, if a player wants to move on let them move on. I don’t care how talented they are, if they’re not all in then I’ll drive them to the airport myself.
Stole a point and got 40% of a win. Thats a solid weekend if you ask me.
Fix the penalty kill and start 31 and we’re fine.
Maaaaaybe win a couple more faceoffs too…
41 to 18 tonight…
I played basketball so don’t have an appreciation for faceoff ability. For the hockey aficionados, is it sort of like free throw shooting in that a lot of it is mental and a kid can work on it but they largely will be what they will be in a game? Just don’t understand why this seems to be a problem the past few years?
I was a center growing up, all thru HS + a brief stint in juniors (not USHL). Winning faceoffs is like 70% raw strength, 30% reflexes/awareness. Excellence in the latter can make up for a deficit in the former. This formula is why Jaxon Nelson and Aaron Huglen were two of our better faceoff guys in recent memory.
As to why the Gophers consistently struggle on faceoffs overall, our #1,2,3 centers are usually smaller skill guys who get outmuscled more easily in the dot, while cumulatively accounting for 45 to 51+ min of a 60-min game with all those faceoffs.
