I need to just be salty Debby downer for a second. We are fucking 37th in NPI. Between powerhouses lindenwood and holy fucking cross.
Minnesota should be in the top 10 every fucking week. I can accept top 15. Top 20 should be a given. Top 25 is worst case scenario. FUCKING THIRTY SEVEN is disgusting. I love Bob. But what the hell
For comparison it only took 1 full season that was this bad for Wisco to move on from Granato, who was 2 years removed from the Caufield/Holloway pandemic team that won a B1G regular season title
I mean it was his 5th below .500 team in 7 seasons at Wisconsin so a lil different.
Minnesota should have much higher standards for success & less tolerance for failure than Wisconsin don’t you think
I need to just be salty Debby downer for a second. We are fucking 37th in NPI. Between powerhouses lindenwood and holy fucking cross.
Minnesota should be in the top 10 every fucking week. I can accept top 15. Top 20 should be a given. Top 25 is worst case scenario. FUCKING THIRTY SEVEN is disgusting. I love Bob. But what the hell
For comparison it only took 1 full season that was this bad for Wisco to move on from Granato, who was 2 years removed from the Caufield/Holloway pandemic team that won a B1G regular season title
I mean it was his 5th below .500 team in 7 seasons at Wisconsin so a lil different.
Minnesota should have much higher standards for success & less tolerance for failure than Wisconsin don’t you think
I agree we should
Could you please move the generic "I want to get rid of Bob" chat to the thread that was created for it?
Thanks
Agreed but those rosters tend to be older and play a safe defensive system etc, this team doesn’t typically recruit that way to play that system. They typically need a mix of older guys who developed well and high end young talent, this team doesn’t have much of either.Zeev Buium is the only 1st round draft pick to win a national championship in the last 10 years.
1st round draft pick are fun to watch but clearly you can win without them.
Luca playing his ass off. Impressive. He wasn’t giving up any rebounds.
He faced 100 shots on goal this weekend. He played outstanding for pretty much all of the weekend. Now if we can clean up what’s in front of him…
Second period was fun (until the waning moments).
How do we get 60 minutes of that??? We haven’t played a full 60 minutes with that effort yet this season. Clearly we are capable of beating good teams, but we have to beat them for three periods and not just one. Shoot more. Drop pass less. 😬
We haven’t played a full 60 minutes with that effort yet this season.
Slight correction. I think in the 1st PSU series at home we did see it for 100+ of 120min. Just barely not enough to get the sweep, with some bad puck luck. Then getting swept by that same team was probably the worst possible way to start the 2nd half gauntlet
My assessment last year was that they could’ve used a power forward like Knies or Nelson. They had a lot of good perimeter guys that could probe the zone and maintain good possession and a sniper in Snuggy, the team transitioned pretty well for the most part and were a good 5v5 team. This team seems like the extreme opposite, they lack the speed to play a similar style and don’t transition very well because of it.Kinda but that doesn't really tell the whole story imo. Technically all the centers except JM are drafted but the highest two are 3rd rounders (not a huge success rate of those picks and above being NHL guys) and one of them didn't even play center last year (Lutdke) from the line charts I've seen. The most complete center on the team is probably Clark and he can't really score on his own and is a pass first guy. Maybe Moe will be something by year 4 but right now he's unnoticeable.Coach can't play the puck for them. A team with 13 drafted players definitely has the talent to play with more poise with the puck but they are struggling with their confidence right now.
Ideally you have a dynamic Dman or two to assist the transition and offense but Mittlestadt is the closest thing they have there and he's a 7th round pick who was leading the third pairing the last couple years, he's not bad but he shouldn't be your first pairing guy. The other drafted D are maybe anchor types who aren't dynamic or offensively gifted at all (Thomas is fine in that role, Rombach probably could be, IDK about Whipple). And Gruba/McLaughlin clearly don't fill that void either.
The only wingers who are drafted that are good at possession, playmaking, and transition are Mooney and Ziemer. Lamb can reasonably do that at this level as a senior and the rest are mostly net front grinders who don't excel in that area.
Point being the mix of talent on this team isn't ideal and while you have "13 draft picks" none of these guys are first rounders, the 2 second rounders are doing what's asked of them for the most part, and then after that you have a bunch of freshmen who are drafted in the rounds where the likelihood of them being NHLers is low to begin with and you kinda just hope they develop into solid upperclassmen. But either way there's just too many holes in terms of center, D, and overall shooting talent, and upperclassmen that developed.
Well said, and thank you for posting that. I think it’s an accurate assessment of our talent.
I also think we may be seeing Motzko’s shortcomings as a coach being fully exposed now that he doesn’t have overwhelming talent. Many of these issues existed in past seasons but were masked by having a roster that was far more talented than almost everyone we played.
Look at last year’s uber talented team: losses to Notre Dame and an early NCAA tournament exit. In that context, tonight’s performance—this roster, with its relative lack of talent, competing with the No. 1 team—stands out as genuinely exceptional effort and play.
So the Gophers lost?
Sad, as they used to dictate my life on Friday's and Saturday's.
A much better effort tonight. They just need to stay healthy, keep improving, sandbagging 😂
Obviously the only chance now is to win the Big Ten Tourney. Like Bob said they are still the Gophers, if the good version of this team shows up they can beat anybody and win the Big Ten tournament.
So the Gophers lost?
Sad, as they used to dictate my life on Friday's and Saturday's.
I’ll never let go of this ride😁❤️
“Good pace, a lot of north and south, or it could be east and west, I’m not sure but either way…” Wooger
Minnesota should have much higher standards for success & less tolerance for failure than Wisconsin don’t you think
this is 100% true.
it’s like that whole stupid “we have more lakes than you” comment.
No, you just have lower standards.
Could you please move the generic "I want to get rid of Bob" chat to the thread that was created for it?
Thanks
I don’t know, I mean that was my final take away from the whole “Michigan @ Gophers” weekend.
My assessment last year was that they could’ve used a power forward like Knies or Nelson. They had a lot of good perimeter guys that could probe the zone and maintain good possession and a sniper in Snuggy, the team transitioned pretty well for the most part and were a good 5v5 team. This team seems like the extreme opposite, they lack the speed to play a similar style and don’t transition very well because of it.
to improve the overall team dynamic and win the national title, sure.
I think we are seeing the same way on lack of talent in this teams vs last
I don’t think you were suggesting this, but what frustrated me most is Last years team didn’t need a power forward to beat Notre Dame in the first round of the B1G tournament, or PairWise rank 30 Umass in the NCAA
Those were way worse than what happened to the team this weekend, based on lack of effort. Also suggest that these problems have been there for years, just masked by talent.
My assessment last year was that they could’ve used a power forward like Knies or Nelson. They had a lot of good perimeter guys that could probe the zone and maintain good possession and a sniper in Snuggy, the team transitioned pretty well for the most part and were a good 5v5 team. This team seems like the extreme opposite, they lack the speed to play a similar style and don’t transition very well because of it.Kinda but that doesn't really tell the whole story imo. Technically all the centers except JM are drafted but the highest two are 3rd rounders (not a huge success rate of those picks and above being NHL guys) and one of them didn't even play center last year (Lutdke) from the line charts I've seen. The most complete center on the team is probably Clark and he can't really score on his own and is a pass first guy. Maybe Moe will be something by year 4 but right now he's unnoticeable.Coach can't play the puck for them. A team with 13 drafted players definitely has the talent to play with more poise with the puck but they are struggling with their confidence right now.
Ideally you have a dynamic Dman or two to assist the transition and offense but Mittlestadt is the closest thing they have there and he's a 7th round pick who was leading the third pairing the last couple years, he's not bad but he shouldn't be your first pairing guy. The other drafted D are maybe anchor types who aren't dynamic or offensively gifted at all (Thomas is fine in that role, Rombach probably could be, IDK about Whipple). And Gruba/McLaughlin clearly don't fill that void either.
The only wingers who are drafted that are good at possession, playmaking, and transition are Mooney and Ziemer. Lamb can reasonably do that at this level as a senior and the rest are mostly net front grinders who don't excel in that area.
Point being the mix of talent on this team isn't ideal and while you have "13 draft picks" none of these guys are first rounders, the 2 second rounders are doing what's asked of them for the most part, and then after that you have a bunch of freshmen who are drafted in the rounds where the likelihood of them being NHLers is low to begin with and you kinda just hope they develop into solid upperclassmen. But either way there's just too many holes in terms of center, D, and overall shooting talent, and upperclassmen that developed.
Well said, and thank you for posting that. I think it’s an accurate assessment of our talent.
I also think we may be seeing Motzko’s shortcomings as a coach being fully exposed now that he doesn’t have overwhelming talent. Many of these issues existed in past seasons but were masked by having a roster that was far more talented than almost everyone we played.
Look at last year’s uber talented team: losses to Notre Dame and an early NCAA tournament exit. In that context, tonight’s performance—this roster, with its relative lack of talent, competing with the No. 1 team—stands out as genuinely exceptional effort and play.
Was that the hope when they brought Wood in? A power forward who could protect the puck?
Was that the hope when they brought Wood in? A power forward who could protect the puck?
That's the guy who came to mind for me. Unfortunately, he played pretty soft for a big guy, and as I remember him, he was tall and lanky but not thick and muscular.
My last thoughts about the game last night was how laughable the Gophers are in OT. I remember when Knies, Cooley, and Faber were out there, it looked like an NHL 3x3. The guys last night looked like peewees, and have no chance against a skilled skating team.
Yes, the team has really lacked a Knies type element for a while. Ollie Moore was able to drive play to the opponent’s net with speed and aggression but he could be stopped and contained to the perimeter by solid teams’ defenses. Lamb sometimes but mostly against lesser teams. Hendrickson tries and does it pretty well until the critical moment to score. Javon Moore flashes potential to do it consistently someday.
I groaned seeing the replay of Javon’s near-tap in goal last night because if he had just been intentional about driving the net rather than doing a lackluster flyby around the back we’d be up 3-1, and I think likely able to close out that kind of W in regulation.
I liked Moe’s play on Friday night because he doesn’t look like a scared deer in headlights every time the puck gets on his stick, but I didn’t notice him much last night. Townsend’s hustle to try and win pucks on the forecheck has impressed me the last 4 games.
This team showed what it is capable of and what it needs to be in the 2nd period last night. Then took all of 15 minutes to forget that and fall back into waiting for the opponent to come to them rather than pressure them and exert their will on MI. Lack of confidence, as others have mentioned, seems to be at least as big of an issue as talent. And seeing the flip in way they played in each period last night makes me (sorry for bringing up) think back to the Q game and still wonder how much Bob affected the conservative play and how much it was the players. Anyone who has played the game has seen teammates in that position who are more afraid of making the wrong play and take the conservative option (ie. just dump puck out of zone) than to take a slight chance for a play that could put away other team. A number of individuals with this attitude (afraid to be the one who screws up) begins to look like they were coached to do so. This seemed to be on full display last night. From the look on Bob's face in the 3rd, I'm pretty sure he wasn't telling the D to just flip the puck out of the zone every opportunity. Some of this is likely less talented D, but there are several times where there is time to make a better play but it appears lack of confidence leads to the dump. Not sure how to get past this. Like one person mentioned, just try to get them playing hard and having fun. And hopefully they keep games close and get a couple bounces in a couple games to win a couple against good teams to build that confidence.
I like Mooney (assuming he stays) and Luca for next season. If the Gophers are serious about returning to the NCAA tournament they need at least four or five high end players (National Development Team and Canadians) to add to the present team and recruits. I've supported Coach Motzko, but I do have doubts about his third period strategies
I feel like we could analyze this team’s shortcomings add nausea, but for me it all comes back to the d core’s inability to break pucks out. Unless 20 or 22 are out there we can’t leave the zone with possession, which is why we never have the puck.
I feel like we could analyze this team’s shortcomings add nausea, but for me it all comes back to the d core’s inability to break pucks out. Unless 20 or 22 are out there we can’t leave the zone with possession, which is why we never have the puck.
putting it all on them is a little unfair. Everyone is throwing the puck all over the place aside from a couple in both groups who hold the puck a little better. Our wings should be able to make a pass from the boards that isn’t just flipping it out to center ice every time as well (or even worse, attempting flip it and it goes right to the point).
Again if Bob does not blow that group up or add to it substantially with guys who are not just Phillips and grimes plus possibly Harper, then you need someone who will. Counting on gruba to get better at this point seems a fools errand and whipple isn’t going to become that guy
I agree with you that 20 Is the only 1 man breakout guy on D and that is a huge problem if you’re going to play the same gopher style.
LMitts is the guy that drives our breakout success no doubt and is the heart/motor of this team. That being said we DO need a power forward that can TAKE a breakout pass and withstand some pressure without collapsing, turning it over, or icing it. I thought Ludke, Hendrickson, or JMoore would maybe be that bigger more physical presence. Wrong overall. Ludke is so deep in his head he can hardly function (hence last nights mess), Hendrickson just cannot finish but where are the guys that should be with him to capitalize on his hard work? JMoore is up and down but still like his game. Mooney fun to watch but obviously not Cooley 2.0. Lamb and BZ are hot and cold. Luca kept game 1 to single digits and we had every chance last night. Threw them away.... literally. Still maroon and gold. VERY tough year though as the Gopher hockey team usually can keep me off the ledge all the other MN teams get me out on 
Hang in there people. They are college kids and there are bigger problems in the world. Might be the greatest (PSU last year) comeback of all time!
Might be the greatest (PSU last year) comeback of all time!
They didn’t lay half as many eggs as we have in out of conference play. Until proven otherwise, this team’s ceiling seems to be roughly “Notre Dame’s surprise B1G semifinal run last season” and I’ll be happy (eh… if you can call it that) enough with that.
Probably true. But did they beat UND and Denver? This team absolutely CAN do it. The will remains to be seen, and I don't mean the maybe kind. Do they HAVE it. I am not sure
Anything can happen if the other goalie has a bad game or something along those lines but in terms of likely outcomes…
Thank you for a potentially positive take. I haven't posted much this year due to the overwhelming negativity and overall 'whining'. This has most definitely not been our year. I joined this group for some hockey talk and insight regarding the Gopher hockey team. Generally that goal has been met. I am a little disappointed in our 'faithful' fan base this year. Yes, it has been a struggle and I no longer wait in anticipation for game night with the same excitement as years past. That does not mean you quit on the team who are a bunch of college kids really trying in most cases to get to the next level. The effort isn't just on game days when you see it, the whole thing is a grind. They are students with a full time hockey job with incredibly high expectations and apparently zero forgiveness. This years team is obviously not what we hoped for. That does not mean they are crap players or that we have a terrible program. Shame on those of you that think that is true (IMO). Have YOU played at this level? I have, and it is not nearly so easy as it appears on TV. Cmon folks. This is still our team
There's a lot of fan frustration this year, but I don't think too many people are blaming the players. If they're working hard in practice and listening to the coaches, that's about as much as you can ask. Complaining about a lack of talent won't change anything.
I think most of the dissatisfaction is aimed at the team staffers for missing the big picture in the off season. I get that coaches can have a bad recruiting year or two, but woof, this team is on par with Holy Cross in mid January. We're not used to that around here