Vital save by Airey!
We’re getting outshot 33-11 by OSU at home through 2 periods. FFS
McLaughlin should fire another blocked shot from the point. This next time it’ll work out.
This is embarrassing.
How the hell is this the same team as last weekend?
That’ll do it. Let’s get some running time going and get this team to the showers asap. Talk about skating out with the most momentum you’ve had all year and laying the biggest egg of all time.
Luckily for Bob there won’t be enough people left in the rink to yell fire him loud enough
Maybe they need the “again” skate after the game tonight. 😬
Maybe they need the “again” skate after the game tonight. 😬
can’t have any less energy and go tomorrow than they did tonight
Who is worse… 24 or 55?
22. I won’t miss him next year. He gets praise from the coaching staff but I think his d zone awareness is awful.
Maybe they need the “again” skate after the game tonight. 😬
can’t have any less energy and go tomorrow than they did tonight
Challenge accepted. 😉
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.
Who is worse… 24 or 55?
22. I won’t miss him next year. He gets praise from the coaching staff but I think his d zone awareness is awful.
He's just not the same post injuries
I can’t remember a d core this bad. Ever.
@maroon_and_gold pull the plug on Bob he sucks. Go get someone who takes recruiting seriously.
Putting this D group on the ice should be a fireable offense on its own good lord. Just insane they thought this was acceptable going into the year.
@maroon_and_gold pull the plug on Bob he sucks. Go get someone who takes recruiting seriously.
Ball is in his court. If he’s back next year he better be a mad man in the offseason reshaping this d core.
Holy shit this team sucks! Worst Gopher team I've seen in a long time. Maybe ever!
If you ever feel stupid just remember a real NHL GM took Jacob Rombach three picks outside the first round.
That GM doesn’t have a job anymore by the way.
Laundry list of picks like that in all sports, good and bad.
For NFL: Ryan Leaf and Tony Mandarich, anyone? 
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.
After last weekend, I was hoping at least they could be a hard to beat going into the stretch.
Six days later they're embarrassed on home ice against another league also-ran. It's hard to even make sense of it.
Laundry list of picks like that in all sports, good and bad.
For NFL: Ryan Leaf and Tony Mandarich, anyone?
i mean NHL you had the easy fodder of Daigle ahead of Pronger and Kariya at #1 overall. Or Nail Yakupov.
Rombach was reached on a bit, but he's being picked with a looooooooong runway. Was always known he'd be a project.
Pavel Datsyuk, 171st overall. 😉
And that was AFTER many Russians before him being drafted and defecting.
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.
Well I gave it the drive home to ponder. Normally a game like this I'd say flush it, move on, and go again but in this season at this time, it's actually probably the opposite.
If Bob is going to be here next year, he needs to realize that this product is not tenable at this institution or in this league and he needs to own that this roster he put together does not make a cohesive team. Every single game, as I said a few weeks back, should be an evaluation of who should be on the team next year. And before anyone says the whole "you don't want a reputation for forcing kids out", I'd more argue you don't want a reputation for fielding non-competitive teams or taking guys who are not Gopher caliber players just because.
So given that, tomorrow is going to be telling. 22 had maybe his worst game of his Gopher career. There was not a blameless dman out there tonight with even 20 having some uncharacteristic bad turnovers. Are they going to pout or who's going to strap it up and figure it out? Right now, really only Whipple do I feel decent about for next year and he also had a horrible game tonight. That has to change and the combo of Harper, Grimes, and Philips does not move the needle if all you otherwise have back is minus Thomas/Mitts and internal growth.
Forwards, there are still some of the same guys making passes to air and floating, both in the underclassmen and the upperclassmen. At some point, you need to decide that its not going to work to ask some guys who are working their asses off and are skilled to slog through pulling guys along who are not going to get it done. It is unbelievably frustrating to watch this poor of a Gopher skating group. There's no forecheck (can't imagine why they're all dog ass tired and slow when all they do is chase all game), they have no idea where they're passing half the time, and nothing was on the tape tonight (the number of passes into shin pads or higher tonight was worse than a typical peewee B game). You have some very skilled guys returning (Ziemer, Mooney) and some grit/heart players (Hendrickson, Moore) to build around, but this forward group also needs reconfiguring and overhaul as you're skating so damn many guys who are middle to bottom 6 but they don't play like it. They don't forecheck or hit, they don't know how to read the ice/control the puck (the panic level is crazy to watch at this time of year against a relatively slow OSU team). At a point, if this is what the group is going to look like, you're going to get attrition as no one wants to be here and lose, get booed off the ice, and not score/look competitive while doing it.
tl,dr; this team needs a captains only meeting and the coaches also need to have a come to jesus. There are so many aspects from a night to night there are impressively unacceptable at this time of year and this degree of desperation. Either needs to be a going mad offseason from Bob or he needs to retire and hopefully the new coach can keep some of the very good talent that has been recruited in for the next couple years.
Not only do they need some new experienced players, they also have players they need to move on from. There are players on this team who shouldn't be here next year.
I got nothing.
“When your best friend is the son of God, you get tired of losing every argument.”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
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My hottest take that I keep going back to on here is that our forward group is fine next year and that almost all of this falls on one of the worst d cores in program history. I realize not many will agree on this but I still think the forward group could be pretty good when they’re all a year older next season.
That is given that they have a d core that ca get them the puck.
The team needs 3 more LJ Mooney clones, make that 10 more! Hopefully they will show up to play tomorrow night.
They need to add at least 2 forwards better than anyone they currently have to be "fine".My hottest take that I keep going back to on here is that our forward group is fine next year and that almost all of this falls on one of the worst d cores in program history. I realize not many will agree on this but I still think the forward group could be pretty good when they’re all a year older next season.
That is given that they have a d core that ca get them the puck.
They need to add at least 2 forwards better than anyone they currently have to be "fine".My hottest take that I keep going back to on here is that our forward group is fine next year and that almost all of this falls on one of the worst d cores in program history. I realize not many will agree on this but I still think the forward group could be pretty good when they’re all a year older next season.
That is given that they have a d core that ca get them the puck.
Not a gotcha question but legitimately curious who would you push out?
Who is worse… 24 or 55?
There was a play in the 3rd where Gruba dumped it in, went to chase it, didn’t bother touching the puck as he skated by, hit the end boards, and then half assed it back to the defensive zone as Ohio State had a 3 on 2 rush. He finally made it back to the D zone after they missed on the rush and had retrieved the puck from the corner. Completely lazy and should be unacceptable play.
My hottest take that I keep going back to on here is that our forward group is fine next year and that almost all of this falls on one of the worst d cores in program history. I realize not many will agree on this but I still think the forward group could be pretty good when they’re all a year older next season.
That is given that they have a d core that ca get them the puck.
My argument against this is how little they create 5v5. Yes part of it is the D not holding the O zone. Every time we dump it we cannot retrieve it. If we do carry it across the blue line, there is no idea with what to do with the puck. No cycling. No shooting. Passes don’t connect. It’s rough. It’s been a problem all season.
I had my hopes up thinking that everything with the growing pains was worth the frustration this year and they had it coming together and then they take this step backwards which is really a red flag to me. I don’t remember a year like this, I mean with other years there was an identity that you could kinda cling to and understand what they’re building towards. I really don’t get this one.
“Good pace, a lot of north and south, or it could be east and west, I’m not sure but either way…” Wooger
Ziemer, Mooney, Moore, Hendrickson, Moe, and probably Pritchard are the only forwards worth worrying about. Townsend is too early to know anything about. Guys like Pahlsson, Clark, and Ludtke can play a role, but aren't good players. Harris and Faloon have no business being on a D1 roster.They need to add at least 2 forwards better than anyone they currently have to be "fine".My hottest take that I keep going back to on here is that our forward group is fine next year and that almost all of this falls on one of the worst d cores in program history. I realize not many will agree on this but I still think the forward group could be pretty good when they’re all a year older next season.
That is given that they have a d core that ca get them the puck.
Not a gotcha question but legitimately curious who would you push out?
They need to add at least 2 forwards better than anyone they currently have to be "fine".My hottest take that I keep going back to on here is that our forward group is fine next year and that almost all of this falls on one of the worst d cores in program history. I realize not many will agree on this but I still think the forward group could be pretty good when they’re all a year older next season.
That is given that they have a d core that ca get them the puck.
Not a gotcha question but legitimately curious who would you push out?
Obviously this all depends on if roster limit stays the same. We didn’t fill this year.
mitts, lamb out plus the empty slot means 3
Possible incoming: id bring in kvas. Katz id try push another year. Idk what the Cullens want to do right now but if W Cullen really is a 1st rounder, he’s coming in. Nevers i get is due and is a legacy but we are very full in the bottom 6/healthy scratch players. I don’t love it, but we are not great right now.
Harris is obviously a roster filler and year to year. As are rud and Begley. Falloon and Townsend are probably my two lowest remaining.
All these kids know this is a competitive sport. You can’t coach hoping they get better or worrying about hurt feelings provided you aren’t lying to kids and families. Environment is way too dynamic now
It’s hard to believe a coach who added a D3 player and left a roster spot open is going to be cutthroat this offseason. He has said during his season ticket holder meetings that he doesn’t like to give up on players and push them out.
We need a coach who is willing to adapt to the times.
Harris is obviously a roster filler and year to year. As are rud and Begley.
Let’s be real, if Bob is back next year then so are all three of Harris, Rud, Begley. To this point I actually liked Nick Michel when he was a Gopher but that’s because those teams weren’t totally directionless and flailing.
Kvasnicka was the last or second to last cut from this year’s USA WJC squad, he will 100% be on campus next season. It’s fantastical thinking to believe that fairly high pedigree recruits having very productive D+1 years can just be left to marinate in juniors forever until they’re ready to make a Knies-level immediate impact in college hockey.
I turned the game off before it was done for the first time in a long time. It was really unwatchable.
I don't know much about hockey strategy or how to evaluate skill, but even I noticed how bad the defense is. They just seem to forget how to play hockey. It's bizarre and really frustrating to watch, especially coming from the last several years.
The more I watch this year, the more frustrated I feel about Motzko's comments about how there just weren't any guys they wanted or that the crop of players wasn't the same level... It just screams of being unprepared or unwilling to adapt. I realize they unexpectedly lost a huge number of players, but you can't say that you didn't like the guys when everyone else just passes you by. Very frustrating.
Harris is obviously a roster filler and year to year. As are rud and Begley.
Let’s be real, if Bob is back next year then so are all three of Harris, Rud, Begley. To this point I actually liked Nick Michel when he was a Gopher but that’s because those teams weren’t totally directionless and flailing.
Kvasnicka was the last or second to last cut from this year’s USA WJC squad, he will 100% be on campus next season. It’s fantastical thinking to believe that fairly high pedigree recruits having very productive D+1 years can just be left to marinate in juniors forever until they’re ready to make a Knies-level immediate impact in college hockey.
that’s why I said I’d bring him in?
Ziemer, Mooney, Moore, Hendrickson, Moe, and probably Pritchard are the only forwards worth worrying about. Townsend is too early to know anything about. Guys like Pahlsson, Clark, and Ludtke can play a role, but aren't good players. Harris and Faloon have no business being on a D1 roster.They need to add at least 2 forwards better than anyone they currently have to be "fine".My hottest take that I keep going back to on here is that our forward group is fine next year and that almost all of this falls on one of the worst d cores in program history. I realize not many will agree on this but I still think the forward group could be pretty good when they’re all a year older next season.
That is given that they have a d core that ca get them the puck.
Not a gotcha question but legitimately curious who would you push out?
Ok but dropping Falloon and Harris doesn’t actually clear any room in the lineup
Harris is obviously a roster filler and year to year. As are rud and Begley.
Let’s be real, if Bob is back next year then so are all three of Harris, Rud, Begley. To this point I actually liked Nick Michel when he was a Gopher but that’s because those teams weren’t totally directionless and flailing.
Kvasnicka was the last or second to last cut from this year’s USA WJC squad, he will 100% be on campus next season. It’s fantastical thinking to believe that fairly high pedigree recruits having very productive D+1 years can just be left to marinate in juniors forever until they’re ready to make a Knies-level immediate impact in college hockey.
that’s why I said I’d bring him in?
Was making a general observation
Laundry list of picks like that in all sports, good and bad.
For NFL: Ryan Leaf and Tony Mandarich, anyone?
I'll see your Ryan Leaf and Tony Mandarich, and raise you JaMarcus Russell and Dimitrius Underwood.
Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes - Harry S Truman
What I’m about to say is really just going to reiterate everyone has already posted but here it goes. This is on everyone except for the back room staff. Every coach and player should be livid with where things are right now. The coaches, in particular Motzko and Miller, should be pissed off with themselves for going into this year thinking that this roster could compete for anything. They are also allowed to be pissed off with the players. Don’t get me wrong, I put a lot of this at the feet of Motzko and co. but he the coaches aren’t the ones out on the ice. Also, Gruba, Pahlsson, and others were solid recruits and have been frustrating to say the least. Even with injuries last year Ludtke was a good pick up in the transfer portal. Well now the poor kid is basically afraid of his own shadow. My point is that none of this absolves the coaches of the team they’ve assembled but we also saw last week that this team can play well. If they played every weekend like they did against Wisconsin with this roster would they be first in the B1G? No, they would not. Would they be top ten in the country? Eh, maybe around 8 or 9. But they would definitely be in the conversation to at least sneak into the tournament. My point is, as Vegoe put it a week or two ago, the Gophers gave themselves away last week. Then last night let Ohio State frustrate them and regressed back to the level they were playing against LIU in November. Ohio State isn’t good this year so it’s not like they got beaten by a better team. They failed to make the simple plays. Didn’t get it deep, couldn’t string two passes together, didn’t clear their own zone/were careless with the puck, didn’t forecheck enough, etc, etc. and they payed the price. Honestly I haven’t seen Motzko so pissed off in a post game in awhile and I don’t blame him. That was pathetic last night and even if they win tonight this is still a failed weekend. Had a great chance at home to keep the momentum going and get five or six points off of a lesser team and instead they come out and lay the fattest egg of all time. Just absolutely unacceptable. Seriously, figure it out.
That's where Pahlsson, Clark, and Ludtke enter the discussion. There's really no sense in discussing who to cut until you have better players in hand. The current lineup has maybe 3 players in roles that they are good enough to play.Ziemer, Mooney, Moore, Hendrickson, Moe, and probably Pritchard are the only forwards worth worrying about. Townsend is too early to know anything about. Guys like Pahlsson, Clark, and Ludtke can play a role, but aren't good players. Harris and Faloon have no business being on a D1 roster.They need to add at least 2 forwards better than anyone they currently have to be "fine".My hottest take that I keep going back to on here is that our forward group is fine next year and that almost all of this falls on one of the worst d cores in program history. I realize not many will agree on this but I still think the forward group could be pretty good when they’re all a year older next season.
That is given that they have a d core that ca get them the puck.
Not a gotcha question but legitimately curious who would you push out?
Ok but dropping Falloon and Harris doesn’t actually clear any room in the lineup
A - B - Ziemer
Mooney - C - Moore
Hendrickson - Moe - D
E - Clark - Pritchard
That's where I can see current players being effective in a lineup.
A, and B are spots that need to be filled with PPG players, C needs to be close to that as well. If you actually do that, then the rest can pretty easily be filled by what you already have. None of Moe, Clark, or Pritchard have shown enough to be guaranteed an everyday spot in the lineup either.
Really well laid out by @j22.
My opinion is Pahlsson and Ludtke should not return. If Townsend returns, it should be vying for ice time or to be an extra skater.
This roster construction has zero internal competition. Competition to make the lineup breeds better play.
The players that didn’t dress last night were Falloon, Harris, and Begley. They are all division 3 hockey players. Which means you suited up Max Rud, another division 3 player. That is with a HEALTHY lineup. Imagine if they have had a couple season ending injuries like other teams have had.
Ziemer, Mooney, Moore, Hendrickson, Moe, and probably Pritchard are the only forwards worth worrying about. Townsend is too early to know anything about. Guys like Pahlsson, Clark, and Ludtke can play a role, but aren't good players. Harris and Faloon have no business being on a D1 roster.They need to add at least 2 forwards better than anyone they currently have to be "fine".My hottest take that I keep going back to on here is that our forward group is fine next year and that almost all of this falls on one of the worst d cores in program history. I realize not many will agree on this but I still think the forward group could be pretty good when they’re all a year older next season.
That is given that they have a d core that ca get them the puck.
Not a gotcha question but legitimately curious who would you push out?
Ok but dropping Falloon and Harris doesn’t actually clear any room in the lineup
yes it does when you then push other guys who are currently skaters into healthy scratch/vying for bottom 6 minutes instead of lineup locks. Bunch of these guys are still at best bottom 6/healthy scratches on a good gopher team next year. They need to bring in top end talent to drive that internal competition to play. Right now there’s no threat of that.
That's where Pahlsson, Clark, and Ludtke enter the discussion. There's really no sense in discussing who to cut until you have better players in hand. The current lineup has maybe 3 players in roles that they are good enough to play.Ziemer, Mooney, Moore, Hendrickson, Moe, and probably Pritchard are the only forwards worth worrying about. Townsend is too early to know anything about. Guys like Pahlsson, Clark, and Ludtke can play a role, but aren't good players. Harris and Faloon have no business being on a D1 roster.They need to add at least 2 forwards better than anyone they currently have to be "fine".My hottest take that I keep going back to on here is that our forward group is fine next year and that almost all of this falls on one of the worst d cores in program history. I realize not many will agree on this but I still think the forward group could be pretty good when they’re all a year older next season.
That is given that they have a d core that ca get them the puck.
Not a gotcha question but legitimately curious who would you push out?
Ok but dropping Falloon and Harris doesn’t actually clear any room in the lineup
A - B - Ziemer
Mooney - C - Moore
Hendrickson - Moe - D
E - Clark - Pritchard
That's where I can see current players being effective in a lineup.
A, and B are spots that need to be filled with PPG players, C needs to be close to that as well. If you actually do that, then the rest can pretty easily be filled by what you already have. None of Moe, Clark, or Pritchard have shown enough to be guaranteed an everyday spot in the lineup either.
agreed. There are players you’ve described who may be good contributors as upperclassmen or are decent contributors on a good lineup (kind of how Clark was last year, ditto Pahlsson). I feel bad for Ludkte but it’s pretty apparent whatever the injury is he is still not moving well and has lost a lot of his game.
if they roll with the same lineup plus a couple recruits, it will be the same because you don’t let any of the guys play the roles they’re actually ready for. Outside of Lamb and Mitts, the upperclassmen have been bad across the board. I think they would be honest about that and feel they’ve underachieved (or are not capable). Kvas and Cullen don’t push them down the lineup enough up front to make a difference. Only way this works is if you bring on some high end guys so they’re playing support roles
it’s clear there are pieces here, but Ziemer, Lamb and Mooney can’t carry everything up front especially when our d core gets hemmed in and then can’t get out so they end up chasing as much as playing offense.
If he’s not willing to blow it up, as much as I hate the idea of losing Harper and possibly the Cullens (think the rest of the Minnesotans are more recruiting to be here, rather than to Bob based on timing they’d come in), then you have to make a move somewhere and maybe that’s you force Bob to let go of a coach and say we’re hiring a GM for roster management who’s willing to play the current game and develop contingency for when MN talent is lesser and you let them fight it out that way
beyond frustrated with both the players and the coaches right now after what I’d really hoped last week was a sign they had turned a leaf.
Ziemer, Mooney, Moore, Hendrickson, Moe, and probably Pritchard are the only forwards worth worrying about. Townsend is too early to know anything about. Guys like Pahlsson, Clark, and Ludtke can play a role, but aren't good players. Harris and Faloon have no business being on a D1 roster.They need to add at least 2 forwards better than anyone they currently have to be "fine".My hottest take that I keep going back to on here is that our forward group is fine next year and that almost all of this falls on one of the worst d cores in program history. I realize not many will agree on this but I still think the forward group could be pretty good when they’re all a year older next season.
That is given that they have a d core that ca get them the puck.
Not a gotcha question but legitimately curious who would you push out?
Ok but dropping Falloon and Harris doesn’t actually clear any room in the lineup
Who cares, you add to the top of the lineup and everyone moves down to the role they should be in. Whoever is left is a scratch and welcome to enter the portal if they want. It's not something to overthink
This recruiting off season is going to feel like a game of 5-card draw and Motzko is asking for 4 cards. Anyone who's played poker knows that's probably a losing hand.
I had the game recorded last night and started watching at actual speed. It took about 3 minutes to get to "delete this recording." I know they're only college kids, but win or lose, their part of the bargain is only to bust their butts for 60 minutes. That didn't happen last night.