He didn't change anything about their neutral zone play all night. He or they changed how hard they forechecked the offensive zone and how willing the defensemen were to trying to hold the offensive zone, but the dzone and neutral zone didn't change at allBob didn't panic, the players did.I think Motzko deserves most of the criticism for this game for all the reasons stated above. Changing your style with 30 minutes left, seriously? Especially when we haven't practiced sitting on a lead all year. That is not the style the team ever plays, and they are not built to do it. Bob panicked, I don't think there is any question about it.
However, the players had plenty to do with this and deserve criticism also. The only time Cooley and Snuggerud showed up on the stat sheet was for taking penalties. One of them proved to be a dagger. We got destroyed in the faceoff dots. Faber was shaky all night and even iced the puck a few times. It bled throughout the lineup and the team seemed afraid to possess the puck and keep it on their stick in fear of making a bad turnover.
He changed their neutral zone play in the middle of the second period to play more conservatively. That’s panicking, and it bled down to the team.
He literally said they changed their neutral zone in his post game presser:
https://twitter.com/mikemcmahonchn/status/1644899798879817729?s=46&t=UtlPiq7Vt1Te97QT76L7LQ
What a great behind the scenes article for those who subscribe to the Athletic.
I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
And all of those things you do when you have a 2-0 lead. That is normal strategy in any game. YOu reduce the risks to protect the lead.
The other overlooked thing is that QUinnipiac is a very good team, legitimate #2 in the nation and national champs, and also a Big Ten beater. They beat Ohio St. which had crushed Harvard 8-1 in the previous game. Then they beat Michigan and then Minnesota.
Their style of play seems to work well against the more offensive teams in the NCAA although their offensive strategy isnt as conservative as you would think with lots of long break out passes that hurt Michigan in the semi-finals. The long breakouts did not work that well against MInnesota but what hurt MInnesota was the Bobcats were very physical and relentless in front of the net.
Another problem for the Gophers was they lost many defensive zone faceoffs and Quinnipiac was very good at running set plays off the faceoffs that put pressure on Close and the Gopher D. Many of those puck scrums in front of the net were created by faceoff win, to set play, to a shot on goal which wasn't immediately cleared. The game winnng goal in OT was a set play off the center zone faceoff.
Part of the problem with “reducing risk” is that it ultimately did quite the opposite. I’ve rarely seen it pay off for that long either.
I don't think the game plan was flawed. For the first half of the game we had the vaunted Q defense scrambling. When we got our second goal we stopped being aggressive and everything changed.The game has been dissected a hundred different ways since Saturday and I would agree and disagree with many of the views. It is disappointing that what we saw was the best gameplan even though there were almost two weeks to come up with a game plan. My comment the night of the game "Steve Miller is a Commodore 64" is in regards to tBob referring to him as a computer. If he locked himself up and this was his best game plan, maybe he should have just stayed in the hotel.
Another problem for the Gophers was they lost many defensive zone faceoffs and Quinnipiac was very good at running set plays off the faceoffs that put pressure on Close and the Gopher D. Many of those puck scrums in front of the net were created by faceoff win, to set play, to a shot on goal which wasn't immediately cleared. The game winnng goal in OT was a set play off the center zone faceoff.
Losing the faceoffs was killer. A team that pushes and pushes only to get puck flips coming back the other way is pretty much validated that what they're doing is working. They kept the pressure up, and Minnesota's "anti-pressure" strategy gave them no reason to change it up.
By the time the third period started, the Q defense was taking tons of chances, smothering Gopher forwards at the blue line or early into the neutral zone...only once did Minnesota take advantage with Snuggerud's near miss.
The line the Gophers had out there for the OT faceoff was flat-out not ready for the play. That's on them.
I'm still in the anger phase, so my mouthy, two-day-after analysis is the Gophers just blew it. They had it right there in front of them and let it slip away. Motzko outfoxed himself, a ref inserted himself in the outcome, Close gave up a soft goal, and the OT line wasn't ready to play. Game, set, match. They need to own it.
To me it almost felt like they lulled themselves to sleep.
Emotions will subside, but fans at home need to understand how traumatic this loss was to witness in person. It was on the level of the Harvard loss to watch that gut wrenching final goal 10 seconds into overtime.
I'll go to my grave believing that the late call on Cooley decided the outcome.
The same distraught faces of Gopher fans emerged from the arena on Saturday as they did on Thursday for Michigan fans. Q mowed under 3 Big10 teams on their way to a title so it twanst a fluke.
I've seen two national title wins and three times now have watched the team spit shine the trophy for first-time NCAA winners Harvard, Union, and now Q.
You forgot 2 more, RPI Engineers in 1954 and Boston University Terriers in 1971, yes, RPI Engineers and Boston University Terriers won other championships but Gophers gave Engineers and Terriers their first championship so 5 teams that Gophers gave them their first championships which is just sad!
For some reason the ECAC is MN's kryptonite. Bastiches.
“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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The problems started once Quinnipiac realized that they no longer had to worry about defending. It’s not that difficult for a defenseman to hold the offensive blueline if he knows there's no danger if a puck does get past him.I don't think the game plan was flawed. For the first half of the game we had the vaunted Q defense scrambling. When we got our second goal we stopped being aggressive and everything changed.The game has been dissected a hundred different ways since Saturday and I would agree and disagree with many of the views. It is disappointing that what we saw was the best gameplan even though there were almost two weeks to come up with a game plan. My comment the night of the game "Steve Miller is a Commodore 64" is in regards to tBob referring to him as a computer. If he locked himself up and this was his best game plan, maybe he should have just stayed in the hotel.
@gophersfan Two seats down from me in Tampa was an older gentleman who played on that 1954 RPI Championship team. I asked him if he remembered JOhn Mayasich and he said he certainly did. One of the best hockey players he ever played and he was a friend of John's at the time. He said Mayasich could shoot the puck from anywhere and hit the net. He asked if John was still alive and was pleased that he is still kicking at 89.
He also said that Mayasich told him that the 1954 loss was the worst thing in his life, which was poignant at the end watching Brock Faber break down.
Remember, these are kids. In 1954 John Mayasich was a kid. Brock Faber is a kid. The team had a great year and lost in the end against another great team. They will rebound from the loss and have great lives and many great hockey careers. And maybe they will not have the exact reverence that a John Mayasich has for the entire program, the names like Brock Faber and Matthew Knies will be remembered for a long time, along with all of the other players that have or will leave such as Jackson LaCombe, Jaxon Nelson, Bryce Brodzinski, and Logan Cooley. And perhaps their names will someday be somewhat forgotten like the helmet and teethl ess Gophers on the early All-American mural in Mariucci, their likeness will watch over future Gopher hockey pretty much forever.
@j22 They had nothing to lose down 2-0. And then the pressure increased on the Gophers and they struggles to contain them.
@gophersfan Two seats down from me in Tampa was an older gentleman who played on that 1954 RPI Championship team. I asked him if he remembered JOhn Mayasich and he said he certainly did. One of the best hockey players he ever played and he was a friend of John's at the time. He said Mayasich could shoot the puck from anywhere and hit the net. He asked if John was still alive and was pleased that he is still kicking at 89.
He also said that Mayasich told him that the 1954 loss was the worst thing in his life, which was poignant at the end watching Brock Faber break down.
Remember, these are kids. In 1954 John Mayasich was a kid. Brock Faber is a kid. The team had a great year and lost in the end against another great team. They will rebound from the loss and have great lives and many great hockey careers. And maybe they will not have the exact reverence that a John Mayasich has for the entire program, the names like Brock Faber and Matthew Knies will be remembered for a long time, along with all of the other players that have or will leave such as Jackson LaCombe, Jaxon Nelson, Bryce Brodzinski, and Logan Cooley. And perhaps their names will someday be somewhat forgotten like the helmet and teethl ess Gophers on the early All-American mural in Mariucci, their likeness will watch over future Gopher hockey pretty much forever.
Nice story! Thank you for that!
Emotions will subside, but fans at home need to understand how traumatic this loss was to witness in person. It was on the level of the Harvard loss to watch that gut wrenching final goal 10 seconds into overtime.
I'll go to my grave believing that the late call on Cooley decided the outcome.
The same distraught faces of Gopher fans emerged from the arena on Saturday as they did on Thursday for Michigan fans. Q mowed under 3 Big10 teams on their way to a title so it twanst a fluke.
I've seen two national title wins and three times now have watched the team spit shine the trophy for first-time NCAA winners Harvard, Union, and now Q.
You forgot 2 more, RPI Engineers in 1954 and Boston University Terriers in 1971, yes, RPI Engineers and Boston University Terriers won other championships but Gophers gave Engineers and Terriers their first championship so 5 teams that Gophers gave them their first championships which is just sad!
I was referring to the games I witnessed in person, but unfortunately, you are right.
Minnesota has a dubious bridesmaid's history in NCAA tournament games that feature a first-time winner.
Being down forces a team to crank up its compete level while the other team is all too comfortable with a lead.@j22 They had nothing to lose down 2-0. And then the pressure increased on the Gophers and they struggles to contain them.
Once a team is pumping on all cylinders, watch out.
To borrow a phrase from Coach Motzko himself: "I'd rather put out a fire than try to start one." Too bad he didn't take his own advice two nights ago.
Another problem for the Gophers was they lost many defensive zone faceoffs and Quinnipiac was very good at running set plays off the faceoffs that put pressure on Close and the Gopher D. Many of those puck scrums in front of the net were created by faceoff win, to set play, to a shot on goal which wasn't immediately cleared. The game winnng goal in OT was a set play off the center zone faceoff.
Losing the faceoffs was killer. A team that pushes and pushes only to get puck flips coming back the other way is pretty much validated that what they're doing is working. They kept the pressure up, and Minnesota's "anti-pressure" strategy gave them no reason to change it up.
By the time the third period started, the Q defense was taking tons of chances, smothering Gopher forwards at the blue line or early into the neutral zone...only once did Minnesota take advantage with Snuggerud's near miss.
The line the Gophers had out there for the OT faceoff was flat-out not ready for the play. That's on them.
I'm still in the anger phase, so my mouthy, two-day-after analysis is the Gophers just blew it. They had it right there in front of them and let it slip away. Motzko outfoxed himself, a ref inserted himself in the outcome, Close gave up a soft goal, and the OT line wasn't ready to play. Game, set, match. They need to own it.
I pretty much feel the same way. I'm a big Bob Motzko, Justin Close fan so watching both of them have a below average game was very tough to swallow. Fate can be very fickle. If the Gophers hold on and win that game they might be considered one of the greatest Gophers teams of all time. Instead they get placed in the basket with 1989 and 2014 teams.
We will debate the semantics of this game for years to come. I think it’s pretty clear that the players bottled it. No way coach told them to stop playing offense and sit back.
Our all star defenseman couldn’t handle a good forecheck all year. They are like a deer in the headlights. You can refer back as recently to the B1G Championship. Faber was one of the worst players out there Saturday.
These players aren’t kids. They are high end division 1 athletes. They bottled it. Excited for new blood next season.
The coach literally said otherwise lol. Like we can agree to disagree on whether that kind of risk assessment was the right choice or not but they clearly did change how they played and the coach said as much, that isn’t really debatable.
I don’t really disagree on the guys you mentioned though, that was kind of a constant in both this past game and the final 2 games vs the Cows of previous seasons unfortunately.
I have to give Faber a pass against Michigan. He had been sick and lost considerable weight. Moreover, the team hadn't played and was not sharp.The coach literally said otherwise lol. Like we can agree to disagree on whether that kind of risk assessment was the right choice or not but they clearly did change how they played and the coach said as much, that isn’t really debatable.
I don’t really disagree on the guys you mentioned though, that was kind of a constant in both this past game and the final 2 games vs the Cows of previous seasons unfortunately.
Motzko mentioned during one of his interviews that forcing the best team to sit idle for an additional week is actually a disadvantage because it's not easy to come back and do a cold start. I think this applies to hockey more than other sports.
I kinda forgot about that but yeah, I agree with your assessment re Michigan. They looked pretty off against Michigan state but won because they were more talented (Close had a really good game too) and then against Michigan they looked better at times, similarly off their game at others. That’s why I referred to the games v Cows and Q. Hard to really single out any one guy for that last game though, nobody looked themselves for 30 mins which is why I hold my opinion re coaching but I get that ppl prob are tired of that discussion.I have to give Faber a pass against Michigan. He had been sick and lost considerable weight. Moreover, the team hadn't played and was not sharp.The coach literally said otherwise lol. Like we can agree to disagree on whether that kind of risk assessment was the right choice or not but they clearly did change how they played and the coach said as much, that isn’t really debatable.
I don’t really disagree on the guys you mentioned though, that was kind of a constant in both this past game and the final 2 games vs the Cows of previous seasons unfortunately.
Motzko mentioned during one of his interviews that forcing the best team to sit idle for an additional week is actually a disadvantage because it's not easy to come back and do a cold start. I think this applies to hockey more than other sports.
I do remember saying the same thing though back in 2017(?) I think it was when the Gophers played Notre Dame in the regional with a far less talented roster than what they had this year. I didn’t really like how Don switched things up midway especially as it related to neutral zone play (mainly exits and entries) through that one either and the result was similar.
Bout ready to have this thread locked up lol
Normally I rewatch all of the games that are available on TV that I can DVR. I record all of the Gopher goals and anything else that I may want to keep from those games on DVD's. I started doing that on first on VHS tapes and now am using DVD's since the early 2000's. I also keep a bunch of games on my DVR so I can look at them whenever I want. I just don't have the heart to watch the games from the FF yet. I guess I'm in mourning. I will sometime this week. I'm not going to place blame on any one element, just as a whole, they just didn't finish the deal. It was the most fun hockey season that I have been a part of. From game 1 to the last game, this was a special year and will look back on it with joy, although there will always be... what if...
I also put away the jerseys for the year and can't wait until October to do this thing all over again. 
I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
Normally I rewatch all of the games that are available on TV that I can DVR. I record all of the Gopher goals and anything else that I may want to keep from those games on DVD's. I started doing that on first on VHS tapes and now am using DVD's since the early 2000's. I also keep a bunch of games on my DVR so I can look at them whenever I want. I just don't have the heart to watch the games from the FF yet. I guess I'm in mourning. I will sometime this week. I'm not going to place blame on any one element, just as a whole, they just didn't finish the deal. It was the most fun hockey season that I have been a part of. From game 1 to the last game, this was a special year and will look back on it with joy, although there will always be... what if...
I also put away the jerseys for the year and can't wait until October to do this thing all over again.
How are you able to save stuff from DVR - or are you recording directly from TV to DVD? My DVR is almost full and there are several games I’d love to save but don’t know I can do that without tech knowledge I don’t have or expensive hard drives I don’t want to pay for. ?
Although it’s been a couple years or so on par with what usually happens it’s probably time for the DVR to die and I’ll just lose everything.
If anyone here has any knowledge of how to save files from a Spectrum DVR to a disc or hard drive I’d love to try!
@cowgirl Will send you a PM
I'm 50% factual and 50% sarcastic. When you get to know me, you will know which is which.
At the beginning of the year I had hoped the Gophers would be a Frozen Four team. I'm proud of the Gophers for making it all the way to the championship game. Quinnipiac played their hearts out, and got a few good breaks. The Koster penalty was a 5 minute major, if you make contact to the head they have to call it and didn't. The penalty against Logan was a bad call, he was just trying to pull away from a hold. It reminds me of the North Dakota game earlier in the year when they gave up 4 goals in a row to the whioux. The fan turnout was amazing this year, the student section was mostly full nearly every game. You have to look at the overall picture. Pride on ice is back... That all being said fire Bob 
Actually he has done an amazing job, since he has been here. Most of us wouldn't be surprised to see the Gophers win it all next year. Now the weather is nice and we only have to wait around 6 more months.
Go Gophers!
The coach literally said otherwise lol. Like we can agree to disagree on whether that kind of risk assessment was the right choice or not but they clearly did change how they played and the coach said as much, that isn’t really debatable.
I don’t get all the people saying we didn’t back off once we got up 2-0, especially when tBob admitted it. It’s also been a lot of people I know don’t watch regularly. Those of us who do know what a fire wagon this team was offensively all year. It was pretty rare for us to stay back and we basically played a 1-2-2 for the last 30 minutes. It’s one thing to not take chances, it’s another to chip the puck up the ice and sit back.
That said, it almost worked. I think the game turns out differently if the Cooley penalty was called even up.
We will debate the semantics of this game for years to come. I think it’s pretty clear that the players bottled it. No way coach told them to stop playing offense and sit back.
Our all star defenseman couldn’t handle a good forecheck all year. They are like a deer in the headlights. You can refer back as recently to the B1G Championship. Faber was one of the worst players out there Saturday.
These players aren’t kids. They are high end division 1 athletes. They bottled it. Excited for new blood next season.
Good Lord.
I just don't have the heart to watch the games from the FF yet. I guess I'm in mourning. I will sometime this week.
I usually rewatch the games also. I don’t think I will be watching this one again for a long, long time. Seeing it in person once was good enough.
We will debate the semantics of this game for years to come. I think it’s pretty clear that the players bottled it. No way coach told them to stop playing offense and sit back.
Our all star defenseman couldn’t handle a good forecheck all year. They are like a deer in the headlights. You can refer back as recently to the B1G Championship. Faber was one of the worst players out there Saturday.
These players aren’t kids. They are high end division 1 athletes. They bottled it. Excited for new blood next season.
Good Lord.
good lord what? Can’t admit that the players bottled it Saturday night? Or are you taking the blame the coach route like so many on here have?