Hayden Reid likely odd-man out as you can’t bring in Brooks, Reid, and Jackson Nevers next year?
Who says Brooks is coming in next season? I always thought he projected to be a 2 years of juniors guy. Fall 2027 is what I’d target for Brooks unless he absolutely pops in Fargo this year.
P.S. don’t forget about Kwaz in next year’s class
I think it was his expected 2026-2027 arrival for the Spartans, but things could have changed and he arrives with Wyatt. Kvasnicka and Nevers (assuming he sticks) the locks for next year with B. Cullen and Katz as options depending on how their year goes.
Guarantee Wyatt and Brooks come in as freshman the same year. Also would bet that year is 2026-2027.
Hayden Reid likely odd-man out as you can’t bring in Brooks, Reid, and Jackson Nevers next year?
Who says Brooks is coming in next season? I always thought he projected to be a 2 years of juniors guy. Fall 2027 is what I’d target for Brooks unless he absolutely pops in Fargo this year.
P.S. don’t forget about Kwaz in next year’s class
I think it was his expected 2026-2027 arrival for the Spartans, but things could have changed and he arrives with Wyatt. Kvasnicka and Nevers (assuming he sticks) the locks for next year with B. Cullen and Katz as options depending on how their year goes.
Guarantee Wyatt and Brooks come in as freshman the same year. Also would bet that year is 2026-2027.
Also guarantee Kvas is coming in 2026-27.
Wyatt would be 17 at the start of the semester. Seems a bit early.
Hayden Reid likely odd-man out as you can’t bring in Brooks, Reid, and Jackson Nevers next year?
Who says Brooks is coming in next season? I always thought he projected to be a 2 years of juniors guy. Fall 2027 is what I’d target for Brooks unless he absolutely pops in Fargo this year.
P.S. don’t forget about Kwaz in next year’s class
I think it was his expected 2026-2027 arrival for the Spartans, but things could have changed and he arrives with Wyatt. Kvasnicka and Nevers (assuming he sticks) the locks for next year with B. Cullen and Katz as options depending on how their year goes.
Guarantee Wyatt and Brooks come in as freshman the same year. Also would bet that year is 2026-2027.
Also guarantee Kvas is coming in 2026-27.
Wyatt would be 17 at the start of the semester. Seems a bit early.
By that logic:
2026/27
-Kvas for Lamb
-Nevers for Jmitts
………
2027/28
-Cullenx2, Katz, Reid for Ludtke, Clark and 2 TBD
TBD could be bumping Graham Harris and dropping to 3 goalies or someone going pro (Ziemer)
no because he hasn't gone back in time and won the natty and he hasn't put a MN goalie from the U in the NHL, or something like that
Depends on--
1. How many stars are the recruits? 4 star recruits are unacceptable. Must be 5 stars.
2. Is Moorhead close enough to Canada?
The sentiment the programs is on a downward trajectory has multiple supporting data points. It has nothing to do with liking or disliking Bob. Only natural to have this kind of rhetoric given where he is in his career.
Wyatt Cullen, Conboy, and Casey are very positive developments.
no because he hasn't gone back in time and won the natty and he hasn't put a MN goalie from the U in the NHL, or something like that
Depends on--
1. How many stars are the recruits? 4 star recruits are unacceptable. Must be 5 stars.
2. Is Moorhead close enough to Canada?
The sentiment the programs is on a downward trajectory has multiple supporting data points.
They may take a step back this season, but to extrapolate that to the "entire program is trending downward"?
Why? Bob has never had sustained gaps of recruiting misses, and there are a handful of blue blood programs out there that cannot match their NCAA tournament record of the past handful of seasons. Taking that leap requires ignoring all logic and being completely impatient with the process.
There are reasons to be logically critical of things, but total downward trajectory?
Gunnar Conboy might be my favorite commit of the past week. The pure skill he possesses in that big frame has first rounder written all over it in the 2027 draft.
Gunnar Conboy might be my favorite commit of the past week. The pure skill he possesses in that big frame has first rounder written all over it in the 2027 draft.
no because he hasn't gone back in time and won the natty and he hasn't put a MN goalie from the U in the NHL, or something like that
Depends on--
1. How many stars are the recruits? 4 star recruits are unacceptable. Must be 5 stars.
2. Is Moorhead close enough to Canada?
The sentiment the programs is on a downward trajectory has multiple supporting data points.
They may take a step back this season, but to extrapolate that to the "entire program is trending downward"?
Why? Bob has never had sustained gaps of recruiting misses, and there are a handful of blue blood programs out there that cannot match their NCAA tournament record of the past handful of seasons. Taking that leap requires ignoring all logic and being completely impatient with the process.
There are reasons to be logically critical of things, but total downward trajectory?
Forgive me if I disagree on the definition of a "downward spiral? when 90% of the argument is based upon the finicky one-and-done results in a tournament where you're up against the best teams in the country many of whom are playing their best hockey of the year. Never mind most of the country would kill for those results.
Forgive me if I disagree on the definition of a "downward spiral? when 90% of the argument is based upon the finicky one-and-done results in a tournament where you're up against the best teams in the country many of whom are playing their best hockey of the year. Never mind most of the country would kill for those results.
And they have not played 1 minute of the 25-26 season, so who knows how this season turns out.
I was recently informed by a GPLer that I'm related to Airey
no because he hasn't gone back in time and won the natty and he hasn't put a MN goalie from the U in the NHL, or something like that
Depends on--
1. How many stars are the recruits? 4 star recruits are unacceptable. Must be 5 stars.
2. Is Moorhead close enough to Canada?
The sentiment the programs is on a downward trajectory has multiple supporting data points.
They may take a step back this season, but to extrapolate that to the "entire program is trending downward"?
Why? Bob has never had sustained gaps of recruiting misses, and there are a handful of blue blood programs out there that cannot match their NCAA tournament record of the past handful of seasons. Taking that leap requires ignoring all logic and being completely impatient with the process.
There are reasons to be logically critical of things, but total downward trajectory?
“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
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At forward, Nolan Fitzhenry and Freddie Schneider are two you put the full court press on and worry about numbers later. Otherwise, the pipeline is full enough to exercise some patience and see who blooms late or fills out depth roles better. Curious if we see a defensive commit soon.
At forward, Nolan Fitzhenry and Freddie Schneider are two you put the full court press on and worry about numbers later. Otherwise, the pipeline is full enough to exercise some patience and see who blooms late or fills out depth roles better. Curious if we see a defensive commit soon.
Wow Bob is on a run now. I love the upside with Jarvis. Was one of the most dangerous players in the state as a sophomore in my opinion. Possesses a nice release and always finds himself in the right spot on the ice. Just skill, skill, skill.
We will likely never see an another August like August 2025. This is fun!
Again [whistle]
🤔 😉
“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
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The sentiment the programs is on a downward trajectory has multiple supporting data points.
If they miss the playoffs this year you'll be awarded your first "data point" that supports this sentiment. Even then, if they keep up the current steam in the recruiting game that we've seen to kick off this August, there wouldn't be an expectation of the trend to continue.
I don't know much about the Cullen boys except the short exposure during their tournament run.
Are they projected to come in as true freshman? Is this a Reilly brothers situation where one kid is the prize and the others are along for the ride? There's a lot of enthusiasm around here, but how good are they?
no because he hasn't gone back in time and won the natty and he hasn't put a MN goalie from the U in the NHL, or something like that
Depends on--
1. How many stars are the recruits? 4 star recruits are unacceptable. Must be 5 stars.
2. Is Moorhead close enough to Canada?
The sentiment the programs is on a downward trajectory has multiple supporting data points.
They may take a step back this season, but to extrapolate that to the "entire program is trending downward"?
Why? Bob has never had sustained gaps of recruiting misses, and there are a handful of blue blood programs out there that cannot match their NCAA tournament record of the past handful of seasons. Taking that leap requires ignoring all logic and being completely impatient with the process.
There are reasons to be logically critical of things, but total downward trajectory?
For starters:
‘21-22: Frozen Four
‘22-23: Runner Up
‘23-24: Regional Final
‘24-25: First Round
‘25-26: “step back”
Cool...now add the previous 5 years.
Previous 5 years are defined as upward trajectory. The antibodies on this forum for any Gopher fan with a contrarian view is astonishing.
Very happy overall with Bob and state of the program. Was just pointing out there are justifiable reasons for some to have concern.
I don't know much about the Cullen boys except the short exposure during their tournament run.
General consensus is that Wyatt and Joey are the true prizes from this generation of Cullens. I actually like Brooks quite a bit up the middle though. He has a nose for finding open space without the puck to generate chances.
I don't know much about the Cullen boys except the short exposure during their tournament run.
Are they projected to come in as true freshman? Is this a Reilly brothers situation where one kid is the prize and the others are along for the ride? There's a lot of enthusiasm around here, but how good are they?
I think a more accurate comparison are the Mittelstadt Bros. Essentially Joey (the top ranked 2010 birth year player in MN) corresponds to Casey, Wyatt was good enough to make NTDP, snd he corresponds to Luke. While Brooks is likely a bottom 6 forward, who corresponds to John. It’s a terrific get for the Gophers…as long as they eventually land Joey. 👍
“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
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Forgive me if I disagree on the definition of a "downward spiral? when 90% of the argument is based upon the finicky one-and-done results in a tournament where you're up against the best teams in the country many of whom are playing their best hockey of the year. Never mind most of the country would kill for those results.
If his argument is that there's been a short term downward trend (that isn't exactly indicative of what to expect in future seasons or the rest of Bob's tenure) then I think they have a valid point. I hate the one and done format and don't find it to be a very credible way to award a champion but last year the team also lost a best of 3 to Notre Dame before the first round loss. The year before you could certainly argue Close picked a bad day to have a bad game in the regional final (wanna say he let in 2 bad goals) but I don't really think the Gophers outplayed BU in that one by any stretch and they didn't exactly lose that one due to bad luck or whatever. Next season has yet to play out but I have a hard time imagining this team winning the seasons series vs MSU and PSU (I'd be more than happy to be wrong about this of course).
It's not just the results either, as good as some of these recruits look they don't really have anyone of the caliber of LaCombe, Faber, or Rinzel on D. At forward you're not gonna get someone of Cooley's caliber every year but the closest player I can think of is Ziemer? I realize having first round picks on the roster doesn't guarantee post season success mainly for the reasons you already mentioned but I think there's a case to be made there as well.
I'm glad the recruiting has seen more success lately and I don't think Motzko ever forgot how to recruit, I'm also not obsessed with getting high end Canadians as long as they can get players of similar talent locally or elsewhere in the US. But I don't think they're wrong about what they've seen in the short term, long term is a bit harder to predict especially in the age of the transfer portal, this being only the first year CHL guys are available, and the fact that this state doesn't seem like it's been producing as much first round/high end talent recently.
Here is my beef with this "downward spiral". The goal each year is to make the NCAA tournament...that makes you one of the 16 best teams out of 62 in the nation. Chip, chair, and the same chance as 15 other teams. Bob has done that 5 of his 7 seasons here at Minnesota, the last 5 years straight to be exact. The outcomes in the finicky one and done tournament I don't really get hung up on when I look at Bob's tenure. And to be saying that this coming year will be a "step back" is pure conjecture and speculation.
I am theofficial Iowa Hawkeye football fan of GPL!
I don't think the argument re short term downward trajectory solely relies on the results of a one and done tourney as I laid out above. But I do think it's fair to let next season play out before deciding whether that hurts or helps said argument. Overall I like what he's done for the program it just remains to be seen how he well he's going to adjust to the new recruiting landscape moving forward, I certainly don't think he's incapable of it and has been a good recruiter here.
The poor second half last season, then losing so many players to pro/graduation, along with two down recruiting cycles are reasons some may have concern for the direction of the program. This week's commitments have certainly been encouraging.
For me, the championship loss two years ago, the way we took our foot off the gas and sat back and stopped forechecking halfway through the game...it caused me to doubt whether or not Bob could win the big one. That along with the late season choke last year when we were fighting for a #1 seed, and the numerous B1G championship losses...I'm ready to move on from Bob.
The poor second half last season, then losing so many players to pro/graduation, along with two down recruiting cycles are reasons some may have concern for the direction of the program. This week's commitments have certainly been encouraging.
For me, the championship loss two years ago, the way we took our foot off the gas and sat back and stopped forechecking halfway through the game...it caused me to doubt whether or not Bob could win the big one. That along with the late season choke last year when we were fighting for a #1 seed, and the numerous B1G championship losses...I'm ready to move on from Bob.
Losing players to graduation is Bob’s fault? Isn’t that just part of college sports? Bob also has been getting 2-4 years out of his recent first rounders which is pretty much as good as it gets. By my count there is going to be 0 first round Juniors and 1 Senior, Charlie Stramel, in all of college hockey next year. Also it just seems premature to write off Mooney, Rombach, Kvasnicka, Moe, Phillips etc. before they even play a game. Mooney was considered the top 07 forward in the country when he committed. Rombach and Phillips were the only 2 07 MN defenseman drafted this past draft and Rombach will be the highest drafted American defenseman entering college hockey this year.
I will say this, they are definitely lacking a high end offensive defenseman in the pipeline. Grimes could be that in due time but I feel we need a shot in the arm in that area. Geiger would be nice.
The poor second half last season, then losing so many players to pro/graduation, along with two down recruiting cycles are reasons some may have concern for the direction of the program. This week's commitments have certainly been encouraging.
For me, the championship loss two years ago, the way we took our foot off the gas and sat back and stopped forechecking halfway through the game...it caused me to doubt whether or not Bob could win the big one. That along with the late season choke last year when we were fighting for a #1 seed, and the numerous B1G championship losses...I'm ready to move on from Bob.
Losing players to graduation is Bob’s fault? Isn’t that just part of college sports? Bob also has been getting 2-4 years out of his recent first rounders which is pretty much as good as it gets. By my count there is going to be 0 first round Juniors and 1 Senior, Charlie Stramel, in all of college hockey next year. Also it just seems premature to write off Mooney, Rombach, Kvasnicka, Moe, Phillips etc. before they even play a game. Mooney was considered the top 07 forward in the country when he committed. Rombach and Phillips were the only 2 07 MN defenseman drafted this past draft and Rombach will be the highest drafted American defenseman entering college hockey this year.
I didn't say losing players to graduation was Bob's fault, but losing so many key contributors with only really one high end replacement is not ideal.
"Downward trajectory' implies that this is a long term trend that is likely to continue. Last year's team I would argue was top three in the country in talent last year, and given some competent refs in their last game who knows what might have happened. That team was bolstered by one of the best players in the country coming back for one more year than just about anyone expected and the transferring in of another. But it wasn't as talented as the team from a few years ago which was one of the most talented college hockey teams I've seen. Once again, bolstered by some individuals sticking around what many considered an extra year. No college can expect to have that type of team every year (unless maybe Pegula buys a team like that every year for Pedo St. going forward). MN had 2 in three years. But to come down from that level is just a regression to the mean; the natural fluctuations that occur for every blue blood program. It is too short a time period to consider it a 'trajectory'. (I guess since I payed a few bills tonight my bank account is in a downward trajectory. Can someone spare a dime since I'm clearly going broke?) Yes, last year was a little disappointing in the recruiting success, especially since the crop of MN players was thin so misses felt huge. I think that this year's team, despite having lost a ton of talent, will be more competitive than many on here expect. As we saw with WMU last year it is a combination of both skill and just teams gelling at the right time that determine how far they go.
@gopherpete - for...who? Is there someone better or that is on the U's radar for the heir apparent? If we are going to say replace Bob - there has to be a better alternative.
What is the overall big picture for the program the past few seasons and beyond?
They made the tournament last year and unfortunately didn't play their best against UMASS. But they weren't outmatched and imho despite their drop the 2nd half every bit capable of winning the tournament. I already know some disagree with that which you have your opinion.
Another poster here is holding it against Bob that they had some unforeseen early departures in the past off-season which are seriously contributing to expectations for this year. Really? That's on Bob and is also part of a long-term "downward spiral"?
Let's look at the state of the program another way. Knowing what we know about expected recruits coming in in 2026 and beyond, do any of the "it's a downward spiral" folks really believe that the program won't be back on solid footing again? If that answer is (correctly) no the argument falls apart.
That said if 2026 doesn't see a resurgence I will no problem revisiting the argument as well as talking about tBob's tenure again.
@gopherpete - for...who? Is there someone better or that is on the U's radar for the heir apparent? If we are going to say replace Bob - there has to be a better alternative.
One thousand percent this.
If you're disappointed with Bob the last year or two, ok, I can sort of understand that (even though I don't agree, it's a position I can understand). But, before you say we need to get rid of him you need to come up with a name for a replacement that is:
A - at least as good as Bob has been
B- someone that's actually available and not some random pipe dream that we could get them
I'd say that's a difficult ask right now. The handful of coaches that I think are truly on the same level as Bob are all in great positions and I can't really see them moving any time soon. Yeah B1G money speaks volumes, but, can we really get Nightingale away from MSU (already with B1G money)? Or Carle away from Denver? Carle is probably more likely, but even there, he's making the same kind of money as Motzko, in an environment that's way less stressful. Pandalfo? He's a BU guy from day 1 and also making roughly the same already. After that, what... Pecknold? After 31 years at QU? Hastings? Let's see if he can actually get a true winning team built with top-end talent rather than a team that's 3/4s 24 or 25 year old defensive lockdown style (and a goalie that isn't on steroids).
If someone has a reasonable candidate, let's have a conversation, but, until I see a name of someone that we could realistically see moving here, let's drop the "Bob has to go" when he's been here for 7 years, made the tournament all but the first two, and the frozen 4 twice in that span.
