GOPHERS 2014-2015

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 12:52 pm

GAME DAY!

(finally)

Sats81 · Post by **Sats81** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 1:14 pm

MNHockeyFan wrote:GAME DAY!

(finally)

No Kidding!!

Sats81 · Post by **Sats81** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 6:25 pm

oldschoolpuckster wrote:
Sats81 wrote:
MNHockeyFan wrote: Sure hope so, but with Skjei out we could definitely use Collins in the lineup. And I'd still rather have Fasching than any one of the 4th liners moving up...even though I agree that his play this year has been disappointing relative to what we all were expecting. Hopefully the World Junior experience will change things for him.

Personally, I feel like Hudson has never lived up to expectations at any level. While he is not a pure scorer, I still expect a lot more out of a big guy. He, to me is a poor mans Nick Bjugstad. He did little to nothing in Ann Arbor, was a perimeter player, never went into the paint or dirty areas to make things happen and we have seen that from him almost his entire U of M career other than Oct and November of his freshman year. No way is he NHL ready. Big time Overrated. Give me the Kyle Rau's and Justin Kloos' of the world anyday over him.
Clueless....

Guess I'm still waiting for your rebuttal....he did't look so hot last weekend against Michigan and the game he played in Mariucci classic wasn't any better. I don't see it with him. Unless he wants a career where he toils away in the AHL and then over to Europe, he best stay put in college...there have been A LOT of gopher forwards better and much more productive offensively (not saying this is solely what he needs to do, but it would be nice for him to chip in a few points, other than an assist at end of a several goal loss) who never played a significant amount (100+) of NHL games.

Tigers33 · Post by **Tigers33** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 6:51 am

If you want a good college hockey player then yes Kyle rau or justin kolos may be your guy. Did you watch any of the world juniors? If so you would have noticed Hudson fasching as one of the top players on the team. In my opinion he will go pro, and he will do just fine. Could he be doing more as a gopher...sure! But in all honesty they ALL could be right about now. Remember again he is still young and sometimes in college hockey age plays a big factor.

Let me ask you this...who impressed you more in the world juniors? Hudson fasching or jack eichel? And if you say jack then I know you didn't watch it.

Sats81 · Post by **Sats81** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 9:40 am

Tigers33 wrote:If you want a good college hockey player then yes Kyle rau or justin kolos may be your guy. Did you watch any of the world juniors? If so you would have noticed Hudson fasching as one of the top players on the team. In my opinion he will go pro, and he will do just fine. Could he be doing more as a gopher...sure! But in all honesty they ALL could be right about now. Remember again he is still young and sometimes in college hockey age plays a big factor.

Let me ask you this...who impressed you more in the world juniors? Hudson fasching or jack eichel? And if you say jack then I know you didn't watch it.

Dylan Larkin did. Nice to see you came out of your cat nap tiger.

Tigers33 · Post by **Tigers33** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 11:17 am

That's fine but I notice you didn't answer the question I asked. Jack Eichel is considered to be the top American right now. Who impressed more? Jack Eichel or Hudson fasching at world juniors?

Sats81 · Post by **Sats81** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 11:27 am

Tigers33 wrote:That's fine but I notice you didn't answer the question I asked. Jack Eichel is considered to be the top American right now. Who impressed more? Jack Eichel or Hudson fasching at world juniors?

I did answer the question. Neither. Dylan Larkin did though.

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 1:43 pm

Who could have ever predicted that heading into this year's North Star College Cup that the Gophers would be outside of the top 16 in the Pairwise and would be facing the No. 1 team - Minnesota State Mankato - in the opening game?

No disrespect to MSU but I bet if you would have asked them in September even they wouldn't have bet on it.

BodyShots · Post by **BodyShots** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 9:51 am

This gophers team needs to win both games this weekend for Pairwise rankings. Otherwise the only way they are going to get invited to the tourney is to win the automatic birth through the Big 10 championship.

Sats81 · Post by **Sats81** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 11:00 am

BodyShots wrote:This gophers team needs to win both games this weekend for Pairwise rankings. Otherwise the only way they are going to get invited to the tourney is to win the automatic birth through the Big 10 championship.

Which is scary, because I don't see them beating both Mankato and Duluth if they end up playing them sat......

observer · Post by **observer** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 11:05 am

But certainly could and should. Kinda need to get er going.

DmanDad1980 · Post by **DmanDad1980** » Thu Jan 22, 2015 4:01 pm

Sats81 wrote:
BodyShots wrote:This gophers team needs to win both games this weekend for Pairwise rankings. Otherwise the only way they are going to get invited to the tourney is to win the automatic birth through the Big 10 championship.
Which is scary, because I don't see them beating both Mankato and Duluth if they end up playing them sat......

That is very scary. I brought this same topic up to several friends after the Wisconsin tie/loss on Friday. Looking at their schedule, they do not play another highly ranked pairwise team the rest of the year following the North Star Cup... Win both games this weekend and hope someone falls in pairwise, or previous common opponents start winning against highly ranked teams as well... or win Big Ten Playoff... too many "ifs"!
After last season, losing a few seniors and bringing everyone else back, one had to think they would improve this year, but instead they have regressed this year... too bad...
Going Friday to support and cheer for them. Should be fun to watch them play Minnesota State Mankato.

mulefarm · Post by **mulefarm** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 9:42 pm

Why don't Gopher players improve with age. The only one that comes to mind is Schmidt. Seems the 1st year or 2 they have their best years.

Gopher Blog · Post by **Gopher Blog** » Mon Jan 26, 2015 9:10 am

mulefarm wrote:Why don't Gopher players improve with age. The only one that comes to mind is Schmidt. Seems the 1st year or 2 they have their best years.

There are a number of guys that improved over the course of their college career. That's a rather laughable statement. I'm not sure if you are strictly focused on stats as the way to judge but guys like Haula, Bjugstad, Condon, Reilly, Travis Boyd, and a number of others clearly got better as they matured.

The other issue is a number of their very best players have left by the time their junior year ended. We never get to see many of their very best players as seniors.

Gopher Blog · Post by **Gopher Blog** » Mon Jan 26, 2015 9:21 am

Sats81 wrote:
MNHockeyFan wrote:
Sats81 wrote:My thoughts on AJ is instead of skipping his Sr year in HS and going to Waterloo to play in the USHL he should have stuck around at AV. Then went and played not 1, but 2 years in the USHL, which would have brought him in as a freshman this year. Anyone who watched this kid grow up playing (pee wee, bantam, HS and even a tad in the USHL) knows he was a gifted player who always produced very respectable offensive numbers. I think he is in a tough spot. Some nights he's in the press box, some nights he's playing on the 4th line getting small amounts of minutes, some nights he's been up on 3rd line, the entire time really having no chance to develop any real chemistry with anyone. Sometimes when a kid doesn't score or goes into a slump he never "remembers" how to do it again. I think AJ would have been much better off at a smaller school where he could have played a regular role immediately and possibly got some significant special teams time as well. So many very good hockey players have got "lost in the shuffle" with all the talent over the years at the U its crazy and I truly think this is the case with AJ.
Sats, I applaud you for taking the "glass is half full" viewpoint here, and I do agree with your observation that he probably would have helped himself by playing in the USHL for two years after staying for his senior year in high school. But those choices are way in the past, and I think most would agree that he should have developed a lot more than he has in his 2+ years at the U. While it's not too late for him to take the next step and taking on a bigger role, it's not looking good based on what he's shown so far in his junior year.
I take the "glass half full" view point here because I am certain there is a very good hockey player there. I would argue that his lack of development/stepping into a bigger role has been affected because of the high amount of forward talent there and he has been buried on the depth chart....Rau, Kloos, Fasching, Cammy, Warning, Haula, Bjugstad, Boyd, Budish some of the better forwards there in the last 3 years....tough to make a huge diff offensively if you are not a top 6 guy night in and night out. Hockey has so much to do with momentum and streaks and who gets hot when. I am not saying AJ is better than any of the above listed forwards, I am just making the point that once you get buried on the depth chart it is very difficult to find your way out with little to no ice time.

I'm sorry for my late comments on this but I had lost my password for this board and had to have it manually reset by the admin last week.

Michaelson should never have been a Gopher. His best asset is his skating but he brings little else to the table. If Guentzel had been a coach at the U during Michaelson's recruitment, I am rather confident that AJ wouldn't be a Gopher right now. I know he wasn't a big AJ fan back when the kid was on the market.

I think it is a rather obvious statement that just about any kid would benefit from additional years in the USHL. Even the very best recruits. But we all know kids have a schedule in mind because of their ambitions... whether it is a valid/realistic view or not.

AJ had speed. But his hands are not good and he's never had great hockey sense. Everything that I have heard is they all but encouraged him to leave after last year. He's a bust. No other way to put it. Same goes for Isackson. John Hill's influence still curses this team a bit with guys like that.

Sats81 · Post by **Sats81** » Mon Jan 26, 2015 10:34 am

Gopher Blog wrote:
Sats81 wrote:
MNHockeyFan wrote: Sats, I applaud you for taking the "glass is half full" viewpoint here, and I do agree with your observation that he probably would have helped himself by playing in the USHL for two years after staying for his senior year in high school. But those choices are way in the past, and I think most would agree that he should have developed a lot more than he has in his 2+ years at the U. While it's not too late for him to take the next step and taking on a bigger role, it's not looking good based on what he's shown so far in his junior year.
I take the "glass half full" view point here because I am certain there is a very good hockey player there. I would argue that his lack of development/stepping into a bigger role has been affected because of the high amount of forward talent there and he has been buried on the depth chart....Rau, Kloos, Fasching, Cammy, Warning, Haula, Bjugstad, Boyd, Budish some of the better forwards there in the last 3 years....tough to make a huge diff offensively if you are not a top 6 guy night in and night out. Hockey has so much to do with momentum and streaks and who gets hot when. I am not saying AJ is better than any of the above listed forwards, I am just making the point that once you get buried on the depth chart it is very difficult to find your way out with little to no ice time.
I'm sorry for my late comments on this but I had lost my password for this board and had to have it manually reset by the admin last week.

Michaelson should never have been a Gopher. His best asset is his skating but he brings little else to the table. If Guentzel had been a coach at the U during Michaelson's recruitment, I am rather confident that AJ wouldn't be a Gopher right now. I know he wasn't a big AJ fan back when the kid was on the market.

I think it is a rather obvious statement that just about any kid would benefit from additional years in the USHL. Even the very best recruits. But we all know kids have a schedule in mind because of their ambitions... whether it is a valid/realistic view or not.

AJ had speed. But his hands are not good and he's never had great hockey sense. Everything that I have heard is they all but encouraged him to leave after last year. He's a bust. No other way to put it. Same goes for Isackson. John Hill's influence still curses this team a bit with guys like that.

Gopher Blog-

What is your honest, no BS assesment of Fasching?

BodyShots · Post by **BodyShots** » Mon Jan 26, 2015 11:12 am

Well, its down to win the Big10 tournament for this team to get into the NCAA tourney. What a major let down from pre-season expectations.

I went to Saturday's game and couldn't believe how empty the place was at the start of the 4PM game. Could have held it at Ridder!!!

The offense is just not there. Where is all this potential I kept hearing about Cammarata? I just don't see it. He looks like he's afraid to go near the boards. Warning looks disinterested more than not. As for Fasching, I sat in front of a very loud individual who had a comment about everything. Early in the game he calls Fasching a stud. I turn around and ask him to define STUD? He says back at me, you just watch this kid play. So throughout the game I kept watching and pointing out his mistakes loud enough for the guy to hear me. At the end of the game, he tells me that was a bad game. I said, watch him closer the next time and then come up with a better word. As for offense, its down to Kloos, Rau, Boyd, Bristedt, and Reilly (although he's more flash than finish).

As for Defense, the team defense is brutal in the D-zone. The last five minutes of the 2nd period was embarrassing. I'm a little shocked that Guentzel's defense looks this bad. Brodzinski scares me every time he's on the ice. As gifted as Reilly is offensively, his defense is non existent. Seeler can't get here fast enough!

The rumor is there is a communications problem in the locker room

I would like to know if this is between the coaches and players, or just the players? Something's got to give, or this season will continue to wash down the drain, like the Wild and Wolves.

Sats81 · Post by **Sats81** » Mon Jan 26, 2015 11:57 am

BodyShots wrote:Well, its down to win the Big10 tournament for this team to get into the NCAA tourney. What a major let down from pre-season expectations.

I went to Saturday's game and couldn't believe how empty the place was at the start of the 4PM game. Could have held it at Ridder!!!

The offense is just not there. Where is all this potential I kept hearing about Cammarata? I just don't see it. He looks like he's afraid to go near the boards. Warning looks disinterested more than not. As for Fasching, I sat in front of a very loud individual who had a comment about everything. Early in the game he calls Fasching a stud. I turn around and ask him to define STUD? He says back at me, you just watch this kid play. So throughout the game I kept watching and pointing out his mistakes loud enough for the guy to hear me. At the end of the game, he tells me that was a bad game. I said, watch him closer the next time and then come up with a better word. As for offense, its down to Kloos, Rau, Boyd, Bristedt, and Reilly (although he's more flash than finish).

As for Defense, the team defense is brutal in the D-zone. The last five minutes of the 2nd period was embarrassing. I'm a little shocked that Guentzel's defense looks this bad. Brodzinski scares me every time he's on the ice. As gifted as Reilly is offensively, his defense is non existent. Seeler can't get here fast enough!

The rumor is there is a communications problem in the locker room I would like to know if this is between the coaches and players, or just the players? Something's got to give, or this season will continue to wash down the drain, like the Wild and Wolves.

Literally agree with every word you typed here. Great assessment.

mulefarm · Post by **mulefarm** » Mon Jan 26, 2015 6:06 pm

Gopher Blog wrote:
mulefarm wrote:Why don't Gopher players improve with age. The only one that comes to mind is Schmidt. Seems the 1st year or 2 they have their best years.
There are a number of guys that improved over the course of their college career. That's a rather laughable statement. I'm not sure if you are strictly focused on stats as the way to judge but guys like Haula, Bjugstad, Condon, Reilly, Travis Boyd, and a number of others clearly got better as they matured.

The other issue is a number of their very best players have left by the time their junior year ended. We never get to see many of their very best players as seniors.

What about Ambroz, Isackson Michaelson Skjei,Warning, Marshall from this year. Past players that come to mind Holl, Helgeson, Alt, Barriball,Farichild Sacchetti, Larson Wehrs, Peltier, Hoeffell, Ness, Fischer, White. Many of these guys were high draft choices and never really had a sufficent impact for the Gophers. Either recruited poorly or couldn't develop them?

Gopher Blog · Post by **Gopher Blog** » Mon Jan 26, 2015 10:29 pm

mulefarm wrote:What about Ambroz, Isackson Michaelson Skjei,Warning, Marshall from this year. Past players that come to mind Holl, Helgeson, Alt, Barriball,Farichild Sacchetti, Larson Wehrs, Peltier, Hoeffell, Ness, Fischer, White. Many of these guys were high draft choices and never really had a sufficent impact for the Gophers. Either recruited poorly or couldn't develop them?

I don't care what program you are talking about, every team has a list of guys that didn't turn into all that they had hoped for during the recruiting process. The Gophers aren't the only ones that deal with mistakes, etc.

Not every guy that looked like a scorer on previous levels ends up as that kind of player in college. If I had the time and motivation, I could go through every good D1 program and list out plenty of guys that each team recruited that never amounted to much more than 3rd or 4th line guys (despite having pretty good track records prior to college).

Heck, some schools will gas pipe recruits before they even hit campus if they don't look like they are panning out. Look at North Dakota with guys like Mike Fink, Luke Voltin, Jack Rowe, etc. All guys that decommitted because UND kept pushing them back for a lack of progress.

I'd also point out that draft position is irrelevant. That is simply a projection for another level and we know it isn't uncommon for pro teams to get wrong. Heck, they even get it wrong at times on top 5 or top 10 picks. This despite the fact that they have way more scouting eyes on players than your typical college program does.

I'd also mention that some of those names you brought up played at a time when the program was struggling because of early departures hurting continuity and the head coach was dealing with a serious illness for close to two years (and it had a major impact on him). Tough circumstances.

In some of the instances you mentioned, I would definitely beg to differ on whether they improved over the course of their college days. I wont go through every case but some examples...

Holl was a very effective player his final year. Which was a far cry from how he was early in college. He was very dependable (and his steady play is missed this year). He was especially impressive as a senior when you consider he played much of the prior year at forward because of team need.

Helgeson? He got worse? If anything, he became more dependable as a defenseman as he got older. I was happy to see him get some NHL time this year.

Most hockey people I have talked to think this has been Marshall's most solid all around season in college. Unfortunately, the team's results has overshadowed that.

If you think Skjei hasn't improved much, you're blind. He could have easily signed a deal last summer. The Rangers don't offer contracts to charity cases that aren't getting better.

Gopher Blog · Post by **Gopher Blog** » Mon Jan 26, 2015 10:49 pm

Sats81 wrote: Gopher Blog-

What is your honest, no BS assesment of Fasching?

The effort is there and I do think he has been one of the few consistently physical elements the team has had this year. But there is no doubt his production should be better and more consistent than it has been.

I think we can all forget about the concerns some people had prior to this season about him going pro after his sophomore year. That's not going to happen (I never believed it was going to happen anyway).

To be fair, I don't think it is all on Hudson. The line chemistry in general has been much worse this year. It is no coincidence that Lucia has broke up the Rau/Fasching tandem some lately even though it was a successful situation last year.

Tigers33 · Post by **Tigers33** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 3:18 pm

I don't think people realize how much they miss guys like condon, seratorre, and holl. All three of these players were team first personalities. Heck holl was tossed around from position to position.

The biggest problem i see is bringing in these stud freshman that are only 18-19 years old. It just doesn't work, but I get the part that if we don't get them someone else will. Take a look at glover and Collins for instance. Both are supposed to be studs at defense but I don't see it from either at this team, which will change as they get older. So force these guys to go somewhere else or juniors for at least a year.

I might be wrong but didn't kloos play juniors for one year after high school?

They miss the leadership that condon and Matson could provide. And they need some high energy type guys on that third line to provide that spark when needed.

Post by **karl(east)** » Wed Jan 28, 2015 11:58 am

I'm not as invested in the Gophers as many of you, but I'm in the neighborhood and have been watching more than usual, so...

On defense, I think they're a bit too unbalanced. The veterans--Marshall, Skjei, and especially Reilly--are offensive defensemen who can have some lapses in back. They've brought in some more defensive guys who would eventually be very good complements to the offensive ones (Glover, Collins, Johnson), but they're too inexperienced to offer that quite yet. The players who should be bridging the gap, Brodzinski and Bischoff, weren't even in the lineup every night last season. I'm not saying they should have done things differently last year--obviously, what they were doing worked most of the time--but if there's a downside to having 7-8 defensemen who would probably be given top-4 shots anywhere else, this is it. With the semi-exception of Skjei, they don't have anyone who is both experienced and solid defensively.

The bigger issue has been the play of a bunch of forwards, especially the smaller guys who aren't scoring as much. If you're here to score and aren't scoring, or bothering to dig in the trenches or backcheck, that's cancerous to a hockey team, and it doesn't much matter what the other 4 guys on the ice are doing.

It's pretty apparent there's a communication issue there, since these issues are obvious and fixable, but have yet to be corrected. It's hard to fault Lucia considering the many successes on his record. That said, you don't stay in a coaching job for 10+ years without making some real adjustments. If things continue to stagnate into next season and he doesn't adapt, it may be time to move on and find some fresh blood.

Sats81 · Post by **Sats81** » Wed Jan 28, 2015 12:03 pm

Tigers33 wrote:I don't think people realize how much they miss guys like condon, seratorre, and holl. All three of these players were team first personalities. Heck holl was tossed around from position to position.

The biggest problem i see is bringing in these stud freshman that are only 18-19 years old. It just doesn't work, but I get the part that if we don't get them someone else will. Take a look at glover and Collins for instance. Both are supposed to be studs at defense but I don't see it from either at this team, which will change as they get older. So force these guys to go somewhere else or juniors for at least a year.

I might be wrong but didn't kloos play juniors for one year after high school?

They miss the leadership that condon and Matson could provide. And they need some high energy type guys on that third line to provide that spark when needed.

I agree strongly with what you are saying regarding Holl, Serratorre, Condon, etc.

Yes, Kloos played a year in the USHL in Waterloo after his senior yr in HS.

They need to get something going here quick. Hopefully this weekend vs Wisconsin they will....

observer · Post by **observer** » Wed Jan 28, 2015 1:20 pm

The biggest problem i see is bringing in these stud freshman that are only 18-19 years old. It just doesn't work, but I get the part that if we don't get them someone else will. Take a look at glover and Collins for instance. Both are supposed to be studs at defense but I don't see it from either at this team, which will change as they get older. So force these guys to go somewhere else or juniors for at least a year.

Bingo!

Who even heads this recruiting effort? The Coaches or the players parents? Some D1 teams are 3-4 years older on average than the gophs. Kids play 3-4 years of juniors just to get to a DIII team. Why players and families think they can play D1 hockey and should/can keep their education on track with their HS classmates is nuts. Kloos, Randolph and several others played a year or two of juniors after high school and it helped them. Playing 60 tough games is a huge development tool and maturity makes a difference. Heart and determination often increases with time. Collins, Glover, Boyd, etc. get points for playing on the NTDP team yet we all know there are 30 players playing HS hockey better than several on the NTDP team.