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Bjugstad and Alt officially signed their letters of intent to play with the gophers this season. These two are what the gophers needed. Should be fun to watch what they do at the college level.

Congrats to both. Hopefully the U will turn down the suck next year.

Moose Jaw, SK wrote:Congrats to both. Hopefully the U will turn down the suck next year.

Come on people....this is not high school it is college. These two are good, but they need to move to the juniors for a minimum of a year. Yes they are both very good, but Bjugstad is a junior who will graduate early, but he is immature. The best thing to help this Gophers team would be to send them to the juniors. If the threat of leaving because they do not want the juniors, let them go.
I am a huge Gopher fan and am tired of our junior college team. Get the experience in the juniors then come and go to school and play. Gophers will then be able to compete with the rest of these college teams.

I agree on most kids. In this case these two are ready. Both will be big tough players on the ice. Both are ready.

What scares me, is that I watched Alt play a handful of games over the last two years and he didn't even stand out at the High School level. I'm worried he is going to turn into another Fischer. Hopefully he is a lot tougher.

In my opinion, he should be signing with Punkey Brewster's team. They could use a kid that can throw the ball accurately.

Yes he played in our conference [sec] so I had a chance to watch him. He is a very good football player. I only watched him play hockey once last year and he hit like a truck.

old goalie85 wrote:Yes he played in our conference [sec] so I had a chance to watch him. He is a very good football player. I only watched him play hockey once last year and he hit like a truck.

The Gophers current D-corps needs a guy like Alt way more than they need another Aaron Ness-type.

Both of these guys are big and tough, so that will help. Neither one is going stay for four years anyway, so lets get them while we can.

By the way, its pretty cool that ALT has his own key on my keyboard. Even GRETZKY never had that.

Zamman wrote:Come on people....this is not high school it is college. These two are good, but they need to move to the juniors for a minimum of a year. Yes they are both very good, but Bjugstad is a junior who will graduate early, but he is immature. The best thing to help this Gophers team would be to send them to the juniors. If the threat of leaving because they do not want the juniors, let them go.
I am a huge Gopher fan and am tired of our junior college team. Get the experience in the juniors then come and go to school and play. Gophers will then be able to compete with the rest of these college teams.

I agree 100%...the problem is, though, that Lucia is scared to tell these kids what they NEED to hear for fear of them telling him they will go somewhere else. Until the program develops the guts to tell the kids what they need to hear, not what they want to hear....., things will only get worse.

Muck I agree with you on 75 % of the kids. [ A year at least of junior hockey after high school should be required of a player at that level] But in this case these kids are big full sized men. Think about Budish.

muckandgrind wrote:

Zamman wrote:Come on people....this is not high school it is college. These two are good, but they need to move to the juniors for a minimum of a year. Yes they are both very good, but Bjugstad is a junior who will graduate early, but he is immature. The best thing to help this Gophers team would be to send them to the juniors. If the threat of leaving because they do not want the juniors, let them go.
I am a huge Gopher fan and am tired of our junior college team. Get the experience in the juniors then come and go to school and play. Gophers will then be able to compete with the rest of these college teams.

I agree 100%...the problem is, though, that Lucia is scared to tell these kids what they NEED to hear for fear of them telling him they will go somewhere else. Until the program develops the guts to tell the kids what they need to hear, not what they want to hear....., things will only get worse.

No way they would go to the U if they made them play juniors. They would simply jump ship to any other team who would be more than happy to have them. They are both high end NHL prospects and will not last 4 years at the U. Why waste one of those seasons in the USHL? The gophs are turning into a major junior team. They get players at 17-18 and then they leave at 20 (when they "age out" after sophomore year).

Zamman wrote:I am a huge Gopher fan and am tired of our junior college team. Get the experience in the juniors then come and go to school and play. Gophers will then be able to compete with the rest of these college teams.

A healthy majority of the roster had played at least one season of junior hockey before they hit campus (icnluding next year's incoming class). A few high end talents that come in without some junior hockey shouldn't be that big of a deal.

old goalie85 wrote:Muck I agree with you on 75 % of the kids. [ A year at least of junior hockey after high school should be required of a player at that level] But in this case these kids are big full sized men. Think about Budish.

I can't speak for Alt, but I don't think Bjugstad is yet a "big full sized" man.. He's tall, no question, but not very strong. Remember that he is graduating HS early as a junior.

I'm sure he'll be a quality NHL player when he is fully matured, but I don't think he'll stand out much in college....I hope I'm wrong, of course.

muckandgrind wrote:

old goalie85 wrote:Muck I agree with you on 75 % of the kids. [ A year at least of junior hockey after high school should be required of a player at that level] But in this case these kids are big full sized men. Think about Budish.

I can't speak for Alt, but I don't think Bjugstad is yet a "big full sized" man.. He's tall, no question, but not very strong. Remember that he is graduating HS early as a junior.
I'm sure he'll be a quality NHL player when he is fully matured, but I don't think he'll stand out much in college....I hope I'm wrong, of course.

How many juniors get drafted? The point is he's now graduating with the class he should/could have been with. He's not early.

Hoops wrote:

muckandgrind wrote:

old goalie85 wrote:Muck I agree with you on 75 % of the kids. [ A year at least of junior hockey after high school should be required of a player at that level] But in this case these kids are big full sized men. Think about Budish.

I can't speak for Alt, but I don't think Bjugstad is yet a "big full sized" man.. He's tall, no question, but not very strong. Remember that he is graduating HS early as a junior.
I'm sure he'll be a quality NHL player when he is fully matured, but I don't think he'll stand out much in college....I hope I'm wrong, of course.

How many juniors get drafted? The point is he's now graduating with the class he should/could have been with. He's not early.

He's skipping his senior year of high school, hence HE IS EARLY. Draft age and school age are not the same.

Someone refresh my memory... wasn't the end result of the last gopher coach due to his loyalty (inability) to say no to the hyped MN kids and playing them right out of HS???

muchandgrind wrote:He's skipping his senior year of high school, hence HE IS EARLY. Draft age and school age are not the same.

I think what he is getting at is Bjugstad was born on July 17, 1992. This means he will be 18 this July, which if he was going to be a senior next year would make him very very old for his grade. Age wise he should be a senior this year anyway so it's really not that big a deal that he is "graduating early." If you remember Schroeder "graduated early" and wasn't draft eligible until the summer following his freshman year of college. IMO that is truly graduating early, not just starting kindergarden late or whatever.

P.S. Ness graduated early as well, but he was also very old for his grade much like Bjugstad.

Moose Jaw, SK wrote:

muchandgrind wrote:He's skipping his senior year of high school, hence HE IS EARLY. Draft age and school age are not the same.

I think what he is getting at is Bjugstad was born on July 17, 1992. This means he will be 18 this July, which if he was going to be a senior next year would make him very very old for his grade. Age wise he should be a senior this year anyway so it's really not that big a deal that he is "graduating early." If you remember Schroeder "graduated early" and wasn't draft eligible until the summer following his freshman year of college. IMO that is truly graduating early, not just starting kindergarden late or whatever.

P.S. Ness graduated early as well, but he was also very old for his grade much like Bjugstad.

Thanks someone understands...it isn't very difficult either.

Don't get me wrong I hope they turn out great for the gophers, but a year in the juniors will not hurt them. Eric Johnson is the only player in recent history that played one year and then made the jump. But he went to USDT.

As far as the "early or late" birthday, my son will be 18 two weeks after his junior year. He was small. We do not know the reason for Bjugstad and Ness going to school a year after they should.
If these guys are that good that another college will take them then let them go.....

A little off the point of the two future gophers, but , Does the NCAA have a redshirt program in place for hockey, like football, baseball, basketball do? If so that redshirt year could function as a junior season. Schools could still lock these kids into college programs, get them started toward a degree, get them in the weight-room, and that extra year of ice that we all feel is so important.

It really stinks that the college hockey world is requiring these kids to go off to juniors for a year or two. How many high school seniors get sent off for a couple years before they hit school. Maybe schools should do the right thing and red shirt the kids let them get thier feet under them as students while they practice, weight train, and get in fitness programs.

In stead of shunning the programs who were winning in the 80's with older freshman everyone joined them. As long as there are a lot of 21 year old freshman college hockey will be a farce. Although I'm sure there are plenty of 21 year olds from Moose Jaw choosing between pre-med at UMD or Michigan.

Freshman hockey players should be 18 and seniors 22 just like the rest of the school's student population.

royals dad wrote:It really stinks that the college hockey world is requiring these kids to go off to juniors for a year or two. How many high school seniors get sent off for a couple years before they hit school. Maybe schools should do the right thing and red shirt the kids let them get thier feet under them as students while they practice, weight train, and get in fitness programs.

In stead of shunning the programs who were winning in the 80's with older freshman everyone joined them. As long as there are a lot of 21 year old freshman college hockey will be a farce. Although I'm sure there are plenty of 21 year olds from Moose Jaw choosing between pre-med at UMD or Michigan.

Freshman hockey players should be 18 and seniors 22 just like the rest of the school's student population.

Finally someone said it! The problem really lies with the NCAA allowing it. Maybe a max age limit would slow programs "asking" kids to delay getting on with their lives in order to gain a scholarship. Major Juniors should be treated like a jr college in football...typically you come out of jr college w/ 2yrs eligibility remaining. Kids and programs being villified for going right from HS to College is ridiculous.

Hoops wrote:

royals dad wrote:It really stinks that the college hockey world is requiring these kids to go off to juniors for a year or two. How many high school seniors get sent off for a couple years before they hit school. Maybe schools should do the right thing and red shirt the kids let them get thier feet under them as students while they practice, weight train, and get in fitness programs.

In stead of shunning the programs who were winning in the 80's with older freshman everyone joined them. As long as there are a lot of 21 year old freshman college hockey will be a farce. Although I'm sure there are plenty of 21 year olds from Moose Jaw choosing between pre-med at UMD or Michigan.

Freshman hockey players should be 18 and seniors 22 just like the rest of the school's student population.

Finally someone said it! The problem really lies with the NCAA allowing it. Maybe a max age limit would slow programs "asking" kids to delay getting on with their lives in order to gain a scholarship. Major Juniors should be treated like a jr college in football...typically you come out of jr college w/ 2yrs eligibility remaining. Kids and programs being villified for going right from HS to College is ridiculous.

Both the MSHL and NCAA have age limits I believe. How is playing a couple of years of juniors delaying a kid getting on with their lives? In most cases it helps them mature and realize an education is important, not just having somebody tell them they need it. Whether they get a scholarship or not, they get to play 2 more years of competitive hockey and gain many lifelong friendships. I don't think there really is a problem.

mulefarm wrote:

Hoops wrote:

royals dad wrote:It really stinks that the college hockey world is requiring these kids to go off to juniors for a year or two. How many high school seniors get sent off for a couple years before they hit school. Maybe schools should do the right thing and red shirt the kids let them get thier feet under them as students while they practice, weight train, and get in fitness programs.

In stead of shunning the programs who were winning in the 80's with older freshman everyone joined them. As long as there are a lot of 21 year old freshman college hockey will be a farce. Although I'm sure there are plenty of 21 year olds from Moose Jaw choosing between pre-med at UMD or Michigan.

Freshman hockey players should be 18 and seniors 22 just like the rest of the school's student population.

Finally someone said it! The problem really lies with the NCAA allowing it. Maybe a max age limit would slow programs "asking" kids to delay getting on with their lives in order to gain a scholarship. Major Juniors should be treated like a jr college in football...typically you come out of jr college w/ 2yrs eligibility remaining. Kids and programs being villified for going right from HS to College is ridiculous.

Both the MSHL and NCAA have age limits I believe. How is playing a couple of years of juniors delaying a kid getting on with their lives? In most cases it helps them mature and realize an education is important, not just having somebody tell them they need it. Whether they get a scholarship or not, they get to play 2 more years of competitive hockey and gain many lifelong friendships. I don't think there really is a problem.

There are no age limits in the NCAA just a 4 in 5 rule.

Which brings us back the redshirt year.