Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

[The Rube]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

Loving the uptick in the team right now. People forget (or may not know) that MN has the #1 SOS, and all the "tough" games were at the beginning of the season. Trial by fire, I guess. Also, some friends and I were discussing the team yesterday, and maybe that silly City Pages article gave them something to prove. It shouldn't have, of course, but the world works in mysterious ways.

[Bonin21]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

People forget (or may not know) that MN has the #1 SOS

By what measure? They had it in the RPI but it's been going down as expected.

[The Rube]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

By what measure? They had it in the RPI but it's been going down as expected.

It has been going down, because now we are playing the weaker teams. Currently at 4th. I think we only have two current above-500 teams left on the schedule.

[Bonin21]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

Right so we don't have the #1 SOS

[The Rube]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

Right so we don't have the #1 SOS

Fine. We HAD it for quite a while. My "trial by fire" point still stands.

[Bonin21]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

I'd say a UMD series would look fairly different right now based on the directions of the teams.

[SJHovey]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

Thought I would throw this into the MN thread, although you may not be interested.

I was in New Prague, MN on Saturday, visiting with a friend, and we attended the Luverne - New Prague HS hockey game. Hadn't seen the Nelson kid in person before.

The first thing that surprised me was his size. We stood down behind the nets. The kid is big, especially for a sophomore.

He scored a hat trick. The first goal was pretty nice, driving down the right wing, got around the defenseman and snapped off a decent low shot to beat the goalie on the far side.

His second goal was a power play goal in which he retrieved the puck deep in his own end, then just casually skated up the left side and was allowed basically skate around the entire NP penalty killers for a close in wrist shot. Our first reaction was that facing even better high school competition, that goal doesn't happen.

His third goal was a simple tap in to a wide open net after a real nice play by another Luverne player to get the goalie out of position.

Even with the hat trick, though, Nelson may have been no better than even, or even minus 1 for a +/- on the afternoon. That will happen in a 9-8 OT game (won by NP) when a player plays probably half the game.

Both my friend and I came away with the impression that he was probably the best player on the ice that afternoon, but it wasn't like he stood out as a man among boys.

But, he certainly has great size. His speed seemed ok, maybe even deceptive. Pretty big stride that took a couple of NP players by surprise. The few slap shots he took seemed decent. Looks like he has some raw tools, but my impression is that he would benefit greatly by playing with and against a higher caliber group of players.

[Dirty Dream No. 2]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

Loving the uptick in the team right now. People forget (or may not know) that MN has the #1 SOS, and all the "tough" games were at the beginning of the season. Trial by fire, I guess. Also, some friends and I were discussing the team yesterday, and maybe that silly City Pages article gave them something to prove. It shouldn't have, of course, but the world works in mysterious ways.

Or you can look at it from the other perspective that they're now in the easy portion of the season as they're playing awful Big 14 competition.

[Dirty Dream No. 2]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

Not that I've seen. I'm assuming concussion with how stiff he looked. The back of his head hit the ice hard. He was unconscious for a bit there.

His teammate should be suspended for serving up that murderball to a teammate. Thought they taught kids nowadays to not pass the puck up from behind like that, you're gonna get someone killed.

[SanTropez]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

But, he certainly has great size. His speed seemed ok, maybe even deceptive. Pretty big stride that took a couple of NP players by surprise. The few slap shots he took seemed decent. Looks like he has some raw tools, but my impression is that he would benefit greatly by playing with and against a higher caliber group of players.

I agree. Hope he goes and plays in the USHL or NTDP soon.

[5mn_Major]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

Thought I would throw this into the MN thread, although you may not be interested.

I was in New Prague, MN on Saturday, visiting with a friend, and we attended the Luverne - New Prague HS hockey game. Hadn't seen the Nelson kid in person before.

Kind of what would be expected. He would benefit from playing tougher competition. But he is in the running for a MN state record in goals, so there's not much more that could be expected. I guess the big point is that he's one player and if he brings a major offensive threat in terms of goals, he will have teammates that can carry other mail such as being a shutdown specialist. Thanks for the feedback.

[Koho]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

So has anyone heard anything new on Novak? It seems like there is a huge discrepancy in how people react. Don't think you can necessarily trust an post-game assessment. And a second concussion after not recovering from a first one is where you really see the long-term effects. Anyone know if hes been concussed in the past?

[mnstate0fhockey]

So has anyone heard anything new on Novak? It seems like there is a huge discrepancy in how people react. Don't think you can necessarily trust an post-game assessment. And a second concussion after not recovering from a first one is where you really see the long-term effects. Anyone know if hes been concussed in the past?

Didn't skate yesterday and he's in concussion protocol. Doubtful for this weekend.

[5mn_Major]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

I really hope Novak is ok. He really got both barrels last weekend.

[D2D]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread 2015-16

I really hope Novak is ok. He really got both barrels last weekend.

If he's in concussion protocol it's anyone's guess when he might be back. Very unpredictable. I really wish the league would crack down on these cheap shot hits to the head. Totally unnecessary with potential career-ending consequences.