Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread - 2016-2017
Two things that stood out to mi in CM article; 1 Parents wanted him to accelerate and leave early. 2. He was passed up on some elite type teams as recently as 8th grade.
To me, the second one is the biggest contributor to parity and why the MN's and BC's and UND's are maybe going to be less consistently a contender. Top tier teams are signing kids as Sophmores on the chance they turn into a Mittlestedt and to make sure they aren't on a competitors team. Some of these kids will reach that potential and some plateau. Meanwhile, the recruiting class is full when that occasional kid who accelerates beyond what they thought was his potential early and teams like Union, etc. are there to pick him up. A number of kids accelerate over a couple years and a few plateau and the Gophs have a struggle to make the tourney while Union is in the Final Four. I am not arguing for a change in recruiting strategies. The star kids who can single-handedly win some games will still usually come from the early recruit. I am just saying that I think it is a reality that us fans should except. A year like last year will probably happen more frequently that it did back in the years when MN would get a commit from MR. hockey after he was named Mr. hockey in his senior year. So jumping on the coaching staff, as is the standard for a few people, isn't necessarily the answer.
It will be interesting to see how next years class looks into the season. Stats don't tell the whole story, but it seems like two years ago next year's class looked very good, even without CM. Not that it isn't still good, but it seems like a number of the recruits don't have the numbers people were expecting. (Maybe they'll all be like REM and just had one adjustment year at their current level.)
But I guess, just because they had a loss against a team they should have swept, and are therefore chasing Wisconsin for the season title, I shouldn't be looking forward to next year just yet.
Originally posted by SteveO
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To me, the second one is the biggest contributor to parity and why the MN's and BC's and UND's are maybe going to be less consistently a contender. Top tier teams are signing kids as Sophmores on the chance they turn into a Mittlestedt and to make sure they aren't on a competitors team. Some of these kids will reach that potential and some plateau. Meanwhile, the recruiting class is full when that occasional kid who accelerates beyond what they thought was his potential early and teams like Union, etc. are there to pick him up. A number of kids accelerate over a couple years and a few plateau and the Gophs have a struggle to make the tourney while Union is in the Final Four. I am not arguing for a change in recruiting strategies. The star kids who can single-handedly win some games will still usually come from the early recruit. I am just saying that I think it is a reality that us fans should except. A year like last year will probably happen more frequently that it did back in the years when MN would get a commit from MR. hockey after he was named Mr. hockey in his senior year. So jumping on the coaching staff, as is the standard for a few people, isn't necessarily the answer.
It will be interesting to see how next years class looks into the season. Stats don't tell the whole story, but it seems like two years ago next year's class looked very good, even without CM. Not that it isn't still good, but it seems like a number of the recruits don't have the numbers people were expecting. (Maybe they'll all be like REM and just had one adjustment year at their current level.)
But I guess, just because they had a loss against a team they should have swept, and are therefore chasing Wisconsin for the season title, I shouldn't be looking forward to next year just yet.
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