Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010 the last year of the old WCHA

[HarleyMC]

Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010 the last year of the old WCHA

Agreed...I mean, he did "commit" to the Gophers, after all.

Here I was thinking you were a closet Gopher fan....please don't uncommit now. Not this week anyway.

Get ready to see more of the Schack Attack! Lucia praised him during his radio show last night and the "me-me guy"...hmmm?:

"He knows what he is," Lucia said. "He is a defender, He is a big body [6-2, 218]. He is physical and he brings that element to the team, And he certainly did a great job Saturday. That's the guy, you really look at and say, 'What a great team guy he is." It's great to see a guy who is in that position. It's not a me-me guy and there are a lot more of those today."

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010 the last year of the old WCHA

The information we have? We have speculation, rumors, and third hand accounts or wild guesses. I'd highly doubt, really quite ridiculous, that Lofquist would leave because he was a scratch. Decisions like this are are most certaintly a long processes. I'm sure the idea has been out there for some time, talking with family, friends, advisers, etc. At the end of the day my guess would be he simply didn't feel like he was developing into the player he wants to be, didn't see the U giving him the tools, opportunities and free reign to develop, and he left to try somewhere else.

Starting to wonder if the Brandon Wheat Kings trading for Ness's rights was all that bone headed of a play...

Read the latest post on GPL. This reeks of Dorr and Scott last year. Nothing I've heard today changes my mind. Kids today are taught "me me me" and never about the values of teamwork and loyalty.

[Slap Shot]

I always laugh when I read all the Gopher's majors.

Probably not all the different from the non-Ivies/Techies with regard to clustering.

[cross cheque]

Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010 the last year of the old WCHA

I'm going to go ahead and express my condolences to the gopher fans who spend a lot of time, money, and effort to be fans only to bear the brunt of childish decisions. Lofquist obviously doesn't have the respect for class and tradition that Minnesota's program deserves. Good luck, sincerely, see you in January.

[Koho]

Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010 the last year of the old WCHA

Add Lofquist's leaving to the fact that Lucia has put a team out on the ice that (as a team) has shown the frank inability to play sound fundamental hockey so far this year...yeah...The Don's time is up, it was a nice run, but on to different ventures. Don can't control injuries, players leaving early, not developing like he likes, but he sure can control preperation, assignments, and correcting fundamentals.

Hakstool should have been gone each of the last four seasons if you judge the coach on the first month+ of a season, especially since I don't recall them having as many injuries/mid-season departures etc to deal with as MN. Seems to me their second half of seasons have gone pretty well. Let's maybe see how this team develops (without one of their top three scorers for the season and a key D-man for a couple months). And to speculate the reason a player leaves mid-season is a sign of fault in the coach (as opposed to a player being more concerned with the name on the back of the jersey than the front) is just that, speculation.

[Koho]

Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010 the last year of the old WCHA

Read the latest post on GPL. This reeks of Dorr and Scott last year. Nothing I've heard today changes my mind. Kids today are taught "me me me" and never about the values of teamwork and loyalty.

That is a trademark of the generation in and leaving college. I remember seeing a thing on TV about them being the "entitlement generation" (or something like that). A lot of them are coming out of college expecting jobs that pay the same as a person who has been employed for years at the same location and expect to move up the ladder quickly, based more on what they 'are owed' than by earning it with hard work. I see that a little in my work, with interns who come in and do the minimal amount of work, rather thanwork their a**es off to prove they are worth hiring. I had one recent grad (in a field where there are very few positions in the country) go from 'I'll start anywhere in the country and help write a grant for the position' to 'I don't think I want a job unless it's in one of a couple metropolitan areas' within a week. In other words, "I want everything now" seems to be a persuasive attitude. It is all speculation, but given my experiences with people that age, I would not be surprised if Lofquist was of that mindset.

I'm sorry to see him leave. While I didn't see him as a major factor in the team's play this year (although more so with Leddy out and even more if another D went down), the disruption doesn't help. Also, I think he had a decent upside and, if he had stayed, might have turned into a pretty good 4 year player. (By the way, all you critics of blue-chipper recruits, even taking the undrafted players is a risk -see Bickel too.)

By the way, any idea of what players will likely play the Junior tourney? Things could get really thin on this team if they lose a few to Team USA.

[HarleyMC]

Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010 the last year of the old WCHA

Lofquist's decision to leave the Gophers was calculated and well thought out in advance. His decision to play in the OHL is essentially closing the door to ever return to D1 collegiate hockey. I'm sure he had already discussed this prior to his announced departure.

My understanding is the NCAA rule states that a player must sit out an entire year per year he played in Major Juniors, plus an extra amount of games at the beginning of the season NCAA eligibility. So basically if you play 2 seasons of Major Juniors, a player's NCAA eligibility is history.

IIRC, I believe UND's Colby Genoway played a game or two in Major Juniors and lost a year of eligibility.

[Goon]

Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010 the last year of the old WCHA

That is a trademark of the generation in and leaving college. I remember seeing a thing on TV about them being the "entitlement generation" (or something like that). A lot of them are coming out of college expecting jobs that pay the same as a person who has been employed for years at the same location and expect to move up the ladder quickly, based more on what they 'are owed' than by earning it with hard work.

What happened to the days that if you didn't like the amount of playing time you got, you worked harder in practice to get back in the line up. Now they just call their family advisor and then leave town.

[dggoddard]

Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010 the last year of the old WCHA

Lofquist's decision to leave the Gophers was calculated and well thought out in advance. His decision to play in the OHL is essentially closing the door to ever return to D1 collegiate hockey. I'm sure he had already discussed this prior to his announced departure.

My understanding is the NCAA rule states that a player must sit out an entire year per year he played in Major Juniors, plus an extra amount of games at the beginning of the season NCAA eligibility. So basically if you play 2 seasons of Major Juniors, a player's NCAA eligibility is history.

IIRC, I believe UND's Colby Genoway played a game or two in Major Juniors and lost a year of eligibility.

The moment you sign a major junior contract you are ineligible to play NCAA hockey.

http://www.playyourgame.com/ncaa_eli...explained.html

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010 the last year of the old WCHA

What happened to the days that if you didn't like the amount of playing time you got, you worked harder in practice to get back in the line up. Now they just call their family advisor and then leave town.

Good question, Goon. I've been asking myself that question all day.

[Goon]

Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010 the last year of the old WCHA

Good question, Goon. I've been asking myself that question all day.

Nothing in life is a given and these kids need to realize they have to work for it. I think he will realize that leaving Minnesota was not smart.

[HarleyMC]

Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010 the last year of the old WCHA

The moment you sign a major junior contract you are ineligible to play NCAA hockey.

My understanding is a player can be reinstated according to the following stipulations (unless it has been changed):

Major Junior eligibility is addressed in rule 12.2.3.2.4: "Ice hockey teams in the United States and Canada, classified by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association as major junior A teams, are considered professional teams under NCAA legislation."

The minimum loss of a year is discussed in subsection 1, "An appeal for restoration of eligibility may be submitted on behalf of an individual who has participated on a major junior A ice hockey team under the provisions of Bylaw 14.12; however, such individual shall be denied at least the first year of intercollegiate athletics competition in ice hockey at the certifying institution and shall be charged with the loss of at least one season of eligibility in ice hockey."

[NCAA watcher]

Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010 the last year of the old WCHA

What happened to the days that if you didn't like the amount of playing time you got, you worked harder in practice to get back in the line up. Now they just call their family advisor and then leave town.

What happened to the days that in picking a college, if playing time was so important that you didn't sign on with Minny or Wisconsin, which have about 8 first or second round picks on defense?

[dggoddard]

Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010 the last year of the old WCHA

My understanding is a player can be reinstated according to the following stipulations (unless it has been changed):
"

I can't think of any major junior players who has played college hockey. Maybe some kids who attended MJ camps as 15 year olds, but no players who ever suited up and played a game.

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010 the last year of the old WCHA

http://www.startribune.com/blogs/696...DYaGEP7eyckcUr

Don Lucia's response:

Gophers coach Don Lucia said Lofquist told him Monday he was leaving the team. "I'm not sure what he is doing," Lucia said. "Obviously, he wanted to play more."

Lofquist had played in three of the Gophers' eight games. He missed two with a bruised foot but was a healthy scratch for the other three games.

The Gophers are now down to six healthy defensemen. "We got the guys who want to be here," Lucia said.