Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

[HarleyMC]

Re: Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

The only dent in that armor would be Paul Kariya. Clearly a one way player in college that I think never saw the defensive side of the blue line. As well as being the only Freshman to ever win the award.

Not necessarily, in Kariya's case he was actually higher than Eichel in +/- @ +49. His primary stats were so off the charts as an 18 year old freshman that he was virtually unrivaled in 1993. His 25-75-100 numbers were the best that year, and his 2.56 pts./game were the highest in NCAA history at the time. Kariya won outstanding everything in HE and was one of the main reasons why Maine won the NC in 1993 with an amazing record of 42-1-2, even though they lost several key players from the year before inc. Pellerin, the previous Hobey winner, in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year. Eichel is closing in on Kariya's pts./game, but won't catch him:

Most Points Per Game, Draft-Eligible Freshmen (since 1992-93)

2.56 - Paul Kariya, Maine (1992-93)
1.83 - Jack Eichel, Boston University (2014-15)
1.56 - Zach Parise, North Dakota (2002-03)
1.47 - Dany Heatley, Wisconsin (1999-00)
1.46 - Brian Gionta, Boston College (1997-98)

Most Points Per Game, Any Freshmen (since 1992-93)

2.56 - Paul Kariya, Maine (1992-93, age 18)
1.91 - Ryan Carter, Iona (1998-99, age 21)
1.83 - Jack Eichel, Boston University (2014-15, age 18)
1.62 - Rob Bonneau, Massachusetts (1993-94, age 21)
1.62 - Warren Norris, Massachusetts (1993-94, age 20)

EDIT:

I'm curious to know where FS23 ranked the 1993 Maine Black Bears among other championship teams.

[HarleyMC]

Re: Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

Lucia and Gophers PREVIEW the UMD game.

[5mn_Major]

Re: Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

However, one could argue that Eichel's also on the most productive line in college hockey...with Rodrigues and O'Regan. Rodrigues has more points than any player in the nation this half (41). So there's no question Eichel's linemates make him a better player, thus invoking some inherent bias in his individual numbers. But as a freshman to step into D1 with a command performance like he has, Eichel's clearly one of those special players that possesses an elite talent currency.

All true and good points. At the end of the day, Vesey gets a bit more goal scoring from his less talented linemates and he would be the only Hobey candidate under consideration by the hype machine.

The above forwards are in the same class as each other and a handful of other forwards. But Reilly is heads and shoulders above his defensive peers. Again, he's the top scoring D man in the nation over the last 3 and very possibly soon to be 4 years (a time in which there have been no D awarded the Hobey). And fans across hockey don't even know his name because he's a defenseman.

I am finally coming to terms with the fact that message board posters do not understand the defensive position. It is far more complex than 'just score, oh and backcheck some' forwards. Defense at Minnesota is crazy complex in its 5 player integration play system. The Gophers are assuredly the worlds best amateur team for the development of defense for the NHL. With 10 Gophers playing defense for big NHL clubs, no other team can match that...not any of the watered down 60 team CHL. And leading the Gophers in scoring, Reilly is the most dominant defenseman in terms of scoring the Gophers have had in almost 20 years. Couple that with a nation leading point total over the last 3+ years, and your talking a stunning accomplishment by Reilly. And he's not even a freshman . So I really don't get it when even Gopher fans buy into the hype that Eichel is the right choice. In the end, Reilly will never get chosen for political reasons...that is there have been too many Minnesotans recently.

So time to get geared up for the big day.

[Bonin21]

Re: Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

Who is the tenth defenseman to play in the NHL this year? Ness hasn't played a game. I'll look into the CHL counts this morning.

[Bonin21]

Re: Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

he's the top scoring D man in the nation over the last 3

Joey Laleggia has more points than Reilly over the last three years. He is also .02 ppg behind him this year. The head and shoulders above thing is laughable.

[Bonin21]

Re: Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

With 10 Gophers playing defense for big NHL clubs, no other team can match that...not any of the watered down 60 team CHL.

Kelowna has had at least ten D-men play in the NHL this year. One more than the nine I'm seeing for the Gophers.

[5mn_Major]

Re: Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

Mike Reilly 2015 42 pts so far...#1 in the country
Mike Reilly 2015 42 pts so far > Bodie 2014 at 39 pts
Mike Reilly 2015 42 pts so far > Hughes 2013 at 37 pts
Mike Reilly 2015 42 pts so far may catch Schultz at 44 pts

Ness played in 2014. And NCAA defensemen at 18-22 can school 16-20 yo CHL defenseman any day of the week and twice on Sundays. So the underlying facts stand.

Thankfully...we're blessed to have the GPL experts to tell us when our opinions are wrong.

[Bonin21]

Re: Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

I was just saying I think your facts are wrong and there's no point in reading five paragraph essays on a message board if the data provided by the author isn't accurate.

[D2D]

Re: Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

Even though BU was far and away the more talented team offensively I'm thinking the matchup against Yale (had they won) would have more difficult. Older, more experienced "defense first" team that doesn't make many mistakes...sound familiar?

Of course first things first, need to beat the Dawgs!

[NCAAfan500]

Even though BU was far and away the more talented team offensively I'm thinking the matchup against Yale (had they won) would have more difficult. Older, more experienced "defense first" team that doesn't make many mistakes...sound familiar?

Of course first things first, need to beat the Dawgs!

Looks like you can still get that matchup against Yale tomorrow.....on the golf course.

[Koho]

Re: Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

Frickin Nightmare!!! Better play like they have nothing to lose the rest of the way.

[D2D]

Re: Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

Frickin Nightmare!!! Better play like they have nothing to lose the rest of the way.

More like they had nothing to gain...a fine time for one of the worst (if not THE worst) games of the year.

[Greyeagle]

Re: Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

UMD was really good today.
And MN was really disinterested.

[UMICH]

Re: Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

Well, that just killed my bracket. Thanks a lot....

[5mn_Major]

Re: Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

IMO easily the best team we saw all year was UMD early. They've either returned or they play well against us. This big of a loss it takes both poor play on our part and great play on theirs.

Ah well, 2014/5 is over. Regular season and tournament. But a beat down in the first game. Not great, but I'll live.