Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

[burd]

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

If we make the tourney, the committee will put us in GF. I think most fans (and probably the players) would salivate at having a chance to play UND.

Agreed, but I think you meant Fargo.

[SanTropez]

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

Agreed, but I think you meant Fargo.

Probably.

Fargo, Grand Forks, Minneapolis, Hong Kong, my backyard rink, it doesn't matter where, this match up would be fun to see imo.

[goldy_331]

Probably.

Fargo, Grand Forks, Minneapolis, Hong Kong, my backyard rink, it doesn't matter where, this match up would be fun to see imo.

You must have a different kind of rink in your back yard. It would not be fun to see anyone play on mine right now.

[5mn_Major]

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

Agreed, but I think you meant Fargo.

Yes. In a haze in anticipation.

[Koho]

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

SO the Gophs are tied for 13th in Pairwise. If this is the case after conf. tourneys, and there are 3 lower rated autobids that make it by winning conf tourneys, how they decide which of the two tied for 13th make the tourney? Is there a tie-breaker, or is that where the smoke-filled room come into play?

[Nowheresville]

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

RPI is the tiebreaker in the pairwise, so MN is 13 right now, ahead of Lowell.

The Gophers probably will get sent to Fargo, but only if they can climb up to the 12 seed or higher. If they remain at 13 or below, they won't because UND will be protected by getting matched up with of the autobids.

[Hammy]

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

Every time this team needs a key win, they find some way to screw it up. Let's hope they don't follow that trend tonight and win at least a piece of the B1G regular season title.

[Koho]

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

Congrats Gophs on a fourth straight Conf. title. Coming into this season I thought this team could take home all three banners. I thought they would be 'that good'. They haven't been 'that good', but luckily the rest of the conference was 'that bad' so that when MN turned it on late and started to play more inspired hockey much of the time, they were able to win it all.

While I still don't think they are playing quite at the level they should be capable of, they are definitely a different team from what we saw a couple month ago. Fasching looks like he may have found his stride, if last night was any indication. Bridstedt looks like he has figured out the North American game. The fourth line has stepped up to show the depth this team should have had all year. Wilcox looks like Wilcox again. Bischoff, Boyd and Skjei look noticeably better than last year and Reilly looks like a man among boys sometimes when carrying the puck. More importantly, the effort seems to be there most of the time from most of the team. Peaking at the end of the season is what you want to see from a team and if they can continue to build on what they are showing lately, I feel a little better about the odds of taking home more banners.

Good Luck the rest of the way! Continue to work your *****es off, and anything can happen!

[5mn_Major]

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

Congrats guys! B1G goal accomplished here.

I guess the Harley law as in effect...MI and MSU split and MN sweeps. Good call...

[Koho]

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

Watching the Wild game recorded from lat night, 2 things came to mind;

1. Amazing how similar their season and the Gophs have been. Start out fast with high expectations. Then poor goaltending and inconsistent play in middle of season appear to derail chance at post season play. Goaltending improves and rest of team starts playing much better and what looked very unlikley (postseason play) starts to look probable based on good late season runs. (Obvioulsly Wild have a way to go with probably toughest schedule in NHL rest of way with several teams on their tail.) Wild would have one game that wasn't their best, and follow up with a very good performance. Gophs avoided two poor showings in a row late as well. Both teams are capable of playing with any team in the country now that they are playing with confidence.

2. I want Jamie Hersch back on Gopher broadcasts. She has grown on me the more I watch her and she not only does a good job managing post-games, she seems to know the game and know what question to ask. I never used to bother ever watching Wild post-game sessions. Oh yeah, and she is cute as hell. Mr. Hersch is a lucky guy.

[The Rube]

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

Watching the Wild game recorded from lat night, 2 things came to mind;

1. Amazing how similar their season and the Gophs have been. Start out fast with high expectations. Then poor goaltending and inconsistent play in middle of season appear to derail chance at post season play. Goaltending improves and rest of team starts playing much better and what looked very unlikley (postseason play) starts to look probable based on good late season runs. (Obvioulsly Wild have a way to go with probably toughest schedule in NHL rest of way with several teams on their tail.) Wild would have one game that wasn't their best, and follow up with a very good performance. Gophs avoided two poor showings in a row late as well. Both teams are capable of playing with any team in the country now that they are playing with confidence.

2. I want Jamie Hersch back on Gopher broadcasts. She has grown on me the more I watch her and she not only does a good job managing post-games, she seems to know the game and know what question to ask. I never used to bother ever watching Wild post-game sessions. Oh yeah, and she is cute as hell. Mr. Hersch is a lucky guy.

#2: She always had potential, much like Jenny Taft (formerly of the FSN Girls, now working FS1, IIRC). Much more than a pretty face.

[Koho]

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

#2: She always had potential, much like Jenny Taft (formerly of the FSN Girls, now working FS1, IIRC). Much more than a pretty face.

Figures YOU would comment on my second point...

[D2D]

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

Congrats guys! B1G goal accomplished here.

I guess the Harley law as in effect...MI and MSU split and MN sweeps. Good call...

I have to give him props here as well. Hard to say exactly what the odds were entering the weekend, but it sure did work out well.

[HarleyMC]

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

Congrats Gophs on a fourth straight Conf. title. Coming into this season I thought this team could take home all three banners. I thought they would be 'that good'. They haven't been 'that good', but luckily the rest of the conference was 'that bad' so that when MN turned it on late and started to play more inspired hockey much of the time, they were able to win it all.

While I still don't think they are playing quite at the level they should be capable of, they are definitely a different team from what we saw a couple month ago. Fasching looks like he may have found his stride, if last night was any indication. Bridstedt looks like he has figured out the North American game. The fourth line has stepped up to show the depth this team should have had all year. Wilcox looks like Wilcox again. Bischoff, Boyd and Skjei look noticeably better than last year and Reilly looks like a man among boys sometimes when carrying the puck. More importantly, the effort seems to be there most of the time from most of the team. Peaking at the end of the season is what you want to see from a team and if they can continue to build on what they are showing lately, I feel a little better about the odds of taking home more banners.

Good Luck the rest of the way! Continue to work your *****es off, and anything can happen!

Nice write up...Koho (Bristedt ). They really played their ***es off all weekend with a very rewarding finish for the team to snatch the B1G title in the last game of the season. The seniors have been outstanding lately. The momentum is as high as it's ever been this season going into the weekend. I just hope they can keep their eyes on the prize. A win on Friday and a Mich. Tech win over Bowling Green, and the Gopher's chances of locking in an at-large bid are very favorable.

The fourth line is definitely more of a key than most would think. Their energy was consistent all weekend. I thought they were strong on the walls and cycled well. Isackson had made a nice pass to Collins for his first tally as a Gopher...and Ryan was smiling ear to ear too.

[HarleyMC]

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

Congrats guys! B1G goal accomplished here.

I guess the Harley law as in effect...MI and MSU split and MN sweeps. Good call...

When Michigan won at the Munn, I was honestly thinkin' it's not lookin' good for the Gophers to win it outright. But for MSU to win at the Yost on Senior Night was impressive. Tom Anastos turned MSU around in the second half and I wouldn't be surprised to see him as B1G Coach of the Year.

This weekend they looked like the team everyone was expecting. I'm excited for the post season and I hope they stay focused. I think we've got a legitimate shot at the FF.