Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

[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.

[Koho]

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

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

[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.

[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!

[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.

[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)

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.

[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)

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.

[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.

[HarleyMC]

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

Lucia and Gophers PREVIEW the UMD game.

[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.

[JoeGopher]

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

Hobey winners are typically complete two-way team players with elite skill sets that allow them to carry a team on their back when needed.

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.

[HarleyMC]

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

I'm not so sure of that. I don't know that he's the best college forward in Boston right now. Vesey is very close in points and certainly would have passed him had he had nearly the support.

Nation’s top goal scorer Vesey is Harvard’s first Walter Brown winner since 2005

The Gridiron Club of Greater Boston announced Tuesday that Harvard junior forward Jimmy Vesey is the winner of the 63rd Walter Brown Award, presented annually to the best American-born college hockey player in New England.

I also think folks here discount M. Reilly, who likely can't win only due to Connolly and Leblanc.

I can see your point with Vesey and he's definitely a major reason the Crimson are one of the hottest teams in the tourney dropping only one game since Feb. 28th and avg. 3.75 Gs/game. He's leading Eichel in Gs by 7, but not in some of the other important stats that represent the committee's list of salient criteria. Some of the major criteria the selection committee investigates in addition to outstanding individual numbers is team support and on and off ice leadership.

Hobey winners are typically complete two-way team players with elite skill sets that allow them to carry a team on their back when needed. Eichel appears to be a very unselfish player leading the nation in assists, he's a strong two way guy with an amazing nation leading +46, and is one of the major reasons BU went from being an irrelevant 10-21-4 last season to being an NCAA title contender today. He also possesses major wattage in full ice vision, lower body strength, speed, and playmaking ability. I think Vesey is an outstanding talent, but Eichel appears to be a more complete player.

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.

[The Rube]

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

So no more "shine the turd" comments? Watched a bit of the B1G Tourney Championship game again last night. I will say this, the Gophers are playing at a much different level now than at any time in the season. Question is, can they plow through the stiffer competition from ranked teams in a one and done? B1G litmus test this weekend.

I saw half of the last period of Fri's game (was at the Tech game at the X, went up to the X bar to see the game) and then the whole game on Sat (1st 2 periods at the X bar; again, was at the Tech game which started an hour earlier; then sprinted to the Liffey to finish watching the MN game.

They are indeed playing on another level, including TWOCOX.