Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

[SanTropez]

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

Maybe you guys should just adopt the trap if it's so unfair. With your 30 NHL draft picks, surely you will trap better than anybody else.

Except no one ever said it was unfair, I said it was boring, crappy hockey, which it is. Why watch that when you could watch forwards actually skate and you know, try to score goals. Sorry but having 5 "defensemen" out there isn't the hockey I want to watch.

[HarleyMC]

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

Better to look pretty than win. It's the Gophers way. Always has been.

Boom! Target identified...man down.

[D2D]

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

Better to look pretty than win. It's the Gophers way. Always has been.

They can still look pretty AND win, as long as the effort is there. But these days they need MORE effort, grit and "dirty" goals to win consistently...not quite there yet, this year anyway.

[The Rube]

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

Better to die by the offense than live by the trap?

Better to look pretty than win. It's the Gophers way. Always has been.

[5mn_Major]

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

who wants to be bored every game? Not I.

Better to die by the offense than live by the trap?

[Happy]

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

Maybe you guys should just adopt the trap if it's so unfair. With your 30 NHL draft picks, surely you will trap better than anybody else.

who wants to be bored every game? Not I.

[captain beefheart]

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

Maybe you guys should just adopt the trap if it's so unfair. With your 30 NHL draft picks, surely you will trap better than anybody else.

Good point.

[Pirateasaur]

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

Maybe you guys should just adopt the trap if it's so unfair. With your 30 NHL draft picks, surely you will trap better than anybody else.

[5mn_Major]

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

MSU and UW have been playing with MI and MN respectively for a long time. They hate to lose to us. Their systems have slowly adapted to both of our high octane offenses. The unfortunate outcome for us...is now we and MI are in the same conference and if nothing else, this should reinforce each of their systems.

[pgb-ohio]

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

Not a huge fan of the NZ Trap or Left Wing Lock. But I've got to admit that's a pretty cool graphic.

[HarleyMC]

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

They should hand out penalties for teams who trap. It is a ****ty way to play hockey. It sucked when the lemaire led wild did it too, talk about boring crappy hockey.

Disagree, but maybe you need to vent here. It depends on your perspective and whether you appreciate all the strategic aspects of the game of hockey. If you're a fan of defense, it's as entertaining and strategic as watching an offensive team. From personal experience, I can say it's tough to crack as an offensive player if executed properly. The Czechs were the ones who invented it to slow down the Russians in the 70s and called it the "Left Wing Lock". The trap also wins championships. Scotty Bowman used it a lot with the Detroit Red Wings and won 3 Stanley Cups. Bob Johnson brought it to Wisconsin and won 3 NCAA titles.

Just for fun. Left Wing Lock is a little different than the NZ trap, where the left wing drops back on D and each player is responsible for a zone, not a player.

[HarleyMC]

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

That's entirely possible. Prior to the BiG, the only team they faced with regularity that employed the trap was the Awfulgers. Now that they are seeing MSU and OSU employ that type of system, it seems to cause problems. Maybe I am just looking at the performance against MSU over the last two years with an increased level of scrutiny since it's the team that has given the Gophs the most trouble in conference games.

Dave Shyiak and UAA used the NZ trap all the time against the Gophers in the WCHA. BC is a similar smaller, highly skilled team like the Gophers. Notre Dame just beat BC on Saturday using the NZ trap. Jeff Jackson recruits for Notre Dame to combine it with some high end skill players to add a stronger offensive dimension to it.

[SanTropez]

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

They should hand out penalties for teams who trap. It is a ****ty way to play hockey. It sucked when the lemaire led wild did it too, talk about boring crappy hockey.
You are right though, the Gophers play better when playing against teams who do not trap. (Michigan BC etc...) OSU doesn't have the D like MSU does, so even if they do try to trap it won't be as effective.

[JoeGopher]

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

I think you're only remembering the games they lost against a trap rather than the majority that they actually won.

That's entirely possible. Prior to the BiG, the only team they faced with regularity that employed the trap was the Awfulgers. Now that they are seeing MSU and OSU employ that type of system, it seems to cause problems. Maybe I am just looking at the performance against MSU over the last two years with an increased level of scrutiny since it's the team that has given the Gophs the most trouble in conference games.

[Slap Shot]

I think you may have missed part of what I was saying. MSU played a great game Friday and executed their system really well. They didn't make many mistakes and shut the Gophers down (while they played horribly).

I was looking back over the years and the trap has always caused them problems, whether it's MSU, Wisconsin, OSU (at times), and others that employ such a rigid neutral zone system. Other teams have been able to crack the code over time, but Minnesota seems to struggle.

I think you're only remembering the games they lost against a trap rather than the majority that they actually won.