Wisconsin Hockey 20-21 Give Us A Reason To Believe

[gwhinwi]

No She-it! I made my copy of yours a few months ago, but I am not changing anything until things settle down. This is just nuts. And on the women's side it's a train-wreck of no info/some info too.

I find it very puzzling that Holloway has not signed with the Oilers yet. Could his injury be such that he's out of action until the summer when the pros are not playing? Would that open the door for his return to WI? One thing that cannot be over-looked is his faceoff w/l single handedly turned UW's numbers from awful to good.

Yeah, it's a complete mess right now. I have a feeling we won't have any idea what the rosters actually will be until sometime around August or September.

[Timothy A]

Yeah, it's a complete mess right now. I have a feeling we won't have any idea what the rosters actually will be until sometime around August or September.

To quote one of my favorite GIFs, OH FO SHO.

[burd]

Try winning one without sound defensive hockey. Oh wait, you believe sound defense is a "pansy way to play":

I would get tired of a defense that is effective mainly because of a highly effective trap scheme. But defenses can be outstanding without regard to the trap if the D men are very good in their own zone and start the transition so well. An offense may seem to be flowing well, but it starts with D men on the transition. North Dakota has been exciting in recent years, and I think the biggest part of that is the top notch D men they have had. These guys have been most valuable, IMO, because they can control the puck behind the red line and start the transition game so effectively. Having good D men also means the forwards can have a more aggressive forecheck. Just like having a shaky goaltender, if you don't trust your defense, the offense just cannot open up. The forwards are an important part of the defense, but it can be the result of a solid forecheck and taking their roles in the D zone seriously.

I know this is all obvious enough and that Badger fans don't need to be told, especially by a UND fan, but f&#k me, it's the off season.

[solovsfett]

Try winning one without sound defensive hockey. Oh wait, you believe sound defense is a "pansy way to play":

Trap hockey sucks. From The NJ Devils in 95 to Mike Eaves. Wisconsin won 5 titles before Eaves with great offense and defense and didn’t have to play the boring *** trap. Sorry. What Nodak, BC, Minnesota, BU or Denver teams played trap defensive boring hockey on their way to north of 20 titles combined? oh yeah, Union and Yale didn’t play it either. So combine those titles with Wisconsin, Duluth and Michigan and your north of 40 right? Damn near every title has been won by teams who can pick em’ up and put em’ down. Fact.

so...

[digitalbooya]

Trap hockey sucks. From The NJ Devils in 95 to Mike Eaves. Wisconsin won 5 titles before Eaves with great offense and defense and didn’t have to play the boring *** trap. Sorry. What Nodak, BC, Minnesota, BU or Denver teams played trap defensive boring hockey on their way to north of 20 titles combined? oh yeah, Union and Yale didn’t play it either. So combine those titles with Wisconsin, Duluth and Michigan and your north of 40 right? Damn near every title has been won by teams who can pick em’ up and put em’ down. Fact.

so...

Thinking that Nodak, BC, Minnesota, BU and Denver don't play some form of the trap is simply ridiculous. Hint: every team plays some form of neutral zone trap. Is every team Jacque Lemaire style? No. But every team runs some form of neutral zone trap, otherwise the neutral zone would be a fly zone and that team would suck.

Titles since 2006:
UMD ~ 3
BC ~ 3
NoDak ~ 1
BU ~ 1
Denver ~ 1
Wisconsin ~ 1
Providence ~ 1
Union ~ 1
Yale ~ 1
MSU ~ 1
Michigan ~ 0
Minnesota ~ 0

Tied for 3rd most titles in the last 15 years Mr. "The only thing that matters is the NCAA title."

You make it sound like North Dakota is winning the title every other year... When in reality the only two programs with more than one title are UMD and BC and they took many years to establish their dominance. We are just in the early stages of recovering from the worst season in badger hockey history. Literally rebuilding the program. Tell me, when was the last time BC or UMD or North Dakota or Denver had to deal with rebuilding their program from the ground up? This expectation of instant success is insanity. Remember your boy Scott Sandelin took 15 YEARS to establish his dominant program.

[Timothy A]

The thing is teams have to know how to defeat the trap/system they are facing. That's where the coaching comes in. UW seemed clueless on how to beat it. BSU looked very much like the UW women who defeat the attack in the N zone, then just dump it right back in or carry it in. On the dump in, the D have to turn and chase, you win the race or the 1 on 1 battle for the puck, or block the blind escape pass up the boards, then you gain possession and create havoc.

I think more importantly than winning the ncaa is just making the ncaa tourney. That means you are a way above average team who wins 2 games for every 1 you lose. We all can live with that all day I do believe. Then anything can happen, you are 2 wins from the frozen 4, 4 wins from the title. But you HAVE to get in just about every year, maybe 4 out of every 5 years.

[WiscTJK]

Let's take a vote now. Review this article and let me know if you think Granato will shift to a more defensive style:

https://madison.com/wsj/sports/colle...ceec62544.html

I will say no, based on previous years, but I hope to be completely wrong. I would love to see a more physical, defensive style.

[gwhinwi]

F Max Johnson is transferring in from Bowling Green.

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Well he at least needs to shift to a more <responsible> style. This “who cares if you leave an unmarked man on your goalie’s back door and it’s Lebedeff’s fault if they take advantage of it” nonsense needs to end.

No She-it! I made my copy of yours a few months ago, but I am not changing anything until things settle down. This is just nuts. And on the women's side it's a train-wreck of no info/some info too.

I find it very puzzling that Holloway has not signed with the Oilers yet. Could his injury be such that he's out of action until the summer when the pros are not playing? Would that open the door for his return to WI? One thing that cannot be over-looked is his faceoff w/l single handedly turned UW's numbers from awful to good.

I can’t recall if it was a Milewski article or tweet, but something he wrote gave me the idea that Edmonton was going to wait out some results on how bad the wrist is and decide on “entry-level for this year” vs “AHL ATO followed by entry-level for next year”.

I think.

Meanwhile were getting a grad transfer from BGSU: Max Johnson. Over 100 points in four years there. Don’t know much else.

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Weissbach signs.

https://twitter.com/buffalosabres/st...758181380?s=21

[gwhinwi]

Pelton-Byce signed today also.

Former Gopher goalie Jared Moe is coming to the Badgers as a Junior.

[LordofBrewtown]

I was there for the Saturday night game. It was electric. 2 powerhouse programs with a ton of talent going at it like it was playoff hockey.

reinprecht is the best stick handler I’ve seen on the badgers going back to 85. There were games where the gophers or st could d were pylons you him.

Was that the #1 vs #2 matchup when they handed out posters (or was that a different year)? If so, that's probably the loudest/best atmosphere I ever experienced at the Kohl center. Was awesome

[Timothy A]

Let's take a vote now. Review this article and let me know if you think Granato will shift to a more defensive style:

https://madison.com/wsj/sports/colle...ceec62544.html

I will say no, based on previous years, but I hope to be completely wrong. I would love to see a more physical, defensive style.

“Next year we might have to be a team that’s going to grind it out, be more patient, score more goals on the forecheck, be a grittier team, be a dirtier team around the net, things like that,” he said. “We’re going to have to adjust to what’s needed to help us be successful.”

If he's saying it, then he is setting the table to having to follow thru. I think if you watched the OSU series where they dressed 8 F's, that was the future. Stange was great that series and Matty D can be a special playmaker in the line of Linus but more physical.

I guess I vote yes.

[Timothy A]

F Max Johnson is transferring in from Bowling Green.

Points by year:
Fr 13-17-30
So 19-24-43
Jr 6-19-25
Sr 10-14-24

Kinda trending in the wrong direction but he brings a lot of experience to the table from the hard playing wcha. From Lakeville MN. If he could crack 30 pts that would be sweet.

[Timothy A]

Former Gopher goalie Jared Moe is coming to the Badgers as a Junior.

Not sure Watts to think of that. Doesn't think Rowe can be the guy? Garrity is strictly a practice guy? Wants to be able to yank Rowe and have someone else to go to? No confidence vote on Grannon? I was really hoping to ride Rowe for 3 years and have some consistency in the net. If the teams plays a better defensive game TG won't have to to so yank happy though he should be benching skaters who screw up and leave the goalies alone.