Minnesota State 2019-2020 Charging Forward

[Offsides Guy]

I'm new to women's hockey but have been following BSU with a player there, and watching the Beavers (2) series now I am thinking they should get much better in the second half. Big senior class and once they find their stride they should improve. SCSU, BSU and MSU all look similar to me.

BSU typically gets off to a (frustratingly) slow start each season. I’m sure they’ll start looking stronger but I don’t know that we’ll see that in their series in Jan against OSU. OSU is notoriously well conditioned and loves to forecheck hard which could be a problem for a BSU team that’s had fits and starts when it comes to consecutive practices and games due to both Covid and the Christmas holiday.

I also think it bodes well for BSU that they are getting scoring from other than first-line players. A few more games and that first line will really gel and their scoring should pick up. If the other players can keep scoring, the team could be dangerous.

[waynorth907]

It will be interesting to see how BSU does with that 16 hour trip down to Columbus on a bus.
Also heard that the league may do only 4-team format for the conference tourney? That would really amplify the importance in the January slate of games

[agfire]

It will be interesting to see how BSU does with that 16 hour trip down to Columbus on a bus.
Also heard that the league may do only 4-team format for the conference tourney? That would really amplify the importance in the January slate of games

I hope that they go wit the old format. I think with the BSU, MSU, and SC playing better, there is a good chance one of these teams could crash the party.

[D2D]

I hope that they go wit the old format. I think with the BSU, MSU, and SC playing better, there is a good chance one of these teams could crash the party.

Mavericks tie it at 1-1 with about four minutes to go in the 1st period. Mavs holding a slight 9-8 shots advantage.

[D2D]

Badgers pick up the pace in the 2nd and take a 2-1 lead on a goal by O'Brien. SOG are now 20-14 Wisconsin.

[D2D]

Mavs take a very unfortunate (but well-deserved) penalty with about 3 minutes to go and Wisconsin's Daryl Watts takes advantage to put her team up 3-2. Minnesota State then takes another penalty with about a minute thirty left pretty much sealing the win for the visiting team. 3-2 final with the Badgers outshooting the Mavs 30-20.

[waynorth907]

I hope that they go wit the old format. I think with the BSU, MSU, and SC playing better, there is a good chance one of these teams could crash the party.

Watching both OSU vs. BSU games, I agree that any team could crash the party in this abbreviated season. It's all about bringing the right compete-level.. which BSU did not do today.

[EMPTYNETTER]

MSU was a good battle with UW. I liked #3 Langseth's game....was not overly impressed with UW's game considering all the hype they get. Will be interesting to see if game today is any different.

[FiveHoleFrenzy]

Wisconsin wins today 1-0. Langseth was mentioned by EMPTYNETTER and she along with Nelson are both very impressive freshmen (Too bad Nelson had to miss this series). Mankato blocks a ton of shots and has a nice group of forwards.

[Timothy A]

MSU was a good battle with UW. I liked #3 Langseth's game....was not overly impressed with UW's game considering all the hype they get. Will be interesting to see if game today is any different.

I think you saw a team on Saturday that had only practiced 3 times before the game and hadn't played in weeks, so they had some rust. Plus they were missing Wheeler, an impact freshman at forward.

[EMPTYNETTER]

I think you saw a team on Saturday that had only practiced 3 times before the game and hadn't played in weeks, so they had some rust. Plus they were missing Wheeler, an impact freshman at forward.

All things being relative (# practices, etc...BTW I believe UW has practiced more than most) they didn't look like the top team in the nation. Wheeler was indeed dressed and I saw her #28 on the ice during Sunday's game.

[D2D]

I believe UW has practiced more than most) they didn't look like the top team in the nation.

Based on scores and what I've seen online this past week I think an argument could be made that Ohio State may very well be the best team in the conference right now. Not deserving of the No. 1 ranking in the nation (yet) but they very well could be the best team at this juncture? Sweeping a pretty good Bemidji team by a combined score of 11-2 this past weekend was impressive. And they have split each of their two game series with #2 Minnesota and #1 Wisconsin.

But the most improved team (at least in the conference) has to be the Minnesota State Mavericks. They taken both Minnesota and Wisconsin down to the wire and went down to defeat by a single goal, once to the Gophers and twice to the Badgers. The downside is their lack of consistency, having split with St. Cloud and not being able to sweep Bemidji. They have some very nice players and good goaltending, but from what I've observed their weakness may be a lack of depth...the bottom third of their lineup needs improvement for them to consistently compete game in and game out.

[Timothy A]

All things being relative (# practices, etc...BTW I believe UW has practiced more than most) they didn't look like the top team in the nation. Wheeler was indeed dressed and I saw her #28 on the ice during Sunday's game.

Great news that Wheeler dressed!

As far as practice goes, I am simply echoing MJ's feelings on it. Also, UW had only played 2 games all season, it's hard to gel when you've only played the 2 games and had not practiced in a month. That being said, I have stated multiple times that UW is not deserving of being #1. They lost a ton of talent from last year and the jury is still out obviously on this year.

[robertearle]

Great news that Wheeler dressed!

(No, I did not see either game; I have chosen no FloHockey this year; only BTNPlus - home hockey games plus Volleyball starting in a couple weeks)

The team twitter account never did post a line chart for Saturday, but the WCHA box score/stats lists Wheeler as not having dressed Saturday. There was a line chart posted on Sunday that had Wheeler centering the 4th line (with Greig and Grace Shirley - Maddie Posick 3rd line (!) with O'Brian centering), and WCHA box score shows Wheeler taking one faceoff.

[agfire]

UW has practiced much more than most think. I don't think lack of play can be an excuse. Last year MSU beat them and in other games played them tight. MSU matches up with UW well. I am a little concerned by the amount of times Badgers hit the ice for penalties. If they are the best skating team in the country, why do they go down so easily? MSU played well both days and had good tending. Need to fill some gaps defensively and overhaul the PP in both method and personnel to create some opportunities.