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Minnesota Women's Hockey 2026-27: Here Comes The Boom

Last year when the Gophers beat Ohio 6-3, the Buckeyes started a riot at the end of the game. No such happenings tonight?
 
Gophers lose 6-5 but I can't even be upset. I wanted a split and they got a split. They got pretty well outplayed today but came back from 3-0 down to take the lead. Great day for the Kaiser-Allard-Paul and McCullough-Hovland-D'Alessandro lines. Bad day for discipline and for not having a player as good as Joy Dunne but that kind of stuff happens.
 
That was as encouraging as a loss can possibly be. They played as well as they did Friday night in the first game in Madison last year, but it was obvious that they played out of their minds and that they were going to be roadkill the next day. Beating OSU didn't feel that way at all. They seemed to be playing much more within themselves, under control and ready to jump on every mistake the Buckeyes made. It felt more sustainable, and I felt pretty good about their chances today.

Ohio State outplayed them for all but the first eight minutes of the third period, when the Gophers looked like they might steal a win. Then came one horrific minute. But they proved that they can be competitive even the day after making the #1 team in the country very angry.

They didn't play as well as they did on Friday, and took advantage of some bad goaltending, but the real explanation is a lot simpler than that. Joy Dunne is going to win the Kazmeier, and sometimes, the best player in the country decides to take over a game and there isn't anything you can do about it. Even if the Gophers had scrounged up another goal somewhere, I'm pretty sure she'd have gotten that back, too. The only solution to this problem is to do the work necessary to make sure that, next year, the best player in the country is on your roster.

Minnesota still lacks the top end talent to have the ceiling that Ohio State and Wisconsin do. But their depth is absurd, as witnessed by the fourth line getting them back into today's game by themselves. Their floor is as high as anyone's.
 
eastcoastgopher said:
Gophers lose 6-5 but I can't even be upset. I wanted a split and they got a split.
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Some encouraging moments this weekend. In recent tOSU visits, things have typically gone rapidly south after giving up the two quick ones late in the 2nd on Friday or falling behind 3-0 on Saturday. They seem to have less turtle in them. Ultimately, I would guess that the Gophers record in their history is rather lousy when giving up six goals. It's just October; everyone is going to get better. The key is to get better at a rate equal to or greater than the others. A team that features a lot of youth has obvious places for that to happen. At the same time, someone like #9 needs to have a bit more senior in her game. Eventually, the time for potential is now.
 
Arreis said:
Yikes...133 shots in two games.
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Some friends and I have a tradition that if the SOG in a game are 22 to 7 in favor of the Gophers, we yell, "Pi!" It has variations. 44 to 14 is double pi. 44 to 7 is 2pi. I don't think we've ever had inverse pi.

The Friday game gave us something I've never seen before: infinite pi.
 
Timothy A said:
Hey hey hey! The rodent fans don't like positive thoughts about their team. Their apathy leads to a lot sandbagging. I think the apathy is quite strong still.
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Indeed it is...Here ya go.

One of the easiest schedules so far outside of the yuckeyes. Players like Milani, and Primerano before her, have come too early into the college game...Or at least that is what we were told. Goalies can't stop a beachball. Defensively, way too many turnovers. No true superstar players. This team is headed down the tubes.
 
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Timothy A said:
The rodent fans don't like positive thoughts about their team.
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Won't speak for anyone else, but I prefer realistic thoughts. Getting where we want to go is hard. It isn't enough to be good, or even very good. You either have to be the best or be able to play in such a way that it doesn't matter that someone else is better. UM had good teams in 2019 and 2023, but when push came to shove, UW was better.

There have been some positive changes. A lot of that is the roster. There are a number of frosh and transfers making contributions, and Sarah Paul is playing again. Frost had the philosophy that in order to win big games, your best players have to play well. May has the position that his program values all of its players. I think you have to take that view when you have a lot of people who have proven themselves capable but few who have proven themselves to be great.

For now, they have potential. Let's see where that takes them.
 
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