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Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2019-2020: Motzko 2.0

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  • Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2019-2020: Motzko 2.0

    Plus they are playing a tough schedule. The Big is good this year.

    It will be interesting to see how the UM/UND game goes. UND has been pretty mediocre in recent years, but they appear to have some chemistry this year.

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    • Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2019-2020: Motzko 2.0

      Originally posted by SteveO View Post
      The Gophers have plenty of talent, but perhaps the 2011-12 team which also had Erik Haula was a step ahead.
      That team was more than a few steps ahead in terms of talent at forward with Rau, Bjug, Haula, and while Boyd took a little longer to develop in terms of scoring he was still a very useful depth center even at that point. That team also had a far more talented PP because of the forward talent that carried the team a bit. The talent level of the D might be a bit closer though none of the new freshmen on this current team are at the level Nate Schmidt was at that point in his career.

      As for coaching it's hard to say because the team is young, hasn't played much together, lacks talent at forward, and the guys who show signs of promise (the D) are playing a position that has a steep learning curve at the college level especially when they're playing against older stronger players more often than not. That said there are some things I question like putting Stucker on the PP.

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      • Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2019-2020: Motzko 2.0

        Should be an interesting test for this young team this weekend against the equally young Badgers (won't be able to use our relative youth as a disadvantage). By all accounts Wisconsin has "out-drafted" the Gophers the past two years in terms of adding superior talent to their roster, but I guess we'll see about that.
        Minnesota Golden Gopher Hockey

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        • Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2019-2020: Motzko 2.0

          Yeah I assume that won't be the case forever and we'll get some NHL talent eventually (already got some on the blue line) but it doesn't appear that there's a lot in the pipeline in terms of forwards for next year.

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          • Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2019-2020: Motzko 2.0

            Originally posted by trixR4kids View Post
            That team was more than a few steps ahead in terms of talent at forward with Rau, Bjug, Haula, and while Boyd took a little longer to develop in terms of scoring he was still a very useful depth center even at that point. That team also had a far more talented PP because of the forward talent that carried the team a bit. The talent level of the D might be a bit closer though none of the new freshmen on this current team are at the level Nate Schmidt was at that point in his career.

            As for coaching it's hard to say because the team is young, hasn't played much together, lacks talent at forward, and the guys who show signs of promise (the D) are playing a position that has a steep learning curve at the college level especially when they're playing against older stronger players more often than not. That said there are some things I question like putting Stucker on the PP.
            Game Day!

            Yeah, Schmidty had a career high in pts. that season as a SO. The D corp won't come anywhere near that. But there is solid talent on the blueline with Johnson and Lacombe and up front as well.

            I question the Zuhlsdorf/Lacombe pairing though. Zuhlsdorf leads in +/- at -10 and consequently Lacombe is at -8. Arguably that stat is stocked with covariates, but overall I felt Zuhlsdorf's play last season was a disappointment and apparently he's picking up were he left off.

            Upfront, I'd like to see McLaughlin and Sammy stay together and add Meyers at C. I agree with Motzko moving Brodzinski to C, but he's got find the open spaces and start firing his cannon more.

            I watched the 3rd and OT of the Wisc/ND game last Sat. and Bucky looked pretty good missing a ND sweep in OT by about 4 inches. If they keep Ahcan/Turcotte/C. Caufield together, our D are going to be very busy. Along with Weissbach/Holloway/Lindmark, the BADgers have at least two, maybe three solid lines. They're currently tied at 3rd in NCAA scoring, Gophers are 28th. Overall, I think their backline looks more solid than the Gophers as well, and I suspect we'll see K'Andre Miller with some offensive upside.

            BADgers PP is clicking at 23% compared to the Gopher 15%. That's gotta change for the Gophers this weekend. If LaFontaine/Moe are on their game, I give the edge to the Gophers in net.

            Both teams are used to the big sheet, so I expect race horse hockey for this rivalry. Better dead than red.

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            • Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2019-2020: Motzko 2.0

              Originally posted by SteveO View Post
              Game Day!

              Yeah, Schmidty had a career high in pts. that season as a SO. The D corp won't come anywhere near that. But there is solid talent on the blueline with Johnson and Lacombe and up front as well.

              I question the Zuhlsdorf/Lacombe pairing though. Zuhlsdorf leads in +/- at -10 and consequently Lacombe is at -8. Arguably that stat is stocked with covariates, but overall I felt Zuhlsdorf's play last season was a disappointment and apparently he's picking up were he left off.
              Zuhlsdorf has to be one of the biggest disappointments in terms of development over the years and he was one of the worst Dmen on the team last year. Part of that could be that he really shouldn't be in any type of top pairing role and maybe he would've been ok-ish playing as a depth guy but even then he'd get exposed eventually, just not as often as he has been. Problem is there isn't much in terms of alternatives, they seem to want to keep Brinkman and Nanne together but swapping Brinkman and Zuhlsdorf might not be a bad idea, hard to imagine it being much worse other than potential chemistry issues that might need to be worked out.

              And I agree that Meyers needs to center his own line because the team has zero depth at that position right now and Reedy probably isn't the answer in terms of 2nd line center. As for BB I kinda forget that he exists until I read the message boards, hopefully that changes sooner than later.

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              • Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2019-2020: Motzko 2.0

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                • Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2019-2020: Motzko 2.0

                  Cobra Kai. No Mercy.

                  Good win tonight. Very good win tonight.
                  Never really developed a taste for tequila. Kind of hard to understand how you make a drink out of something that sharp, inhospitable. Now, bourbon is easy to understand.
                  Tastes like a warm summer day. -Raylan Givens

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                  • Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2019-2020: Motzko 2.0

                    Originally posted by The Rube View Post
                    Cobra Kai. No Mercy.

                    Good win tonight. Very good win tonight.
                    Yes it was! LaFontaine was a human backstop tonight in what I thought was his best performance to date. Hope his injury is minor.

                    The D guys were gutsy and tested their body armor with twice as many BLKs as the lowly BADgers (29/15) led by Nanne with 5. For the most part, the Gophers kept their sticks down in the lanes, kept shots on the perimeter and took advantage of the Wisc. flair for turning the puck over.

                    Ranta is finally finding his groove and giving the Gophers some long overdue offense for his third straight goal in as many games.

                    Couldn't have drawn that game plan up any better for their first B1G home win of the season.

                    All good. Let's finish off the BADgers tomorrow night and send them back sniffing paint thinner.

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                    • Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2019-2020: Motzko 2.0

                      From the sounds of it, LaFontaine Of Youth took a puck off the left arm/shoulder, went to locker room, but was back on the bench. GUESSING it was just a stinger of sorts, and they took precautionary measures. Let's hope this is the case.
                      Never really developed a taste for tequila. Kind of hard to understand how you make a drink out of something that sharp, inhospitable. Now, bourbon is easy to understand.
                      Tastes like a warm summer day. -Raylan Givens

                      Comment


                      • Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2019-2020: Motzko 2.0

                        Comment


                        • Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2019-2020: Motzko 2.0

                          Originally posted by The Rube View Post
                          From the sounds of it, LaFontaine Of Youth took a puck off the left arm/shoulder, went to locker room, but was back on the bench. GUESSING it was just a stinger of sorts, and they took precautionary measures. Let's hope this is the case.
                          Thanks for the update, Rube. Good news indeed.
                          Also, for other Gopher fans who haven't already, check out the Wisconsin thread, just for laughs. Talk about panic and over-reaction!
                          Last edited by D2D; 11-22-2019, 11:42 PM.
                          Minnesota Golden Gopher Hockey

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                          • Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2019-2020: Motzko 2.0

                            Originally posted by D2D View Post
                            Thanks for the update, Rube. Good news indeed.
                            Also, for other Gopher fans who haven't already, check out the Wisconsin thread, just for laughs. Talk about panic and over-reaction!
                            It still could be serious, he was still favoring it during handshakes/etc.

                            And per Todd Milewski (decent dude, WI) the WI fanbase is in total dumpster fire mode right now. Even he is going Baghdad right now saying "Nothing to see here." They want to BURN Granato.
                            Never really developed a taste for tequila. Kind of hard to understand how you make a drink out of something that sharp, inhospitable. Now, bourbon is easy to understand.
                            Tastes like a warm summer day. -Raylan Givens

                            Comment


                            • Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2019-2020: Motzko 2.0

                              GPL just posted a presser from Laffer, and Laffer said he could not talk about the injury. Uh oh.
                              Never really developed a taste for tequila. Kind of hard to understand how you make a drink out of something that sharp, inhospitable. Now, bourbon is easy to understand.
                              Tastes like a warm summer day. -Raylan Givens

                              Comment


                              • Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2019-2020: Motzko 2.0

                                Originally posted by D2D View Post
                                Also, for other Gopher fans who haven't already, check out the Wisconsin thread, just for laughs. Talk about panic and over-reaction!
                                Originally posted by The Rube View Post

                                And per Todd Milewski (decent dude, WI) the WI fanbase is in total dumpster fire mode right now. Even he is going Baghdad right now saying "Nothing to see here." They want to BURN Granato.
                                Who can blame them. They just lost to #31.

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