Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2019-2020: Motzko 2.0

[icehawk]

Big Ten killed Pride on Ice. If they were still in the WCHA playing like they did Lucia would have been canned sooner because Big Ten titles in a weak conference would have been middle of the pack and the later years would be been bottom third of the conference.

This times 10

[trixR4kids]

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

Lucia got time because he brought a team to the national championship game and had a team ranked number 1 for much of the year in 2016 before they lost to Notre Dame. The problem was they were super inconsistent in between those years and decided that Dmen like Jack Glover and Collins were somehow the answer while getting away from what made gopher hockey good. Then they missed again and Lucia finally retired leaving a mess.

I don’t really see where the conference comes into play here unless you think Bob is losing key recruiting battles because of the conference being crap, which could theoretically be a problem but I haven’t seen enough evidence to argue that yet. From a fan experience it’s definitely made things worse no argument there.

[4four4]

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

No matter how derogatory Cowgirl chooses to be against our UND fan base over on GPL, there is no excuse for the dog comment. Very tasteless. I know there are some that still want this to be the biggest rivalry in college hockey but it just is different now... I’ll never support the gophers but I just can’t muster the hate like I used to be able to do. I feel bad that the move to big10 has changed the gopher program so much... It really is a water-downed version of what it once was, both on the ice and certainly in the stands. I truly believe that had the big10 not formed both minny and wisco’s program would be in substantially better shape. As much as an occasional blow-out is fun, I’d love to see a close game tonight.

It's not a rivalry anymore. Last night felt like a non-conference team against a better opponent. I will go a step further every game the Gophers play right now feels like a non-conference game. Last weekend Bob went on FSN Wild games trying to hype up the BADger vs Gopher showdown. It's sad the arena is half empty, the Minnesota cheer can't even be heard on the broadcast, and finally it seems to super quiet in there. IMO, it's going to take something special for things to go back to what they once were.

[Bonin21]

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

It's not a rivalry anymore. Last night felt like a non-conference team against a better opponent. I will go a step further every game the Gophers play right now feels like a non-conference game. Last weekend Bob went on FSN Wild games trying to hype up the BADger vs Gopher showdown. It's sad the arena is half empty, the Minnesota cheer can't even be heard on the broadcast, and finally it seems to super quiet in there. IMO, it's going to take something special for things to go back to what they once were.

This is such bull ****. Whioux are still the most hated rivals. Unfortunately the talent gap right now is massive. If domination goes on for decades like Gopher football vs. badger football, then yes the rivalry will start to die out. The couple thousand Gopher fans that did show up screamed the rouser louder against UND than any other team on a per capita basis if that makes sense. Even the old people fans in the club give **** to the Whioux fans.

Were you at the game?

[Bonin21]

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

Usually the people that play down the rivalry are just kidding themselves and also the ones that think the Big Ten is interesting and didn't kill Gopher hockey as we know it.

[trixR4kids]

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

It’s a rivalry in the sense that their fans are still annoying and there’s a long history between the programs but I kinda doubt from the players’ perspective it’s anywhere near what it used to be. Not being in the same conference and seeing each other as often as was previously the case kinda necessitates that though.

[Bonin21]

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

You could tell the players were fired up in the scraps early yesterday. They get it.

[icehawk]

You could tell the players were fired up in the scraps early yesterday. They get it.

They definitely do and the interviews I heard from both teams players realize the history of the heated rivalry

[Bonin21]

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

What I don't know is if the non Minnesotans get it. I'm one of the few hoping the MN ratio goes way back up, though.

Hurts when Mismash comes back and drops 4 points on us. He was on a line with Reedy and McManus and we wanted all three but the two we got have been massive disappointments relative to expectations. Just like when we got two on a line in Sheehy and Novak and missed on Boeser...

[dxmnkd316]

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

After the Hawks goal it was louder than I’ve heard it in years. This athletic department should all be fired. From AD to the guy who runs the phones.

[state of hockey]

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

Meh. If they had sucked for years and had to pay ridiculous prices every game night they wouldn't be filling this place. Let them chirp about attendance all they want. It's a stupid argument and I've never understood why people engage in it.

[4four4]

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

The better team won this weekend. It's now on to the Gophers vs. BADgers football game where I haven't been this excited to watch them in almost a 17 years.

[icehawk]

Meh. If they had sucked for years and had to pay ridiculous prices every game night they wouldn't be filling this place. Let them chirp about attendance all they want. It's a stupid argument and I've never understood why people engage in it.

It’s just a bad look for college hockey especially when it’s happening to an elite program like Minnesota. Don’t recall it being like this back in the WCHA days

[UMD21]

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

The football program is a stark reminder of how bandwagon the Gopher fanbase is. If the hockey program starts winning, attendance will increase, but that will be bandwagon game to game, single game tickets. The years of huge waiting lists for season tickets are long forgotten

[SteveO]

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

The ongoing debate of controlled zone entry vs dump and chase seems to have reared it's ugly head again. During the last two seasons of Don Lucia's tenure as coach, the yawning effect of the D 'n C style of entering the O-zone was in full throttle. Most would agree that D 'n C is just not fan friendly and entertaining hockey. Studies seem to suggest that if you control the neutral zone, the risk factor of a successful zone entry by carrying the puck into the O-zone vs D 'n C is low. Programming D 'n C into an offensive game plan in all cases is anti-climatic for fan fun.

But more importantly, it's not effectual for SOG totals and scoring chances vs a controlled entry either, barring the occasional mismatch when the opposing D talent level is clearly through the roof.

Now it seems Motzgo is gradually retreating into a proverbial snail shell of offensive precaution and encouraging a similar style of "get pucks deep" at the expense of......that's right, SOG. Given SOG this season are below the historical mean of previous Gopher teams, there's no need to look any further to explain why the Gophers can't tickle the twine AGAIN this season.

I'm tired of the "they're young", "give 'em another year or two" excuses. I can pull research all day on previous Gopher teams that had similar young talent, had consistently 35-40 SOG and scored much more often per game. There's plenty of talent on this year's squad to teach this effectively and inevitably increase SOG and GPG.



Notice in the graphic (in 60 min.) that uncontrolled or D 'n C entries have the lowest correlation with shot rates and teams failing at entering the offensive zone. Defensive Zone Faceoffs have a higher correlation to Unblocked Shots and All Shots rates than Controlled entries. Considering that a defensive zone faceoff takes place IN THE ZONE where the attack will be launched, this is not surprising. The fact that the difference in the correlation between Defensive Zone Faceoffs and Controlled Zone Entries is only -0.04 (Unblocked Shot Attempts) and -0.0243 (All Shot Attempts) is pretty astounding and again stresses their importance.

A coach may preach the values of getting the puck deep, but that's not really the best strategy for generating shot attempts. Certainly, there are times when it is necessary or advisable to dump the puck in, but statistically it should be considered a last resort option. Moreover, it often depends on a coaches evaluation of whether the strength of the team is offense or defense.

For example looking at the past two NHL seasons, the stats suggest that over 50 percent of goals scored off of controlled OR D 'n C are clearly within 5 seconds of gaining the attacking blue stripe. A proponent of D 'n C might argue then that in general, the more a team carries the puck through the neutral zone, the more susceptible they are to turning the puck over and risking a scoring chance off the impending rush.

Case in point, with the exception of the Flames, the top 5 NHL teams in controlled zone entries per game this season, Chicago, Washington, Montreal, Calgary and Tampa Bay, all turn the puck over at a high-rate in the neutral zone, ranking bottom-third in the league in this category.



From a defensive side, the New York Islanders are a low-risk team that prioritizes defense over offense. The Islanders rank 25th in controlled entries per game and dump the puck in more than any team. But the tradeoff is they rarely turn the puck over in the neutral zone currently at 8.9% of their possessions, 4th best in the league. So there are exceptions.



For the Gophers, I'm not confident enough from what I've seen this season on D to rely on a low risk offensive D 'n C strategy. In fact, many of the turnovers I've seen from the Gophers this season have happened in the D-zone. My strategy of choice given the Gophers have some high end speed is controlled zone entries which provide far more opportunity to create offense and thus should be the go-to option for an offensive attack to elevate SOG and GPG, two areas where this group is really struggling right now. Long post but a decent read...plus Bob reads USCHO Fan Forum all the time.