Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #16
    Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

    Originally posted by Still Eeyore View Post
    ... Colgate seemed very passive, not forechecking aggressively and not stepping into passing lanes well...
    Did you miss the first period?
    Colgate was forechecking hard the first period, problem is they had nothing to show for it. Gophers handled it well. When you come out and forecheck hard against the Gophers historically, and they weather it four things happen, none of them good:
    Your team is drained, both menatally and physically.
    The Gophers, having taken the best that can be thrown at them, are now more confident and often return the favor, coming out in and forechecking the other team hard.
    This game reminded me of the 2015 semi-final against WI, except that Colgate didn’t get on the board first. The game was still within reach for them, all they needed was a goal but ScoobyDo was awesome, coming up with some nice stops when the game momentum could have changed.
    Before this season started I felt that this team should be better than last year, and last year was pretty good. This game didn’t indicate otherwise, one thing they do need to improve on is finishing, they could have had a couple more goals, but I’m not complaining about a 2-0 win, they played very well.
    Last edited by pokechecker; 09-29-2019, 03:23 PM. Reason: 2015, not 2016

    Comment


    • #17
      Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

      The Gophers aren't going to win any individual scoring titles if 56% of their goals are unassisted.

      Comment


      • #18
        Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

        Other than the finishing, I thought the Gophers weren't as sharp on Saturday as they were on Friday, though that's kind of like saying, "Except for all the twenties, my wallet was a lot fuller on Friday." The decision making wasn't as good and the passing wasn't as crisp. They certainly played very well, I just thought they were better on Friday. As a team, aynway. Taylor Heise was a beast.

        Colgate, on the other hand, was dreadful. They were more aggressive than they were for much of Friday's game, but it didn't help them. It was far too easy to take the puck away from them, and I'm not sure they won any physical battles. They have a long, long way to go if they are going to contend for anything.

        Comment


        • #19
          Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

          Originally posted by Still Eeyore View Post
          Colgate, on the other hand, was dreadful. They were more aggressive than they were for much of Friday's game, but it didn't help them. It was far too easy to take the puck away from them, and I'm not sure they won any physical battles. They have a long, long way to go if they are going to contend for anything.
          I don't know if this is piling on Colgate a bit as they did leave their net minder hanging out to dry quite a bit yesterday but, the goaltending wasn't very good either.
          At the outset, we could hang with the dude...

          Comment


          • #20
            Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

            Originally posted by FiveHoleFrenzy View Post
            ... the goaltending wasn't very good either.
            Dobchuk has now played a total of 105 minutes in her college career. It took a lot of starts before Peters or Gulstene started to look like what Frost and co. expected from them when they were recruited. I think I'll give Dobchuk a mulligan, and I don't think that Auby has to apologize for 3 goals on 41 shots.

            As a team, I thought that Colgate was fairly aggressive all weekend. When they got possession after fending off an attack, they had three or four people heading up the ice with speed faster than most teams do. I would agree that they were better Friday. Some of that could be that their first road trip started to take a toll, and they were on the PK almost immediately, and then fell behind at 4:09.

            For Colgate, I think that this is a throw-away series. Schneider was the only player to pick up a point on the weekend; she now has 68 in her career. Next in career points is Larose with 33. When was the last time that the Gophers played a game with so little proven production? Probably the fall of 2005 just after Wendell, Darwitz, and Stephens had left; I remember St. Lawrence coming to town and making the Gophs look like a club team. You can tell that some of the young Raiders have talent, but just haven't figured it all out yet. Minnesota's coaches were very aware of Serdachny and made a point of shutting her down.

            As for Minnesota, they only played two new players, one sparingly. Based on her resume, Wethington isn't likely to be the typical new player in terms of coming up to speed. The Gophers should be able to hit the ground running more than most teams this time of year. Our third line finished the season playing together as the fourth line, and I thought that familiarity was apparent. The only real problem up front seemed to be Wente trying to figure out where she fit in with the Pots after two years of mostly being with Zum and Scham; she'll get there. The fact that they could play without their senior captain on D, get only a period from Gulstene, and still look this complete says a lot.

            The PP will take time, but there are pieces available. I thought that Knowles didn't have the hands needed for the role they tried to play her in. Maybe that was going to be Marshall? It will be interesting to see if it looks better in Mankato.
            "... And lose, and start again at your beginnings
            And never breathe a word about your loss;" -- Rudyard Kipling

            Comment


            • #21
              Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

              Originally posted by ARM View Post
              The PP will take time, but there are pieces available. I thought that Knowles didn't have the hands needed for the role they tried to play her in. Maybe that was going to be Marshall? It will be interesting to see if it looks better in Mankato.
              Speaking of which, when was the last time Minnesota State won their opening series by a combined score of 7-0, putting up 93 shots in the process, against anybody? Yes, the consensus is they should be improved over last season, and yes the experts might have Rensselaer finishing toward the bottom of the ECAC, but there's little question that this was a very impressive performance by the Mavs, especially considering they were so far removed from their home ice.

              Conclusion: The Gophers better be prepared for a much tougher series this coming weekend in Mankato. And if they are to keep pace with Wisconsin in the chase for the league crown, they can't afford to look past anybody.
              Last edited by D2D; 09-29-2019, 11:40 AM.
              Minnesota Golden Gopher Hockey

              Comment


              • #22
                Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

                Originally posted by D2D View Post
                Speaking of which, when was the last time Minnesota State won their opening series by a combined score of 7-0, putting up 93 shots in the process, against anybody? Yes, the consensus is they should be improved over last season, and yes the experts might have Rensselaer finishing toward the bottom of the ECAC, but there's little question that this was a very impressive performance by the Mavs, especially considering they were so far removed from their home ice.
                Last year, they started out by sweeping an RPI team that still had Selander by a 5-1 total, which may have been a more impressive result. Not quite at the level of sweeping 3-time defending champ UMD to start the season 16 years ago, but ...

                I watched MSU @ RPI for about 10 minutes on Friday. The Mavericks had the edge in skating, so I'd guess that was a lot of it. Yes, they've played UM tough of late.
                "... And lose, and start again at your beginnings
                And never breathe a word about your loss;" -- Rudyard Kipling

                Comment


                • #23
                  Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

                  you guys know there is a thread for MSU, right?

                  Originally posted by Still Eeyore View Post
                  Other than the finishing, I thought the Gophers weren't as sharp on Saturday as they were on Friday, though that's kind of like saying, "Except for all the twenties, my wallet was a lot fuller on Friday." ...
                  Colgate, on the other hand, was dreadful. They were more aggressive than they were for much of Friday's game, but it didn't help them. It was far too easy to take the puck away from them, and I'm not sure they won any physical battles. They have a long, long way to go if they are going to contend for anything.
                  The way I’d describe it is that on Saturday they schooled them.
                  On Friday they eviscerated them.
                  If I were the Colgate coach I would have stopped and looked at the road kill on the way out of town to make sure it wasn’t one of my players.
                  Last edited by pokechecker; 09-29-2019, 03:44 PM.

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Originally posted by pokechecker View Post
                    you guys know there is a thread for MSU, right?



                    The way I’d describe it is that on Saturday they schooled them.
                    On Friday they eviscerated them.
                    If I were the Colgate coach I would have stopped and looked at the road kill on the way out of town to make sure it wasn’t one of my players.
                    Minnesota is very good. Just over powered Colgate. For Colgate with 7 freshman playing their 2nd and 3rd games plus 5 sophomores, it was a learning experience against a more experienced, stronger team. Nothing like stepping right into the fire.

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

                      Originally posted by Rightnut View Post
                      Minnesota is very good.
                      Better than very good! In fact, as evidenced by the one poll that truly matters, they're pretty much a lock to win their 7th NCAA Championship.

                      https://www.uscho.com/rankings/pairw...ngs/d-i-women/
                      Minnesota Golden Gopher Hockey

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

                        Originally posted by D2D View Post
                        Better than very good! In fact, as evidenced by the one poll that truly matters, they're pretty much a lock to win their 7th NCAA Championship.

                        https://www.uscho.com/rankings/pairw...ngs/d-i-women/
                        Colgate jumped way up by getting pounded!

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

                          https://gophersports.com/news/2019/1...ethington.aspx
                          "... And lose, and start again at your beginnings
                          And never breathe a word about your loss;" -- Rudyard Kipling

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

                            Originally posted by D2D View Post
                            Better than very good! In fact, as evidenced by the one poll that truly matters, they're pretty much a lock to win their 7th NCAA Championship.

                            https://www.uscho.com/rankings/pairw...ngs/d-i-women/
                            That's great! When was the last time Mankato was #4 in the Pairwise?

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

                              Today's game was a lot more evenly played than the 7-1 final score. Minnesota was the better team, but they weren't six goals better. Scobee played two high quality periods before being relieved by Pahl.

                              The Heise/Woken/Zumwinkle line is blowing things up. They scored five yesterday and three more today. They've converted 12 of 47 shots on the season, which, by my calculator, means that their combined shooting percentage is . . . absurd. I'd say that there's no way they can keep that up, but it doesn't even feel like they outperforming their shot quality. Hell, Zumwinkle missed that gimme yesterday. They are just moving the puck around so well that they are ending up with a lot of tap ins. It was nice to see Woken score three times this weekend, because she's doing a lot grunt work. She looks bigger this year, and she's definitely playing like it, though she still has some speed.

                              Catie Skaja scored twice today, but I'm still not sure that the third line is going to develop to be much more than a checking line. That said, it's already a really nice checking line. They have speed and they have effort. Maybe they'll prove me wrong and start producing more goals, but even if they don't, they'll be valuable.

                              This may be the best blue line corps they've had since Baylee Gillanders was somehow the sixth best defenseman on the team. I thought Knowles was shaky and overly aggressive yesterday, but much less so today. Emily Brown has developed a very nice all around game, as witnessed by her wrap around goal today. The pairing of Hengler and Ostertag is solid. Wethington looks like she's going to be special.

                              The team looked kind of ragged and sloppy for good chunks of today's game, but I think the best solution for that is to play some better opponents. It's tough to retain focus when you're scoring ten times as often as the other team.

                              My only real concern is that the Wente/Potomak/Potomak line looked out of sync all weekend. Both the passing and receiving was off, and both S. Potomak and Wente fanned on fairly easy chances today. A. Potomak tries to make every play as pretty as possible, and her stickhandling skills are so good that, most of the time, it almost works. They really aren't all the far off from producing a bunch of goals, so maybe the right play is to just keep doing what they're doing and maybe the goals will start to come. If so, they'll be highlight reel quality, but I can't help but think that they'd be better off making the game a bit simpler. Another option would be to flip Boreen or Oden for one of the Potomaks in order to add some Woken-like grit to the second line and more playmaking to the third. I wouldn't be surprised if there's some experimenting.

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

                                Minnesota has decided to, so far, lay an egg against BobMo... down 2-1 middle of the 2nd period.

                                Woken PP goal ties it at 2-2 at 10:03 of the 2nd period.

                                Gotta give BobMo credit...They have decided to be aggressive and physical with Minnesota and, so far, it's working for them.
                                Last edited by FiveHoleFrenzy; 10-11-2019, 03:26 PM.
                                At the outset, we could hang with the dude...

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X