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2011-12 MN Gophers Season Thread Pt II: Still Full Of Pride!

Re: 2011-12 MN Gophers Season Thread Pt II: Still Full Of Pride!

Ordinarilly I don't mind a little off topic chatter but this may go a little too far off the mark. :p
 
Re: 2011-12 MN Gophers Season Thread Pt II: Still Full Of Pride!

burd said:
I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you're still dreaming--UND beat the gophers in the regional final. Dont' know how (or if) I'm getting through, but thought you'd want to know.
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You need to adjust your internal chronometer; it's stuck five years in the past.
 
Re: 2011-12 MN Gophers Season Thread Pt II: Still Full Of Pride!

Do the Gophers have the firepower to beat BC? For all you stat lovers out there, think 2002-03:

Erik Haula leads Minnesota with 48 points (20g-28a) in 42 games this year. His 48 points are the most by a Gopher since the 2005-06 season when Phil Kessel had 51 points in 39 games.

Kyle Rau, who recorded the first four-point (1g-3a) game of his career against Boston University, has 43 points (18g-25a) this year. Nick Bjugstad has 42 points (25g-17a) this season and became the first Gopher to score 25 goals in one season since Ryan Potulny had 38 in 2005-06.

Nate Schmidt has 41 points (3g-38a) this year. His 38 assists are the six most ever by a Gopher blueliner in a single season.

Haula, Rau, Bjugstad and Schmidt give the Gophers four 40-point scorers for the first time since the 2002-03 season when Thomas Vanek (62 points), Troy Riddle (52), Keith Ballard (41), and Matt Koalska (40) all hit 40 points.
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(Gophersports- Frozen Four Preview)
 
Re: 2011-12 MN Gophers Season Thread Pt II: Still Full Of Pride!

Obviously this stat means nothing regarding who wins this game, but I've heard it stated that the Gophers are not that much different than last year. There are several reasons why that is not true, but as noted by someone at GPL this somewhat stands out: The Gophers' number 7 scorer this season (Condon 30pts) has 1 more point than the top scorer last season (Cepis 29pts).

No matter what this has been a tremendous season and the players and coaches deserve our gratitude for putting it all together this year.
 
Re: 2011-12 MN Gophers Season Thread Pt II: Still Full Of Pride!

The Gophers have landed in Tampa, they're excited and ready to battle for an NCAA championship. Woooo...Go Gophers! (poor quality photo courtesy of Golden Gopher Hockey)

BoysinTampa.jpg
 
Re: 2011-12 MN Gophers Season Thread Pt II: Still Full Of Pride!

Here is a little different view of the regional at the X. I think it is fun. Plus, I see some people I recognize. :D:cool:

 
Re: 2011-12 MN Gophers Season Thread Pt II: Still Full Of Pride!

Article in the Pioneer Press

Gophers hockey: Nick Bjugstad looks to bust out at Frozen Four


Scoring goals is the No. 1 job for the Gophers' Nick Bjugstad, who is painfully aware that goals have been coming slowly of late.
Although the sophomore center ranks fifth in the nation with 25 goals, he has just four in his past 13 games, including one into an empty net.

"I've been in a little drought," he said, "but luckily my team's been pulling everybody through."

The Gophers have won seven of their past nine games to earn a spot in college hockey's Frozen Four opposite top-seeded Boston College. The teams meet in a semifinal game Thursday, April 5, in Tampa, Fla.

Bjugstad is focused on putting his scoring drought behind him.

"I want to bring it," he said.

Teammate Nate Schmidt has noticed Bjugstad's intensity as Minnesota prepares for its first trip to the Frozen Four in seven years.
"I think Nick is going to have a good weekend," Schmidt said. "He knows that maybe this past week or two haven't been his best games. He just knows that, moving forward, we need him."

One of two first-team all-conference players, with goaltender Kent Patterson, on a Gophers team that has a 28-13-1 record, Bjugstad is a muscular, 6-foot-5 first-round NHL draft pick with a well-known Minnesota hockey name, which makes him the center of attention for opponents and fans alike.

His uncle Scott Bjugstad ranks eighth in total goals on the Gophers' all-time list, scored three goals in six games for the United States during the 1984 Winter Olympics and then played
317 games in the NHL, including parts of five seasons for the Minnesota North Stars.

"When I was little, I knew he wore 27, so I always wanted to wear 27," Nick Bjugstad said, explaining why he wears that sweater for the Gophers. "I was always a Gopher fan growing up. Either way, I think I probably would have probably come here if I had the opportunity. I saw he went through here and he loved it, and he really had a big voice in how I played growing up."

Nick and his uncle got together this week to share stories about the North Stars' reunion March 29 and the Wild's game that night against the Florida Panthers.

They attended separately, each unaware the other would be there. Nick was at the Xcel Energy Center to see the Panthers, who picked him 19th overall in the 2010 draft, while Scott was there as one of more than 30 former North Stars introduced on the ice before the game.

The Gophers' most valuable player for the 1982-83 season, Scott tells his nephew that there are few times better in life than the days of a college hockey player. Nick, 19, listens, but has made no decision about whether he might turn pro after this season.

"It's a tough question. Obviously, I love the university," he said. "I can't say what I'm leaning towards at all; it's just kind of up in the air. I'll think about it in the summer. It's a decision I don't have to make right now."

Minnesota's leading scorer for much of the season after he was named college hockey's national player of the month for his nine goals and four assists in eight games in November, Bjugstad, with 42 points, trails Erik Haula's 48 and Kyle Rau's 43 for the Gophers going into the Frozen Four.

"I've been getting chances; it just hasn't been going in," he said. "Guys go through slumps in the season. Erik Haula went through a slump for a while, and he just came out big during playoff time. This is my time, so to speak, to go through a slump, but our team's really pulling through."

Schmidt points out that Bjugstad receives extra attention from defenders because of his reputation, but that simply helps open up Rau and Zach Budish, the wingers on Bjugstad's line.

"Whether the puck's on his stick or not, he can have an impact on the game," Schmidt said.
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Re: 2011-12 MN Gophers Season Thread Pt II: Still Full Of Pride!

The thing I find interesting about all the people who don't think Bjugs is 100% is that I have still noticed him backchecking hard. I still see those plays that make me say, "WOW! He is strong!!".:eek: It's not like he has been invisible, he just hasn't been scoring. Love to hear the focus though. I get that feel from the entire team. They are rightfully excited, but they know there is a task at hand and they want to finish the job.

*** am I talking about?! I forgot that BC already won...;)
 
Re: 2011-12 MN Gophers Season Thread Pt II: Still Full Of Pride!

Driftryder said:
Yes, yes they have.

In fact maybe we should have started the offseason thread already.
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Yeah, we probably are just delaying the inevitable by not starting that thread now.

p.s. I had no idea you couldn't abbreviate "double-u t f" on this board.....wow
 
Re: 2011-12 MN Gophers Season Thread Pt II: Still Full Of Pride!

gopher wes said:
Yeah, we probably are just delaying the inevitable by not starting that thread now.

p.s. I had no idea you couldn't abbreviate "double-u t f" on this board.....wow
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You can. Just takes some effort. WTF
 
Re: 2011-12 MN Gophers Season Thread Pt II: Still Full Of Pride!

Driftryder said:
Article in the Pioneer Press
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I think the expectations about Nick are due to the fact that he's got the rare skills to do things with the puck that only the top players have had. Usually those players that can dazzle, light the lamp all the time (A Vanek for example). Thankfully we've got alot of other players with the goods right now.
 
Re: 2011-12 MN Gophers Season Thread Pt II: Still Full Of Pride!

5mn_Major said:
I think the expectations about Nick are due to the fact that he's got the rare skills to do things with the puck that only the top players have had. Usually those players that can dazzle, light the lamp all the time (A Vanek for example). Thankfully we've got alot of other players with the goods right now.
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IMO, he needs to work on his play away from the puck.
 
Re: 2011-12 MN Gophers Season Thread Pt II: Still Full Of Pride!

I wonder if my old pal Jim Rosvold of Campus Pizza and USCHO photographer fame is in Tampa?
 
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