Gopher Women's Hockey 2023-24

[ARM]

Do the Minnesota fans, players, coaches ever get tired of Murphy’s antics?

The teammates have to kill all of her penalty minutes, and if you aren't on the PK, then you have to sit and watch for long minutes. So my guess for the teammates would be, yeah.

Fans? We got to live this in stereo for a year with the Lams, although the melodrama dial seems to have been turned up a couple of notches. Can't speak for other MN fans, but I would have welcomed a reduction in nonsense long ago.

Coaches? I think the Minnesota coach needs to provide a definitive answer here, and I don't mean on this forum. Can he help her? If yes, that help is overdue. If not, maybe Muzzy would be a good mentor -- she had some of the same tendencies, although not to the same degree.

I wonder if the player herself tires of this. In the era of NIL and women's pro hockey, there is the potential of earning real dollars through the game, in addition to the beyond the game opportunities to which hockey fame can be a stepping stone. Both in terms of life and hockey, this is hurting her more than anyone else (with the possible exception of Timothy, who may need to increase his time in therapy).

At this point, Murphy's situation reminds me a little of someone who might want to escape a substance abuse problem but is now in an environment that is going to make it difficult to go clean. Opponents have scores to settle, and officials and rival coaches have witnessed a litany of bad behavior. If she became a model citizen overnight, that isn't the way that they're going to see her. She'll continue to attract abuse, even if she no longer deserves it, and the refs will look away.

Yesterday, the five and done wasn't even the biggest problem. At least in that case, she was trying to make a hockey play to clear the puck on the PK; she just ran into the St. Thomas/freshman version of herself.

Ultimately, she spends far too much time and energy in back-and-forth chaos with players who aren't at her level. When they get matching penalties, that's a win for the other team.

Regarding robertearle's Q about the Kaz, the voters know her history. There isn't any clear guidance, so everyone will draw a line in different places. In the past, we've seen those with similar blemishes on their resumes get into the top three, but not win. Usually, there are several players roughly equal in terms of hockey impact, so bad behavior, spotty academics, etc. make it easier for voters to give the top spot to someone who is equally deserving, didn't have the best raw stats, but had the admiration of the voters.

 

[ManBehindTheCurtain]

Everyone gets to have their own opinion. I love Abbey Murphy.

Here is a post game quote from Saint Thomas coach Johnson: "I know there's no intent to injure anybody. I wasn't worried she was trying to do anything stupid. I have nothing but respect for Abbey Murphy."

 

[eastcoastgopher]

I think Abbey Murphy is so far from the problem with this team that it shouldn't get nearly any mention on this board. More than once this season she's been the only thing keeping this team going.

 

[Hockeybuckeye]

I think Abbey Murphy is so far from the problem with this team that it shouldn't get nearly any mention on this board. More than once this season she's been the only thing keeping this team going.

What mostly makes her a topic of discussion is her aggressive nature which gives her opponents numerous power plays and makes her a target for retaliation and cheap shots to neutralize the threat she presents.

 

[NMH]

I feel like for me Abbey is the embodiment of "I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed." What I find so damn frustrating about it all is that she doesn't need to do any of it. The fights, the aggressiveness, the embellishment - that's stuff less talented players do. She can skate circles around most everyone in the country and honestly should be the frontrunner for the Patty right now given her import to her team. She's such a talented player and it all gets lost in the noise of everything else she does. It all feels so pointless and a waste of everybody's time and energy. If she channeled it all and played at the top of her game consistently, she'd shut everyone up in a much more productive way.

I do think it's a pretty fine line - there are a ton of players that push up against it, but mostly have found a way to balance chirping and physicality. Mostly is obviously the key word, but I'm thinking of Kaltounkova at Colgate or Turnbull with Canada or even Hannah Brandt.

Anyway, I just feel like it's missed potential with her and I worry we're going to look back at her and think of what have been.

 

[ARM]

I think Abbey Murphy is so far from the problem with this team that it shouldn't get nearly any mention on this board.

I agree that her positives far outweigh the negatives. E.g., I think she has the best backhand in Gopher history. Wendell and Ross scored on their backhands a lot, but I don't remember anyone else being able to snipe from distance into a small opening like #18 can. Add in her speed, hands, forehand shot, and creativity, she has a great all-around game. About all that she lacks is size, so she tries to make up for it with grit, and that would lead us back to what we shouldn't mention.

What I find so damn frustrating about it all is that she doesn't need to do any of it.

I'm not sure that's entirely true. Star players do receive a lot of attention from opponents, and some of it isn't legal contact. I remember Kessel deciding she had taken enough and turned around with a two-handed chop to an opponent's legs as hard as she could. The ref just watched and skated away. Even a star player who never does anything wrong would get beat on by some teams.

She's such a talented player and it all gets lost in the noise of everything else she does.

It's not all lost; her personal season highlight video would be quite impressive.

I do think it's a pretty fine line - there are a ton of players that push up against it, but mostly have found a way to balance chirping and physicality. Mostly is obviously the key word, but I'm thinking of Kaltounkova at Colgate or Turnbull with Canada or even Hannah Brandt.

I never thought I'd see Hannah Brandt used as an example of a player who knew how to balance chirping. Physicality I could see, as she was strong on the puck and hard to move in front of the net. For a Badger fan, it may be similar to how Minnesota fans viewed Duggan, as we so rarely beat her.

 

[PuckLover]

She has 91 minutes in penalties through 28 games. That is the 23rd most in NCAA history for a season, and her 3.25 minutes per game makes her the most penalized player in the NCAA since, I think, Sammi Bowers in 2006. (All according to elite prospects.) She won't break the all-time penalty minutes record, but it sure looks like she will for a forward. Lots of penalty minutes can be overlooked, but the most all-time?

 

[Hockeybuckeye]

I just don't want to see her get injured or injure others.

 

[Hockeybuckeye]

Zumwinkle looking strong in tonight's Rivalry Series game!

 

[Hockeybuckeye]

I've got a question, has anyone ever broken or come close to breaking any of Nadine Muzerall's records at Minnesota?

 

[Timothy A]

I've got a question, has anyone ever broken or come close to breaking any of Nadine Muzerall's records at Minnesota?

The competition back then was probably so easy compared to what it is today.

 

[PuckLover]

I've got a question, has anyone ever broken or come close to breaking any of Nadine Muzerall's records at Minnesota?

According to elite prospects (https://www.eliteprospects.com/team/19414/univ.-of-minnesota/stats/all-time-season), she has the 4th highest pionts/game for a season, is the 6th highest points/game for her career, but has the highest goals scored in one season and for career. She was an elite player in that era, but against competition that I bet would, at best, struggle against good D3 teams today.

 

[robertearle]

According to elite prospects (https://www.eliteprospects.com/team/19414/univ.-of-minnesota/stats/all-time-season), she has the 4th highest pionts/game for a season, is the 6th highest points/game for her career, but has the highest goals scored in one season and for career. She was an elite player in that era, but against competition that I bet would, at best, struggle against good D3 teams today.

From the Gophers' web site:
5th in career points,
1st in career goals,
not in the top ten for career assists;

7th best season points, only season in the top ten,
best single season in goals, only season in that top ten,
no top ten season for assists.

 

[ManBehindTheCurtain]

Muzerall was a great player, a Gopher all timer. It is true that she played against competition which was not as strong as what is now normal.

But she was absolutely a great player. Almost certainly if the competition had been at a higher level she too would have played at a higher level. If the comparison is apples to apples in her time she was the shiniest apple in the basket.

 

[Hockeybuckeye]

Muzerall was a great player, a Gopher all timer. It is true that she played against competition which was not as strong as what is now normal.

But she was absolutely a great player. Almost certainly if the competition had been at a higher level she too would have played at a higher level. If the comparison is apples to apples in her time she was the shiniest apple in the basket.

She has endeared herself to us here and still as you put it shines and of course she'll embraces her Minnesota roots. Obviously our greatest fear is her someday leaving OSU for Minnesota so I hope the roots she's set down here are digging deep!

 

[Timothy A]

not in the top ten for career assists; no top ten season for assists.

So I'm REALY good at reading between the lines and Watts robertearle is saying is Muzzy was a puck hogging selfish player who only lived for herself on the ice. Wink/Smileyface. I heard from a voice on the street there was a game where she never skated across her defensive blueline unless there was a faceoff down there. Legend. Wink/Smileyface.

 

[BadgerPete]

All of those older records are out of reach basically forever. Same thing with Hilary Knight's 143 career goals at Wisconsin. The talent across the board is so much higher (particularly the goaltending) that people aren't putting up 40 goal seasons at all anymore, much less the multiple years in a row you'd need to run those marks down.

Murphy leads with 27 right now and probably makes 30, but she had 29 last year and only 8 her freshman year.
22-23 season did not have a 30 goal scorer. (Heise and Murphy tied with 29)
21-22 season had one as Maureen Murphy made it to 30. That was it.
20-21 was a COVID mess, Watts led with 19.
19-20 Giguere put up 37 for Clarkson, and Carly Bullock hit 30 for Princeton
18-19 Loren Gabel had 40 and Jessie Eldridge had 30.

That's how rare even hitting 30 is nowadays. And you have to put up 4 40-spots in your career to run down Muzerall at Minnesota or Knight at Wisconsin.

 

[robertearle]

All of those older records are out of reach basically forever. Same thing with Hilary Knight's 143 career goals at Wisconsin. The talent across the board is so much higher (particularly the goaltending) that people aren't putting up 40 goal seasons at all anymore, much less the multiple years in a row you'd need to run those marks down.

Murphy leads with 27 right now and probably makes 30, but she had 29 last year and only 8 her freshman year.
22-23 season did not have a 30 goal scorer. (Heise and Murphy tied with 29)
21-22 season had one as Maureen Murphy made it to 30. That was it.
20-21 was a COVID mess, Watts led with 19.
19-20 Giguere put up 37 for Clarkson, and Carly Bullock hit 30 for Princeton
18-19 Loren Gabel had 40 and Jessie Eldridge had 30.

That's how rare even hitting 30 is nowadays. And you have to put up 4 40-spots in your career to run down Muzerall at Minnesota or Knight at Wisconsin.

For curiosity, I looked up Daryl Watts' totals: 64 at BC, and 72 at Wisconsin, for a total of 136. But that includes 19 from her additional COVID "half" season; without that, 117.

 

[Hockeybuckeye]

So I'm REALY good at reading between the lines and Watts robertearle is saying is Muzzy was a puck hogging selfish player who only lived for herself on the ice. Wink/Smileyface. I heard from a voice on the street there was a game where she never skated across her defensive blueline unless there was a faceoff down there. Legend. Wink/Smileyface.

I'm very curious if there's any accessible full game footage of her game available?

 

[Timothy A]

I'm very curious if there's any accessible full game footage of her game available?

Back then women's college hockey was so niche that no one ever bothered to record anything unless it was an ncaa tourney game. It wasn't line nowadays where every niche sport like axe throwing, lawn mower racing and cornhole are on an outlet somewhere.