What's new
By:
USCHO Fan Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.

Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

SteveO

New member
It's Gopher Hockey time again...YAY! The 98th season of Gopher hockey under new head coach Bob Motzko begins against the defending national champions UMD with a home-and-home series this Saturday (@ UMD) and Sunday (@ Mariucci).

Monday it was announced that Motzko has brought in three former Gophers as assistants: Ben Gordon will be an assistant coach, and Ryan Potulny and Stu Bickel will be undergraduate assistants. There's lots of Gopher and NHL player experience among those three to supplement the coaching staff...IMO a brilliant move.

FSN College Hockey TV Schedule

Who's ready for Gopher hockey? :cool:
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

SteveO said:
Who's ready for Gopher hockey? :cool:
Click to expand...

Totally psyched!
And re: Ryan Potulny being added as an undergraduate assistant, I wonder how much he and brother Grant will talk and share notes?
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

Is that the correct smiley? I'm skeptical, but I'll subscribe because I need the arrow. ;)



Always excited for hockey season to begin!
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

D2D said:
Totally psyched!
And re: Ryan Potulny being added as an undergraduate assistant, I wonder how much he and brother Grant will talk and share notes?
Click to expand...

Could be some interesting "hockey talk" between the bros. I think Stu Bickel is a great addition to the staff with his gritty style on D too.

gopher wes said:
Is that the correct smiley? I'm skeptical, but I'll subscribe because I need the arrow. ;)

Always excited for hockey season to begin!
Click to expand...

Hey, the winky smiley is cool! :D Expect the unexpected this season?
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

gopher wes said:
I hope so. The negatives are already dragging me down though.:(:(
Click to expand...

Well Wes, for some folks the glass is always half empty unless it's a beer. I'm not prone to making predictions (without data :)), but I truly think this coaching staff and team should not be taken lightly. I don't expect to see a slumbering offense, a porous D, a floundering PP or any major issues in net like last season. I agree with Motzko, this team will surprise some people.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

SteveO said:
Well Wes, for some folks the glass is always half empty unless it's a beer. I'm not prone to making predictions (without data :)), but I truly think this coaching staff and team should not be taken lightly. I don't expect to see a slumbering offense, a porous D, a floundering PP or any major issues in net like last season. I agree with Motzko, this team will surprise some people.
Click to expand...
Agreed, I think there is a lot to look forward to with this team. New coaching staff and a new vision should always bring a little optimism. There is some solid upper classmen leadership, especially with what it sounds like will be a fully healthy Sheehy this year. A couple promising sophomores could take some steps toward consistency this year. A pretty solid crop of freshman forwards, albeit no one as highly touted as Mittelstadt was a year ago. The big question is on the back end IMO. The D had a lot of trouble moving the puck last year and had no real quarterback on the powerplay. We'll see if Motzko & Co can fix that issue and/or have a freshman step in and contribute, but we've seen lots of growing pains for freshman defensemen over the years.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

Big changes, questions about who's going to step up and experienced upperclassmen. This team could go either way...but its the B1G's most competitive league yet based on expectations with 3 of the top four rated preseason teams in the country.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

I have to say...they actually had grit. They were ahead by a goal and out shot UMD on the road in the second. I forgive them for playing for the tie late and the reffing didn't help.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

5mn_Major said:
I have to say...they actually had grit. They were ahead by a goal and out shot UMD on the road in the second. I forgive them for playing for the tie late and the reffing didn't help.
Click to expand...

The reffing was consistent. There was one soft call for both sides, but overall? That was a very well-reffed game, IMO. They didn't overreact to each of the team's "possible 5s" (no chance on 5s on either call), they were calling it even, and kept an even tone to the game.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

Brenthoven said:
The reffing was consistent.
Click to expand...

Disagree. From a pure number of minutes it was 2 to 1. So that's a no. The last two were called in the last 10 of a tied game, and only then the refs swallowed the whistle. So that's a no. But most importantly, the two boarding calls - the one on the Gophers - probably should have been called, but both players were skating hard towards the boards on their own. The one on UMD - the Gopher was standing still, he had his back to the UMD player and then was sent into the boards. And even then, the ref wasn't calling it and had to be over ruled (What??). And what's more unless I'm wrong and hip checks are allowed, the last call in a tied game with about 8 minutes left was on a totally legal play.

No. Not at all consistent.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

The tUMD 2 that was a possible (cough) five was rightfully ruled a two. The Gopher 2 was a two, I think the refs did the (cough) courtesy of "reviewing it" but that was a two. He had contact. That kind of contact, per the rules, rightfully or not, will be called. The hip check, that's a 2. Close enough to the knees. Hockey and NFL are mirroring each other right now with the rules. Head, knees....gonna get called. So, in that aspect, I feel the refs called a consistent game, overall.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

5mn_Major said:
And what's more unless I'm wrong and hip checks are allowed, the last call in a tied game with about 8 minutes left was on a totally legal play.
Click to expand...
I don't like it either, but that wasn't the first time I've seen a player get called for tripping on WHAT USED TO BE a perfectly legal "Curt Giles type" of hip check. Now, if you get too low, in the eyes of the ref, you get called. :mad:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top