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

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

trixR4kids said:
Having better Dmen couldn't possibly help our offense go from mediocre to good and Bob is going with five forwards because he wants to make his PP worse :rolleyes:
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The defense needs to be better, but the fact is their GAA is not as problematic as their Sh% and I repeat that their SOG per game is only 4 less (just over 1 per period) than they are giving up. And since no Dmen are being used on the PP which unit is more at fault for the PP% being 18th?
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

Lmao when the defense is so bad they can't even get a guy on the PP and because of that you try to "blame" the five forwards that have a respectable PP at 15th in the country.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

Slap Shot said:
The defense needs to be better, but the fact is their GAA is not as problematic as their Sh% and I repeat that their SOG per game is only 4 less (just over 1 per period) than they are giving up. And since no Dmen are being used on the PP which unit is more at fault for the PP% being 18th?
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18th is above average so... that's not even bad.

The sh% woes I can't say is all that shocking, but it's also the most volatile stat in terms of variance/luck so who knows on that one. It's still slightly above average.

And yes they give up only four more shots per game than they take but it's still bottom ten in the country in terms of shot suppression. Dmen generally bare more responsibility there and there's not a single Dman on this team outside of Denman/Stucker (small sample size against lesser opponents) above 50% in terms of shot differential. Heck the best Dmen on this team are probably Sadek and Nanne, that says it all.
 
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Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

Bonin21 said:
Lmao when the defense is so bad they can't even get a guy on the PP and because of that you try to "blame" the five forwards that have a respectable PP at 15th in the country.
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They generate 4.85 SH/PP yet the PP is only 18th not 15th (PK is 13th) and SOG results are within 4 of their opponents. They are 22nd in Sh% with only 4 players averaging > 0.5 pts/gm. That's just bad.

And once again no one is absolving the defense of their part in this - my point in all this is that too many people seem to focus their angst on the defense imho at the expense of ignoring how bad they have been offensively.
 
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Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

SteveO said:
I have to admit I haven't seen the configuration, but if Bob is sending out 5Fs on the PP, then it's a modified 1-3-1 four-forward Torpedo system which I've personally skated on in the past. The 5Fs setup is most likely two torpedo Fs, two halfbacks and a point (F instead of a D).

The emergence of a four-forward power play has become something of a norm in recent seasons in the NHL. Some teams (i.e. Panthers, Maple Leafs, etc.) have gone with a 5Fs PP based more on the principle that Fs naturally have better offensive skill, not necessarily because the D is bad. I think that may be the case with Bob trying out some new things on the PP.
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It's not impossible but when he talked about putting Novak back on D and said that, "there are plays to be made from back there, they're just not being made", reading between the lines you can tell what he was going for. 4 F on the PP is normal but 5F is pretty rare. And I agree that you don't necessarily need any Dmen on the PP but most better teams in the NHL have at least one Dman who helps the PP such as EK, Carlson, Letang, Subban, Morgan Reilly, etc. This team has nobody along those lines.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

Slap Shot said:
They generate 4.85 SH/PP yet the PP is only 18th not 15th (PK is 13th) and SOG results are within 4 of their opponents. They are 22nd in Sh% with only 4 players averaging > 0.5 pts/gm. That's just bad.

And once again no one is absolving the defense of their part in this - my point in all this is that too many people seem to focus their angst on the defense imho at the expense of ignoring how bad they have been offensively.
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PP is 15th.

http://www.collegehockeystats.net/1819/national/d1m
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

Gameday!

The Gophers are in South Bend for a crucial B1G series against #9 Notre Dame. If you've been reading this thread you know scoring has been down this season for the Gophers. They scored no more than two goals in nine of their 15 first-half games.

But maybe things are improving slightly for the Gopher offense. In their last eight games of the first half, the Gophers averaged 3.12 goals per game.

The GPS Line of Brent Gates Jr., Rem Pitlick and Tyler Sheehy have combined for 35 points (16 goals, 19 assists) in 10 previous games.

Gates, who was named the Big Ten Second Star of the Week on Tuesday, has scored in five-straight games (a new career mark for the senior).

Sheehy has a point in all 10 games since the line came together for a new career-long point streak.

Pitlick, who has not been held without a point in back-to-back games this season, has points in nine of the last 10 games and responded with three points (one goal, two assists) in last Saturday's win over Penn State after seeing his eight-game point streak snapped on Friday.

Gophers need at least a split to stay within striking distance of a shot at the NCAA tourney. These two teams have been getting good goaltending from Cam Morris (.931) and Mat Robson (.924). The Gophers PP has been good (20.6%). I expect special teams and a goaltending duel between Robson and Morris will play a big role in this series. Go Gophers! :)
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

Good info, SteveO, thanks! The Notre Dame series is always fun because I have a number of relatives who went there, including my brother who played for them way back when. He was a teammate of Don Lucia back when they were members of the WCHA. It was always fun to go to the old Mariucci to see him compete against the Gophers.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

SteveO said:
Gameday!

The GPS Line of Brent Gates Jr., Rem Pitlick and Tyler Sheehy have combined for 35 points (16 goals, 19 assists) in 10 previous games.
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Someone on GPL played down this stat saying most of it came on the PP. I went back the 10 games and found only 13 total points on the PP. I might be off by one or two based on memory but it wasn't even half. They are playing well together offensively.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

D2D said:
Good info, SteveO, thanks! The Notre Dame series is always fun because I have a number of relatives who went there, including my brother who played for them way back when. He was a teammate of Don Lucia back when they were members of the WCHA. It was always fun to go to the old Mariucci to see him compete against the Gophers.
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I remember you mentioning that about your family ties to ND. A little college hockey rivalry in the fam, heh? That's really cool about your bro. Did he know Don well?
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

Bonin21 said:
Someone on GPL played down this stat saying most of it came on the PP. I went back the 10 games and found only 13 total points on the PP. I might be off by one or two based on memory but it wasn't even half. They are playing well together offensively.
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I just think that add'l context is necessary. If they did that at 5 on 5 that'd be unreal production AND there's no way they'd still be a minus on the season. Instead they have 21 points together at 5 on 5 in their last 10 games and a +/- somewhere around 0 or -1 (which sounds about right for the top line of a .500 team) against a mixed bag of opponents.
 
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Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

SteveO said:
I remember you mentioning that about your family ties to ND. A little college hockey rivalry in the fam, heh? That's really cool about your bro. Did he know Don well?
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As I recall they were two years apart, and played together for only two years. So I don't believe they knew each other "well", but I'm sure tDon would easily remember who he was. Neither of them were "stars" on the team, but they both played regular shifts.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

could anyone please post a link to where the game is streaming tonight? I can't find it on nbcsports.com
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

6-1-1 when leading after two.
0-7-4 or something when scoring fewer than three

Intense third coming. 3-1 with an empty net goal to hit that three goal mark!
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

Three the hard way is good too!

Bob is putting his mark on it. Nice to have some swagger back finally!
 
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Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2018-19: The Motzko Era Begins!

Five freshmen on the ice for the 2nd goal. I think we found the issue with this team.
 
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