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Minnesota Golden Gopher Women's Hockey 2013-14 Season

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Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Women's Hockey 2013-14 Season

CrazyDave said:
On a different note, there was a comment in the OSU-MN thread that the Gophers could have gained ground on Wisconsin. I'll contend that they did, because they got a point for the tie. With UND and UW still having to play this afternoon, Minnesota has a 4-point lead on UW with a game-in-hand and a 10-point lead on UND though they have a game-in-hand. Here's the scenarios following today's game...

UW win today: UW 1 point back but MN has 2 games-in-hand, and UND 10 points back with equal games
UND win today: UW 4 points back but MN has 2 games-in-hand, and UND 7 points back with equal games

I'm really wishing for a tie today, with no preference as to who wins the shootout.
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My comment mentioned "full advantage" though...and I think the opportunity was clearly there if not for a play of questionable wisdom mentioned by others.

I watched the BTN broadcast with Laura Halldorson doing color. She was also quick to call out that questionable decision by Ramsey, under those circumstances, preceding the tying goal.

Hopefully not to be repeated under similar circumstances going forward.
 
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Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Women's Hockey 2013-14 Season

2,203, another nice crowd except for the bear confusion.

For a team dressing 8 D the Gophers seem remarkably thin on defense.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Women's Hockey 2013-14 Season

ManBehindTheCurtain said:
2,203, another nice crowd except for the bear confusion.
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Excellent I'd say, considering the game was on national TV.


ManBehindTheCurtain said:
For a team dressing 8 D the Gophers seem remarkably thin on defense.
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Not a great day for the D to be sure, but then again the forwards could not manage even one goal against the last place team in the league. So not a great day for them either...Overall, the game was eerily similar to tonight's men's game vs. Penn State, in which the D scored all the goals but a couple of defensive breakdowns kept a less talented team very much in the game. At least the men, after going ahead 2-0 but then letting PSU tie it in the 3rd, did manage to hold on for a 3-2 win.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Women's Hockey 2013-14 Season

One additional thought from Saturday's game, and it only had a little to do with game itself...

It was a lot easier to pick up bears on the non-goal than it was when the goal was actually scored.

Why? The non-goal came late in the second period when the ice was chewed up, so there was traction. The goal came early in the third period when the ice sheet was still pretty fresh; I had next-to-no traction at all in my sneakers.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Women's Hockey 2013-14 Season

One question. During the shootout, my wife asked if the goalies would get to shoot against each other if all the other players had taken turns without scoring. The NCAA rule book doesn't specify (I looked at http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/IH14.pdf). It just refers to "bench players", and I would think the goalies count under that definition. I have a hard time getting my brain around the image, though.

While looking at the shootout rules, I noticed that it says that the goalies stay in the net they defended during the overtime. I think I remember that they swapped ends for the shootout. Is my memory correct?
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Women's Hockey 2013-14 Season

Begin rant:

It was interesting during the BTN broadcast they had the a mic on Brad Frost and in particular late in the game as they had the 2-1 lead he talked about not "needing anything fancy" and getting "pucks deep". Obviously this wasn't a well played game in any respect by the Gophers and it refected in what he said, basically just wanting to finish the thing out without doing anything stupid and taking an ugly win. How that translated for a certain defensive player skating the puck into the zone and going all the way around the net with it and even with all that passing the puck back to the point is just hard to fathom? So not dumping the puck when she entered the zone...Strike one. Continuing to skate the puck around the net...Strike two. Passing the puck back to the point when even with the other two mistakes she could have placed the puck back to the corner or back behing the Ohio State net...Strike three. Honest to God watching it live and seeing the puck carrier enter the zone and do all the above mentioned I said out loud to the TV. You have got to be ***** kidding me. I know it is probably not Frost's way but if it was up to me, I don't care who the player is, they would have been benched for the final couple minutes and the next game as well.

It really was in a sense insubordination and you can agree or disagree with me on that but think of it as going against what was instructed (which was instructed for the best interests of the "team") to make a play that wasn't needed at that time. It was a selfish play plain and simple.

Rant over.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Women's Hockey 2013-14 Season

CrazyDave said:
A way to donate stuffed animals to a children's charity -- I believe that those tonight were going to Toys For Tots -- why having the additional fun of tossing said stuffed animals onto the ice surface. It's extremely popular with the fans of the Calgary Hitmen minor-league professional team, and this is the second season the Gophers have held one.

A slight glitch tonight, as a potential Gopher goal was waved off because of an early whistle. The goal light went on, the goal horn sounded, and teddy bears started hitting the ice. But a lot were held onto until the first goal that counted.
Click to expand...

CrazyDave said:
One additional thought from Saturday's game, and it only had a little to do with game itself...

It was a lot easier to pick up bears on the non-goal than it was when the goal was actually scored.

Why? The non-goal came late in the second period when the ice was chewed up, so there was traction. The goal came early in the third period when the ice sheet was still pretty fresh; I had next-to-no traction at all in my sneakers.
Click to expand...
First and foremost, I commend you for giving an assist to Toys for Tots. We try to donate every Christmas.

Second, I'm wondering if the Teddy Bear Toss needs to be tweaked just slightly. Your comment led me to imagine an arrangement that might be an improvement.

To explain, interrupting the game to pick up the bears has always left me a little cold. And the more successful the promotion, the longer the interruption. Under the current arrangement, the home team is putting the most at risk; a long delay can diffuse the positive momentum created by scoring a goal. But regardless of who might be impacted, it just strikes me as wrong that any sort of promotion is given the potential to change the game.

IIRC, last night's initial bear pick-up occurred with 12 seconds left in the second period. At that point, I caught myself wishing the teams could just be sent to the locker rooms, with the 12 seconds tacked onto the third period. Instead, we waited through the delay. And sure enough, something of significance happened -- the Kepler penalty. Yup, the power play that led to the Gophers' first goal. And for that matter, the mishandled shorthanded 2-0 breakaway. As ARM correctly pointed out on the match-up thread, hypothesis contrary to fact can't be used to prove results would have been any different. Heck, maybe Kepler would have taken the penalty anyhow. Or, maybe the Gophers were going to score early in the third, man advantage or no. But the power play certainly gave an entirely different flavor to the start of the 3rd period.

Possible Improvement: Since it's safer to pick up the bears when the ice is chewed up, why not have the toss right at the end of the first period? When the horn sounds, toss the bears. That would also eliminate the problem of bears being tossed for a no-goal. Small kids -- and for that matter adult newbies -- can't be expected to know that a goal might not count even if the red light comes on. But everyone should be able to correctly determine when the clock says 0:00 and a long horn sounds. Also, if the players want to help pick up the bears, it seems to me that is also best done at the end of a period. Not all that much energy is spent, but a little is. And there is a slight loss of focus. With a full intermission to "recover," those things are complete non-issues. But in the middle of a period? There could be a small impact.

Reaction?
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Women's Hockey 2013-14 Season

pgb-ohio said:
Possible Improvement: Since it's safer to pick up the bears when the ice is chewed up, why not have the toss right at the end of the first period? When the horn sounds, toss the bears.
Reaction?
Click to expand...

Excellent suggestion. They should have also had a team of volunteers, ready with their skates on as the period drew to a close, go out and pick up all the teddies (I couldn't believe how many there were - both times!). As it was, I was hoping that no one - especially CrazyDave! ;) - was going to slip and suffer a serious injury.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Women's Hockey 2013-14 Season

D2D said:
As it was, I was hoping that no one - especially CrazyDave! ;) - was going to slip and suffer a serious injury.
Click to expand...

If it had been Dave, that would have been the most entertaining thing to happen all day.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Women's Hockey 2013-14 Season

Here are the notes from the email that came out this past Friday from the Athletics Department about this coming Friday...

-- Parking areas open at 2:00 pm. All surface parking areas on the U of M - East Bank Campus are SOLD OUT. Parking is still available for pre-sale through Sunday. Click HERE for more information or to purchase parking.

-- Gates open at 3:30 pm.

-- Tickets allow you entrance into both games (women at 4:30 vs. MSU, men at 8:00 vs. OSU)

-- Re-entry for this event will be allowed. To leave TCF Bank Stadium you must go to Gate E to scan your ticket so you will be allowed back in the stadium. Re-entry will only be allowed until 8:00 pm.

-- Mariucci Arena will be open as a warming area for fans from 2:00 to 8:00 pm and will have food and drink (no alcoholic beverages) available for sale. The Gopher Women’s Hockey game will be televised on the video board.


EDIT: P.S. to Eeyore (in best southern accent, which isn't saying much) -- I thank you for your support. :p
 
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Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Women's Hockey 2013-14 Season

pgb-ohio said:
First and foremost, I commend you for giving an assist to Toys for Tots. We try to donate every Christmas.

Second, I'm wondering if the Teddy Bear Toss needs to be tweaked just slightly. Your comment led me to imagine an arrangement that might be an improvement.

To explain, interrupting the game to pick up the bears has always left me a little cold. And the more successful the promotion, the longer the interruption. Under the current arrangement, the home team is putting the most at risk; a long delay can diffuse the positive momentum created by scoring a goal. But regardless of who might be impacted, it just strikes me as wrong that any sort of promotion is given the potential to change the game.

IIRC, last night's initial bear pick-up occurred with 12 seconds left in the second period. At that point, I caught myself wishing the teams could just be sent to the locker rooms, with the 12 seconds tacked onto the third period. Instead, we waited through the delay. And sure enough, something of significance happened -- the Kepler penalty. Yup, the power play that led to the Gophers' first goal. And for that matter, the mishandled shorthanded 2-0 breakaway. As ARM correctly pointed out on the match-up thread, hypothesis contrary to fact can't be used to prove results would have been any different. Heck, maybe Kepler would have taken the penalty anyhow. Or, maybe the Gophers were going to score early in the third, man advantage or no. But the power play certainly gave an entirely different flavor to the start of the 3rd period.

Possible Improvement: Since it's safer to pick up the bears when the ice is chewed up, why not have the toss right at the end of the first period? When the horn sounds, toss the bears. That would also eliminate the problem of bears being tossed for a no-goal. Small kids -- and for that matter adult newbies -- can't be expected to know that a goal might not count even if the red light comes on. But everyone should be able to correctly determine when the clock says 0:00 and a long horn sounds. Also, if the players want to help pick up the bears, it seems to me that is also best done at the end of a period. Not all that much energy is spent, but a little is. And there is a slight loss of focus. With a full intermission to "recover," those things are complete non-issues. But in the middle of a period? There could be a small impact.

Reaction?
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing about the interruption, in effect, there were two time outs.
Maybe better would be to just wait after the game and players could help pick them up.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Women's Hockey 2013-14 Season

FiveHoleFrenzy said:
Begin rant:

It was interesting during the BTN broadcast they had the a mic on Brad Frost and in particular late in the game as they had the 2-1 lead he talked about not "needing anything fancy" and getting "pucks deep". Obviously this wasn't a well played game in any respect by the Gophers and it refected in what he said, basically just wanting to finish the thing out without doing anything stupid and taking an ugly win. How that translated for a certain defensive player skating the puck into the zone and going all the way around the net with it and even with all that passing the puck back to the point is just hard to fathom? So not dumping the puck when she entered the zone...Strike one. Continuing to skate the puck around the net...Strike two. Passing the puck back to the point when even with the other two mistakes she could have placed the puck back to the corner or back behing the Ohio State net...Strike three. Honest to God watching it live and seeing the puck carrier enter the zone and do all the above mentioned I said out loud to the TV. You have got to be ***** kidding me. I know it is probably not Frost's way but if it was up to me, I don't care who the player is, they would have been benched for the final couple minutes and the next game as well.

It really was in a sense insubordination and you can agree or disagree with me on that but think of it as going against what was instructed (which was instructed for the best interests of the "team") to make a play that wasn't needed at that time. It was a selfish play plain and simple.

Rant over.
Click to expand...

a rant, that's for sure on your part

it was just a mistake, like any other mistake
given all the games the D have won with their offense, you have to take the occasional bad with the much more often good

and it was just a mid-season conference game, it's not like they lost a playoff game
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Women's Hockey 2013-14 Season

Be sure to read the women's main page article when ya get the chance GWH fans.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gopher Women's Hockey 2013-14 Season

pgb-ohio said:
Possible Improvement: Since it's safer to pick up the bears when the ice is chewed up, why not have the toss right at the end of the first period? When the horn sounds, toss the bears.
Click to expand...
That's what BU does. Makes more sense. They seriously did this after a goal??

Also I want it on the record that I do not in any way, shape, or form condone these "teddy bear tosses," or as I prefer to call them, "teddy bear massacres." There is NO NEED to throw those poor teddy bears out there, they should be treated with respect and dignity and being unceremoniously thrown onto the ground is NOT VERY NICE and I DON'T LIKE IT.
 
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