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Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010: Calmly Step Away from the Ledge

Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010: Calmly Step Away from the Ledge

The idea of Nathan Explosion shouting "SNUGGLE... THE STRUGGLE!" makes me laugh pretty hard.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010: Calmly Step Away from the Ledge

HarleyMC said:
C'mon Was! Aren't you paying attention? Hill is already doing that.;)
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I'm just a big Hill fan I guess. I was impressed with his leadership last time he coached when Lucia was sick.;)
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010: Calmly Step Away from the Ledge

why were all the Gofer fans disguised as empty seats tonite? :)
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010: Calmly Step Away from the Ledge

I don't think it can be overemphasized that the upcoming Gopher series with UND is extremely critical entering second half WCHA play for the following reasons:

1) Reestablishing home ice advantage. The Gophers are 6-7-0 at home this season, but have gained some confidence winning 3 out of their last 4 on home ice. However, recent Gopher wins have come against struggling opponents, so the upcoming series is a true test of their ability to defend home ice in the second half.

2) Continuing to build confidence and momentum. Five weeks ago the Gophers were 5-9-1. Since that time they are 6-1 and have gained some much needed confidence going into a difficult WCHA 2nd half schedule of home and road games.

3) Very little margin for error in games against TUCs if the Gophers are to make the NCAAs. The Gophers are currently 4-10-1 against TUCs so far this season. Very few teams, if any, get a shot at the NCAAs with less than a .500 record vs. TUCs. Looking ahead and based on at least a .500 record as a goal, the Gophers can afford to lose only 3 out of a potential 12 remaining regular season games vs. TUCs (based on current PWR).

TUCs in remaining season schedule:

Fri 01/15 North Dakota
Sat 01/16 North Dakota
Fri 01/22 @ St. Cloud State
Sat 01/23 St. Cloud State
Fri 02/12 @ Denver
Sat 02/13 @ Denver
Fri 02/19 Colorado College
Sat 02/20 Colorado College
Fri 02/26 @ Minnesota-Duluth
Sat 02/27 @ Minnesota-Duluth
Fri 03/05 vs Wisconsin
Sun 03/07 Wisconsin

EDIT:

The Gophers unfortunately have the highest rated SOS for the second half out of any WCHA team. The good news is only 5 points separate the top 6 WCHA teams so there could be some significant movement in the standings before the playoffs.
 
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Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010: Calmly Step Away from the Ledge

I think the Gophers surprise everyone, even themselves, and grind out a win Fri, and win going away on Sat.

From what I gathered from UND fans, Sat night has been a tougher night for UND this year, and from what I've seen (maybe 2-3 Sat games for UND, including this past Sat against the Landcows) I'd have to agree.

I've sadly come to the conclusion, that barring a miracle after this weekend, anything less than 3 points, and it'll be hoping for a Cinderella run come F5/F4 time.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010: Calmly Step Away from the Ledge

Brenthoven said:
I think the Gophers surprise everyone, even themselves, and grind out a win Fri, and win going away on Sat.

From what I gathered from UND fans, Sat night has been a tougher night for UND this year, and from what I've seen (maybe 2-3 Sat games for UND, including this past Sat against the Landcows) I'd have to agree.

I've sadly come to the conclusion, that barring a miracle after this weekend, anything less than 3 points, and it'll be hoping for a Cinderella run come F5/F4 time.
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IMO this weekend is a defining moment for the Gopher's 2009-10 season. Even 3 points this weekend allows them to live another day but realistically we desperately need a sweep this weekend. I guess we'll see how desperate this team really is. With all the UND injuries to key players they have a chance if they want it bad enough.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010: Calmly Step Away from the Ledge

Brenthoven said:
I've sadly come to the conclusion, that barring a miracle after this weekend, anything less than 3 points, and it'll be hoping for a Cinderella run come F5/F4 time.
Click to expand...

The three teams that have the highest second half SOS are: 1) Gophers, 2) CC, and 3) UND. CC seems like the team to watch to help the Gophers (provided they win most of their games) because of their SOS, faltering lately at 2-5-2 in their last 9 games and an important series this weekend with UW at home.

Provided the Gophers can win 10/14 (71%) of their remaining games (UAA/split and 3 losses out of 12 to remaining TUC teams, final record of 16-11-1) or better, there is a chance they can secure home ice advantage as a #4 or #5 seed, but will need a lot of help from other teams like CC. Ties of future unplayed games are not considered-too complicated.:D

Brenthoven said:
From what I gathered from UND fans, Sat night has been a tougher night for UND this year, and from what I've seen (maybe 2-3 Sat games for UND, including this past Sat against the Landcows) I'd have to agree.
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UND is 9-1-1 on Fri. and 3-5-3 on Sat. games and 4-3-2 in last 9 games. Gophers are 5-6-0 on Fri. and 6-4-1 on Sat. A friday win for the Gophers will be challenging. But injuries have definitely hurt the Sioux. Genoway played in nine games for the Sioux and has been out 13. UND is 7-1-1 with him, 5-5-3 without him.
 
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Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010: Calmly Step Away from the Ledge

No Hextall either, which helps us. The Gophers have done a terrible job of tuning him out to date.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010: Calmly Step Away from the Ledge

brianvf said:
No Genoway, Hextall, or Knight (who had a 2-goal game on Friday against MSUM).
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What happened to Knight? I happened to be watching when( I believe it was him) he made a move on a Mankato D that probably left the guys jock on the ice. Was pretty funny actually.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010: Calmly Step Away from the Ledge

Driftryder said:
What happened to Knight? I happened to be watching when( I believe it was him) he made a move on a Mankato D that probably left the guys jock on the ice. Was pretty funny actually.
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He made that same move twice in the Friday game.
The first time he scored a goal in the 1st period, the second time he was going for the hatty attempt and didn't have as much room and slid into the goal post. He limped off the ice. Unfortunately that was with about 30sec left in the game.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010: Calmly Step Away from the Ledge

A couple of thoughts coming out of this weekend's games:
1) Minnestoa sure can skate. I was amazed by their fluidity, positioning, and ability to execute at top speed throughout both games.
2) Minnesota really needs to bring in a sniper or two. I don't know if kids are snake-bitten or what, but I didn;t see any high end scorers on this Minny team. Tough to win games when you continually create opportunities and come away with nothing. That leads to frustration and breakdowns
3) I'd like to see Minny play more physical, even if that means taking a penalty. To me, Minny looks like a big team out there (at least compared to Harvard) and yet, they play much softer.
4) What's with the runner-up banners? Minny is too storied and too much of a perennial success to have #2 banners hanging from the ceiling. Those should be brought down.
5) Fans were great. Into the games and know hockey. The cheerleaders were a bit gimicky, but for me, it was the first time I saw skating cheerleaders.

All in all, a great weekend, despite the sub-zero temperatures. Some highlights for me were Ike's (great milkshake), skating at the Depot (Residence Inn), great coffee from Dunn Bros, and realizing how soft San Francisco has made me - man was it cold!

Best of luck the rest of the way!
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010: Calmly Step Away from the Ledge

bothman said:
A couple of thoughts coming out of this weekend's games:
1) Minnestoa sure can skate. I was amazed by their fluidity, positioning, and ability to execute at top speed throughout both games.
2) Minnesota really needs to bring in a sniper or two. I don't know if kids are snake-bitten or what, but I didn;t see any high end scorers on this Minny team. Tough to win games when you continually create opportunities and come away with nothing. That leads to frustration and breakdowns
3) I'd like to see Minny play more physical, even if that means taking a penalty. To me, Minny looks like a big team out there (at least compared to Harvard) and yet, they play much softer.
4) What's with the runner-up banners? Minny is too storied and too much of a perennial success to have #2 banners hanging from the ceiling. Those should be brought down.
5) Fans were great. Into the games and know hockey. The cheerleaders were a bit gimicky, but for me, it was the first time I saw skating cheerleaders.

All in all, a great weekend, despite the sub-zero temperatures. Some highlights for me were Ike's (great milkshake), skating at the Depot (Residence Inn), great coffee from Dunn Bros, and realizing how soft San Francisco has made me - man was it cold!

Best of luck the rest of the way!
Click to expand...

Absolutely dead on. But glad you enjoyed your time in the great state of Minnesota. Good luck to Harvard the rest of the way as well!
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010: Calmly Step Away from the Ledge

bothman said:
A couple of thoughts coming out of this weekend's games:
1) Minnestoa sure can skate. I was amazed by their fluidity, positioning, and ability to execute at top speed throughout both games.
2) Minnesota really needs to bring in a sniper or two. I don't know if kids are snake-bitten or what, but I didn;t see any high end scorers on this Minny team. Tough to win games when you continually create opportunities and come away with nothing. That leads to frustration and breakdowns
3) I'd like to see Minny play more physical, even if that means taking a penalty. To me, Minny looks like a big team out there (at least compared to Harvard) and yet, they play much softer.
4) What's with the runner-up banners? Minny is too storied and too much of a perennial success to have #2 banners hanging from the ceiling. Those should be brought down.
5) Fans were great. Into the games and know hockey. The cheerleaders were a bit gimicky, but for me, it was the first time I saw skating cheerleaders.

All in all, a great weekend, despite the sub-zero temperatures. Some highlights for me were Ike's (great milkshake), skating at the Depot (Residence Inn), great coffee from Dunn Bros, and realizing how soft San Francisco has made me - man was it cold!

Best of luck the rest of the way!
Click to expand...

Cheerleading was invented at Minnesota, so I say we keep them.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheerleading
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2009-2010: Calmly Step Away from the Ledge

I can't believe no ne here has acknowledged the play of Nick Larson this past weekend. (Maybe most weren't as insane to stay up all night after the delay - for BASKETBALL????) He looked like a man possessed. I was going to post after Friday's game about how he deserved a goal for his hustle, but he drew attention to himself Saturday. For those of you who didn't watch, he missed high and wide on his best bid for the hat trick, and Hoeffel had one called back that would have given them the H-M hattrick..Hoeffel was clearly fired up to see his buddy finally find the net this year. Hope he keeps that level of play up. If so, expect a few more goals and maybe some inspiration of other players to pick it up too. I expect he'll suit up this weekend after that performance. Overall, while it is hard to judge given the competition, but I think in the recent games, the Gophs have been much more proactive and more concistant in their efforts, which makes me think that they will play two good games this weekend.
 
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