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Minnesota Golden Gophers 2017-18 Season Thread

Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2017-18 Season Thread

Of the 31 players invited to the 2017 USA Hockey Women's U18 National Festival seven are Gopher recruits:

D Gracie Ostertag (Shattuck)
D Madeline Wethington (Blake)
F Abigail Boreen (Hill-Murray)
F Taylor Heise (Red Wing)
F Sydney Shearen (White Bear Lake)
D Maggie Nicholson (Minnetonka)
F Abbey Murphy (Chicago Mission U16)

Other schools with multiple commitments:
BC - 4
Harvard - 3
UMD - 3
Colgate - 3
Wisconsin - 3

Heise = 5'-10" forward :eek:
Nicholson & Wethington 5-10 D :)
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2017-18 Season Thread

Of the 31 players invited to the 2017 USA Hockey Women's U18 National Festival seven are Gopher recruits:

D Gracie Ostertag (Shattuck)
D Madeline Wethington (Blake)
F Abigail Boreen (Hill-Murray)
F Taylor Heise (Red Wing)
F Sydney Shearen (White Bear Lake)
D Maggie Nicholson (Minnetonka)
F Abbey Murphy (Chicago Mission U16)

Other schools with multiple commitments:
BC - 4
Harvard - 3
UMD - 3
Colgate - 3
Wisconsin - 3

Who is the 3rd UMD recruit besides Bizal and McMahon?

Nevermind I missed Flaherty...and evidently Liz Norton as well so I think they have 4...
 
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Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2017-18 Season Thread

You have the wrong Bizal. The UMD recruit is the goalie from Blake who did not advance. The Bizal that did advance is a defenseman from Elk River and an Ohio State recruit.
 
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Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2017-18 Season Thread

Sorry, there is no way that 12 of the best girls in the country are from Minnesota. Of the top 15 U16 teams in the country last year 12 of them were outside of Minnesota. Do the math, there is no way possible that of the three teams from Minnesota nearly one whole team comprise the best of the best. Heck, not a one of them made it to the National finals. Now, that being said, some of those girls are fantastic but I question the selection process.
 
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Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2017-18 Season Thread

Sorry, there is no way that 12 of the best girls in the country are from Minnesota. Of the top 15 U16 teams in the country last year 12 of them were outside of Minnesota.
I'm surprised there were 3 of the top 15 U16 teams from Minnesota because nearly all MN girls choose to play for their high school rather than a club team (per the 12 who made the U18 Festival Roster). So you can't really draw any conclusions from where the nation's best U16 teams are from.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2017-18 Season Thread

Actually, only one "Team" is from there...Shattuck. They other two are thrown together from select High School players and just play enough games to qualify for Nationals.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2017-18 Season Thread

Let me be clear, I'm not picking on Minnesota hockey, I like the model they have and their success is well documented. I just believe that the selection process is skewed.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2017-18 Season Thread

I'm surprised there were 3 of the top 15 U16 teams from Minnesota because nearly all MN girls choose to play for their high school rather than a club team (per the 12 who made the U18 Festival Roster). So you can't really draw any conclusions from where the nation's best U16 teams are from.

Maybe not draw but if you had one of these you could "jump"...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42WNHGr1jGI
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2017-18 Season Thread

Sorry, there is no way that 12 of the best girls in the country are from Minnesota. Of the top 15 U16 teams in the country last year 12 of them were outside of Minnesota. Do the math, there is no way possible that of the three teams from Minnesota nearly one whole team comprise the best of the best. Heck, not a one of them made it to the National finals. Now, that being said, some of those girls are fantastic but I question the selection process.

MN did not enter a U16 team or U19 team for that matter in the National Tournament in 2017. Go back a year and see how the MN teams did when they entered teams. The U16 MN Sky team that beat Shattuck U16 this year in the "State Championship" declined their bid to represent MN. MN sent only U14 Team and it was by no means a MN All-Star team. There is a buzz in MN that they may send some loaded Elite teams this year to Mass. Be careful what you wish for.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2017-18 Season Thread

The selection process is most definitely broken. The 66 camp was selected prior to all of the District camps being complete. There were some awesome players at both the U16 and U 18 National Camps in St. Cloud that were better than many of the 66. The selection process should be linear and based on body of work.
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2017-18 Season Thread

Much lesser players than Nurse have finished with more than 137 points in a career. Pankowski can snipe as well as anyone, but she seems to disappear at times, and I have no idea why that is. The rest of the team put a lot of shots on goal, but I couldn't tell if they were shooting to score or just shooting for the sake of shooting.

A problem shared by one other team I can think of, unfortunately. :o

D2D, I'd love to take issue with you on this, but alas..........last year the Gopher's shooting percentage was the lowest in program history.

"Shoot To Score" was a hallmark of the program before last season. We look shy on scorers this year, can we begin to turn that stat back around? Who amongst a bunch of players who struggled to put the puck in the net last year can score this year?
 
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D2D, I'd love to take issue with you on this, but alas..........last year the Gopher's shooting percentage was the lowest in program history.

"Shoot To Score" was a hallmark of the program before last season. We look shy on scorers this year, can we begin to turn that stat back around? Who amongst a bunch of players who struggled to put the puck in the net last year can score this year?

Great Corsi??
 
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2017-18 Season Thread

D2D, I'd love to take issue with you on this, but alas..........last year the Gopher's shooting percentage was the lowest in program history.

"Shoot To Score" was a hallmark of the program before last season. We look shy on scorers this year, can we begin to turn that stat back around? Who amongst a bunch of players who struggled to put the puck in the net last year can score this year?

IMO, other than Cameranesi, Pannek, and Potomak, last year’s players weren’t shooters, they directed the puck. This was especially apparent when they were having trouble scoring after Cameranesi was out. I get the feeling they were told (or thought) getting the puck on net quicker might solve their scoring problem. Sometimes it will, but doing it 98% of the time is ridiculous.

Somebody should have shown them the Davis OT goal against BC in the 2013 NCAA semi in which she held the puck for an eternity (basically waited for the goalie to commit, which was to flop around on the ice like a fish) before shooting high. When you possess the puck, you control the game, make THEM be the one to make the mistake.

There were a number of times somebody made a nice deke but then just missed the net, which seems to be the other problem, the puck doesn’t seem to go where (I hope) they are aiming. Again, maybe they are just trying to get rid of it too quickly, afraid the goalie will recover and close the opening or before a defender thwarts the play. Not having 100% control of the puck, it isn’t always going to go where you want it.
Speaking of 2013, let’s remember that a number of players scored much less than you would have thought, and the following year nearly everyone had a large increase in scoring.
 
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