digitalbooya
Well-known member
I think the best part about the last two Wild games were the amount of Wild fans in the stands. You’d have thought the Wild were the home team and it couldn’t make me happier.
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Minnesota Golden Gophers Season Thread 2017-18 Part II
- Thread starter SteveO
- Start date
I think the best part about the last two Wild games were the amount of Wild fans in the stands. You’d have thought the Wild were the home team and it couldn’t make me happier.
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers Season Thread 2017-18 Part II
Five upsets in the six conference tourneys resulting in an atypical four AQs, and the Gophers are out of the NCAA tournament by two ten thousandths of a point (inc. H2H with UMD). Wow.
Obviously lots of finger pointing is warranted, but to whom? Goaltending turned out to be a debacle this season with Schierhorn losing his edge in Nov., then with Robson stepping up and getting everyone's hopes up, he allows 12 goals in his final three games of the season. The D was not consistently good this season, the PP was dysfunctional all season long (15%), and scoring was at an all-time low during Lucia's tenure (GF/2.68, GA/2.63). Do you blame A) the players, B) the coaching staff or C) all of the above? I'm going with C.
2016-17 vs 2017-18 Pts/Game %
Pitlick: -7%
Gates: +11%
Novak: +6%
Sheehy (C) : -53%
Szmatula (A) (SR): -57%
Bristedt (A) (SR): -71%
Johnson (SR): +1%
I'm thinking back now on the four opponent sweeps this season (ND, Mich., 2X Penn St.) like a huge black eye, which hasn't happened since the Gophers missed the NCAAs in 2008-09, as also blown opportunities for a postseason run.
So the Gophers season ends on an infamous note with back-to-back opponent sweeps by Penn St., in which even one win out of the four would have put us in the tourney. Over and out.
I want to say, outside of following the Gophers with all of you this season, a personal highlight for me was interacting with many of you here on USCHO. It's all been good, and even the drivel has been tolerable.
Looking forward, does CM stay for another year? With the Sabres disasterous season as the second worst team in the NHL by a point, I'm leaning towards CM bailing and the Sabres locking him into the system asap.
Five upsets in the six conference tourneys resulting in an atypical four AQs, and the Gophers are out of the NCAA tournament by two ten thousandths of a point (inc. H2H with UMD). Wow.
Obviously lots of finger pointing is warranted, but to whom? Goaltending turned out to be a debacle this season with Schierhorn losing his edge in Nov., then with Robson stepping up and getting everyone's hopes up, he allows 12 goals in his final three games of the season. The D was not consistently good this season, the PP was dysfunctional all season long (15%), and scoring was at an all-time low during Lucia's tenure (GF/2.68, GA/2.63). Do you blame A) the players, B) the coaching staff or C) all of the above? I'm going with C.
2016-17 vs 2017-18 Pts/Game %
Pitlick: -7%
Gates: +11%
Novak: +6%
Sheehy (C) : -53%
Szmatula (A) (SR): -57%
Bristedt (A) (SR): -71%
Johnson (SR): +1%
I'm thinking back now on the four opponent sweeps this season (ND, Mich., 2X Penn St.) like a huge black eye, which hasn't happened since the Gophers missed the NCAAs in 2008-09, as also blown opportunities for a postseason run.
So the Gophers season ends on an infamous note with back-to-back opponent sweeps by Penn St., in which even one win out of the four would have put us in the tourney. Over and out.
I want to say, outside of following the Gophers with all of you this season, a personal highlight for me was interacting with many of you here on USCHO. It's all been good, and even the drivel has been tolerable.
Looking forward, does CM stay for another year? With the Sabres disasterous season as the second worst team in the NHL by a point, I'm leaning towards CM bailing and the Sabres locking him into the system asap.
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers Season Thread 2017-18 Part II
CM staying another year or bolting has voices on both sides > ARTICLE. Take a look at the stick handling clinic by CM from the WJCs in the video at the end of article.
CM's freshman season was good, but not outstanding. His 30 points matched that of Sheehy's freshman season, due in part to the drop in overall scoring this season.
Would the Sabres want to inject him back into relatively the same roster on the Gophers next season to develop at the college level, or do they want to bring him into their AHL affiliate which is more closely aligned with an NHL style of play?
GM for the Sabres Jason Botterill mentioned after the WJCs he'd like to see him develop for another year at the college level. But given the Sabres have been the lowest scoring team in the NHL, it wouldn't surprise me if fan pressure for change on Botterill's shoulders translates into bringing him into Rochester to develop for a year.
CM staying another year or bolting has voices on both sides > ARTICLE. Take a look at the stick handling clinic by CM from the WJCs in the video at the end of article.
CM's freshman season was good, but not outstanding. His 30 points matched that of Sheehy's freshman season, due in part to the drop in overall scoring this season.
Would the Sabres want to inject him back into relatively the same roster on the Gophers next season to develop at the college level, or do they want to bring him into their AHL affiliate which is more closely aligned with an NHL style of play?
GM for the Sabres Jason Botterill mentioned after the WJCs he'd like to see him develop for another year at the college level. But given the Sabres have been the lowest scoring team in the NHL, it wouldn't surprise me if fan pressure for change on Botterill's shoulders translates into bringing him into Rochester to develop for a year.
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers Season Thread 2017-18 Part II
Two things have me holding out hope for him staying another year. First, he hasn't shown an inclination for trying to jump to the next level as fast as possible as so many other top players have. Second, Physical strength is one of the main areas he needs to improve, and the college schedule allows for more strength work throughout the season than levels with more games spread throughout the week. Even with these considerations, I am not sure I believe the odds are even at 50%. (And what were those odds the Gophs make the NCAA a couple weeks ago?)
Two things have me holding out hope for him staying another year. First, he hasn't shown an inclination for trying to jump to the next level as fast as possible as so many other top players have. Second, Physical strength is one of the main areas he needs to improve, and the college schedule allows for more strength work throughout the season than levels with more games spread throughout the week. Even with these considerations, I am not sure I believe the odds are even at 50%. (And what were those odds the Gophs make the NCAA a couple weeks ago?)
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers Season Thread 2017-18 Part II
I thought you were one of the few people saying you would prefer they didn't make it to increase odds Lucia is fired? And how do others who said this after losing to Ped. State feel about the likelihood we don't see another Gopher game this year?
I still don't think a Lucia firing is automatic. Maybe no contract renewal, so one more year for him to retire. But I just don't think all the performance indicators point to his firing, given this is not football or bouncyball where the stakes are higher and the pool of potential coaches greater. I guess only time will tell.
I thought you were one of the few people saying you would prefer they didn't make it to increase odds Lucia is fired? And how do others who said this after losing to Ped. State feel about the likelihood we don't see another Gopher game this year?
I still don't think a Lucia firing is automatic. Maybe no contract renewal, so one more year for him to retire. But I just don't think all the performance indicators point to his firing, given this is not football or bouncyball where the stakes are higher and the pool of potential coaches greater. I guess only time will tell.
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers Season Thread 2017-18 Part II
"All those things" were beyond the Gophers' control. But losing their last four games to Penn State, different story.
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers Season Thread 2017-18 Part II
We've got enough guys from Edina, no need to mistakenly add another.
From the ARTICLE: "While the Edina, Minnesota native has arguably already shown enough to turn pro, the only real concern relates to his lack of strength."
We've got enough guys from Edina, no need to mistakenly add another.
trixR4kids
New member
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers Season Thread 2017-18 Part II
Goaltending wasn’t a debacle, Robson was above league average and Schierhorn averaged out to around league average. The problem was the 45th ranked offense, even with UND’s blue line that probably doesn’t get it done.
Goaltending wasn’t a debacle, Robson was above league average and Schierhorn averaged out to around league average. The problem was the 45th ranked offense, even with UND’s blue line that probably doesn’t get it done.
trixR4kids
New member
Hes missed the NCAA’s 5 times in ten years w.t.f would he have to do to get fired from maybe the easiest place to recruit and coach college hockey?
I assume you want him fired but just don’t think he will be by the admin? Or do you legitimately not want it to happen?
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers Season Thread 2017-18 Part II
Develop strength and heft, have a more successful (team) season in college, and not get the living s**t beat out of him.
There are good reasons for him to stay.
Develop strength and heft, have a more successful (team) season in college, and not get the living s**t beat out of him.
There are good reasons for him to stay.
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers Season Thread 2017-18 Part II
I was mainly talking about the fact some people assumed not making the tourney makes it a no-brainer firing. I am not so sure. 1st - As Steve O showed, his recent stats are comparable to other schools that have recruiting advantages. (I have written several posts stating why I think the change in recruiting paradigm means more parity in the league and less consistent success for teams like MN.) 2. Niche sports like hockey don't have the history of having coaches fired unless they have done nothing. 'Things being stale' isn't normally enough of a reason. (Granted, MN is not like every other school in this regard, but still think hockey compared to basketball or football, even here, allows more patience.) 3. It is not like there is a consensus choice for a coach, or coaches that will clearly be better. There are a lot of coaches with potential, but most don't show what Lucia did before he was hired by MN. 4. The history of what Lucia has achieved has historically, in hockey, earned a coach a right to go out on own terms , or at least make it look that way. 5. So why wouldn't they push for him to 'retire' after this next year, when his contract is up instead of firing now?
I am somewhat indifferent on a Lucia hiring or firing. I think this year everyone feels this team badly underachieved so it feels like a change is needed. But I don't think it is realistic to expect this program to be as dominant as it was in the early to mid-2000's given the current recruiting scene. And I think this year's team suffered partly due to a sub-par D corp, despite the fact they had several drafted players expected to be better than they were (that recruiting early issue). Also, team effort was all over the map. It isn't all on the coaches when players don't give full effort. CM didn't seem to take shifts off, but a lot of other players did. If the effort is tied to poor coach/player relations, that is a coaching issue. But players should also have that effort in them. And people who are trying to interpret coaches demeanor on the bench or in interviews as evidence of Lucia's qualifications are reaching, IMO. Hard to know what really goes on in the locker room. Hopefully Coyle is in touch enough to have a feel for if there are issues with Lucia and players better than all of us. That should be a big part of the decision, in my mind. (And not that they necessarily like him, but if players respect him. A player doesn't have to like a coach to succeed - see Brooks, Herb.) Oh yeah, and the PP didn't help at all. Many assume that is on the assistant coach who was apparently not the first choice of Lucia.
I was mainly talking about the fact some people assumed not making the tourney makes it a no-brainer firing. I am not so sure. 1st - As Steve O showed, his recent stats are comparable to other schools that have recruiting advantages. (I have written several posts stating why I think the change in recruiting paradigm means more parity in the league and less consistent success for teams like MN.) 2. Niche sports like hockey don't have the history of having coaches fired unless they have done nothing. 'Things being stale' isn't normally enough of a reason. (Granted, MN is not like every other school in this regard, but still think hockey compared to basketball or football, even here, allows more patience.) 3. It is not like there is a consensus choice for a coach, or coaches that will clearly be better. There are a lot of coaches with potential, but most don't show what Lucia did before he was hired by MN. 4. The history of what Lucia has achieved has historically, in hockey, earned a coach a right to go out on own terms , or at least make it look that way. 5. So why wouldn't they push for him to 'retire' after this next year, when his contract is up instead of firing now?
I am somewhat indifferent on a Lucia hiring or firing. I think this year everyone feels this team badly underachieved so it feels like a change is needed. But I don't think it is realistic to expect this program to be as dominant as it was in the early to mid-2000's given the current recruiting scene. And I think this year's team suffered partly due to a sub-par D corp, despite the fact they had several drafted players expected to be better than they were (that recruiting early issue). Also, team effort was all over the map. It isn't all on the coaches when players don't give full effort. CM didn't seem to take shifts off, but a lot of other players did. If the effort is tied to poor coach/player relations, that is a coaching issue. But players should also have that effort in them. And people who are trying to interpret coaches demeanor on the bench or in interviews as evidence of Lucia's qualifications are reaching, IMO. Hard to know what really goes on in the locker room. Hopefully Coyle is in touch enough to have a feel for if there are issues with Lucia and players better than all of us. That should be a big part of the decision, in my mind. (And not that they necessarily like him, but if players respect him. A player doesn't have to like a coach to succeed - see Brooks, Herb.) Oh yeah, and the PP didn't help at all. Many assume that is on the assistant coach who was apparently not the first choice of Lucia.
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers Season Thread 2017-18 Part II
Yeah, in college hockey fans minds. But a lot of these points are made every year for guys who end up leaving early!
Yeah, in college hockey fans minds. But a lot of these points are made every year for guys who end up leaving early!
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers Season Thread 2017-18 Part II
Now that I am not doing drive-by posts, and I'm not seething, here's how the weekend went for me, pertaining to our squad:
Ok, we're in. Barring a miracle, let's try to make a hell-run.
Wait, what's happening?!
YOU HAVE TO BE F*ING KIDDING ME!
At this point, I hope tDon resigns for the good of the program.
There were a couple people poking the bear last night (not here) and I was not having any of it. Talked about it at the corner store today a little, the owners are UM grads and know I love the program. It was somber, and the staff knew it was still a sensitive subject. I've now moved on, and look forward to next season.
Now that I am not doing drive-by posts, and I'm not seething, here's how the weekend went for me, pertaining to our squad:
Ok, we're in. Barring a miracle, let's try to make a hell-run.
Wait, what's happening?!
YOU HAVE TO BE F*ING KIDDING ME!
At this point, I hope tDon resigns for the good of the program.
There were a couple people poking the bear last night (not here) and I was not having any of it. Talked about it at the corner store today a little, the owners are UM grads and know I love the program. It was somber, and the staff knew it was still a sensitive subject. I've now moved on, and look forward to next season.
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers Season Thread 2017-18 Part II
I doubt there is a god, but if there is, s/he clearly did not want the gophers to be in this tourney. How else do you explain that?
Now that I am not doing drive-by posts, and I'm not seething, here's how the weekend went for me, pertaining to our squad:
Ok, we're in. Barring a miracle, let's try to make a hell-run.
Wait, what's happening?!
YOU HAVE TO BE F*ING KIDDING ME!
At this point, I hope tDon resigns for the good of the program.
There were a couple people poking the bear last night (not here) and I was not having any of it. Talked about it at the corner store today a little, the owners are UM grads and know I love the program. It was somber, and the staff knew it was still a sensitive subject. I've now moved on, and look forward to next season.
I doubt there is a god, but if there is, s/he clearly did not want the gophers to be in this tourney. How else do you explain that?
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers Season Thread 2017-18 Part II
I..........don't know. *shrug*
I..........don't know. *shrug*
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers Season Thread 2017-18 Part II
Would it be 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 = 1/64?
And probably less than that because most of the outcomes would have to be considered upsets?
Assuming every one of those other six games was a 50-50 tossup, what would be the odds of all them not going the Gophers way?
Would it be 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 = 1/64?
And probably less than that because most of the outcomes would have to be considered upsets?