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Minnesota Gopher 2012 offseason thread

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Re: Minnesota Gopher 2012 offseason thread

Nice to see the Gophs have more players mentioned than any other conference, and the WCHA has more than all the rest combined.
 
Re: Minnesota Gopher 2012 offseason thread

Who Disappointed?

In the book “Moneyball”, Billy Beane uses the term ‘jeans model’ in reference to a player who has the look of someone bound for stardom, yet that’s all it is – a look. Standing a healthy six-foot-three and weighing in at 203-pounds, Brady Skjei is a powerful and fluid skater as well- a mouth watering combination for fans and scouts alike. Disappointingly enough, Brady Skjei is a ‘jeans model’.

In an exhibition game around the New Year, the U18′s took on Minnesota State-Mankato and Skjei’s mental deficiencies were exposed. Poor decision-making and bad instincts made him a liability, and his insistence on skating the puck end to end often put his partner Brett Pesce in comprising situations. Despite having the size, Skjei was muscled off of pucks and lost battles.

Now, in fairness, he was playing in front of friends and family so there may have been some desire to put on a show for them, which is understandable. However, a few weeks later I saw the same troubling deficiencies in a game against Dubuque, but they were disguised because of who he was playing against – players in his age group, instead of the 20-somethings who skated in the WCHA. He could get away with the same things he was exposed for at the USHL level, which begs the question- what will happen at the professional level?

<a href="http://futureconsiderations.ca/fcs-scout-series-dan-shrader-upper-midwest/">http://futureconsiderations.ca/fcs-scout-series-dan-shrader-upper-midwest/</a>
 
Re: Minnesota Gopher 2012 offseason thread

mnstate0fhockey said:
Who Disappointed?

In the book “Moneyball”, Billy Beane uses the term ‘jeans model’ in reference to a player who has the look of someone bound for stardom, yet that’s all it is – a look. Standing a healthy six-foot-three and weighing in at 203-pounds, Brady Skjei is a powerful and fluid skater as well- a mouth watering combination for fans and scouts alike. Disappointingly enough, Brady Skjei is a ‘jeans model’.

In an exhibition game around the New Year, the U18′s took on Minnesota State-Mankato and Skjei’s mental deficiencies were exposed. Poor decision-making and bad instincts made him a liability, and his insistence on skating the puck end to end often put his partner Brett Pesce in comprising situations. Despite having the size, Skjei was muscled off of pucks and lost battles.

Now, in fairness, he was playing in front of friends and family so there may have been some desire to put on a show for them, which is understandable. However, a few weeks later I saw the same troubling deficiencies in a game against Dubuque, but they were disguised because of who he was playing against – players in his age group, instead of the 20-somethings who skated in the WCHA. He could get away with the same things he was exposed for at the USHL level, which begs the question- what will happen at the professional level?

<a href="http://futureconsiderations.ca/fcs-scout-series-dan-shrader-upper-midwest/">http://futureconsiderations.ca/fcs-scout-series-dan-shrader-upper-midwest/</a>
Click to expand...

For some reason, I got the impression that Seth Ambroz fit this mold. He got off to an amazing start as he trounced everyone physically in high school. Yet when he got to the USHL, I think he stumbled and also got held back from coming in early. He ended up doing decent this year...but looking at his sophomore high school stats, you'd think he could be a Kessel. I may have been wrong about all this...that was my impression.

In the end, Skjei's young and took a big step up this year. This could be a small sample of poor play or he may be cutting his teeth right now. But its good to see him getting taken behind the WCHA woodshed now so he will be more ready when he gets to the U.
 
5mn_Major said:
For some reason, I got the impression that Seth Ambroz fit this mold. He got off to an amazing start as he trounced everyone physically in high school. Yet when he got to the USHL, I think he stumbled and also got held back from coming in early. He ended up doing decent this year...but looking at his sophomore high school stats, you'd think he could be a Kessel. I may have been wrong about all this...that was my impression.

In the end, Skjei's young and took a big step up this year. This could be a small sample of poor play or he may be cutting his teeth right now. But its good to see him getting taken behind the WCHA woodshed now so he will be more ready when he gets to the U.
Click to expand...

Two words: Mike Guentzel ;)
 
Re: Minnesota Gopher 2012 offseason thread

Curious to see if Jake Bischoff gets picked up in the draft this weekend.
 
Re: Minnesota Gopher 2012 offseason thread

<a href="http://www.startribune.com/sports/wild/159658705.html">Swift-skating Skjei shows the makeup of an NHL first-rounder</a>
 
Re: Minnesota Gopher 2012 offseason thread

Another year light on MN draft picks...both for the school and the state. At 173, surprised Kloos is so far down. Central Rating service rankings:

9 Jacob Trouba D U.S. NTDP Michigan 18 Zemgus Girgensons F Dubuque/USHL Vermont 19 Brady Skjei D U.S. NTDP Minnesota 27 Cristoval Nieves F Indiana/USHL Michigan 29 Nicolas Kerdiles F U.S. NTDP Wisconsin 30 Michael Matheson D Dubuque/USHL Boston College 31 Patrick Sieloff D U.S. NTDP Miami 34 Jordan Schmaltz D Green Bay/USHL North Dakota 36 Samuel Kurker F St. John's Prep (Mass.) Boston University 43 Mark Jankowski F Stanstead (Quebec) College Providence 50 Robbie Baillargeon F Indiana/USHL Boston University 51 Matt DeBlouw F Muskegon/USHL Michigan State 53 Zachary Stepan F Shattuck-St. Mary's Prep (Minn.) Ohio State 54 Brian Hart F Phillips-Exeter Prep (N.H.) Harvard 58 Devin Shore F Whitby/OJHL Maine 68 Brian Cooper D Fargo/USHL Nebraska-Omaha 69 Chris Calnan F Nobles Prep (Mass.) Boston College 74 Jujhar Khaira F Prince George/BCHL Michigan Tech 76 Daniel O'Regan F St. Sebastian Prep (Mass.) Boston University 77 Jimmy Vesey F South Shore/EJHL Harvard 78 Kevin Roy F Lincoln/USHL Brown 79 Devin Tringale F Lawrence Prep (Mass.) Harvard 80 Quentin Shore F U.S. NTDP Denver 81 Thomas DiPauli F U.S. NTDP Notre Dame 82 Adam Johnson F Hibbing (Minn.) HS Minnesota-Duluth 84 Dakota Mermis D Green Bay/USHL Denver 86 Riley Barber F U.S. NTDP Miami 87 AJ Michaelson F Waterloo/USHL Minnesota 88 Frank Vatrano F U.S. NTDP Boston College 90 Reece Willcox D Merritt/BCHL Cornell 91 Samuel Fejes F Shattuck-St. Mary's Prep (Minn.) Colorado College 98 Paul Dejersey F Prince George/BCHL Providence 99 Doyle Somerby D Kimball Union Prep (N.H.) Boston University 105 Jacob Montgomery F Shattuck-St. Mary's Prep (Minn.) Nebraska-Omaha 106 John Draeger D Shattuck-St. Mary's Prep (Minn.) Michigan State 108 Matt Beattie F Phillips Exeter (N.H.) Academy Yale 112 Austin Farley F Fargo/USHL Minnesota-Duluth 115 Vincent Hinostroza F Waterloo/USHL Notre Dame 116 Theodor Blueger F Shattuck-St. Mary's Prep (Minn.) Minnesota State 124 Connor Carrick D U.S. NTDP Michigan 126 Morgan Zulinick F Salmon Arm/BCHL Wisconsin 127 Nicholas Bligh F South Shore/EJHL Dartmouth 130 Will Merchant F Eagan (Minn.) HS Maine 132 John Stevens F Salisbury Prep (Conn.) Northeastern 133 Alex Iafallo F Fargo/USHL Minnesota-Duluth 134 Cameron Darcy F U.S. NTDP Northeastern 138 Mackenzie MacEachern F Brother Rice (Mich.) HS Michigan State 142 Wade Murphy F Victoria/BCHL Merrimack 143 Brendan Collier F Malden Catholic Prep (Mass.) Boston University 144 Justin Wade D Fargo/USHL Notre Dame 145 Kevin Duane F Brunswick Prep (Conn.) Boston University 147 Jake Bischoff D Grand Rapids (Minn.) HS Minnesota 149 Dominic Toninato F Duluth (Minn.) East HS Minnesota-Duluth 150 Matthew Lane F U.S. NTDP Boston University 159 Peter Quenneville F Sherwood Park/AJHL Quinnipiac 166 Alex Rauter F Choate-Rosemary Prep (Conn.) Cornell 167 Rhett Holland D Okotoks/AJHL Michigan State 168 Alex Kile F Green Bay/USHL Michigan 170 Clifford Watson D Sioux City/USHL Ohio State 172 Tyler Wood D Nobles Prep (Mass.) Brown 173 Justin Kloos F Lakeville (Minn.) South HS Minnesota 175 James Haas D Toronto Lakeshore/OJHL Clarkson 177 Matthew Grzelcyk D U.S. NTDP Boston University 180 Christian Weidauer D Carleton Place/CCHL Niagara 184 Travis Jeke D Northwood School (N.Y.) Boston College 185 Drake Caggiula F Stouffville/OJHL North Dakota 186 Gavin Bayreuther D Holderness Prep (N.H.) St. Lawrence 187 Grant Besse F Benilde-St. Margaret's HS (Minn.) Wisconsin 188 Louis Nanne F Edina (Minn.) HS Minnesota 191 Grant Opperman F Breck HS (Minn.) Dartmouth 200 Ben Hutton D Nepean/CCHL Maine 201 Miles Koules F U.S. NTDP North Dakota 206 Sam Wolfe D Eagan (Minn.) HS Maine 207 Eli May D Eagan (Minn.) HS Minnesota State 208 Tim Boyle D Nobles Prep (Mass.) Union
 
Re: Minnesota Gopher 2012 offseason thread

Next year should be a pretty good year though: Hudson Fasching, Taylor Cammarata, Michael Brodzinski, Jordan Gross, Jake Guentzel, Blake Heinrich, Dan Labosky, Vinni Lettieri, Parker Reno, and Luke Voltin among others.
 
willythekid said:
we'll have to see how your goalie situation works out... everyone might have a high scoring affair with goldy;)
Click to expand...

I am pretty confident we'll be fine there. Asked a pro goalie scout on Twitter what he thought of our tenders next season and he said we should be fine. I guess we'll see.
 
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Re: Minnesota Gopher 2012 offseason thread

Dog day afternoons demand pounding sand. Must have patience on Kloos. So here's another piece of on draft recruits:

The NHL draft starts Friday night in Pittsburgh, with the subsequent rounds finishing up over the weekend. Last year in St Paul 15 Minnesotans were selected, but for the first time since 2001, nobody from the Land O' 10,000 Lakes were taken in the first round. This year there will be at least one in the first round, and, per Roman, there's 21 Minnesotans ranked in the NHL Central Scouting's list of the top 230 North American skaters and goalies (they also release a similar list for European players), so we could see more than last year's 15 selected.

It's a stronger year for draft-eligible Minnesotans, and yet another strong one for draft-eligible future Gophers, as five skaters who will one day wear Maroon and Gold are ranked in the top 188. No surprise, really, as every year the U has as many or more drafted players on their roster than any other school. Here are the five future Gophers, as ranked by NHL Central Scouting:

19. Brady Skjei, D, Lakeville (U.S. development team)
Pronouced "Skay", he already has NHL size at 6'3 and 200 pounds, and yet what scouts love most is his skating. Per Michael Russo's writeup on him in the Strib, some have even called him the best skater available in the draft. So why on earth is this kid being touted as mid-to-late first round pick instead of top 5 or top 10? His offensive game is still pretty raw, as he posted 22 points in 56 games playing for the USA National Development last year, and he isn't very physical. He'll get plenty of opportunity with the Gophers to work on his offensive game at least, as he should jump into the top two pairings right away and push for time on the top power play unit. Yes, the Gophs return everybody from last year's surprisingly good defensive corps, but they don't have anybody with Skjei's skill set. If you're a Gopher Hockey fan you should be VERY excited to see what he can do this fall. For more on Skjei, check out Light House Hockey's draft profile of him.

87. AJ Michaelson, C, Apple Valley (Waterloo, USHL)
The former Apple Valley star will join the Gophers this fall, and will battle for that third line center spot left vacant by Taylor Mattson's graduation. Michaelson is a sniper with good scoring touch, size at 6'0 and 185, and is a good skater as well. The trick for him is putting it all together, as he managed just 6 goals and 14 assists in 53 games with Waterloo of the USHL. Sounds a bit like Seth Ambroz from last year, who was another very talented kid who couldn't find consistency in junior, but we'll see how Michaelson looks in a Gopher sweater this season.

147. Jake Bischoff, D, Grand Rapids (Grand Rapids HS)
Bischoff is an excellent prospect, a smooth skater with good offensive potential and takes care of things in his own end. He's not overly physical at about 5'11 or 6'0 but definitely projects as a solid high D1 D-man. But with Minnesota's ridiculous depth on D, I'm guessing he likely heads off to Omaha this season. Not to play for the UNO Mavericks, but for Omaha's USHL squad, where he should get some good experience while waiting for his chance to play for the U.

173. Justin Kloos, C, Lakeville (Lakeville South HS)
So stop me if this sounds familiar... Minnesota's Mr. Hockey is small in stature, but large in heart and talent. Like Kyle Rau in 2010-11 at Eden Prairie, Kloos was named the 2012 Minnesota Mr Hockey after a simply dominant season for Lakeville South, racking up 41 goals and 62 assists in just 31 games, a tally that actually bested Rau's 41 goals and 40 assists in his senior season. At 5'9 he's undersized, and like Rau last year, he's likely a 5th or 6th rounder because of it, but it doesn't mean he can't make an impact with the Gophers right away. Not to say he's going to walk into the top line and be named a freshman All-American like Rau did, but Kloos is definitely going to bring some offense to Dinkytown. A couple of inches taller than Rau, he has better wheels and like him a great hockey IQ, but I'm not sure anybody will be as fiesty and play with that edge the way Rau did last season. Still, look for Kloos to compete for a spot on the third line and perhaps even the second line into the season to play a year of juniors before joining the Gophers in 2013, and like Rau, could make a team drafting him in the later rounds very happy they did.

188. Lou Nanne, LW, Edina (Edina HS)
Lou Nanne in a Gopher sweater? Seems about right, doesn't it? The grandson of former Gopher and North Star player, GM and president won the AA title two years ago with Edina, and had another strong season last year. He may go later rounds if drafted at all, but with as many connections as his grand-pappy has, it wouldn't be surprising to see somebody scoop him up somewhere in the last round or so. The 5'11 wing is very young for his draft class, and still has his senior season to go before possibly joining the Gophers in the fall of 2013.
 
Re: Minnesota Gopher 2012 offseason thread

5mn_Major said:
188. Lou Nanne, LW, Edina (Edina HS)
Lou Nanne in a Gopher sweater? Seems about right, doesn't it? The grandson of former Gopher and North Star player, GM and president won the AA title two years ago with Edina, and had another strong season last year. He may go later rounds if drafted at all, but with as many connections as his grand-pappy has, it wouldn't be surprising to see somebody scoop him up somewhere in the last round or so. The 5'11 wing is very young for his draft class, and still has his senior season to go before possibly joining the Gophers in the fall of 2013.
Click to expand...
Also his father Marty Nanne played at Minnesota for 3 years and I believe 3 years of IHL hockey.
 
5mn_Major said:
Dog day afternoons demand pounding sand. Must have patience on Kloos. So here's another piece of on draft recruits:

The NHL draft starts Friday night in Pittsburgh, with the subsequent rounds finishing up over the weekend. Last year in St Paul 15 Minnesotans were selected, but for the first time since 2001, nobody from the Land O' 10,000 Lakes were taken in the first round. This year there will be at least one in the first round, and, per Roman, there's 21 Minnesotans ranked in the NHL Central Scouting's list of the top 230 North American skaters and goalies (they also release a similar list for European players), so we could see more than last year's 15 selected.

It's a stronger year for draft-eligible Minnesotans, and yet another strong one for draft-eligible future Gophers, as five skaters who will one day wear Maroon and Gold are ranked in the top 188. No surprise, really, as every year the U has as many or more drafted players on their roster than any other school. Here are the five future Gophers, as ranked by NHL Central Scouting:

19. Brady Skjei, D, Lakeville (U.S. development team)
Pronouced "Skay", he already has NHL size at 6'3 and 200 pounds, and yet what scouts love most is his skating. Per Michael Russo's writeup on him in the Strib, some have even called him the best skater available in the draft. So why on earth is this kid being touted as mid-to-late first round pick instead of top 5 or top 10? His offensive game is still pretty raw, as he posted 22 points in 56 games playing for the USA National Development last year, and he isn't very physical. He'll get plenty of opportunity with the Gophers to work on his offensive game at least, as he should jump into the top two pairings right away and push for time on the top power play unit. Yes, the Gophs return everybody from last year's surprisingly good defensive corps, but they don't have anybody with Skjei's skill set. If you're a Gopher Hockey fan you should be VERY excited to see what he can do this fall. For more on Skjei, check out Light House Hockey's draft profile of him.

87. AJ Michaelson, C, Apple Valley (Waterloo, USHL)
The former Apple Valley star will join the Gophers this fall, and will battle for that third line center spot left vacant by Taylor Mattson's graduation. Michaelson is a sniper with good scoring touch, size at 6'0 and 185, and is a good skater as well. The trick for him is putting it all together, as he managed just 6 goals and 14 assists in 53 games with Waterloo of the USHL. Sounds a bit like Seth Ambroz from last year, who was another very talented kid who couldn't find consistency in junior, but we'll see how Michaelson looks in a Gopher sweater this season.

147. Jake Bischoff, D, Grand Rapids (Grand Rapids HS)
Bischoff is an excellent prospect, a smooth skater with good offensive potential and takes care of things in his own end. He's not overly physical at about 5'11 or 6'0 but definitely projects as a solid high D1 D-man. But with Minnesota's ridiculous depth on D, I'm guessing he likely heads off to Omaha this season. Not to play for the UNO Mavericks, but for Omaha's USHL squad, where he should get some good experience while waiting for his chance to play for the U.

173. Justin Kloos, C, Lakeville (Lakeville South HS)
So stop me if this sounds familiar... Minnesota's Mr. Hockey is small in stature, but large in heart and talent. Like Kyle Rau in 2010-11 at Eden Prairie, Kloos was named the 2012 Minnesota Mr Hockey after a simply dominant season for Lakeville South, racking up 41 goals and 62 assists in just 31 games, a tally that actually bested Rau's 41 goals and 40 assists in his senior season. At 5'9 he's undersized, and like Rau last year, he's likely a 5th or 6th rounder because of it, but it doesn't mean he can't make an impact with the Gophers right away. Not to say he's going to walk into the top line and be named a freshman All-American like Rau did, but Kloos is definitely going to bring some offense to Dinkytown. A couple of inches taller than Rau, he has better wheels and like him a great hockey IQ, but I'm not sure anybody will be as fiesty and play with that edge the way Rau did last season. Still, look for Kloos to compete for a spot on the third line and perhaps even the second line into the season to play a year of juniors before joining the Gophers in 2013, and like Rau, could make a team drafting him in the later rounds very happy they did.

188. Lou Nanne, LW, Edina (Edina HS)
Lou Nanne in a Gopher sweater? Seems about right, doesn't it? The grandson of former Gopher and North Star player, GM and president won the AA title two years ago with Edina, and had another strong season last year. He may go later rounds if drafted at all, but with as many connections as his grand-pappy has, it wouldn't be surprising to see somebody scoop him up somewhere in the last round or so. The 5'11 wing is very young for his draft class, and still has his senior season to go before possibly joining the Gophers in the fall of 2013.
Click to expand...

Awesome! Thanks for posting this.
 
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