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Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

Re: Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

If they showed effort, they COULD beat anyone in the country. Actual results? If they lost, it'd be close. Very close. That is not tArrogance. That is fact. However, like many Gopher teams in the past, they think they can get by with just being the Gophers.

The down-year teams from a couple years ago? I wouldn't be saying the same thing, for the record.
 
Re: Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

JoeGopher said:
One of my bigger questions is, what are they doing about scheduling tougher non-conference next year? I saw a preliminary lineup for the Mariucci Classic, and all I can say is wow. I realize some of the teams scheduled this year had down years (BC and ND) but I don't have a lot of faith that the B1G will get to the point next year that they will be tested night in and out like in the WCHA.

With the exception of UMD and JBSU, there weren't any other games agains NACHO teams, and while I understand the desire to keep home games, sometimes you have to sacrifice and make a trip somewhere to get someone coming in here.
Click to expand...

Next years schedule will look very similar to this years. With the set up with the other MN teams and the NSCC, there's really only room on the schedule for two other NC series and the Mariucci Classic, and the scheduling agreements are made years in advance.

Next year, Northeastern will play at MN as part of the 4 year deal with BC/NE. (BC came to MN last year, MN will do a weekend at BC/NE again in 2016/17).

I believe there is still one more year on the scheduling deal with Notre Dame, although I'm not certain about that one.

Otherwise, next year the Gophers will again do home/home splits with SCSU and Duluth again, and host Mankato.

There really won't even be much of a difference in 2016, except that they'll trade out Notre Dame for North Dakota.
 
Re: Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

Nowheresville said:
Next years schedule will look very similar to this years. With the set up with the other MN teams and the NSCC, there's really only room on the schedule for two other NC series and the Mariucci Classic, and the scheduling agreements are made years in advance.

Next year, Northeastern will play at MN as part of the 4 year deal with BC/NE. (BC came to MN last year, MN will do a weekend at BC/NE again in 2016/17).

I believe there is still one more year on the scheduling deal with Notre Dame, although I'm not certain about that one.

Otherwise, next year the Gophers will again do home/home splits with SCSU and Duluth again, and host Mankato.

There really won't even be much of a difference in 2016, except that they'll trade out Notre Dame for North Dakota.
Click to expand...

There are rumors of MTU for the Mariucci Classic, but GLI conflicts are in play for MTU.
 
Re: Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

JoeGopher said:
One of my bigger questions is, what are they doing about scheduling tougher non-conference next year? I saw a preliminary lineup for the Mariucci Classic, and all I can say is wow. I realize some of the teams scheduled this year had down years (BC and ND) but I don't have a lot of faith that the B1G will get to the point next year that they will be tested night in and out like in the WCHA.

With the exception of UMD and JBSU, there weren't any other games agains NACHO teams, and while I understand the desire to keep home games, sometimes you have to sacrifice and make a trip somewhere to get someone coming in here.
Click to expand...

I don't think the non-conference schedule is/was much of a concern. 8 of their 16 non-conference games this year were against teams that earned at-large bids to the NCAA tournament. The problem is 6 of those 8 were played before November was over. The last 16 games of the year (and 20 of the last 22) heading into the NCAAs were against very average competition, and improving your non-conf schedule does nothing to remedy that problem.


I was surprised by just how thoroughly MN were outplayed and outshot through the majority of the game yesterday, but I can't say I was too surprised by the final result. This team had issues with consistency, scoring 5on5, defensively, and with leadership; while they overcame those enough to have some success against the average teams of the Big10, there were serious questions in my mind as to what would happen if they made it to the NCAA Tournament.

It was good to see them finish off league play on a high note, and I hope the seniors feel good about the 4 conference championships they won in their time here. That's a pretty cool accomplishment. And I'm going to miss having the opportunity of watching those guys.
But with the expectations and personnel heading into the year, there's no point in pretending the season wasn't a disappointment.
 
Re: Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

Congrats on getting Auston Matthews to sign with the Gofs. I figured he was a lock to play juniors.
 
Re: Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

Blackheart said:
Congrats on getting Auston Matthews to sign with the Gofs. I figured he was a lock to play juniors.
Click to expand...
Hmmm, I just remembered what day it is. But not before I used the google. :o
 
Re: Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

D2D said:
Hmmm, I just remembered what day it is. But not before I used the google. :o
Click to expand...

I figured it was a Whioux fan with an April 1st line in the water, but figured I'd ask anyway.
 
Re: Minnesota Gopher Season Thread: 2014-15 (Continued)

D2D said:
And Rau is the second:

http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/297932261.html

Thanks, Kyle, for all you've given to Gopher hockey!
Click to expand...

Kyle Rau's last season was his best as a Gopher. It was nice to see him fiinally hitting the 20 goal mark that had eluded him his previous three years, but still ended up with exactly his average in pts/season with 41. A model of consistency. I thought the Michigan win where Rau scored a hat trick sparked his best scoring run ever as a Gopher closing the season 11-5-16 in 12 games. Rau's best game: Gopher/Michigan Highlight.
 
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