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Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

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Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but according to Russo Cammarata, Fasching, Guertler, Lettieri, and Nanne have signed their LOI.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

Observations:
M Reilly is showing more confidence each week.
Isaaakson looked good this weekend, creating some chances and showing hustle to keep the play alive a few times. He seemed to fit in better than past few weeks. More confidence.
Marshall is sure fun to watch dangling the puck when cutting across the front of the net.
I still think Bjugs and Rau, can step it up a notch as far as forechecking and scoring opportunities. Not that they are performing poorly, just that I think they can dominate even more. I'd like to start seeing some multi-point games from time to time.
So far, I would say Haula is the team MVP, bringing it every night.
While Carmen is flying, I was expecting more scoring opportunities out of him.
Alt seemed to have a better weekend.
They should be able to generate more Grade A scoring chances. Given the teams they've played, they should be able to have an occasional blowout. Things will be tighter with teams like Denver and UND.
Good to see PK is getting more aggressive. Would still like to see a couple SHG's, given the individual talent some of our PK guys have though.
PP passing is much crisper than a couple weeks ago, but still not quite to the point of setting up those open close in shots for Rau, Haula and Bjugs like last year.
And I could write more, but most of you have already given up on reading this far....
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

And I want to see some sweeps. The split on road, sweep at home formula didn't quite work this weekend with a team that has one win. The Gophs have been a little more generous with points to bottom dwellers than I would like to see. (I know, "___________ (insert name of bottom half team here) always plays MN tough.")
 
Koho said:
Observations:
M Reilly is showing more confidence each week.
Isaaakson looked good this weekend, creating some chances and showing hustle to keep the play alive a few times. He seemed to fit in better than past few weeks. More confidence.
Marshall is sure fun to watch dangling the puck when cutting across the front of the net.
I still think Bjugs and Rau, can step it up a notch as far as forechecking and scoring opportunities. Not that they are performing poorly, just that I think they can dominate even more. I'd like to start seeing some multi-point games from time to time.
So far, I would say Haula is the team MVP, bringing it every night.
While Carmen is flying, I was expecting more scoring opportunities out of him.
Alt seemed to have a better weekend.
They should be able to generate more Grade A scoring chances. Given the teams they've played, they should be able to have an occasional blowout. Things will be tighter with teams like Denver and UND.
Good to see PK is getting more aggressive. Would still like to see a couple SHG's, given the individual talent some of our PK guys have though.
PP passing is much crisper than a couple weeks ago, but still not quite to the point of setting up those open close in shots for Rau, Haula and Bjugs like last year.
And I could write more, but most of you have already given up on reading this far....
Click to expand...

Good observations, but when did Carmen come back? :)
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/179835121.html
Maryland and Rutgers are in discussions with the Big Ten to possibly join the conference in 2014, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.

The person spoke Saturday night on condition of anonymity because neither the conference nor the schools want to publicly discuss their plans.

ESPN.com first reported that the Big Ten was looking into expanding to 14 teams by adding Maryland and Rutgers.

The person says Maryland would have to be "the first domino to fall," but added that an agreement could be reached as soon as this week for both schools.

Text messages and phone calls to Maryland Athletic Director Kevin Anderson and Rutgers Athletic Director Tim Pernetti were not immediately returned.

Several officials with Big Ten schools, reached at football and basketball games on Saturday, declined to talk about the report.

"If there was any news to come out of expansion, it would come out of the conference office," Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta said

The Big Ten has 12 members after adding Nebraska last season.

Maryland is in the Atlantic Coast Conference, which recently added Notre Dame as a member in all sports except football and hockey. The ACC is scheduled to become a 14-team football conference next season with the addition of Pittsburgh and Syracuse.

When the ACC added Notre Dame in September, its members also voted to raise the exit fee of the league to $50 million.

Rutgers is a member of the Big East, which is on target to become a 12-team football conference next season when Boise State and five others join. The Big East has been hammered in realignment over the past year with the losses of Syracuse, Pitt, West Virginia and Notre Dame.

In rebuilding the league into a coast-to-coast conference, the Big East also raised its exit fee to $10 million. The conference also has a 27-month notification period, but West Virginia, Pitt and Syracuse have all negotiated early exit deals.

If Maryland were to leave the ACC for the Big Ten, Connecticut of the Big East would seem to be the most logical replacement with the ACC having already built a northern base in the conference.

Adding Maryland and Rutgers would give the Big Ten schools in two more huge television markets — Washington D.C. and the New York/New Jersey area — while expanding the conference's footprint east and south.

Penn State is currently the easternmost school in the Big Ten.

Not that this will concern hockey, but ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

Koho said:
Observations:

Isaaakson looked good this weekend, creating some chances and showing hustle to keep the play alive a few times. He seemed to fit in better than past few weeks. More confidence.
..
Click to expand...

I agree he did look better but he is not a top 6 kind of player, imo he really has no business being on the top 2 lines. Every chance he gets to bury the puck (and there has been many this year) he whiffs on them. I know the whole team has been a bit snake bitten but watching him miss wide open nets consistently is tough to take.

I'm not sure who we would put on that line but it's not Isaackson. I would even try R Reilly or Horn (he was a goal scorer in high school why isn't he playing?) or somebody else on that line and see if they can bury the chances they will certainly get by playing with Bjugs and Rau.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

Me miss what? Huh? Hey, look! Something shiny! :D

Isackson had a great night Saturday, looked much more confident and was not intent on passing the puck as soon as he got it.
Alt was much better on Saturday night.
Larson was a pleasant surprise last night.
I thought Holl had a great weekend.
Amazing how much better a team can look when they pass before skating into trouble.
Wilcox is very, very, good.
 
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Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

I thought Isaackson played well both Friday and Saturday(more so on Friday IMO).

Agreed on Holl. He worked his tail off and he seems to be settling into his role on the 4th line and outside of that bad penalty, he look pretty darn good.

Hoping for an offensive outburst in Vermont this weekend!!
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

gopher wes said:
Hoping for an offensive outburst in Vermont this weekend!!
Click to expand...

What's that? Please explain! ;)

Seriously, other than our inability to cash in on the PP, I am very encouraged by what we saw this weekend. What concerns me and what I question is how much of that is due to us playing a big rival, which for sure raised the intensity level, vs. how much is genuine improvement that can be duplicated against non-rivals like we'll face this coming weekend. I still maintain that for this team to be consistent winners they need to bring a total effort to the rink each and every game, because talent alone will not be enough to carry the day.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

D2D said:
What's that? Please explain! ;)

Seriously, other than our inability to cash in on the PP, I am very encouraged by what we saw this weekend. What concerns me and what I question is how much of that is due to us playing a big rival, which for sure raised the intensity level, vs. how much is genuine improvement that can be duplicated against non-rivals like we'll face this coming weekend. I still maintain that for this team to be consistent winners they need to bring a total effort to the rink each and every game, because talent alone will not be enough to carry the day.
Click to expand...
I'm thinking something similar to the Mich St series.:cool: Or else something similar to the Friday night beatdown the Gophers put on Vermont at home last year!

I agree with your points also. A friend of mine who didn't get to watch the games this weekend asked me how the Gophers looks this weekend. My response started with "Just ok.....". I don't think the Gophers looked bad, but I also don't think they are playing anywhere close to as well as they could. I'm hoping part of that had to do with the style of hockey that sconnie plays for this weekend. They can turn it into a very boring game and I thought they were able to do that this weekend.

We'll see how the Gophers do this weekend on the road against a non-rival in games that are important for PWR as non-conference games. Following that up with two teams that have started the season pretty well with UNO at home and CC on the road. Should a fun, and telling, stretch of hockey heading into the break. :)
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

Koho said:
And I want to see some sweeps. The split on road, sweep at home formula didn't quite work this weekend with a team that has one win. The Gophs have been a little more generous with points to bottom dwellers than I would like to see. (I know, "___________ (insert name of bottom half team here) always plays MN tough.")
Click to expand...

I don't think there are too many teams that don't play us tough. Playing us is their chance to be showcased to a much larger audience because we always bring our TV crews with us and get good regional TV coverage. Most/all of the bottom teams can't say that.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

Tiggsy said:
I don't think there are too many teams that don't play us tough. Playing us is their chance to be showcased to a much larger audience because we always bring our TV crews with us and get good regional TV coverage. Most/all of the bottom teams can't say that.
Click to expand...
But the top tier teams will also play with that intensity against the Gophs. And if the Gophs can't manage some sweeps and some occasional bigger margins of victory against the bottom tier teams, how can you expect them to win against teams with more talent and playing just as hard? It's not so much that those teams coast against everyone except the Gophs. It is just less likely that the Gophs will see the occasional night they don't play as hard due to the reasons you give. The problem is that the Gophs aren't playing at the level they should be capable for a full game, not that AK, MTU, UW and MSU played out of their minds.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

SanTropez said:
I agree he did look better but he is not a top 6 kind of player, imo he really has no business being on the top 2 lines. Every chance he gets to bury the puck (and there has been many this year) he whiffs on them. I know the whole team has been a bit snake bitten but watching him miss wide open nets consistently is tough to take.

I'm not sure who we would put on that line but it's not Isackson. I would even try R Reilly or Horn (he was a goal scorer in high school why isn't he playing?) or somebody else on that line and see if they can bury the chances they will certainly get by playing with Bjugs and Rau.
Click to expand...

I thought R. Reilly looked better this weekend, but not better than Isackson. And if Horn was a top 6 player, he wouldn't be riding the pine. Isackson is a work in progress. Last week he had some of those whiffs, but he wasn't the only one. This past weekend he looked better, creating a couple of his own chances. He shows signs that he has potential to be a much better player (which I wasn't expecting before this year). I don't know what happens when Warning comes back, but I don't see who else you put on the top two lines until then.

And I agree with those who say Holl seems to be fitting in well on F now. He shows a lot of hustle. Hope he can keep up his play of this past weekend.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

Greyeagle said:
Me miss what? Huh? Hey, look! Something shiny! :D

Isackson had a great night Saturday, looked much more confident and was not intent on passing the puck as soon as he got it.
Alt was much better on Saturday night.
Larson was a pleasant surprise last night.
I thought Holl had a great weekend.
Amazing how much better a team can look when they pass before skating into trouble.
Wilcox is very, very, good.
Click to expand...

Although Wilcox has had a couple near heart attack moments with his puck play......
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

It's always easy to sit in the stands and play coach with the line combinations.
Be that as it may, here's my thought process:

I want to see Budish on the first line. End of story. I think his play adds to that of Bjugstad and Rau much more than it does to Haula and Condon. Put Budish and Bjugstad down in the offensive zone and those two big bodies can keep the play there for an entire shift. Rau is clearly at his best when he has the opportunity to dart into space and lanes and when he can have a nose for the goal (opposed to carrying the puck or beating guys 1-on-1) and Budish-Bjugstad afford him much more opportunity to play to his strengths than does Isackson-Bjugstad.

Haula and Condon seem pretty obvious (at least to me) to stay on that second line. The second line is going to have a much different look than the first, regardless of who the third guy is. Much more up and down the ice. And in a way I don't think it much matters who you pair with them; Warning, Isackson, Boyd, Ambroz, hell even Serratore or Holl (the kid can pass the puck). The bigger concern as to who skates with Haula-Condon is how you plan to maximize production on the third line, and to a lesser extent the fourth.

Lastly, I just don't understand how Parenteau can be continued to be left out of the line-up. The guy needs to be on the ice.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

Parenteau is awesome. He makes great defensive plays, and is cool as a cucumber doing it. He is also like Helgeson in the way that he doesn't take crap from anyone. I agree that he shouldn't be kept out of the lineup for any game.
 
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