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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!

The Gophers are 5-0 against non-conference competition so far, but against very weak teams.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

4four4 said:
Old news. It will be interesting to see where Blake Thompson ends up finishing his hockey career. Last year he just didn't look the "Gopher" part. His play was horribly inconsistent in the defensive zone, actually made me wince.
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Unfortunately inconsistency has been the mark for this year. Let's hope that's over now.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

If the Gophs can manage to win the next three, I will feel better about how they are playing. They'll have to be clicking fairly well to win number 2 and 3.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

Koho said:
If the Gophs can manage to win the next three, I will feel better about how they are playing. They'll have to be clicking fairly well to win number 2 and 3.
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If they win their next 3, they will be a legitimate vote for #1 in the nation.

The next couple months are tough. If they can win against Air Force, sweep UAA at home, and then go just slightly above .500 against BC, Notre Dame, UND, Mankato and SCSU I will be pleased. That will put them in position to spend the final month of the regular season playing for a league title and #1 seed.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

Stauber1 said:
If they win their next 3, they will be a legitimate vote for #1 in the nation.

The next couple months are tough. If they can win against Air Force, sweep UAA at home, and then go just slightly above .500 against BC, Notre Dame, UND, Mankato and SCSU I will be pleased. That will put them in position to spend the final month of the regular season playing for a league title and #1 seed.
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1st place in the nation? Gophers are tied for 5th place in the WCHA. They will need more than three wins.

Also they will need to win more like 70% of their remaining WCHA games to catch SCSU and UND.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

state of hockey said:
The Gophers are 5-0 against non-conference competition so far, but against very weak teams.
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Uh, just like every WCHA team needs you guys to have a good holiday tournament from a pairwise standpoint as pointed out by FS23 elsewhere, so, too, should you be wishing for us to pound on Quinnipiac this upcoming weekend.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

state of hockey said:
The Gophers are 5-0 against non-conference competition so far, but against very weak teams.
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Right. I would bet that either BC or ND gets a win though, they are two very good teams and ND is really clicking after the series with NoDak. Please beat BC, as Jerry York has made a downright mockery of the WCHA in the last few years or so...
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

SoCalSiouxFan said:
1st place in the nation? Gophers are tied for 5th place in the WCHA. They will need more than three wins.
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I think he's talking about the polls, not necessarily the best team in the nation. If the Gophers won the next five games (polls don't come out after three), there's a darn good chance they're number one in the nation. BC plays UNH the weekend of 1/11-1/12 and 5-0 would jump Notre Dame's potential 2-1 in that time period. To think the Gophers go 5-0 in the next five is nuts, 4-1 would be huge and 3-1-1 or 2-1-2 would be awesome in my book.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

Slap Shot said:
I am re-posting this comment I made at GPL:

One negative trend they need to fix (although how they go about it I am not sure because the correlation seems illogical) - the Gophers are outshooting their opponents by 49, 54 and 59 per period, but the difference in goals scored is +14, +9 and 0. One could argue mental/physical conditioning but you'd think the SOG disparity would similarly trend in the other direction.
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The drop in goals scored in the 3rd is probably not due to a lack of physical conditioning since Cal stated before the season this was the best conditioned and battle ready team he had ever seen.

Contrary to this season's mark in the 3rd, last season's goal scoring trend indicates a strong closure (after 17 games):

2011-12

1...2...3
21 21 29 (Goals/Period)
11 04 22 (+ Per period goal differential)

2012-13

1...2...3
25 21 11 (Goals/Period)
14 09 00 (+ Per period goal differential)

In 2010-11 the Gophers ended the season with a 3rd period goal differential of 1, and in 2009-10 amidst the 3 Gopher seasons from hell, the differential was 0.

The disparity lies in the positive linear trend of the highest + SOG differential in the 3rd in outshooting opponents and yet the 3rd period has the lowest scoring output. My guess is many of those 3rd period shots are perimeter, not grade A shots.

A few causal factors to consider for the scoring drop in the 3rd: 1) ineffective senior leadership, 2) extensive line changes have produced a disruptive and negative effect in on-ice chemistry, and 3) diminished sense of urgency and effort in going to the net (Gophers are currently #1 in 1st period scoring in the WCHA). All of these factors could be correlates, but IMO the most important difference from last season would be the lack of solid senior leadership. I've never been a fan of 3-4 months of line changes and I think line configurations could be reasonably set sooner which would have an immediate effect on team chemistry. I agree with others that the Rau, Bjug, Budish line should have remained intact and should now be reunited.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

SoCalSiouxFan said:
1st place in the nation? Gophers are tied for 5th place in the WCHA. They will need more than three wins.

Also they will need to win more like 70% of their remaining WCHA games to catch SCSU and UND.
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Smoke another bowl,they are 3pts out of first with 2 games in hand over Jan Brady, Denver and Kato and we play the Whioux at Mariucci... I like our chances.

Edit: also our first WCHA series back from the break is UAA at Mariucci, can you say 4pts.
 
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Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

SanTropez said:
Smoke another bowl,they are 3pts out of first with 2 games in hand over Jan Brady, Denver and Kato and we play the Whioux at Mariucci... I like our chances.

Edit: also our first WCHA series back from the break is UAA at Mariucci, can you say 4pts.
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This.

Try again SoCal__________Fan

EDIT: I'm not totally agreeing with your 4pts against AA, but I get your point just the same.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

Since, the Gophers are leaving for the Big Ten next year losing recruits out to UND doesn't bother me as much anymore. Don't get me wrong I would love to see them in a Gopher sweater but we are emparking on a new era.
 
4four4 said:
Since, the Gophers are leaving for the Big Ten next year losing recruits out to UND doesn't bother me as much anymore. Don't get me wrong I would love to see them in a Gopher sweater but we are emparking on a new era.
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Gersich was the bigger surprise, but Hurley the bigger loss IMHO.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

mnstate0fhockey said:
Gersich was the bigger surprise, but Hurley the bigger loss IMHO.
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Yeah anyone who says missing out on these 2 is no biggie is fooling themselves, and the Gersich choice is a head scratcher.

The kids uncles are Neal, Paul and Aaron Broten for god sakes. :eek:
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

SanTropez said:
Yeah anyone who says missing out on these 2 is no biggie is fooling themselves, and the Gersich choice is a head scratcher.

The kids uncles are Neal, Paul and Aaron Broten for god sakes. :eek:
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Which is probably why he said no. Little Lucia maybe didn't wanna follow Don and Tony. The Lamoureux twins first bailed on UND. Aaron Marvin went away from the UND Marvins. Little Stepans and Kessel went out east. Sometimes its easier for a kid to start fresh with less pressure.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

SoCalSiouxFan said:
1st place in the nation? Gophers are tied for 5th place in the WCHA. They will need more than three wins.

Also they will need to win more like 70% of their remaining WCHA games to catch SCSU and UND.
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You really are a dolt.
Quick question: If MN sweeps UAA like I said, and goes slightly above .500 for the other 10 games I was talking about (like, say, 5-3?), what would their win % be over that stretch?

In actuality, I think they will need to do better than .700 over the remainder of the conference schedule to be a contender for the league championship. My hope is that they sweep UAA and then go 3-2-1 against UND, SCSU and Mankato. They then enter the final 4 series of the year in the hunt for a league championship. Considering who they are playing over that final month, I think 7-1 is very doable if they start firing on all cylinders. That would put them at 18-6-4 and 40pts for conference play. That would likely be a very thin margin for the championship, but they would be in the hunt for it.

If you add in the non-con games and say they go 2-1 against Air Force, BC and Notre Dame, that would give them a regular season record of 25-7-4. That would put them in the hunt for a #1 seed as well, likely being determined by the outcome of conference tournaments.


As for the part about going 3-0 over their next 3 games...I said if they did that they would be getting legitimate #1 votes. I didn't say they would definitively be the best team in the nation, and I didn't even say they would be ranked #1 in the nation. I said they would be receiving first place votes. And I stand by that.
A record of 14-3-3 with recent wins against 2 teams in the top-5 who have been receiving first place votes themselves? That would, in my opinion, legitimately persuade some voters to put them at #1.

Not that it really matters. The polls are volatile and often far too subjective to put much stock in teams' exact placements. Rather, the genesis of that post (which even a dumbass like you would have caught if you hadn't come in here with the sole intention of hating) was Koho saying he would feel better about their play if they went 3-0 over the next 3 games. My implication was that going 3-0 would be pretty darn impressive.
 
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Re: Minnesota Gophers 2012-2013: From Dinkytown to Steel City!

I continue to think the Gophers will be a powerhouse by Feb. Whether the Sioux can maintain momentum is a good question. There are good signs, but I think most folks expected them to hit the ground running this year. I guess they are showing Hakgress. SCSU is obviously for real, and you have to think Denver will get back some of its Mojo--Gwoz is too good a coach for them to languish for too long. The Sioux/Gopher/Badger rivalries have been great fun over the years. Hopefully the rest of this year will do them justice.
 
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