What's new
By:
USCHO Fan Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.

Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

FiveHoleFrenzy said:
Watching FloHockey there was a problem with the video feed later in the first period so I did not see the first two goals. On the OSU goal, WTH is number 13 for the Gophers doing on that play?
Click to expand...

It's not entirely clear to me that she's the main culprit. Potomak and Heise seem to be drifting around aimlessly. I'd need to see the play develop.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

Still Eeyore said:
It's not entirely clear to me that she's the main culprit. Potomak and Heise seem to be drifting around aimlessly. I'd need to see the play develop.
Click to expand...
They allowed a 4-on-4 goal on Friday as well, so it might be a good time for the coaches to refresh coverage responsibilities when each team is short a skater.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

Still Eeyore said:
It's not entirely clear to me that she's the main culprit. Potomak and Heise seem to be drifting around aimlessly. I'd need to see the play develop.
Click to expand...

This probably will be a waste of time on my part but...At the 23 second mark of the FSN highlight video look at where number 6 and number 13 are positioned as the defensive pairing. Not terrible at that point but follow where number 13 goes in the next couple of seconds. Continues to drift left (from the viewing angle) and has put her self so far out of position that number 18 is left all along to do her thing. Could either number 26 or number 9 done a better job of back-checking? Sure, but you don't want both of your defensemen on one side of the ice (the left in this case) as the other team is entering the zone with a 3 person attack.

I'm pretty confident that the coaching staff will review coverage responsibilities (for 4 on 4 and others) as ARM mentions.
 
Last edited:
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

2nd period did them in but for those who are into moral victories they did play well in the 3rd period to tie it up but left #9 alone to bang it in in OT. 5-4 win...Lot-o-goals given up by these two teams.

Cheese and rice this site is all screwed up...
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

We're down to one defensive pairing in which I have any confidence: Brown and Knowles were on the ice for exactly zero Wisconsin goals. Marshall and, especially, Wethington are getting caught up the ice and getting burned in transition constantly, which the latter compounds by trying to move in multiple directions in response (and once falling down completely). Ostertag and Hengler are doing a poor job of coverage in the defensive zone. Against both UW and OSU (and both OSU series), the opposition's forwards have roamed around the net without anyone marking them. Roque and Curl ate them alive tonight.

It's not all the defensemen, though. The second period started with a horrific sequence in which Brown and Knowles were out for the entire first three minutes, unable to change. There were a lot of culprits, but the main one was Sarah Potomak, who got the puck with room to skate out of the zone about 45 seconds in, but then opted for a blind backhanded drop pass into the center of the ice where there was nothing but Badgers.

It's particularly frustrating, because all of Minnesota's problems are things that they were doing much better for the first 40% of the season, save that one game in Columbus. The defense has reverted from making quick, decisive short passes out of their own end back to stopping and looking around, then going back behind the net at the first sign of trouble, which only allows Wisconsin to tighten the noose; again, this isn't all on them, because the forwards aren't doing as good a job of making themselves available for outlets.

The passing has deteriorated badly over the last two weeks, until the third period tonight. Potomak's was only the worst example of focusing so much on what they want to happen with a pass that they aren't reading at all where the other team's players are and how they might foil it.

Wethington looks lost out there much of the time. She's trying to do too much on her own, coughs up the puck, and is out of position. As things have started to go badly, it seems like she just grits her teeth and tries harder, making it all about individual effort rather than working within a team game plan. There's a lot of potential there; I'm just hoping it doesn't take an off-season for her to assimilate the lessons so far.

All of this looked a better in the third period, though not as much as one might think based upon the big comeback. A large part of what happened is that the Badger defense isn't really any better the the Gophers' when the opposing forwards seize control. That was true even in the first two periods, but Wisconsin's forwards did a better job of it than Minnesota's for forty minutes. Given that I thought the same thing was true last week against Ohio State, the defensive corps at the top of the WCHA just aren't what we are used to seeing.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

Still Eeyore said:
We're down to one defensive pairing in which I have any confidence: Brown and Knowles were on the ice for exactly zero Wisconsin goals. Marshall and, especially, Wethington are getting caught up the ice and getting burned in transition constantly, which the latter compounds by trying to move in multiple directions in response (and once falling down completely). Ostertag and Hengler are doing a poor job of coverage in the defensive zone. Against both UW and OSU (and both OSU series), the opposition's forwards have roamed around the net without anyone marking them. Roque and Curl ate them alive tonight.

It's not all the defensemen, though. The second period started with a horrific sequence in which Brown and Knowles were out for the entire first three minutes, unable to change. There were a lot of culprits, but the main one was Sarah Potomak, who got the puck with room to skate out of the zone about 45 seconds in, but then opted for a blind backhanded drop pass into the center of the ice where there was nothing but Badgers.

It's particularly frustrating, because all of Minnesota's problems are things that they were doing much better for the first 40% of the season, save that one game in Columbus. The defense has reverted from making quick, decisive short passes out of their own end back to stopping and looking around, then going back behind the net at the first sign of trouble, which only allows Wisconsin to tighten the noose; again, this isn't all on them, because the forwards aren't doing as good a job of making themselves available for outlets.

The passing has deteriorated badly over the last two weeks, until the third period tonight. Potomak's was only the worst example of focusing so much on what they want to happen with a pass that they aren't reading at all where the other team's players are and how they might foil it.

Wethington looks lost out there much of the time. She's trying to do too much on her own, coughs up the puck, and is out of position. As things have started to go badly, it seems like she just grits her teeth and tries harder, making it all about individual effort rather than working within a team game plan. There's a lot of potential there; I'm just hoping it doesn't take an off-season for her to assimilate the lessons so far.

All of this looked a better in the third period, though not as much as one might think based upon the big comeback. A large part of what happened is that the Badger defense isn't really any better the the Gophers' when the opposing forwards seize control. That was true even in the first two periods, but Wisconsin's forwards did a better job of it than Minnesota's for forty minutes. Given that I thought the same thing was true last week against Ohio State, the defensive corps at the top of the WCHA just aren't what we are used to seeing.
Click to expand...

You were doing so well with not being Eeyore this year...;)

I guess he had to come out and play at some point...
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

Still Eeyore said:
The Gophers looked a lot better in The first today. A really good, evenly played period.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately they couldn't carry their better play into the second. Fluke goal that looked like it went in off of Wethington's skate.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

Today's game is frustrating in a completely different way than yesterday's. It's been very evenly played, and could as easily be 2-0 the other way. Norby's two goals have cleared the post by an aggregate of about an inch.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

Still Eeyore said:
Today's game is frustrating in a completely different way than yesterday's. It's been very evenly played, and could as easily be 2-0 the other way. Norby's two goals have cleared the post by an aggregate of about an inch.
Click to expand...
Are we really watching the same game? I'm as big of a homer as anybody but my eyes are telling me that the first two periods have NOT been "very evenly played". Hopefully the Gophers still have some gas in the tank and can mount something resembling a comeback in Period 3. But so far I'm not seeing it anything of the sort. Frustrating!
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

Still Eeyore said:
I'm sitting right behind the net the Gophers shot at twice. It was a better game.
Click to expand...
I could only watch portions of last night's game on my phone, so I can't compare the two. I will say that they played better today in the 3rd period, but they still didn't generate much in the way of close-in scoring opportunities. Credit Wisconsin for playing good team defense.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

Both teams played better today than yesterday. And Minnesota did it with only five defensemen. I hope Knowles isn't out long.
 
Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019/2020 Season Thread

D2D said:
Are we really watching the same game? I'm as big of a homer as anybody but my eyes are telling me that the first two periods have NOT been "very evenly played". Hopefully the Gophers still have some gas in the tank and can mount something resembling a comeback in Period 3. But so far I'm not seeing it anything of the sort. Frustrating!
Click to expand...

I thought a very even game. Badgers got a couple to go, Gophers didn't. That's about all.

(Yay! They fixed the web site)

Adding: Man, these Badger-Gopher games just get played at different speed!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top