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Minnesota Gophers 2021-2022

F

FiveHoleFrenzy

Well-known member
27 rostered players, 9 of them newcomers. 14 forwards, 9 Defensemen, 4 goalies. Two of their best players centralized on the USA roster. Major changes on the coaching staff.

I can't remember approaching a season (a little more than 2 weeks away) with less "buzz" than this year. Seems like they are maybe the 3rd or possibly the 4th best team in the WCHA and could very well be a lower half of the top ten teams in the country. Very unfamiliar territory for them and quite frankly, I don't find much about them to dispute that. They have question marks in net and questions about how well their defensemen hold up against a relentless forecheck. Their forward group should be pretty good but they were out-worked in a number of games last year.

I guess we will find out pretty quickly in that first series 10/1 and 10/2 about what this squad will look like this year.
 
Add the coaching staff to the list of unknowns, at least in terms of how this trio functions as a unit. I agree with previous comments that the dynamic of the previous staff had seemingly gotten stale, so I view this change as the positive.

In net, it is hard to be a contender w/o a goalie who is at least in the conversation for All-WCHA and above. Peters and Gulstene were at times, but UM really hasn't consistently been there since Lev's era. Hopefully, Vetter can perform to her pedigree.

The D should be a strength, but for whatever reason, they weren't last year. Will another year, new names on the depth chart, a healthier #6, and new coaching help? I hope so.

Forwards, yes, we're missing people due to centralization. However, there is still a lot of talent/upside to this group. From seniors on down, there is promise that needs to be fulfilled.

This group could win it all or not make the tournament, and I wouldn't be shocked by either outcome. I don't remember being all that optimistic in advance of the 2011-12 season after the meltdowns in the postseason in 2011, so one never knows.
 
Even with the unknowns with Minnesota's team this season I don't feel comfortable making any predictions for their opening series with Ohio State. Hockey is hockey and the Gophers will have home ice and if Ohio State wants any wins this series they'll have to work hard to earn it. Minnesota isn't going to give anyone anything.
 
Hockeybuckeye said:
Even with the unknowns with Minnesota's team this season I don't feel comfortable making any predictions for their opening series with Ohio State. Hockey is hockey and the Gophers will have home ice and if Ohio State wants any wins this series they'll have to work hard to earn it. Minnesota isn't going to give anyone anything.
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I am comfortable predicting a Buckeye sweep.
 
I'm somewhere in the middle of the above predictions. Really too many unknowns to predict the outcome with any degree of accuracy. But I would agree that on balance the Buckeyes should be considered the favorites to sweep this series so early in the season. Hoping for a split...
 
D2D said:
I'm somewhere in the middle of the above predictions. Really too many unknowns to predict the outcome with any degree of accuracy. But I would agree that on balance the Buckeyes should be considered the favorites to sweep this series so early in the season. Hoping for a split...
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The way I see it - until proven otherwise - OSU has a considerable edge in coaching, goaltending, and defense, and a slight edge at the forward position due to their depth.
 
Hockeybuckeye said:
I will say our graduate transfer DeGeorge was definitely a force on the ice for us last weekend.
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It is not a surprise that Claire DeGeorge is better than anyone that St. Thomas has.

OSU is likely the favorite, but I'm not sure why they should be. I think that if Muzzy had the option of trading her roster for Minnesota's roster, she would make that trade, and I'm sure that Frost would not. The edge in the last couple of years has largely come down to a) OSU has outcoached Minnesota; b) OSU's top line has been the best line on the ice; c) OSU's goaltending has been more consistent than UM's has been. We'll have to see about a) this season, but OSU doesn't have the same top line, and there is reason to hope that UM's goaltending will be improved.

I'll go with a split.
 
We will see what kind of home support shows up for Minnesota. Total foulup on tickets out to supporters. Phone lines jammed, so no way to contact a real person to sort out the mess. Pretty disappointing.
 
Steamboat said:
We will see what kind of home support shows up for Minnesota. Total foulup on tickets out to supporters. Phone lines jammed, so no way to contact a real person to sort out the mess. Pretty disappointing.
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There were similar things being said/reported by Minnesota volleyball season ticket holders about ten days or so (at the "volleytalk" web site), and then later the same day it all started working. It would be odd for the fix to happen on a sport-by-sport or team-by-team basis, but...
 
Any of you making it back to ridder for the first time in forever tonight? Have fun! Very curious to see what the crowds look like.
 
Lindsay said:
Any of you making it back to ridder for the first time in forever tonight? Have fun! Very curious to see what the crowds look like.
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I will be there if my phone allows it! There is an option to have the ticket office print the season out for you. We will see how this goes tonight.
 
Another loss to OSU...I believe the Muzzinator now has a winning record against the Gophers. Someone somewhere on the Maroon and Gold side of things should be offended by that...I know I am.
 
Minnesota certainly had their chances this game and as I mentioned before DeGeorge was a force for us last weekend and she was in the right places at the right times for us tonight as well.
We shall see what tomorrow's game brings.
 
Notes from the front row:Lot for season ticket parking passes was a cluster. Only 1 gate open to start, and traffic quickly backed up. Really bogus that someone in Gopher Athletic Dept. instituted a new system, didn't test it, and didn't warn the customers that there was going to be issues with getting into the lot. Slightly easier time getting into the arena to discover that there were no programs. Evidently that will be a print at home and bring your own option.
Blasting hiphop and rock music from low quality speakers is sure to sooth those ticket holders who managed to fight through the other obstacles. And one of the mens rest rooms had water squirting out whenever the urinals were flushed. Maintenance people said that no use for two years caused the seals to dry out, so units got taped off.
And finally a new announcer replaced Rick, the fixture at the mic for years, for the purpose of jazzing up the crowd. Maybe the wrestling circuit didn't need him anymore, but he seems a little over the top for a women's hockey game.
Numerous Gopher alumni in the stands, including Grace Zumwinkle and Lee Stecklein. Too bad about the result. The Gophers had chances, especially in the first period, but ultimately played like a team that hadn't had a real game for a long time. And Ludwig seemed to finally find something that he could penalize, mostly on the Gophers.
So a good time was had by all. Or at least the Ohio State fans that showed up for the Gopher home opener.
 
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