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Minnesota Gophers 2021-2022

used2lurk said:
Jungels to Wisconsin on Insta tonight...Vivian. Many in MN think she is the frontrunner for Ms Hockey and the best 2022 D in the state.

Was the D situation going to be complicated next season?
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In their last two games, the Gopher coaches did something I don’t remember seeing before. Because they have four goalies, and because only three are allowed to suit up on the bench, there always is one spending game day sitting in the stands. For those two games, though, they had the fourth G dress as a skater and listed her as a fourth line wing. This allowed her to spend the game on the bench with her teammates. That reminded me that the coaches are as concerned about the players’ game day experience as the players are. I would guess they hate telling any player that her game day will consist of a seat in the stands. That has been a problem for them this year, since there are 25 players on the team and only 22 can be on the bench.

Fortunately (unfortunately?), only 3 of these players will use up their eligibility. Next year’s team will have 22 returning players plus two freshman and two returning national team players, giving them 3 G, 7 D, and 16 F. If the player who elicited your question had signed her NLI with the Gophers, she would have been the eighth D and twenty seventh team member. Let’s assume that next season the team suits up 3 G, 8 D, and 11 F. Once you slot in 7 fifth year F and one second year national team F, you have 3 spots for the remaining 8 F, only one of which is a freshman. Safe to say, it will be a rare game that sees more than 6 D suiting up next year.

I am sure that as the coaching staff communicates with their recruits, one of their objectives is to manage expectations. After all, these recruits are used to being on the ice for 75% of the time or more for their high school teams and they will not get that level of use in college. For the Gophers next year, there is every likelihood that the recruits will spend 75% of their games sitting in the stands. Who knows if it was a coach or the player who suggested reopening her recruitment, but it ends up being a win-win for both. True, the player gives up her dream of playing for the Gophers, but she does get the ice time she wants. For the Gophers, the coaching staff has one less player sitting in the stands.



 
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In case no one has heard yet, the exhibition game with the Whitecaps scheduled for Tuesday has been cancelled. Covid was cited as the reason, with no plans to reschedule. Seeing how the Whitecaps season is going, it would have been more helpful to them than to the Gophers. I always loved seeing those two teams tangle. Maybe next season?
 
Per some guy named Chris Dilks, former UW/Bob Morris player Kyleigh Hanzlik is now a rodent. She is listed as a RS Sr. Does UM have a shortage of F's or something? UW could use a D in return.
 
Timothy A said:
Per some guy named Chris Dilks, former UW/Bob Morris player Kyleigh Hanzlik is now a rodent. She is listed as a RS Sr. Does UM have a shortage of F's or something? UW could use a D in return.
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I was happy to see her getting ice time for Robt Morris, and glad to cheer for her there. That all gets much harder to do with this revolting development! (Daffy Duck, BTW)

Kidding, of course. Glad to see her land somewhere, before her time to play runs out. She's had little good luck in her 'career'.
 
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Timothy A said:
Per some guy named Chris Dilks, former UW/Bob Morris player Kyleigh Hanzlik is now a rodent. She is listed as a RS Sr. Does UM have a shortage of F's or something? UW could use a D in return.
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Others with longer and more complete memories will have to answer this one: first player to play for both teams?
 
robertearle said:
... first player to play for both teams?
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Good question; I don't remember anyone, although there have been sisters who have gone on either side of the border. Of course, she hasn't played yet. I'm assuming that the WCHA transfer rule is still in effect and Tella J. will have to sit out once she gets to Madison (if that's where she's bound), but again, no guarantee that she'll ever play.
 
ARM said:
Good question; I don't remember anyone, although there have been sisters who have gone on either side of the border. Of course, she hasn't played yet. I'm assuming that the WCHA transfer rule is still in effect and Tella J. will have to sit out once she gets to Madison (if that's where she's bound), but again, no guarantee that she'll ever play.
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WI has 12 F next year plus SS is eligible to come back, so there would be slim pickings for playing time for Tella if she was heading in the right direction.

So with the transfer portal you can go anywhere but league rules can still make you sit out? I assumed the having to wait a year thing was dead.
 
Timothy A said:
I assumed the having to wait a year thing was dead.
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I don't know for sure, but the transfer portal is an NCAA process, while the sit-a-year rule came from the WCHA. Maybe transfers can now play, but only in 3-on-3 OTs!
 
ARM said:
I don't know for sure, but the transfer portal is an NCAA process, while the sit-a-year rule came from the WCHA. Maybe transfers can now play, but only in 3-on-3 OTs!
Click to expand...

And on an even numbered day with a full moon. Crazy right?!
 
Less than three hours til puck drop and they still haven’t announced a postponement or cancellation. Let’s play hockey:cool::)!!
 
Anyone know why we were missing two regulars? Dan didn't elaborate on the telecast.
 
No, but I think it was three. Emily Brown, Emily Oden, and Olivia Knowles.

Josey Dunne wasn’t out there either. Seems some of this, at least, has to be covid.
 
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At 3:26 Minnesota Women's Hockey tweeted projected lines. 3:26 is about 4 minutes before the team hits the ice for pregame warmups. Knowles was not listed on the projection tweet but both Oden and Brown were listed. Neither of those two appeared for warmups and neither played. Conner got most of the time in place of Oden on the second line with Huber moving to center. They tried to go with only four defense but eventually shifted Audrey Wethington back to be a fifth with both Tatur and Hanzlik getting shifts in her place on the Potomak line.

So no Brown, no Oden, no Knowles, no Ostertag, no Dunne, no Jungels, apparently no problem.

Probably also worth noting that Joel Johnson did not appear to be in the building.
 
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Report is Ostertag is out for the year. Huge loss in my book. I hope she comes back. She missed a lot of last year also.

Jungels is gone through transfer portal.
 
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