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Minnesota Gophers 2021-2022

ARM said:
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.
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Frost would not, but neither would Coach Muzz.

There are many reasons. But the first that comes to mind is that for a team to win, the strength of the team must exceed the sum of its parts. Developing team identity and team chemistry are key elements of that strength. Do the players understand what the coaches are trying to accomplish? Are they buying in? Once the process is underway, coaches have a great deal invested in their current players.

Also, as time goes on, pre-college credentials matter less and less. Team performance is everything. A three ring binder detailing the past accomplishments of the players would be an interesting read, but wouldn't guarantee future performance.

Obviously this conversation is just hypothetical & recreational. But even as a parlor game, a coach wouldn't make this "deal" unless there was a major talent gap between two programs. Focusing strictly on the here and now, there isn't a major talent gap between the Gophers and the Buckeyes.

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.
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You can make a reasonable case for all of the above.

This weekend was wonderful from a Buckeye perspective. But it's just two data points, with the large majority of the season still to be played. Players will have many more opportunities to make plays. Coaches will have many more opportunities to make shrewd coaching moves. I'm just saying that the remaining match-ups in 2021-22 won't be determined by a talent gap. Thank goodness.
 
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pgb-ohio said:
This weekend was wonderful from a Buckeye perspective. But it's just two data points, with the large majority of the season still to be played. Players will have many more opportunities to make plays. Coaches will have many more opportunities to make shrewd coaching moves. I'm just saying that the remaining match-ups in 2021-22 won't be determined by a talent gap. Thank goodness.
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Don’t get me wrong, OSU is not my favorite team and I am not here to promote them, but I think you’re being too modest. They’ll sweep the Gophers again in Ohio. I see them winning 2 of 4 against WI and 3 of 4 against UMD. I could see a surprise loss of 1 game to Mankato when they play there in Feb. (I think that based on the MSU win over UMD Saturday and that the OSU goalie I believe will miss that series for the Olympics.) That’s a total of 4 regular season losses.

I’m curious about the future of the OSU program however. Muzz’s “all in to win this year” has left her with only 2 freshmen on the roster and what I have to believe is a damaged recruiting reputation as she let other recruits this year go to make room for the transfers.
 
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Offsides Guy said:
I'm curious about the future of the OSU program however. Muzz’s “all in to win this year” has left her with only 2 freshmen on the roster and what I have to believe is a damaged recruiting reputation as she let other recruits this year go to make room for the transfers.
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A quick peek looks like they loose 4D and 6F and return 5 D and 6 F.
 
Line sheet is up…

With Emily Oden back, we look like we have four lines that should be good.
Vetter isn’t on the line sheet or the scratches?
 
KTDC...Nice to see you posting. Seems like many of the Gopher posters are in hibernation.

Pretty good opening period for the Gophers with some puck luck so Minnesota leads 2-0 after 1 period.
 
The Gophers trying to pass the puck is just painful to watch.

The Gophers may not score a powerplay goal this year. They are that bad.

A little puck luck went UMD's way and they get one back...2-1 Minnesota after 2 periods.
 
If we are going to keep skating three lines, I would expect to be see Emma Conner start playing for Skaja, and Audrey moving to the right side.
 
KTDC said:
If we are going to keep skating three lines, I would expect to be see Emma Conner start playing for Skaja, and Audrey moving to the right side.
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I don't understand skating only 3 lines with the amount of forwards they have..

Gophers win 3-1 but this seemed more about how UMD played which was not very good.
 
As you suggested, UMD won period 2 but that’s it. I was surprised the bulldogs looked as raggedy as they did. Still a good win for the gophers. It’s wins like this early that can be important to your ranking at the end of the season. If Duluth does a Jekyll and Hyde act like they did against Kato last weekend, I could easily see a split.
 
I thought the Gophers played pretty well. I too want to see Conner but for me Skaja played plenty well enough to retain her spot. I liked that third line actually. They saw a lot of time against the Dogs top three and generally held their own. Huber is on her way to being sensational. The return of Oden to the line up made a huge difference, she is a top flight talent.

The teams were closely matched and in games between teams that close you have to have your goaler play at least as well as the person the other team has in net or you are not going to win. Tonight Bench was as good or better than Soderberg. Last weekend neither one of the Gopher netminders could carry Brandli's water.
 
ManBehindTheCurtin...Same as what I said to KTDC. Good to see you posting again.

Enjoy seeing input from the Gopher faithful. Always good to hear some additional input on what was seen in the game.
 
Thanks FiveHole. I see that the morning newspaper and GopherSports.com have credited the Gopher's first goal to AWeth(ington). That goal happened right in front of me and I saw no deflection, looked like Hemp all the way to me. Have they posted that on Twitter or someplace so I can look at it again?

Edit: Never mind. I am watching the replay on BigTen+. Totally Wethington. She was moving away from the goal at the time however and that movement tricked my eye.
 
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UMD leads 3-1 after 1 period. They look much better today.

Minnesota...Had two penalties and gave up two power play goals. Cheese and rice this team is so bad on special teams
 
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