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Minnesota Gophers 2024-25

ManBehindTheCurtain said:
I just want to start a thread so that when ARM has something to post that will be of interest to us there is somewhere for him to do it.
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I will get this started. There was talk here during the offseason about how Brad Frost would overplay his top players, not utilizing his bench strength, and leaving the team gassed by the end of a game. I will point out, as I have done before, that his assistant coaches played an important part of the game planning. When Nadine Muzerall was here, she was the one doing the pep talk during the pressure moments at the end of a big game. Then Joel Johnson and Bethany Brausen move across the river. Ouch!
Minnesota has a lot of successes to point to. But success is from a team effort, and the coach is one part of that team. I suggest that the support staff around a coach can supplement strengths, and compensate for inadequacies. That said, we can start the conversation again about who the best coach is in a given year.
 
Ditra said:
So if the team underperforms is Muzerall headed back to the Twin Cities?
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Nadine can likely go anywhere she wants to. She has proven herself on the national stage. Her upper limit is whatever she sets her mind to achieve. She was a great player, a great assistant coach, and is proving herself to be a great coach in her own right. For the naysayers on this site that look at her portal raidings as the cause of her success, I say that the coach picks the pieces and molds them into the team she wants on the ice. Her success has been earned. I never expect to see her behind the Gopher bench at Ridder, but would celebrate should that day ever come.
 
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Steamboat said:
Nadine can likely go anywhere she wants to. She has proven herself on the national stage. Her upper limit is whatever she sets her mind to achieve. She was a great player, a great assistant coach, and is proving herself to be a great coach in her own right. For the naysayers on this site that look at her portal raidings as the cause of her success, I say that the coach picks the pieces and molds them into the team she wants on the ice. Her success has been earned. I never expect to see her behind the Gopher bench at Ridder, but would celebrate should that day ever come.
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Team Canada Olympic coach for 2026?!
 
Ditra said:
So if the team underperforms is Muzerall headed back to the Twin Cities?
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I do think so, but I think it would be one of those under the table things where Frosty isn't given a heat lamp unless Muzzy has signed on the dotted line.

Their recruiting class this year is the best it's been in a long time. C Prime + Ms Sassy Pants = a scant handful of losses.
 
Timothy A said:
I do think so, but I think it would be one of those under the table things where Frosty isn't given a heat lamp unless Muzzy has signed on the dotted line.

Their recruiting class this year is the best it's been in a long time. C Prime + Ms Sassy Pants = a scant handful of losses.
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That was my point. Seems like they went all in to make a push. If it doesn't happen is it because of the coach more than the players at this point?
 
It would be odd to think in terms of firing a college coach, in part, because he brought in great players. Minnesota's previous national-championship drought dragged on in large part due to an inability to beat two programs when it mattered most: Wisconsin and UMD. Now, the two highest hurdles are Wisconsin and Ohio State. Yes, they've lost twice to the fighting nurses in the NCAAs during this slump, but I didn't see either of those Gopher teams being on the brink of a title. At least not as close as they were in 2019 or 2023. The Frost era will definitely continue if Minnesota can reestablish itself as more of a Frozen Four constant, even if the Gophers don't earn the big trophy.

MBTC, not saying this post will be of interest to anyone, but thanks for the thread!
 
Not that anyone seems interested, but for the sake of bumping this thread back to page 1...

Noticed that the current tunneler roster has 9 (possibly 10 in you count Franco) D on it. It will be interesting (or not) to see who gets playing time.
 
The Gophers are going to be very, very good, assuming Murphy stays healthy and un-suspended.

At D, I would assume:

High skill, borderline elite - Laitinen, Primerano, Morrow
Second tier elite - Graham
Solid and experienced - Nicholson, Parkkonen
Do any of the rest stand a chance to play over those 6 barring injury? The two first years - seems like no chance (this year or next). Klepinger over Nicholson or Parkkonen? Seems unlikely?
 
PuckLover said:
The Gophers are going to be very, very good, assuming Murphy stays healthy and un-suspended.

At D, I would assume:

High skill, borderline elite - Laitinen, Primerano, Morrow
Second tier elite - Graham
Solid and experienced - Nicholson, Parkkonen
Do any of the rest stand a chance to play over those 6 barring injury? The two first years - seems like no chance (this year or next). Klepinger over Nicholson or Parkkonen? Seems unlikely?
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Correct. This will be a very good Gopher team. This defensive group will be tough to crack and will be one of the better groups in the country. Franco will most likely be given the opportunity to earn time as a forward.
Talent on the offensive side is strong as well. This will be a much deeper group this year. Should be less reliant on a couple of skaters. The two freshmen provide speed and skill, but may need to wait their turn as the season gets started. Ml?nkov? is a big pick up as well.
Overall, Gopher fans should be optimistic about this year and probably next. Wisconsin definitely has the edge, but OSU, while talented, is awfully thin in my opinion. The season should be fun to watch.
 
Appreciate the responses PuckLover and mavworldmsg.

There will be some tough decisions for who gets playing time on D. They are solid in net with Vetter and the newcomer Clark. They should be able to use 4 lines if the coaching staff allows that. Sure hope they do as they have the talent to do so.
 
With breathless anticipation, Gopher fans awaited the start of another season, too excited for their fingers even to venture near their keyboards.

Go Gophers!
 
UM scores on its first three shots of the game just over five minutes in. After that, it was even on the scoreboard, and ended 4-1. Hopefully, they tired Tia Chan out enough to prevent her from being a wall tomorrow.
 
espn+ a complete disaster, the last half of the game was not available technical difficulties. Fortunately an excellent audio call available on gophersports.com. I didn't see most of it but it was still an enjoyable gameday.

Go Gophers.
 
Today the stream worked so I got the kind of look at the Gophers that you get on a stream, which is to say you can see whatever the camera people point at, the problem being that you can't really see much that way. Gophers dominated in shots but Connecticut has two good goalies and the one they used today came out of the chute red hot and pretty much stayed that way. Connecticut scored first, it took until the Gophers first shot of the third period to get even and then Connecticut scored on the very next shot. The Vermont transfer forward looks good enough to be the player of the year in the Big East, partly, of course, because she was last season. She finally got Minnesota even and the game went to 3 on 3 overtime.

Murphy.

Gophers win 3-2

It was entertaining and now I want a chance to see them in person.
 
I think we are all going to like Primerano. Still only 17, she already has a presence and obvious skills. I also liked one of the other Canadian frosh, Gracie Graham. And how about that, three Canadian freshmen on the roster. Mlynakova and Parkkonen, the Vermont transfers are also going to be very welcome additions. Very interesting first look.
 
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