Minnesota Gophers Season Thread: 2014-2015

[HarleyMC]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread: 2014-2015

Was probably top three for me for scary plays that I saw at the time they happened.

Just watched the video. Hard hit by Matt Martin of the Islanders, but IMO not a penalty. Ballard turned in an attempt to avoid a frontal collision and his face was smashed against the dasher. I always hated the full face shield, fogs up and obviously can breathe better with a half. But here's another example of how it can prevent serious injury. VIDEO.

 

[HarleyMC]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread: 2014-2015

Another classic Reusse rant :

The six-team Big Ten Conference is a joke. Ask any regular at Mariucci Arena about the Big Ten and 90 percent will say, “I hate it.’’ The few defenders will say, “If and when they add a couple more teams, it will be better.’’ No it won’t. My grandkids aren’t going to live long enough to care about the Gophers playing Ohio State, Penn State, Illinois and Nebraska in hockey. There’s nothing there; never will be. Did the Gophers even bother to skate around with the trophy after winning the first full-season Big Ten title last March? The entire drama of U of M hockey is now dropping the puck in October and waiting for the regional to which the Gophers are assigned in late March, with nothing but yawns in between. Source: http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/285229731.html

 

[Bonin21]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread: 2014-2015

Hyperbole, but nothing in that paragraph made me want to argue against it.

 

[gopher wes]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread: 2014-2015

And continuously complaining about it will obviously change it back to the way things were right?

 

[firstpusk]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread: 2014-2015

People still read Reusse? Really? Life is too short...

 

[HarleyMC]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread: 2014-2015

And continuously complaining about it will obviously change it back to the way things were right?

Hit a nerve...eh? On a positive note, the Gophers might be the first team to start a B1G college hockey dynasty!

 

[mnstate0fhockey]

People still read Reusse? Really? Life is too short...

Bingo!

 

[D2D]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread: 2014-2015

People still read Reusse? Really? Life is too short...

He's pretty knowledgeable when it comes to baseball. He likes basketball too, but I have no way to judge how knowledgeable he is because I don't follow it and have never liked it. Football, not an X's and O's guy at all, so he mainly resorts to scandals and making fun of anyyone connected to the game who screws up. Hockey? Forget it, he's never liked it and knows next to nothing about it. He naively thinks the Gophers should win the national championship every year. Unless it's a personal story, one that could be written about an athlete in any sport, don't waste your time.

 

[HarleyMC]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread: 2014-2015

Hyperbole, but nothing in that paragraph made me want to argue against it.

Not sure if Reusse caught a stray puck in the head one night or what, but he always seems to be negative and cynical when writing about Gopher Hockey. I have to agree though I think there's still some fallout from the switch to the B1G in a lot of fan's minds. I guess I would be in the "wait 'til they add more teams" camp. Besides the Gophers, the league is still competitive with Mich. and Penn St. as contenders for the B1G title this season. But I really miss the old WCHA Final Five tourney.

 

[state of hockey]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread: 2014-2015

My interest hasn't really fallen, I still love this team. It is still my favorite team. Now that the Wild have dropped the incredibly boring style of play they were famous for, they have been catching up. But, they will never surpass the Gophers.

It has definitely killed my interest here, though.

 

[captain beefheart]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread: 2014-2015

Not sure if Reusse caught a stray puck in the head one night or what, but he always seems to be negative and cynical when writing about Gopher Hockey. I have to agree though I think there's still some fallout from the switch to the B1G in a lot of fan's minds. I guess I would be in the "wait 'til they add more teams" camp. Besides the Gophers, the league is still competitive with Mich. and Penn St. as contenders for the B1G title this season. But I really miss the old WCHA Final Five tourney.

Someone had the audacity to suggest that college hockey is more interesting than baseball or basketball and he has never gotten over it. What a putz.

 

[captain beefheart]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread: 2014-2015

My interest hasn't really fallen, I still love this team. It is still my favorite team. Now that the Wild have dropped the incredibly boring style of play they were famous for, they have been catching up. But, they will never surpass the Gophers.

It has definitely killed my interest here, though.

Ding ding.

 

[Nowheresville]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread: 2014-2015

I'm not going to argue at all that the oWCHA was vastly superior to the B1G in a lot of ways, especially when it came to rivalries, but what I am beyond sick of is how the B1G has become the new scapegoat for anything and everything people are unhappy about with Gopher Hockey.

A game isn't on TV, it must be B1G's fault - nevermind that it is changes at FSN, and more out of conference games that are the much bigger issue at hand.

Games aren't automatically on at 7 on Friday/Saturday, must be the B1G. Yes, the B1G has some degree of blame for this, but that's mostly 8pm Friday games because of BTN that many people actually like, and 6pm games because of playing more games in the Eastern Time Zone. At least for the home games, the biggest issue with the non-traditional Saturday/Sunday afternoon games has been linked to having a football stadium across the street, especially with the Vikings now playing there as well.

So yes, if you ask people at Mariucci about the B1G, 90% will say that they hate it, and yes there are some valid reasons to dislike it, especially compared to the oWCHA. I don't think you'll ever see the B1G have the same kind of magic that the WCHA could bring, especially with the Final Five. But if you actually dig down and ask people why they hate the B1G, half of the responses you'll get actually have very little to do with being in a new conference.

 

[Greyeagle]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread: 2014-2015

Why I am not a big fan of the B1G: Beyond tradition the B1G takes away the regional aspect.

 

[D2D]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread: 2014-2015

Why I am not a big fan of the B1G: Beyond tradition the B1G takes away the regional aspect.

The Gophers play 9 games against Minnesota teams this season, plus four against Wisconsin. That's plenty of "regional" games I think, it's just that most are not against teams in the same conference. While chasing after conference titles might help make better rivalries, one could argue that there's still a lot at stake when the Gophers play any of those other Minnesota-based teams from the standpoint of trying to prove which conference is stronger. And then you still have many of the kids on those other teams wanting to show that they're every bit as good as the Gopher players (many of whom know each other from youth and high school) so that's still a factor in raising the intensity level compared to many other non-conference games.

 

[4four4]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread: 2014-2015

This BiG thing is going to take time. Currently, playing the Minnesota teams are boring especially with nothing on the line but bragging rights. The BiG is boring and in my opinion it's going to take some time for it to change.

 

[Hammy]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread: 2014-2015

I rarely read Reusse these days. Maybe once in a blue moon. His column topics often don't interest me and I also grew bored with the negativity/cynicism that he tends to revel in.

He may be right about the B1G in the long haul... but he could just as easily be wrong. He has no crystal ball that gives him any greater clarity than anybody else. So his definitive statement on the topic is easily shrugged off.

The reality is most (rational) people have said from the beginning that it is going to take time to develop the intensity/rivalries within the league. It was never going to happen overnight.

 

[Greyeagle]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread: 2014-2015

This BiG thing is going to take time. Currently, playing the Minnesota teams are boring especially with nothing on the line but bragging rights. The BiG is boring and in my opinion it's going to take some time for it to change.

This.
You said it far better than I.

 

[Koho]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread: 2014-2015

This BiG thing is going to take time. Currently, playing the Minnesota teams are boring especially with nothing on the line but bragging rights. The BiG is boring and in my opinion it's going to take some time for it to change.

Given the poor quality of most of the B1G teams this year, it may take even longer for it to seem anywhere near as exciting as the WCHA was if they don't improve soon. I hate to admit it, but this year seems to me to be all about just getting to the NCAA tourney, and the most of the games feel like filler. Even when they had teams that felt like they were contenders, just about every game in the WCHA seemed to have more significance and I felt much more anticipation. On the other hand, this long break seems just as bad as always....

BTW, can someone tell me if back in the 80's and 90's they had this long of a break over the holidays? I can't remember and too lazy to look, but someone asked me and I couldn't answer.

 

[D2D]

Re: Minnesota Gophers Season Thread: 2014-2015

BTW, can someone tell me if back in the 80's and 90's they had this long of a break over the holidays? I can't remember and too lazy to look, but someone asked me and I couldn't answer.

The near month-long December break in the schedule is relatively recent; it used to be way shorter. Even as recently as 10 years ago (2004-05) it was just 11 days: http://www.gophersports.com/sports/m-hockey/archive/minn-m-hockey-sched-04-05.html