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Minnesota hosts Michigan State: 1/31 & 2/1

Relax, you have very little to worry about with sparty. Week their goaltending is superb but that's it....
 
Re: Minnesota hosts Michigan State: 1/31 & 2/1

Driftryder said:
They appealed the Marshall suspension and lost from what it sounds like, so we will be without his services Friday night. We have played with 5 D before, it's not ideal but doable for one game.
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Not surprised...appeals are rarely honored. Marshall's having a bad season. His PP and general scoring is down, PIMs are double his total from last season already and he's made some bad decisions, like the unnecessary hit on Farley. He needs to learn to think "team" and play a lot cooler and smarter, rather than get caught up in the moment. So now he can sit and think about it. We'll be fine with 5 D.
 
Re: Minnesota hosts Michigan State: 1/31 & 2/1

mnstate0fhockey said:
Heard two weeks. Would suck if it's really 3-4. Where did you hear that Scooby?
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I heard that too. tDon was talking about having replay for major penalties and he then mentioned Brodzinski would be out 3-4, well we play 3 weeks then have a bye week. So he probably won't be back until after the bye week against Penn State on Feb 28th.
 
Driftryder said:
I heard that too. tDon was talking about having replay for major penalties and he then mentioned Brodzinski would be out 3-4, well we play 3 weeks then have a bye week. So he probably won't be back until after the bye week against Penn State on Feb 28th.
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Bummer. Thanks for the info.
 
Re: Minnesota hosts Michigan State: 1/31 & 2/1

It appears MSU has a new theme song for their 2013-14 hockey season: “We will…We will…BLOCK you” (sorry couldn’t resist it ;)). The only claim to fame for MSU amidst another rollercoaster season under Tom Anastos is their current #2 NCAA ranking (Holy Cross is #1 by .01) of 18 blocked shots per game (Gophers/#42). That was clearly evident in the first meeting of these two teams, where Sparty blocked 24 and the Gophers only 5. As a result, Sparty’s block shot tirade this season has translated into a #18 NCAA ranking in fewest goals against per game at 2.43 (Gophers are #3/2.04). Another aspect of MSU’s game the Gophers will see a lot of this weekend is shot attempts and SOG. In their first game of the series in December (a tie with MSU winning the shootout), MSU attempted a whopping 95 shots (Gophers/91) with 33 of them landing on net.

Overall, Sparty matches up fairly well with the Gophers with surprising team speed, physicality, a good transition game, and aggressive/heads up D that will attempt to keep shots on the perimeter by blocking a ton of shots. The talented freshman line of Ebbing, MacEachern and Haag have wheels and I expect this line to swarm the Gopher net and present another challenge for Wilcox to be his typical stellar-self this weekend. MSU is led by goal scoring leaders and upperclassmen, Greg Wolfe and Micheal Ferrantino, and both have the ability to get up and down the ice with good speed. Sophomore goalie Jake Hildebrand has played surprising well, despite MSU’s losing record of 8-12-3, with a 92.7 SV% (Wilcox/92.9 SV%).

MSU is coming off a disappointing sweep at home by Michigan, but kept it close in the first game losing with just over 2 min. left. Anastos was visibly ticked off afterwards and sounded off on his team’s poor play:

“I didn’t like our approach to the game. I felt it earlier in the day. I didn’t like it. It’s best that I’m careful what I say so that I don’t say too many stupid things, but we’ve got to grow up. You get humbled in your own building. You’ve got to take pride wearing that jersey representing the people you represent and it takes 100 percent commitment 100 percent of the time. We played a really good team who was ready to play, hungry to play, and they were hungrier to play than us – and that’s unacceptable. If you lose because you’re out-talented, that’s one thing, but if you’re not ready, that’s totally within your control and that’s on me to make sure that me and our staff find guys that are all in and tonight I didn’t feel we had that, and that’s bothersome to me.”
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Anastos is hoping his verbal spanking pays dividends this weekend. I expect he'll have his players tuned and primed for battle from the puck drop, and attempt to match the Gopher's intensity and speed on offense while putting lots of pucks on net. If Hildebrand finds his zone in net this weekend, and MSU can find some consistency on offense...game on man and the Gophers will need to be prepared for a physical battle. Bottom line: with some tougher B1G series coming up with the BADgers and Uglies, we NEED these points this weekend. Go Gophers! RAH! :)
 
Re: Minnesota hosts Michigan State: 1/31 & 2/1

Brodzinski being out is too bad. He has one of those shots that isn't blistering, but low and easy to deflect. Always seems to find a way through. A good asset against a defensive team like MSU.
 
Re: Minnesota hosts Michigan State: 1/31 & 2/1

This series will showcase two of the top goalies in the nation. Jake Hildebrand was named Big Ten first star twice in the past 4 weeks. He was honored January 20 after he stopped 77/79 SOG in the two game series with the Penn St. and previously on December 31, 2013. Both he and Adam Wilcox are Hobey Baker Nominees this season. Currently, Adam Wilcox is trailing frontrunners Johnny Gaudreau of BC, Ryan Faragher of SCSU, Ben Hutton of Maine and Union's Shayne Gostisbehere by about 4000-5000 votes. Vote Adam Wilcox for the 2014 Hobey Baker Award >>> HERE.
 
Re: Minnesota hosts Michigan State: 1/31 & 2/1

To all of you Gopher fans who are not going to the game tonight:

Since the men's game doesn't start until 8:00pm you might want to turn your TV set on an hour early and catch part of the Gopher women's game against North Dakota.

'Extra fire' on both sides of Gophers-UND women's hockey rivalry
http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/242870371.html

They are on Fox College Sports Central (FCSC), which at least on my Comcast package (Twin Cities) is Channel 263.
 
Re: Minnesota hosts Michigan State: 1/31 & 2/1

D2D said:
To all of you Gopher fans who are not going to the game tonight:

Since the men's game doesn't start until 8:00pm you might want to turn your TV set on an hour early and catch part of the Gopher women's game against North Dakota.

'Extra fire' on both sides of Gophers-UND women's hockey rivalry
http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/242870371.html

They are on Fox College Sports Central (FCSC), which at least on my Comcast package (Twin Cities) is Channel 263.
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Good news! Thanks for the tip.
 
Re: Minnesota hosts Michigan State: 1/31 & 2/1

I am already tired of the shoot out Its so lame. I wish the NHL never started it.
 
Re: Minnesota hosts Michigan State: 1/31 & 2/1

What is it with you guys and sparty? Granted, you technically haven't lost to them but still...
 
Re: Minnesota hosts Michigan State: 1/31 & 2/1

I had a feeling Sparty would steal some points this weekend. We have to clean up our turnovers in the defensive zone.
 
Re: Minnesota hosts Michigan State: 1/31 & 2/1

Another B1G game, another with no intensity out of the Gophers at all. Save for the last minute of regulation and OT, I suppose.
 
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