Minnesota hosts Penn State: 3/13 & 3/14

[Jaws]

Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 3/13 & 3/14

Would never happen if most fans and posters here hadn't lost at least some faith - and dare I say interest - based on recent disappointing results. Over the years we Gopher fans have become used to winning. And with this year's squad the expectations were unusually high, and justifiably so. When you look at all the active threads, here on USCHO, on teams that perennially have losing records, you see fans hoping/praying for a turn-around. It makes you kind of realize how spoiled we've become. When a talent-laden team fails to meet the expectations of its fan base it's only natural that many of those fans will fall off the bandwagon, and maybe that at least partially explains why this game thread had fallen to the 2nd page.[/QUOTE]

This.

 

[5mn_Major]

Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 3/13 & 3/14

Harley...good work. Not to go all nerdy on your ***.

But, I'd say you're a little rosy on your Gopher stats. Pure and simple, the Gophers have swept just 2 of the last 6 home stands. And those include OSU, UW, MI, MSU, Merrimack and the U18 team. Not that they're all terrible teams...but that they are not dissimilar to PSU. So to put MN's odds of a sweep at 3:1 IMO is optimistic.

Even so, if we take your numbers...odds of getting both a 2:1 split in MI and a 3:1 sweep in MN is...the spreadsheet please...exactly 50%. If the odds of a MN sweep are 50%, our odds drop to one in three. I agree, the Gophers have a decent chance...but I still think its probably south of 50/50.

 

[5mn_Major]

Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 3/13 & 3/14

Everyone loves CHODR. So here are the forecasts for the upcoming B1G games:

Friday, March 13:
Michigan 2.70 at Michigan State 2.49
Penn State 2.80 at Minnesota 4.15
Ohio State 3.30 at Wisconsin 2.31

Saturday, March 14:
Michigan State 2.26 at Michigan 2.97
Penn State 2.80 at Minnesota 4.15
Ohio State 3.30 at Wisconsin 2.31

http://it.stlawu.edu/~chodr/next.html

Could Harley be right?

 

[SJHovey]

Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 3/13 & 3/14

Could Harley be right?

The guy's posts are so bi-polar sooner or later he has to be right. It's like the old saw about a broken clock.

14 games ago he was on here telling everyone MN had ZERO margin for error, and in fact, no longer controlled their own destiny. 8 wins, 5 "errors" and a tie later and he has them ready to take the B1G title and start packing for Boston.

 

[5mn_Major]

Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 3/13 & 3/14

The guy's posts are so bi-polar sooner or later he has to be right. It's like the old saw about a broken clock.

14 games ago he was on here telling everyone MN had ZERO margin for error, and in fact, no longer controlled their own destiny. 8 wins, 5 "errors" and a tie later and he has them ready to take the B1G title and start packing for Boston.

Don't know. Its great to see posters have opinions and have info to back them up. Others just show up for criticism. I'll take the former over the latter any day.

 

[captain beefheart]

Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 3/13 & 3/14

Just win the next eight and we'll be fine.

 

[HarleyMC]

Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 3/13 & 3/14

The guy's posts are so bi-polar sooner or later he has to be right. It's like the old saw about a broken clock.

14 games ago he was on here telling everyone MN had ZERO margin for error, and in fact, no longer controlled their own destiny. 8 wins, 5 "errors" and a tie later and he has them ready to take the B1G title and start packing for Boston.

I see the old Whioux fan is still bitter.. Stalk much? Creepy. At PWR 21 they did not control their own destiny and Jim Dahl agreed with that assessment. When you don't control your own destiny by definition there is no margin for error. The Gophers have since been fortunate to be assisted by more than 12 upsets around college hockey that allowed them to increase their adjusted RPI and through acquiring as many as 6-8 COp's climbed for example 6 rankings in the PW in one day, despite a very low impact win against Ohio State. But I wouldn't expect you to know that since you don't know anything about the PWR system.

The Gopher's turnaround in the second half started after the NSCC and began with a 7 game unbeaten streak. So 8-3-1 in the last 12 is the record for this run going into the weekend. And yes, I absolutely believe THIS team...right now...this weekend, which is not the team that went 4-9-2 from Nov.-Jan., can win the B1G Title, B1G Tournament and make it to the FF in Boston.

EDIT:

Coach Lucia, Ben Marshall and Kyle Rau talk about the upcoming weekend clash with the Nittany Lions >> HERE.

 

[Stauber1]

Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 3/13 & 3/14

I disagree with your contention that two games at home and being dependent on a split is a better position than a sweep winning it outright regardless of other teams, and only have to win one on the road.

(And I don't like seeing a Goph game thread on the 2nd page. Disgraceful, people!)

Without looking at the teams involved, yeah, MI and MSU are in better position.
But you have to take into account who the games are being played against.

I'll be really surprised if either MSU or MI take all 6 pts this weekend. I'll be downright shocked if MSU takes all 6. If that holds true, MN does in fact control its own destiny for at least a share of the league championship.

 

[Koho]

Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 3/13 & 3/14

At PWR 21 they did not control their own destiny and Jim Dahl agreed with that assessment. When you don't control your own destiny by definition there is no margin for error.

For winning the B1G, the Gophers don't control their own destiny.

 

[Stauber1]

Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 3/13 & 3/14

For winning the B1G, the Gophers don't control their own destiny.

Unless the assumption that MSU will not sweep is correct



Also, you know your conference awards points in a stupid fashion when the team with the best winning percentage sits in 3rd place.

 

[HarleyMC]

Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 3/13 & 3/14

For winning the B1G, the Gophers don't control their own destiny.

You're correct Koho. MSU and Michigan control their own destiny. MSU leads the B1G in pts and a sweep wins the B1G. If Michigan sweeps MSU, and the Gophers sweep Penn State, Michigan wins the B1G Title on the first tiebreaker...most wins in the B1G regular season.

In the last 7 home and home meetings since 2009-10 between Michigan and and Michigan State, both teams have swept each other once (MSU/2009-10, Mich/2012-13). Michigan was just swept last weekend on the road by Penn State. I think Red would go into cardiac arrest if they were swept back to back to close out their season. Last time that happened to Michigan under Red was probably '86.

Michigan hasn't been swept back to back during the season since 2009-10 (Miami, Michigan State), yet later in the CCHA playoffs that season they swept MSU at the Munn. MSU has not been swept by a B1G team this season. Head to head, Michigan leads the series 2-1. Should be an intense series between these two rivals this weekend.

Also, you know your conference awards points in a stupid fashion when the team with the best winning percentage sits in 3rd place.

Losing 3 shootout pts. this season bit us in the ***. Wisconsin and MSU are tied for the B1G lead at 2 shootout wins each this season. Penn State lost 1 shootout and the Gophers have lost 3 this season.

 

[5mn_Major]

Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 3/13 & 3/14

Game day I guess. If we drop one, we're out of the bye. That's rough too because with our poor record on Saturday's I don't think there's any way we can win three straight games.

 

[SanTropez]

Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 3/13 & 3/14

SO pts being a part of the conference is pretty stupid. Losing crucial pts because of a gimmick makes this conference even tougher to swallow.

Just go back to a tie being a tie, it is ok not to have a "winner".


In the NHL I always laugh when the announcers say x team wins 3-2 over y team and it was in a shootout. NO, they didn't "win" they tied the F 'n game dumb ***.

 

[HarleyMC]

Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 3/13 & 3/14

IT'S GAME DAY!​

There's much at stake this weekend for both teams in the final home series of the regular season for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. It's noteworthy, that Penn State is also in contention for the B1G title this weekend as well. To win the B1G Title, the Nittany Lions would need to sweep the Gophers and hope Michigan wins two shootouts in their 2 game tilt with Sparty allowing Penn State to win the B1G on the first tiebreaker with Michigan. Overall, Penn State is 0-2 at Mariucci. A tall order indeed as PSU will need to turn their poor road record of 5-10-1 around this weekend on an unfamiliar olympic sheet of ice.

The Gophers are entering this weekend's series tonight intending to keep Penn State winless at the Mooch. I expect a very physical, dump and chase game from Penn. They lead the nation in shot attempts and SOG and no doubt will put Adam Wilcox's butterfly style to the test from all angles this weekend.

The Gophers have an opportunity to win the B1G with a sweep and earn a first round bye in the B1G tourney at the Joe in Detroit next week. It's senior weekend and Gopher fans will be bidding farewell to a very good senior class: Seth Ambroz, Travis Boyd, Christian Isackson, Ben Marshall, Kyle Rau and Sam Warning. I expect to see the seniors on fire all weekend, with Kyle Rau leading the charge. If they win the B1G title this weekend they will be the first senior class to play a role in winning a regular season title in each of their 4 years at the U. Go Gophers!

 

[gopher wes]

Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 3/13 & 3/14

Game day I guess. If we drop one, we're out of the bye. That's rough too because with our poor record on Saturday's I don't think there's any way we can win three straight games.

Even with a bye I'm not sure about their chances in the B1G Tourney given their recent history in conference tourney appearances. The last time they won one was in '06-'07 and I'm not sure when the last time was that they even won a single game in a conference tourney. I think it was probably the '07-'08 run that they made to the Final Five championship game before losing to DU.

 

[SanTropez]

Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 3/13 & 3/14

Let's face it though, most years the conference tourney means nothing for the Gophers. They usually have an NCAA bid wrapped up by now, even a number 1 seed a few times. Right or wrong, that usually means a less than stellar effort by our squad. I think the Gophers know they will need to play hard this year to get in the tourney.

I expect a sweep this weekend and at least 1 win in the B1G tourney to get us in the NCAA tourney. Go Gophers!

 

[gopher wes]

Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 3/13 & 3/14

Let's face it though, most years the conference tourney means nothing for the Gophers. They usually have an NCAA bid wrapped up by now, even a number 1 seed a few times. Right or wrong, that usually means a less than stellar effort by our squad. I think the Gophers know they will need to play hard this year to get in the tourney.

I expect a sweep this weekend and at least 1 win in the B1G tourney to get us in the NCAA tourney. Go Gophers!

I agree, but this ain't most years.

And while it means little to nothing as far as PWR is concerned, it's when you want to be playing your best hockey. Now, I've seen it happen both ways. Getting spanked by UND after being up 3-0 a few years ago, they came back the next weekend and won their regional to go to the Frozen Four. Last year they lost a close one to tOSU in the B1G and came back the next weekend to win the regional, we ultimately know how last year ended. But if you look back a couple years ago to the Gophers losing on Friday night of the Final Five to CC. They went on to lose to Yale in the opening round. Then in the unspeakable game up in hell on earth, they had lost to SCSU on Friday of the Final Five.

You can say what you want about it not mattering as far as seeding is concerned, but you still want to be playing your best hockey come conference tourney time.

 

[MN Magic]

Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 3/13 & 3/14

 

[5mn_Major]

Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 3/13 & 3/14

I agree, but that one loss in the Big Ten Tourney could be enough to end the season.

MN Magic! We've needed you for some time now...

 

[captain beefheart]

Re: Minnesota hosts Penn State: 3/13 & 3/14

I had my car washed on the first day of the North Star Cup and on the Saturday game at Penn State, both losses. I shan't be washing it any time soon. Superstitious? Nah. Dedicated.