What's new
By:
USCHO Fan Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.

Minnesota Women's Hockey 2015-2016: Confection Free

Status
Not open for further replies.
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey 2015-2016: Confection Free

ne7minder said:
Yes, the games are boring ...
Click to expand...
I guess I'm in the minority, but I didn't find Sunday's game a bit boring. Very competitive all over the ice with good drama. There were a lot of puck battles along the wall. It wasn't like MSU just packed it in around their net and waited for the Gophers to show up with the puck. There wasn't much back-and-forth transition, but the Mavericks weren't just standing around.
 
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey 2015-2016: Confection Free

ARM said:
I guess I'm in the minority, but I didn't find Sunday's game a bit boring. Very competitive all over the ice with good drama. There were a lot of puck battles along the wall. It wasn't like MSU just packed it in around their net and waited for the Gophers to show up with the puck. There wasn't much back-and-forth transition, but the Mavericks weren't just standing around.
Click to expand...

The fact it was as close as it was makes 'boring' not really the correct word perhaps. It certainly was not the free-flowing, fast up and down, play making action that is fun to watch. A 2-1 game between Wisconsin and Minnesota would be a lot more exciting because both teams would be flying and likely to score on every rush. That would make it more interesting than this weekend. Sunday's game was mostly MN knocking around the O zone while MSU tied them up & clogged the slot.
 
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey 2015-2016: Confection Free

ne7minder said:
The fact it was as close as it was makes 'boring' not really the correct word perhaps. It certainly was not the free-flowing, fast up and down, play making action that is fun to watch. A 2-1 game between Wisconsin and Minnesota would be a lot more exciting because both teams would be flying and likely to score on every rush. That would make it more interesting than this weekend.
Click to expand...
That's not exactly apples to apples. A game between two top-three teams has certain advantages that a winless-in-league team can't match no matter what style it tries to play. I'd rather watch Sunday's game than one of those 11-to-little games.
 
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey 2015-2016: Confection Free

ARM said:
That's not exactly apples to apples. A game between two top-three teams has certain advantages that a winless-in-league team can't match no matter what style it tries to play. I'd rather watch Sunday's game than one of those 11-to-little games.
Click to expand...

Agreed but 11-1 is not exciting either.
 
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey 2015-2016: Confection Free

My wife and I both thought the game Sunday was very exciting and intense. The Gophers played with as much energy and passion in all 3 periods as we have seen in any game this year. Mankato played hard in their own style as well. We brought a friend and her 9 year old son with us to the game. Neither had ever seen a hockey game in person before. They told us afterwards at the Playoffs Sports Lounge (formerly The Hole, formerly The Leaning Tower of Pizza) that they were both thrilled with the game and would love to go again. She was fascinated by the fans (mostly us 4 regulars sitting next to her) that would occasionally jump up and shout at the refs about something that must have happened that she said she didn't have a clue about. I explained the refs (mostly Langley/Morrison) were wrong and we were right. She was also surprised by the amount of physical play in the game. Good response by the Gophers following a somewhat lackluster performance Saturday.
 
Last edited:
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey 2015-2016: Confection Free

Put me in the camp that didn't find Sunday's game in the least boring. I don't mind at all watching a team that packs it in defensively and hopes to win 1-0 on a fluke; I'm skeptical that it's as effective a giant killing tactic as a lot of other people are, but that's not at all the same thing as saying that I think it's boring.

Now, a game featuring two teams that take that approach can be stultifyingly dull. Then again, a game between two teams that play straight up run-and-gun can be boring, too. One of the keys to having a great game is having two teams that play different styles. One of the problems with the NHL, and it's not a recent development, is the way that the teams move in lockstep with whoever has been successful recently. In the 1980s, no one played defense. From 1995-2004, no one played anything but defense.
 
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey 2015-2016: Confection Free

ARM said:
I guess I'm in the minority, but I didn't find Sunday's game a bit boring. Very competitive all over the ice with good drama. There were a lot of puck battles along the wall. It wasn't like MSU just packed it in around their net and waited for the Gophers to show up with the puck. There wasn't much back-and-forth transition, but the Mavericks weren't just standing around.
Click to expand...

Why doesn't a team like Mankato just shoot a backside forward into the neutral zone when the puck is contested mid-boards or higher? The idea being to draw the forechecking team's D out of the zone as well and not to allow high d 2 d O zone cross ice passes. It could also to create some O or at least allow a line change to happen? I've also thought when the O zone is clogged why doesn't the superior team back the puck out into their own D zone and then get a chance to create on the rush? Just so you know I am not a coach but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express. Last year.
 
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey 2015-2016: Confection Free

Mankato was close a couple of times to a breakaway when a forward broke out of their D zone, but a poor pass or a good defensive play by the Gophers prevented a breakaway. They probably should have tried it more often.

I think the Gophers didn't intentionally back the puck out into their own D zone because they were moving the puck around so easily in the O zone and probably thought they didn't need to back it out. The problems I saw were the aforementioned too many shots high over the net and the lack of someone (perhaps she who can no longer be mentioned) to tip the puck in front of the net. A couple of times I saw pucks that could have been maybe tipped into an open net, but were stopped and then fired wide on the backhand. I also thought one of our Ds was maybe a little too anxious with her slap shot firing wide or high or misfiring completely.

I am not a coach either and the fact that we usually stay at Days Inns doesn't help.
 
Last edited:
Timothy A said:
Why doesn't a team like Mankato just shoot a backside forward into the neutral zone when the puck is contested mid-boards or higher? The idea being to draw the forechecking team's D out of the zone as well and not to allow high d 2 d O zone cross ice passes. It could also to create some O or at least allow a line change to happen? I've also thought when the O zone is clogged why doesn't the superior team back the puck out into their own D zone and then get a chance to create on the rush? Just so you know I am not a coach but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express. Last year.
Click to expand...

Other teams do that a lot. MN did it to try and break up the 3-0-2 forecheck so it must have been a conscious decision by Harrington. I don't recall any MSU breakaways that seemed threatening so maybe they didn't think they had the horses and put all their chips on the clog.

On the excitment factor question I will say it is not the clog that made me less excited as much as that was all MSU had. OSU& BSU do try to break out and score and much more enjoyable to watch.
 
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey 2015-2016: Confection Free

Kind of a "by the way" and "oh... yeah... that happened" moment.

Sunday's victory over MSU was win #278 for Coach Frost at the helm, tying Laura Halldorson's mark. Ergo, his next win will set a new program record. :) :cool:
 
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey 2015-2016: Confection Free

Speaking of records, I have a question for CrazyDave. Why do you not include the Gopher men's 1940 AAU national championship in your list of Gopher hockey championships? There is a 1940 national championship banner hanging next to the 5 NCAA banners at Mariucci Arena. If "Maroosh" was still around he might want to know too, since he was on that team. Just kidding. I know the Gopher men's website doesn't list it with their national championship teams or the 1929 team for that matter, but that's another story. They wouldn't want to have to admit to co-champions with the Yalies.
 
Hannah Brandt back on the line chart for a Gophers.

Also, Taylor Williamson back on, but Caitlyn Reilly a scratch.


4th line- Gunderson, Barlow and Smith should be interesting to watch if we can score a few.
 
Last edited:
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey 2015-2016: Confection Free

KTDC said:
Hannah Brandt back on the line chart for a Gophers.

Also, Taylor Williamson back on, but Caitlyn Reilly a scratch.

4th line- Gunderson, Barlow and Smith should be interesting to watch if we can score a few.
Click to expand...

Listening online - Frost said Reilly got dinged against OSU but didn't sound like it was too bad
 
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey 2015-2016: Confection Free

And just like that Brandt has her first goal since returning at 3:26

edit: and then Potomac gets one in less than 30 seconds later
 
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey 2015-2016: Confection Free

ne7minder said:
And just like that Brandt has her first goal since returning at 3:26

edit: and then Potomac gets one in less than 30 seconds later
Click to expand...

SCSU against Minn is just one of those things...6-0 Minnesota, middle of the 2nd period. That first line back together of Brant, Cameranesi, and Potomak is tearing it up.
 
Re: Minnesota Women's Hockey 2015-2016: Confection Free

Eeyore said:
The Gophers' main problem was the same one as last week: not taking advantage of their chances in close. There were too many shots that missed the net entirely, too many passes that missed their targets, too many moments where players made different reads, and too many 'bad bounces.' Brianna Quade played out of her ********* mind, but it wasn't all her. This is why we need Hannah Brandt back. It's not just that she's a great player; it's that the specific thing that the team is struggling with is something that she is especially good at. Some of it is probably mental, too. I don't like being this dependent upon one player, but at this point, I think we are.
Click to expand...

Nothing that happened today has caused me to reconsider this.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top