Gopher Hockey

[mikecgrimes]

Off to a perfect start to the season!!!  And hey who wouldn't watch the son of a marginal Twin from the 90's?  In reality I can't help cheer a little for Brent Gates jr, and despite making a mistake choosing the Gophers it's fun to see Michael Brodzinski jr play well in what will be the only year probably of a decade where St Cloud State won't have a Brodzinski on the roster.  The good news the Gophers bring in Charlie Lindgrens brother next year so if he's half the goalie his brother is the Gophers should be in good shape going forward.

[mikecgrimes]

Current big ten pairwise rankings 13,15,30,50,51 and the Gophers at 53.  Meanwhile in the NCHC 1,2,5,14,18,22,25,47.  Happy recruiting Don lucia!!!

[Vanimal46]

I know this take is a couple years old now, but the worst thing that happened to college hockey in the upper midwest is splitting up the WCHA. That was the premiere conference with must watch matchups nearly every week (minus Alaska Anchorage and Michigan Tech) 

 

It's too bad George Gwozdecky (old Denver hockey coach) had that big of an ego to start his own conference (NCHC) to ruin a good thing for fans. At the end of the day my favorite college hockey team (Go Mavericks!) drastically improved and are now on the national radar every year, but it's not the same without the Minnesota rivalries of the old WCHA. 

[mikecgrimes]

I would assume Mankato State will join the NCHA along with Arizona State in the next year or two assuming they can stay among the top of the WCHA.  Of course it would help if they scored a goal at some point.  They looked like a capable team Friday night, but Saturday night I was a little less sold that they could compete outside the WCHA.  Young team they'll come around but the NCHC is tough.

 

By the way for St Cloud there really isn't a meaningful difference between the NCHC and the old WCHA outside of losing Minnesota which already happened.  I like playing Bemidji and Mankato but I don't care if it's conference or non conference.

[Vanimal46]

I don't think Minnesota State is leaving any time soon. As long as the WCHA has an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament there's no reason to go. Keep being the class of a weaker conference and punch your ticket for a national title bid every year.

 

Jutting being let go and hiring of Hastings is the reason for the recent success. He's completely changed the culture of the program and is active in the community. I'm happy to see the arena is renovated with the amenities to keep attracting better talent, and filling up all of the seats with fans!

 

There's the North Star Cup to look forward to, but I wish we could play more of these match ups instead of having it packed into one weekend...

[mikecgrimes]

Solid weekend for the Gophers and the big ten as a whole.  Omaha is building an elite program, will be interesting what they do when Blais moves on, can't imagine he will coach beyond this years freshman class.

[mikecgrimes]

St Cloud up to #4 in the pairwise.  Meanwhile preseason champions Mankato and Duluth sit at #21 and #33 with the Gophers rallying all the way up to 44th, Bemidji State lagging behind at #48

[mikecgrimes]

North Dakota got a cute new nickname just in time to be swept in St Cloud

[Vanimal46]

Fighting Hawks? That's the best thing they could come up with? Really?

[mikecgrimes]

The one bad thing about the WCHA breakup is the Minnesota media would at least notice in passing this weekends series between St Cloud and North Dakota.  It is a November series and things could change, but when Bob Motzko St Cloud teams and North Dakota teams are this good in the first half of the season you can expect really good things in March.  North Dakota has always been my favorite rival, and despite the arrogance of North Dakota fans it's based on hockey.  When you go to a St Cloud Gopher game you can tell half the Gopher "fans" have been to about one other college hockey game in their life. 

[mikecgrimes]

Actually pretty impressed by the Gophers effort last weekend.  Hanging with a team like St Cloud is a pretty big accomplishment for a Big Ten team.

[mikecgrimes]

Any Gopher fans have that team figured out?  I guess it was a fairly weak recruiting class by Gopher standards and of course they did lose a lot but typically the Gophers don't struggle like this.  That being said if they can just beat up on Ohio State Wisconsin and Michigan State they should be a factor for an at large bid at least up until the final week or two of the season.

[mikecgrimes]

World Junior tournament starting this morning with USA playing Canada at noon.  I really wish the NHL would promote this more, this is the best hockey you will see until March.  Only 2 Minnesotan's and zero Gophers on the roster.  We'll see if that becomes a trend in the coming years.

[mikecgrimes]

USA Sweden 8 AM NHL Network this morning.  Don't know about this years Sweden team, but typically they compete for the Gold.