2022-23 Gopher Hockey Season

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Go get some tickets for the best team in college hockey. No matter what the rankings say.
 


TRF Guy said:
This team is getting Natty #6. Book it
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The pieces are there, and we have as good of a chance as anyone. Impossible to predict what will happen in a single elimination tournament, but I'd put my $ on us, Denver, and Michigan being the 3 likeliest teams to take it.
 

Gophers1992 said:
The pieces are there, and we have as good of a chance as anyone. Impossible to predict what will happen in a single elimination tournament, but I'd put my $ on us, Denver, and Michigan being the 3 likeliest teams to take it.
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I don’t trust Michigan. Their D core is not that good outside of Hughes.
 

From the Parkinglot said:
I don’t trust Michigan. Their D core is not that good outside of Hughes.
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They can smoke anyone on any given night. But they also are more likely to fall flat on their face than the Gophers and DU come tourney time.

My top 5, in no order: DU, Harvard, SCSU, UM, UMN. I bet the title comes from those five. I said to watch for Harvard before the season started and they are showing it.
 



Hreschuk, Mittelstadt, and Ufko likely fighting for the last D spot. Peart will make it and was missed on the list.
 

bonin21 said:
Hreschuk, Mittelstadt, and Ufko likely fighting for the last D spot. Peart will make it and was missed on the list.
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I like Mitestadt as he can get out of the defensive zone and into the offensive zone nicely. He has been a pleasant surprise to this teams
 

From the Parkinglot said:
I like Mitestadt as he can get out of the defensive zone and into the offensive zone nicely. He has been a pleasant surprise to this teams
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Ufko has 44 points in 52 games.

Hutson, Hughes, and Peart are also offensive d-men.

He'll need to show a lot in camp.
 



Agree Mittelstadt is more likely than not to get Cut. Has definitely been a pleasant surprise in my mind so far
 

bonin21 said:
Ufko has 44 points in 52 games.

Hutson, Hughes, and Peart are also offensive d-men.

He'll need to show a lot in camp.
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Well someone has to be a defensive minded defenseman. They all can’t be Jordon Leopold and jumping into every play along the way or they are gonna get burned. I am more nervous about team USA’s goalie position than I am the gophers.
 

From the Parkinglot said:
Well someone has to be a defensive minded defenseman. They all can’t be Jordon Leopold and jumping into every play along the way or they are gonna get burned. I am more nervous about team USA’s goalie position than I am the gophers.
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Mittelstadt is an offensive defenseman.
 




My 12 year old has shown an interest in Gophers hockey this year and mentioned wanting to attend a game. So I picked him up some Friday night tickets vs Michigan and Michigan State as a Christmas gift.

I've always followed the Gophers on TV but it's been a long time since I've been to Mariucci. Looking forward to returning!
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
My 12 year old has shown an interest in Gophers hockey this year and mentioned wanting to attend a game. So I picked him up some Friday night tickets vs Michigan and Michigan State as a Christmas gift.

I've always followed the Gophers on TV but it's been a long time since I've been to Mariucci. Looking forward to returning!
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The atmosphere has really picked up since the second half of last year. These bigger games are drawing good crowds and the student section has been great. That Michigan game should be another great one.
 

Watching Sammy walker play wing for the wild makes me wish he would have played wing last year for the gophers. It just seemed like such a natural fit for his speed to be able to get out of the defensive and not have to stay back with all the duties of a center man. I know Bob tried it but it only seemed like it lasted a couple of shifts of 1 game is all.
 

From the Parkinglot said:
Watching Sammy walker play wing for the wild makes me wish he would have played wing last year for the gophers. It just seemed like such a natural fit for his speed to be able to get out of the defensive and not have to stay back with all the duties of a center man. I know Bob tried it but it only seemed like it lasted a couple of shifts of 1 game is all.
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Agreed, but he also appears to be playing with an intensity that wasn't always present during his time at the U. He certainly looks like he belongs in the NHL.
 

Walker was a fine player here. He was the victim of unfair expectations. He came in at a time when a lot of people were down on the program, and since he showed promise as a freshman, he got unfairly annointed as the savior of the program and people wanted him to dominate night in and night out. The reality is he was a very good, not great player who gave a lot to this program and university. Had he been evaluated on just a normal scale he would have been viewed in a much better light.
 

Gophers1992 said:
and since he showed promise as a freshman, he got unfairly annointed as the savior of the program
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No one thought he was the savior of the program lol.

The frustration was after having an instant impact as a freshman and then seemingly not improving all that much over his time here. By the end it was clear he was who we thought he was.

What Walker shows is how important pure skating ability is in today's NHL, and why many that were stars for the Gophers in college never stuck or made the NHL.
 

bonin21 said:
No one thought he was the savior of the program lol.

The frustration was after having an instant impact as a freshman and then seemingly not improving all that much over his time here. By the end it was clear he was who we thought he was.

What Walker shows is how important pure skating ability is in today's NHL, and why many that were stars for the Gophers in college never stuck or made the NHL.
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Savior might be extreme but the reality is there is no standard development curve. He may not have progressed like we all wanted but he was still a solid top 6 forward and had a 100 point career. For reference the whole fan base is now in love with Mason Nevers who will at best be as good as Walker at his peak and won't have the same career impact. Had Walker came in and been quiet his first couple years then put up the numbers he did his last 2 years, he would have been viewed differently by fans, even if he ends up as the same player.
 

I'm not sure where the idea that the whole fan base is in love with Mason Nevers comes from, he is a smart, solid, above average player, but it is debatable whether he is even one of the top 6 forwards on this team. As Bonin pointed out, Walker never seemed to progress much after his freshman season. After watching him in the NHL though, I will agree that he looks much better as a wing than as a center.
 

GopherPete said:
I'm not sure where the idea that the whole fan base is in love with Mason Nevers comes from, he is a smart, solid, above average player, but it is debatable whether he is even one of the top 6 forwards on this team. As Bonin pointed out, Walker never seemed to progress much after his freshman season. After watching him in the NHL though, I will agree that he looks much better as a wing than as a center.
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I guess what I'm getting at is a player who makes little to no impact early on, but develops into a good player is typically looked at favorably, while someone who makes an early impact, never improves, but is still a good player (i.e. Walker) tends to receive a lot more criticism.

If we were to assign players a rating from 1-10, with the following progression.

Player A as a freshman is a 1, 3 as a sophomore, 5 as a junior, and 7 as a senior.
Player B is a 6 as a freshman, 7 as a sophomore, 7 as a junior, and 7 as a senior.

Player A will get heaped with praise while player B gets heavy criticism. There were tons of people on GPL after last season who couldn't wait to see Walker leave the program. Truth is he was a very good college hockey player, people were just frustrated that he never elevated into an elite player. Just because he didn't progress a lot, doesn't mean he wasn't still a very good player. If he had a different set of expectations, he would be viewed differently.
 

Gophers1992 said:
I guess what I'm getting at is a player who makes little to no impact early on, but develops into a good player is typically looked at favorably, while someone who makes an early impact, never improves, but is still a good player (i.e. Walker) tends to receive a lot more criticism.

If we were to assign players a rating from 1-10, with the following progression.

Player A as a freshman is a 1, 3 as a sophomore, 5 as a junior, and 7 as a senior.
Player B is a 6 as a freshman, 7 as a sophomore, 7 as a junior, and 7 as a senior.

Player A will get heaped with praise while player B gets heavy criticism. There were tons of people on GPL after last season who couldn't wait to see Walker leave the program. Truth is he was a very good college hockey player, people were just frustrated that he never elevated into an elite player. Just because he didn't progress a lot, doesn't mean he wasn't still a very good player. If he had a different set of expectations, he would be viewed differently.
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Understood, and I don't disagree.
 

Players should be judged based on realistic expectations. Realistic expectations also include progression and leadership when placed in a leadership role.

Nevers was not expected to be much as a Gopher and that's why people are excited and would probably grade his season so far as an A-/B+. Doesn't mean he's even a top 6 forward on the team.

Knies was an A/A+ last year and honestly has been more of a B+/A- this year because we know what he can do.

Walker was an A as a freshman but more like a B the rest of his years. McLaughlin on the other hand was more like a B+ as a freshman but his effort and improvement would probably get him an A- or so as a senior.
 

bonin21 said:
Players should be judged based on realistic expectations. Realistic expectations also include progression and leadership when placed in a leadership role.

Nevers was not expected to be much as a Gopher and that's why people are excited and would probably grade his season so far as an A-/B+. Doesn't mean he's even a top 6 forward on the team.

Knies was an A/A+ last year and honestly has been more of a B+/A- this year because we know what he can do.

Walker was an A as a freshman but more like a B the rest of his years. McLaughlin on the other hand was more like a B+ as a freshman but his effort and improvement would probably get him an A- or so as a senior.
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I understand what you're getting at, but my whole point was that based on the curve you provided could end up with a lesser player being rated higher than a better player, simply because he exceeded expectations. For example John Mittelstadt has been better this year than I expected, but if I had the option of a 5th year of Walker vs JM, it's a pretty simple choice.
 

This is really getting deep I just thought he would have been great as a wing last year given the construction of the team. He would have far less defensive responsibilities as a wing and could have applied so much pressure on the D exiting the zone. His skating was always the strongest part of his game and that is not as important at center vs a wing.
 


He was likely to make it considering he wore a letter for the NTDP. It's Mittelstadt that was the potential long shot to make it.
 

From the Parkinglot said:
This is really getting deep I just thought he would have been great as a wing last year given the construction of the team. He would have far less defensive responsibilities as a wing and could have applied so much pressure on the D exiting the zone. His skating was always the strongest part of his game and that is not as important at center vs a wing.
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Yeah admittedly I got a little off topic. No doubt Walker would have been better as a wing. Problem is I'm not sure we had anyone who could have taken that center spot - robbing Peter to pay Paul essentially.
 

Cooley missing start of WJC camp for "personal reasons". Hmm, a little weird.
 

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