2023-24 Gopher Hockey Season

Donate To GopherHole
B

bonin21

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Messages
3,011
Reaction score
1,223
Points
113
Preseason polls are starting to come out which means hockey isn't that far off.

USCHO ranks the Gophers #3 behind BU and Qpac. With Cooley they would have been number 1. I think anyone #1-#8 has about an equal chance of winning it all this year, with BU the rightful (slight) favorite before the puck is dropped.

Polls and Rankings - College Hockey | USCHO.com

Rankings College Hockey Rankings, USCHO Poll, USA Today Poll, PairEWise rankings, PWR, PairWise Comaparison, RPI, Ratings Percentage Index
www.uscho.com www.uscho.com
 



Nope. Hard to mess up the jerseys, as long as they keep it simple.
 




If you don't care about the exhibitions, you can pay for two monthly passes and get all of the BTN+ games. Start your subscription on 11/9 and cancel. Start it back up on 1/25.

All 34 (+2) games are covered.

BIG TEN NETWORK​

  • 10/26 Wisconsin
  • 10/27 Wisconsin
  • 11/26 Michigan State
  • 12/2 @ Penn State
  • 12/8 @ Ohio State
  • 12/9 @ Ohio State
  • 1/20 Ohio State
  • 1/27 @ Michigan State
  • 2/10 Penn State
  • 3/1 Michigan
  • 3/2 Michigan

B1G+​

  • 10/8 Bemidji State (exh.)
  • 11/10 @ Michigan
  • 11/11 @ Michigan
  • 12/1 @ Penn State
  • 1/2 USNTDP U18s (exh.)
  • 1/26 @ Michigan State
  • 2/2 @ Wisconsin
  • 2/3 @ Wisconsin

FOX 9​

  • 10/13 vs. St. Thomas (Xcel Energy Center)
  • 10/20 @ North Dakota
  • 11/17 Notre Dame
  • 1/19 Ohio State

FOX 9+​

  • 10/14 St. Thomas
  • 10/21 @ North Dakota
  • 11/3 Minnesota Duluth
  • 11/4 @ Minnesota Duluth
  • 11/18 Notre Dame
  • 11/24 Michigan State
  • 1/7 Colorado College
  • 1/8 Colorado College
  • 1/12 Robert Morris
  • 1/13 Robert Morris

FS1​

  • 2/9 Penn State

Peacock (likely)​

  • 2/16 @ Notre Dame
  • 2/17 @ Notre Dame
 

bonin21 said:
If you don't care about the exhibitions, you can pay for two monthly passes and get all of the BTN+ games. Start your subscription on 11/9 and cancel. Start it back up on 1/25.

All 34 (+2) games are covered.

BIG TEN NETWORK​

  • 10/26 Wisconsin
  • 10/27 Wisconsin
  • 11/26 Michigan State
  • 12/2 @ Penn State
  • 12/8 @ Ohio State
  • 12/9 @ Ohio State
  • 1/20 Ohio State
  • 1/27 @ Michigan State
  • 2/10 Penn State
  • 3/1 Michigan
  • 3/2 Michigan

B1G+​

  • 10/8 Bemidji State (exh.)
  • 11/10 @ Michigan
  • 11/11 @ Michigan
  • 12/1 @ Penn State
  • 1/2 USNTDP U18s (exh.)
  • 1/26 @ Michigan State
  • 2/2 @ Wisconsin
  • 2/3 @ Wisconsin

FOX 9​

  • 10/13 vs. St. Thomas (Xcel Energy Center)
  • 10/20 @ North Dakota
  • 11/17 Notre Dame
  • 1/19 Ohio State

FOX 9+​

  • 10/14 St. Thomas
  • 10/21 @ North Dakota
  • 11/3 Minnesota Duluth
  • 11/4 @ Minnesota Duluth
  • 11/18 Notre Dame
  • 11/24 Michigan State
  • 1/7 Colorado College
  • 1/8 Colorado College
  • 1/12 Robert Morris
  • 1/13 Robert Morris

FS1​

  • 2/9 Penn State

Peacock (likely)​

  • 2/16 @ Notre Dame
  • 2/17 @ Notre Dame
Click to expand...
I did not realize Bally's/FSN had gone away from covering gopher hockey. That's one step close to me not needing xfinity.
 





Gophers1992 said:
Don’t some other services have it, like YouTube tv? I guess I’m not real tuned in to who Carries what channels.
Click to expand...
Sure but I've seen the prices of those things just keep going up and up and at this point I feel like my internet + tv from comcast is the same price as if I just had internet from comcast + YTTV.
 

bonin21 said:
Sure but I've seen the prices of those things just keep going up and up and at this point I feel like my internet + tv from comcast is the same price as if I just had internet from comcast + YTTV.
Click to expand...
Yeah I've wondered that too. I hate seeing my bill from comcast each month but I also don't have to jump through hoops to watch what I want. Paying for convenience I guess.
 

Huglen is hurt and so your 13th Gopher forward is currently a D3 kid.

How many times have we said you should be carrying 15 forwards and 8 D on a roster.
 




UM will be down this year. BC and BU will jump them. Also it appears not letting Perron shoot and containing Blake will be very important but difficult in a few weeks
 

Exhibition thoughts:
-Moore is insanely fast but will take some time to figure out what doesn't work at this level
-Brodzinski and Nelson won't magically take a big step before their 5th year
-Nevers is going to be out with a concussion
-Huglen should be back so won't dress the D3 kid yet
-By year 3 Rinzel could be very good
-I think Rud may only be a Gopher because of his last name
-Not having Faber/Lacombe/Johnson breaking out will make a big difference
 

bonin21 said:
Exhibition thoughts:
-Moore is insanely fast but will take some time to figure out what doesn't work at this level
-Brodzinski and Nelson won't magically take a big step before their 5th year
-Nevers is going to be out with a concussion
-Huglen should be back so won't dress the D3 kid yet
-By year 3 Rinzel could be very good
-I think Rud may only be a Gopher because of his last name
-Not having Faber/Lacombe/Johnson breaking out will make a big difference
Click to expand...
I saw none of the game outside of video highlights so I will defer to your opinion, but I heard very good things about Rinzel, I'm wondering why you expect it will take him 3 years to become really good?

How does he compare to freshman Chesley, who I thought got overlooked a bit due to our freshman class last year.
 

Gophers1992 said:
I saw none of the game outside of video highlights so I will defer to your opinion, but I heard very good things about Rinzel, I'm wondering why you expect it will take him 3 years to become really good?

How does he compare to freshman Chesley, who I thought got overlooked a bit due to our freshman class last year.
Click to expand...
I meant by his third year he could be REALLY good. He'll be able to settle into a top 4 role this year.
 

bonin21 said:
I meant by his third year he could be REALLY good. He'll be able to settle into a top 4 role this year.
Click to expand...
Gotcha, thanks. Him being a first rounder I hope we get to see that third year.

Koster, Chesley, Mittelstadt, Rinzel is a top 4 that a lot of programs would die to have. We've just been so spoiled by our D core the last few years that I think it will be tough for people to deal with the dropoff. Losing them might actually hurt more than losing Knies and Cooley.
 

Gophers1992 said:
Losing them might actually hurt more than losing Knies and Cooley.
Click to expand...
Yes, +Rinzel/-Faber,Lacombe,Johnson is a bigger loss than +Moore/-Knies,Cooley because the D is the key to starting the counter attack.

But it is close.

This team will need to put in 100% effort every night or they could lose 15 games. Last year they could win games based on talent alone combined with just a decent effort.
 

Gophers head into the first official series against UST ranked #2 in the USCHO poll and #1 in the USA Hockey poll.

15 of UST's 19 skaters in their first series against SCSU were Minnesotans. Two are former Gopher commits (Ratzlaff and Braccini).

It will be a great atmosphere at the X. This will not be an easy sweep. Gophers need to show up from puck drop.
 

First ten games are going to be very tough for this team. I'm hoping for a sweep and four splits. If they don't get swept in any series it's a good result. Here's why:

Defensemen experience:
UMN154 games7 healthy D (No Koster)
UST201 games7 D that played week 1
UND238 games8 roster D (no games yet)
uw233 games8 D that played week 1
UMD297 games7 D that played week 1
UM379 games6 D that played week 1 (No Ethan Edwards)
 

I think our D corps is better than anything those teams will put out there, regardless of how many games they have played. I am not saying these series won't be tough. They will. And experience matters. Talent matters too. You might be right on the splits but I will be disappointed if we don't sweep at least two.

bonin21 said:
First ten games are going to be very tough for this team. I'm hoping for a sweep and four splits. If they don't get swept in any series it's a good result. Here's why:

Defensemen experience:
UMN154 games7 healthy D (No Koster)
UST201 games7 D that played week 1
UND238 games8 roster D (no games yet)
uw233 games8 D that played week 1
UMD297 games7 D that played week 1
UM379 games6 D that played week 1 (No Ethan Edwards)
Click to expand...
D
 

Even though lines will be out in 3 hours... What do we think it's gonna look like tonight? Expecting Bonin to have a decent estimate.
 

Ya... Major talent and speed drop-off from last year.
 






You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom