2024-25 Gopher Hockey Season

Weird comment on the hockey thread where the hockey team swept
If you were looking at the timestamp, Gophers just gave up the two goal lead. So yeah, looking back it was ill-advised. I guess nothing gets past you hockey fans with your gift of foresight.
 

Bonin is a very knowledgeable and passionate gopher hockey fan and I love that. But his post last week that we were “exposed” after a road game loss where we played well and ran into a hot goalie is an example of his knee jerk irrational takes that he espouses on the regular. His takes Monday thru Thursday are typically sound. Although i definitely disagree with him that BC and DU are on another level than us. It’s November, we don’t know much yet. But his glass half empty outlook doesn’t allow him to believe we’re right there with those teams.
It is a coping mechanism for disappointment in the present and not knowing a future they desperately wish to control.

Human beings are remarkably consistent on the need for certainty in their lives, some more than others. ;)

The fact of the matter is none of us know how this will play out, but right now this is a pretty damn good hockey team with a lot of key pieces in place to win on a consistent basis. Doesn't mean they are immune to the occasional dud or getting goalied. In the two losses, they peppered the bejesus out of the goalies and got stonewalled. It happens.
 

If you were looking at the timestamp, Gophers just gave up the two goal lead. So yeah, looking back it was ill-advised. I guess nothing gets past you hockey fans with your gift of foresight.

Its not my job to do detailed research on stupid comments
 




He should have a good chance to get the most points in November with two games remaining against Alaska.

Also, he should have a decent chance at National Player of the Month if he has a big weekend, which the Gophers haven't had in a long time. I actually can't find the last time it happened.
 



Glad to see us move to number three in the USCHO national poll this week.
 



Gophers need Brody Lamb to be okay for the two Michigan teams.
From the Pioneer Press:

"A split second before he collided with Notre Dame’s Justin Janicke in a game in South Bend, Ind., last Friday, Gophers forward Brody Lamb lifted his right skate off the ice by maybe a quarter of an inch. That tiny twitch may have saved Lamb’s season, as he survived a dangerous knee-on-knee hit by Janicke and could possibly return to the ice as soon as this weekend."

“We’re very fortunate there was no ligament damage,” Gophers coach Bob Motzko said following the team’s Tuesday practice at 3M Arena at Mariucci. “He just got his foot off the ice. If his foot would’ve been planted, it would’ve been a different story. So we dodged a bullet.”

 

Good news there.

PP has been much better. PK is a concern, but they don't take a ton of penalties so that helps.
Goaltending is a massive concern long term that they can't do much about. We'll see how it shakes out.
Faceoffs are are massive concern long term that we can only hope they can somehow get up to 49ish percent by the end of the year.

Gophers have given up the first goal in exactly half of the games so far. They're 6-1 in those games which feels pretty crazy. If they can fix that, it'll only help. Would love to see them get the first goal in 5 of the next 6, considering the Alaska games should be first goal both games.

Minor improvements across SV%, FO%, and PK% would likely have them in a place to make a run come tourney time.

As far as "advanced stats", I think those are garbage and geeky people trying to justify themselves in the hockey world most of the time. This is coming from a numbers person.
 

Good news there.

PP has been much better. PK is a concern, but they don't take a ton of penalties so that helps.
Goaltending is a massive concern long term that they can't do much about. We'll see how it shakes out.
Faceoffs are are massive concern long term that we can only hope they can somehow get up to 49ish percent by the end of the year.

Gophers have given up the first goal in exactly half of the games so far. They're 6-1 in those games which feels pretty crazy. If they can fix that, it'll only help. Would love to see them get the first goal in 5 of the next 6, considering the Alaska games should be first goal both games.

Minor improvements across SV%, FO%, and PK% would likely have them in a place to make a run come tourney time.

As far as "advanced stats", I think those are garbage and geeky people trying to justify themselves in the hockey world most of the time. This is coming from a numbers person.
Faceoffs are most definitely a concern, and it does the PK no favors when the team can't control and clear the puck after a save. Bring in a faceoff specialist to work with the guys. Gaining a few percentage points in the plus column will loom big as the season goes on and games get tighter.
 

Good news there.

PP has been much better. PK is a concern, but they don't take a ton of penalties so that helps.
Goaltending is a massive concern long term that they can't do much about. We'll see how it shakes out.
Faceoffs are are massive concern long term that we can only hope they can somehow get up to 49ish percent by the end of the year.

Gophers have given up the first goal in exactly half of the games so far. They're 6-1 in those games which feels pretty crazy. If they can fix that, it'll only help. Would love to see them get the first goal in 5 of the next 6, considering the Alaska games should be first goal both games.

Minor improvements across SV%, FO%, and PK% would likely have them in a place to make a run come tourney time.

As far as "advanced stats", I think those are garbage and geeky people trying to justify themselves in the hockey world most of the time. This is coming from a numbers person.
As far as goaltending, I’ve thought Souliere has been very good. His GAA is under 1.5 and his sv % .940. Those are outstanding numbers no matter how you’re doing it and he definitely stole us the 2nd PSU game.

The face off numbers have been impressively bad some nights and has to improve vs mich and msu or you’ll be doing a lot of chasing
 



Gophers have given up the first goal in exactly half of the games so far. They're 6-1 in those games which feels pretty crazy. If they can fix that, it'll only help. Would love to see them get the first goal in 5 of the next 6, considering the Alaska games should be first goal both games.
JFC
 

Same shit different week. Agree they need to learn to just bury teams like this. Hockey is a weird game but you are going to get burned if you keep getting scored on first and have to chase games as we got to watch Alaska play with 3+ back the entire rest of the period
 


Who wants a one seed anyways. Just be an also ran and run into a more skilled team in the regional final again where they'll have last change and absolutely work you on key faceoffs.

Let's talk about the pipes they hit and how they ran into another apparent NHL goalie like half the other games.
 

Gophers only have themselves to blame, and don't give that "ran into a hot goalie" bs. Every goalie can be beat, it's your job to figure it out.
 

Some people think this team is anywhere near as good as the 22-23 team lol
 

Even if they pull out a third period win against powerhouse Alaska, the true grit and talent of this Gopher team continues to be expos... Oops sorry off limit word
 

Gonna be honest.

Never fails to check in on a bonin live reaction.
 


Even if they pull out a third period win against powerhouse Alaska, the true grit and talent of this Gopher team continues to be expos... Oops sorry off limit word
We got exposed last night, north dakota got exposed tonight.
 


As much as some people seem to live in fear of this team being exposed, the reality is that it gives the staff and team insight into what they need to work on. And I trust that they will.
Yeah and just about every team under Motzko has gotten better as the season went on.
 

And some people are in constant panic mode about this team being exposed. LMAO.
In a panic because this is the last season of the championship window for the foreseeable future.

Regardless of anxiety, Michigan series is always wild in one way or another so excited to see that one.

But just fucking score first for once.
 

Combined winning percentage of opponents to-date for top ranked teams. With this data, I'm willing to bump DU down a bit and BC stands on their own with the rest in one big group (along with Maine).

Wonder if somehow the U would be more appealing than WMU for the Slukynskys...

UMN
0.418​
BC
0.619​
DU
0.347​
MSU
0.464​
UM
0.577​
WMU
0.554​
 

Wood, Moore, and Ziemer get invited to WJC camps.

For team USA:
6 invites from BC
3 from BU
2 from UMN, ND, SCSU
1 from most other team you'd think of
0 from Michigan (though I am a little surprised Hage didn't get invited for Canada)
 

Combined winning percentage of opponents to-date for top ranked teams. With this data, I'm willing to bump DU down a bit and BC stands on their own with the rest in one big group (along with Maine).

Wonder if somehow the U would be more appealing than WMU for the Slukynskys...

UMN
0.418​
BC
0.619​
DU
0.347​
MSU
0.464​
UM
0.577​
WMU
0.554​
Man I don’t understand your ongoing love affair with BC. They’re so much more single line dependent this year with that line not being as good as the one last year. They’ve been trailing 7 times going into the 3rd already this year and their PP has been poor to say the least. They will absolutely get better as the year goes on, but they’re not as head and shoulders above everyone as everyone was thinking for this year (and how they were through a ton of last year except when it mattered most) which is awesome for college hockey
 

Man I don’t understand your ongoing love affair with BC. They’re so much more single line dependent this year with that line not being as good as the one last year. They’ve been trailing 7 times going into the 3rd already this year and their PP has been poor to say the least. They will absolutely get better as the year goes on, but they’re not as head and shoulders above everyone as everyone was thinking for this year (and how they were through a ton of last year except when it mattered most) which is awesome for college hockey
That's the nice thing about the internet is everyone can express their different opinions. The only thing I'm changing in my opinion is bumping DU down with the rest.

Wood will likely be gone for the MSU, which hurts a lot. At least the first game. But maybe they let him out of camp early.
 
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