#3/1 Gophers vs. #4/4 Huskies

[bonin21]

Home and home, Saturday/Sunday
Saturday 1/7 @ 6PM in St. Cloud - CBS Sports Network
Sunday 1/8 @ 3PM at Mariucci - Bally Sports North aka FSN

Could be a heck of a series... Really, this SHOULD be the best series of the entire year. Cooley/Snuggerud/Mittelstadt/Chesley for the U and Peart for SCSU back from World Juniors. I'd expect them all to play both games. Hopefully there are enough students around to help the atmosphere at Mariucci Sunday.

SCSU shooters can really shoot. They lead the nation with a 13.1 shooting percentage. Gophers can shoot, too, at 3rd in the nation with 12.6%.
SCSU goalies are huge and very good.
Power plays about the same: UMN 26.1% and SCSU 25.7%
Neither penalty kill is great: UMN 78.4% and SCSU 80.5% (Basically, both teams will want to stay out of the box.)

It's going to be experience vs youth. SCSU's upperclassmen forward studs include former Gopher Grant Cruikshank who is doing WAY better this year than he did with the Gophers. Also Krannila (SR), Okabe (SR), and Miettinen (JR). On the other hand we know the Gopher top line of Knies-Cooley-Snuggerud are all underclassmen and may become the undisputed best line in the country with a couple more months of seasoning.

Motzko's record against his old team is 2-1 with the most recent game ending in OT controversially. McLaughlin hooked and stole the puck, SCSU player embellished which may have caused the no-call, Walker scored.

12/29/2019​	4-1	W	3M Arena at Mariucci, MN
10/15/2021​	1-2	L	3M Arena at Mariucci, MN
10/16/2021​	4-3 ot	W	National Hockey Center, MN

If you can't tell, I'm excited for this one.

 

[From the Parkinglot]

Very few tickets left so hopefully for the Sunday game. Should be a great weekend with everyone back from the world juniors.

 

[bonin21]

Vikings game at noon may hurt attendance (butts in seats) a bit

 

[Gophers1992]

Send those rednecks back home unhappy. Go gophers, get that sweep.

 

[Gophers1992]

Huskies are very good, gophers are better. Time for this D core to play up to their abilities. If they do, we sweep.

 

[bonin21]

02/03 teams will be honored again at Sunday's game. Last time the ceremony was very underwhelming so hopefully they have learned from that. Would love it if Vanek was able to make it to the game, but doubtful as I've never seen him at a game.

I imagine there will be acknowledgement of the bronze medal for Cooley/Snuggerud/Mittelstadt/Chesley/(Peart), as well.

 

[Vanek26]

Vanek has been in Mariucci a few times. He was there with his kids hockey team a few years ago and he was there in Feb 2020 signing autographs in the concourse when the Gophers had weekends when alumni would sign. They had Vanek, Leopold and Martin at various games that year.

 

[From the Parkinglot]

 

[bonin21]

MSU getting smoked by OSU. They are definitely pretenders.

PSU and probably OSU will make the tournament but only UMN or UM are actual contenders.

 

[PMWinSTP]

Vanek has been in Mariucci a few times. He was there with his kids hockey team a few years ago and he was there in Feb 2020 signing autographs in the concourse when the Gophers had weekends when alumni would sign. They had Vanek, Leopold and Martin at various games that year.

Was at that game as well when he was signing. My best memory from 2003 win was Vanek showing up with a few other players with the Natty trophy at Hogs Breath in Little Canada soon after winning it. They all drank for free. He was 19.

 

[bonin21]

Drank pop

 

[PMWinSTP]

Drank pop

It was all good. They were definitely having a good time.

 

[bonin21]

Big goalies make saves look so much easier. Example the Snuggerud breakaway.

 

[bonin21]

Two evenly matched teams getting settled in for what should be a dang good next five periods or more.

 

[Gophers1992]

This is some good hockey. First goal will be huge. Close looks locked in so far, let's hope he keeps that up.

 

[bonin21]

Ugly first PP

 

[From the Parkinglot]

Long passes and puck watching.

 

[bonin21]

Their PP is so much better structured. Good to escape that one.

 

[bonin21]

Third period needs to be way better than the second or St Cloud will squeeze the Gophers out and put this one away.

 

[bonin21]

The Gophers always have a ton of talent but the PP is chickens with their heads cut off most of the time. Annoying.

 

[From the Parkinglot]

What is the PP trying to accomplish. It’s baffling how bad it is.

 

[bonin21]

That was interference on SCSU at the end of their PP.

 

[bonin21]

Fucking annoying loss. Not a fan of the effort in period 2 and 3 before the last five minutes. Will need to be better tomorrow to salvage this weekend against the best team they've played this year.

Gophers need a good big goalie like that. SCSU has two of them.

 

[From the Parkinglot]

Well shit. What a boring game until the last 2 minutes.

 

[bonin21]

Gophers getting ranked #1 in a poll Losing the next weekend out

Glad I didn't make the trip to Cloud this year. Instead made it to Kato to watch that loss.

 

[WayOfTheGopher]

It was a long break, but my goodness they played like crap.

 

[Vanek26]

Fucking annoying loss. Not a fan of the effort in period 2 and 3 before the last five minutes. Will need to be better tomorrow to salvage this weekend against the best team they've played this year.

Gophers need a good big goalie like that. SCSU has two of them.

Close did not cause the Gophers to lose this game if that is what you are trying to say.

 

[bonin21]

Close did not cause the Gophers to lose this game if that is what you are trying to say.

Not at all. I want his replacement to be a big athletic goalie like the one UMD has coming in from Slovakia. Close has to be on his game every game at that size. Tall athletic goalies can make some saves he can't just based on taking up so much of the net.

 

[From the Parkinglot]

Hopefully like the gophers do they will respond tomorrow afternoon. Just seems like too often the gophers can have the game dictated to them as opposed to them dictating the game.

 

[bonin21]

Pairwise was 1 vs 4 going into today. Looks like it'll be T1 vs T1 going into tomorrow. Quinnipiac also T1.