Otis
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Minnesota, Wisconsin, Boston College, Boston University, North Dakota, Colorado, Michigan.
These schools used to be the cream of college hockey and seemed to account for the Frozen Four participants on a yearly basis. Expansion of NCAA hockey teams and conference realignment have caused some of the Blue Bloods to carry less oxygen in their programs and fall back to the herd. At the same time, schools like St. Cloud and UMD have been able to wrest away some of the luster previously exclusively enjoyed by our beloved Gophers.
Can we get it back? Is it even possible in the current environment? Consider the following before you weigh in:
1. Minnesota used to have 2 NCAA hockey teams, now we have 5 with the addition of St. Cloud, Mankato, and Bemidji. The Gophers used to be able to pick the best players every year and reload the team no matter how many we lost to the NHL. Now kids can go party at St. Cloud State, or pick one of the other 3 schools to get the best situation for them. In some cases, one could argue other schools have better NHL exposure to off than the Gophers!
2. The B1G hockey conference has been bad. Really bad for the Gophers. Instead of competing against the best of the best in the former WCHA with annual showdowns with UND, UMD, Wisconsin, Colorado, CC, and the rest. We play against B1G teams Hockey fans of yore have had little exposure to. Ohio State, Penn State and Notre Dame just don't resonate the way the "Fighting Sioux" do for a hockey rivalry. Interest has waned as we cruised to winning the first 7 B1G championships with teams that were hardly battle hardened the way the WCHA prepared the Gophers for the NCAAs. Now, teams like Penn State have figured out how to recruit Canadian Men to play against our more skilled Minnesota boys and have success. Not sure how this is going to be turned around with the NHL consistently picking our best prospects in the draft.
So how do we overcome these new obstacles? Motzko was a good start.
These schools used to be the cream of college hockey and seemed to account for the Frozen Four participants on a yearly basis. Expansion of NCAA hockey teams and conference realignment have caused some of the Blue Bloods to carry less oxygen in their programs and fall back to the herd. At the same time, schools like St. Cloud and UMD have been able to wrest away some of the luster previously exclusively enjoyed by our beloved Gophers.
Can we get it back? Is it even possible in the current environment? Consider the following before you weigh in:
1. Minnesota used to have 2 NCAA hockey teams, now we have 5 with the addition of St. Cloud, Mankato, and Bemidji. The Gophers used to be able to pick the best players every year and reload the team no matter how many we lost to the NHL. Now kids can go party at St. Cloud State, or pick one of the other 3 schools to get the best situation for them. In some cases, one could argue other schools have better NHL exposure to off than the Gophers!
2. The B1G hockey conference has been bad. Really bad for the Gophers. Instead of competing against the best of the best in the former WCHA with annual showdowns with UND, UMD, Wisconsin, Colorado, CC, and the rest. We play against B1G teams Hockey fans of yore have had little exposure to. Ohio State, Penn State and Notre Dame just don't resonate the way the "Fighting Sioux" do for a hockey rivalry. Interest has waned as we cruised to winning the first 7 B1G championships with teams that were hardly battle hardened the way the WCHA prepared the Gophers for the NCAAs. Now, teams like Penn State have figured out how to recruit Canadian Men to play against our more skilled Minnesota boys and have success. Not sure how this is going to be turned around with the NHL consistently picking our best prospects in the draft.
So how do we overcome these new obstacles? Motzko was a good start.