Gopher Hockey Recruiting

[Gophers1992]

I said 1 because I recalled him playing one instead of two. Basically my question is who was the last legitimate NHL goalie from the U.

An NHL goalie would be great but I care more that we have had solid to really good college goaltending. Laffer won a Richter award btw.

Adam Wilcox had no NHL career but I’d take another one of him in a heartbeat.

 

[bonin21]

I'd say if the Gophers had NHL caliber goaltending in those big games from 2022-2024, there could have been two titles in three years. The Gophers are often amazing despite just good goaltending. Why can't we hope for great.

Especially now that it's easier to find it

 

[upnorthkid]

An NHL goalie would be great but I care more that we have had solid to really good college goaltending. Laffer won a Richter award btw.

Adam Wilcox had no NHL career but I’d take another one of him in a heartbeat.

McKay won a hobey, perets is in the AHL, Matt Davis ain’t making the nhl. Devin Levi has just barely cracked a lineup and is looking rough for Buffalo. There are very very very few NHL goalies in any league. There are only 60 or so rostered a year and they play a long time. For whatever reason, the goalie making the NHL somehow decides if they’re good enough or not despite the fact it’s less than 1% of college goalies that ever make it given there’s an awful lot of leagues and very few goalies who get to play. Very different than your skaters. There’s about 4 guys being seriously talked about for the NHL now with Fowler, Augustine, Gajan and Slukynsky with Slukynsky I think already being rather a shocker if he has a meaningful career in the NHL because of the change towards having bigger and bigger tenders (some of the same that’s being said about Augustine now). Everybody wants these guys and they want to start from the get go of arriving. We’ve had some older goalies recently and close sticking around which is going to limit that. There are multiple ways to do the goalie approach and going with a little older/seasoned guy is not a problem as these guys can all be outplayed in a one and done (Augustine was not great last year when MSU was bounced either).

 

[bonin21]

The NHL thing is more or less just me saying we don't get ultra high end goalies.

How many recent Gopher goalies outside of Wilcox have even stuck in the AHL? I agree I'd take another Adam Wilcox all day every day, and the fact that he stuck in the AHL means he's a better goalie than the others we've had.

I'm setting the goals high but also can understand how few NHL goalies stick. The pain is seeing Minnesotans do damn well (Oettinger, Lyon, Slukynsky promising)... We can't miss the next Minnesotan great. Keep the borders locked down. At the same time, Wendt may be the next Edquist.

 

[Gophers1992]

I'd say if the Gophers had NHL caliber goaltending in those big games from 2022-2024, there could have been two titles in three years. The Gophers are often amazing despite just good goaltending. Why can't we hope for great.

Especially now that it's easier to find it

We all hope for great, and I don't even disagree with your point about winning a title or two with an elite goaltender.

Once again it's the tone of your message and overall doom and gloom that people have issue with. If you ever figure this out you will be a great message board poster.