Jimmy Snuggerud stayed with Gophers to win a title; Bob Motzko thinks this group can do it

[BleedGopher]

Per Zgoda:

Gophers men’s hockey coach Bob Motzko isn’t much for preseason hype, but he’s making an exception this year.

This time, he has a group evocative of the 2022-23 team that reached the NCAA title game but lost 10 seconds into overtime.

This year’s team that opens its regular season in Las Vegas starting Friday has cleared what he calls the first hurdle of a new season.

“The first test I like is the eyeball test, you can just see it,” Motzko said. “You always have the new-year excitement, but there’s more to it this year, too.

“Normally I don’t like to get too excited, but I’ve got to get it out there with this group. There’s an enormous amount of talent and depth. We start putting the pieces to the puzzle now. It’s a long season, but we’re off to a really good start.”

NHL first-round pick Jimmy Snuggerud is back for his junior season, keeping the St. Louis Blues waiting after they took him 23rd overall in the 2022 draft. He returned for the chance to win the national championship that eluded him and his teammates when they lost 3-2 in overtime to Quinnipiac.

The Gophers haven’t won an NCAA title since 2003.

“It was a tough decision,” Snuggerud said. “What it came down to for me was the leadership aspect, the team aspect and the winning aspect. Everyone in that locker room’s goal is to win a national championship. It’s something we all pride ourselves by. That was one of the biggest reasons to come back.”

Jimmy Snuggerud stayed with the Gophers to win a title; Bob Motzko thinks this group can do it

The Gophers men’s hockey season opens Friday night in Las Vegas vs. Air Force with a team brimming in confidence and top defensemen.

www.startribune.com

Go Gophers!!

 

[bonin21]

Won't be as good as that team but any team in the top 8 or so usually has a chance at the end and they should be in that mix unless they fall apart or goaltending kills them.

 

[upnorthkid]

Won't be as good as that team but any team in the top 8 or so usually has a chance at the end and they should be in that mix unless they fall apart or goaltending kills them.

Team should be better depth scoring wise without as much a juggernaut at the top line. We saw what happened when the top line didn’t produce because another good d team line matched them well and caught some luck. Think it will be harder to do that to this team.
Defensively everyone is back, has some first round talent, and tons of really solid depth. There’s no Faber, but there’s good offensive defenseman and shut down guys. I’d trust Bob when he says the group is going to be very good.
Goaltending is the question but Airey and Souliere are as talented as Close was at least.

Think they have a great chance to be as good, though maybe not as flashy where they’re just destroying teams but I’d expect they’re a lot more stifling to play against at times. It’s BC and everyone else right now, but I really like their chances to be in STL at the end of the year though even just to gett there takes a lot of luck in a best of 1.

 

[Crosby]

Team should be better depth scoring wise without as much a juggernaut at the top line. We saw what happened when the top line didn’t produce because another good d team line matched them well and caught some luck. Think it will be harder to do that to this team.
Defensively everyone is back, has some first round talent, and tons of really solid depth. There’s no Faber, but there’s good offensive defenseman and shut down guys. I’d trust Bob when he says the group is going to be very good.
Goaltending is the question but Airey and Souliere are as talented as Close was at least.

Think they have a great chance to be as good, though maybe not as flashy where they’re just destroying teams but I’d expect they’re a lot more stifling to play against at times. It’s BC and everyone else right now, but I really like their chances to be in STL at the end of the year though even just to gett there takes a lot of luck in a best of 1.

Agreed 100 percent. Love the depth on this team. We will have rock solid 3 lines and 3 sets of high quality D. 4th line will be good too. This team will be hard to play against I think. A lot has to go well to make National title game or even FF. And even more has to go right for us to win it. But it certainly is a possibility with this group. Let's get it done this weekend.