Don Lucia is out as head coach of the University of Minnesota hockey team.
Saturday, March 31, 2018
Sunday, March 18, 2018
Don Lucia may have Coached his Last Game as a Gopher, and that's a Shame.
As the postseason starts without the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers making the NCAA Tournament (the Gophers lost out to UMD by .0001 in the RPI), the hot-button issue on all Minnesota fans' minds is whether head coach Don Lucia will be back next season for the Maroon and Gold.
It seems like a foregone conclusion at this point that Lucia will not be welcomed back behind the Gopher bench in 2018-2019. This Gopher team missed the NCAA Tournament after beginning the season ranked #3 overall, returning first team All-American Tyler Sheehy, two-time Big Ten Goaltender of the Year Eric Schierhorn, and adding all-world freshman Casey Mittelstadt. They sure seemed like they had the pieces to make a run at a national title this season, but they'll be watching from home over the next few weeks as 16 other teams fight for the trophy.
I do think that it's time for a change - the Gophers have missed the tournament twice in the last three years and have only made it out of the first round twice since they lost to North Dakota in OT on the Chris Porter wraparound in 2007 (that's two first round NCAA wins in the last 11 years in case you were playing along at home). Those results simply are not acceptable for Gopher Hockey, and while I don't think it's fair to lay all of that at the feet of Don Lucia, he certainly needs to bear some responsibility for those results.
Coaches also have shelf lives, and I think Lucia's shelf life and his message have just gotten stale, or are falling on players differently than they did 15 years ago.
All that said, it will still be a shame if / when the team takes the ice in October and Don Lucia is not behind the bench. This is a man who has won the most games behind the Gopher bench than anyone else (438), and for a program as storied as the University of Minnesota, one of only two coaches to have ever won the NCAA title. Lucia's teams play an entertaining high-octane style, his kids don't get into trouble, and he has a great record on the academics side as well.
Like I said, I think it's time for a change, but I'll be a little sad to not see Lucia out there coaching the team if indeed someone else takes over at the helm next season.
To Don Lucia, thank you for many wonderful years and amazing moments in Gopher hockey history. If this was your last year, you didn't go out the way you deserved to. Let's hope whomever is the next head coach can get us back to the top of the mountain again.
Go Gophers!
Friday, March 2, 2018
Woeful Gophers Lose Again to Penn State in B1G Tourney Opener
Two Last-Minute Second Period Goals Too Much for Maroon and Gold
State College, PA - The home team was once again jovial in Happy Valley. For Gopher fans, the last three games have been more like the Valley of the Shadow of Death.
Penn State once again outplayed, outmanned and, most importantly, outscored the Gophers, beating them 5-3 on the strength of a pair of goals in the final 71 seconds of the middle period. The win was the Nittany Lions' third straight over Minnesota in just the last 8 days, putting the Gophers on the brink of elimination in the Big Ten conference tournament and inching them ever closer away from the safety of the middle of the PairWise pack and towards the bubble.
Minnesota (19-16-2 Overall, 10-13-2 B1G) got a big performance from Casey Mittelstadt, who scored the game's opening goal (the first of his two on the night) on the powerplay at 11:13 of the first. Penn State (17-13-5, 10-10-5) responded at 15:39 on Cole Hults' PP tally to tie the game at 1-1.
The Gophers' Darian Romanko took a 5-minute major with 1:35 left in the first, putting Penn State on a 5-minute power play that flowed into the second. PSU's Nate Sucese scored toward the tail-end of that man-advantage, putting the Nittany Lions ahead at 2:35 of the second. Scott Reedy tied the game on a nice pass from behind the net from Rem Pitlick at 15:13, but Penn State struck twice with under two minutes left in the middle stanza, once on a soft bad-angle shot by Dennis Smirnov with 1:11 remaining in the second and again on a bad defensive play resulting in a two-on-one by Andrew Sturtz with just fifteen seconds left.
The goals were deflating, but the Gophers made things slightly more interesting before the end. Tyler Sheehy drew a five-minute major at 10:17 of the third for contact to the head (but was somehow also called for embellishment on the play), and Casey Mittelstadt scored his second of the game and 10th of the season with 5 minutes to go to pull Minnesota within one. The Gophers drew another powerplay on a nice Brent Gates rush just 33 seconds after the Mittelstadt goal, but the Minnesota power play, which had already scored twice on the night, regressed to its awful mean, and Penn State scored with Mat Robson pulled for an extra attacker to salt the game away at 5-3.
Robson drew the loss on the night, and for the second straight start against these Nittany Lions has looked human. It's hard to fault Robson for most of the goals tonight, but I'm sure he'd like to have the Smirnov one back. It will be interesting to see if Gopher coach Don Lucia goes with Eric Schierhorn, firmly ensconced in the doghouse but not a loser of three straight against this PSU squad.
Coming into the night, the Gophers were something like 100% to make the tournament by winning at least one game this weekend, and 97% to make it if they were swept again. Lots of other crazy things would need to happen in college hockey for this team to miss the tournament at this point, but it sure would be nice for the Gophers to play like it mattered and win a game against a team they should be better than.
Minnesota has a chance to even the series Saturday. The puck drops at 6PM Central time and can be seen on FSN+, streamed on BTN2Go, and heard on AM1130.
Go Gophers!
State College, PA - The home team was once again jovial in Happy Valley. For Gopher fans, the last three games have been more like the Valley of the Shadow of Death.
Penn State once again outplayed, outmanned and, most importantly, outscored the Gophers, beating them 5-3 on the strength of a pair of goals in the final 71 seconds of the middle period. The win was the Nittany Lions' third straight over Minnesota in just the last 8 days, putting the Gophers on the brink of elimination in the Big Ten conference tournament and inching them ever closer away from the safety of the middle of the PairWise pack and towards the bubble.
Minnesota (19-16-2 Overall, 10-13-2 B1G) got a big performance from Casey Mittelstadt, who scored the game's opening goal (the first of his two on the night) on the powerplay at 11:13 of the first. Penn State (17-13-5, 10-10-5) responded at 15:39 on Cole Hults' PP tally to tie the game at 1-1.
The Gophers' Darian Romanko took a 5-minute major with 1:35 left in the first, putting Penn State on a 5-minute power play that flowed into the second. PSU's Nate Sucese scored toward the tail-end of that man-advantage, putting the Nittany Lions ahead at 2:35 of the second. Scott Reedy tied the game on a nice pass from behind the net from Rem Pitlick at 15:13, but Penn State struck twice with under two minutes left in the middle stanza, once on a soft bad-angle shot by Dennis Smirnov with 1:11 remaining in the second and again on a bad defensive play resulting in a two-on-one by Andrew Sturtz with just fifteen seconds left.
The goals were deflating, but the Gophers made things slightly more interesting before the end. Tyler Sheehy drew a five-minute major at 10:17 of the third for contact to the head (but was somehow also called for embellishment on the play), and Casey Mittelstadt scored his second of the game and 10th of the season with 5 minutes to go to pull Minnesota within one. The Gophers drew another powerplay on a nice Brent Gates rush just 33 seconds after the Mittelstadt goal, but the Minnesota power play, which had already scored twice on the night, regressed to its awful mean, and Penn State scored with Mat Robson pulled for an extra attacker to salt the game away at 5-3.
Robson drew the loss on the night, and for the second straight start against these Nittany Lions has looked human. It's hard to fault Robson for most of the goals tonight, but I'm sure he'd like to have the Smirnov one back. It will be interesting to see if Gopher coach Don Lucia goes with Eric Schierhorn, firmly ensconced in the doghouse but not a loser of three straight against this PSU squad.
Coming into the night, the Gophers were something like 100% to make the tournament by winning at least one game this weekend, and 97% to make it if they were swept again. Lots of other crazy things would need to happen in college hockey for this team to miss the tournament at this point, but it sure would be nice for the Gophers to play like it mattered and win a game against a team they should be better than.
Minnesota has a chance to even the series Saturday. The puck drops at 6PM Central time and can be seen on FSN+, streamed on BTN2Go, and heard on AM1130.
Go Gophers!
Saturday, February 24, 2018
2018 Big Ten Tournament Playoff Scenarios
Entering the final day of the regular season, the Gophers still don't know whether they'll be home or away for the first round of the Big Ten tournament. Because the Gophers are 13-5-1 at home and 4-9-1 on the road, it'd probably be good if they could have home ice for the first round.
The scenarios for who the Gophers could play are below:
The scenarios for who the Gophers could play are below:
- If Minnesota loses to Penn State Saturday, they play Penn State at Penn State next weekend in the first round of the conference tournament.
- If Wisconsin does not win Saturday against Ohio State, they'll lock in sixth place and will play Michigan. Wisconsin can move into fifth place with a win and a PSU regulation loss. In this scenario, Wisconsin would travel to Mariucci to take on the Gophers in the first round.
- If Minnesota gets at least one point Saturday, they will play at Mariucci for the first round of the B1G Tourney and could end up playing either Penn State (with any number of points or with a Wisconsin loss/tie), or Wisconsin (UW win + PSU loss).
Nittany Lions Pour On 61 Shots, Blitz Gophers 5-1
Friday Victory Sets Up 'Win-and-Stay-Home' Saturday Scenario for Penn State
State College, PA - Coming into the weekend, the Minnesota Gophers only needed one point on the road at Penn State to secure home ice positioning for the first round of the Big Ten playoffs.
After Friday's 5-1 drubbing at the hands of the Nittany Lions, the Gophers (19-14-2 Overall, 10-11-2 B1G) may be dreading the fact that another PSU win Saturday means that Minnesota would be headed back out to Happy Valley to take on the Nittany Lions (15-13-5, 8-10-5) in the first round.
Penn State likes to shoot from everywhere, and that was certainly on display Friday night. The Nittany Lions had 21 shots in the first period and 26 shots in the second, while laying back with 'only' 14 in the third for a grand total of 61 shots on goal in the game.
The Gophers, on the other hand, only mustered 15 shots for the contest, and it was pretty clear that the shot tally indicated who the better team was on the night. Penn State was fast, relentless, and won all the puck battles, while Minnesota looked slow and on their back foot the entire 60 minutes of play.
PSU opened up a lead at 8:13 of the first period, when a seeing-eye shot from the point beat Gopher goalie Mat Robson. The Gophers responded at 12:22 when a seeing-eye shot of their own was tipped by both Casey Mittelstadt and Leon Bristedt on its way into the Penn State net. Bristedt was ultimately credited with the goal, his 98th career point as a Gopher.
Penn State scored on a 2-on-1 at 10:31 of the second to re-take the lead at 2-1, and they'd never give it up, scoring three more times in the third to win by a 5-1 margin.
The Penn State win sets up a dramatic final day of the Big Ten regular season. Wisconsin's loss to Ohio State Friday locks the Gophers into no worse than 5th place. The scenarios are as follows:
Go Gophers!
State College, PA - Coming into the weekend, the Minnesota Gophers only needed one point on the road at Penn State to secure home ice positioning for the first round of the Big Ten playoffs.
After Friday's 5-1 drubbing at the hands of the Nittany Lions, the Gophers (19-14-2 Overall, 10-11-2 B1G) may be dreading the fact that another PSU win Saturday means that Minnesota would be headed back out to Happy Valley to take on the Nittany Lions (15-13-5, 8-10-5) in the first round.
Penn State likes to shoot from everywhere, and that was certainly on display Friday night. The Nittany Lions had 21 shots in the first period and 26 shots in the second, while laying back with 'only' 14 in the third for a grand total of 61 shots on goal in the game.
The Gophers, on the other hand, only mustered 15 shots for the contest, and it was pretty clear that the shot tally indicated who the better team was on the night. Penn State was fast, relentless, and won all the puck battles, while Minnesota looked slow and on their back foot the entire 60 minutes of play.
PSU opened up a lead at 8:13 of the first period, when a seeing-eye shot from the point beat Gopher goalie Mat Robson. The Gophers responded at 12:22 when a seeing-eye shot of their own was tipped by both Casey Mittelstadt and Leon Bristedt on its way into the Penn State net. Bristedt was ultimately credited with the goal, his 98th career point as a Gopher.
Penn State scored on a 2-on-1 at 10:31 of the second to re-take the lead at 2-1, and they'd never give it up, scoring three more times in the third to win by a 5-1 margin.
The Penn State win sets up a dramatic final day of the Big Ten regular season. Wisconsin's loss to Ohio State Friday locks the Gophers into no worse than 5th place. The scenarios are as follows:
- If Minnesota loses Saturday, they play Penn State at Penn State next weekend in the first round of the conference tournament.
- If Wisconsin does not win Saturday against Ohio State, they'll lock in sixth place and will play Michigan. Wisconsin can move into fifth place with a win and a PSU regulation loss. In this scenario, Wisconsin would travel to Mariucci to take on the Gophers in the first round.
- If Minnesota gets at least one point Saturday, they will play at Mariucci for the first round of the B1G Tourney and could end up playing either Penn State (with any number of points or with a Wisconsin loss/tie), or Wisconsin (UW win + PSU loss).
Go Gophers!
Friday, February 16, 2018
Gophers Fell #6 Buckeyes 2-1
Gates, Glover score for Gophers, Robson picks up another win in net
Minneapolis, MN - "We've been saying it for a while now: it's playoff hockey."
Jack Glover summed up his team's mindset following a nailbiting Gopher win Friday night at Mariucci Arena. The Gophers (19-13-1 Overall, 10-10-1-1 B1G) beat the Ohio State Buckeyes (19-8-4, 12-8-1) by a 2-1 score in a tight, up-and-down thriller of a game that saw Glover get his first goal of the season, the game-winner at 9:43 of the second period. Minnesota held on late, with defenseman Jack Sadek sweeping the puck off of the goal-line with less than a minute left to preserve the victory.
The Gophers were shot out of a cannon in the first few minutes of the game, dominating the possession and generating good quality scoring chances almost from the drop of the puck. Ohio State drew an early cross-checking penalty when Scott Reedy went to the box at 2:03, but Minnesota deftly diffused the Buckeye chance and went back on the attack.
Junior Gates scored the first goal of the game and 10th of the season at 9:02 of the first for the Gophers. Tyler Sheehy turned the puck over in the neutral zone on a nice backcheck before outletting the puck to Gates along the left wing wall. Gates skated across the line, finding Tommy Novak for a one-timer in the slot. OSU goalie Sean Romeo made the save, but Gates was following the shot, and put away the rebound to give Minnesota the 1-0 lead.
The Gophers increased the lead to 2-0 on Glover's goal near the halfway mark of the second. Glover downplayed his role in the play, citing "great play by our forwards down low, working their D, which is what they're so good at," and a "lucky little deflection," but the senior defenseman should take more credit: Glover stepped around a sprawling Buckeye before picking his spot in the high slot and firing the puck past Romeo for what would eventually be the game-winning goal.
The Buckeyes got on the board on the powerplay late in the second, sending the game into the final frame at 2-1, which is where it would stay, despite 18 attempted shots throughout the period by the Buckeyes. The key play of the third came with the goalie pulled, when Jack Sadek cleared the puck from off of the goal line behind Mat Robson, sealing the game for the Gophers. Said Gates, the last minute was "pretty intense." "Those are the fun ones, when everyone's into it, everyone is up on the bench, there's a lot on the line and we know that. 2-1 game, it's playoff hockey and we know that's how it's going to be come tournament time."
Mat Robson got the win between the pipes for the Gophers, making 21 saves to improve to 7-2-0 on the season. The sophomore netminder has now started six straight games for the Maroon and Gold. Sean Romeo drew the hard-luck loss for the Buckeyes, stopping 26 of 28 shots.
Minnesota has now won three straight after sweeping Wisconsin in Madison last weekend, and has won six of seven overall after being swept at home by Michigan in mid-January. The Gophers have also nearly solidified their positioning in both the top four of the Big Ten standings (the top four teams get home-ice in the first round of the conference tournament), and in the PairWise Rankings, which are used to select the field of 16 teams that make the NCAA tournament.
When asked about what has clicked for the team recently, Gates praised the whole team getting into the right mindset. "I think everyone is elevating their play. Everyone's figuring out their role, and I think we're playing some good hockey right now."
The Gophers square off against Ohio State again Saturday afternoon. The game is at 4PM, and can be seen on ESPNU, streamed on WatchESPN, and heard on AM1130.
Go Gophers!
Minneapolis, MN - "We've been saying it for a while now: it's playoff hockey."
Jack Glover summed up his team's mindset following a nailbiting Gopher win Friday night at Mariucci Arena. The Gophers (19-13-1 Overall, 10-10-1-1 B1G) beat the Ohio State Buckeyes (19-8-4, 12-8-1) by a 2-1 score in a tight, up-and-down thriller of a game that saw Glover get his first goal of the season, the game-winner at 9:43 of the second period. Minnesota held on late, with defenseman Jack Sadek sweeping the puck off of the goal-line with less than a minute left to preserve the victory.
The Gophers were shot out of a cannon in the first few minutes of the game, dominating the possession and generating good quality scoring chances almost from the drop of the puck. Ohio State drew an early cross-checking penalty when Scott Reedy went to the box at 2:03, but Minnesota deftly diffused the Buckeye chance and went back on the attack.
Junior Gates scored the first goal of the game and 10th of the season at 9:02 of the first for the Gophers. Tyler Sheehy turned the puck over in the neutral zone on a nice backcheck before outletting the puck to Gates along the left wing wall. Gates skated across the line, finding Tommy Novak for a one-timer in the slot. OSU goalie Sean Romeo made the save, but Gates was following the shot, and put away the rebound to give Minnesota the 1-0 lead.
The Gophers increased the lead to 2-0 on Glover's goal near the halfway mark of the second. Glover downplayed his role in the play, citing "great play by our forwards down low, working their D, which is what they're so good at," and a "lucky little deflection," but the senior defenseman should take more credit: Glover stepped around a sprawling Buckeye before picking his spot in the high slot and firing the puck past Romeo for what would eventually be the game-winning goal.
The Buckeyes got on the board on the powerplay late in the second, sending the game into the final frame at 2-1, which is where it would stay, despite 18 attempted shots throughout the period by the Buckeyes. The key play of the third came with the goalie pulled, when Jack Sadek cleared the puck from off of the goal line behind Mat Robson, sealing the game for the Gophers. Said Gates, the last minute was "pretty intense." "Those are the fun ones, when everyone's into it, everyone is up on the bench, there's a lot on the line and we know that. 2-1 game, it's playoff hockey and we know that's how it's going to be come tournament time."
Mat Robson got the win between the pipes for the Gophers, making 21 saves to improve to 7-2-0 on the season. The sophomore netminder has now started six straight games for the Maroon and Gold. Sean Romeo drew the hard-luck loss for the Buckeyes, stopping 26 of 28 shots.
Minnesota has now won three straight after sweeping Wisconsin in Madison last weekend, and has won six of seven overall after being swept at home by Michigan in mid-January. The Gophers have also nearly solidified their positioning in both the top four of the Big Ten standings (the top four teams get home-ice in the first round of the conference tournament), and in the PairWise Rankings, which are used to select the field of 16 teams that make the NCAA tournament.
When asked about what has clicked for the team recently, Gates praised the whole team getting into the right mindset. "I think everyone is elevating their play. Everyone's figuring out their role, and I think we're playing some good hockey right now."
The Gophers square off against Ohio State again Saturday afternoon. The game is at 4PM, and can be seen on ESPNU, streamed on WatchESPN, and heard on AM1130.
Go Gophers!
Friday, February 9, 2018
Sheehy's 3rd Period Brace Beats Badgers
Madison, WI - It's about as hackneyed a cliche as there is, but Don Lucia always talks about his best players needing to play their best as the season winds down.
For Tyler Sheehy, who's been quiet nearly the entire season after an All-American sophomore campaign in 2016-2017, perhaps Friday night's game against Wisconsin was a much needed wake-up call.
Sheehy scored two go-ahead goals in the third period, including the eventual game-winner with just under five minutes left in the final frame, to drag the Gophers (17-13-1 Overall, 8-10-1-1 B1G) across the finish line with a 4-2 win over the Wisconsin Badgers (14-14-4, 8-10-3-1) Friday night.
The game started much like a typical Gopher-Badger series of old. Minnesota had the better of the possession in the first, but Wisconsin capitalized on one of their few scoring chances midway through the period to take a 1-0 lead.
The script almost completely flipped in the second, when Gopher goalie Mat Robson turned aside all 23 Badger shots in the second (including 12 on Wisconsin's three powerplay chances), and Minnesota got the lone goal of the period on a tipped snapshot from the point. Steve Johnson was credited with the goal, but the replays showed Brannon McManus deflecting the puck past Badger goalie Kyle Hayton to tie the game at just 1:56 of the frame.
The teams entered the third tied at 1-1, but Sheehy broke the tie early, slipping a rebound past Hayton at 0:39 to give the Gophers their first lead of the game at 2-1. Wisconsin was able to tie just 1:35 later, when Jason Ford took advantage of a poor defensive play by Tyler Nanne to steal the puck and feed Matt Ustaski to knot the game at two goals each.
The teams traded chances as the clock wound down in the third, but Tyler Sheehy again broke the tie, leaking out of the right-wing corner and firing a low-angle wrist shot off of a one-time pass from Tommy Novak past Hayton to give the Gophers a 3-2 lead with 4:48 remaining in the 3rd.
Darian Romanko tacked on an empty-netter at 18:23 to complete the scoring for the Gophers and for the game, which finished 4-2 for the good guys.
Quietly effective, goaltender Mat Robson appears to have taken over the reins in net for the Gophers. Robson has started each of the last four games for the Gophers, beating Michigan State 2-1 at Madison Square Garden before splitting against Notre Dame two weekends ago and beating Wisconsin Friday. Robson stopped 38 of 40 shots Friday night to pick up his fifth win as a Gopher. Expect to see junior Eric Schierhorn get back between the pipes eventually, but Don Lucia likes to ride the hot hand, and Robson has been solid in net for Minnesota.
The win pushes the Gophers up to 5th in the Big Ten conference standings with 26 points, behind Wisconsin (4th, 28 points) and Michigan (3rd, 29 points), but with two games in hand on each of them. Minnesota needs to at least get to 4th place to secure a first-round home playoff series in the Big Ten postseason tournament.
Minnesota appears to have held-pat for now at 9th place in the PairWise Rankings. According to Jim Dahl at CollegeHockeyRanked.com, the Gophers have a pretty solid chance to make the NCAA tournament if they win at least three of their remaining six games, and things start to look iffy if they win two or fewer.
The powerplay continues to be a killer for the Gopher offense - Minnesota is now 3 for its last 50 on the man-advantage after going 0-4 Friday against the Badgers, and are 55th out of 60 D1 college hockey teams at 12.6% for the season. For those playing along at home, that's akin to the Gophers playing five full periods of 5-on-4 hockey and scoring only three goals. The penalty kill was a perfect 4-4 against Wisconsin Friday night, but no amount of PK success is enough when you're clicking at 6% over your last 50 opportunities on the PP.
With one win down after Friday night, the Gophers will look to further improve their PWR and league table positioning while going for the road sweep Saturday. The rubber match is at a more normal 7PM time, and can be seen on FSN+, streamed on Fox Sports Go or BTN2Go, and heard on AM1130.
Go Gophers!
For Tyler Sheehy, who's been quiet nearly the entire season after an All-American sophomore campaign in 2016-2017, perhaps Friday night's game against Wisconsin was a much needed wake-up call.
Sheehy scored two go-ahead goals in the third period, including the eventual game-winner with just under five minutes left in the final frame, to drag the Gophers (17-13-1 Overall, 8-10-1-1 B1G) across the finish line with a 4-2 win over the Wisconsin Badgers (14-14-4, 8-10-3-1) Friday night.
The game started much like a typical Gopher-Badger series of old. Minnesota had the better of the possession in the first, but Wisconsin capitalized on one of their few scoring chances midway through the period to take a 1-0 lead.
The script almost completely flipped in the second, when Gopher goalie Mat Robson turned aside all 23 Badger shots in the second (including 12 on Wisconsin's three powerplay chances), and Minnesota got the lone goal of the period on a tipped snapshot from the point. Steve Johnson was credited with the goal, but the replays showed Brannon McManus deflecting the puck past Badger goalie Kyle Hayton to tie the game at just 1:56 of the frame.
The teams entered the third tied at 1-1, but Sheehy broke the tie early, slipping a rebound past Hayton at 0:39 to give the Gophers their first lead of the game at 2-1. Wisconsin was able to tie just 1:35 later, when Jason Ford took advantage of a poor defensive play by Tyler Nanne to steal the puck and feed Matt Ustaski to knot the game at two goals each.
The teams traded chances as the clock wound down in the third, but Tyler Sheehy again broke the tie, leaking out of the right-wing corner and firing a low-angle wrist shot off of a one-time pass from Tommy Novak past Hayton to give the Gophers a 3-2 lead with 4:48 remaining in the 3rd.
Darian Romanko tacked on an empty-netter at 18:23 to complete the scoring for the Gophers and for the game, which finished 4-2 for the good guys.
Quietly effective, goaltender Mat Robson appears to have taken over the reins in net for the Gophers. Robson has started each of the last four games for the Gophers, beating Michigan State 2-1 at Madison Square Garden before splitting against Notre Dame two weekends ago and beating Wisconsin Friday. Robson stopped 38 of 40 shots Friday night to pick up his fifth win as a Gopher. Expect to see junior Eric Schierhorn get back between the pipes eventually, but Don Lucia likes to ride the hot hand, and Robson has been solid in net for Minnesota.
The win pushes the Gophers up to 5th in the Big Ten conference standings with 26 points, behind Wisconsin (4th, 28 points) and Michigan (3rd, 29 points), but with two games in hand on each of them. Minnesota needs to at least get to 4th place to secure a first-round home playoff series in the Big Ten postseason tournament.
Minnesota appears to have held-pat for now at 9th place in the PairWise Rankings. According to Jim Dahl at CollegeHockeyRanked.com, the Gophers have a pretty solid chance to make the NCAA tournament if they win at least three of their remaining six games, and things start to look iffy if they win two or fewer.
The powerplay continues to be a killer for the Gopher offense - Minnesota is now 3 for its last 50 on the man-advantage after going 0-4 Friday against the Badgers, and are 55th out of 60 D1 college hockey teams at 12.6% for the season. For those playing along at home, that's akin to the Gophers playing five full periods of 5-on-4 hockey and scoring only three goals. The penalty kill was a perfect 4-4 against Wisconsin Friday night, but no amount of PK success is enough when you're clicking at 6% over your last 50 opportunities on the PP.
With one win down after Friday night, the Gophers will look to further improve their PWR and league table positioning while going for the road sweep Saturday. The rubber match is at a more normal 7PM time, and can be seen on FSN+, streamed on Fox Sports Go or BTN2Go, and heard on AM1130.
Go Gophers!
Saturday, January 27, 2018
Mittelstadt's OT Winner Lifts Gophers Over Irish
Star Freshman Breaks 0-0 Tie with OT Game Winner
Minneapolis, MN - After playing good hockey in South Bend in November with nothing to show for it, the Minnesota Gophers were hungry to flip the script against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
It took more than the standard 60 minutes, but in the end the hometown fans went home happy.
Minnesota and Notre Dame played yet another exciting hockey game Friday night, with the Gophers dominating the game for the final 40 minutes of action but settling for a 0-0 tie heading into overtime. Casey Mittelstadt scored 3:35 into the five-minute extra session to break the stalemate and give the Gophers a well-deserved victory.
One cold Friday night in November, Minnesota (16-12-1 Overall, 7-9-1 B1G) put 44 shots on Notre Dame (19-5-1, 13-2-0) but had to settle for a 1-0 defeat behind the stalwart goaltending effort of Irish goalkeeper Cale Morris. Morris, who leads the nation in Sv% (.952) and is 3rd in GAA (1.62), looked like he was going to stymie the Gophers yet again, turning aside all 31 Gopher shots he faced in regulation.
Gopher goalie Mat Robson matched Morris' 60-minute shutout with one of his own, stopping 21-of-21 Notre Dame shots that came his way throughout regulation play. No saves were bigger for Robson and the Gophers than those he made on the penalty kill in the final minutes of the game. Gopher forward Brannon McManus took a tripping penalty with just 2:49 remaining in the 3rd period of a 0-0 tie game, but Robson and the Gopher penalty kill were able to keep the Notre Dame attackers off the board.
In the overtime session, both teams had good opportunities, and both goalies were solid. The winning play was created by Casey Mittelstadt, who poked a puck through a defender's legs in the neutral zone to create an odd-man rush. Mittelstadt entered the zone, passed the puck to Rem Pitlick in the high slot and continued to the net. Pitlick's shot caught Morris up high, and the rebound fell right to Mittelstadt at the side of the net, who tucked the puck home for the game-winner at 3:35 of overtime.
Notre Dame, who had previously cruised through Big Ten competition, rattling off 13-straight conference wins and taking a death-grip over the Big Ten regular season crown, has entered what appears to be a mini-slump of late. The Irish have now dropped two games in a row after losing their first Big Ten contest 5-0 last Sunday to Wisconsin in the United Center in Chicago before Friday's loss to Minnesota. The Irish's last goal was an empty netter at 19:22 of the previous Friday's win over Wisconsin, which means that they have gone 124:13 without scoring a goal.
Minnesota, on the other hand, may be rounding into form. After dropping a pair of games at home to Michigan, the Gophers have righted the ship, sweeping Michigan State on the road before notching the win over Notre Dame. Minnesota's 23 league points are good for T-4th in conference, just one behind Michigan in third and 5 behind Ohio State in second. The Gophers need to finish 4th or better in conference to earn home-ice advantage in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, which will be played on campus sites for the first time this season.
Minnesota and Notre Dame square off again Saturday evening at 7PM. The game can be seen on FSN+, streamed on BTN2Go, and heard on AM1130.
Go Gophers!
Minneapolis, MN - After playing good hockey in South Bend in November with nothing to show for it, the Minnesota Gophers were hungry to flip the script against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
It took more than the standard 60 minutes, but in the end the hometown fans went home happy.
Minnesota and Notre Dame played yet another exciting hockey game Friday night, with the Gophers dominating the game for the final 40 minutes of action but settling for a 0-0 tie heading into overtime. Casey Mittelstadt scored 3:35 into the five-minute extra session to break the stalemate and give the Gophers a well-deserved victory.
One cold Friday night in November, Minnesota (16-12-1 Overall, 7-9-1 B1G) put 44 shots on Notre Dame (19-5-1, 13-2-0) but had to settle for a 1-0 defeat behind the stalwart goaltending effort of Irish goalkeeper Cale Morris. Morris, who leads the nation in Sv% (.952) and is 3rd in GAA (1.62), looked like he was going to stymie the Gophers yet again, turning aside all 31 Gopher shots he faced in regulation.
Gopher goalie Mat Robson matched Morris' 60-minute shutout with one of his own, stopping 21-of-21 Notre Dame shots that came his way throughout regulation play. No saves were bigger for Robson and the Gophers than those he made on the penalty kill in the final minutes of the game. Gopher forward Brannon McManus took a tripping penalty with just 2:49 remaining in the 3rd period of a 0-0 tie game, but Robson and the Gopher penalty kill were able to keep the Notre Dame attackers off the board.
In the overtime session, both teams had good opportunities, and both goalies were solid. The winning play was created by Casey Mittelstadt, who poked a puck through a defender's legs in the neutral zone to create an odd-man rush. Mittelstadt entered the zone, passed the puck to Rem Pitlick in the high slot and continued to the net. Pitlick's shot caught Morris up high, and the rebound fell right to Mittelstadt at the side of the net, who tucked the puck home for the game-winner at 3:35 of overtime.
Notre Dame, who had previously cruised through Big Ten competition, rattling off 13-straight conference wins and taking a death-grip over the Big Ten regular season crown, has entered what appears to be a mini-slump of late. The Irish have now dropped two games in a row after losing their first Big Ten contest 5-0 last Sunday to Wisconsin in the United Center in Chicago before Friday's loss to Minnesota. The Irish's last goal was an empty netter at 19:22 of the previous Friday's win over Wisconsin, which means that they have gone 124:13 without scoring a goal.
Minnesota, on the other hand, may be rounding into form. After dropping a pair of games at home to Michigan, the Gophers have righted the ship, sweeping Michigan State on the road before notching the win over Notre Dame. Minnesota's 23 league points are good for T-4th in conference, just one behind Michigan in third and 5 behind Ohio State in second. The Gophers need to finish 4th or better in conference to earn home-ice advantage in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, which will be played on campus sites for the first time this season.
Minnesota and Notre Dame square off again Saturday evening at 7PM. The game can be seen on FSN+, streamed on BTN2Go, and heard on AM1130.
Go Gophers!
Saturday, January 20, 2018
An Open Letter to Eric Kaler, Mark Coyle, and the University of Minnesota Board of Regents
Mr. Kaler, Mr. Coyle, Regents of the University of Minnesota, and to anyone else reading this letter:
I love Gopher hockey. Something needs to change.
I love Gopher hockey. Something needs to change.
Thursday, January 18, 2018
Late Sheehy Goal gets Gophers past Spartans
East Lansing, MI - Wins away from home have been awfully difficult to come by this season for the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Usually a tough draw on the road, the Gophers had only won two games away from the friendly confines of Mariucci Arena (a 2-0 win against Union in the Icebreaker, and a 2-1 win over North Dakota in Grand Forks) throughout the 2017-2018 season prior to this weekend's series at Michigan State. Despite a mid-game 4-1 lead, the Gophers had to pull out a nailbiter, prevailing after Tyler Sheehy netted the game-winner with just 2:48 left in the third period to break a 4-4 tie and send Minnesota (14-12-1 Overall, 5-9-1 B1G) home happy with a 5-4 win.
Usually a tough draw on the road, the Gophers had only won two games away from the friendly confines of Mariucci Arena (a 2-0 win against Union in the Icebreaker, and a 2-1 win over North Dakota in Grand Forks) throughout the 2017-2018 season prior to this weekend's series at Michigan State. Despite a mid-game 4-1 lead, the Gophers had to pull out a nailbiter, prevailing after Tyler Sheehy netted the game-winner with just 2:48 left in the third period to break a 4-4 tie and send Minnesota (14-12-1 Overall, 5-9-1 B1G) home happy with a 5-4 win.
Friday, January 12, 2018
Bad Team Loses to Worse Team
Gophers fall 5-3 at home to the 6th place team in the 7-team Big Ten Conference
Minneapolis, MN - Sometimes when you watch Gopher hockey, it's hard to imagine that they're ranked at all, let alone ranked in the top 10.
This paragraph was going to go at the end, but it deserved to be placed at the beginning: Right now, the Gophers are a bad team. They have no powerplay, they have no offensive spark, they seem to have little on-ice leadership. They returned an All-American on offense and have the best freshman in the country, but they sit 41st in total offense behind college-hockey juggernauts like Bentley and Bowling Green. They dearly miss Tommy Novak, who, despite all the other NHL draft picks littering the Gopher lineup, appears to be the only guy on the team that can actually make plays. They should be better.
Consistently inconsistent, the Minnesota Gophers (13-11-1 Overall, 4-8-1 B1G) had another head-scratcher of a night against the ineffective Michigan Wolverines (9-10-2, 4-7-2), giving up a goal 14 seconds into the game and struggling to find their footing throughout the rest of the contest, ultimately falling 5-3 with an empty netter.
Minneapolis, MN - Sometimes when you watch Gopher hockey, it's hard to imagine that they're ranked at all, let alone ranked in the top 10.
This paragraph was going to go at the end, but it deserved to be placed at the beginning: Right now, the Gophers are a bad team. They have no powerplay, they have no offensive spark, they seem to have little on-ice leadership. They returned an All-American on offense and have the best freshman in the country, but they sit 41st in total offense behind college-hockey juggernauts like Bentley and Bowling Green. They dearly miss Tommy Novak, who, despite all the other NHL draft picks littering the Gopher lineup, appears to be the only guy on the team that can actually make plays. They should be better.
Consistently inconsistent, the Minnesota Gophers (13-11-1 Overall, 4-8-1 B1G) had another head-scratcher of a night against the ineffective Michigan Wolverines (9-10-2, 4-7-2), giving up a goal 14 seconds into the game and struggling to find their footing throughout the rest of the contest, ultimately falling 5-3 with an empty netter.
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