Don Lucia is out as head coach of the University of Minnesota hockey team.
Showing posts with label Gopher Hockey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gopher Hockey. Show all posts
Saturday, March 31, 2018
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.
Friday, March 27, 2015
NCAA Hockey Tournament: Predicting the Games
The NCAA Tournament is finally here!
Four games Friday, six games Saturday and two games Sunday will determine who moves on to play in the Frozen Four.
Although the tournament was a tough one to pick for the bracketologists (including yours truly), everyone has an opinion and I'll use mine to try and pick the games. This year is especially tough, as I think the top 15 teams have a chance to advance to the Frozen Four. All game times listed are in Central time.
Four games Friday, six games Saturday and two games Sunday will determine who moves on to play in the Frozen Four.
Although the tournament was a tough one to pick for the bracketologists (including yours truly), everyone has an opinion and I'll use mine to try and pick the games. This year is especially tough, as I think the top 15 teams have a chance to advance to the Frozen Four. All game times listed are in Central time.
Sunday, March 22, 2015
2015 NCAA Tournament Bracketology
By virtue of their B1G Conference Playoff title, the Minnesota Gophers will be playing in the NCAA Tournament as a #3 seed.
Now that all of the other conference tournament results are in, let's take a stab at predicting the brackets the NCAA Selection Committee will unveil tomorrow afternoon.
The field of 16 breaks down like this:
1 Seeds
Minnesota State (#1 Overall)
North Dakota
Boston University
Miami
2 Seeds
Denver
Minnesota-Duluth
Michigan Tech
Nebraska-Omaha
3 Seeds
Harvard
Minnesota
Boston College
St. Cloud State
4 Seeds
Yale
Quinnipiac
Providence
RIT
The first step of the Bracketology process is to place host teams in their own regionals.
North Dakota is placed in the Fargo regional as the only host team that made the tournament.
Next, starting with the #1 overall seed (Mankato), #1 seeds are placed in the regional closest to them - Mankato is placed in the South Bend regional, Boston University is placed in the Manchester regional, and Miami is placed in Providence (BU is about as close to Manchester as Providence, and this makes things easier down the line).
Now we place the remaining teams in their regionals based on ideal seed bands (1 vs 16 and 8 vs 9, 2 vs 15 and 7 vs 10, 3 vs 14 and 6 vs 11, 4 vs 13 and 5 vs 12):
When we do that, we get the following:
South Bend
Mankato vs RIT
Nebraska-Omaha vs Harvard
Fargo
North Dakota vs Providence
Michigan Tech vs Minnesota
Manchester
BU vs Quinnipiac
Minnesota-Duluth vs BC
Providence
Miami vs Yale
Denver vs St. Cloud State
Now, we're looking to eliminate first-round intra-conference matchups. We have only one in Providence with Denver playing St. Cloud. Because the NCHC has three #2 seeds, the only way to avoid this matchup is to swap Minnesota and St. Cloud State. Now we're left with:
South Bend
Mankato vs RIT
Nebraska-Omaha vs Harvard
Fargo
North Dakota vs Providence
Michigan Tech vs St. Cloud State
Manchester
BU vs Quinnipiac
Minnesota-Duluth vs BC
Providence
Miami vs Yale
Denver vs Minnesota
Now, what can we do to maximize attendance at these sites? One thing we can do is swap Minnesota and Harvard, to bring the Crimson out East and the Gophers back West.
South Bend
Mankato vs RIT
Nebraska-Omaha vs Minnesota
Fargo
North Dakota vs Providence
Michigan Tech vs St. Cloud State
Manchester
BU vs Quinnipiac
Minnesota-Duluth vs BC
Providence
Miami vs Yale
Denver vs Harvard
You'd like to get Providence in Providence, so let's swap Yale, Quinnipiac and Providence to try and preserve bracket integrity as best we can. So now we've got:
South Bend
Mankato vs RIT
Nebraska-Omaha vs Minnesota
Fargo
North Dakota vs Quinnipiac
Michigan Tech vs St. Cloud State
Manchester
BU vs Yale
Minnesota-Duluth vs BC
Providence
Miami vs Providence
Denver vs Harvard
Okay. All four regionals look pretty good from an attendance perspective here. South Bend is probably the weakest of the four, but Minnesota usually travels pretty well and Mankato isn't that far either. We'd love to get Miami to South Bend, and the committee in the past has said that "a flight is a flight" and sent a higher-ranked team farther in favor of a bus ride for a lower team. However, the committee also likes to keep the 1 vs 16 matchup intact, and moving Mankato to Providence would screw up our whole "Providence in Providence" idea.
So, the question is: does the committee care more about preserving the 1/16 match up, or about attendance? If they care about attendance more I could see Mankato going to Providence, but in the past they've been sure to protect that 1/16 matchup so I can't see them changing that now. Here's my final bracket:
South Bend
Mankato vs RIT
Nebraska-Omaha vs Minnesota
Fargo
North Dakota vs Quinnipiac
Michigan Tech vs St. Cloud State
Manchester
BU vs Yale
Minnesota-Duluth vs BC
Providence
Miami vs Providence
Denver vs Harvard
Now that all of the other conference tournament results are in, let's take a stab at predicting the brackets the NCAA Selection Committee will unveil tomorrow afternoon.
The field of 16 breaks down like this:
1 Seeds
Minnesota State (#1 Overall)
North Dakota
Boston University
Miami
2 Seeds
Denver
Minnesota-Duluth
Michigan Tech
Nebraska-Omaha
3 Seeds
Harvard
Minnesota
Boston College
St. Cloud State
4 Seeds
Yale
Quinnipiac
Providence
RIT
The first step of the Bracketology process is to place host teams in their own regionals.
North Dakota is placed in the Fargo regional as the only host team that made the tournament.
Next, starting with the #1 overall seed (Mankato), #1 seeds are placed in the regional closest to them - Mankato is placed in the South Bend regional, Boston University is placed in the Manchester regional, and Miami is placed in Providence (BU is about as close to Manchester as Providence, and this makes things easier down the line).
Now we place the remaining teams in their regionals based on ideal seed bands (1 vs 16 and 8 vs 9, 2 vs 15 and 7 vs 10, 3 vs 14 and 6 vs 11, 4 vs 13 and 5 vs 12):
When we do that, we get the following:
South Bend
Mankato vs RIT
Nebraska-Omaha vs Harvard
Fargo
North Dakota vs Providence
Michigan Tech vs Minnesota
Manchester
BU vs Quinnipiac
Minnesota-Duluth vs BC
Providence
Miami vs Yale
Denver vs St. Cloud State
Now, we're looking to eliminate first-round intra-conference matchups. We have only one in Providence with Denver playing St. Cloud. Because the NCHC has three #2 seeds, the only way to avoid this matchup is to swap Minnesota and St. Cloud State. Now we're left with:
South Bend
Mankato vs RIT
Nebraska-Omaha vs Harvard
Fargo
North Dakota vs Providence
Michigan Tech vs St. Cloud State
Manchester
BU vs Quinnipiac
Minnesota-Duluth vs BC
Providence
Miami vs Yale
Denver vs Minnesota
Now, what can we do to maximize attendance at these sites? One thing we can do is swap Minnesota and Harvard, to bring the Crimson out East and the Gophers back West.
South Bend
Mankato vs RIT
Nebraska-Omaha vs Minnesota
Fargo
North Dakota vs Providence
Michigan Tech vs St. Cloud State
Manchester
BU vs Quinnipiac
Minnesota-Duluth vs BC
Providence
Miami vs Yale
Denver vs Harvard
You'd like to get Providence in Providence, so let's swap Yale, Quinnipiac and Providence to try and preserve bracket integrity as best we can. So now we've got:
South Bend
Mankato vs RIT
Nebraska-Omaha vs Minnesota
Fargo
North Dakota vs Quinnipiac
Michigan Tech vs St. Cloud State
Manchester
BU vs Yale
Minnesota-Duluth vs BC
Providence
Miami vs Providence
Denver vs Harvard
Okay. All four regionals look pretty good from an attendance perspective here. South Bend is probably the weakest of the four, but Minnesota usually travels pretty well and Mankato isn't that far either. We'd love to get Miami to South Bend, and the committee in the past has said that "a flight is a flight" and sent a higher-ranked team farther in favor of a bus ride for a lower team. However, the committee also likes to keep the 1 vs 16 matchup intact, and moving Mankato to Providence would screw up our whole "Providence in Providence" idea.
So, the question is: does the committee care more about preserving the 1/16 match up, or about attendance? If they care about attendance more I could see Mankato going to Providence, but in the past they've been sure to protect that 1/16 matchup so I can't see them changing that now. Here's my final bracket:
South Bend
Mankato vs RIT
Nebraska-Omaha vs Minnesota
Fargo
North Dakota vs Quinnipiac
Michigan Tech vs St. Cloud State
Manchester
BU vs Yale
Minnesota-Duluth vs BC
Providence
Miami vs Providence
Denver vs Harvard
Friday, March 20, 2015
Gopher Hockey PairWise Update - What I Believe: Friday Night Edition
Here is what I believe when it comes to the Gophers and the NCAA Tournament:
Minnesota can only miss the tournament if the following occurs-
Minnesota can only miss the tournament if the following occurs-
- Michigan beats Minnesota in the B1G, AND
- Colgate beats Harvard in the ECAC, AND
- UMass-Lowell beats BU in HE, AND
- Miami beats SCSU in the NCHC, AND
- Michigan Tech beats Mankato in the WCHA, AND
- North Dakota beats Denver in the NCHC 3rd Place Game
Any other result in any other game and the Gophers are in the NCAA Tournament. If each outcome is a 50/50 probability and we take a Minnesota loss as an assumption, there is a 3.125% chance that this scenario will occur.
A win tomorrow night against Michigan would likely mean a #9 or #10 overall seed, whereas a loss will probably net Minnesota a #13 or #14 seed.
NCAA Tournament What If? Gophers Win Today, Lose Tomorrow
The Gophers can still make the NCAA Tournament without winning the B1G Conference Playoff this weekend, but it's going to take some help.
According to the scenarios I've run, there are five other things around the country this weekend that can severely harm Minnesota's chances of making the big dance. They are:
According to the scenarios I've run, there are five other things around the country this weekend that can severely harm Minnesota's chances of making the big dance. They are:
- Boston University not winning the Hockey East postseason tournament
- Quinnipiac not winning the ECAC postseason tournament
- St. Cloud State winning at least one game in the NCHC tournament
- Bowling Green winning at least one game in the WCHA tournament
- Minnesota State or Michigan Tech not winning the WCHA tournament
Assuming Minnesota takes care of business against Ohio State today, they've still got a decent shot of making the tourney even if they lose to Michigan or MSU in Saturday's championship game. Based on the scenario-building I've done, it looks to me like a win tonight will get the Gophers into the NCAA tournament so long as no more than two of the above bad results take place.
As a Gopher fan, these are the only results you need to pay attention to this weekend (other than the Gophers, of course).
We'll go into why each of these results harm the Gophers in more detail below:
Monday, March 16, 2015
Who to Root For: A Conference Tournament Viewing Guide for Gopher Fans
The Gophers won the B1G regular season title on Saturday night, but that doesn't mean they're a lock to make the NCAA tournament.
Teams that make the Big Dance are determined by the PairWise Rankings, a mathematical formula that simulates the actions the NCAA Selection Committee takes to decide which teams are in and which teams are out.
16 teams make the NCAA Tournament. Currently, Minnesota ranks 13th in the PWR, but next weekend's results could dramatically shape the Gophers' chances of punching their tickets to the Tourney. The only way they're guaranteed to make the NCAA Tournament is by winning the B1G Conference tourney and securing the conference's auto-bid, but each other conference has an auto-bid as well. Any lower-ranked teams that win their conference tournament effectively take a spot away from the bottom of the bubble, drastically limiting the Gophers' scenarios to make the Tournament if they are not the B1G tournament champion.
After looking at many scenarios and crunching some numbers, here's who you should be rooting for in each conference's championship tournament this upcoming weekend:
Atlantic Hockey - (1) Robert Morris vs. (4) Mercyhurst, (2) Canisius vs. (3) RIT. It honestly doesn't matter who wins this one. The conference is only going to get one team into the tournament, whichever team wins their playoff this weekend. The best team in AH is Robert Morris, a team that made the tourney last year and lost to Minnesota in the first round. I'd like to see them win as they have the best chance out of any team in AH to give a #1 seed a run.
B1G - (3) Michigan vs. (6) Wisconsin, (4) Penn State vs. (5) Ohio State, (1) Minnesota vs. 4/5 Winner, (2) Michigan State vs 3/6 Winner. We want Minnesota to win, obviously. If not, then it doesn't really matter who wins, although the Gophers' chances are better if they lose in the championship game than in the semifinal.
ECAC - (1) Quinnipiac vs. (4) Harvard, (2) St. Lawrence vs. (3) Colgate. For the Gophers to make it, we need as many teams "already in" the tournament to win their conference championships as possible. In the ECAC, the highest ranked team is Quinnipiac at T10th. Harvard and Colgate are still alive at 15th and 16th respectively, as is St. Lawrence at T20th. We'd like to see Quinnipiac win this one. If not Q, then Harvard would be the next best bet, but things start to get tight for Minnesota if more than one or two non-tourney teams win their conferences, since if the Gophers don't have the B1G auto-bid that means that another B1G team is already in the tournament, already pushing the bubble down to 14 (B1G team and AH team taking away #15 and #16 spot).
Hockey East - (1) Boston University vs. (4) New Hampshire, (2) UMass-Lowell vs. (3) Vermont. This is another conference tourney where only one team is guaranteed to make the NCAAs - BU. Lowell currently sits T16th and outside the bubble, while Vermont is 19th right now. We want Boston University to take the tournament here.
NCHC - (1) North Dakota vs. (4) St. Cloud State, (2) Miami vs. (3) Denver. Here's one where we really only have one team to root against, and it's not the team you're thinking. North Dakota, Miami and Denver are safely in the NCAA Tournament already. The NCHC has a third place game in their Frozen Faceoff tournament, which means that the losing teams of the first round game have a chance to win another game to bolster their RPI scores. We want St. Cloud State to lose as many games as possible here. St. Cloud's RPI is a bit higher than the Gophers' RPI is right now, despite the fact that they are only one game over .500 at 18-17-1. Just one St. Cloud win on the weekend would be enough to boost their RPI ahead of Minnesota's and put them safely in the tournament. Two losses would send them below Minnesota and onto the bubble. So, Gopher fans should root for Miami, Denver or (shudder) North Dakota to win the NCHC, but more importantly root against St. Cloud in all of their games.
WCHA - (1) Minnesota State vs. (4) Ferris State, (2) Michigan Tech vs. (3) Bowling Green. This one is easy. There are two teams remaining in the WCHA that are already "in" - Minnesota State and Michigan Tech. Gopher fans should root for Mankato and Michigan Tech to win their games and square off in the Final Five (?) title game.
Teams that make the Big Dance are determined by the PairWise Rankings, a mathematical formula that simulates the actions the NCAA Selection Committee takes to decide which teams are in and which teams are out.
16 teams make the NCAA Tournament. Currently, Minnesota ranks 13th in the PWR, but next weekend's results could dramatically shape the Gophers' chances of punching their tickets to the Tourney. The only way they're guaranteed to make the NCAA Tournament is by winning the B1G Conference tourney and securing the conference's auto-bid, but each other conference has an auto-bid as well. Any lower-ranked teams that win their conference tournament effectively take a spot away from the bottom of the bubble, drastically limiting the Gophers' scenarios to make the Tournament if they are not the B1G tournament champion.
After looking at many scenarios and crunching some numbers, here's who you should be rooting for in each conference's championship tournament this upcoming weekend:
Atlantic Hockey - (1) Robert Morris vs. (4) Mercyhurst, (2) Canisius vs. (3) RIT. It honestly doesn't matter who wins this one. The conference is only going to get one team into the tournament, whichever team wins their playoff this weekend. The best team in AH is Robert Morris, a team that made the tourney last year and lost to Minnesota in the first round. I'd like to see them win as they have the best chance out of any team in AH to give a #1 seed a run.
B1G - (3) Michigan vs. (6) Wisconsin, (4) Penn State vs. (5) Ohio State, (1) Minnesota vs. 4/5 Winner, (2) Michigan State vs 3/6 Winner. We want Minnesota to win, obviously. If not, then it doesn't really matter who wins, although the Gophers' chances are better if they lose in the championship game than in the semifinal.
ECAC - (1) Quinnipiac vs. (4) Harvard, (2) St. Lawrence vs. (3) Colgate. For the Gophers to make it, we need as many teams "already in" the tournament to win their conference championships as possible. In the ECAC, the highest ranked team is Quinnipiac at T10th. Harvard and Colgate are still alive at 15th and 16th respectively, as is St. Lawrence at T20th. We'd like to see Quinnipiac win this one. If not Q, then Harvard would be the next best bet, but things start to get tight for Minnesota if more than one or two non-tourney teams win their conferences, since if the Gophers don't have the B1G auto-bid that means that another B1G team is already in the tournament, already pushing the bubble down to 14 (B1G team and AH team taking away #15 and #16 spot).
Hockey East - (1) Boston University vs. (4) New Hampshire, (2) UMass-Lowell vs. (3) Vermont. This is another conference tourney where only one team is guaranteed to make the NCAAs - BU. Lowell currently sits T16th and outside the bubble, while Vermont is 19th right now. We want Boston University to take the tournament here.
NCHC - (1) North Dakota vs. (4) St. Cloud State, (2) Miami vs. (3) Denver. Here's one where we really only have one team to root against, and it's not the team you're thinking. North Dakota, Miami and Denver are safely in the NCAA Tournament already. The NCHC has a third place game in their Frozen Faceoff tournament, which means that the losing teams of the first round game have a chance to win another game to bolster their RPI scores. We want St. Cloud State to lose as many games as possible here. St. Cloud's RPI is a bit higher than the Gophers' RPI is right now, despite the fact that they are only one game over .500 at 18-17-1. Just one St. Cloud win on the weekend would be enough to boost their RPI ahead of Minnesota's and put them safely in the tournament. Two losses would send them below Minnesota and onto the bubble. So, Gopher fans should root for Miami, Denver or (shudder) North Dakota to win the NCHC, but more importantly root against St. Cloud in all of their games.
WCHA - (1) Minnesota State vs. (4) Ferris State, (2) Michigan Tech vs. (3) Bowling Green. This one is easy. There are two teams remaining in the WCHA that are already "in" - Minnesota State and Michigan Tech. Gopher fans should root for Mankato and Michigan Tech to win their games and square off in the Final Five (?) title game.
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Gopher Hockey: Two Options to Make the NCAA Tournament
With the season winding down and the Gophers faltering left and right, the team has played itself into a position where there are only two paths left to making the NCAA Tournament.
1) Sweep Penn State next weekend and win the semifinal game of the B1G Tournament, but lose in the championship game
2) Win the B1G championship
Both options are still attainable, although this hockey team has shown it can lose to anyone.
The Gophers need 3 more wins to remain on the safe side of the NCAA Tournament bubble and really can't afford more than one loss if they want to grab an at-large bid into the tourney. This means the only loss they can stomach is the one in the B1G Championship game.
Assuming they sweep Penn State, the Gophers will be at worst the #2 seed heading into the conference tournament, which would net them a first-round bye. A win in the semifinal game and a loss in the final should be enough to get the Gophers something like the #13 or #14 seed and squeak into the tourney.
Of course, winning the B1G postseason tournament would give Minnesota the conference auto-bid, which is the fail-safe for the team assuming they do not start putting together a run of wins.
It is possible that the team could get into the tournament in another way - splitting next weekend and winning twice in the B1G tournament would put them 3-2 the rest of the way, which just might be enough to eke out one of the last at-large bids to the tournament. This scenario would probably require so many other things to go Minnesota's way that it's not that realistic.
The Gophers face Penn State next weekend for the last series of the regular season. Minnesota sits at 33 points in the conference, tied with Michigan and one point behind Michigan State. The Spartans and Wolverines play a home-and-home series against each other next weekend. These two series (MN/PSU and UM/MSU) will decide the B1G regular season title as well as the seedings for the post-season tournament.
1) Sweep Penn State next weekend and win the semifinal game of the B1G Tournament, but lose in the championship game
2) Win the B1G championship
Both options are still attainable, although this hockey team has shown it can lose to anyone.
The Gophers need 3 more wins to remain on the safe side of the NCAA Tournament bubble and really can't afford more than one loss if they want to grab an at-large bid into the tourney. This means the only loss they can stomach is the one in the B1G Championship game.
Assuming they sweep Penn State, the Gophers will be at worst the #2 seed heading into the conference tournament, which would net them a first-round bye. A win in the semifinal game and a loss in the final should be enough to get the Gophers something like the #13 or #14 seed and squeak into the tourney.
Of course, winning the B1G postseason tournament would give Minnesota the conference auto-bid, which is the fail-safe for the team assuming they do not start putting together a run of wins.
It is possible that the team could get into the tournament in another way - splitting next weekend and winning twice in the B1G tournament would put them 3-2 the rest of the way, which just might be enough to eke out one of the last at-large bids to the tournament. This scenario would probably require so many other things to go Minnesota's way that it's not that realistic.
The Gophers face Penn State next weekend for the last series of the regular season. Minnesota sits at 33 points in the conference, tied with Michigan and one point behind Michigan State. The Spartans and Wolverines play a home-and-home series against each other next weekend. These two series (MN/PSU and UM/MSU) will decide the B1G regular season title as well as the seedings for the post-season tournament.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Gopher Hockey NCAA Tournament Magic Number: 5ish
The Pairwise rankings are a tough nut to crack, but the latest simulations from Jim Dahl over at College Hockey Ranked seem to say that the Gophers are pretty safe to make the NCAA tournament field if they can win five more games before the NCAA field is announced.
Friday, February 20, 2015
Gophers Wear Down Nittany Lions, Win 2-1 in Happy Valley
Isackson, Kloos, Wilcox lead Minnesota over Penn State on the road
Happy Valley, PA - For the first time in a long time this season, Minnesota is back on top.
The Gophers (17-9-3 Overall, 8-2-3 B1G) continued their hot streak, winning their fifth game in a row (unbeaten in their last seven) to rise to the top of the B1G conference standings. The 2-1 victory over the Penn State Nittany Lions (15-10-4, 7-5-1) was just Minnesota's fourth road win of the season - the Gophers are now 4-5-2 outside the Twin Cities, and 4-7-2 away from Mariucci Arena on the year.
Happy Valley, PA - For the first time in a long time this season, Minnesota is back on top.
The Gophers (17-9-3 Overall, 8-2-3 B1G) continued their hot streak, winning their fifth game in a row (unbeaten in their last seven) to rise to the top of the B1G conference standings. The 2-1 victory over the Penn State Nittany Lions (15-10-4, 7-5-1) was just Minnesota's fourth road win of the season - the Gophers are now 4-5-2 outside the Twin Cities, and 4-7-2 away from Mariucci Arena on the year.
Monday, January 12, 2015
Gopher Hockey: A Rant
I'm sorry the blog hasn't been that active recently. I do most of my writing for GopherPuckLive and the game articles are usually outlet enough for my thoughts on the team.
Recent events have come to a head, though, and my thoughts on this team have become a little more colorful than a postgame article on a respected Gopher hockey website allow.
The Gophers are coming off a sweep at the hands of the unranked Michigan Wolverines, putting them 3-7-1 in their last 11 games. The team now sits at 10-7-1 overall and is only ahead of the historically bad Wisconsin in the B1G conference.
Minnesota has lost to such powerhouses as the US Under 18 Team, Merrimack and Northeastern, rarely looking the part of a national title contender.
The team that lost in the NCAA Championship game last season and returned all of its key players has seen major statistical and performance regressions from nearly all of its stars:
Recent events have come to a head, though, and my thoughts on this team have become a little more colorful than a postgame article on a respected Gopher hockey website allow.
The Gophers are coming off a sweep at the hands of the unranked Michigan Wolverines, putting them 3-7-1 in their last 11 games. The team now sits at 10-7-1 overall and is only ahead of the historically bad Wisconsin in the B1G conference.
Minnesota has lost to such powerhouses as the US Under 18 Team, Merrimack and Northeastern, rarely looking the part of a national title contender.
The team that lost in the NCAA Championship game last season and returned all of its key players has seen major statistical and performance regressions from nearly all of its stars:
- First Team All-American Mike Reilly continues to dazzle with the puck, but this season he's also been inept without it. Reilly may have a foot out the door to the NHL already, because the junior defenseman and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year last season seems to have forgotten how to play his position, looking lazy and lackadasical in his own defensive zone. More often than not recently, when there's been a goal as a result of a missed assignment or a sloppy backcheck, number five is on the ice.
- Second Team All-American (honestly not sure how he wasn't a 1st teamer) and Big Ten Player of the Year last year Adam Wilcox has been human this season, when we've come to expect him to be greater than. Wilcox was finally, blissfully pulled in favor of Nick Lehr in Minnesota's pathetic 7-5 loss Saturday at Michigan after giving up five goals on 16 shots through just 5 minutes of the second period. Of course I don't think all of the goals have been Wilcox's fault by any means (see above bullet point), but this team has come to expect greatness from its goaltender, and he's been just good.
- The high-end sophomores have not been good enough. Second-year forwards Justin Kloos, Taylor Cammarata and Hudson Fasching have had flashes of solid play but overall have simply not taken a step forward. Kloos is about on pace with his freshman campaign, but Cammarata and Fasching have mustered a combined six goals in 35 games this season. These guys are counted on to carry the mail offensively for this team, and need to step their games up for this team to succeed. Another sophomore not called on to score as much is Vinni Lettieri - I like his game and what he brings to the table, but he too has only scored three times in 17 games. Granted he's playing a more checking / energy role, but it's another low goal total for a player with flashes of offense to his game.
- The senior forwards haven't fared much better on the scoring front, with the exception of Kyle Rau and Travis Boyd. Boyd missed some time with an injury but has been productive this year, netting seven goals in just 11 games, and Rau has scored seven in his 18 games played. Other than them, though, the other senior forwards (Sam Warning, Seth Ambroz and Christian Isackson) have scored seven goals between them despite playing in every game this season. Isackson has never been a reliable scoring option for the Gophers, but Warning and Ambroz each scored 14 goals last season and this team NEEDS scoring depth in order to win.
- Credit where it's due, though: Connor Reilly has been a very pleasant surprise. He's now scored 10 goals this season to lead the team, and has been perhaps the only Gopher to "step up" his game this season. As mentioned above Rau and Boyd have been good on both sides of the puck. Defensemen Ben Marshall, Jake Bischoff, Michael Brodzinski and Ryan Collins have had to be good to fill the big void left by the injured Brady Skjei and the have been. Having Skjei back and at full health for the remainder of the season can only bode well for this team that has had to withstand more than its fair share of injuries.
The season isn't over. This team still has the pieces to make a deep run into the postseason, and if everyone plays like they are able to they have a chance to win it all this year. But they need to start playing well first, and that means that the guys they count on to be their big players have to start playing like it. It would be a shame if this team sputtered out before the NCAA Tournament because they were reading their own press clippings all summer long.
We'll see if they turn it around. I'll be watching every time they take the ice, for better or worse.
Saturday, April 12, 2014
National Championship Notebook: Gopher Keys to the Game
A half hour lies between the Gophers and the start of the NCAA Championship Game. Here are some keys to the game for Minnesota:
- The best players need to play like it: Don Lucia talks about this all the time. At this time of year, your best players need to step up. That obviously includes Adam Wilcox, but forwards Kyle Rau, Nate Condon and Sam Warning need to be engaged in the game and show up on the scoresheet for the Gophers tonight.
- The freshmen need to not play tentatively: In the Robert Morris and North Dakota games, Minnesota's highly-vaunted freshman class played nervous. In the St. Cloud game, they played like upperclassmen. Minnesota has relied on their stellar freshmen Hudson Fasching, Justin Kloos and Taylor Cammarata to provide scoring all season long, and these players will need to play like they're not scared of the grand stage.
- The third line needs to win their shifts: The Gophers' third line of Seth Ambroz-Travis Boyd-Tom Serratore is the consummate shut-down checking line that also happens to boast a couple solid goal scorers in Ambroz and Boyd. Because of their defensive prowess, they're often paired up against the opposing team's top line. One big matchup of today's game is the Gopher third line against Union's scoring lines - if the Boyd line can shut down Union's potent offense, it will bode well for Minnesota.
- Minnesota's defensemen need to play with poise: One of the strengths of this Gopher team is the solid, steady defensive unit. All six members of Minnesota's D-corps need to play heady, steady hockey and not turn the puck over.
- Gophers need to dictate the pace: Minnesota has struggled this year when it sits back and lets the opposing team dictate the pace of play. We saw that in the North Dakota game, when UND had the puck for the majority of the game and forced Minnesota to the outside / to dump and chase, when their strength is carrying the puck into the zone and swarming puck. If the Gophers can take it to Union, expect good things.
- Stay out of the box: The Gophers are one of the least penalized teams in the nation. Stay that way. They'll need to play a clean game and use their five on five advantage to win.
Here we go. Half an hour away. Let's Go Gophers! I think this is going to be a very close game that could go either way, but I'm not here to hedge my bets. Prediction: Gophers win 3-2 to claim their sixth national title.
Go get it!
Go get it!
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