Wow. The Gophers look really flat. Lots of standing around, nobody moving their feet. David Fischer has got to sit down, he gets beat every time the puck comes near him. Get Wehrs or Schack in there.
As for the Sioux, they're into the game. They're winning every little puck battle and are thoroughly dominating the game.
Fortunately for the Gophers, the score's only 2-0 right now. If the Gophs score the next goal they're right back in the game and that could be the spark that they need! I'm not giving up yet :)
Friday, October 16, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
My WCHA Top 5
Here is my WCHA preseason ranking. Notes and reasons why I picked a team where I did are provided.
1. Denver University Pioneers
Denver was the near consensus preseason #1 pick by both the coaches and the media, and I see no reason to disagree. Denver returns one of the best young goalies in the conference in Marc Cheverie, as well as a solid scoring core of Rhett Rakhshani, Anthony Maiani and Tyler Ruegsegger. Denver also boasts stellar defensemen like Luke Salazar and Patrick Wiercioch. Yes, Denver lost Tyler Bozak in the middle of the season last year, but, barring any mid-campaign defections this year, look for Denver to be hoisting the MacNaughton at the end of the season.
2. University of Minnesota Golden Gophers
This might be a homer pick. The coaches and media picked the U to finish 4th in the WCHA this season, but I think that's too low. The Gophers lost Ryan Stoa, the team's leading scorer, but they didn't lose much else. They'll be returning what is a very experienced team with 12 upperclassmen returning. If Alex Kangas plays with the confidence he found in his freshman season, expect to see the Gophers in contention for the WCHA title come March.
3. University of Wisconsin Badgers
The Badgers return a vaunted defensive corps this year, and many think they have a squad that will contend for the WCHA title. I'm still not sold on whomever the Badgers decide to play at goaltender, but if he's solid between the pipes the Badgers should be a lock for home ice in the first round of the WCHA playoffs.
4. St. Cloud State University Huskies
The Huskies return key players Ryan Lasch and Garrett Roe, two big-name players who can bulge the twine. The question mark is at goalie, where newcomer Mike Lee from Roseau will battle old hand Dan Dunn for the starting spot. I expect St. Cloud to find a servicable enough goaltending situation to sputter into fourth place at the end of the regular season
5. University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux
The Sioux always find a way to get it done, and, while I think they'll finish in a fairly poor (for their standards) fifth place this year, they never seem to have an "off" year. The key to the Sioux' success this year will be the play of the team's underclassmen - a full 10 freshmen and 7 sophomores. Experienced this team is not. However, Dave Hakstol always seems to get his boys to play come crunch time, so look for the Sioux to be playing in Grand Forks in the first round of the playoffs.
1. Denver University Pioneers
Denver was the near consensus preseason #1 pick by both the coaches and the media, and I see no reason to disagree. Denver returns one of the best young goalies in the conference in Marc Cheverie, as well as a solid scoring core of Rhett Rakhshani, Anthony Maiani and Tyler Ruegsegger. Denver also boasts stellar defensemen like Luke Salazar and Patrick Wiercioch. Yes, Denver lost Tyler Bozak in the middle of the season last year, but, barring any mid-campaign defections this year, look for Denver to be hoisting the MacNaughton at the end of the season.
2. University of Minnesota Golden Gophers
This might be a homer pick. The coaches and media picked the U to finish 4th in the WCHA this season, but I think that's too low. The Gophers lost Ryan Stoa, the team's leading scorer, but they didn't lose much else. They'll be returning what is a very experienced team with 12 upperclassmen returning. If Alex Kangas plays with the confidence he found in his freshman season, expect to see the Gophers in contention for the WCHA title come March.
3. University of Wisconsin Badgers
The Badgers return a vaunted defensive corps this year, and many think they have a squad that will contend for the WCHA title. I'm still not sold on whomever the Badgers decide to play at goaltender, but if he's solid between the pipes the Badgers should be a lock for home ice in the first round of the WCHA playoffs.
4. St. Cloud State University Huskies
The Huskies return key players Ryan Lasch and Garrett Roe, two big-name players who can bulge the twine. The question mark is at goalie, where newcomer Mike Lee from Roseau will battle old hand Dan Dunn for the starting spot. I expect St. Cloud to find a servicable enough goaltending situation to sputter into fourth place at the end of the regular season
5. University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux
The Sioux always find a way to get it done, and, while I think they'll finish in a fairly poor (for their standards) fifth place this year, they never seem to have an "off" year. The key to the Sioux' success this year will be the play of the team's underclassmen - a full 10 freshmen and 7 sophomores. Experienced this team is not. However, Dave Hakstol always seems to get his boys to play come crunch time, so look for the Sioux to be playing in Grand Forks in the first round of the playoffs.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Gophers @ Sioux - Thoughts
A huge series to start the season for the Gophers, as they take on the North Dakota Fighting Sioux in Grand Forks this weekend. I expect both teams to fight hard and to look a little sloppy this early in the year. I don't think supporters of either team will come away from this series entirely happy, as the teams will not be in mid-season form and the play probably will not be of the highest quality. Still, though, it will be a very entertaining series and, as always, some blood will boil over between two teams that really do not like each other.
Alright, on to the fun part - predictions! The Gophers go down early in the first game but storm back to win behind a great game from the top line. Gophers win 4-2, goals by Hoeffel (2), Barriball, and Fairchild. Saturday, the Gophers jump out to the early lead but North Dakota hangs around and wins the game on a goal in the third period. Sioux 2-1, Gopher goal by Tony Lucia. Kangas and Patterson split the series with Kangas starting the Friday game.
Alright, on to the fun part - predictions! The Gophers go down early in the first game but storm back to win behind a great game from the top line. Gophers win 4-2, goals by Hoeffel (2), Barriball, and Fairchild. Saturday, the Gophers jump out to the early lead but North Dakota hangs around and wins the game on a goal in the third period. Sioux 2-1, Gopher goal by Tony Lucia. Kangas and Patterson split the series with Kangas starting the Friday game.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
5 Players that Need to Step Up
In my view, the Gophers need a few key players to step it up in order for the team to become a national championship contender in 2009-2010. Here they are:
1) Alex Kangas
This Gopher team is one that goes as Kangas goes. He did seem shaken at times during last year's campaign, but Kangas also showed flashes of the brilliance that he displayed during his freshman season. Although I do believe that much of a goaltender's stats are heavily dependant on how the defense performs in front of him, I see a Kangas resurgence in net as the primary key to the Gophers' chances of advancing to the Frozen Four in Detroit this year. If Kangas can play with confidence like he did his freshman year, I can see the Gophers as a national championship contender.
2) Mike Hoeffel
In order for the Gophers to get to the NCAA tourney this year, they're going to need to pick up a lot of the scoring that Ryan Stoa left on the table when he turned pro. Stoa led the team in scoring last year with 24 goals and 46 points. Those are not small holes to fill, and although Don Lucia mentioned a "scoring by committee" system in this year's media day I still believe that it will be up to Hoeffel to carry the burden of the scoring for this Gopher team. He should be playing on the top line with Jordan Schroeder and Jay Barriball, two players that have shown the ability to finish but are more known for their excellent puck-handling ability and their ability to make great passes to an open finisher. Hoeffel has shown the potential to be a Stoa-type player in his early career with the Gophers. He can dominate the game when he's on the ice, which is why Lucia has not been hesitant to play Hoeffel on the penalty kill over the last couple years. If Hoeffel can step up and score north of 18 or so goals this year, look for the Gopher team to be in the national title conversation.
3) Dave Fischer
Fischer is a player with a great pedigree that just has not grabbed his full potential for one reason or another. He always seems to be the player that is having a great game but makes one or two critical mistakes that result in turnovers in the Gopher zone and great scoring chances for the other team. If Fischer can avoid those disatrous turnovers and play a solid stay-at-home defense this year, he can be a leader on the ice and we won't see Alex Kangas getting scored on so much.
4) Cade Fairchild
Here's another player that needs to step it up on the defensive side of the puck. People are expecting great things from Fairchild offensively this year (some even going so far as to put him in contention for the Hobey Baker award), but his goal-scoring midset often led to too many offensive chances for the other team in the past couple years. If Fairchild can lead dynamic offensive rushes this year while still getting back to help out the defense on an attack the other way, we'll see less goals against and more wins for the Maroon and Gold.
5) Patrick White / Jake Hansen
Both White and Hansen were touted as goal-scorers out of high school. White led Grand Rapids to two state tournament finals and Hansen was the key piece in White Bear Lake's successes over the past few years. White, now a junior, has not done much in either of his first two campaigns wearing the "M", while Hansen had a disappointing 2 goals and 7 points overall. If either or both of these players is able to make a positive impact on the team's goal scoring this year, expect to see a much more dominant Gopher team come March.
I could go on, but these five players are some of the keys to the season this year. If we see improvements from all five, I would be surprised if the Gophers weren't making the trip out to Detroit for the Frozen Four this year. Let's hope that comes to pass.
1) Alex Kangas
This Gopher team is one that goes as Kangas goes. He did seem shaken at times during last year's campaign, but Kangas also showed flashes of the brilliance that he displayed during his freshman season. Although I do believe that much of a goaltender's stats are heavily dependant on how the defense performs in front of him, I see a Kangas resurgence in net as the primary key to the Gophers' chances of advancing to the Frozen Four in Detroit this year. If Kangas can play with confidence like he did his freshman year, I can see the Gophers as a national championship contender.
2) Mike Hoeffel
In order for the Gophers to get to the NCAA tourney this year, they're going to need to pick up a lot of the scoring that Ryan Stoa left on the table when he turned pro. Stoa led the team in scoring last year with 24 goals and 46 points. Those are not small holes to fill, and although Don Lucia mentioned a "scoring by committee" system in this year's media day I still believe that it will be up to Hoeffel to carry the burden of the scoring for this Gopher team. He should be playing on the top line with Jordan Schroeder and Jay Barriball, two players that have shown the ability to finish but are more known for their excellent puck-handling ability and their ability to make great passes to an open finisher. Hoeffel has shown the potential to be a Stoa-type player in his early career with the Gophers. He can dominate the game when he's on the ice, which is why Lucia has not been hesitant to play Hoeffel on the penalty kill over the last couple years. If Hoeffel can step up and score north of 18 or so goals this year, look for the Gopher team to be in the national title conversation.
3) Dave Fischer
Fischer is a player with a great pedigree that just has not grabbed his full potential for one reason or another. He always seems to be the player that is having a great game but makes one or two critical mistakes that result in turnovers in the Gopher zone and great scoring chances for the other team. If Fischer can avoid those disatrous turnovers and play a solid stay-at-home defense this year, he can be a leader on the ice and we won't see Alex Kangas getting scored on so much.
4) Cade Fairchild
Here's another player that needs to step it up on the defensive side of the puck. People are expecting great things from Fairchild offensively this year (some even going so far as to put him in contention for the Hobey Baker award), but his goal-scoring midset often led to too many offensive chances for the other team in the past couple years. If Fairchild can lead dynamic offensive rushes this year while still getting back to help out the defense on an attack the other way, we'll see less goals against and more wins for the Maroon and Gold.
5) Patrick White / Jake Hansen
Both White and Hansen were touted as goal-scorers out of high school. White led Grand Rapids to two state tournament finals and Hansen was the key piece in White Bear Lake's successes over the past few years. White, now a junior, has not done much in either of his first two campaigns wearing the "M", while Hansen had a disappointing 2 goals and 7 points overall. If either or both of these players is able to make a positive impact on the team's goal scoring this year, expect to see a much more dominant Gopher team come March.
I could go on, but these five players are some of the keys to the season this year. If we see improvements from all five, I would be surprised if the Gophers weren't making the trip out to Detroit for the Frozen Four this year. Let's hope that comes to pass.
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