Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2017-18 Season Thread
Despite the win I came away disappointed from the game tonight. Thought the Gophers' effort just wasn't there after they took the two goal lead (the worst lead in hockey?) towards the end of the 2nd period. I guess after outshooting St. Cloud 12-1 in the first period they thought they could relax and coast for the win? But give credit to the Huskies for never quitting. I thought they actually outplayed the Gophers in the 3rd, which made it "interesting" until the final buzzer.
This Gopher team is not good enough to ever let up, and once again this became painfully obvious this evening. The old saying is "A win is a win", and I guess that's true, but I came away with the distinct feeling that Minnesota MUST be consistently better than they showed tonight if they are to have success in the post season.
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2017-18 Season Thread
Thought the Gophers looked tired in the 3rd period. Playing a 4th line of Pieper, Gunderson and Smith at least for a shift or two in the final period may have helped provide a little needed energy tonight. I did notice Pieper on the ice for one shift anyway in the 3rd. Hopefully the 4th line will play more this weekend against Vermont.
"Everything that rises must converge." Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Re: Minnesota Golden Gophers 2017-18 Season Thread
Personally, I thought the 2nd period was Minnesota's weakest. After the Gophers scored the shorty, they had a couple of good kills. The Huskies were stuck on 8 shots for a long time; although admittedly not nearly as long as they were stuck on 0.
"... And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;" -- Rudyard Kipling
Despite the win I came away disappointed from the game tonight. Thought the Gophers' effort just wasn't there after they took the two goal lead (the worst lead in hockey?) towards the end of the 2nd period. I guess after outshooting St. Cloud 12-1 in the first period they thought they could relax and coast for the win? But give credit to the Huskies for never quitting. I thought they actually outplayed the Gophers in the 3rd, which made it "interesting" until the final buzzer.
This Gopher team is not good enough to ever let up, and once again this became painfully obvious this evening. The old saying is "A win is a win", and I guess that's true, but I came away with the distinct feeling that Minnesota MUST be consistently better than they showed tonight if they are to have success in the post season.
When you get tired, if you continue to attempt to play at maximum output, the first thing to go is your mind, the ability to make good decisions. The body can respond to commands for a while until it too can no longer do as directed.
If you have made a bad decision (or even the least optimum) you put extra demands on your body, compounding the problem. You now have to make up for a less than optimal decision with a body that has little left in the tank.
About 15 years ago in Rochester I saw WI skate with two lines against MN who skated three. WI was beating MN.. If WI had skated three, their lines would have been diluted and MN likely would have had the upper hand. The most interesting thing about the game was if WI would tire and then MN prevail because they weren’t as tired.
It didn’t happen, today there is no way a team can skate two lines and beat another skating three unless there is a big difference in skill between the two teams. I think it is highly unlikely MN could beat SCSU with two lines, as we have seen in the past two games between the two, two blueline pairs are barely enough to survive a win, despite having three lines. And moving Skarzynski to the blueline weakens the ability to score, so although that might help the D, it hurts the overall team.
With 5 healthy blueliners, this team is good enough to make the NCAA, and good enough to beat anybody, but with four, if they are lucky enough to make the NCAA, they will beat nobody. They may not even make the NCAA, without a victory over WI or another near sweep by OSU, their chances of being displaced by someone else is pretty good. They will also likely lose to a team or two below them in the WCHA.
When you get tired, if you continue to attempt to play at maximum output, the first thing to go is your mind, the ability to make good decisions. The body can respond to commands for a while until it too can no longer do as directed.
If you have made a bad decision (or even the least optimum) you put extra demands on your body, compounding the problem. You now have to make up for a less than optimal decision with a body that has little left in the tank.
About 15 years ago in Rochester I saw WI skate with two lines against MN who skated three. WI was beating MN.. If WI had skated three, their lines would have been diluted and MN likely would have had the upper hand. The most interesting thing about the game was if WI would tire and then MN prevail because they weren’t as tired.
It didn’t happen, today there is no way a team can skate two lines and beat another skating three unless there is a big difference in skill between the two teams. I think it is highly unlikely MN could beat SCSU with two lines, as we have seen in the past two games between the two, two blueline pairs are barely enough to survive a win, despite having three lines. And moving Skarzynski to the blueline weakens the ability to score, so although that might help the D, it hurts the overall team.
With 5 healthy blueliners, this team is good enough to make the NCAA, and good enough to beat anybody, but with four, if they are lucky enough to make the NCAA, they will beat nobody. They may not even make the NCAA, without a victory over WI or another near sweep by OSU, their chances of being displaced by someone else is pretty good. They will also likely lose to a team or two below them in the WCHA.
Every now and then you surprise with a well thought out post...Nicely done.
Hey and if you're interested I'm looking to get rid of some vintage Star Wars figures still in the blisterpack. Ma says it time I start thinking about moving on.
Every now and then you surprise with a well thought out post...Nicely done.
As I've alluded to before, when pokechecker uses proper punctuation and capitalization, the comment is often interesting and useful. When it trolls, it does so with bad grammar.
As I've alluded to before, when pokechecker uses proper punctuation and capitalization, the comment is often interesting and useful. When it trolls, it does so with bad grammar.
The janitor at work is like this. When he is on his meds he is a decent guy. I wish pukechucker would get the help he so desperately needs. Till then he stays on the ignore list because the interesting stuff is never worth the bile. This is a guy that made homophobic slurs against female hockey players on this board.
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