Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

[pokechecker]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

An average year should have 4.5 full scholarships available. But the number of “plum” recruits varies from year to year. So it isn’t terribly surprising after two consecutive above average recruiting years there is a smaller than normal one.

One thing that will be interesting to see is if they get any additional players considering all of the “practice players” will have completed their eligibility.

Last year there would have been whatever athletic scholarship those that took red shirts for the Olympics to distribute among the players and this year whatever the departed player was receiving. Now add in any academic based financial help the individual players might be eligible for (most of them are excellent students), any need based on family SES (which can sometimes be surprising if they come from a large family or one with only one income), and don’t forget student jobs (work-study in my day, and it was a lot more study time than work), so many, if not most could be getting the equivalent of a full athletic scholarship despite not getting one.

[pokechecker]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

One thing I am hoping the layoff week makes a change in is that they play at least as good, if not better, on Sunday.
Thus far, except for against Mercyhurst, IMO the opponent has "closed the gap" the second game and beat them, tied them, or at least given them scare on the last game in the weekend. Bemidji could have easily won the second game, they missed on a number of scoring chances late in the game.

[Sieve1]

An average year should have 4.5 full scholarships available. But the number of “plum” recruits varies from year to year. So it isn’t terribly surprising after two consecutive above average recruiting years there is a smaller than normal one.

One thing that will be interesting to see is if they get any additional players considering all of the “practice players” will have completed their eligibility.

Last year there would have been whatever athletic scholarship those that took red shirts for the Olympics to distribute among the players and this year whatever the departed player was receiving. Now add in any academic based financial help the individual players might be eligible for (most of them are excellent students), any need based on family SES (which can sometimes be surprising if they come from a large family or one with only one income), and don’t forget student jobs (work-study in my day, and it was a lot more study time than work), so many, if not most could be getting the equivalent of a full athletic scholarship despite not getting one.

Wondering how it works in hockey if a player doesn’t get an athletic scholarship but earns some academic or other scholarship. I was under the impression that any award money would count against the maximum amount allowed by the ncaa. I’ve heard that is the case in other sports. Otherwise there could be all sorts of “supplemental scholarships” that would allow a wealthy athletic department to cover more than what the ncaa allows for women’s hockey.

[pokechecker]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

Wondering how it works in hockey if a player doesn’t get an athletic scholarship but earns some academic or other scholarship. I was under the impression that any award money would count against the maximum amount allowed by the ncaa. I’ve heard that is the case in other sports. Otherwise there could be all sorts of “supplemental scholarships” that would allow a wealthy athletic department to cover more than what the ncaa allows for women’s hockey.

I'm no expert but it is my understanding that if a player has a high enough GPA or test scores, they are eligible for academic "scholarship" but if they do not, then as you say, it would be counted against their scholarship limit. But this last part may pertain only to football or hoops where the players I believe either receive a full ride or none at all. Hockey and most other sports are equivalent sports, where the total number of schollies can be distributed over a number of students.
Remember, they are student -athletes, why would you punish an athlete (by not allowing them the same finacial help that is available to all other students) for doing well in school? It makes more sense to reward them, and for that matter, any program that churns out athletes that do well in school.
Most athletes don't receive full rides, just like non-athlete students, many receive academic and need based help.

[Still Eeyore]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

The simple answer is that a Division 1 athlete can receive academic scholarships so long as those scholarships are available to non-athletes, they did not mention that they were an athlete as a part of the application process, and that they met all of the requirements that a non-athlete would have needed to. In addition, to receive an academic scholarship as a freshman, the athlete must have: graduated in the top 10% of their high school class; had a high school GPA of at least 3.50; and scored at least 1200 on the SAT or an ACT Sum score of 100. As with all things NCAA, there are other details, but that's a basic outline.

[Still Eeyore]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

Well, that was a goofy game. There were a lot of stretches where Minnesota completely dominated, and a combination of great goaltending and bad puck luck for the Gophers kept the game competitive. There were also a lot of times when Minnesota got way too cute with the puck, and St. Cloud took advantage of three of them. The Huskies' first goal was on a bad turnover and worse reaction to it. The second came from letting St Cloud enter the zone uncontested. And the power play goal to tie it at three came after Pannek had a chance to clear the puck on the penalty kill and failed to do so; the Gophers were scrambling around from then until the puck went into the net 30 seconds later.

A lot of encouraging stuff today, and plenty of stuff to work on.

[D2D]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

Well, that was a goofy game. There were a lot of stretches where Minnesota completely dominated, and a combination of great goaltending and bad puck luck for the Gophers kept the game competitive. There were also a lot of times when Minnesota got way too cute with the puck, and St. Cloud took advantage of three of them. The Huskies' first goal was on a bad turnover and worse reaction to it. The second came from letting St Cloud enter the zone uncontested. And the power play goal to tie it at three came after Pannek had a chance to clear the puck on the penalty kill and failed to do so; the Gophers were scrambling around from then until the puck went into the net 30 seconds later.

A lot of encouraging stuff today, and plenty of stuff to work on.

I thought it was Pannek's best game of the season overall. In addition to her goal and assist she had many near misses, both off her own stick and slick passes to open teammates. She was also excellent in the faceoff circle. Hope to see more of all that the rest of the way.

[ARM]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

I thought it was Pannek's best game of the season overall.

I agree. I thought 10 minutes in she had made more plays in today's game than she had in the previous games all season. I also thought that our freshmen were very good today.

This is the second time this year that our coaching staff has tried to break up the Wente line when they weren't forced to do so. It hasn't worked very well either time.

[ne7minder]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

Many of the pucks that bounced away from the Gophers yesterday afternoon bounced to them today & the result was a 7-2 shellacking of the Huskies. Gophers had 52 shots on goal to SCSU's 17 and that is pretty much the story of the game right there. It was another phenomenal performance by Polusny but nobody can withstand that sort of assault.

There were several highlight reel goals & I hope the team tweets them out so they can be posted here.

[FiveHoleFrenzy]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

Many of the pucks that bounced away from the Gophers yesterday afternoon bounced to them today & the result was a 7-2 shellacking of the Huskies. Gophers had 52 shots on goal to SCSU's 17 and that is pretty much the story of the game right there. It was another phenomenal performance by Polusny but nobody can withstand that sort of assault.

There were several highlight reel goals & I hope the team tweets them out so they can be posted here.

The first period was especially dominant for Minnesota although Gulstene did give up a leaker in the last minute of the period, but I think she was bored as she hardly had any activity. Zoom Boom's first goal and Amy Potomak's goal were definitely highlight worthy. Talking to some parents it sounds like Knowles has mono and Scobee has a shoulder issue? Maybe some are aware of that but I wasn't.

[Still Eeyore]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

That was a blowout, with caveats. The first fifteen minutes were as thorough a beatdown as I've seen. Zumwinkle's first goal was just ridiculous: a fake to get the goalie down and then lifted it into the top corner from five feet away. Minnesota kept up incredible pressure, and the passing was pretty. Skaja's goal was into an empty net after the puck movement pulled Polusny in multiple directions. I'm generally not a fan of blowouts, but this one was fun.

And then . . .

Pinning the blame for the first goal on Gulstene is unfair. She didn't look good on it, but it was a complete team effort. It started with another ugly Robinson turnover, but she did her best to make up for it by blocking the first two shots. There is no excuse for no other Gopher getting back into the play, given how long it took to happen.

Minnesota again controlled the first twelve minutes of the second period, though they weren't anything like as sharp as they were in the first. They looked great for the two minutes of 4-on-4 early on, but couldn't score. It all came to an end with another defensive breakdown on which St Cloud scored, and the Gophers wilted. St Cloud had a great five minute stretch, and almost made it 4-3 on a shot off the crossbar that Gulstene treated like she thought it was going two feet over the net. (This was a much worse play than any of the goals that she let in.) Fortunately, Megan Roe took a dumb slashing penalty, Kelly Pannek scored on the power play, and the crisis was averted.

The forwards looked great. I hope the coaches stop messing around with the Wente/Schammel/Zumwinkle line, because they continue to look great. I hope Amy Potomak learns something from the fact that she got her goal on a play when she didn't try to do anything fancy; other than that, the third line was largely anonymous today, though some of that is how much everyone else generated. Williamson continues to be a one woman wrecking crew, and I was glad to see her score.

On the other hand, we're down to three defensemen that I actually trust. For better or for worse, it's the youngest three. Robinson had a nightmare weekend, and Skarzynski wasn't good, either, including a play where she watched the puck slide by and out of the offensive zone from two feet away without moving. Marshall was better, but too often reminds me of the frustrating things about Sydney Baldwin. And the goaltending has reached the point of being concerning.

[pokechecker]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

That was a blowout, with caveats. The first fifteen minutes were as thorough a beatdown as I've seen. Zumwinkle's first goal was just ridiculous: a fake to get the goalie down and then lifted it into the top corner from five feet away. Minnesota kept up incredible pressure, and the passing was pretty. Skaja's goal was into an empty net after the puck movement pulled Polusny in multiple directions. I'm generally not a fan of blowouts, but this one was fun.

And then . . .

Pinning the blame for the first goal on Gulstene is unfair. She didn't look good on it, but it was a complete team effort. It started with another ugly Robinson turnover, but she did her best to make up for it by blocking the first two shots. There is no excuse for no other Gopher getting back into the play, given how long it took to happen.

Minnesota again controlled the first twelve minutes of the second period, though they weren't anything like as sharp as they were in the first. They looked great for the two minutes of 4-on-4 early on, but couldn't score. It all came to an end with another defensive breakdown on which St Cloud scored, and the Gophers wilted. St Cloud had a great five minute stretch, and almost made it 4-3 on a shot off the crossbar that Gulstene treated like she thought it was going two feet over the net. (This was a much worse play than any of the goals that she let in.) Fortunately, Megan Roe took a dumb slashing penalty, Kelly Pannek scored on the power play, and the crisis was averted.

The forwards looked great. I hope the coaches stop messing around with the Wente/Schammel/Zumwinkle line, because they continue to look great. I hope Amy Potomak learns something from the fact that she got her goal on a play when she didn't try to do anything fancy; other than that, the third line was largely anonymous today, though some of that is how much everyone else generated. Williamson continues to be a one woman wrecking crew, and I was glad to see her score.

On the other hand, we're down to three defensemen that I actually trust. For better or for worse, it's the youngest three. Robinson had a nightmare weekend, and Skarzynski wasn't good, either, including a play where she watched the puck slide by and out of the offensive zone from two feet away without moving. Marshall was better, but too often reminds me of the frustrating things about Sydney Baldwin. sounds like a compliment to me, lol And the goaltending has reached the point of being concerning.

Too bad you don’t diagnose your own mental problem. You seem awfully high on neuroticism, and your criticism of others may indicate an attempt to deflect attention from your own problems.

Yes, Marshall & Skarzynski each made a blunder during the game, people make mistakes, judge them by the totality not one individual instance. They are currently leading the Gophers in +/- and both third in the league, given they are usually out there against the other teams 1st or 2nd line, I don’t see reason for all the complaining.

I do agree that the younger blue-liners are playing well, in particular Hengler, who might be the most relaxed freshman blue-liner I have ever seen. Usually they are pretty frantic because they have misjudged or made a bad choice and consequently have to really kick butt or take a penalty to make up for it. From game one she always seems to be in the right place and so far has been making good choices, even on offense, not too eager, nor too conservative, just right. It’s no wonder she has gone from playing only half time, to be suited for every game, and now playing a major role at the blue line.

Moving Skaja with Pannek and Amy P with Heise looks like an improvement all the way around, plus giving Boreen more ice time taking Skaja spot, and she has picked up her game as a result. It’s kind of amazing that they have had three freshman playing center and all of them have played well.

When I got home I flipped on the tube and caught Joe from Ch 5 say Grace Zoomwinkle, which I thought might be his attempt at a nickname for her until I heard him use the river thru our nation’s capital for Amy P’s name.
But I guess that’s better than no pub at all.

[FiveHoleFrenzy]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

PC mentioned her and it was interesting as Hengler was a topic of conversation with the group of parents I was conversing with. I mentioned how well she is playing and the difference for her not being on the ice all the time like she was with Eden Prairie and it was mentioned that she should be in the mix for USA hockey. She was early on but must have not been able to do enough push ups or some sort of thing so she fell out of favor.

[ARM]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

She was early on but must have not been able to do enough push ups or some sort of thing so she fell out of favor.

I would guess that skating is #13's greatest opportunity for improvement in order to be in the picture for the national team. That was something Hannah Brandt improved a lot from her freshman season, and was likely what kept her off of the 2014 Olympic Team -- that, or Katey Stone . Looking strictly at our freshmen D, #6 gets from point A to point B very quickly, while #13 compensates with very good anticipation of the play.

[pokechecker]

Re: Minnesota Gophers 2018-2019

I would guess that skating is #13's greatest opportunity for improvement in order to be in the picture for the national team. That was something Hannah Brandt improved a lot from her freshman season, and was likely what kept her off of the 2014 Olympic Team -- that, or Katey Stone . Looking strictly at our freshmen D, #6 gets from point A to point B very quickly, while #13 compensates with very good anticipation of the play.

I’m not so sure that’s true, as you mentioned she seems to have good anticipation of how the play is unfolding and consequently looks slow simply because she is ahead of the action and doesn’t need to use speed to get there.

I can think of two instances where she has shown speed, late in the game Sunday a Husky had brought the puck in the zone on their left side accompanied by a team mate which drew both D to that side, a Husky coming in with speed just right of center received the puck and appeared to perhaps make it in un-opposed on goal, but Hengler who was the left D got there in time to deflect the puck away. I believe it was the exhibition, or maybe against Mercyhurst, where her D partner got beat and she chased the opponent down and poked the puck away.

In games her body language almost makes it seems like she’s bored, more like she’s in warm-ups waiting for the game to start, because she’s rarely moving fast, except to get from one zone to the other. It would be interesting to see a race between her and Pannek to see who can skate the slowest, yet still get the job done.