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Gophers 2013-14 B1G Things To Come!

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  • Re: Gophers 2013-14 B1G Things To Come!

    Bump. Almost on 3rd page. I still say I am disappointed Rau doesn't have a couple more goals, regardless in change in responsibilities/positioning. Also agree Condon should be doing more. I also think Warning could shoot a little more. Seems like every game there is one or two times he elects to pass when he has a decent shot. And of course the PP..............I don't expect them to be at last year's level, but 20% should be reasonable for these talented players.

    Over all, is it just me, or does it seem like the effort isn't quite what it was early? They seemed to overwhelm teams with their forecheck and backchecking for huge portions of games early in the year. I feel like that advantage has diminished some. Anyone else have the same impression?

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    • Re: Gophers 2013-14 B1G Things To Come!

      I saw Warning shoot plenty last weekend against Colgate and RPI. He just isn't hitting the net like he was early in the year. Rau is starting to come around IMO. Condon is......he's just been bad, really.

      I'm not sure if it's effort or what it is. I think this team overachieved to start the year and now it doesn't seem to be coming as easily as it did early on. The only player I saw last weekend that truly hustled hard all game long against Colgate was Boyd. I think with upperclassmen like Rau, Ambroz, Boyd, and Serratore leading by example, I'm hoping those guys can lead by example with grit and hustle. Hopefully the younger guys follow suit because they don't seem to be scoring the pretty goals that they were scoring to start the year. Gonna have to get dirty and scoring some garbage goals in front of the net.
      "It ain't over, baby! And that took only six seconds!"

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      Everything is Hill's fault.....

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      • Re: Gophers 2013-14 B1G Things To Come!

        Originally posted by Koho View Post
        Bump. Almost on 3rd page. I still say I am disappointed Rau doesn't have a couple more goals, regardless in change in responsibilities/positioning. Also agree Condon should be doing more. I also think Warning could shoot a little more. Seems like every game there is one or two times he elects to pass when he has a decent shot. And of course the PP..............I don't expect them to be at last year's level, but 20% should be reasonable for these talented players.

        Code:
        Over all, is it just me, or does it seem like the effort isn't quite what it was early?  They seemed to overwhelm teams with their forecheck and backchecking for huge portions of games early in the year.  I feel like that advantage has diminished some.  Anyone else have the same impression?
        Code:
        
        
        Agreed. Although I have not seen a game since before the break,I noticed some of that lack of hustle and grit creeping in. Hopefully it will pass. I have also seen less crashing the net than was apparent early on. They're still winning though
        You hardly know a day goes by in a cardboard cutout sundown...

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        • Re: Gophers 2013-14 B1G Things To Come!

          Originally posted by Koho View Post
          Bump. Almost on 3rd page. I still say I am disappointed Rau doesn't have a couple more goals, regardless in change in responsibilities/positioning. Also agree Condon should be doing more. I also think Warning could shoot a little more. Seems like every game there is one or two times he elects to pass when he has a decent shot. And of course the PP..............I don't expect them to be at last year's level, but 20% should be reasonable for these talented players.

          Over all, is it just me, or does it seem like the effort isn't quite what it was early? They seemed to overwhelm teams with their forecheck and backchecking for huge portions of games early in the year. I feel like that advantage has diminished some. Anyone else have the same impression?
          The team doesn't seem to be quite as fast as they were at the start of the year when they simply took games over with their speed. I think a part of that is the verdict is in that the best way to have success against the Gophers is to play a physical game. The problem that I see is that the Gopher PP isn't doing enough to make teams nervous. Right now, the opposition can prepare to play MN physical and not be too concerned if they take a few penalties in the process. Having a strong PP is important not just for the actual goals, but also for forcing teams to take it into account when they prepare for a series.

          Fasching, Warning and Kloos have cooled off from their hot starts. Hopefully they all can get back to making a bit of an impact on the score sheet. Guys like Condon and Rau have the ability to step up and contribute a bit more in goal scoring as well. It's a positive to see the 3rd or 4th line turn in great shifts and great games, but it's not good when your 3rd or 4th line is the best forward line on the night. That's happened a few too many times over the past handful of games.

          Luckily, their are some very offensively talented defensemen who have been able to pick up the slack and contribute with goals.

          At the end of the day there's nothing that should cause hysteria or consternation in the fan base...the team is still finding ways to win (or at least, not lose). But as I've said before, the team definitely has areas it needs to improve upon before the start of the postseason.

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          • Originally posted by Stauber1 View Post
            I think a part of that is the verdict is in that the best way to have success against the Gophers is to play a physical game. The problem that I see is that the Gopher PP isn't doing enough to make teams nervous. Right now, the opposition can prepare to play MN physical and not be too concerned if they take a few penalties in the process. Having a strong PP is important not just for the actual goals, but also for forcing teams to take it into account when they prepare for a series
            Bingo. So well said.
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            • Re: Gophers 2013-14 B1G Things To Come!

              Originally posted by captain beefheart View Post
              [/CODE]Agreed. Although I have not seen a game since before the break,I noticed some of that lack of hustle and grit creeping in. Hopefully it will pass. I have also seen less crashing the net than was apparent early on. They're still winning though
              I remember in early games, being impressed how, almost man for man, they were out hustling other teams to pucks, giving up little time or space. Now, a lot more of the players seem willing to react to the opposing player than try to beat him to the puck first. PK might be a little better with more pressure too. I mean, ZERO Shorties with the talent and speed of that team. There are like 6 players with 3 Shorties and the Gophs don't have one as a team?

              I realize one can't really expect a team to play at a frenetic pace all season, so a lull mid-season isn't horrible, especially if they are still winning. But they need to be able to get back to that level at the end of the year, which wasn't the case for last year's team or some others in history. It is all about having momentum and effort going into playoffs. They do need to figure out the special teams better. It is not that I feel they are in trouble by any means. I think that there are just areas they need to work on by the end of the year, including regaining that all out team effort if they have a chance of going far.

              I am looking forward to the SCSU game as a test of where they are at.
              Last edited by Koho; 01-13-2014, 02:37 PM.

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              • Re: Gophers 2013-14 B1G Things To Come!

                We all can sense the lack of scoring by the top-6 forwards, but looking at the stats it is really striking.
                In the past 8 games, the top-6 forwards have scored 4 even strength goals; 2 pp goals.
                - Rau has 3 goals in the last 8 games
                - Kloos has 2 in the last 8 games
                - Cammarata has 1 in his past 9
                - Fasching has none in his past 8
                - Condon has none in the past 13
                - Warning has none in the past 15 (his last goal was Oct. 19, the 4th game of the season)

                If this goes on much longer, it may be time to sacrifice one of the lines a bit to up the potential of the other. In my opinion, the 3 most dangerous forwards are Rau, Kloos and Fasching. I like seeing Rau and Cammarata skate together as I think it is good for Cammarata's development, but if the goals continue to not be there then something has to give.

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                • Re: Gophers 2013-14 B1G Things To Come!

                  I'm glad that despite this lull in scoring the team is still coming up with wins. It makes things a lot easier, and means the players don't have to press as hard to score as they would if they were losing a bunch of games.

                  The scoring will come around is my guess.
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                  • Re: Gophers 2013-14 B1G Things To Come!

                    Originally posted by Stauber1 View Post
                    We all can sense the lack of scoring by the top-6 forwards, but looking at the stats it is really striking.
                    In the past 8 games, the top-6 forwards have scored 4 even strength goals; 2 pp goals.
                    - Rau has 3 goals in the last 8 games
                    - Kloos has 2 in the last 8 games
                    - Cammarata has 1 in his past 9
                    - Fasching has none in his past 8
                    - Condon has none in the past 13
                    - Warning has none in the past 15 (his last goal was Oct. 19, the 4th game of the season)

                    If this goes on much longer, it may be time to sacrifice one of the lines a bit to up the potential of the other. In my opinion, the 3 most dangerous forwards are Rau, Kloos and Fasching. I like seeing Rau and Cammarata skate together as I think it is good for Cammarata's development, but if the goals continue to not be there then something has to give.

                    Didn't look. What were lines last night?

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                    • Re: Gophers 2013-14 B1G Things To Come!

                      Cammarata-Rau-Fasching
                      Warning-Condon-Kloos

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                      • Re: Gophers 2013-14 B1G Things To Come!

                        Best thing about this weekend wasn't the 6 pts, it was that a couple very long scoring droughts were snapped by a couple important players. Here's hoping they don't go another 13 and 15 games respectively until their next goals

                        I know some people were bemoaning the SOG disparity tonight and that PSU seemingly outplayed MN for stretches of the game. To me, having a dominant performance this weekend wasn't the most important thing; the most important thing was to get some monkeys off some backs, and to continue to gain comfort and confidence on the PP. Both those things happened tonight. If these top 2 lines can start chipping in goals not necessarily in bunches but simply consistently, and the PP continues to score at around 20%, that bodes well come March.

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                        • Re: Gophers 2013-14 B1G Things To Come!

                          The Cammarata-Rau-Fasching line had ONLY 4 SOG all night against Penn St (Fasching: 1 SOG and he averages close to 3/game). I'm not fond of this line combo at all. Rau is a tenacious center, excellent on faceoffs, lands a lot of SOG (team leader), and plays twice his size on the walls, but his scoring niche is battling for rebounds and lose pucks in front of the net NOT spending time digging in the corners for Cammarata. Having Fasching on the line to dig along the walls and get pucks in front is critical, but he shouldn't be doing it alone while Cammarata does circles out near the blueline.

                          Whenever he tries to move anywhere against bigger players he's toast and gets bounced around like a frickin' ragdoll. There's absolutely no fight in this kid at all, he just surrenders the puck in battle EVERY. FRICKIN'. TIME. He "rarely" goes into the corners to win puck battles, when on occasion he's against the half wall, he's pathetic and loses the puck 9/10 times. I don't have any patience for primadonna hockey players like Cammarata.

                          Let the coaches mentor the kid, but not on the top line and not by Rau. We don't have the luxury to spend time on his development in the middle of the season at the expense of what should be one of our top scoring lines. IMO he needs to be be retrained to compete in D1 hockey and much of that needs to happen in the off season. I'd replace Cammarata with another power forward ASAP. What about Guertler? He's not shown much yet, but he's not had consistent ice time on a good line either and maybe it's time to see what he can do. Give Guertler a chance to prove himself.

                          Watching you play, it’s obvious that you have a gritty aspect to your game in addition to your ability to create offense. Is being hard to play against something you pride yourself on?

                          Yeah I don’t really like taking any crap from players; if they are going to hit me I’m going to hit them back. I like to play hard and I think that’s a pretty big part of my game. I’m not the most physical guy, but I like to play gritty and get under players’ skin.

                          Describe the rest of your game in addition to your gritty play.

                          I’d say I’m a skilled forward and have pretty good vision on the ice. For the most part I’m a playmaker and see the play pretty well and make things happen in the offensive zone.

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                          • Re: Gophers 2013-14 B1G Things To Come!

                            Originally posted by Stauber1 View Post
                            We all can sense the lack of scoring by the top-6 forwards, but looking at the stats it is really striking.
                            In the past 8 games, the top-6 forwards have scored 4 even strength goals; 2 pp goals.
                            - Rau has 3 goals in the last 8 games
                            - Kloos has 2 in the last 8 games
                            - Cammarata has 1 in his past 9
                            - Fasching has none in his past 8
                            - Condon has none in the past 13
                            - Warning has none in the past 15 (his last goal was Oct. 19, the 4th game of the season)

                            If this goes on much longer, it may be time to sacrifice one of the lines a bit to up the potential of the other. In my opinion, the 3 most dangerous forwards are Rau, Kloos and Fasching. I like seeing Rau and Cammarata skate together as I think it is good for Cammarata's development, but if the goals continue to not be there then something has to give.
                            I posted this a couple weeks ago. Nate Condon and Kyle Rau have bounced back with better second half scoring in their two previous seasons and hopefully we'll see that trend continue again. However, Sam Warning has regressed in scoring in each of his two previous seasons but he also had a couple nagging injuries last season that sidelined him for several games. This season he logged his best first half ever as a Gopher and despite his slump he still currently leads the Gophers in points with 1.20 pts./game. His two goals last night against Penn St. were a good start towards breaking his trend of a second half scoring slump. Admittedly, freshman scoring has been surprisingly remarkable, but Rau, Condon and Warning are key upperclassmen and leaders who need to be more consistently on the scoreboard in the second half if the Gophers are to have a deep playoff run.

                            PLAYER (First half after 16 games)....................2013-14....................2012-13....................2011-12
                            KYLE RAU............................................... ......3-13-16.....................6-8-14....................10-8-18
                            SAM WARNING........................................... ...5-15-20....................5-11-16......................4-3-7
                            NATE CONDON............................................ ...2-8-10......................3-9-12.....................5-6-11

                            PLAYER (Second half after 20 games)................2013-14....................2012-13....................2011-12
                            KYLE RAU............................................... ..........?.........................8-14-22....................6-12-18
                            SAM WARNING........................................... .......?...........................3-4-7.......................2-5-7
                            NATE CONDON............................................ ......?.........................8-10-18....................5-10-15

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                            • Re: Gophers 2013-14 B1G Things To Come!

                              Harley - Not trying to discount your points on Cammarata, but my only question is where would you play him? He doesn't have the skillset to play a bottom line checking role.

                              His game isn't perfect, but he is a true freshman. Big expectations aside, I think we forget that.

                              I see your point on playing him with Rau, but Rau also had two goals against RPI playing on a line with Cammy. Personally, I think putting Cammy on a line with Fasching and Rau will open some more space for the diminutive playmaking forward.

                              We'll have to see how he progresses. The same things that are aggravating people about his game are also going to be what makes him a 4-year player at this level.

                              Just some food for thought.
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                              On the Web at www.mnhockeycentral.com
                              High School, Gophers, and Wild News on Facebook at Minnesota Hockey Central

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                              • Re: Gophers 2013-14 B1G Things To Come!

                                And yet here we are 15-2-3 and #1 in the pairwise.
                                Originally posted by CavalryNate
                                Disrespecting the Gophers is like disowning your mother the first time you get a girlfriend.
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