Minnesota @ Penn State: 1/12 & 1/13

[Slap Shot]

Oh brother. Think of the atmosphere then if they would have allowed only 3500 seats.

Ask UW and OSU about atmosphere lately with arenas that hold far more than 5,700.

[pgb-ohio]

Re: Minnesota @ Penn State: 1/12 & 1/13

Glad you asked. The answer is that Stauber1 and Bonin21 are correct.

Obviously everybody is going to stay loyal to their respective teams either way, but too many seats is not a blessing.

[Bonin21]

Re: Minnesota @ Penn State: 1/12 & 1/13

Win is a win. McAdam is a stud.

[Golden Tuuk]

Re: Minnesota @ Penn State: 1/12 & 1/13

After watching that game and crowd I'd say 5700 seats will be more than enough.

[Stauber1]

Re: Minnesota @ Penn State: 1/12 & 1/13

Story of the game was a very strong performance by PSU netminder McAdam, and a ****-poor performance by the MN PP.
5 straight games with a PP goal, but 1-for-6 tonight and a total disaster when it was needed most. PSU took a number of silly and unnecessary penalties, and it should have turned the game. It didn't.

Somewhat troubling is that the MN top lines also continued to struggle. All 3 MN goals tonight were by defensemen. There is a lot of great stuff about this team, but they need to sort a couple things out if they are going to be a serious contender at the end of the year.

I do think Cammarata had one of his better games tonight. That play between him and Fasching late in the 3rd was a beauty, and required McAdam to come up huge.

Last thing I'll say is that I think I prefer Guertler on that 4th line to Michaelson. A.J. seemed to struggle all night.

[4four4]

Cost: $102M seats 5782, the Ralph was $104M in 2001, but seats 11,500. Other than seating, wonder how they compare?

I am under the impression Penn State built the main arena and a practice facility.

[swh113]

Re: Minnesota @ Penn State: 1/12 & 1/13

Correct. Two sheets: main arena and a smaller "community rink" that can fit up to 1000 (I think)

[HarleyMC]

Re: Minnesota @ Penn State: 1/12 & 1/13

I am under the impression Penn State built the main arena and a practice facility.

They have two rinks, hockey and a community rink for public skating.

I agree Stauber...credit Penn St. for playing fairly good D along with a strong performance by McAdam in nets keeping the game close for Penn tonight. The Gophers fired 45 SOG (78 attempts), yet only the Gopher D score tonight on perimeter shots from the blueline. I thought the Gophers forwards could have done a better job of going to the net tonight and handling rebounds around the paint.

The Gopher D zone breakouts were very good tonight and really limited Penn's presence in the Gopher's zone. At least we've scored a PP goal now in every one of the last 5 games...but 1/6 tonight is not good enough. But overall Penn St. was outclassed by the Gopher speed tonight, and couldn't sustain any consistent offensive playmaking and pressure by their forwards. Their second goal to tie it up was off a Gopher D missed assignment leaving Holstrom all alone on Wilcox in front.

Cammarata...meh, it took him nearly 2 and half periods, but he did show a little more effort towards the end of the game. Hudson Fasching and Seth Ambroz were the tenacious forwards for the Gophers tonight each with 7 SOG, but unfortunately no goals for their hustle. Warning had a couple very good Grade A scoring chances in front in the 2nd, but McAdam's shutdown goaltending stonewalled every scoring attempt by the Gopher forwards all game.

But it's a road win on Penn St.'s first B1G home game of the season before a full house....we'll take it and hopefully we'll see a better effort tomorrow night. Go Gophers! Rah!

[swh113]

Re: Minnesota @ Penn State: 1/12 & 1/13

As a PSU alum, I was just happy that it was close. I couldn't watch the game but will be tuned in tomorrow.

[mnstate0fhockey]

They have two rinks, hockey and a community rink for public skating.

I agree Stauber...credit Penn St. for playing fairly good D along with a strong performance by McAdam in nets keeping the game close for Penn tonight. The Gophers fired 45 SOG (78 attempts), yet only the Gopher D score tonight on perimeter shots from the blueline. I thought the Gophers forwards could have done a better job of going to the net tonight and handling rebounds around the paint.

The Gopher D zone breakouts were very good tonight and really limited Penn's presence in the Gopher's zone. At least we've scored a PP goal now in every one of the last 5 games...but 1/6 tonight is not good enough. But overall Penn St. was outclassed by the Gopher speed tonight, and couldn't sustain any consistent offensive playmaking and pressure by their forwards. Their second goal to tie it up was off a Gopher D missed assignment leaving Holstrom all alone on Wilcox in front.

Cammarata...meh, it took him nearly 2 and half periods, but he did show a little more effort towards the end of the game. Hudson Fasching and Seth Ambroz were the tenacious forwards for the Gophers tonight each with 7 SOG, but unfortunately no goals for their hustle. Warning had a couple very good Grade A scoring chances in front in the 2nd, but McAdam's shutdown goaltending stonewalled every scoring attempt by the Gopher forwards all game.

But it's a road win on Penn St.'s first B1G home game of the season before a full house....we'll take it and hopefully we'll see a better effort tomorrow night. Go Gophers! Rah!

I didn't see the game either tonight, but Frank and Wally said the Gophers had over 20 shots from within the circles (prime scorning areas). Sounds like McAdam absolutely stood on his head. Will be interesting to see if he can do it two games in a row.

Absolutely agree on the PP. Has to improve if we want to go anywhere post-season.

Warning needs to get more shots on net (at least consistently) IMO.

[The Rube]

Re: Minnesota @ Penn State: 1/12 & 1/13

Heard the game on the radio, and being out of practice, so to speak (rarely listen to games on radio) I thought that the Gophs wasted a few chances, PSU's goalie saved a few he shouldn't have (kudos to him, no disrespect) and PSU was going balls-out, as in, we are gonna surprise them and eke out a win, or lose badly by taking this many chances.

That being said, I agree that MN seemed to "escape" with a win, given the tones of the MN announcers.

Also.....I'll take it. A win is a win, baby.

[D2D]

Re: Minnesota @ Penn State: 1/12 & 1/13

First I would like to thank the Blue Line Club and the folks at the Alumni Association for hosting the viewing party and free skate this evening. Great turnout, and the video quality on the huge screen was excellent.

To me the game tonight was like one of the Gopher hockey games from old. Totally outskate and outshoot a less talented opponent, but barely manage to win, by a whisker...thanks to a combination of a hot goalie, not being able to otherwise cash in on a half-dozen or more great opportunities and a couple of defensive lapses that in the end allowed a totally outplayed opponent a great chance to win. I am cautiously optimistic that the speedier and more talented Gophers will find ways to take advantage of PSU's slow moving defensemen and make it a lot less stressful at the end in tomorrow's rematch. Anything less than a SWEEP on the road against this team would be a huge disappointment.

That said, with their new arena, first class facilities and location in a rapidly developing hockey area, I do look for the Nittany Lions to make quick and drastic improvements in the next few years. So the Gophers SHOULD take advantage of THEIR CLEAR TALENT ADVANTAGE while it is there. In 2-3 years it is plain to see that it will be far more difficult, but in the end the competitive balance will be good for Big Ten hockey overall.

[HarleyMC]

Re: Minnesota @ Penn State: 1/12 & 1/13

Absolutely agree on the PP. Has to improve if we want to go anywhere post-season.

There isn't the same PP chemistry yet this season like we saw last year. It's going to be difficult for M. Reilly (3 PPG), Brodzinski (2 PPG), Rau (2 PPG) and maybe Kloos (2 PPG) to come close to replicating last season's dynamic PP strikeforce of Bjugs (11 PPG), Schmidty (5 PPG), Rau (6 PPG) and Haula (3 PPG), unless they can kick it up a notch with better line chemistry and consistency. We've got one PPG in each of the last 5 games, so they can build on that.

But the funny thing about PP percentages is a team can consistently crap the bed on the PP and still be a contender for a national title. For example, last season Quinnipiac was ranked #1, but they were horrible on the PP all year (14.6%)! Yet they had the highest winning% (30-8-5/.756), the lowest goals against/game in the NCAA (1.80), and were #1 in the pairwise in the second half.

Right now, the Gophers have a similar trend going: Poor PP (16.1%), best winning% (14-2-3/.816), 6th in GA/game (2.11; last season/2.00), and #1 in the pairwise. BC also has the same PP dilemma this season. They're leading the nation in GF/game (4.38), #2 in the pairwise, but their PP is strangely similar to the Gophers, a dismal 16.5%.

No excuses...and I agree they need to get it figured out now and later for the postseason. But if they don't get it clicking somewhere near last season (24.6%/#1), good goaltending, solid D and consistent scoring might buy us a deep playoff run anyway.

[mnstate0fhockey]

There isn't the same PP chemistry yet this season like we saw last year. It's going to be difficult for M. Reilly (3 PPG), Brodzinski (2 PPG), Rau (2 PPG) and maybe Kloos (2 PPG) to come close to replicating last season's dynamic PP strikeforce of Bjugs (11 PPG), Schmidty (5 PPG), Rau (6 PPG) and Haula (3 PPG), unless they can kick it up a notch with better line chemistry and consistency. We've got one PPG in each of the last 5 games, so they can build on that.

But the funny thing about PP percentages is a team can consistently crap the bed on the PP and still be a contender for a national title. For example, last season Quinnipiac was ranked #1, but they were horrible on the PP all year (14.6%)! Yet they had the highest winning% (30-8-5/.756), the lowest goals against/game in the NCAA (1.80), and were #1 in the pairwise in the second half.

Right now, the Gophers have a similar trend going: Poor PP (16.1%), best winning% (14-2-3/.816), 6th in GA/game (2.11; last season/2.00), and #1 in the pairwise. BC also has the same PP dilemma this season. They're leading the nation in GF/game (4.38), #2 in the pairwise, but their PP is strangely similar to the Gophers, a dismal 16.5%.

No excuses...and I agree they need to get it figured out now and later for the postseason. But if they don't get it clicking somewhere near last season (24.6%/#1), good goaltending, solid D and consistent scoring might buy us a deep playoff run anyway.

Good observations Harley. Thanks!

[gopher wes]

Re: Minnesota @ Penn State: 1/12 & 1/13

Heard the game on the radio, and being out of practice, so to speak (rarely listen to games on radio) I thought that the Gophs wasted a few chances, PSU's goalie saved a few he shouldn't have (kudos to him, no disrespect) and PSU was going balls-out, as in, we are gonna surprise them and eke out a win, or lose badly by taking this many chances.

That being said, I agree that MN seemed to "escape" with a win, given the tones of the MN announcers.

Also.....I'll take it. A win is a win, baby.

Listening to Wally and Frank in the 3rd, I was ready to hear some of that brutally honest criticism that they sometimes seem to give. They did a little of that, but it was mostly just giving McAdam props. He must have really stolen the show!

Can't wait to get the heck outta work and watch tonight!