Wisconsin Hockey - 2018 Off-Season - Hope or Despair?

[Timothy A]

True, but keep in mind 3 of them, Perunovich, Samberg, and Mikey Anderson all were on the World Junior Team this year.

Interesting that they and Andrew Peeke (Notre Dame) and Quinn Hughes (MI) are all in the FF this year. Adam Fox (Harvard) and Ryan Lindgren (NY Rangers) are the other two D from the WJ team.

Great info. UW's D will be re-furbished this year, just gotta figure out the goalie spot.

[Almington]

Great info. UW's D will be re-furbished this year, just gotta figure out the goalie spot.

The better the D, the better the G

[gwhinwi]

The better the D, the better the G

I agree with this wholeheartedly. Best games I have ever played in goal, I had great D that made sure I was only seeing good shots that I could control.

[WiscTJK]

D should be significantly better next year with the class coming in. But I am concerned about scoring and think they will need to be better to counter our lack of offense.

[Wisko McBadgerton]

I think the best case for Badger D would be everybody gets much better and then Emberson and Miller are still good enough and trustworthy enough to come in and be a ready made top 4 pair with say, Tischke and Kalynuk. If that could happen, then you'd have maybe Inamoto-Ess plus Greenway and the Krygier boys fighting it out. I really thought Inamoto progressed nicely through the year and was very good late in the season. Ess was just so reliable in his decision making all year -- I'd love to see him take a big step offensively in the off season and push the other guys out. We're just not sure of his ceiling at this point. Greenway is just a big question mark. Tons of unrealized talent still -- could never see a game, could have 40 points -- who knows? Krygier's aren't chopped liver and are probably going to be mid-round draft picks similar to what Inamoto was, so they could move up as well. It's going to be interesting to see how the staff handles all these guys.

Offensively we lose 42% (48g) of our goal scoring. That's not going to be easy to replace. Ranta is a goal scorer with a tremendous shot, and Mersch has had a really nice season, but when you consider just 4 guys in the entire B1G had more than 16 goals on the entire season, (Frederic, Lewandowski, Marody, Jobst) the odds we're going to get that back from just a couple of guys are pretty long. It's more likely going to have to be by committee.

Even if the D is much better and Jack or whoever finds a groove in net, plus we get decent production up and down the lineup-- it's still going to be very hard to make the tournament next year. Looking around the B1G, depending on what damage the NHL does, most teams are going to be as good or better next year. Add that to our OOC schedule... It's going to take a very good team to go over .500 vs. MTU, BC, DU, Sue, and Clarkson.

[Timothy A]

It's going to take a very good team to go over .500 vs. MTU, BC, DU, Sue, and Clarkson.

This will sound strange, but to me next year the record isn't as important as how they play. Play sound fundamental hockey with above average special teams. I want to see some well played hockey with minimal "*** was that!"

[gwhinwi]

This will sound strange, but to me next year the record isn't as important as how they play. Play sound fundamental hockey with above average special teams. I want to see some well played hockey with minimal "*** was that!"

I would tend to agree with that. Another year without a tournament run would hurt, but seeing them make progress for the future of the program is more important in my eyes.

[Wisko McBadgerton]

You know how when you tune into the pregame and the announcers are saying:

"and the head coach of the Mongoose's is Francios Robideaux. Now Jimmy, one thing we all know for sure is that a Robideaux coached team is always going to bring ..."

well... something. And that's #1 on the list for me. What exactly is a Granato coached team? It's still a bit of a mystery. Even if I played Tuesday night beer league against a team coached by Rohlik for example, I'm pretty sure I'd know what I'm in for.

The Badgers need an identity. And through two seasons, it feels a lot like they're still looking to figure out just what it is going to be.

[Rodhotter]

https://twitter.com/StribSports/stat...90324200648704

[Rodhotter]

It's a done deal. Motsko to MN.
https://www.gophersports.com/sports/m...032718aaa.html

[WiscTJK]

I'm surprised. He's 57. I can't believe he will be a long term / over 10 year coach.

[MadCityRich]

I'm surprised. He's 57. I can't believe he will be a long-term / over 10-year coach.

I'm surprised as well. Remember when the crowds were yelling, "GOpher REjects, clap, clap, clap clap clap" to all the other Minnesota schools? Recently they've been yelling at the goofs, "BULL Dog REjects!" or insert your favorite non-goofer Minnesota team.

New blood in WI, new blood in MN; it's going to be more fun!

[Timothy A]

The Badgers need an identity. And through two seasons, it feels a lot like they're still looking to figure out just what it is going to be.

I think the identity they want is up tempo and not terribly physical, which is ok. I prefer a speed game over a physical game.

[Timothy A]

Cool to see Smith and Turris out as the first F pair in OT for the Preds. After watching the waved off OT winner, I now officially do not know what offsides is anymore. The back of the front skate was on the line when the puck touched the line.

[MadCityRich]

Cool to see Smith and Turris out as the first F pair in OT for the Preds. After watching the waved off OT winner, I now officially do not know what offsides is anymore. The back of the front skate was on the line when the puck touched the line.

Badger alums, and some Madison area non-Badgers (Kessel, Schmaltz's, Butcher), are doing very well in the NHL.

The NHL is looking into that "raised skate" scenario and they aren't going to waste time making a decision in the off season. I occasionally travel for my job and listen to SXM NHL Network. Last Friday an NHL official stated on the air that, ".....we DO NOT want to become the NFL of hockey..."

Personally, I'd like to get rid of the off side review. Sure there have been some waived off goals, but the plays are usually so **** close that the replays have to be reviewed one frame at a time. It's slows the game down. It's getting to the point that they are LOOKING for a reason NOT to allow a goal.

[DPlaya]

I think the identity they want is up tempo and not terribly physical, which is ok. I prefer a speed game over a physical game.

I agree with this but they have not yet been able to bring in their forwards in mass....leaving their identity in limbo. I think starting in 2019-2020 they will have enough of the type of forwards they want on the roster to play to the identity they want to have.

[Timothy A]

Personally, I'd like to get rid of the off side review. Sure there have been some waived off goals, but the plays are usually so **** close that the replays have to be reviewed one frame at a time. It's slows the game down. It's getting to the point that they are LOOKING for a reason NOT to allow a goal.

Yes Yes Yes.

[WiscTJK]

I agree with this but they have not yet been able to bring in their forwards in mass....leaving their identity in limbo. I think starting in 2019-2020 they will have enough of the type of forwards they want on the roster to play to the identity they want to have.

I don't think I can take another year like this year!

[burd]

Personally, I'd like to get rid of the off side review. Sure there have been some waived off goals, but the plays are usually so **** close that the replays have to be reviewed one frame at a time. It's slows the game down. It's getting to the point that they are LOOKING for a reason NOT to allow a goal.

You won't hear any disagreement from UND fans. Not after the BU mess.

[Wisko McBadgerton]

I agree with this but they have not yet been able to bring in their forwards in mass....leaving their identity in limbo. I think starting in 2019-2020 they will have enough of the type of forwards they want on the roster to play to the identity they want to have.

Perhaps that's true, but that does leave me a little uneasy. There were probably 9-11 F's on this roster that will play pro hockey, so I would think you could get something out of them that is more recognizable. In other words, if we can really only play the way we want to when we can get a dozen first rounders on the ice -- well, that's an overall plan that makes me a bit nervous, especially given the NHL's drastically increased appetite for young players. (was surprised that they offered to burn a year off of Mittlestadt's ELC to get him signed, for example)

FTR, I'm behind Tony 100%. I just think he's too smart and too competitive not to win here. It just feels to me a little like the steepness of the learning curve got him a little this year. When it's March and he's saying "Man, I just can't believe we're an under .500 team." It kinda leaves the impression that he doesn't know why that happened and that's not a good thing. Whether you're winning or losing, hopefully you know why.

It's still hard to fathom that we were 10-7-1 and then could only manage 4 wins the last 18 games. We've all joked about "Climbing the Mountain" a million times, but it's originally a Badger Bob saying, and the one thing that was pretty constant over the years here was that unlike a number of pretty good gopher teams I can think of, the Badgers were consistently a better team in March than they were in December. Not this year. And that's a hard thing to get around.