Minnesota Golden Gopher Season 2019-2020: Motzko 2.0

[SteveO]

2019-20 BIG TEN PRESEASON POLL

Penn State
Notre Dame
Wisconsin
Ohio State
Minnesota
Michigan
Michigan State

With much of their high octane scoring returning, Penn St. is my early pick for the B1G title. The Liam Folkes' line with Evan Barratt and Alex Limoges is back who combined for 53 goals and 70 assists for 123 points good for 3.84 points per game, the most in the nation by any one line. Limoges tied Hirose (MSU -signed with Detroit) for most points in the nation last season. Their only negative is their D has to improve and Peyton Jones has to stop being a sieve. The Nittany Lions had the dubious honor of landing last in the B1G in GA and 5th in the nation. PSU is hosting the regional in their backyard in Allentown, PA in 2020, so if they get those things fixed they're a FF team.

Notre Dame was young on the backline last season and only lost four seniors, so they'll be tough this season as well. With Cale Morris returning in net, whose .093 SV% was 7th in the nation, ND will be much improved from last season.

Michigan lost Josh Norris and Hughes, but the bulk of their scoring returns and they will also fight for 3th-4th. First rounder Cam York will anchor the D. They struggled in net last season. But they're bringing in 6-6, Goteborg, Sweden native, Erik Portillo (Frolunda HC J20) which seems like a nice find for the Wolverines.

Much of the scoring by committee for UW will be returning and they have one of their best recruiting classes in recent years coming in with first round forwards Alex Turcotte and Cole Caufield. Perhaps the weakest link in the chain for BADgers are the netminders, Jack Berry and Daniel Lebedeff. With numbers like (GA 3.19/SV% .895) and (GA 3.42/SV% .893) last season, pick your poison cuz they're both mediocre in net.

Both Ohio State and the Gophers lost a lot of scoring and I think these two teams will fight for some place (4th-6th) on the low end of the pack in the B1G standings.

My Picks

Penn St.
Notre Dame
Michigan
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Ohio State
Michigan St.

[SteveO]

NCAA 2019-20 National Poll

1 Minnesota Duluth (49) 29-11-2 996
2 Denver 24-12-5 891
3 Minnesota State (1) 32-8-2 788
4 Massachusetts 31-10-0 737
5 Cornell 21-11-4 673
6 St. Cloud 30-6-3 566
7 Providence 24-12-6 550
8 Quinnipiac 26-10-2 526
9 Notre Dame 23-14-3 509
10 Clarkson 26-11-2 500
11 Boston College 14-22-3 466
12 Ohio State 20-11-5 449
13 Penn State 22-15-2 406
14 Western Michigan 21-15-1 371
15 Northeastern 27-11-1 359
16 Wisconsin 14-18-5 300
17 Bowling Green 25-11-5 283
18 North Dakota 18-17-2 211
19 Harvard 19-11-3 195
20 Arizona State 21-13-1 181

[Slap Shot]

New @fsnorth team for @GopherHockey broadcasts includes Charlie Beattie on play-by-play, Ben Clymer returning as analyst and @BobbieBohlig between the benches. Full story to come on @TheRinkLive

— Jess Myers (@JessRMyers) October 4, 2019

[Jaws]

New @fsnorth team for @GopherHockey broadcasts includes Charlie Beattie on play-by-play, Ben Clymer returning as analyst and @BobbieBohlig between the benches. Full story to come on @TheRinkLive

— Jess Myers (@JessRMyers) October 4, 2019

Ben needs to go.

[Bonin21]

At least it's progress over what we had on play by play, plus a smoking new "sideline" reporter.

[dxmnkd316]

Gopher fans will never be happy

[Koho]

Gopher fans will never be happy

I haven't heard her even talk, but I happy with the selection of Bobbie Bohlig.

[Bonin21]

Here you go from the 2-2 tie in the exhibition tonight.

Can't read much into a scrimmage.
-Overall and on the PP it was sloppy for sure. That is to be expected.
-Lacombe and Johnson will be the two best D on the team by Christmas if not before. Not surprising.
-Stucker seemed to be "QB1" on the PP. I hope and don't expect this to last long.
-Lacombe was kind of QB2. I expect him to take over for Stucker.
-Usually you have three D on your two PP units. I expect it to end up Lacombe on 1 with four forwards, and Johnson with either Stucker or Nanne on the second unit.
-D depth is better than F depth in terms of the extra skater. I expect Staudacher to be the most common extra skater, especially with his physicality.
-This will leave Denman and Rossini looking for playing time.
-With 7 D, the top 12 F is clear, especially until Weber comes back. Munson and Marooney won't play much.
-Sammy will be the best player on the team and there won't be much debate.
-The freshmen look like they will all be fine.
-Hopefully BB (and Ranta) get enough chances to release their great shots.
-Nelson and Sorenson should be good replacements immediately for Romanko and Ramsey. Nelson looks to have a good wrist shot. Hopefully he can hit the net more than Romanko, and if so, he'll score more than Romanko did. Thank god lol.
-I know it's one game, but did Reedy play?

-I'd say between 1,500 and 2,000 in the arena.
-Beer has finally arrived. It will sell well. There need to be WAY more recycling bins. Coke has them but in hard to read print they say plastic bottles only. People will constantly screw that up.
-Pitlick is not on the mural yet. Confusing.
-The bathooms had an exit only sign on one side. Good luck with that LMAO.
-How the NCAA still doesn't allow visors is beyond me.

[dxmnkd316]

The bathroom exit only: LOL!!!!!!!!!

Things that have literally zero chance of happening for $400 Alex.

[dxmnkd316]

Wait, as in just visors on the helmets? No full masks?

Because they’re still kids playing for sport, not money.

[Bonin21]

Wait, as in just visors on the helmets? No full masks?

Because they’re still kids playing for sport, not money.

You know they all wear them in the USHL right....

[First Time, Long Time]

You know they all wear them in the USHL right....

And? It's an insurance issue...not gonna change.

[Bonin21]

God forbid we make a change to aid player recognition for young fans in our niche sport that is on a decline.

[SteveO]

And? It's an insurance issue...not gonna change.

Exactly, the ruling is insurance based and players getting stitches and teeth knocked out can be expensive and a burden on insurance costs. Whether a cage or bubble, I've played in both and most players adapt and don't really care.

Although, the other side of the issue from a safety standpoint is the Gladiator Effect. The term comes from the theory that the more protection a player wears, the more invincible he feels on the ice, like a gladiator in full armor. With a full cage on, players are more prone to act recklessly on the ice, whether it’s in the form of high-sticking or overly-aggressive use of body checking.

[SteveO]

God forbid we make a change to aid player recognition for young fans in our niche sport that is on a decline.

"aid player recognition"??

[Bonin21]

"aid player recognition"??

Think about this. Brian Bonin was my favorite player as I was starting to play and fall in love with hockey. I would imitate his celebration on one knee over and over. But at that age I probably could not have picked him out of a line. All I knew was 21.

Fedorov was my favorite NHL player at the same time. I knew his face. Why? Because you see the NHL player faces the whole game. And I can tell you at that time I loved the Red Wings more than the Gophers.

The same thing is happening with kids today. Most of them couldn't pick their favorite Gophers out of a line. But they could probably nail almost all the Wild players.

[Bonin21]

Exactly, the ruling is insurance based and players getting stitches and teeth knocked out can be expensive and a burden on insurance costs. Whether a cage or bubble, I've played in both and most players adapt and don't really care.

Although, the other side of the issue from a safety standpoint is the Gladiator Effect. The term comes from the theory that the more protection a player wears, the more invincible he feels on the ice, like a gladiator in full armor. With a full cage on, players are more prone to act recklessly on the ice, whether it’s in the form of high-sticking or overly-aggressive use of body checking.

Man the USHL, which is raking in cash way better than the NCAA, must have amazing insurance!

[SteveO]

Man the USHL, which is raking in cash way better than the NCAA, must have amazing insurance!

Two entirely different sports entities with vastly different rulings and player implications. Stating that the USHL is "raking in" more revenue than the NCAA (I assume only in hockey) is comical.

God forbid we make a change to aid player recognition for young fans in our niche sport that is on a decline.

First chicken little sighting of the season.

[SteveO]

Exhibition games are typically experimental. But the 2-2 tie with the Mt. Royal Cougars is unprecedented. The Gophers have never tied or lost an exhibition game before the official beginning of the season in 20 years or more. Moreover, they have never scored ONLY 2 PPGs with no even strength goals in an opening exhibition game.

[dxmnkd316]

God forbid we make a change to aid player recognition for young fans in our niche sport that is on a decline.

Are you drunk?