MN Daily Column: Blame Big Ten for Minnesota’s destruction

per the Daily:

When it rains, it pours. But in the case of the Minnesota men’s hockey team, it has reached the point where players and coaches need to start building an ark.

It might already be too late for that.

Amid a season in which fans have watched their beloved team go from No. 1 to unranked, different reasons have been thrown out to try to diagnose the problem ailing the 11-9-2 Gophers.

Puck movement? Spacing? Scoring? Coaching? Defense?

While all of these certainly hold valid claims, after watching Minnesota get swept in the North Star College Cup last weekend, it’s time to throw out a different reason: the Big Ten.

It didn’t take long Friday night to figure which team still played in the WCHA.

http://www.mndaily.com/sports/mens-...ruction?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Go Gophers!!

Ha, no.

Look, the B1G is not a good college hockey conference. That much is true. And maybe ... maybe ... you'd have a case if it were five years down the road and we had seen a noticeable drop off in recruiting. But we haven't. We're still attracting the top talent, it's just not going anywhere or meshing at all. That has absolutely nothing to do with the conference.

Union didn't have a problem winning a championship while playing in the ECAC. We shouldn't have a problem winning a championship while playing in the B1G.

Gopher07 said:

Ha, no.

Look, the B1G is not a good college hockey conference. That much is true. And maybe ... maybe ... you'd have a case if it were five years down the road and we had seen a noticeable drop off in recruiting. But we haven't. We're still attracting the top talent, it's just not going anywhere or meshing at all. That has absolutely nothing to do with the conference.

Union didn't have a problem winning a championship while playing in the ECAC. We shouldn't have a problem winning a championship while playing in the B1G.

Click to expand...

Agree with everything you said. This article is a bunch of excuse-making hogwash. We returned virtually everyone from a national runner up team (which also played in the B1G). Changing the conference patch on our jerseys didn't magically make all of our players forget how to play hockey.

bleedsmaroonandgold said:

Agree with everything you said. This article is a bunch of excuse-making hogwash. We returned virtually everyone from a national runner up team (which also played in the B1G). Changing the conference patch on our jerseys didn't magically make all of our players forget how to play hockey.

Click to expand...

Also, they play top notch teams in the non-conference. And to OSU, Michigan & Michigan St, a B1G title will mean much more on campus than a CCHA title. And the Pegula money at Penn St will help that program.