Silver Lining Special - There is one, if you are willing to look for it

KillmeNow

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Ok. Gopher hockey fans are pretty spoiled, I mean even Kentucky bb fans are more realistic about their chances each year. lol

What percentage of Gopher Men's hockey fans think that Lucia needs to go??? Gotta be over 50%. Might be over 80%???


Well, I tend to be longwinded, so let me get to the point. I'm trying to find the silver lining with this team, with this season


Evidence that the UMn men's hockey team CAN BEAT ANYONE, and hence there is a chance to win a Natl Title.


ROAD GAME vs #1 ranked Notre Dm - 0-1
home game vs #2 ranked Clarkson U - 3-1
home game vs #2 ranked Clarkson U - 2-1
home game vs #3 ranked St Cloud St - 2-0
ROAD GAME vs #5 ranked Ohio St U -- 1-2
ROAD GAME vs #10 ranked N Dakota - 2-1
home game vs #12 ranked Penn St U - 6-3
ROAD GAME vs #14 ranked UM-Dluth - 3-4
ROAD GAME vs #15 ranked Michigan -- 4-5
ROAD GAME vs #15 ranked Michigan -- 6-6
home game vs #18 ranked Wisconsin - 2-3

Sorry to say, but looking at those 11 games, including SEVEN road games, includes 4 wins and 1 tie and 5 1 pt losses, it looks to me like our Gophers CAN stick with any team in the country.


UMn ranks #1 in SOS, and its NOT EVEN CLOSE!!!

So does our having only 1 road win suck??? YES, of course. But there isn't a team ANYWHERE, in ANY sport that has played a schedule like UMn has this year.

SIX GAMES vs Top 3 ranked teams???

EIGHT games vs Top 5 ranked teams.

18 games vs Top 20 ranked teams.


UMn's 7-0 vs teams ranked 21-38.


UMn's 4-6 vs Top 10 teams, despite SEVEN of those 10 games being ROAD games, including 3-3 vs Top 3 ranked teams.



Come on, this team is NOT as bad as all the lazy fans out there think they are.
 

I think that most reasonable people would agree that the Gophers CAN beat anyone in the country. With all the talent they have, they absolutely can compete. The problem is getting them to play four solid games in row. They're so good inconsistent it's maddening. In my opinion, that's a reflection on coaching. And it's not like this is a new problem.
 

Hey, I'm not going to dismiss the idea that it might be a coaching issue, but I also am not totally convinced that's the problem. The other issue is, even if coaching is the problem, who would be a guaranteed improvement?? Lucia has an incredible resume. The only options I've seen presented as options were very Underwhelming. Not a single person mentioned as an option to replace Lucia does anything for me, not a single sure thing.


One of my ideas, that I don't seem to see anyone else here talking about, is the idea that Lucia got TOO HOT, and over recruited, and the issues of late are just the result of his trying to adjust.


I checked the stats today, Jan 18th, and only one person has scored more points than former Gopher Phil Kessel. He is tied for 2nd in the NHL scoring with 54 pts.

Blake Wheeler is tied for 7th with 53 pts.

4 other former Gophers, all of whom LEFT THE PROGRAM EARLY, are ranked among the Top 150 in scoring.

10 former Gophers, ALL of whom left the program early, are ranked among the Top 250 in scoring, as of Jan 18th, 2018.


And its not like its taken years upon years for these players to develop into great NHL players, most of them spent the seasons they would otherwise have been playing for the Gophers, scoring hundreds of points in the NHL.


For everyone wanting to blame Lucia for everything wrong that has ever happened with the Gophers, maybe they should compare UMn's NHLers that left the program early with what other teams lost to the NHL. There is simply NO COMPARISON!!!


Other programs might be losing players early, but they are not losing players that go on to prove they would have been missed by what they do in the NHL, players that go on to kill it in the NHL, not like former UMners have done. UND might be an exception, of course and Wisconsin and Michigan as well. But even those 3 program's alums can't match what former Gophers are doing in the NHL.
 

You're right. There's been a mountain of talent that's come and gone through here. Of course, top notch guys aren't playing four years. But what have we won with all of that talent? Conference tournaments and regular season titles are nice, but I think we'd all trade all of those for National Championships. I think in your post you did more to highlight why Lucia should move on. Kessel and Wheeler we're on the same team and we still didn't win. The best players don't guarantee success. There has to be the right mix plus a coach that knows how to get the most out of them. BC had a hell of a run there and they were losing/replacing high end guys constantly, so it can be done.

As for a replacement, again, you're right.....I don't have an answer. But that's not for me to figure out. I'm just a nobody. That's what AD's are for. I'm not ripping you at all, but just because a guy " doesn't do anything" for you, doesn't mean he can't be very successful. I wasn't thrilled with Jerry Kill when he was hired. I also think Lucia HAS recovered about as much as he can. The Gophers bottomed out 6-8 years ago when he adjusted his recruiting strategy.

FWIW, I think a MN-UND all NHLers game would be great! Kessel, Vanek, Okposo, Wheeler, Leddy, Bjugstad etc VS Parise, Toews, Oshie, Boeser, Stafford, Zajac, etc.
 

It has to be obvious to all that this program needs to change badly! Sending Lucia down the road is just the 1st step. Having an Iowegian for an AD who knows nothing about hockey in a state where hockey is the only sport we are good at is not a good thing. A thorough search for a new coach needs to be conducted. I fear that Coyle will just say, " Lucia is gone, give Guentzel the job."
The way this program recruits has to change. Look at any D1 college hockey team roster, you'll be hard pressed to find one that does NOT have any Minnesotans on it. There are more D1 teams these days and 5 D1 programs in the state. Recruiting almost exclusively Minnesota players just isn't working any more! Yes, the U gets some of the top talent in the state. The problem comes as you go down the roster, the talent level just isn't there.
There are a lot more Europeans playing D1 college hockey now. Good players are coming from non-traditional hockey areas now. Places like California, Texas, Missouri, etc. Then there is Canada. They have been known to produce a few hockey players too.
Times have changed. This program needs to change too.
 


Lucia has never been a "Minnesota only" recruiter. The Potulny's, Irmen, Vanek, Kessel, Warning, Haula, Bristedt, Scheirhorn, are just off the top of my head. His problem has been getting guys to play hard for three periods consistently, particularly on defense.
 

Lucia has never been a "Minnesota only" recruiter. The Potulny's, Irmen, Vanek, Kessel, Warning, Haula, Bristedt, Scheirhorn, are just off the top of my head. His problem has been getting guys to play hard for three periods consistently, particularly on defense.

Lucia hasn't been strictly a Minnesota player recruiter. But he recruits primarily from Minnesota. Compare the U's roster to UMD and St. Cloud State. They are about about 50 % Minnesota players. They have also had a lot better teams in recent years than the Gophers have had.
 

Lucia hasn't been strictly a Minnesota player recruiter. But he recruits primarily from Minnesota. Compare the U's roster to UMD and St. Cloud State. They are about about 50 % Minnesota players. They have also had a lot better teams in recent years than the Gophers have had.

And you honestly think that its simply because they recruit outside of the state of Minnesota more that they've been better recently?

Oh wow, that's just the most simple minded thing I've ever heard.
 

It has to be obvious to all that this program needs to change badly! Sending Lucia down the road is just the 1st step. Having an Iowegian for an AD who knows nothing about hockey in a state where hockey is the only sport we are good at is not a good thing. A thorough search for a new coach needs to be conducted. I fear that Coyle will just say, " Lucia is gone, give Guentzel the job."
The way this program recruits has to change. Look at any D1 college hockey team roster, you'll be hard pressed to find one that does NOT have any Minnesotans on it. There are more D1 teams these days and 5 D1 programs in the state. Recruiting almost exclusively Minnesota players just isn't working any more! Yes, the U gets some of the top talent in the state. The problem comes as you go down the roster, the talent level just isn't there.
There are a lot more Europeans playing D1 college hockey now. Good players are coming from non-traditional hockey areas now. Places like California, Texas, Missouri, etc. Then there is Canada. They have been known to produce a few hockey players too.
Times have changed. This program needs to change too.

Are you insane? Thankfully you are not in charge of anything.
 



Gophers have PLAYED ZERO teams ranked in the bottom 1/3rd of teams in the country.

Gophers have LOST to ZERO teams ranked in the middle 1/3rd of teams in the country. 7-0.

Gophers have played TWENTY-ONE games vs teams ranked in the Top 1/3rd of teams in the country.



12 of the 17 gms vs Top 16 teams were ROAD gms. Just 5 home gms out of 17. 5-11-1 in those gms. 3 home wins, 2 road wins.

So 4 of the 5 home gms were non-losses.


6 of the 9 games vs Top 8 teams were ROAD games. All 6 were losses.



I want people to name me all of the numerous teams winning ROAD games vs Top 8 ranked teams???

In fact, name me ONE SINGLE TEAM in the country who can claim to have not played a single team in the bottom 1/3rd of teams. Name me ONE SINGLE TEAM in the country who can claim to have NOT LOST, OR TIED even, a single game vs a team in the bottom 2/3rds of the country? Combine the two and there is no way any team in the country can match that. That's not even including their 9 games, including 3 wins vs Top 8 ranked teams, 6 being road games.


I'm just trying to point out that this Gopher team is NOT nearly as bad as so many of the LAZY gopher fans out there are trying to make them out to be.


They've just played a RIDICULOUSLY tough schedule. Won some big games, came close in a bunch more.


The 2 home losses to Michigan last weekend and the 1 home loss to Wisconsin are the only "truly" unforgivable losses, but with how both teams have been playing lately, maybe they aren't so unforgivable? UW pounded Notre Dame in a way no other team has, and Michigan is seemingly on a roll?


This isn't the weak B1G conf of 2015 or 2016, when such losses would have been really bad signs.
 

Are you insane? Thankfully you are not in charge of anything.

NO , I'm not insane! Thank you for the kind words however! If you don't think that this program needs a MAJOR change, well maybe you should examine your mental state.
 

The thing is, I think most fans want this team to be competing for a national title. Teams that compete for national titles play tough schedules and still do well. Look at last year, Denver and UMD both had top 10 strength of schedule and lost 7 and 6 games respectively.

A tough schedule can make a good team look like an average team, or an average team look like a bad team, but it rarely makes a great team look anything less than they are.
 

NO , I'm not insane! Thank you for the kind words however! If you don't think that this program needs a MAJOR change, well maybe you should examine your mental state.

Personally I think you are just lazy. You want the Gophers to be winning all the time and IGNORANTLY believe there must be "MAJOR change" because you are too lazy to look deeper and see that UMn is not the only program struggling to find the answer.

Non-blue bloods making the Frozen Four has risen by 3 fold the last decade compared to the decade prior to the last.

NHL is taking more and more college players out of their college teams early. No team has lost more true talent EARLY than Minnesota has since their last Title in 03, with the possible exception of UND, but UND's former players are NOT tearing up the NHL like former Gophers are right now.

Blue blood programs are recruiting younger and younger players in an effort to stay ahead of their competition and get the best recruits before they lose them to non-blue blood programs, who as I said, are having more and more success recently, including winning THREE STRAIGHT Natl Titles in 2013, 14 & 15.


Every team in the last 20 or so years that has won more than 1 title in a short period of time, has suffered a long stretch of less success following their run.

Denver went an entire decade without making a single Frozen Four after their back to back titles.

BC hasn't returned to the title game since their last Title in 2012 and look to completely miss the playoffs this year.

UND only went to 1 Title game in the 14 seasons following their run of 2 titles and a runner up from 1997 to 2001, so 14 years without a title, which included a ten year period, the last 10 of those 14 seasons, without a single Title game appearance. And yet that coach was considered good enough to get hired by an NHL team.


So why is Minnesota's struggling since winning back to back titles so different?


Lucia adjusted his recruiting to try to get more players into the program that would stick around for 3-4 years instead of leaving after 1 or 2, and that helped bring about our runs to the Frozen Four in 2012 and 2014. After the 2011 & 2012 seasons, not a single player left early for the NHL and that gave us very good teams in 2012 and 2013, and only an unfortunate blind siding by a very good Yale team in 2013 stopped us that year. Had we gotten seeded just a little differently, we might have gotten to meet Yale in the Title game, like happened in 2014 with Union. And had several juniors not left the team at the end of 2013, 2014 may have seen Union as the runner up?


I can't remember if we lost anyone early to the NHL after last season or not, but this year's crop of Seniors is the worst point producing class this year. Not exactly a recipe for super incredible success when we play BY FAR the toughest schedule in the nation, and its not even really close.


I think Lucia should be given a choice to announce his retirement after NEXT season, allowing his contract to simply expire, and allowing recruits to know what's up, maybe he can pull off a magic trick and convince Middlestadt to stay one more season? We'd have the vast majority of our scoring returning next season, and there is no way we'd play as tough of a schedule as we did this year, just no way.

And that would give us the rest of this season and part of or most of or all of next season to watch how Grant does with Northern Michigian, in comparison to how Motzko does with SCSU. So far THIS season, seems to me that Grant has his team on the move up the rankings and getting close to being in the NCAA field range. One sweep of Mankato would do the trick. Motzko's showing that he's a choker. Couldn't win with the US team he coached, and he's struggling badly with this once #1 ranked SCSU team. 2 wins in their last 7 games?

2 ties vs #43 ranked Princeton, before a split with us, before a split with WMU AT HOME, before a HOME loss to Mankato. And that is the guy all of you want to take over for Lucia???

SCSU's schedule only gets tougher with 8 of their last 12 games coming on the road against 2 Top Ten teams, UND and Miami who is still at #21, and 2 of their 4 home games coming against a Denver team that dominated them the first time around. I predict Motzko's going to lose more of their remaining games than they win, as they are only 3-3-2 on the road this season.

And its not like when SCSU loses they are close games, either. 2-4 and 1-5 vs Denver, 0-2 vs us, 5-7 vs WMU at home, 2-5 vs Mankato, AT HOME. SCSU fans will argue their 2 pt loss to us was a close game, and maybe it was, but my point is, it was a 2 goal margin of defeat just like ALL of their other losses, 2, 3 or 4 goal losses.


Lucia has several ONE goal losses to #1 Notre Dame, ON THE ROAD, vs #6 OSU, ON THE ROAD, vs #8 UMD, ON THE ROAD, vs #15 Michigan, ON THE ROAD, and the home loss to Wisconsin was a one goal loss as well.

Were there a few 2, 3 & 4 pt losses as well? Sure, but remember, they were to highly ranked teams in their home arenas.
 



The thing is, I think most fans want this team to be competing for a national title. Teams that compete for national titles play tough schedules and still do well. Look at last year, Denver and UMD both had top 10 strength of schedule and lost 7 and 6 games respectively.

A tough schedule can make a good team look like an average team, or an average team look like a bad team, but it rarely makes a great team look anything less than they are.


I think you are confusing "tough" with ABSOLUTELY BRUTAL!!!!!!!


UMn has played NINE games, including SIX ROAD games vs Top 8 ranked teams. They've won 3 of those 9. The 3 home games.
And of the 6 ROAD losses to Top 8 ranked teams, 3 of them were just 1 goal losses.

UMn has played ELEVEN games, including EIGHT ROAD games vs Teams slated right now to make the NCAA tournament. They've won 4 of those. But as we all know, NCAA tourney games are NOT road games.

UMn has played MORE games(21) vs Top 20 competition than some teams have played total games!!!!!



UMn's WORST rated opponent this year is Michigan St. Not a single opponent ranks outside of the Top 40. Not a single nchc team can make this claim.

And not only that, but only Miami of the nchc can claim to have won all of its games vs teams ranked 41 and up.


UMn's WORST loss is the home loss to #20 ranked Wisconsin.

UMn's record vs teams outside of the Top 20?

7-0.


The nchc's record vs teams outside of the Top 20?

SCSU has 2 ties vs #43 Princeton

Denver has 2 ties vs #31 CC, a loss vs #35 Merrimack, a loss vs #45 Dartmouth & a tie vs #58 LSSU

UMD has a 2-5 loss to #24 BSU and a 0-0 tie vs BSU as well, and a loss to #33 MT, a tie with #35 Merrimack & a tie with #44 Merrimack

WMU has a 2-5 loss to #21 Miami, AT HOME, a 1-5 shellacking vs #26 Colgate, a 4-6 loss to Mich St, and a loss to #47 Ferris St

UND has a tie to #21 Miami, a tie to #24 BSU, a tie and a loss to #29 Union, a loss to #31 CC, and a tie and a 1 goal win vs LAST PLACE Alaska-Anchorage.

Omaha has an 0-4 shellacking at the hands of CC, and only a tie vs ARIZONA ST??? Granted ASU is up to #46 in the rankings, but still.
 

Sorry but you write too much on USCHO and now on here.

Lucia has to go and here's the main reason why.

NCAA tournament victories in the last ten seasons:
BC: 16 (3 titles)
UND: 14 (1 title)
UMD: 11 (1 title)
BU: 8 (1 title)
DU: 8 (1 title)
Union: 7 (1 title)
ND: 7
UM: 7
Yale: 6 (1 title)
Lowell: 6
Qpac: 6
Providence: 5 (1 title)
UMN: 5
SCSU: 5
uw: 4

Four of MN's NCAA victories came at the X, which is definitely a home ice advantage.
 

Sorry but you write too much on USCHO and now on here.

Lucia has to go and here's the main reason why.

NCAA tournament victories in the last ten seasons:
BC: 16 (3 titles)
UND: 14 (1 title)
UMD: 11 (1 title)
BU: 8 (1 title)
DU: 8 (1 title)
Union: 7 (1 title)
ND: 7
UM: 7
Yale: 6 (1 title)
Lowell: 6
Qpac: 6
Providence: 5 (1 title)
UMN: 5
SCSU: 5
uw: 4

Four of MN's NCAA victories came at the X, which is definitely a home ice advantage.


What is more than hilarious about this list of yours, is the fact that Motzko has the same # of wins as Lucia, yet he seems to be the consensus favorite to replace Lucia??


Another Bu11 Sh1t aspect about your list, is the FACT that if all the current rankings in the PWR end up being accurate and with the exception of Minnesota, every other higher seeded team wins the games they are supposed to in the NCAA tourney this year, Minnesota surprising everyone and winning the Title over Notre Dame in the Title game, would move Minnesota all the way up past SEVEN of those teams, into a tie for 4th, only 3 wins behind the 3 teams tied for 1st with 12 wins.

Why? Because BC's 4 wins from 2008 disappear and BC's not looking like a tourney team this year, and even if they eeked in would probably lose in the 1st round.

UND's 2 wins from 2008 would disappear and they would be the underdog in the 1st round this year.

UMD would win just 1 game and move into a tie with UND and BC for first with 12.

BU isn't going to make it, and if they eek in will lose in the 1st round.

DU's #4 seed? Well, if Clarkson got the last #1 seed & DU the 1st #2 seed, then technically they'd only get one more win = 9

Union's not going to make it.

Notre Dame loses 3 wins from the 2008 season and like I said, if UMn won the title, it would be over ND, so they'd end up with 7.

Michigan isn't even going to make it right now, if they do, would lose in 1st round.

Yale won't make it

Lowell won't make it.

Qpac won't make it.

Providence's #10 seed would have them losing in the 1st round.

SCSU's #3 seed would get them to the Frozen Four, so they would go from 5 to 7 wins

UMn's Title would get them to 9.


There you have it. ONE GOOD YEAR by the Gophers totally transforms that list.

If Notre Dame beats us in the Title game, Then UMn still moves up to 5th on that list with DU only 1 win ahead of them.

Say Denver gets upset in the 1st round? Then we could finish 2nd and would still move up to tied for 4th.



THEN, come next year, we lose a bunch of Seniors that seem hardly to be contributing, Jrs, Sophs and Frosh all are contributing more points than the Seniors, so would we have better senior leadership next year? So what does our incoming class look like? Does Middlestadt return? We could be better next year if we don't lose any of our Juniors? And there is no way our schedule could be tougher than it is this year, so we might win a lot more games? Maybe our Goalie gets his confidence back?


UND's new coach is probably not their next man up. He won a title with Hakstol's guys, won 13 fewer games last year and they are not tearing things up this year. They've been dropping in the rankings slowly as the year has progressed and they have a very long list of embarrassing ooc and in conference results I'd be more than happy to share with you. I don't see UND adding to their win total this year and at this rate, maybe not next year, either? BC's York is one of the best coaches out there, but he's getting older, this will be the 2nd year in a row BC won't make the NCAA's, and if he retires? Don't count on BC adding to their win total next year either, and if he returns, well, maybe he's losing his touch? Maybe BC is going through the same thing UND, DU and Mn all went through after our double Title runs?


My point is not that Lucia can get us to the top of that list by the end of next season, but at the end of next season Lucia will have 20 years in, then we can do TWO lists, for his first 10 years and for his 2nd ten years and I'm guessing Minnesota had ALOT of wins those first 10 years of Lucia's career, around 13 or 14? Add the 11 that a title and FF this year and next would add and we'd be high up on both lists, and maybe #2 or #3 overall for the whole 20 year period? BC probably and maybe UND might be ahead of us? Back to Back Titles COULD move us up to #1 overall on that list as long as neither BC or UND win more than a game in the NCAAs the next 2 seasons, which is actually very possible. Not probable, but possible.


And then Lucia can retire at the end of his contract, going out on top or at least with a little bit of a bang, we get 2 NCAA playoffs to see what Motzko can do, or what Grant can do with NMU and MY HOPE, is that Grant slides on over and just starts off right where Lucia left off. Or maybe Lucia resigns for a few more years?


Is it dreaming? Well, I had similar thoughts when Lucia first took over. So....
 

Sorry but you write too much on USCHO and now on here.

Lucia has to go and here's the main reason why.

NCAA tournament victories in the last ten seasons:
BC: 16 (3 titles)
UND: 14 (1 title)
UMD: 11 (1 title)
BU: 8 (1 title)
DU: 8 (1 title)
Union: 7 (1 title)
ND: 7
UM: 7
Yale: 6 (1 title)
Lowell: 6
Qpac: 6
Providence: 5 (1 title)
UMN: 5
SCSU: 5
uw: 4

Four of MN's NCAA victories came at the X, which is definitely a home ice advantage.

Short version?

ONE GOOD YEAR by the Gophers totally transforms that list. They'd move into a tie for 4th with a Title or a 2nd place finish and Denver losing in 1st round.
 

Not gonna take the time to read the long response, and with respect to the short one:

I wish my job performance was evaluated based on what could happen (with a team tied for 5th in a seven team league) rather than results.

Not gonna go back and forth with you, though. I'd rather sit back and see if any of the other <10% Lucia supporters come out of the woodwork to agree with you.
 

Not gonna take the time to read the long response, and with respect to the short one:

I wish my job performance was evaluated based on what could happen (with a team tied for 5th in a seven team league) rather than results.

Not gonna go back and forth with you, though. I'd rather sit back and see if any of the other <10% Lucia supporters come out of the woodwork to agree with you.


So you care more for their place in the B1G standings than you do their TENTH place ranking in the PWR???


You care more about the # of losses than you do the quality of their wins and, to be honest, the quality of some of their losses???


3 wins vs Top 4 ranked teams

FOUR 1 goal ROAD losses to #1 ND, #6 OSU, #8 UMD & #15 Michigan.

a Road win vs a Top 12 ranked team.


ZERO losses to a team outside of the Top 20 PWR rankings???


In cbb talk that basically means ZERO BAD LOSSES & FOUR EPIC WINS, not just signature wins, but epic.


Quality, if not signature wins would also include the sweep of #17 ranked Harvard, the home win vs #16 PSU & the Road tie vs Michigan.



And 5th in the B1G is so horrible? 5-6 B1G teams have a chance to get into the Top 13/14 team field.

5th place in the B1G got the BB Gophers to the Elite 8 in 1990.

A couple of UConn's titles were won after barely getting into the field of 64.

In hockey, how close did Yale come to not making the tourney in 2013?

Where were Providence and Union seeded when they won their titles? Where were UND, DU and UMD in the nchc standings the last 2 seasons? Or Omaha?


What matters is simply getting in, and then getting on a roll once there.


This team has proven it can hang with anyone in the country. ANYONE. At least so far.
 

In response to KMN's post (not quoting....takes up too much real estate)

If the Gophers are going to make noise in the tournament and win it, I believe Eric Scheirhorn has got to STEAL it. Can they/he do it? Sure. I just don't see the skaters skating like their hair is on fire for 4 games based on what I've seen from Gopher teams for around 10 years now. A horrible shame is that a phenomenal team lost a championship because of 5 minutes of lagging effort again Union. That's all it took. That's why I think it's going to be up to Scheirhorn to rob a title for us.
 

Personally I think you are just lazy. You want the Gophers to be winning all the time and IGNORANTLY believe there must be "MAJOR change" because you are too lazy to look deeper and see that UMn is not the only program struggling to find the answer.

Non-blue bloods making the Frozen Four has risen by 3 fold the last decade compared to the decade prior to the last.

NHL is taking more and more college players out of their college teams early. No team has lost more true talent EARLY than Minnesota has since their last Title in 03, with the possible exception of UND, but UND's former players are NOT tearing up the NHL like former Gophers are right now.

Blue blood programs are recruiting younger and younger players in an effort to stay ahead of their competition and get the best recruits before they lose them to non-blue blood programs, who as I said, are having more and more success recently, including winning THREE STRAIGHT Natl Titles in 2013, 14 & 15.


Every team in the last 20 or so years that has won more than 1 title in a short period of time, has suffered a long stretch of less success following their run.

Denver went an entire decade without making a single Frozen Four after their back to back titles.

BC hasn't returned to the title game since their last Title in 2012 and look to completely miss the playoffs this year.

UND only went to 1 Title game in the 14 seasons following their run of 2 titles and a runner up from 1997 to 2001, so 14 years without a title, which included a ten year period, the last 10 of those 14 seasons, without a single Title game appearance. And yet that coach was considered good enough to get hired by an NHL team.


So why is Minnesota's struggling since winning back to back titles so different?


Lucia adjusted his recruiting to try to get more players into the program that would stick around for 3-4 years instead of leaving after 1 or 2, and that helped bring about our runs to the Frozen Four in 2012 and 2014. After the 2011 & 2012 seasons, not a single player left early for the NHL and that gave us very good teams in 2012 and 2013, and only an unfortunate blind siding by a very good Yale team in 2013 stopped us that year. Had we gotten seeded just a little differently, we might have gotten to meet Yale in the Title game, like happened in 2014 with Union. And had several juniors not left the team at the end of 2013, 2014 may have seen Union as the runner up?


I can't remember if we lost anyone early to the NHL after last season or not, but this year's crop of Seniors is the worst point producing class this year. Not exactly a recipe for super incredible success when we play BY FAR the toughest schedule in the nation, and its not even really close.


I think Lucia should be given a choice to announce his retirement after NEXT season, allowing his contract to simply expire, and allowing recruits to know what's up, maybe he can pull off a magic trick and convince Middlestadt to stay one more season? We'd have the vast majority of our scoring returning next season, and there is no way we'd play as tough of a schedule as we did this year, just no way.

And that would give us the rest of this season and part of or most of or all of next season to watch how Grant does with Northern Michigian, in comparison to how Motzko does with SCSU. So far THIS season, seems to me that Grant has his team on the move up the rankings and getting close to being in the NCAA field range. One sweep of Mankato would do the trick. Motzko's showing that he's a choker. Couldn't win with the US team he coached, and he's struggling badly with this once #1 ranked SCSU team. 2 wins in their last 7 games?

2 ties vs #43 ranked Princeton, before a split with us, before a split with WMU AT HOME, before a HOME loss to Mankato. And that is the guy all of you want to take over for Lucia???

SCSU's schedule only gets tougher with 8 of their last 12 games coming on the road against 2 Top Ten teams, UND and Miami who is still at #21, and 2 of their 4 home games coming against a Denver team that dominated them the first time around. I predict Motzko's going to lose more of their remaining games than they win, as they are only 3-3-2 on the road this season.

And its not like when SCSU loses they are close games, either. 2-4 and 1-5 vs Denver, 0-2 vs us, 5-7 vs WMU at home, 2-5 vs Mankato, AT HOME. SCSU fans will argue their 2 pt loss to us was a close game, and maybe it was, but my point is, it was a 2 goal margin of defeat just like ALL of their other losses, 2, 3 or 4 goal losses.


Lucia has several ONE goal losses to #1 Notre Dame, ON THE ROAD, vs #6 OSU, ON THE ROAD, vs #8 UMD, ON THE ROAD, vs #15 Michigan, ON THE ROAD, and the home loss to Wisconsin was a one goal loss as well.

Were there a few 2, 3 & 4 pt losses as well? Sure, but remember, they were to highly ranked teams in their home arenas.

Losing a lot of one goal games and some "close" games is really nothing to take solace in. Bottom line is the Gophers lost a LOT of games. There is no silver lining to this season. It's been a giant turd!
I also think that one of the reasons for such poor participation in this forum is that some of the "senior members" ( what ever in the hell that means? ) like to pontificate and are quick to hurl insults at people who's opinions they don't agree with.
 

Losing a lot of one goal games and some "close" games is really nothing to take solace in. Bottom line is the Gophers lost a LOT of games. There is no silver lining to this season. It's been a giant turd!
I also think that one of the reasons for such poor participation in this forum is that some of the "senior members" ( what ever in the hell that means? ) like to pontificate and are quick to hurl insults at people who's opinions they don't agree with.

Am I a Senior Member? LOL

Dude, this line is evidence that you are EXACTLY what I said you are,

"Bottom line is the Gophers lost a LOT of games"

LAZY!!!

LAZY!!!

LAZY!!!

Sorry if I insulted you, but people who are basically calling for a coach to be fired and saying the program I follow needs "MAJOR change" should, how shall I put this?



If you can't handle the heat, then STAY THE FRICK OUT OF THE KITCHEN!!!




If you can't handle having your opinion sliced and diced and analyzed and picked apart and criticized and responded to negatively, then maybe there are other places IN REAL LIFE you can go and have nice polite discussion. Online? I'd say go to USCHO to the women's hockey forum, the vast majority of posters there are very polite and nice. But that is only because no one is stupid enough to suggest the Gophers women's hockey program needs "MAJOR change", lol. Give em a few years without a title and all hell will probably break loose, but for this season and next season, things should be peaceful there.


And stating that its my opinion that you are lazy minded, at least in regard to this situation is simply my being honest. And being "ignorant" is something we ALL are, to some degree or in some regard. I am very ignorant when it comes to politics, because I hate politics, I avoid politics whenever I can, and SO, I am ignorant of politics, I rarely know who my mother is talking about when she constantly feels the need to talk about what she saw on CNN that day. You could even call me LAZY minded when it comes to politics, because I don't care, I don't care enough to make the effort to do the proper amount of research to know what I'm talking about when it comes to politics, so I DON'T talk about politics, DUH!!! I can admit that I am ignorant about politics, and lazy in regard to educating myself about politics.

NOW, you just need to admit the same in regards to the Gophers, because you obviously just looked at the team's record and have no clue who they played or how they lost. You have been TOO LAZY, and hence you are IGNORANT of the facts. The team's losing doesn't excite you, so you are not inspired to care about them. Do you even watch their games? Or are you one of those fans who just waits around until they start winning before you start caring???

And we can't be honest in this PC society, can we? And I don't "pontificate", I'm simply long winded and I ramble and often repeat myself, there is a difference. And I am not lazy about forming my opinions, I look up stats and facts to back up my opinions, at least the majority of the ones I post. And so with lots of looked up stats and facts, well, there ends up being lots of those mixed in with my long winded pontificating ramblings. :)



# of games played against Current PWR Top 20 teams by Top 20 teams

1. - Minnesota = 21 - TWENTY ONE

t2. - Notre Dame = 16
t2. - Wisconsin = 16
t2. - Michigan = 16

t11. - Ohio St = 12
t11. - Denver = 12
13. - Mn-Mankato = 11
t14. - Clarkson = 10
t14. - N Michigan = 10
16. - Bowling Green = 9
17. - Harvard = 4
t18. - Providence = 2
t18. - Cornell = 2
20. - Northeastern = 0 - ZERO!!!!!


So Minnesota has played TWICE AS MANY games vs Top 20 teams than 1/3rd of the Top 20 teams out there.


Cornell, ranked #1 in the country, has only played TWO games vs current Top 20 ranked teams. And the Gophers have played 21.


21 > 2


I mean come on dude, you wonder why we have lost the # of games we have?????????????

We SWEPT #4 Clarkson.

And have played TWICE as many games vs Top 20 teams as Clarkson has, but yet they are ranked so far ahead of us??????


Why???


simple, because they play WEAK ARSE scedules.


Clarkson has played ONE game vs Top 8 ranked teams.

Minnesota has played NINE.

9 > 1

Clarkson is 6-0-0 vs teams in the bottom 1/3rd of the rankings. Gophers are 0-0-0.


Yeah, we haven't played any of those creampuffs.

UMn is 7-0-0 vs teams in the middle 1/3rd of the rankings, Clarkson is 6-2-0.


And we swept them. But they are 6 spots better than us in the rankings?????


Why???


Because LAZY people care more about wins, no matter who those wins are against, than they do who teams are actually playing.
 

I'm not calling you, or anyone stupid or a moron or an idiot.


No, just lazy and ignorant.


The difference is that laziness can be cured instantly. And ignorance can be cured in a short time, its called the internet, google, Wikipedia, gophersports.com, wherever you feel most comfortable going to find the information to inform yourself. USCHO maybe? Here, if you can get through my long winded posts, lol.


I'll try to hold back my lazy and ignorant comments and I'll try to shorten up my posts. Because I do think Gopher fans need to see this information. Before the angry mob storms the campus and carries Lucia off to be burned at the stake, people need to know what is really going on.
 

I'm not calling you, or anyone stupid or a moron or an idiot.


No, just lazy and ignorant.


The difference is that laziness can be cured instantly. And ignorance can be cured in a short time, its called the internet, google, Wikipedia, gophersports.com, wherever you feel most comfortable going to find the information to inform yourself. USCHO maybe? Here, if you can get through my long winded posts, lol.


I'll try to hold back my lazy and ignorant comments and I'll try to shorten up my posts. Because I do think Gopher fans need to see this information. Before the angry mob storms the campus and carries Lucia off to be burned at the stake, people need to know what is really going on.

Please...the idea that long time season ticket holders are lazy AND ignorant is by itself lazy ignorance. Nor is Lucia being carried off by a mob (even if one could be found)-where we sit the shrug is a more common response to a largely WTF season.

On the other hand your're question about seniors gives me the flimsiest excuse to post a great senior moment in Mariucci. This is all we are looking for:

 

Didn't Nate Schmidt turn pro after his junior year, or am I mistaken? Kyle Rau is the last great senior I can remember.
 

Please...the idea that long time season ticket holders are lazy AND ignorant is by itself lazy ignorance. Nor is Lucia being carried off by a mob (even if one could be found)-where we sit the shrug is a more common response to a largely WTF season


Shrugging and thinking "WTF" is the epitome of ignorance and not looking further into what is going on is the epitome of lazy thinking.


The reason you don't know "WTF", is because you aren't open to the idea that no other team in the country is playing as tough of a schedule as Minnesota, and its not even close.

UMn = 21 games vs Top 20 ranked teams in the current PWR rankings.

next best non-B1G team = 14. Even the other B1G teams are only at 15 and 16 or less.

That means UMn is playing a full 50% more games vs tourney contending teams than the rest of the Top 20 not in the B1G.


SIX ROAD GAMES vs Top 8 ranked teams, is more games than most teams in the Top 20 play both home and away against the Top 8.


And we are NOT being blown out in all of those ROAD GAMES vs Top 8 ranked teams, either.

ONE goal ROAD loss to #1 Notre Dame
ONE goal ROAD loss to #6 Ohio State
ONE goal ROAD loss to #8 UMD

ONE goal ROAD loss to #15 Michigan
ONE goal home loss to #20 Wisconsin


Not to mention our wins. THREE WINS vs Top 4 ranked teams. No other team in the nation can top that.


Teams with ZERO wins vs Top 8 rated teams? #1 Cornell, #6 OSU, #10 Providence, #13 Northeastern, #17 Harvard.

Teams with ZERO wins vs Top 4 rated teams? #1 Notre Dame, #3 SCSU, #8 UMD, #15 Michigan, #16 PSU, #18 NMU, #19 BG


And UMn has THREEE. That's 12 Top 20 ranked teams without a single win vs a Top 4 ranked team.

3 > 0


Teams with only 1 win vs a Top 4 ranked team, #4 Clarkson, #7 Mn St, #12 UND, #14 Omaha, #20 Wisconsin.


There, add another 5 to the previous 12, who can not even come close to comparing to UMn in regards to the # of EPIC wins UMn has.

3 > 1


Omaha is 2-6 vs Top 8 teams. UMn's 3-6 is better. UND is 1-4-1, Prov is 0-2-0, UMD is 1-4-0, OSU is 0-2-0, Corn is 0-1-0


#1 Notre Dame only has 2
#2 Cornell only has 0
#4 Clarkson only has 1
#6 Ohio St only has 0
#7 Mn St only has 1
#8 UMD only has 1
#10 Prov only has 0
#12 UND only has 1
#13 Prov only has 0
#14 Omaha only has 2
#15 Michigan only has 0


That leaves ONLY #3 SCSU with 3, #4 Denver with 5 and #9 WMU with 3 that even compare to Minnesota.

And SCSU is 2-0-2 vs the Bottom 20 teams in the country. Denver is 6-3-3 vs the bottom 40. WMU is 5-5-0 vs the bottom 40

UMn is 7-0-0 and that doesn't include a single team outside of the Top 40.



So Minnesota HAS played as well as every other team in the country.


Only true difference is that we lose to Top 20 ranked teams, mostly on the road, and everyone else plays WAY MORE creampuffs and loses to those creampuffs instead, just not as much as we lose to our Top 20 opponents.
 


Shrugging and thinking "WTF" is the epitome of ignorance and not looking further into what is going on is the epitome of lazy thinking.

The reason you don't know "WTF", is because you aren't open to the idea that no other team in the country is playing as tough of a schedule as Minnesota, and its not even close.
.


"Looking further", to me, means anticipating a trip to the Frozen Four in St. Paul. Thus far, it's the least anticipated St. Paul Frozen Four I can remember. Anyway, no need for analysis this weekend. Notre Dame comes to town.
 

You're correct. He skipped his senior season to sign as a free agent with the Capitals. I'll attribute my mistake to...laziness.

Hey Ignatius, I'm pleased to see you can make a joke vs responding with an insult or something. I like a guy with a sense of humor, especially when its at my expense. :)

I'll never claim to be the easiest guy to talk to or discuss things with. But I do my research and even though my delivery needs work, a lot of work, its good information.

So maybe I expect too much out of Gopher fans WHO CHOOSE to publicly post critical remarks, but that is just how I am, I rarely post my opinions online unless I know what I am talking about and so I expect the same from others.

I try not to hurl insults, but like I said, laziness is curable, as is ignorance. I hope some of my research can cure some of the ignorance on the part of Gopher fans about their hockey program/team/coach.


It's too bad a better writer couldn't post my thoughts and research for me? lol I got dropped on my head as a child, so maybe you can forgive me?
 

Didn't Nate Schmidt turn pro after his junior year, or am I mistaken? Kyle Rau is the last great senior I can remember.


Only because you mentioned him, but CONGRATS Kyle, notching an NHL point in your first game!!!

Both he and Vinny notched points in their first NHL games.


And talking about Nate Schmidt, he is among the 10 former Gopher alums, all that left the program early, btw, all with 20 points in the NHL so far.

That's 10 Gopher alum ranked among the Top 225 in the NHL.

I believe this is an all-time best. And yesterday both Blake and Phil were ranked tied for 5th in the NHL in points scored.


Our guys are doing the U proud.


The guys who left early's combined total right now is 333 points scored, and no other school's alum are even close.

338 if you count the guys who waited 4 years before leaving.
 




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