Smackin the dogs around

Gophers are laying it on the Duluth Bulldogs 3-0 early in the second.

I’m enjoying channel 9 and 9+ carrying college hockey games. 4 of them today.

Nice to see the gophers hockey team relevant again the last couple years. There was a pretty rough stretch there for dang near a decade.

If they could only keep it together in the layoffs/championship – But yes, they’re very fun to watch.

Gitchi Gummi wrote:

Nice to see the gophers hockey team relevant again the last couple years. There was a pretty rough stretch there for dang near a decade.

They won the BigTEn nearly every single year since they joined it. Hardly a rough stretch.

The Big Ten was pretty weak for most of those years. The Gophers were slightly above average against mediocre opponents. They would not have been winning championships against their traditional WCHA rivals.

CaptainMusky wrote:

They won the BigTEn nearly every single year since they joined it. Hardly a rough stretch.

On a national level, they didn’t do much. Being atop the big10 isn’t much to write home about compared to the other conferences.

No argument that the WCHA teams were tougher during much of that but to say it was a “rough stretch” is a real stretch to put it mildly. They were always competitive and usually ranked in the top 10 along with Michigan, Penn State and even Ohio State in there. The BigTen doesnt get the credit it deserves because there are some very good hockey programs in that conference.

In my opinion, when you recruit and bring in the talent that the gophers do, not making the tournament or losing in the first game is a let down. Other than the NE part of the state, almost all of the top tier recruits in Minnesota go to the gophers.

Gitchi Gummi wrote:

In my opinion, when you recruit and bring in the talent that the gophers do, not making the tournament or losing in the first game is a let down. Other than the NE part of the state, almost all of the top tier recruits in Minnesota go to the gophers.

Hard work beats talent when talent doesnt work hard. Gophers may have the talent, but most are usually one and done type players. Same could be said with programs like UND too.

The Big Ten has not been very good for the 10 years it’s been in existence on a national level. It has yet to post an NCAA champion.

It came close twice, last year and in 2018 when Duluth took out three higher ranked Big Ten teams in St Paul.

There were multiple seasons when it only placed one team into the NCAA tournament via an autobid from the Big Ten Tournament.

The attendance at the Big Ten Tournament was so bad at a neutral site that they had to switch to all home sites. It averaged about 600 fans in Detroit at Joe Louis Arena.

The Gophers missed the NCAAs four seasons in a row at the end of Don Lucia’s career, and the first two years Bob Motzko took over. Wisconsin has experienced arguably the worst decade of hockey in their existence but Hastings has them back on track this season. Michigan State looks pretty decent this season as well.

Big Ten teams have a built in advantage that most smaller schools do not have. Simply put, they have more money and can generally recruit more NHL draft picks. That hasn’t translated into post season success on a national level because you don’t need draft picks to win. Just ask Quinnipiac.

No you just need 26 year old freshman.

gimruis wrote:

Big Ten teams have a built in advantage that most smaller schools do not have. Simply put, they have more money and can generally recruit more NHL draft picks. That hasn’t translated into post season success on a national level because you don’t need draft picks to win. Just ask Quinnipiac.

There’s a pretty simple difference. Age. The top big 10 schools might recruit high draft pics, but the problem is they always start as true freshmen and leave early. Quinnipiac had a lot of 4-5 year players that didn’t enter the NCAA until 20-21. 23-25 year olds playing against primarily 18-21 year olds makes a big difference.

Quinnipiac Was a really good team last year in spite of what the sports gurus wanted you to believe. The gopher got beat by a better, more mature team. Simply put.

biggill wrote:

There’s a pretty simple difference. Age. The top big 10 schools might recruit high draft pics, but the problem is they always start as true freshmen and leave early. Quinnipiac had a lot of 4-5 year players that didn’t enter the NCAA until 20-21. 23-25 year olds playing against primarily 18-21 year olds makes a big difference.

Absolutely true, and it will likely continue too.

Mankato always had an older, more experienced team that did well in recent seasons too.

It’s been the same problem ever since MacKinnon entered the NHL as an 18 year old. The NHL wasn’t afraid to take kids from the NCAA and put them right into action after only 1-2 years of NCAA hockey. Now it’s a challenge to keep these high draft picks around past 2 years.

Ripjiggen wrote:

No you just need 26 year old freshman.

a team full of top tier NHL prospects should have no problem beating a team full of guys that will be playing beer league in a couple years. Look at the US NTDP… they are teams made up of U17 and U18 kids that play a full season of games against USHL and D1 college hockey teams. They are younger (sometimes much younger) than their opponents and do really well.

If the talent is there but the banners aren’t (as in the case of the gophers), it has to be the coaching, the system, or something else.