Showing posts with label Minnesota Golden Gopher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Minnesota Golden Gopher. Show all posts

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Small Crowd plagues first game of the B1G


Here's a picture of the stands Xcel Energy Center from game one of the Big Ten Hockey Tourney. I wonder what the crowd size will be for the second game tonight between OSU and MSU? I would think that Minnesota Golden Gopher fans will attend the games their teams are playing in this weekend.
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Friday, December 27, 2013

Saturday, November 09, 2013

What the Heck is this?



Being an ex-veteran, I am not sure that I like this at all. It doesn't look good. Not with an military uniform. The US military's uniform is very serious. The rather austere décor of the US military uniform is softened by a goofy rodent tail. I am all for putting the tails on the cheer leaders though.
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Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Minnesota Hockey: Freshma Tommy Vannelli decides to leave hockey program





Here's the latest out of Minneapolis. Apparently, Tommy Vanelli has already decided to leave the Minnesota Gophers hockey team before the season even begins. Sounds like the WHL could be a landing spot for Mr. Vanelli. The Minnetonka, Minnesota product was drafted 47th overall by the St. Louis Blues in the 2013 NHL Entry Level Draft.

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota freshman Tommy Vannelli of Minnetonka has decided to leave the Golden Gophers' hockey program.

Hockey coach Don Lucia made the announcement Tuesday.

Lucia says after a few weeks of trying to balance academics and athletics, Vannelli decided that college hockey "was not the best route for him at this time."

Lucia says the team accepts his decision.

Vannelli split last season between Minnetonka High School and the U.S. Under-18 team. The St. Louis Blues selected Vannelli in the second round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft with the 47th overall pick.
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Saturday, September 07, 2013

UMN Hockey: Lou Nanne wants to make a name for himself

British Columbia Hockey League
British Columbia Hockey League (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This was a story that of broke on twitter tonight. I was at the football game when these tweets hit twitter. Sounds like University of Minnesota Golden Gopher hockey recruit is wanting to make a name for himself and doesn't want live in the shadows of his Grand Father former Minnesota North Stars great Lou Nanne. Personally, I see nothing wrong with that, and more power to him.

According to Jason Gonzalez, beat writer for the Star and Tribune who covers the Minnesota Gophers; Nanne has decommited from the University of Minnesota and will again explore  and ponder his options on where he will play his college hockey.



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Monday, February 18, 2013

My Impressions of the Hockey City Classic


Sunday, I was able to take in both games of the Hockey City Classic that was played at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois from my living room.

I have to say that I was highly impressed and entertained by the event and thoroughly enjoyed both games. So, I am going to give the Hockey City Classic props.

In my opinion, the Hockey City Classic appears to have gone off without a hitch.

Obviously, I didn’t have any dog in the fight, as my favorite team was on a bye week, but it was a good way to pass the time.  I can’t think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon, watching college hockey from the comfort of my living room with my DVR Recorder at the ready.

Did I mention, the best way to watch an outdoor hockey game, is from the comfort of your living-room. There are no poor sight lines and you’re never very far from the action. You also have the benefit of a replay and you can re-watch whatever you want to watch.

Normally, I am not a big fan of the outdoor games, and I think that we have been over saturated with them the last four or five years. I also think that they’re a bit of a gimmick, but if both teams agree to them, I am all for it. Even if it's for league points during a championship run.

I think that maybe the outdoor games need to be played during the month of December and January and not during the month of February.

Outdoor games can also be very unpredictable, because we can’t control the weather, mother nature has us at her mercy. But like any good traffic accident or train wreck, we all have to take a look, even though we shouldn't.

I have seen where some have said, that they thought the ice was worse in Chicago, than it was in Omaha. I don’t think that is a very accurate statement, seriously, it was 28 degrees in Chicago and a balmy 40-plus all day long in Omaha. I don’t know if the temperature got below 40 degrees during the course of the game.

Let’s not forget that the start to the UND versus Nebraska-Omaha game had to be delayed for two-plus hours, so the ice could freeze back up and be hard enough to play on, after the sun had melted it, making the ice unacceptable to play hockey on.

Historically, I think that the Frozen Fenway games have been the best college hockey outdoor games, but I am partial to the city of Boston and Fenway Park is a historical gem.

That being said, I was genuinely impressed with what I saw yesterday.

While I have seen a lot of grumbling from Minnesota Golden Gopher hockey fans on Twitter and on the fan message boards, I think we can call the event a huge success as 52,051 people showed up to watch the two game event and many more probably watched it at home on their televisions as well. I am sure if the Minnesota Gophers had won their game, their fans would've had a different view of the Hockey City Classic.

Obviously, Soldier Field is much better for a football game but I think yesterday’s event turned into a pretty good made for TV event.

If I had one complaint, it would be the team’s uniforms; I was not a fan of any of them.

Let's give credit where credit is due

There are a couple of things that I have seen that I find troublesome. First off, Gopher fans should give the Wisconsin Badgers a little credit; I see their fans blaming the ice surface for the reason their team lost the game yesterday.

The reason, the Minnesota Gophers lost the hockey game was that the Wisconsin Badgers scored one more goal than the Gophers. Both teams played on the same ice surface. I have seen moronic comments along the lines on how if the Gophers had played in the Kohl Center they would have been guaranteed a victory. We don't know that.

I mean seriously, you have to give credit where credit is due, the Badgers are well coached hockey team and Mike Eaves is a very good hockey coach and his teams always play a solid team defensive scheme and yesterday they cashed in on the Gophers mistakes. That’s hockey, and the best team doesn’t always win. Just ask Brendan Morrison. You need to give your opponent some respect.

I also think that the Golden Gophers beat writer Roman Augustoviz said it best.
Those knuckleheads ripping Don Lucia for agreeing to play outdoors have their head buried in the sand. It was not the Gophers giving up a home game, it was Wisconsin.
So the Gophers lost. What do you expect? They have swept ONE series in the WCHA all season. And that was against last-place Alaska-Anchorage. As Lucia said recently, it is amazing his team is in the conference race at all.
Cross Posted at the Hockey Writers Combine 
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Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Worth a listen? - This weeks GPL Podcast...

If you haven't listened to the Gopher Puck Live Podcast it's remotely entertaining. I listen to their podcast every week when I am out walking the dog or riding my bike. It's definitely skewed toward the Minnesota Golden Gophers hockey team but still interesting.

This week the first 7-8 minutes is spent complaining about the refs and how the WCHA officials called the Gophers and Mavericks game poorly. Hello!  What did you expect? I have been saying some of the stuff for years.

Apparently, they just got the memo down in the "Cities," I am going to say that it's not an earth shattering revelation. I guess when your team is taking 14.6 minutes per game in penalties minutes, you're going to see your team spending a lot of time in the penalty box.
Ryan Cardinal on the refs, “I didn’t buy into the whole the WCHA referees are garbage, mainly because it started from Grand Forks, and I usually go the other way whatever those people think, but I am totally on board with that now, it’s getting worse by the weekend, it almost seems. “
[Click to listen

For all of these years Sioux fans have been called "halos" by Gopher fans. What the heck does this qualify as?
Also, before someone comes on here from the Gopher fan base and accuses me of being a Gopher hater or something to that nature, this wasn’t my intention. I enjoyed the hilarity of their podcast and I am passing it along so others have a chance to listen to it.There is not a lot of college hockey talk anywhere and I genuinely like this podcast. Email all questions to podcast@gopherpucklive.com...
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Saturday, December 03, 2011

Classic Zach Parise, "No Gophers"

s/t to Tedder11 for posting this one over on Siouxsports.com, yeah the one that used to play for the Fighting Sioux as well.  Good to know that Zach is still not a fan of the Gophers after all of these years. Thank God Lou Nannie and Glen Sonmor weren’t able to get Zach to change his mind.

NJ.COM --- Asked about playing in the Xcel Energy Center, Parise said: "I love coming here and playing. Unfortunately we do it every other year. It's a great arena. Growing up around here I'd go and watch state tournaments. Everybody loves hockey. The fans are real knowledgeable about the game. When you can call this a home and come back and play it's a lot of fun."

He was asked by a local TV questioner if he had a favorite local hockey player, perhaps a University of Minnesota Gophers player? Not a good question for a University of North Dakota player.

"No Gophers. Come on," Parise said with a laugh. "I was always a big (Neal) Broten fan and (Mike) Modano fan. I was more watching the North Stars growing up than the Gophers. I kind of got more attached to that than college. But definitely no Gophers."

When asked about the Gophers being ranked No. 1, Parise said: "That's when I stopped paying attention. UND always has a strong second half. They always seem to heat up at the right time heading into the playoffs."

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Friday, December 02, 2011

P.A. and Cardinal talk hockey

If you haven't heard this, here this week's P.A. and Ryan Cardinal, it the weekly segment where they talk college hockey on KFAN. [Click to listen to the show]

I am going to preface this blog post with; I found today’s segment with P.A. and Ryan Cardinal to be very funny and entertaining.

I down load the podcasts daily on my iphone and I listen weekly to the segment with P.A. and Cardinal because there isn’t really a lot of college hockey talk on the radio. 

After being a doormat team for the last three seasons, it appears that the swagger and pride is back in Minnesota’s much maligned hockey program, this will make it much sweeter when the Fighting Sioux North Dakota beats the Golden Gophers again later next month.

The funniest part of the segment was P.A. reading an email from Brad R in Grand Forks, ND; reminding Cardinal that Championships are won in April.

Ryan’s response was, “the problem for his team their season [UND] is going to be done in March. As Sioux fans, they would know what it’s like to come up short, they have done it pretty much annually, losing game they are favored in. So yeah were looking big picture.”

During the segment P.A. keep bringing up a past painful memory for Gophers fans.

Just for the record, the Minnesota Golden Gophers hockey teams "on paper" is heads and tails about the Minnesota State Mavericks hockey team this season, record aside, Minnesota is still 2-5-1 against the Mavericks in their last eight games. Does that mean anything, I don't know? Hockey is also played on the ice and not on paper.

I also agree with Gopher Nation; the Minnesota Gophers are going to be "heavily favored" the next six games that they play in, that being said, that doesn't mean they are just going to walk through these teams like they were at practice. This is the WCHA and the mighty Golden Gophers will have to strap it on and play hockey.

Since the Gophers are back to their winning ways, every team in the WCHA is going to want to take a piece of the "mighty" Gophers, teams are going to play the Gophers very physical and they are going to finish every check, The Golden Gophers are going to get everyone's "A" game. I also don't think Tech is just going to roll over for the Gophers either.
 
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Friday, November 04, 2011

Gophers 2; Fighting Sioux 0

First of all I have to comment that it appears that the departure of John Hill from the coaching ranks certainly improved the Minnesota Gophers. I believe their record is now 8 and 1 with 5 shut outs. That's a far cry from recent Gopher teams that had the talent but have been missing the national tournament lately.

I think we all expected that as young as the Sioux team is this year that it would take a while for them to become real competitive. Where that's really showing up is in the scoring. The Sioux had a few good chances, but they still can't score like we need to.

The Sioux played the Gophers well through most of the game. The first goal was by Nick Bjugstad on the power play that wound up being a virtual 5 on 3 as Mario Lamoureux blocked two shots which broke his stick and left him nearly unable to stand. I give him a lot of credit for getting up and still attempting to block more shots, though it wasn't hard for the Gophers to move around him.

I have to give him credit. After a short stint on the bench he finished the game.

The Sioux didn't suffer many breakdowns in my opinion until late in the game. The one that hurt the most led to the second goal where the Gophers won a faceoff in the defensive end and managed to get by the defense in the scramble after the drop of the puck. That led to a break-a-way goal for Tom Serratore on a nifty little pass from Nick Larson.

It was a entertaining game with at least one old time scrum, without the punches. It's pretty clear that the Gophers came into the game with the idea that they weren't going to fold under the physical play like they have in some of the games in the past.

The one thing that's troubling is the officiating that's going to lead to a player getting seriously injured. In the first period, Gopher Nate Condon launched Derek Rodwell headfirst into the boards. The tandem of Derek Sheppard and Marco Hunt called Condon for a minor penalty. Of course when they let hits like that go by someone is going to do it again. In the second period Seth Ambroz hit Mario from behind and finished the game in the locker room.

Hits that launch a player headfirst into the boards have no place in hockey. The rules are very specific but the refs in the WCHA have no respect for the players safety.

I'll get off my soapbox now. I hate to say it but at this point of the season it looks like the Gophers are back to being a contender.
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Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Behind Enemy Lines - Wally Shaver's Gophers-UND Preview


The boys over at Gopher Puck Live had this in their twitter feed today so I thought I would share it with you. Wally Shaver does the Gopher hockey radio broadcasts along with Frank Mazzocco. Should be a good series between the Fighting Sioux and the Minnesota Gophers.
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Thursday, October 27, 2011

Did Lucia give his players an out. Did he lower expectations?

Minnesota Gophers beat writer Roman Augustoviz has this little blurb on his blog today and it kind of caught my attention.

Does anyone think that Lucia is in a way maybe lowering the Gopher fan's expectations of his Gopher hockey team? I guess one could say that Lucia is covering all of the bases in case the Seawolves beat the Gopher either one or both games this weekend. The Seawolves are hard to sweep in their own barn and the Gophers are a young team. 
BEAUTIFUL SPOT

"It is obviously a beautiful place, but we don’t have time to go on sightseeing trips," said Lucia, who was the Alaska Fairbanks head coach from 1987-93. "I enjoyed my week [vacation there] this summer fishing and getting around the state in July. I had a great time. But we get in Thursday afternoon, we play Friday and Saturday nights and come back Sunday morning. It is a quick trip,"

Lucia said the biggest problem playing games in Alaska is the three-hour time change. "You have the [six-hour] flight, but even that it is a direct flight for us. So it is not a big deal. The hard part for us is just the time change. ... The games are starting at 10 [p.m. CDT] and then you get up and your clock is a little bit off."

UAA IMPROVED

"Anchorage is a much better team" than in years past, Lucia said. "They had a great end of the year last year. Their program has been getting better every year. They have a very veteran team right now."

In the first round of the WCHA playoffs last March, the Seawolves beat the Gophers 4-3 and 2-0 and blocked 50 shots, four out of 10, over the weekend.

"You have to keep shooting [against them], that is No. 1," Lucia said. "We didn’t see anything different watching their video against [Nebraska] Omaha. They are going to lay down and block shots. That is just part of their identity, and so it is difficult to get pucks through."
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Sunday, October 23, 2011

Goon's WCHA Power Rankings

Western Collegiate Hockey Association logoImage via Wikipedia
Starting this week going forward, Zack Friedli and I will be submitting WCHA rankings every Monday to Inside Hockey



1.  Denver – The Pioneers 3-1-0 swept the depleted MSU-M Mavericks (10-2, 4-2) this past weekend. The Pioneers play this upcoming weekend at Michigan Tech 4-2-0.  

2.  Colorado College – The Tigers 2-0-0 were idle this past weekend. The Tigers play at RPI (1-4-0) this up coming weekend.

3.  Minnesota – The Gophers 5-1-1 are red hot after a split with the Vermont Catamounts this past weekend (6-0, 4-5).  The Minnesota Gophers will be looking for revenge as they head to Anchorage, Alaska to play the upstart UAA Seawolves (3-2-1). The UAA Seawolves are the team that swept the Gophers out of the WCHA playoffs last spring.

4.  Wisconsin – The Badgers swept the Fighting Sioux in Madison (5-3, 5-4). The Badgers entertain the UNO Mavericks in Madison this upcoming weekend. 

5.  UMD – The tDogs took three of four points from the Providence Friars of Hockey East and will entertain the BSU Beavers 3-3-0 at Amsoil Arena.  

6.  North Dakota – The Fighting Sioux were swept by the Badgers in Madison (5-3, 5-4). The Fighting Sioux return home in a foul mood, to play the SCSU Huskies.

7.  Bemidji – The BSU Beavers 3-3-0 swept the Tech Huskies this past weekend in Bemidji (6-5, 3-1). The Beavers travel to Duluth to play the Bulldog in Amsoil Arena. 

8. Nebraska-Omaha – The Mavericks swept the UAA Seawovles in Omaha after losing the week before the Seawolves in the Alaska Goal Rush tourney. This week also marked the return Alex Hudson from his four game suspension.  Hudson was held off the score sheet in both games by the Seawolves. 

9. Michigan Tech – The Huskies 4-2-0 were swept in Bemidji by the Beavers (6-5, 3-1), this is after sweeping the Badgers the week prior in Houghton, Michigan. The Huskies play the Denver Pioneers at home this weekend.

10.  Alaska-Anchorage – Swept by the UNO Mavericks in Omaha . Head home to play the Minnesota Gophers 5-1-0

11.  St. Cloud StateA win and a tie against Hockey East team UNH (7-5, 3-3). Travel to REA to play the Fighting Sioux 2-3-1 who were swept by the Badgers.

12.  Minnesota State – The Mavericks have been bit by the injury bug and were swept by the Denver Pioneers last weekend (10-2, 4-2). Off this weekend.


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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Guentzel says Gophers will be back in the NCAA tourney this season.

Another example of how far the mighty have fallen, in the old days there would be no question that the Golden Gophers hockey team would be playing in the NCAA tourney. Add to their yearly NCAA tourney trip, the Gophers would be a shoe in to play in the  Final Five which is held in their back yard at the Xcel Energy Center. I guess one out of three NCAA regional tourneys wouldn't be too bad for the Golden Gophers. In case we forgot the Gophers missed the last two regional tourneys that they hosted.
The Roman Empire --- Mike Guentzel, a familiar name, did much of the talking. He was there with assistant coach Grant Potulny and three players. But Mike spoke and first.

"This year we are going to get to the Xcel Center and play in the NCAA tournament," said Guentzel, hired this summer to be the Gophers associate head coach. " We are hosting a regional, and that would be our goal to get back and play in it. If we do that, it probably means we are good enough to get in the Final Five, where Gophers hockey should be."

Last spring, the Gophers were upset by Alaska Anchorage in the first round of the WCHA playoffs and did not advance to the Final. They also missed the NCAA tournament for the third season in a row. To make that blow even worst, the Frozen Four was at the X.
We kid the Golden Gophers hockey team but in reality if the Golden Gophers hockey team have another meltdown this season and fail to make the Final Five and or the NCAA tourney there is going to be a full blown house cleaning the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Basically, the UMN coaching staff's job depends on them making the NCAA tourney.
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Monday, August 01, 2011

Official Fighting Sioux Hockey Schedule

North Dakota Fighting Sioux men's ice hockeyImage via WikipediaThe "official" Fighting Sioux hockey schedule is finally out for the season. Looking at the schedule the Sioux will play the Wisconsin Badgers, Minnesota Golden Gopher, Saint Cloud State Huskies and the

Sat, Oct 01 Regina (Exh.)Grand Forks, N.D. 7:07 p.m.
Ice Breaker Tournament
Fri, Oct 07 Air Force - Grand Forks, N.D. 7:37 p.m.
Sat, Oct 08 B.C. Eagles or MSU Spartans - Grand Forks, N.D. 7:37 p.m.
Fri, Oct 14 Maine - Grand Forks, N.D. 7:37 p.m.
Sat, Oct 15 Maine - Grand Forks, N.D. 7:07 p.m.
Fri, Oct 21 Wisconsin * - at Madison, Wis. 7:07 p.m.
Sat, Oct 22 Wisconsin * - at Madison, Wis. 7:07 p.m.
Fri, Oct 28 St. Cloud State * - Grand Forks, N.D. 7:37 p.m.
Sat, Oct 29 St. Cloud State * - Grand Forks, N.D. 7:07 p.m.
Fri, Nov 04 Minnesota * - at Minneapolis, Minn. TBA
Sat, Nov 05 Minnesota * - at Minneapolis, Minn. TBA
Sat, Nov 19 Bemidji State * - at Bemidji, Minn. 7:07 p.m.
Sun, Nov 20 Bemidji State * - at Bemidji, Minn. 5:07 p.m.
Fri, Nov 25 Colorado College * - Grand Forks, N.D. 7:37 p.m.
Sat, Nov 26 Colorado College * - Grand Forks, N.D. 7:07 p.m.
Fri, Dec 02 Alaska Anchorage * - at Anchorage, Alaska 10:07 p.m.
Sat, Dec 03 Alaska Anchorage * - at Anchorage, Alaska 10:07 p.m.
Fri, Dec 09 Nebraska Omaha * - Grand Forks, N.D. 7:37 p.m.
Sat, Dec 10 Nebraska Omaha * - Grand Forks, N.D. 7:07 p.m.
Sat, Dec 17 Russian Red Stars (Exh.) Grand Forks, N.D. 7:07 p.m.
Fri, Dec 30 Harvard - Grand Forks, N.D. 7:07 p.m.
Sat, Dec 31 Harvard - Grand Forks, N.D. 7:37 p.m.
Sat, Jan 07 Clarkson - at Winnipeg, Manitoba 7:07 p.m.
Fri, Jan 13 Minnesota * - Grand Forks, N.D. 7:37 p.m.
Sat, Jan 14 Minnesota * - Grand Forks, N.D. 7:07 p.m.
Fri, Jan 20 St. Cloud State * - at St. Cloud, Minn. 7:37 p.m.
Sat, Jan 21 St. Cloud State * -  at St. Cloud, Minn. 7:07 p.m.
Fri, Jan 27 Wisconsin * - Grand Forks, N.D. 7:37 p.m.
Sat, Jan 28 Wisconsin * -Grand Forks, N.D. 7:07 p.m.
Fri, Feb 10 Minnesota Duluth * - at Duluth, Minn. 7:07 p.m.
Sat, Feb 11 Minnesota Duluth * - at Duluth, Minn. 7:07 p.m.
Fri, Feb 17 Michigan Tech * - Houghton, Mich. 7:37 p.m.
Sat, Feb 18 Michigan Tech * - Houghton, Mich. 7:07 p.m.
Fri, Feb 24 Denver * - at Denver, Colo. 8:37 p.m.
Sat, Feb 25 Denver * - at Denver, Colo. 8:07 p.m.
Fri, Mar 02 Minnesota State * - Grand Forks, N.D. 7:37 p.m.
Sat, Mar 03 Minnesota State * - Grand Forks, N.D. 7:37 p.m.
Fri, Mar 09 - Sun, Mar 11 WCHA Playoffs (First Round) at TBD TBA
Thu, Mar 15 - Sat, Mar 17 Red Baron WCHA Final Five at St. Paul, Minn. TBA
Fri, Mar 23 NCAA Regionals at TBD TBA
Thu, Apr 05 NCAA Frozen Four at Tampa, Fla. TBA

Official press release from the UND SID.

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