I was reading the Star Tribune’s write-up this morning about another Gophers loss (0-2-1) and I got to thinking how long before the Gopher faithful want to throw head coach Don Lucia under the bus? For my amusement, I decided to check out the comments section of that very same article. Holy cow! Wow! It sounds like there is a full blown lynch mob down in Minnesota already. That’s right, three games into the young season and the not-so-Golden Gophers have been shut out twice, outscored 10-3 and now there very well may be an angry mob pounding at the door of Mariucci Arena.
Lets break this down further; three games into the season and the Gophers' top forward, and pre-anointed Player of the Year in the WCHA, Jordan Schroeder has no points whatsoever, nix, nada, nay (0g-0a-0pts) and he is a minus -2.
I am wondering how long it will take before the rumors about Vancouver not being happy with Schroeder’s development start surfacing? Last night I watched the DU and Minnesota game and Schroeder, on numerous occasions, took the puck up the ice in an attempt at an end-to-end rush only to lose the puck to a Denver player in the defensive zone. The result, of course, was a turnover and a rush up ice in the other direction. This type of play was kind of reminiscent of another former Gopher player that was run out of Boston and now resides in Toronto.
If anything, the Gophers' start to the season makes makes me scratch my head and wonder how a team stacked with at least 10 NHL draft choices can be 0-2-1. It hasn’t been pretty, in the first three games the Gophers have been outshot by an astounding 111 - 71 margin. Of the team's 71 shots, they have scored a measly three goals--meaning they have scored on just under five percent of their shots. On the defensive side of the equation the Gophers have given up ten goals, or just about a goal on ten percent of the opposition’s shots. Morever, their power play is clicking at an even zero percent (they are 0-12 on the power play). On top of that, they have also given up a shorthanded goal.
Coach on the Hot Seat?
The last two seasons Don Lucia’s Gophers have gone a mediocre 17-13-7 and 19-17-9. Last season they missed the NCAA playoffs altogether and now three games into this season it looks as if they could be in for another tough season.
So would it be reasonable to say that Lucia is on the hot seat?
What do Gopher fans think?
I know people have short memories and forget that that Lucia won two NCAA titles in the early 2000’s but what has he done lately?
Check out more from Eric at twitter, and the Goon’s World Blog
In regards to Schroeder, the FSN-Rocky Mtn play analyst was commenting about how he was missing the net bad. He made the comment after Schroeder missed a shot high and left of the goal from pretty close range. The play analyst said that it has happened multiple times in the game last night. Sounds like he is pressing to say the least.
ReplyDeleteIt time to move on from Lucia. He is a good couch, but its been to many years in a row of mediocrity. We need a tougher team with all this talent. Its time to bring in Dean Blais.
ReplyDeleteDavid, as a sioux fan i think i might cry if i ever saw Blais coach for the goofers. Glad too see him coaching college hockey again. He'll make good growth at UNO.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the DU-MN game. I was at the game last night and the only mob outside Mariucci was the one trying to sell there tickets on the street. If the Goofs keep this up I might actually be able to get tickets when the Sioux come to Mpls.
As for Lucia, he is a strong coach, I think where he is lacking is his recruiting. He gets good players, but he doesn't recruit player that compliment eachother's playing styles. I think that is something that we have seen Hak do very well in ND and it has clearly worked.
Lets not counts the Goofs out yet though, as all sioux fans can testify from the last few seasons, its a long year and there is plenty of time to turn your season around.
Go Sioux!!
I think the problem with the Gophers is they don't have any grit or leadership. They don't have a Grant P or a Matt K playing for them.
ReplyDeleteI think David makes a good point. They may lack the right mix of players. I think a few talented big players would help round out the line-up. The strong Gopher teams of the late seventies were recognized for having a good combo of hard-working grinders as well as skilled players.
ReplyDeleteLucia wants to coach the Gophers for 10 more years. If things don't turn around in the next few, I imagine they touch base with Blais. I read that he can get out of his current contract if the UofM job becomes available.
Charlie do Gophers fans dream of Dean Blais coaching the Gophers? If the big mucky mucks decide to pull the trigger on t-Don I don't know if it would change Minnesota's fortunes. The problem is that Minnesota doesn't recruit in Canada and it's killing them. If they walk into a Canadian Kid's house and say come play for the Gophers they might not make it through the front door.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I like the job that Lucia is doing in Minnesota. :)
Lucia is a good coach and a good recruiter. Minnesota has high standards every season and if they don't live up to them, the fans cry "wolf." It's not like they're playing cup cakes here, they were on the road in Grand Forks and then at home against Denver, without playing any non conference games before hand.
ReplyDeleteGopher fans want to win so if that means Dean Blais needs to coach them to win then so be it. Personally, I would love to see Blais coach the Gophers and I do think it will happen. UNO is his warmup to getting back in college hockey. Minnesota is a program that needs some change every ten years or so. Lucia is a good coach but maybe his ideas are stale and it looks like his recruiting is stale. He has a lot of good players but as Coach Brooks once said, he needs the right players, not the best ones. Maybe he needs to look out state/country some more and probably needs to get a couple older more mature players. I will say this, the Sioux play the best transition game in college hockey and have done so for almost the last 30 years, maybe the Gophers need a former UND coach to install a skating/unselfish system like that, their current transition game is terrible.
ReplyDeleteI am not a fan of putting many non-Minnesotans on the team. Then it is just another college hockey team. Having said that, a few more seasons like the last one (and the start of this one), and I may change my tune.
ReplyDeleteI am also not a fan of bringing on so many kids right from Minnesota high schools; not in the age of the 23 year old senior. A year represents a big chunk of an 18 year old's life and they can and do develop a lot in a given year.
Along those lines, Ness and Schroeder are (obviously) very good players for their age, but why bring them in so young (They were the age of high school seniors last year)? I read that a 2010-11 Gopher recruit is (a la Ness) finishing h.s. during his 11th grade year to rush to the Gophers. Even in the best of times I think that is a mistake for nearly anybody.
This is pointed at the Gopher fans.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand this xenophobia that Gopher fans have for players that aren't from Minnesota. It kind of puzzles me. Some of the best players in hockey are from Canada.
Minnesota does it because they want to give their kids a chance first. It has always been that way and it has always been the difference between the U and North Dakota and Denver, in fact it almost caused UND and Denver to leave the league because Minnesota was upset that their teams were almost all Canadians at the time. But Minnesota players may not be as good as they used to be or maybe Minnesota just keeps taking the wrong type of players. No offense to Matt Koalska but he was a college player and was not going to be much more, maybe that is what the Gophers need now, college players, not NHLers waiting for their callup so to speak.
ReplyDeleteGoon, It is truly not xenophobia about players from elsewhere. That's way off base regarding how I and my hockey-loving friends feel about the Gophers and non-Minnesotans.
ReplyDeleteWe all recognize that the bulk of the top hockey players in the NCAA and in the NHL are from Canada.
When the Gophers do field a great lineup of predominantly Minnesota players and have success with that lineup, the community (Minnesotans into hockey) fins it to be very special and very satisfying.
Part of this feeling is because we (and or kids now, for me) go to school with some of the players on the Gophers. As a result, we have a connection with the players that we do not have with other players. We know some of them a bit. We know their schools and the various high schools' hockey traditions. It makes it feel a tiny bit like a big extended family.
Our perception is that we have a very special hockey tradition here from the youth associations on up. It has nothing to do with the Wild's 'State of Hockey' over-the-top marketing b.s. and everything to do with a broad base of knowledgeable players and fans that have been involved with the game at many levels.
We truly have something special here. You may disagree with that (I doubt it), but barring several disastrous seasons in a row, I think the fans closest to the U's program will continue to think it is very cool and fun to have Gopher teams made up of 90% Minnesotans.
Agreed, it is all about tradition which is going to mean that they will not always have the best teams or the best players, but when it works out, it is pretty sweet.
ReplyDeleteCharles (Your aprents did a pretty good job of naming you by the way!),
ReplyDeleteI would rather win it all infrequenlty with mainly Minnesota kids than more often with a roster full of non-Minnesotans. HAving said that, this season's tart is really challenging that feelin!