Golden Nuggets for 2.9.09

by PJS on Feb 9, 2009 3:00 AM CST in Golden Nuggets Comment 10 comments

I don't pretend to know much of anything about hockey, so it's hard for me to cover it here. But I do follow the team, and very much get into playoff hockey. And it's hard not to note that Don Lucia's Gophers are struggling.

Gopher Puck Live's headline says it all: "Another Day, Another Loss." And the lead to the story says it all.

Two weekends, 17 goals given up, no time with the lead, swept out of the top of the league by two of your biggest rivals.

Ugh.

For those of you that follow Lucia's squad closely, what do you think ails the Gophers? Is it just a rough stretch for Alex Kangas? Is it legitimate to talk about the team's focus after Lucia's health issue?

Sort of like the men's basketball team, Lucia's boys have a potential get-healthy opponent next as they face the Seawolves of Alaska-Anchorage.

On Tuesday when the Gophers aim to get back on track against Indiana, at halftime Trent Tucker will become just the fifth Gopher in school history to have his number hang from the Williams Arena rafters. I agree with Doogie at GI.com, this is much overdue. And next on the former Gophers to honor ought be Jim Shikenjanski, right?
With the deepening financial crisis, it's no surprise that U President Robert Bruininks asked AD Joel Maturi not to offer contract extensions or raises to Tim Brewster. What kind of message would it send to give the football coach a raise when Governor Pawlenty is slashing higher eduction funding?
The Pro Bowl was just played on Sunday, but that doesn't stop some from looking forward to next year's football season. The Moutain West Conference Connection looks at Air Force's 2009-10 schedule and predicts a win against the Gophers in our home opener at TCF Bank Stadium.
After a letdown home loss to Wisconsin, Nittany White Out is prepping PSU fans for an NIT bid. I think that's premature. Penn State is still good enough to win a few games down the stretch, and in the Big Ten tournament and make a run.
Meanwhile, a Robbie Hummel less Purdue team went to Illinois and lost, prompting Boiled Sports to "resign oureslves to some truths."
Sticking with the Big Ten, the Michigan State Spartans dominanted Tom Crean and Indiana the same way they beat up on the Gophers. The Enlightened Spartan has more here.

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Gopher Hockey Issues

The recent Gopher hockey debacle is worse than just losing the last 4 badly – they also lost 2 really bad games to UND meaning 6 of the last 8 games have been terrible. Add to that, one of their wins was against St. Cloud State where we barely hung on for a 8-6 win.

While they did outplay Wisconsin on Friday night and just couldn’t score. I think the problems really come down to this (kind of the norm for any team) – they really don’t have the talent, especially on the defensive side.

This team is reliant on 2 lines on the offensive side and really has no stars on defense to speak of like they have had in previous years. It might be an even longer year next year if/when we lose Stoa and Schroeder.

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by FishingMN on Feb 9, 2009 5:58 AM CST reply actions

Defense

It all started with David Fischer going down. He was probably our most consistent defenseman. Maybe he hasn’t lived up to his Mr. Minnesota accolades, but he was a bigger presence than let’s say Sam Lofquist, Cade Fairchild and Aaron Ness. R.J. Anderson is a serviceable third pairing type of a guy. Brian Schack is an extra defender. Kevin Wehrs is, ah, not good.

It starts with defense, but the offense isn’t great either and it can ill-afford having guys such as Tony Lucia out of the lineup.

by HutchLeaderGuy on Feb 9, 2009 4:08 PM CST up reply actions

Trent Tucker? Jim Shikenjanski?

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against either of them, but the glaring ommission of Willie Burton must be rectified immediately. His number should be retired today at practice.

by WhiteSpeedReceiver on Feb 9, 2009 10:02 AM CST reply actions

Burton

Burton can’t have his number retired because he hasn’t received his degree from the ‘U.’ In addition, Tucker only recently received his undergraduate degree after taking classes following his NBA career.

by twinsfan21 on Feb 9, 2009 2:23 PM CST reply actions

cause he thinks he's going to be a college basketball coach

what you say here can, and will, be used against you

by GopherNation on Feb 9, 2009 3:16 PM CST up reply actions

Touche

His name was tossed around in the blogosphere after Monson was fired. I wonder if he was hoping to garner some interest from administration at that point?

by twinsfan21 on Feb 9, 2009 3:42 PM CST up reply actions

Air Force

AFA will be a very solid opponent – but their prediction is based on last years record which is not a very reliable variable to rely on for college fb. IMO, the most important variable is returning QB status – and MN has a returning two year starter. Next is line experience and MN returns a bunch of starters on both sides. Third – MN looks to be better at the skill position with returning RBs, WRs and possible upgrades. Weakness on paper is two of the LB positions and kicking game. For MN to improve next year, the offense has to keep the ball more and reduce the # of series they never move the chains. For the AFA game – MN better be ready to gang tackle their running game.

by olygopher on Feb 9, 2009 5:02 PM CST reply actions