Minnesota Gopher Hockey

[8-Ball]

Buzz- I like our chances next year. Looks like we will be a quicker and bigger team up front- we need that. I think we may be a little thin on D. Maybe the new guy coming in will take care of that some. Finally, the boys put together a solid 2 games. Not a solid period followed by a collapse, but a real, get 'er done whole weekend! Now, I like their chances in the WCHA tourney. I still don't think they have enough talent to go to the final four, but a good showing in however many games they end up playing coming up will be good momentum for next Fall. Badger hockey? H'mm, lets see. How many Div.1 teams does Wisconsin have-1? How about Minny? I believe we have.. 5. Enough said.

[30 inch eyes]

The guys sure did look good and tech is a lot better than their record. Nice to see they kept it clean Sat. with that big of deficit. My hats off to them.

[buzzsaw]

I hear ya 8 ball, I hear ya! I'm nervous about CC being placed in the West bracket at Marriucci... it could spell our doom as they took 3 of 4 from us this year.

[8-Ball]

Yeah- they (CC) did hand it to us this year. I was at the games at Mariucci and they are really solid all the way around. I think faster than the Gophs, too. Who knows, maybe JJ gets hot and shuts the door, and the forwards backcheck/forecheck like mad, create turnovers, and we bury some of those scoring chances. It will be an entertaining weekend-gotta love the WCHA. Best league in the US top to bottom. 8-Ball.

[gopherfish]

I agree 8-Ball, WCHA is by far the best conference. If CC is placed in the regional with the Gophs, watch out, but I always like the way Lucia has them playing late in the year. Johnson seems to be a lot more comfortable between the pipes. With him hot and the Gophs playing at home (even though that has helped as of late), they have a great chance to make it to the Frozen Four. We need some of our seniors and juniors to set up because they have been there before.

[8-Ball]

I have said all along I don't think this group has the "stuff" to get to the FF. This is one occasion I hope I am wrong. You just don't know which Goph team is going to show up-that is why I don't see them going far. Too unpredictable/inconsistent. Having said that, I will be the first one hootin and hollerin if they somehow did get that far...

[Joe Harty]

A nice sweep against a pretty tough team ! I really like this gopher team, they are fun to watch. Been watching them alot since the early 70's and really like what Coach Lucia brought to this state, not to mention the top shelf talent added to the roster from out of state. They do not rebuild, they reload !

Lakeman

[8-Ball]

I was at tonights game- it was weird. Each period was played, and called by the ref, totally different. He missed a few blatant penalties right in front of his eyes. First period, he called nothing. Second period, was a steady parade of guys from both squads in the sin bin. Third period, one minute left- Mavs pull goalie. We get a minor, so now it is 6 on 4. 20 seconds later, Campion raises the right arm on us again! Now it is 6 on 3- I don't recall ever seeing 6 on 3 in a game in my years. 'kato was buzzing the net, but could not put it home. JJ had another solid game-glad Donny-Loo stayed w/ him. Now, if CC comes back and beats St. Cloud, we play them Fri., I think. Final 5 is at Excel- Gopher puck, and I can have a few cocktails.. Doesn't get any better than that. Should be a great game/series next weekend... 8-Ball.

[buzzsaw]

Mr. Kessel will look good next year in the maroon and gold!!!!!!!

[buzzsaw]

The current INCH 4 x 4 NCAA brackets...

INCH 4x4

Through March 13, 2005

WORCESTER

East Regional

1.

Colorado College

2.

Harvard

3.

Boston University

4.

Quinnipiac

AMHERST

Northeast Regional

1.

Boston College

2.

New Hampshire

3.

Ohio State

4.

Wisconsin

GRAND RAPIDS

Midwest Regional

1.

Denver

2.

Michigan

3.

Maine

4.

Bemidji State

MINNEAPOLIS

West Regional

1.

Minnesota

2.

Cornell

3.

North Dakota

4.

Colgate

Last two in: Wisconsin, Colgate

Last two out: Dartmouth, Northern Michigan

[Rolly22]

What a joke. Minnesota finishes tied for 3rd in the WCHA and loses twice in the final five and somehow they get a number one seed and play at home? Brutal.

[Hockey Guy]

I agree Rolly. Even though I'm still a huge Gopher backer, I think Cornell deserved the #1 seed. Cornell is my dark-horse pick to win the whole thing.

What's up with Hirsch? Did he quit the team or what?

[buzzsaw]

How do you guys feel when the Gophers or any other college football team beats up on weak non-conference teams to boost it's overall win total???

I liken Cornell's schedule to this....Minnesota's had the toughest or second tougest schedule against in the nation! What you guys in essence are saying is that if a team schedules a bunch of patsies and wins most of them they are probably a better team and far more deserving of a higher seeding right?! If so, I totally disagree! Besides it won't matter when and if we play Cornell this saturday.... then we'll see who was the better team... barring upsets on Friday!! just my .02 worth. Look out for Nodak, they are playing well and could surprise us! In the end I like Denver to win it all again... balanced and loaded.

[buzzsaw]

On a recruiting note since we'll be talking about that soon enough.....

Heres the skinny!! I've heard arguements and here is what I think.

When recruiting you take kids based on talent. You cannot see into the crystal ball and see how they will do in college. If you judge this years recruiting class on talent alone. Then the U of Minnesota is way ahead of Michigan or Wisconsin. They have the #5 overall selection in the draft last year, potential #1 overall selection in next years draft, Ryan Stoa who is projected as a first rounder, Jeff Frazee the top american goalie of his age group period, R.J. Anderson who is one of the best offensive defensemen in the country and then add Justin Bostrom who missed alot of the first half of the USHL season, but ranks close to the top in PPG. You tell me who has the best recruiting class.

[fishyguy]

Quote:

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What a joke. Minnesota finishes tied for 3rd in the WCHA and loses twice in the final five and somehow they get a number one seed and play at home? Brutal.

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I understand the debate on their seeding, although I may not agree, but the home ice has nothing to do with seedings or rankings. The NCAA puts the host school at home for each regional whether they are the #1 seed or the #4 seed. Regardless, of the seeding the Gophers were going to be at home. I

[buzzsaw]

It has been nice to see the Goph's playing better the last few weekend in games on the road against Denver and at Michigan and Michigan State! We took 6 of 8 possible points and beat the two time defending National champions and beat current #1 rated Michigan on their home ice! I can't wait to take my wife to the Wisconsin game next Saturday night!. Wisconsin looks like they've dialed this hockey thing in!

[buzzsaw]

News on the Gopher front:

Don Lucia will be staying at Minnesota for the foreseeable future — and maybe beyond.

The Golden Gopher head coach, who led Minnesota to back-to-back NCAA championships in 2002 and 2003, has signed a three-year contract extension, the school announced Tuesday. That would keep Lucia behind the Gopher bench at least until the end of the 2011-12 season.

"We wanted to make sure that Don Lucia remained at Minnesota and we are excited to have him signed through the end of the 2012 season," Minnesota athletics director Joel Maturi said. "With the success he has brought to the men's hockey program, we are fortunate to have Don at the helm for the next seven years. We're looking forward to more NCAA Frozen Four appearances and national championships with Coach Lucia behind the Minnesota bench."

"I've said it before: I want this to be my last coaching job," Lucia told the Minneapolis Star Tribune, which reported that Lucia's base salary will rise to over $250,000 from its current $210,000 over the course of the extension.

"I may not just have the best job in college hockey, I may have the best job in hockey," Lucia added.

Lucia, 47, took over the Golden Gopher program at the start of the 1999-2000 season and has since guided Minnesota to five straight NCAA tournament appearances and three Frozen Fours, including his two national titles.

His coaching record with the Gophers is 169-80-25 (.662). Lucia will shortly pass Brad Buetow for third place on the Gophers' all-time coaching wins list. Doug Woog (390) is first.

Lucia, a native of Grand Rapids, Minn., and a 1981 alumnus of Notre Dame, sports a 448-235-54 (.645) overall record as a head coach, including a current streak of 13 consecutive winning seasons at three schools.

He previously led Colorado College for six seasons, during which time the Tigers won three MacNaughton Cups and made two Frozen Four appearances. In his first season at CC, Lucia won the Spencer Penrose Award as national coach of the year. Prior to that, Lucia started his head coaching career at Alaska-Fairbanks.

[Hockey Guy]

I can’t believe they don’t pay him more than that. Doesn’t the guy that coaches that other winter sport make around $500,000? I can’t remember the name of that other worthless sport, but it’s the one where the tall African American gentleman have to put a ball in a hoop with no goalie to defend it, and if they touch anyone on the other team the referee blows the whistle. Anyhow, I know now why Dean Blaise left for the pro ranks. $210,000… that’s nothing; I make that every month and I don’t have to deal with the media. Oops… I feel a cake-eater reply coming. Stay tuned…

[buzzsaw]

Quote:

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I make that every month and I don’t have to deal with the media. Oops… I feel a cake-eater reply coming. Stay tuned

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You must be my neighbor.

[redlake]

What’s This “Cake Eater” Business All About?

Let them eat cake. --- Marie Antoinette, just before her head hit the basket at the base of the guillotine.

"The husband and I moved to the Twin Cities almost eight years ago and we have always lived in the burbs. At first we lived in Bloomington. But we didn’t like it because:

We were living in the middle of nowhwere

We did not have the opportunity to use mass transit if we needed it because we lived in the middle of nowhwere

We were tired of spending a half hour in the car---with traffic---just to get to the grocery store

We didn’t know our neighbors and we didn’t want to get to know them

There were very few places for us to get to on foot

So, we looked around and found a duplex in Edina. We learned quickly that you didn’t say you lived in Edina. We learned that you said you lived in “Minneapolis” or you’d get rather a lot of grief about being a “Cake Eater.”

Edina is a wealthy suburb here in the Twin Cities. So wealthy in fact, that the residents of our fair fiefdom have earned the nickname “Cake Eater.”

What is a Cake Eater? Someone who is into conspicuous consumption simply for the sake of appearance. People here make an epic battle out of keeping up with the Joneses. We are surrounded by Cake Eaters, but the husband and I are not Cake Eaters: we don’t make enough money to qualify for membership. We just happen to live here.

I don’t have any issues with Cake Eaters, per se. If they want to spend all the money they have, and some they borrow, on being cool, they’re allowed. It’s a free country. But it sure is amusing at times when you see the circles they’ll run just to keep up with the perceived norms.

[buzzsaw]

I bought a cake at Byerlys last night for my wifes B'day! I guess I get to eat some cake tonight.... it's a buttercream... mmm nummy! But it's a small cake, so I'm only a small "Cake Eater"

[buzzsaw]

Heres some interesting reading:

Want a Frozen Four prediction? OK, but first, here’s a stab at the top seeds for each of the four regions. Wisconsin goes to the Midwest Regional in Green Bay, Vermont heads to the East Regional in Albany, Miami gets shuttled to the Northeast Regional in Worcester and Minnesota is sent to the West Regional in Grand Forks. As the No. 1 seed, Don Lucia will not exercise his option to evict the Fighting Sioux from their locker room, but stakes exclusive rights to the giant hot tub.

[TNFL]

For me, the term "CAKE EATER" really became popular after the movie the Mighty Ducks. Thats what the poor team kids called the privilaged kids. It was a long time ago and i'm not sure what the districts were in the movie.

[harvey lee]

In the late 60s and early 70s we called all the hockey players from Edina cake eaters and I thought that is where the term first started.I believe it was the W. Ikola days, and yes they had very good teams even if I lived in SSP.

[PierBridge]

Quote:

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In the late 60s and early 70s we called all the hockey players from Edina cake eaters and I thought that is where the term first started.I believe it was the W. Ikola days, and yes they had very good teams even if I lived in SSP.

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... thats how I remember it Lee.