"Nathaniel Cole Malen (Nathaniel Cole Malen)" wrote:
>In noting the recent postings about the national top 20, I would like to
>state a brief case for MINNESOTA.
{snip!}
>        In conclusion, I think many will be surprised as to how well the
>Gophers do this year.  From a confident and biased standpoint, I think the
>Gophers should be considered for higher ranking than #5, but I guess we'll
>just have to see when the season starts.
 
I posted a similar note before, but let me just use the renewed presence on
the list of all the fall returnees as an excuse to pontificate a bit! :-)
 
The Gophers could be very good this year if they continue to improve from
their level as of the end of last season.  BUT while we're recalling their
season-ending run to the PHinal PHour, let's also recall that this is a
team that finished FOURTH in the WCHA (the worst such performance by a team
in Doug Woog's 10 years.)  This seems to indicate a certain amount of
inconsistency which this year's team must overcome.
 
On paper, the Gophers should be a better team, as Nat discussed.
 
BUT they graduated their goalie.  And they do have one loss on D that we
sometimes overlook:  assistant coach Bill Butters took a "co-coach" job at
Div III Bethel, making a gut-wrenching decision to leave the defensive
corps he's coached since early defections forced him to play four freshmen
on D most games in 1992-93.  And the loss of forwards McHugh and Bell was
less a loss of the number 4 and 5 scorers than it was a loss of leadership.
 
So this team can't just take up where they left off last year.  They'll
have to find their own leadership, a goalie, and hopefully some
consistency.  I'm sure the other teams at the top face similar challenges.
(Guess that's why the play the games, huh?)  But Nat's right in that this
team should have a lot to work with in rebuilding itself.
 
Pam Sweeney
Go Gophers!
Nastier, Bigger, Faster in '95-'96!
 
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