Cardinal

Tim Hennessey will be there for much of the first hour in terms of the PA Show ... Woog and Gorg will also be on, though I'm guessing Gorg will focus on the Wild more than this series.

Sorry to break it to you, but it's pretty much established on GPL (and every other team / college hockey-related message board) that the Minnesota obsession around here is off the charts. It's just fun to remind the locals of it to watch the replies come rolling in ... fish in a barrel.

Ironic that yet another thread on here that has nothing to do with the Gophers incites "Gopher-bashing" comments...

Around here? Never!

Surprising to see another thread on here that has nothing to do with the Gophers turn into a Gopher bash-fest ... the obsession continues.

I haven't listened yet, but The Scouting News has a interview with Clarke that was done recently available for free. http://www.thescoutingnews.com/images/stories/clark1.mp3 Also, you technically have to pay for other interviews, but you can do a little guessing with the URLs and get them for free, i.e. a Jeff Jackson interview at http://www.thescoutingnews.com/images/stories/jackson.mp3.

The only team you cited that really hasn't had much success in recent years in BU. Notre Dame is certainly well on their way as they've showed the last two seasons.

FWIW, noted Sioux haters INCH had the Gophers with the No. 10 overall freshman class in the nation.

Boston College - 2 (2001 and 2008) Minnesota - 2 (2002 and 2003) Michigan State - 1 (2007) 2 + 2 + 1 = 5

Considering those teams have accounted for five of the last eight NCAA titles, I'd say the rankings mean a little something, no?

I agree with that, but don't you think Hakstol -- and most other coaches at big-time programs -- feel the same way?

Johnson follows Red's lead Not a direct quote (though I'm sure I could find one if I wanted) but that article I linked to above pretty much sums it up. EDIT: Here's another article that has lots of quotes from Red.

Just an FYI that I'm not a moderator on GPL and have no authority / ability to delete posts and/or users. Again, facts don't mean much around here.

It's a tough situation on a minimum age; if you cannot recruit a kid until he turns, say, 15 years old, then you could start losing kids to major juniors more often, especially the really high-end kids like Clarke. Other NCAA sports really don't have another good option for these kids out there looming.

I suppose the fact that Red's been coaching at Michigan for 24 years versus four for Hakstol (and thus Red's been burned more often than Hak) might have something to do with him being a little more vocal, but that's just an educated guess / assumption on my part.

I'm not trying to be a jerk. Hakstol told Chorney he was READY and thus he had no problem with him leaving, which is the exact same philosophy Berenson preaches. I'll trust Berenson's judgment as to whether his player(s) are ready to go pro. Red's problem is with players that AREN'T READY. Find me a quote from Hak saying he agrees that players not ready for the AHL or NHL should sign pro contracts and leave school early. I understand that anyone that doesn't slurp all that is UND hockey on here isn't looked upon kindly, and the fact I'm a Gopher fan probably doesn't help my cause; that being said, this is a foolish argument for you guys to try and fight at this point. Par for the course around these parts, though...

May or may not be true? It's a direct quote. If you consider that with the history he has of getting kids to the NHL, and I don't see much of a reason to doubt him. Sorry for coming over here and providing a fact that doesn't paint another program in a bad light compared to the almighty Sioux. Continue on...

Hmm, really? Facts never stood in the way of a good argument over here... http://www.uscho.com/news/college-hockey/i...nSituation.html

Chorney was interviewed -- along with fellow Oilers prospect Riley Nash -- on the Pipeline Show last night. You can listen back to the interview here: http://www.thepipelineshow.com/media.php?s...-08-31&sn=3

Well, you have to remember, Wheeler was a stiff to begin with, and when you couple that with Lucia's inability to develop players, ...

Like I said in my post, the root of Johnson's "rift" with Lucia was his lack of quality minutes, in Johnson's mind; I don't think he really came out and said that Lucia wasn't a good coach, but if he did, correct me if I'm wrong. As I also said, any objective onlooker would have agreed that he was the third best defenseman on that team, and that Lucia should not have have caved to his demands (if there were any in-season) to be put on the top pairing just because of his draft status versus those playing around him. In my opinion, the reason some Gopher fans thought it was not wise of him to stay is because he wasn't that dominant guy that some expected him to be. Were those expectations unreasonable given his position, the league he was playing in, etc.? Yeah, probably. But to see him be pretty good but not great and then go pro probably rubbed some people the wrong way. That being said, rational fans probably realized that given his draft status and the lineup he had to crack, he was going to be an NHL'er from day one, just like Jack Johnson was for a non-playoff team as well. Put either of those two in Detroit's system, as an example, and they're not with the big club. I'm not trying to put down posters on any board, but I think with SS and GPL in particular, there can be some "fringe" people (i.e. the annual "FIRE HAK!!@1!" threads around here) that tend to me more vocal than others and thus can represent a view that most rational fans don't agree with. Like I said though, that's a two-way street, so one should keep that in mind when making generalizations about team-specific boards. I agree that, to an extent, there seem to be more "me first" players that end up at Minnesota versus North Dakota. That being said, if I only read SS, one would think that the Gophers have had zero success over the last few years when that's simply not true. Yes, you guys have made it to more Frozen Fours, and that's great; just like it's great that the Gophers have won the regular season title twice and playoff title once over that same stretch. So, both "ways" of doing things seem to pay off. Over time, could this hurt Minnesota? Sure, I guess. But we'll see. As I said, one down season (though still making the NCAAs and making a little noise at the end of what was a dreadful year by Gopher standards isn't too bad all things considered) isn't enough to offset the success they've previously had under Lucia. If you guys want to pat yourselves on the back for doing things the "right way," being a family, etc., that's cool. But last time I checked, they don't hang up banners for things like that. The Gophers too have had players that easily could have left but chose to hang on (Leopold, Ballard, Martin, Ryan Potulny, etc.), so UND is not the only program to have guys stick around when they could be playing in the NHL or close to being called up while in the AHL.

Agreed, and that was my point to "LetsGoSioux!". Only kids that stay at least three does Lucia have enough time to mess up!

I could care less how Sioux fans(who are mainly the ones doing the bashing), fans of other teams, Twin Cities media members, etc. view the U of M. Until it starts hurting recruiting, which it clearly hasn't to this point, then I really don't care. Aside from last season, the team has been very successful in terms or raising banners over Lucia's tenure. If last season is indicative of what's to come, then yes, that's an issue. But as of now, I don't think the 2007-08 Gopher season will be the norm moving forward. Time will tell...

So, in regards to Taylor and Chucko, Lucia's coaching ruined these kids forever? I ask that because they've each had several years of coaching after leaving Lucia's watch and haven't sniffed the NHL. Erik Johnson was the top overall pick in the draft, and the rumors that swirled around the prior summer were that he may not even make it to campus. Thus, why are people surprised he left after one season? He played a regular shift in the NHL this past season, so it's not like he wasn't ready. He had 24 points as a freshman defensemen playing behind Goligoski and Vannelli, both of whom had outstanding years that season, especially from a point-production standpoint. If anything, the rumor was EJ was pissed about not being a No. 1 or 2 defensemen, but he just wasn't as good as Goligoski or Vannelli. If Lucia plays his higher than either one of those two, people on this board and others rip Lucia for caving to a star player. Can't have it both ways...

Yeah, they really didn't want him, considering they offered as much as is allowed by the CBA.