Sioux_Hab-it Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 Johnson will be on the Gophers next season. His situation is nothing like Mueller's. Mueller was in the U.S. program for two years and and needed better competition. He couldn't go to college yet, he wasn't drafted yet, and the USHL wasn't a big enough jump in competition for him so he really had no choice but to go to major juniors. Johnson will be a Gopher. Sounds like a pretty serious dream you are having there. Based on his play on the WJC more than one analyst predicted a jump straight to Pros so sorry to burst your bubble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagard Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 Sounds like a pretty serious dream you are having there. Based on his play on the WJC more than one analyst predicted a jump straight to Pros so sorry to burst your bubble. I've heard many say the he certainly could go straight to the pros if he chooses. There are also many who believe he will go the "U" for a season. Ryan Sutter and Jack Johnson are two very recent, very comparible players who played a season of the college game. The only people that are dreamers are the ones that expect more than a season from him at the college level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Man Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 We can only hope that EJ goes pro without ever wearing goldy. He is the real deal and will be an impact player if he ends up a Gopher. I'm sure Gopher fans would love to have him at least one year. My instincts tell me he will go to Minn for a least one year. It takes a little longer for a defenseman to step right into the pros at that young age and while dang good - - he still has a lot to learn. Gopher fans may be "dreamers" in expecting 1 or more years - - - but Sioux fans are "wishful thinking" that he turns pro right away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 Johnson will be on the Gophers next season. His situation is nothing like Mueller's. Mueller was in the U.S. program for two years and and needed better competition. He couldn't go to college yet, he wasn't drafted yet, and the USHL wasn't a big enough jump in competition for him so he really had no choice but to go to major juniors. Johnson will be a Gopher. You forgot Mueller had academic issues as well. But that's not important to a college recruit. Anyways, maybe EJ will go pro, maybe he won't. Either way, the best the 'U' can hope for is that EJ is a 1 season wonder for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sioux_Hab-it Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 We can only hope that EJ goes pro without ever wearing goldy. He is the real deal and will be an impact player if he ends up a Gopher. I'm sure Gopher fans would love to have him at least one year. My instincts tell me he will go to Minn for a least one year. It takes a little longer for a defenseman to step right into the pros at that young age and while dang good - - he still has a lot to learn. Gopher fans may be "dreamers" in expecting 1 or more years - - - but Sioux fans are "wishful thinking" that he turns pro right away. Normally I would agree but being pegged as Number one overall is not the norm when talking about D-men, and besides the straight transition to the the Pros has been done from the USA before. Remember Phil Housley. It has happened numerous times to Canadians and would have been more recently accomplished by Phaneuf and Coburn if there hadn't been a strike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoggy Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 One interesting thing that the NHL article talked about was the constant hype surrounding Kessel. Toews isn't put through that and I wonder if that isn't part of the reason for him going to a US college to play. It doesn't even seem like he has much hype in Canada (besides the WJC) for him being their top ranked player. I guess it doesn't matter, because the NHL knows who he is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 One interesting thing that the NHL article talked about was the constant hype surrounding Kessel. Toews isn't put through that and I wonder if that isn't part of the reason for him going to a US college to play. It doesn't even seem like he has much hype in Canada (besides the WJC) for him being their top ranked player. I guess it doesn't matter, because the NHL knows who he is. I don't question what you are trying to say, I only am confused as to the first part of your post. Toews chose to go to UND to avoid Kessel-type hype? Kessel was hyped and I don't remember him ever considering Major Juniors. The only hype MJ wise regarding Toews was that he was the 1st overall pick in the WHL draft his draft year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoggy Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 I don't question what you are trying to say, I only am confused as to the first part of your post. Toews chose to go to UND to avoid Kessel-type hype? Kessel was hyped and I don't remember him ever considering Major Juniors. The only hype MJ wise regarding Toews was that he was the 1st overall pick in the WHL draft his draft year. I was just thinking that if Toews did play in Canada he'd be getting the media circus like Kessel does in the U.S. Maybe a part of his decision to go the college route was to avoid that mess. Look how Kessel is constanlty getting ripped by fans and media. Haven't his own fans even been ripping him? The guy will never be able to do enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 I was just thinking that if Toews did play in Canada he'd be getting the media circus like Kessel does in the U.S. Maybe a part of his decision to go the college route was to avoid that mess. Look how Kessel is constanlty getting ripped by fans and media. Haven't his own fans even been ripping him? The guy will never be able to do enough. I understand now. As for the last part, I know he's getting ripped by scouts (ISS dropped his stock), but the only fans I really see ripping him are Sioux fans and UW fans. I haven't noticed many Gopher fans turning on him. And it is true, unless he starts scoring 4 points a game (2g 2a) for the remainder of the season, I don't think people will ever say he's done enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoggy Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 This seems a good place for this. Woog just said that Kessel only has one even strength goal all year. That seems very surprising, though I've always felt that many Gopher players make their living on the PP. FSN put up a stat on how the CC big guns are averaging like around 70% of their points from the PP. That's also surprising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsowe Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 The wheels are falling off for CC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwing77 Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 The wheels are falling off for CC I just watched the 3rd period of the game. Does anyone else feel like they wish the Sioux would play CC next weekend? I mean, even we could take 2 points from the Gophers. CC is in free fall right now. No way will they sweep us and our chances for sweeping them has gone from 10% to 25% IMO. Yeah, we still won't probably sweep them but our chances are getting better and better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siouxdonyms Posted January 21, 2006 Share Posted January 21, 2006 I just watched the 3rd period of the game. Does anyone else feel like they wish the Sioux would play CC next weekend? I mean, even we could take 2 points from the Gophers. A week ago, we were in the same position that CC is currently in. Their Friday night game against the Gophers was actually better than our Friday night performance. Not saying that CC will win tonight, but if they put together the same type determination that the Sioux had last weekend, they'll rebound well. Of course, Lucia would than say that CC picked it up a notch, while the Goofers dropped a notch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprig Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 A week ago, we were in the same position that CC is currently in. Their Friday night game against the Gophers was actually better than our Friday night performance. Not saying that CC will win tonight, but if they put together the same type determination that the Sioux had last weekend, they'll rebound well. Of course, Lucia would than say that CC picked it up a notch, while the Goofers dropped a notch. They played this afternoon. Gophers won 3-2 and get the sweep. Sioux playing to move up to fourth place tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siouxdonyms Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 They played this afternoon. Gophers won 3-2 and get the sweep. Sioux playing to move up to fourth place tonight. I just figured that out, my apologies Redwing. I've been working with middle school kids all day, so I didn't know about the different schedule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siouxguyinstpaul Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 And a Bucky win will put us in sight of the number 3 spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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