2021-22 Gopher Men's Hockey Preview (or) Finding Consistency In An Unpredictable Year

One of the more surprising things about Chaz Lucius finally coming to campus? How little surprise exists.

Sure, a few strange oddities have happened since September 2017's post "What is a verbal commit from a 13/14-year-old worth?" Anyone who had "Don Lucia, the head coach who recruited Lucius, now serving as commissioner of the CCHA all while the world is 20 months into a global pandemic" should play the lottery or use those powers for good. 

Four years later, the college hockey landscape is anything but predictable. The rise of new powers, realignment, schools returning after a year away, and transfer portal madness with an additional season of eligibility have all made 2021-22 a world where it is tougher to grasp a handle than any other season.

And yet, Minnesota - on the ice and with its roster - sticks out for its consistency entering Bob Motzko's fourth season as Gophers head coach.

Take Lucius, for example. Not all 14-year-old verbal commits live up to the hype at 18. Even fewer of those who do keep their original commitment. (NCAA hockey recruiting rules thankfully changed so that the days of 13 and 14-year-old verbal commitments are a thing of the past.) However, Lucius did and continued developing into one of his age group's top goal-scorers, being the top Minnesotan and selected 18th overall by the Winnipeg Jets.

That he did is a boon to Motzko, who didn't recruit Lucius to Minnesota but adds him to a team full of players he did. The young underclassmen two seasons ago thrown into the fire by Motzko out of necessity remain as experienced leaders. 2021-22's talented underclassmen will not have to develop in quite the same way. 

Coming off a 2020-21 season where the Gophers won the Big Ten conference tournament, returned to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed after a three-year absence, and made the regional final, high expectations return for the Pride on Ice. While many teams reload or begin the season with a number of transfers and newcomers, Minnesota sticks out by returning most of its core.  

Motzko will miss the 19 goals from Sampo Ranta (early departure), along with leadership from Scott Reedy (pro contract) and Brannon McManus (grad transferred to Omaha). Former Colorado College captain Grant Cruikshank, who led the Tigers in goals despite missing half of last season with appendicitis, comes to Dinkytown as Minnesota's one major incoming transfer. His elite skating joins three returning Gopher forwards who had 25+ points in Sammy Walker (in his unprecedented third season as captain), Blake McLaughlin, and Ben Meyers.

Of course, the largest return might be in net where 2021 Mike Richter Award winner Jack LaFontaine took advantage of the extra year. Minnesota knows it has an experienced number one goaltender, one who had a .934% save percentage and 5 shutouts against Big Ten opponents. That's an early advantage over several schools competing in the same space.

LaFontaine also gets his blue line help back. The entire Gophers top-six returns after a season that saw several players take positive steps in their development. Another year older from a team that gave up 2.06 goals on average, expectations are for Ryan Johnson, Brock Faber, Mike Koster, Jackson LaCombe, Ben Brinkman, and the rest to take another as Minnesota features one of the top defensive depth in the country.

Throughout the lineup, Minnesota is consistent in a year that is anything but. Other teams have more experience or higher-profile players. The Gophers keep building on its own, trending upward; a feature that can be seen in all facets whether it's a top potential free agent in Meyers or an improved defender in LaCombe. 

That includes the incoming players beyond Lucius. In a season where Michigan takes the spotlight for having four of the top-five 2021 NHL Draft picks, it's easy to overlook Minnesota's rookie class. The Gophers went under the radar with three players picked in the first 2 rounds. 

Historically, the bread and butter of Motzko's recruiting involve getting talented players on the upswing, which is the case with forwards Tristan Broz and Mathew Knies where neither was considered a second-rounder at the start of last season. 

In contrast to a number of players in recent years who went the opposite way - NHL Draft hype at 16 and undrafted by 18 - it speaks to where the Gophers program is at entering 2021. (On top of the young rookies, several incoming drafted forwards, such as Rhett Pitlick, had the opportunity to take an extra year of juniors to develop.) It may not be the flashiest or most hyped team, but Minnesota has potential throughout a lineup filled with older experience to continue making noise nationally in a national landscape full of surprises.

Now the question is whether Minnesota, like Lucius over the past four years, lives up to October hype and expectations come March and April.

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WCHA Eulogy

Before the 2021-22 season begins in full, I thought it would be appropriate to toast and eulogize the WCHA men's league.

I'm not the first person to do so. And this isn't exactly my first attempt on the subject. For two years, the WCHA existed in a position where we all knew the end was near. Seven schools departed to form a new CCHA while the remaining three did not have enough schools to continue, culminating with the league quietly closing up 70 years of history with a Friday press release entering the holiday weekend.

It's important to honor that history and legacy. 

Home to more men's national championships than any conference, the WCHA brought the hockey world Olympians, legends, all-time great teams, and Stanley Cup champions. It saw multiple eras where conference teams dominated the national landscape, beginning with a Michigan dynasty in the 1950s and ending with a Minnesota State powerhouse run.

Each person has their own memories of what the league was - older fans have a time when Notre Dame and Michigan were members while newer fans have an era with Bowling Green and Bemidji State. Each era showcases something unique as generations played for the same honor of winning the MacNaughton Cup.

No matter the era, the WCHA rose to the occasion.

One of those, the 2000s, was a special time for me with the WCHA Final Five becoming an annual March puck staple at Xcel Energy Center, a place where Upper Midwest fans from more than a half-dozen schools came together to tailgate, talk trash to one another, and sell out an NHL building.

The Final Five was the perfect event to capture the spirit of 2000s college hockey, which showcased itself in the 2005 Frozen Four featuring only conference schools much to the chagrin of WCHA fans. To experience Minnesota-North Dakota meant to experience a classic rivalry built to the tipping point on the backs of generations before.

That's a testament to the WCHA, which has been there for several different eras of college hockey, always evolving with an ever-changing sport. Always a place for schools - big and small, from Alaska to the Upper Midwest to even interlocking schedules with a young Hockey East - to call home. The W may stand for "western," but its reach was worldwide.

That's what made the WCHA stand out, no matter if the rivalry was between schools in Minnesota, the UP, Colorado, the Great Lakes, or (insert team here) and Wisconsin or North Dakota. It was home for schools that needed one. Those schools made it into something more.

And yet what made the WCHA work so well is also what made it open to being blown up. As much as the men's league evolved to the era, alliances of convenience remained a constant. (This remains true for the women's league, which thankfully still exists.) That was both part of its charm and a reason - disorganization, a large footprint, a lack of TV deals (or a few select teams having them), an imbalance of power - why teams leaving predate the WCHA leaving us. It predates the 21st Century. 

Even in its final years, the WCHA men's league stuck to its principles being open to being home to those who needed one. The league found room for Bemidji State when the CHA went away, picked up the remnants of the pre-2013 CCHA, Alabama Huntsville, and even courting schools like Arizona State. That was what the WCHA did.

For the first time in 70 years, unfortunately not enough teams need a home. In this era, more regional teams and TV deals - the number of games broadcast in one weekend is 5x more than 10-20 years ago - take precedence. More schools mean fewer need an alliance of convenience, which can also be seen as a healthy sign. This isn't the 1950s where only six schools exist outside the Northeast.

The WCHA men's league may be gone for now, but that does mean, like the CCHA just did, it can rise again for the next era as college hockey continues to evolve and change. Since July 2019, two small Western schools - Augustana and St. Thomas - announced plans to sponsor men's hockey. They likely aren't alone. 

For now, the WCHA's spirit lives on in the teams, the history, and the rivalries. I can't think of a more fitting conclusion than Minnesota State, who was invited to play in the WCHA Conference Tournament in the late 90s before joining, being the final dynasty while Alaska, Anchorage, and Alabama Huntsville - three schools always looking and needing a home - being the only ones who didn't leave. 

No matter the teams or eras, the WCHA remained true.

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