Podcast: That Gopher Hockey Puckcast Episode 31

On episode 31 of That Gopher Hockey Puckcast, we kick off season 3 of podcasting about college hockey.

Fresh off attending the University of Minnesota men's hockey media day, Nate Wells and Drew Cove break down the 2018-19 Gophers. From players to watch to expectations for the season to new sweaters and more, the two answer all the questions you have about how the team will do in Bob Motzko's first year as Minnesota head coach. They also preview this weekend's opening home-and-home series against Minnesota Duluth. Plus: Some Joe Mauer and Gritty talk.

Those who get nervous meeting Neal Broten for the first time can directly download here.



Since the feed is new, it'd help us out to leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. You can subscribe on iTunes here.

Plugs and stuff

-Drew can be found on Twitter @covedrew and is the sports editor for the Minnesota Daily. His byline can also be found in the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

-Nate can be found here on this website and at The Athletic (as well as every other website if the various links here don't make clear). You can follow him on Twitter @gopherstate and like/subscribe to his Facebook page.

-Tom can be found on Twitter @tschreier3. He is the Founder and President of Zone Coverage.

Game Story: Gophers hold players-only meeting after being swept (Zone Coverage)

MINNEAPOLIS- Minnesota needed two goals to come back against Michigan in the third period.

Instead, the Gophers finished with two shots.

Defeated, distraught and looking for answers, frustration boiled over Saturday. The mood inside the Minnesota locker room was quite different than six days earlier when the team emerged with a shutout win over the No. 1 team in the nation.

Michigan (10-10-2, 5-7-2-1 Big Ten) left 3M Arena at Mariucci with a 3-1 win and the first-ever Big Ten sweep over the Gophers by a visiting team. Early goals doomed the home team once again. The Wolverines scored twice in the opening 3:06, digging a hole too deep for Minnesota (13-12-1, 4-9-1-1 Big Ten).

Believing what they’re doing is not working and needing to get on the same page, Gopher players held a 15-minute meeting postgame once the coaches left.

“We addressed each other. We have to hold each other accountable and hold ourselves accountable,” said Minnesota captain Tyler Sheehy.

A night after the Gophers gave up a goal on the very first shift, Michigan’s Brendan Warren scored on the second. Josh Norris wasted no time on a Jake Slaker pass to beat Eric Schierhorn on the power play.

Click here to read the rest!

Game Story: Minnesota shuts out top-ranked St. Cloud State (Zone Coverage)

MINNEAPOLIS- A day after leaving St. Cloud with a loss and praise for the top-ranked Huskies, Minnesota rebounded Sunday with a 2-0 home shutout win in Minneapolis.

The Gophers defeated the No. 1 team in the USCHO poll for the first time since beating Boston College 8-1 on December 30, 2012.

Sophomore goaltender Mat Robson made 34 saves to earn his first career shutout and salvage a series split. He bested St. Cloud State David Hrenak in a goaltending battle where each seemed to one-up the other as both teams traded chances.

“Both goalies were outstanding today. That was a heck of a duel people were able to watch,” said SCSU head coach Bob Motzko, whose team’s nine-game unbeaten streak came to an end.

Darian Romanko’s early third period goal proved to be the difference when a potential St. Cloud State (13-3-3, 7-2-1-1 NCHC) tally by Mikey Eyssimont was waved off by the officials following a five minute delay with multiple reviews.

Click here to read the rest!

Pregame Blog: Gophers without 3 top-9 forwards, Peyton Jones' Sportcenter save + More

#11 Penn State (2-1-0, 1-0-0-0 Big Ten) at #7 Minnesota (1-2-0, 0-1-0-0 Big Ten)

Date: October 15, 2017
Time: 3:00 pm CT
Place: 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis, MN
TV: Fox Sports North (Doug McLeod, Ben Clymer and Krissy Wendell-Pohl)
Stream: BTN2Go/Fox Sports Go
Radio: 1130 KTLK-AM (Wally Shaver and Frank Mazzocco)
Nate is covering for today: The Athletic

Among the many things Minnesota failed to do in Friday's 3-1 loss was test Penn State sophomore goaltender Peyton Jones.

"Not at all," junior forward Darian Romanko said. "We got zero shots in the first ten minutes and 16 on the game, I think (Note: It was 21). That's not good enough for Gopher hockey."

The slow start was Minnesota's second consecutive Friday night opening the game being outshot over the first ten minutes. The Gophers didn't have a shot stopped by Jones until the 12 minute mark. He was barely tested as the Nittany Lions forced Eric Schierhorn (making his record-breaking 79th straight start Sunday) to stop 2 breakaways during that stretch.

Game Story: Gophers blank Spartans, win Big Ten championship (St. Paul Pioneer Press)

3/10/2017 Game Story

Michigan State 0
Minnesota 4
FINAL

MINNEAPOLIS- Jack Sadek skated off the ice at the end of the first period having scored more goals in 20 minutes than he had in two years with the Gophers.

In 45 games prior, the sophomore defenseman from Lakeville and Minnesota Wild draft pick had one goal as a Gopher. Making up for lost time and getting a chance to finally show off some goal celebration moves, Sadek finished with two as Minnesota defeated Michigan State 4-0 Friday night at Mariucci Arena.

“I said earlier that I don’t think I’ve scored twice in a game,” Sadek said between laughs. “It feels good to help out the team in a big game.”

With two celebrations in hand, Sadek and his teammates added another after the game. Minnesota’s victory clinched at least a share of its fourth Big Ten Conference championship in four years, and the Gophers became outright champions 45 minutes later when Ohio State beat Wisconsin 5-1.

The Gophers (23-10-2, 14-5-0-0 Big Ten) have put together sixth straight conference championship seasons, including the last two as a member of the WCHA before that league realigned.

“You’re happy for the guys. You feel like it was going to happen this weekend, but you still have to go out and earn it,” Minnesota coach Don Lucia said following the win.

Click here to read the rest!

Pregame Blog: Minnesota-Wisconsin preview, line combinations, TV & radio + more

Friday's Game Info

#19 Wisconsin at #4 Minnesota

Date: February 24, 2017
Time: 7:00 p.m. CT
Place: Mariucci Arena
TV: Fox Sports North Plus (Fox Sports Wisconsin for our friends in Madison)
Stream: BTN2Go/Fox Sports Go (Free for cable subscribers)
Radio: 1500 ESPN
Nate is covering for tonight: St. Paul Pioneer Press

Puck Dynasty Podcast: The Road Runner Line Leads The Way Against Penn State

Puck Dynasty is a weekly podcast covering the University of Minnesota men’s hockey team and college hockey. Nathan Wells (SB Nation College Hockey/various outlets), Declan Goff (1500 ESPN/GoMN Sports) and Drew Cove (Minnesota Daily) discuss the latest news, analysis and give their opinions about the Gophers and sport as a whole.

This week, with Nate back in studio from covering the series in State College (for the second straight week he made the long trek from one end of Chicago Midway to the other), the crew lead off by breaking down the ending to Saturday’s Minnesota-Penn State game from all sides. Other topics include the line of Rem Pitlick-Justin Kloos-Tyler Sheehy getting a new nickname, Eric Schierhorn making 80+ saves on the weekend, whether the Gopher offense can carry the team on its own come NCAA Tournament time, unsung penalty kill heroes and a pair of game misconducts on the weekend coupled with a suspension.

The upcoming Border Battle series with Wisconsin is previewed along with a look at which teams on the Pairwise bubble we are interested in following as the season winds down.

Towards the end of the podcast Twitter questions get answered.

Those looking for Atlantic Hockey unicorns can directly download at 1500 ESPN, Podcast One or subscribe on iTunes.

Follow Nate (@gopherstate), Declan (@dexstweets) and Drew (@drewcove48) on Twitter. If you like what you hear, be sure to give it a five star review on whatever platform you consume podcasts.

Show links and notes:

-Drew’s feature on Leon Bristedt can be read here.

-Nate’s Pioneer Press feature on the penalty kill.

-College Hockey Ranked’s website for Pairwise discussion.

-The Denis Smirnov penalty shot from inside the building.

GOAL PENN STATE: Denis Smirnov converts the penalty shot. Video: pic.twitter.com/gENLifOx6C

— Nate Wells (@gopherstate) February 19, 2017

Puck Dynasty Podcast: Will a split with Penn State be a successful weekend? (Episode 14)

Puck Dynasty is a weekly podcast covering the University of Minnesota men’s hockey team and college hockey. Nathan Wells (SB Nation College Hockey/various outlets), Declan Goff (1500 ESPN/GoMN Sports) and Drew Cove (Minnesota Daily) discuss the latest news, analysis and give their opinions about the Gophers and sport as a whole.

This week Nate joins from New York City via Skype for a road show. The crew discuss Minnesota's split against Ohio State, a school-record power play performance, Josh Healey's hit on Darian Romanko and the point of suspensions being a deterrent, and previewing the Gophers playing Penn State for the second time in three weeks.

Towards the end of the podcast Twitter questions get answered.

Those cursing at the utterance of "Dave Hakstol: Minnesota head coach" can directly download at 1500 ESPN, Podcast One or subscribe on iTunes.



Follow Nate (@gopherstate), Declan (@dexstweets) and Drew (@drewcove48) on Twitter. If you like what you hear, be sure to give it a five star review on whatever platform you consume podcasts.

Here's the Josh Healey hit mentioned.

pic.twitter.com/oDhiSaG2wM RT @gopherstate Josh Healey has been suspended two games for his blindside hit of Darian Romanko on Saturday.

— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) February 13, 2017

Story: Gophers hockey on a roll with PK (St. Paul Pioneer Press)

University of Minnesota sophomore forwards Jack Ramsey and Darian Romanko share a line that goes by several nicknames.

“Blue,” for both the jersey color worn in practice and collar style of play. And “trench line,” a name preferred by Ramsey, carried over from his time in junior hockey; it represents digging in and shutting down the top offensive line.

On special teams the 6-foot-1, 204-pound Romanko and the 6-3, 196-pound Ramsey have plenty of help — from scoring forward Justin Kloos to shot-blocking defenseman Jake Bischoff and stingy goalie Eric Schierhorn, among others — to dig in on a penalty kill that has played a major role in the Gophers’ No. 5 national ranking.

“It’s that consistency factor. We work on it a lot in practice,” said Ramsey. “I think a huge thing is we usually have six forwards killing. We have our pairs, so you know who your partner is all the time.”

After sweeping Penn State last weekend, the Gophers (17-7-2, 8-2-0 Big Ten) are a nation-best 10-2-0 since they last faced this weekend’s opponent, Ohio State (13-7-6, 4-5-1). That was at Mariucci Arena on Dec. 2-3 when the teams split a pair of games.

Click here to read the rest!

Pregame Blog: Why Joey Marooney is in tonight against Penn State + Minnesota Line Combinations

Friday's Game Info:

#6/4 Penn State at #7 Minnesota

Date: February 3, 2017
Time: 7:00 p.m. CT
Place: Mariucci Arena
TV: Fox Sports North Plus
Stream: BTN2Go (Free for cable subscribers)
Radio: 1500 ESPN
Nate is covering for tonight: SB Nation College Hockey

Not everything is set in Minnesota's forward lineup as the Gophers hit the stretch run of Big Ten conference play.

"There's some spots to be had right now and that's what we have to try and find out over the next month," said head coach Don Lucia.