What is wrong with Gopher Hockey Part II
February 21st 2011 16:36
Can the Gophers Win with an All-Minnesota Team?
This is the second part of "What's Wrong with Minnesota Gophers Hockey?" Last week Part I focused on the changing landscape of college hockey, as well as the development of Gopher players.
There are at least five things Minnesotans can count on each and every year: a beautiful fall season, long and cold winters, pot holes, the Vikings to break your heart in new, creative, excruciating and seemingly unimaginable ways, and a Minnesota Gopher hockey team that is distinctly Minnesotan.
Outside of perhaps only the University of Texas Longhorns football team), nowhere else in collegiate sports will you find a team that is better represented by its own state than the Minnesota Gophers hockey team. Since the beginning of time (or when the game was invented by those hosers in CANADA and exported to these United States sometime later), the team that plays hockey for the U has been primarily, if not entirely, made up of Minnesotans.
The fans of Gopher hockey take pride in the fact that not only are they cheering for a team in Minnesota, but a team that's MADE in Minnesota. And clearly, that's a huge, huge deal for the passionate hockey fans in the Land of the Frozen Pond.
When the Minnesota Gophers won the hockey national championship in 2001-02, the Gophers had only one non-Minnesotan on the roster (there's usually between 25-30 players listed on a roster per season). When they won again the following season, they had just three players who were non-Minnesotan. Look back on their most successful teams and you'll see a roster chalk full of kids who grew up skating on rinks, ponds, and lakes right here in this fine state.
If you ask outsiders, and I mean people that love hockey that aren’t from Minnesota, they have always appreciated this about Gopher hockey, and I certainly understand the appeal in fielding an all-Minnesota team.
Most Gopher fans are also high school hockey fans, and they enjoy watching kids come up through the Minnesota high school ranks, and then onto the big sheet at Mariucci to star for the Gophers. Many fans have had season tickets for generations, and it's been part of the heritage to see Minnesotans starring for Minnesota. But with the recent downswing for the program, I have to ask: is an All-Minnesotan Gopher hockey squad still viable in the changing landscape of college hockey?
As we discussed last week, with more drafted players leaving school early, and with an expanding base of talent coming from previously untapped areas in the southern United States, can a team of almost entirely Minnesotans still compete for national titles?
This is the second part of "What's Wrong with Minnesota Gophers Hockey?" Last week Part I focused on the changing landscape of college hockey, as well as the development of Gopher players.
There are at least five things Minnesotans can count on each and every year: a beautiful fall season, long and cold winters, pot holes, the Vikings to break your heart in new, creative, excruciating and seemingly unimaginable ways, and a Minnesota Gopher hockey team that is distinctly Minnesotan.
Outside of perhaps only the University of Texas Longhorns football team), nowhere else in collegiate sports will you find a team that is better represented by its own state than the Minnesota Gophers hockey team. Since the beginning of time (or when the game was invented by those hosers in CANADA and exported to these United States sometime later), the team that plays hockey for the U has been primarily, if not entirely, made up of Minnesotans.
The fans of Gopher hockey take pride in the fact that not only are they cheering for a team in Minnesota, but a team that's MADE in Minnesota. And clearly, that's a huge, huge deal for the passionate hockey fans in the Land of the Frozen Pond.
When the Minnesota Gophers won the hockey national championship in 2001-02, the Gophers had only one non-Minnesotan on the roster (there's usually between 25-30 players listed on a roster per season). When they won again the following season, they had just three players who were non-Minnesotan. Look back on their most successful teams and you'll see a roster chalk full of kids who grew up skating on rinks, ponds, and lakes right here in this fine state.
If you ask outsiders, and I mean people that love hockey that aren’t from Minnesota, they have always appreciated this about Gopher hockey, and I certainly understand the appeal in fielding an all-Minnesota team.
Most Gopher fans are also high school hockey fans, and they enjoy watching kids come up through the Minnesota high school ranks, and then onto the big sheet at Mariucci to star for the Gophers. Many fans have had season tickets for generations, and it's been part of the heritage to see Minnesotans starring for Minnesota. But with the recent downswing for the program, I have to ask: is an All-Minnesotan Gopher hockey squad still viable in the changing landscape of college hockey?
As we discussed last week, with more drafted players leaving school early, and with an expanding base of talent coming from previously untapped areas in the southern United States, can a team of almost entirely Minnesotans still compete for national titles?
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