Is this the year of the Gopher?

by TR Holler, Let’s Play Hockey

In as much as our beloved game continues to grow and diversify, the 2024-25 NCAA men’s hockey national contenders will again provide seasonally familiar vibes. This will also hold true of the seven team BIG 10 conference. Many states outside the self-proclaimed ‘state of hockey’ can lay claim to our provincial title, especially when combined with their respective NHL success most notably Colorado, Michigan, and Massachusetts. So, this season more than any other, unless Goldy Gopher can exceed even the loftiest of expectations next spring, we must unceremoniously pass the ‘state of hockey’ torch.

Yes, it’s true rubes. Frankly, after a now 21-year hiatus, which is officially a ‘generation’, it remains ‘Ski-U-Meh’ on the ice sheet of stunted expectations.

Peering onto the national landscape we anticipate picking up right where we left off last April, at The Frozen Four, in St. Paul where Denver was crowned the NCAA men’s hockey national champion, their 10^th title overall, finally catapulting the Pioneers over Michigan for the most NCAA D1 men’s hockey titles. Heading into the 2024-25 season, the Gophers are tied for fifth place all-time with, ironically enough, Boston College and Boston U with five titles, separated from lofty Denver by Michigan with nine, North Dakota with eight and…(Gasp!)  Bucky Badger with six! Geez, say it isn’t so! Well, chop, chop Le Gophaire! Time to turn mere rankings into serious hardware – after all, it’s been a generation!

Denver is atop the national polls again, with stoically cerebral head coach, David Carle and a reloaded roster led by Wild first-round draft pick, defenseman, Zeev Buium who consistently locks down opponents and provides special teams punch from the blue line. Of course, usual contenders, Boston University and Boston College, will provide fierce competition all season long with a balanced mix of returning and replenished rosters. Boston U carries serious disappointment off the ’24 Frozen Four so the Terriers have sharpened their teeth led by incoming frosh sensation, and former Gopher recruit, Cole Eiserman. These three teams should stand at the top of the national rankings while the top BIG 10 teams, fall just slightly below, into what we will call the ‘second tier’.

Beware the Ides of March as you can expect the state of Michigan will again make their claim to BIG 10 supremacy challenged by the Gopher who will just barely outpace Bucky Badger’s valiant efforts by their venerable AARP corps led by D-Daniel Laatsch, D-Ben Dexheimer and sneaky winger, F-Simon Tassy. Both Michigan teams have re-emerged as top recruiters the past two seasons with a plethora of top-ranked recruits and portal transfers. Ann Arbor’s Wolverines and Hwy 127 rival Sparty of Michigan State will exchange blows to see who restocked the shelves best. Michigan State head coach, Adam Nightengale, has a unique tri-fecta pipeline inclusive of Shattuck-St. Mary’s, the USNTDP and Michigan itself as both a home-stater and Spartan alum, all which makes for a linear recruiting path. Case in point, pulling ex-NTDP’ers via the portal, snagging local products Isaac Howard (UMD) and Charlie Stramel (Wisconsin) who are said to revere Nightengale. Both teams from the boxing glove are experienced, have multi-line depth and proven goaltenders with the edge going to the Spartans with phenom, and world junior regular, Trey Augustine. Michigan embodies all these attributes, but the loss of recently emancipated F-Rutger McGroarty, whose Winnipeg Jets rights were traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins, leaves the Wolverines without their most physical player and emotional team leader. As usual, the Wolverines will simply reload. However, this glaring McGroarty gap propels the Spartans past the Wolverines atop the conference both in the regular season and conference playoffs.

So, what about our beloved Gophers?  Expectations and rankings will be debated all season long with the furor beginning in September with the first USCHO men’s hockey poll placing the Gopher sixth overall, just ahead of No. 7 Michigan, with Michigan State at No. 4 and North Dakotas at No. 5.

Not to be outdone, yours truly will further feed the armchair malcontents as I place the Gophers seventh nationally and third in the BIG 10 conference for our BIG 10 rankings.

Throughout the season the Gophers will fluctuate among No. 4 – No.8, no doubt. They should, if healthy, lock down a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tourney field of 16, proving legit. The presumed top line and trio of first-round draft picks in wings Jimmy Snuggerud and UConn transfer Matthew Wood centered by Oliver Moore will rack up points and erase the warm and fuzzy lore of Knies and Cooley. Wood brings a longer, heavier body to the top line at 6’4”/195 and the ability to shoot off either foot with balance and a deceptively quick release. The potential second line of Connor Kurth and Brody Lamb centered by Aaron Huglen will also have moments of dynamism and highlight reels of their own. This ‘24-‘25 Gopher top six? Arguably the most talented in the country. However, we must remember these Gophers need to replace 103 points and a combined +43 not to mention veteran leadership in the departures of Jaxon Nelson, and top scorers Bryce Brodzinski, and most recently, Rhett Pitlick who is now a Maverick down Mankato way. Combine that with the loss of 3-year starting netminder, Justen Close and suddenly, cracks in the Gopher pre-season veneer become apparent fills that need to be repaired swiftly.

Diving deeper into the Gopher holes we see a labyrinth of intrigue; A third line might feature two newcomers in Erik Pahlsson and Brodie Ziemer centered by Jimmy Clark which has a world of potential, but is very young and not the typical veteran, heavy checking line that are textbook necessities for deep playoff success. Also, the vaunted Gopher top-six scoring talent must fully commit to a relentless two-way, three-zone attack where defensive commitment feeds the O-zone opportunities opposed to floaty, soft transitions created off the no-look trail pass. This paradigm shift needs urgent adoption as a permanent team identity to convert pesky weekend splits into sweeps which not only builds confidence but fuels a long-overdue killer instinct.

Which brings us to the Gopher D-corps. It is a near microcosm of the top-six offensive corps in talent, experience and respect but drops off a bit on the back end with a need for that third pair to mature quickly and grind opponents to a nub deep in the corners. The vote to do just that is incoming freshman, Leo Gruba. If Gruba brings his two-way Fargo pedigree with him the Gophers will ascend late in the year with the best D-corps in the land. The top two D- pairs will be steady as ever in Koster/Rinzel and Mittlestadt/Chesley, respectively.

Lastly, we pivot to the Gopher goalie situation which is the top concern in terms of regular season consistency and NCAA gauntlet success to the Frozen Four in St. Louis. Losing the agile Justen Close leaves an opportunity for the newbies to step up and protect the twine with leading contender/returnee Nathan Airey and incoming Penn State transfer, Liam Souliere, the smallish Canuck who is a veteran of 50 BIG 10 wins. Airey, at 6’3”/175 is a lithe, athletic, disciplined goalie so it will be interesting to see who wins the job and/or if Coach Motzko prefers a 50/50 split and Souliere’s starting experience. If the goalie question is answered by a starter locking down with nerves of steel this Gopher team will finish in the top five rankings nationally and battle it out in St. Louis as a No. 1 seed. However, if shaky goalie play is the norm, and the Gophers lack a gritty, sustained forecheck? We will see a third seed, Elite Eight NCAA finish preceded by a third-place finish in the BIG 10. The differential here is narrow, yet it flips just that easy.

The Airey sky is the limit for the Gopher so long as a spoiled acorn doesn’t satiate their winter hunger – so stay hungry and feed in the springtime youthful Gopher.