gophers/ncaa

The NHL lock-out, which was foreseen coming, was the BEST thing to happen to the Gophers. Otherwise, Bjugstad wouldn't have came back for another year. This roster is talented but the team will rely on a rookie goalie. Gopher fans will hope he's not another Jeff Frazee-other wise this could be a LONG season!

This is a big season for the Gophers. I hope one of these young goaltenders emerges as a superstar. This team is stacked.

Dear siouxchamp, First, Bjugstad was coming back anyways. The Panthers never had the money to pay him whether they admit it or not. Second, I bet whomever starts in net for the Gophers only sees 10 shots a game. My dog could win a game in net with the sweet talent in front of her on Defense. Third, the Gophers are better than last year. Sincerely, Gopher

Dan Molenaar of Eden Prairie, Minn., and Sioux City of the U.S. Hockey League, commits to Minnesota Duluth for 2013-14.

I love it. I'm sad to see the WCHA going away in its current form. I just don't think we'll have the same level of rivalry with Ohio State that we did with St. Cloud State. The WCHA really felt like an upper midwest thing that we were a major part of. Friday and Saturday nights watching Gophers games in the winter is a tradtion. It still will be but it won't be the same. Part of what was cool was seeing local kids on other WCHA teams playing against the Gophs. You won't have that with the Big 10 teams. I'll always be a fan though. With no NHL I'll be paying a lot more attention to College and High School hockey.

Russo > Roman.. Good Article no typos .. Go Gophers!

Embrace the WCHA it's last and final year. The BEST conference without a doubt! I'm sad we'll lose all the great rivals; but we can only thank the BIG 10 executives-their money & greed for starting this downfall. Look at the logisitcs and travel, example-for the Gophers under the Big 10. What a joke! You can jack up their travel cost 4x as much.

The gophers are loaded, top to bottom. I will be the first to admit that you don't win, at any level without a stud between the pipes. That said, I think the gophers will be ok because of all the returning defensemen to make the goalies life a little easier. They should also have enough offensive fire power to offset their untested goalies until he gets his feet wet. In the end, the gophers will be just fine and will walk away with the last WCAH title.

when will they release the list of Gopher recruits for this year? They had a great list last year with Horn, Kloos, Fasching, Cammarata, Guertler(playing in USHL at 16!), Lettieri, Nanne, Bischoff, Brodzinski. Theres a ton of D-1 prospects in Minnesota who are still uncommitted. UMD has been recruiting well this year, getting Blake Heinrich, Karson Kuhlman, and now Molenaar. I will miss the WHCA as well.. Excited for the college and highschool hockey seasons to start! Hockey Day Minnesota will be in Grand Rapids this year saturday Jan 19. It sure would be disappointing if there isnt a Penguins/Wild game for the evening session... NHL, get a deal done! until then.. we will have lots of great high school and college hockey to check out.. Go Gophers!

Excited for this year, we've got a great squad and they should be fun to watch!