Season in Review. Looking Ahead to Next Year.

Season in Review 

Another season of Golden Gopher hockey is in the books, and the long national title drought continues. It seems like yesterday I was buying my tickets for the St. Thomas series, eager to see the new ice sheet at 3M at Mariucci Arena. What an interesting offseason it was following the heartbreak in Tampa. In the summer of 2023, all signs were pointing towards a revenge tour with Jaxon Nelson, Bryce Brodzinski, Justen Close, Jimmy Snuggerud, and most importantly, Logan Cooley, announcing they were coming back for one more shot at the national championship after coming up heartbreakingly short just months before. Then came a summer of question marks, first with the "unexpected" signing of Logan Cooley mid-summer after he had announced his intent to return. Shortly after Cooley's announcement, the Gopher fan base was informed that likely top ten draft pick Cole Eiserman would be decommitting from the U and taking his talents to Boston University. While Eiserman’s decommitment was a footnote due to his ineligibility to play for the Gophers this year, it still led to skepticism from many fans around Minnesota that Bob Motzko had lost his touch. But as in usual Motzko fashion, recruits started piling up shortly after, none more important than Logan Cooley's cousin, LJ Mooney, who, if you haven't heard of him, has star written all over him. One of the biggest challenges the Gopher coaching staff faced after Cooley signed with the Coyotes was finding a quality player in the transfer portal to “replace” him. Unfortunately, with his departure as late as it was, the Gophers were left with very few options remaining in the portal. The Gophers then gave former St. John's and Holy Family Fire forward Nick Michel and former Edina standout Jimmy Clark a shot, primarily to fill spots if need be. Michel only saw the ice twice this season. Clark, on the other hand, was a great story. He was hot early in the season and was critical in the Gophers' win vs. Omaha in the regional opener. The future looks bright for him, as Motzko believes Clark will have a huge impact on the Gophers in the future.

The season started off with an electric game against St. Thomas at the Xcel Energy Center. In a back-and-forth game, the Gophers' Jimmy Snuggerud won the game in overtime. The beginning of the season highlighted some impressive wins as well as some questionable losses. Big wins include a 4-0 shutout of the Fighting Hawks at the Ralph, and some questionable losses... well, questionable at the time, was the series sweep the Badgers handed the Gophers. As time would tell, the Badgers are indeed back. As fun as the 8-1 wins were, it's best for college hockey to have them be competitive.

The Gophers struggled for most of the first half trying to find their true identity, settling for splits, primarily due to the inability to win, let alone score in shootouts. By the end of the season, the Gophers would have 5 shootout losses where a goal was not scored in any of them. In the final game of the first half, the Gophers once again settled for a shootout loss against the Big Ten's worst, the Ohio State Buckeyes. This series left a lot of questions in the heads of Gophers fans and even myself. The Gophers started the second half with the Colorado College Tigers, who were a great story this year. The Gophers fell in the first game but responded well with a 6-2 thumping the next day, thanks to a hat trick by Jimmy Snuggerud. The Gophers then rattled off back-to-back sweeps and started to look like a team. Many Gopher fans regained hope in the maroon and gold after a much-improved second half . As the Big Ten regular season came to an end, it was time for yet another March matchup with Michigan, and like what seems to be tradition, the Gophers would fall to the Wolverines in the Big Ten Tournament, this year in the semifinal. The Gophers found themselves in the Sioux Falls region alongside BU, Omaha, and RIT. The Gophers were able to defeat a very pesky Omaha team but would ultimately fall short of their goal of the Frozen Four at the hands of Macklin Celebrini and the BU Terriers. For the first time since 2021, the Gophers will watch the Frozen Four from home as BU, BC, Michigan, and Denver duke it out for the National Championship. My pick is Denver over BC.

 As the season ended, so did the college careers of Justen Close, Bryce Brodzinski, and Jaxon Nelson. From my perspective, these three athletes have exemplified what it means to be a Gopher. Freshman Sam Rinzel said, “they gave their heart and soul to this program. I can only dream of doing what they were able to do here.” As Herbie would say, ‘the name on the front is a hell of a lot more important than the one on the back,’ and they exemplified this. While there are three guaranteed departures, eyes will look to Jimmy Snuggerud to make his decision at some point this week. The rumor mill is pointing him towards signing with the Blues according to Jess Myers of The Rink Live. Eyes will also look at seniors Carl Fish, Mason Nevers, and Mike Koster. Their decisions might be further down the road, but my gut tells me we might see all three of them in Maroon and Gold next fall.

New Kids on The Block .

Brodie Ziemer (Zee-mur)

Ziemer headlines this freshman class. He is finishing up his year with the NTDP. Ziemer, who some believe could be a late first-round pick, so far has 54 points in 51 games with 24 goals and 30 assists. I had the chance to stream a few of Brodie's games, and my brief thoughts are that he is a great skater and playmaker and definitely has the ability to be a top-six forward next year.

Erik Pahlson (Paul-son)

Hailing from Sweden is Erik Pahlson, one of the more intriguing newcomers in my opinion. Pahlson spent the year in Dubuque with the Fighting Saints, posting very solid numbers. I became very attentive to Pahlson early on in the season when he was leading the USHL in points. After watching some of his games, what sticks out most is his ability to play two ways, something the Gophers lacked at times this year. Pahlson currently sits 13th in points in the USHL with 62 points in 52 games, tallying 23 goals and 39 assists.

Leo Gruba (Grew-bah)

Leo Gruba has stud written all over him. At one point, he was an SCSU commit before flipping to the U. I first became familiar with Gruba during his 2020 state tournament with Hill Murray. The offensive defenseman has posted impressive numbers this year with the Fargo Force, compiling 55 points in 57 games with 21 goals and 34 assists. Gruba is also the only defenseman in the top 40 in points, sitting at 20th in the USHL. Gruba has the ability to make something out of nothing; his elusive play headlines him. One second he is on the blue line, the next he is in the circle banging a one-timer into the net. I'm curious to see how many of his famous dab celebrations we see next fall.

Beckett Hendrickson (Hen-drick-son)

The son of Wild legend Darby Hendrickson is Beckett. Many Gophers fans thought we might have seen Beckett in a Gopher Jersey this year, but Bob reached out to Edina native Jimmy Clark to fill the open position. Beckett has really found his game this year with both the Sioux Falls Stampede and the Dubuque Fighting Saints. I have no preconceptions of Beckett other than the improvement of his game this year. The Bruins draft pick went from 16 points in 21 games played on a loaded NTDP squad a year ago to 43 points in 43 games with 18 goals and 25 assists.

John Whipple (Wip-pul)

  Whipple, the New Jersey/Minnetonka native and defenseman, is having an average season with the NTDP. He has put forth 15 points in 51 games with 1 goal and 14 assists. Whipple is probably under the radar for many Gopher fans. I have heard from a credible source that he plays with excellent vision and is a hockey-smart kid. Hoping John can be a good addition to a seasoned Gophers blue line next year.

August Falloon (Fal- loon)

At one point an Arizona State commit, the St. Cloud native is playing his hockey with the Tri-City Storm. Falloon this season has 29 points in 43 games with 15 goals and 14 assists. Falloon was a late addition to this upcoming class. He has a big frame standing at 6 '2, and from watching films, he seems to be very good at getting to the right place at the right time.

While there is no guarantee that we will see all of these players skate for the Gophers next year there will be spots to fill, curious how this unfolds in the coming months.

The Portal is Going Crazy 

As many could have probably foreseen, the transfer portal has once again gone nuclear. Some news that came out this morning was that UConn star and leading goal scorer Matthew Wood is believed to be entering the transfer portal. Why is this important? New England Hockey Journal and NHL.com contributor Mark Divver tweeted today that he is under the impression that the Gophers are favorites to be Matthew Wood's next destination. Wood is a 2023 first-round pick of the Nashville Predators (R1 P15). Wood led the Huskies in points this year with 28 points in 35 games, tallying 16 goals and 12 assists for a weak Huskies squad. Wood also took part in the World Junior tournament for Team Canada with 4 points in 5 games, including 2 goals and 2 assists. While there is no confirmation to the validity of this rumor, Divver also noted that Wisconsin and North Dakota were also in the mix, but the Gophers were. Mike McMahon of College Hockey Network also tweeted out that he heard the Gophers are “heavy favorites.” Definitely something to keep an eye out for in the coming months.

Will the Gophers Utilize the Portal?

I've seen a lot of talk in the past few days about the Gophers utilizing the portal this offseason. Last year, we saw North Dakota load up in the transfer portal after losing most of their D core. One position I'm curious to see the Gophers deal with is the goaltending position. Originally, the thought was to have Close as the primary while giving Airey some time mixed in, but Airey's early injuries put a damper on that, and it wasn't until the beginning of January where Nathan Airey saw ice time. Airey, in his 2 starts (NTDP, RMU), looked stellar. Airey stands 6 foot 3, which is considerably taller than Justen Close, who was listed at 5'10. Going into next year, the plan was to bring back Owen Bartoszkiewicz to rotate with Airey. Well, it's safe to say Barto hasn't had a great year with a 3.01 GAA and a .893 save pct in Youngstown, and a 4.04 GAA and .866 save pct in Oklahoma in the NAHL. It will definitely be something to monitor as time goes on this offseason to see if the Gophers grab a goalie from the portal, especially with Tommy Scarfone available. Coach Motzko did say in an interview that he has full faith in Airey being the future of this program. With the portal as crazy as it is right now, I would not be surprised to any degree to see the Gophers go hunting.

And Now We Wait.

Once again, we will have to wait and see how things unfold. The long offseason has begun. One thing can be expected, and that's for more crazy stuff to happen in the College Hockey world. While the Gophers once again fall short of the promise land, we as fans must be patient. Like Motzko said in the media presser, “The Vikings will win the Super Bowl one day,” so will the Gophers. But for now, 3MaM gets ready for graduation ceremonies, players finish up finals and start offseason training, and we as fans sit here and wonder the same question we have been asking for the last 20 years: “Will next year be the year?” Only time will tell.

Nelson and Brodzinski celebrate in 3-2 regional win over Omaha. Photo credits - Gopher Hockey