Gopher Hockey needs more defense if they hope to start winning as the 2014-15 regular season nears the end
Gopher Hockey had a good weekend against the Wisconsin Badgers. They won 7-5 on Friday night & tied 4-4 on Saturday night with a late goal by Seth Ambroz with 2 seconds left but ended up losing in a shootout. They gave up 9 goals to a team that has averaged 2 goals a game this season. Yes, they scored 11 goals but offense has very rarely been a problem for the Gophers.
*2 seconds left? I bet Justin Holl was wondering why they left so much time on the clock.
The biggest problem in this disappointing 2014-15 Minnesota Gopher Hockey season appears to be on the defensive end of the ice. They are allowing way too many goals and it’s killing their chances to win games. It’s team defense too, not just the defensemen and the goalie. It’s the defensive zone that has to get fixed for this team to turnaround the season and make it into the NCAA tourney.
Last season the Minnesota Gophers allowed 2.07 goals per game, took about 3.39 penalties a game, had a penalty kill percentage of 84 percent and Adam Wilcox had a save percentage of .929. This season they’re allowing 2.67 goals per game, taking 3.88 penalties per game, have a penalty kill percentage of 80 percent and Adam Wilcox has a save percentage of .901.
Adam Wilcox has been scored on 63 times this season through 24 games. He was scored on only 75 times last season in 38 games. He hasn’t been as good as he was last season for sure but he’s still the same great goalie and he’ll make the game-saving save when he needs to but he needs the team in front of him to play better in front of him.
There’s too much “puck-watching” in the D-zone while the opponents roam freely getting open for scoring chance after scoring chance. Guard a man! That means actually guarding him, not just being close to him. Know where they puck is, yes, but keep track of your man.
Is it the young guys new to the team or players moving into new roles? They lost a lot of leadership from last season’s team but the returning players should get them on the same page on what needs to be done in the defensive part of the game. You can’t win if you don’t play defense!
Defense isn’t exciting and doesn’t show up on the stat sheet or in the highlights but most players do not continue playing competitive hockey if they don’t know how to play defense or give the same effort defensively as they do offensively. Preventing a goal is just as important as scoring a goal. There’s a reason the saying goes…
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!
