Freshmen, including three players drafted in the first round of this year’s NHL Entry Draft, have helped fuel the Gopher hockey team’s rise to No. 1 in the country and speculation this may be the best team ever at the University. Talk is the Gophers will not see all nine of the freshmen on the roster return next season.
Coach Don Lucia doesn’t agree that it’s certain all his freshmen will not return including defenseman Erik Johnson, the No. 1 pick in the draft, and also first round picks Kyle Okposo and David Fischer. “I don’ think it’s a foregone conclusion but we have to plan for it,” Lucia said. “I think it’s just one of those things we do not know. Some of these freshmen I think are going to be very good players, but I don’t think any of the freshmen should be leaving after this year, but again as a coach you have very little say over that.”
Ask Lucia about the talent level of his team and whether it could be the best ever and he hedges. While acknowledging the collective abilities, he talks about the youth of the team and the improvement that will come next season if his freshmen and other underclassmen return. He recalled that the 2002 team would not have won the national championship if Jordan Leopold and Johnny Pohl had left early to play professionally. “It’s (about) keeping these kids long enough where you get the benefit of them being an elite All-American type player,” Lucia said.
In conversation about the team’s playmakers, Lucia talked first about senior Tyler Hirsch, the Gophers’ leading scorer. “Tyler Hirsch’s ability to pass the puck is second to none,” Lucia said. “He can really move the puck.”
Lucia has been pleased with the leadership contributions of another senior, captain Mike Vannelli. “He’s taken this young team under his wing and said, ‘I am going to be the leader of this team,’” Lucia said.
There’s a lot of hockey to be played between now and April when the Gophers hope to make their way to the national championship game. Last season in a stunning loss, the Gophers were upset by Holy Cross in the NCAA playoffs. “For whatever reason, some guys lost their confidence in the finals and we just didn’t have time to get it back,” Lucia said.