SB Nation User Blog: FishingMN

Hollinger's Draft Rater

FishingMN — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:20:25 -0000

John Hollinger writes for ESPN and has a statistical tool for evaluating potential college players who are coming out in the draft called the Draft Rater. This is in addition to the statistical work he does with existing NBA players to evaluate based on their Player Efficiency Rating.

I recall last year that he had Kevin Love rated very highly (as well as Mayo ranked down somewhat). There are many examples of how this tool identified players who should have been drafted higher. You can get some interesting info on his tool and opinions by reading today's chat on ESPN - Hollinger Chat

His work is part of ESPN Insider but I found another NBA Blog (The Knicks Blog) that posted a good story about the Draft Rater and listed the top 12 players in Hollinger's tool for the upcoming draft. They are -

Top 12 Player According to Hollinger’s Device:

1. Ty Lawson, 2. Blake Griffin, 3. Ty Evans, 4. Austin Daye, 5. Steph Curry, 6. Nick Calathes, 7. Dejuan Blair, 8. Danny Green, 9. Flynn, 10. James Harden, 11. Hasheem Thabeet, 12. Earl Clark

Knick's Blog - Draft Rater

I found it interesting that Lawson was #1 and that he's not on anyone's radar for the top 10.

Should be worth a little debate on those rated higher than current mock's and those who are projected lower (10/11) or missing altogether (Derozen/Holiday).

Gopher Hockey - Ryan Stoa Signs with Av's

FishingMN — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:18:57 -0000

It was announced this morning that Minnesota Gopher junior forward, Ryan Stoa, has signed a 2 year contract with the Colorado Avalanche and will forego his senior season at Minnesota.

The contract will pay him $850k per season if he makes the team and $65k per season if he's in the minors.

For the 2008-09 season, Stoa led the team in both goals (24) and points (46).

It was widely expected that Stoa would not return for his senior season since he had missed a season as a medical redshirt and most knowledgeable fans realize he is ready to take the next step beyond college hockey.

Good luck Ryan - hope to see you play in Colorado yet this season!

Stoa Signs with Colorado

Discount Ticket Offer - T'Wolves Vs. Detroit - Wed Jan 28th

FishingMN — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:11:12 -0000

Hi,

I am pursuing my MBA at St Thomas University and am enrolled in Sports & Entertainment Marketing this term. Our project is to develop a sales & marketing plan with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Our group has put together the following offer:

Timberwolves vs. Detroit Pistons

Wednesday January 28th - 7pm game

The offer we’ve negotiated for is –

Lower Level - $50 ticket for $35 each

Upper Level - $20 ticket for $10 each

This offer has 2 positive components.

1. You don’t have to buy 20+ seats to get the group rate. You can buy as few as 1 seat and get this rate.

2. The $10 price is lower than even the normal group rate of $15 for upper level tickets

This seat chart show you were the $50/$20 seats are located - http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/tickets/arena.html

To order you can go here - https://oss.ticketmaster.com/html/go.htmI?l=EN&t=timberwolves&o=5763243&g=1178

· If you have a group and want to sit together put all the tickets on 1 order form. If you have a group of 20+ you should submit your group name to Erica Noah (e-mail below) to be displayed on the scoreboard during the game and the group leader will receive a Timberwolves gift bag.

· Please use the Special Offer Code: USTG2 in order to access the special ticket offer.

· New users will then be prompted to set up an account (on the right-hand side).

· All tickets must be purchased with a valid credit card.

· Tickets will be emailed to the account holder directly.

· **If you do not receive your tickets within 30 minutes please email noah@timberwolves.com or call Erica Noah at 612-673-8341.

PS - I got approval from Stop-n-Pop to post this

Gopher Hockey vs. Denver Preview

FishingMN — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:20:54 -0000

(promoted by PJS .... thanks for the preview!)

The newly #1 ranked Minnesota Men's Hockey team faces off this weekend at #10 ranked Denver University. For the past 4 weekends the Gophers have tied the first game of the series and then won the second game giving them 3 points each time. This weekend's games are -

Friday 8:37pm - FSN
Saturday 8:07pm - FSN

The Gophers lead the all-time series against DU 90-63-12 but went 0-4-1 against them last year which included a loss to Denver in the WCHA Playoffs Championship game.

The Star Tribune preview makes note of the recent trend of tie-win to point out that the Gophers aren't perfect - Gophers Hardly Perfect
The always interesting WCHA Blog over on USCHO has a short blurb on UM Goalie Alex Kangas winning the Co-Defensive Player of the Week last week with his first collegiate shutout. The 2 writers go with predictions of UM sweep and split - USCHO - WCHA Weekend Preview
After a disappointing sweep at the hands of SCSU last weekend Denver coach George Gwozdecky talked about his teams consistency as part of a Lets Go DU Blog interview - Gwozdecky Interview

In other non-DU related news:

The Gophers signed 6 future hockey players to LOI's during the early signing period. Information on them as well as some details on the potential of having Bemidji State enter the WCHA can be found on Roman Augustoviz's Star Tribune Blog - The New Gophers Are ...
Finally the WCHA Blog does a good job of reporting on the ongoing saga at Wisconsin with their decommitments. Brock Montpetit refused to sign his LOI making him the 4th player to back out to the Badgers after giving a verbal commitment. The discussion continues about how coach Mike Eaves "over recruits" and the resulting fall out - Wisconsin Decommit #4

While it might be prudent to predict a tie-win again I have a feeling the Gophers will lose at least 1 game this weekend in the mile high air of Denver. Since they seem to play better on the back half of the weekend I'll go with a Friday loss followed by a Saturday win.

MarQueis Gray Qualifies For U

FishingMN — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:08:23 -0000

According to this story on Gopher Illustraded MarQueis Gray, the highly regarded 4 star QB from Indiana, has passed his ACT and will be joining the Gophers for the 2009 season.

Gray joined the team over the summer and spent the summer months working out with the team. He was even allowed to practice with the team when fall camp opened for a few weeks. However, midway through camp he learned that there was an issue with the NCAA Clearinghouse and he would need to return home.

The future Gopher quarterback would have to re-take his ACT test and earn another qualifying score. Gray did not complain and released a statement through the University of Minnesota indicating that he would indeed take care of the issue. "I'm confident that I can clear up my situation this fall and I'm excited to re-join my teammates at Minnesota," Gray said.

GI.com learned this morning that Gray has indeed taken care of the matter. He learned early this morning that he earned a passing score on the ACT test he took on October 11th.

Story - Gray Story Link

Gopher Hockey vs. MSU-Mankato

FishingMN — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:36:06 -0000

Our WCHA leading Gopher hockey team (3-0-1, 7 pts) continue their conference schedule this weekend against the Minnesota State - Mankato team. Friday's game (7pm - FSN) will be played at Mariucci Arena and Saturday's game will be played at Xcel Energy Center (7:30pm - FSN). The Saturday game is the 2nd game in a doubleheader featuring Minnesota teams as MN-Duluth plays St. Cloud State at 4pm. The team is off to a great start and this weekend could go a long way toward telling us whether they will be a conference champion contender. Mankato comes into the weekend with a 3-1 overall record (1-1 in the WCHA). They really should have swept North Dakota but let the Saturday game get away after leading.

Gopher Puck Live does a good job of previewing the games against MSU-M - GPL Mankato Preview

Zach Harrison of MSU-M did score a natrual hat trick of short handed goals against North Dakota. This rarity got his stick taken away and a write up in Deadspin - They Took His Stick

The Gophers have moved up to #5 in the national polls - http://www.uscho.com/rankings/

In the USCHO WCHA weekend preview we hear about the crackdown in penalties, the preview of the MN Hockey Showcase and their prediction of a Gopher sweep - This Week in the WCHA

Finally, Bob Sansevere of the Pioneer Press, has an interview in today's paper with coach Don Lucia. While I didn't like Bob's questions I did like getting some insight into what the coach is thinking - Don Lucia Interview

Purdue Readies Deception

FishingMN — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 20:37:00 -0000

There's an article in today's Indianapolis Star about Purdue having 2 trick plays ready to spring against us on Saturday -

Tiller said "So my instructions to our staff on Sunday were, from this point forward, I want to see, when the game plan is presented, two deceptives. Now, I'm not guaranteeing you they're going to get called, but we're going to have them as a possibility."

Are they using reverse psychology to make us "think" they are going to pull out a trick play at any moment? Seems like an odd topic otherwise to talk about beforehand.

Boilers Hoping To Keep Foes Guessing

Gopher Hockey Lands 2nd Recruit This Week

FishingMN — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:54:17 -0000

When highly recruited defenseman Jake Gardiner chose to attend the University of Wisconsin (freshman this fall) there was speculation that his younger brother, Max Gardiner, would follow in his footsteps and become a Badger.

Instead Max gave a verbal commitment this week to attend the University of Minnesota starting in either 2010 or 2011. The 6'3" forward will be a Junior for Minnetonka HS this winter and is considered one of the elite HS players for the 2010 class.

Max Gardiner Not Following Brother

Midweek Gopher Hockey Update

FishingMN — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:18:58 -0000

There have been a number of updates regarding the Gopher Hockey team this week that I thought I'd share -

The Gophers received another commitment for the 2010 team. This time it was St. Thomas Academy forward Christian Isackson. He chose Minnesota over Wisconsin and North Dakota - Isackson Commits to Gophers
With their sweep of St Cloud last week the Gophers have moved up from #9 to #7 in the USCHO/CBS rankings - Gophers at #7
Robb Stauber, one of the Gopher greats and former Hobey Baker winner, resigned this week after spending 9 years as the volunteer goalie coach - Stauber Resigns
Cardinal on GPL has a good preview of the upcoming weekend against Wisconsin - Wisconsin Series Preview
Badger Beat has a number of stories from a Wisconsin viewpoint including co-Captain Ben Street being out for 3+ months with an injury and lamenting the worst hockey start (0-4) in more than 70 years - Badger Beat Stories
There was a nice story in the Star Tribune regarding former Gopher Thomas Vanek and how he's being used more frequently on special teams - Vanek Answers Challenge

Speaking of Gophers in the NHL here's a list of scoring leaders -

Player Name	Team	G	A	T
Thomas Vanek	Buffalo	7	2	9
Phil Kessel	Boston	6	1	7
Keith Ballard	Florida	1	4	5
Jordan Leopold	Colorado	1	2	3
Kyle Okposo	NY Isles	0	2	2
Alex Goligoski	Pitts	2	0	2
Blake Wheeler	Boston	1	0	1
Paul Martin	New Jers	0	1	1

Gopher Hockey - SCSU Preview

FishingMN — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:19:55 -0000

The Minnesota Gophers Men's Hockey team opens their regular season tonight in a home and home weekend series with St. Cloud State. SCSU comes into the game at 2-0 winning 2 cupcake games last weekend.

The big questions for the Gophers are how will the 12 freshman perform, can they score goals and can goalie Alex Kangas carry over his great finish from last year into this year.

Both games will be carried live on FSN or on WCCO radio and are 7pm starts. There are a number of previews you might want to read to get ready for tonight's opener -

Gopher Puck Live gives a very good overview of what to watch for this weekend - GPL Preview
The Star Tribune concentrates on profiling St. Cloud State as well as featuring information on why the Gopher freshman chose to come to Minnesota. There's also a very odd comparison of freshman's actual height & weight as compared to the media guide - StarTribune Preview
The Pioneer Press concentrates most of its time on profiling goaltender Alex Kangas who, as mentioned, will play a pivotal role in the success of this years team - Pioneer Press Preview
Finally, USCHO has a piece that covers all of the games this weekend that are a part of the WCHA including last weeks results and players of the week, matchups and predictions - USCHO Preview

Go Gophers!