U hockey: Gophers add goalie to ‘08-09 recruiting class
Posted on April 30th, 2008 – 11:26 PMBy Roman Augustoviz
Former Blake goalie Kent Patterson, who has played for Cedar Rapids of the USHL the past two seasons, has committed to the Gophers for this upcoming season.
He had hernia surgery last fall and did not play until early December this season, but had solid numbers. He was 10-6 with a 2.49 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage.
The previous season, he was considered one of the USHL’s top rookie goalies and had a 2.91 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage.
The Colorado Avalanche took took him in the fourth round of the 2007 NHL draft. He was the 113th pick overall and the youngest player taken. His B-Day, 9/15/89, was the age cutoff date.
He will turn 19 this September.
Patterson played at Blake, a private school in Minneapolis, as a freshman and sophomore before leaving for the USHL.
“He has top-end potential in the view of many,” Blake coach John Hamre said. “When he played for me he was a special high school goaltender. I have not seen him for two years in the USHL, but he had an outstanding World Juniors team tryout.”
He suffered a groin injury on the last day of that tryout last summer. Later it was discovered he had a hernia and needed surgery.
“He’s a tremendous athlete, very focused,” said Hamre, who had lunch with Patterson on Tuesday. “He is committed to hockey and he is a great kid.”
Patterson is 6-1, 180. So his frame is similar to that of Alex Kangas, the freshman goalie who played so well for the Gophers this season.
Patterson will come in as Kangas’ backup, but will probably get a chance to show what he can do.
He is the 11th recruit in the 2008-09 recruiting class, which already was rated the nation’s best by the Red Line Report. He just makes it stronger.
Gophers coach Don Lucia had said recently he wanted to add two goalies, one on scholarship [that has to be Patterson] and one as a walk-on.
So the Gophers, if they haven’t found him already already, may still add another goalie to fill senior Brent Solei’s role. He was the team’s practice goalie for four seasons. Filling that spot is not nearly as critical as finding a back-up goalie. Looks like the U did well on that task.
29 Responses to "U hockey: Gophers add goalie to ‘08-09 recruiting class"
does this mean frazee is gone?
pkne,
Frazee signed with his NHL team last week.
Gophers have the #1 recruiting class? Where are all the people who complain about Lucia’s recruiting? I’m pretty sure he’s had several #1s.
Let’s not bring up Frazee ever again……
Good job by Lucia and the Gophers in recruiting. Way too many fair weather fans in MN. They will find fault regardless of which path the Gophers take in recruiting. The Gophers have done very well over the years. It is unfortunate that the home crowd advantage/environment is rather tame.
The question has never been whether Lucia (ie, the U) can recruit. The question has become, reasonably, can the U win with the recruits that come and go? The burden on our hockey coaches has always been can they produce actual teams that can play up to the potential of “The state of hockey”? Here, in hockey, the coach has to win a lot of big games. And that is a very reasonable expectation here, in hockey.
you’re right, and they have. the 2002 team was entirely minnesota boys, with the exception of potulny.
Why is Guentzel leaving?
Frazee has little chance of making it in the NHL based on what I saw, he should be happy as a backup in the AHL!
good thing he left Blake after his sophomore year so he didn’t get completely wussi-fied; hopefully he’ll work out after kangas is done (or leaves early)
Division 1 men’s hockey championships won since 1948: Michigan 9; Denver 7; North Dakota 6; Wisconsin 6; Minnesota 5. My bet is that these teams were not completely filled with players from Minnesota. I have been a U. of Minnesota hockey fan for a long time and it would be nice if every quality player came from instate, but the truth is there are to many quality players outside of Minnesota that would make this program even more successful. With regards to last two championships won by Minnesota, Coach Motzko is gone and now Guentzel. The coaching brain trust is gone. Unfortunately, I predict a long dry spell in men’s hockey.
The teams have been soft the past 3-4 years, we need more grit to go along with all the high end skill players we’ve been getting. Until we get more grit its going to be tough to bring home The Title.
You’ve got to be kidding, Mitch! I was surprised Guenzel lasted this long under Lucia. Everyone seems to have forgotten how depressing it was to go to watch Coco own the Woog / Guenzel led Gophers. (No offense, Wooger, you’re still the one of the best!) Let’s face it Lucia / Hill? It just doesn’t get much better than that.
I wish I were kidding. Lucia got lucky in 2002 and 2003 by having the players and coaches he needed to win the NCCA championship. I’ve known Bob Motzko for a long time and I wouldn’t be suprised to find out he was the reason for the success of those teams. Guentzel’s recent departure was probably due to the fact he was tired of Lucia giving his son, or a friend of the family a spot on the team at the expense of some other talented player. Do you really think Tony Lucia is one of the 30 best hockey players in Minnesota? How about one of the 50 best? As for Hill, he wasn’t even coaching at the U in 2002 and 2003. As for Lucia, I am still waiting for him to start.
thanks dave, i some how missed frazee leaving even though we all knew it was bound to happen…after watching this team recover from all of the talent it lost to still make the tourney how can you possibly say lucia can’t coach? that is just stupid…the problem is we need to stop recruiting people like erik johnson, phil kessel, and kyle okposo that you know are never going to stay more then two years at best…
tony lucia is way better than dan woog…
I’m sure that University of Michigan boosters appreciate the 7 titles won by their team between 1948 and 1964, and Denver fans love the 4 titles between 1960 and 1969. But let’s judge Lucia based on the time that he has been at Minnesota.
Starting with the 1999-2000 season
Minnesota, DU and BC have each won two titles, UND, UW and MSU (Michigan State) have won one.
Brooks, Beutow, Woog and Lucia have all coached Gopher teams that the state of hockey can be pround of.
Minnesota will win another title within the next few years.
Frazee was pulled after his first start in the AHL…he can kiss his hockey career goodbye
Mitch - how is St Cloud doing with Motzko at the helm? And yes, they have had some powerhouse teams in the past so don’t hide behind the school.
Tony Lucia is a solid player. Maybe not the top skill wise but I don’t think you will find a kid who is a smarter hockey which does equate to success on the ice. He was one of the best players on the ice throughout the playoffs.
Congratulations on your friendship with Motzko but just because he is gone doesn’t mean the Gophs are in a bad position.
And finally, two Nat’l Championships in a row, how can it be lucky to put together the players and coaching staff needed to win? Isn’t that called coaching skill? And two in a row cannot be contributed to luck. Even you should know better than that! Idiot….
Thanks summitdog for the compliment. I always know that I am getting very close to the truth when people resort to personal attacks. I doubt you and I could have a civil discussion about the Minnesota Hockey program. If you took the time to really think about what I have said, you might realize that I have stated that Minnesota produces great hockey talent. I have the utmost respect for all the coaches and players that Minnesota has had, and still have. Tony Lucia is a fine young man and is a gritty player, but why is he on the team? Is he one of the best hockey players in the state? As for Coach Lucia, I respect his ability as a coach, but question his ability to recruit, which is an important part of running a program. As for Coach Motzko, he is a class act and his contribution as a coach had a lot to do with the success of the Minnesota men’s hockey program. Maybe this is a concept hard for you to understand. It was great that the recent two championships were accomplished by mostly young men from instate, but how many more titles could have been won with talent from other parts of the globe? I believe a lot of hockey players from outside of Minnesota would be proud to wear the M. Finally, yes, two championships in a row does require luck. The right recruiting, coaching, players and keeping your players injury free. Players win games. Did you ever play hockey or any other organized sport?
Don Lucia has done a great job in recruiting the best players from Minnesota. Unfortunately, those players leave after a year or 2. Maybe we need to get players that will commit to 3 to 4 years at the U. If that menas going out of State, so be it. We also need to recruit players that are tough, and have a will to win. If we don’t do that, NDak will walk over us year after year.
Mitch:
You’re not close to the truth at all. Look at Don Lucia’s overall coaching record. Look at what he accomplished at CC, a program that was perennially in the basement before his arrival. Look at the many stud players he recruited there. Was that luck too? And look at the U rosters from 2002 and 2003. Was every player on those teams Top 30 in Minnesota? Teams win championships, not individual players, or individual coaches. Lucia blew it this year as far as lining up depth, and he admitted it. But, after looking at the recruiting class coming in, it is ridiculous to suggest the guy can’t recruit.
There are many things that can fixed with recruiting. What can not be fixed, is unexpected departures coupled with season ending injuries. Last season would have been much different if O’Brien and Okposo had honored their commitments and if Stoa’s season had not ended in the second game. Coach Lucia has already said that he is taking a different more balanced approach with his recruiting. But that is also not a solution which will please everyone, because there are just too many high caliber recruits being produced in Minnesota and some will always choose not to become Gophers.
NMGo4:
Point well taken. I agree that a team can’t be filled with super stars. You need players willing to grind it out in the corners, take the body and protect the finese players. My opinion is these players are skilled in what they do, which contributes to the team’s chemistry as a whole. Maybe I am to hard on Lucia, but I still hope he takes a look around the country a little more for those quality players that could build even better team chemistry. John makes a good point about early departures, but there are high caliber players around North America that would be proud to be Gophers and make Minnesota’s program even stronger by providing more depth. I have been a Gopher fan for a long time and wish this program all the success it can achieve. I’m sure everyone who takes the time to discusss this issue is a Gopher fan and wants this program to be successful. I’ll be watching and supporting the U. like I always have and I hope I’m wrong.
Чешская недвижимость. Каталог недвижимости в Чехии. Квартиры в Праге и Карловых Варах.
Бизнес и Иммиграция в Чехию. Получения вида на жительство и покупка бизнеса.
Mitch, you mentioned personal attacks, then why point out Tony Lucia as just the coach’s son? As a fan, I’m glad he’s on the team. We need guys like that, working hard and making things happen. He is fun to watch. Can we have 15 guys in that role, no. But we can’t have all stars either…
As for Guentzel and Motzko, obviously Motzko left to be the head coach at St. Cloud. If Guentzel has aspirations of being more than a college assistant, he needs to make a move now. If things continue going well, Lucia could be around for a long time and Guentzel maybe would never get a shot.
Go Gophers and good luck coach Guentzel as well!
Watchdog Big Ten;
If you read what I have previously written, I have complimented Tony Lucia.
I simply raised the question if he is one of the best hockey players in Minnesota, which is not a personal attack. There are many college hockey coaches with sons who have or are playing hockey, but not for the school where their dad is the coach. You have your opinion, I have mine. Does that make me less of a supporter for the Gophers - no. Enough said.
On the other hand, I think he’s proved to be a legitimate WCHA player, no matter what school or coach. I think he’s had to earn every bit of playing time he’s had. If he’s good enough to play, why make him go somewhere else?
There have been and will continue to be players we can pick out that were not “top 30 Minnesota kids,” but if they have a role and excel, if they help the team, great!
why would the goofers take a kid N.SCHMIDT who is on steroids and always gets hurt broken leg,broken wrist,broken hand weak bones from all the steroids!not that good of player but daddy bought his way onto the team..loser.there are at least two kids that are head and shoulders above N.SCHMIDT…. one that plays for APOLLO #36 and one played for SAUK RAPIDS..
Per the Gopher Hockey Blog, Mark Alt of Cretin committed to the Gophers over the weekend for the 2010 season.
Mitch, I’ve heard very good things about Motzko from his gopher coaching tenure and I think he will be a fantastic coach for SCSU. He and Guentzel are big losses but John Hill is also a great coach and I’m confident the next guy will be a great coach too. That’s because Lucia knows how to hire good coaches. That is a huge part of being a good head coach.Look at his old Asst. at CC. He’s done a very good job with the Tigers too. Besides, you said “Players win games.” So why are you so down on the Gopher Hockey future just because we’ve had some coaching turnover? I see a deep and talented class coming in and some very good returning players like Stoa,Hoeffel, and yes, Tony Lucia. If you watched any games the last part of the season(and especially the playoffs) you wouldn’t be questioning Tony’s talent level. He’s not just a cute little “grinder.” He’s one of their best players and deserves to wear the M much more than many others(Okposo,Chucko,Kennedy,Kessel.)
