RW Matthew Wood – Univ. of Minnesota, NCAA (2023, 15th, NSH)

MNRube

Registered User
Oct 20, 2013
6,645
3,757
Snuggerud & Wood on the PP is an embarrassment of riches - who takes the Ovechkin spot?
 

Bonin21

Registered User
May 1, 2014
2,515
1,357
Gophers need a goalie. But if they figure that out no excuse to not be a 1 seed.
 

Bonin21

Registered User
May 1, 2014
2,515
1,357
Gopher fans are loving him. He can't really skate which will hold back his NHL success, but will tear up college hockey this year and hopefully next.
 

Corso

Registered User
Aug 13, 2018
522
516
His shot has always been elite, and it now seems that his skating has at least somewhat improved, but still needs work. I do like that he looks so much more involved now.
 

Jersey Fan 12

Positive Vibes
Nov 20, 2006
7,195
3,123
Numbers are impressive but Gophers have yet to play Big 10 opponents.

Is this a case of playing inferior opponents or is there something to Wood's game and how does the level of play for Minnesota compare to Hockey East?
 

MS

1%er
Mar 18, 2002
55,982
92,674
Vancouver, BC
I don't really know what happened to him last year but it's nice to see him back on track as an elite scoring prospect at a top program.
 

Porter Stoutheart

Seen Stamkos?
Jun 14, 2017
16,069
12,524
I don't really know what happened to him last year but it's nice to see him back on track as an elite scoring prospect at a top program.
Nothing “happened to him”… he was just on a team which didn’t have much offensive talent around him.
 

Gnashville

HFBoards Hall of Famer
Jan 7, 2003
13,905
3,845
Crossville
Numbers are impressive but Gophers have yet to play Big 10 opponents.

Is this a case of playing inferior opponents or is there something to Wood's game and how does the level of play for Minnesota compare to Hockey East?
At Connecticut he was the only scoring threat and teams were aware of him and focused on shutting him down.
 

Porter Stoutheart

Seen Stamkos?
Jun 14, 2017
16,069
12,524
Yes, and I'm not sure what happened. Which was my initial point.

This is an elite talent and they had loads of returning players, and everything went to shit for both Wood and the team.
“Returning players” maybe doesn’t mean a lot when none of them are NHL prospects? Tverberg was maybe the only other NHL prospect in Wood’s first season, then Wood was by himself in Year 2.

Anyway, his goals went up while the team dropped 40+ goals, so even though the team had issues, Wood himself still improved. But yeah the program had some troubles and Wood and others bailed, good call on his part. Nice thing about him playing college so young it doesn’t hurt him so much to play 3 or even 4 seasons. Especially when he needs the work on skating and balance more than anything else anyway. :thumbu:
 

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