Bob Motzko's second-year challenge with Gophers: teaching 12 newcomers fast

Bob Motzko rattled off his concerns in the rapid manner of an auctioneer.

"We had a really good power play last year," he said. "They're all gone.

"We were No. 1 in the conference in penalty kill," he added. "They're all gone except for [Ryan] Zuhlsdorf and [Tyler] Nanne.

"We had really good goaltenders," Motzko continued. "They're not here."

So, is it gloom and doom for the second-year Gophers men's hockey coach, whose team has 12 newcomers, including 11 freshmen?

No, but some early patience might be required.

"We really like our talent," Motzko said Tuesday during team's media day. "We've got some work to do to develop critical-moment hockey to win hockey games. … That's going to come in time. The good news is the answer's in that [locker] room — they're just not experienced yet."

"As much as you try to duplicate it the best you can in practice, we need games," Motzko said. "Sunday's going to come at a great time for us."

Getting so many freshmen up to the speed of college hockey will be a challenge for the coaching staff. One of those newcomers, Bryce Brodzinski, sees team captains Nanne and Sammy Walker easing the transition.

"Just watching the older guys and how intense they are in every single practice, it's something a lot of us freshmen have to work on — not taking a shift off, not taking a practice off," said Brodzinski, who won Minnesota's Mr. Hockey Award playing for Blaine High School last winter.

Nanne, a senior, and Walker, a sophomore, give the Gophers a two-tiered leadership structure.

"Me being the older guy and Sammy being the younger guy, it's a good mix," Nanne said. "With the 19 underclassmen we have, Sammy can relate a lot to them, and I can relate to the older guys."

"We've got a challenging schedule," said Motzko, whose team also is host to the Mariucci Classic featuring Bemidji State, Minnesota State and St. Cloud State. "People in our state want to see that, and they're going to get that this year."

In the Big Ten preseason poll, coaches picked the Gophers to finish fifth in the seven-team league, a ranking that Motzko understood.

"When you lose that many players, we've got a lot of work to do to be above that," he said. "And Gopher hockey needs to be above that.''