 Our Minnesota Gophers expert provides us with an update on Patrick White's start to the 2007/2008 season. White currently has one goal but as our expert explains, White's game is being appreciated in several other facets of the game.
By: Anthony Lang
I have seen all of the Gopher games so far. I have been to three in person. So far, Pat White has impressed me more in person than on TV. What he brings to the table are alot of little things that you can only appreciate in person. Picking up lurking forwards and D men ready to jump up into the play. He identifies his man well and plays solid in his own zone. His game away from the puck is looking very good. He is a +3. Tied for the team lead among forwards. What I would like to see him improve on: He still looks like he is taking the game in. He is a physical player that is more of a turn and shoot kind of guy. I'd like to see him make a few more snappy descions. He has good speed. But at every level up it becomes harder and harder to skate through and away from people. His first step is not the best right now. He has gotten his pocket picked a few times. For how much he likes physical play, I want him to hit people and not just bump into them. He should be a solid 6 foot 200 pound guy. No reason he cannot plant a guy in the process. Things that he has already shown an improvement on. The first game he looked a little to0 unselfish. Passing up an oppurtunity from a teammate to set up another teammate for an even better oppurtunity. To bad the player had passed behind the goal line and could not get the tap in. Now he is looking to shoot more. Still only the one goal. But he is cycling and going to the net looking to shoot that one timer. He is not forcing his passes like he did the first week end. He is making good solid tape to tape passes but not trying to make some crazy cross ice saucer pass. His face-offs are getting better. Think he had a 1-7 against CC. He is closer to .500 now. Not bad for a freshman. Still should improve. What I think we will see of Pat White in the future: He is a physical guy. The games vs CC and the home games vs Ohio St are on Olympic sized ice. There is more time to think and just more ice to cover. Hard to really get into a physical game. There is too much room to fly up and down. White should settle in nicely on the smaller rinks where he will be able to battle for pucks so his half ice game can shine. A big problem freshman have had in college is asserting themselves in big programs. Example; Cogliano had 28 points his freshamn year, 50 his sophmore and now 7 points in 10 NHL games. Its tough for some guys to see a Hensick or a Okposo around and think that it's my job to score. I would imagine White right now is thinking go out and play smart and give the team a chance. Things will start to roll for him once the season is about 10-25 games in. It usualy settles out about then. His play has been good. Nothing special. Nothing to bad. He is about right where I figured he would be. His strength looks just fine. I would say he wins more scrums than he loses. No fear in the kid. He will go in that corner with anybody. He needs to adjust a bit. His offensive game is a lot about timing. In high school his best games were at the end of the year. He is in solid shape and things just come around for him. He has an outstanding shot, he used it to score his only goal. Just needs to get used how to be fed in the college game. tDon shook up the lines again tonight. I would not panic or get excited until about that magic 10-15 games in.
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