|
|
 Frazee Turns Pro
 In a move that comes as little surprise to anyone that follows the Gopher hockey program, goaltender Jeff Frazee has decided to pass on his senior season and sign a pro contract with the New Jersey Devils organization.
A highly touted recruit and second round pick of the Devils in 2005, Jeff leaves the Gophers with a final overall record of 26-13-3. He came in to the program with much fanfare from the US Under-18 National Development Team in Ann Arbor. While Jeff began his freshman campaign behind Kellen Briggs, many expected with his reputation, that he’d be the starter by the end of the season.
Of course, things sometimes don’t turn out the way you’d expect.
Frazee was great during the playoffs at the end of the 2006 – 2007 season, beating Alaska-Anchorage in a deciding third game, and later, the two OT games against North Dakota. Even more so, he was dynamite when he played for the US World Junior team, coming off the bench during a break in his sophomore season to lead the team to a bronze medal.
But be it off ice issues, or sometimes erratic play, Jeff just never got on track while wearing the ‘M’. Regardless of the reason, hopefully people will remember Jeff for his playoff run last year, and the way he supported the team during the last half of the season this year after his last minutes in net in St. Cloud.
Good luck as a professional, Jeff, we’ll all be cheering for you.
|
| Written by: go4hcky @ Wed 4/09/08 10:38 am |
| Comments: 6 :: View Comments (Post your comment) |
 |
 It was a nice run
The most disappointing Golden Gopher hockey season in nearly a decade came to an end tonight, as the Boston College Eagles put the final nail in Minnesota’s coffin by defeating them by a 5-2 score in the second NCAA Northeast Regional Semifinal in Worcester, Mass.
In a way, the game epitomized Minnesota’s season. They outshot the Eagles by a 33-32 margin, and carried the play for long stretches of time; but in the end, their inability to finish is what did them in.
The Gophers took four penalties in the first seven minutes of the game, and BC’s power play would finally make them pay. Ben Smith notched his 22nd goal of the season to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
Minnesota played much better at the start of the second period, and they were rewarded as Mike Howe got his seventh goal of the season off a rebound from a David Fischer point shot. However, just over four minutes later, Benn Ferriero’s 17th tally of the season put BC ahead for good.
Third period goals by Pat Gannon and Joe Whitney would ice things for the Eagles, though Minnesota would make things somewhat interesting at the end. While on the power play, head coach Don Lucia pulled Alex Kangas for the extra attacker, giving Minnesota a six-on-four advantage. Ben Gordon ripped a wrist shot that appeared to go in the net, but the referee initially waived it off. The game continued for over three minutes before the next stoppage in play, which came on a BC empty-net goal. The officials reviewed the play and the puck clearly went in the net, so the officials reset the clock to reflect the time in which the puck went in the net – 16:33 into the third period – with the score being 4-2.
The Gophers would have a few chances at the end before Nate Gerbe’s 29th score of the season would ice things. BC moves on to face Miami (Ohio) tomorrow in the regional final, with a trip to the Frozen Four on the line.
Minnesota, meanwhile, bids farewell to seniors Derek Peltier, Evan Kaufmann, Tom Pohl, Ben Gordon, Mike Howe, and Brent Solei, and possibly others such as Blake Wheeler and Jeff Frazee for much different reasons. However, they will bring back a good chunk of this year’s team (including Ryan Stoa), along with arguably the top freshman class in the nation, led by the likes of Jordan Schroeder, Aaron Ness, and Jake Hansen.
|
| Written by: Cardinal @ Sat 3/29/08 11:10 pm |
| Comments: 0 :: View Comments (Post your comment) |
|
Gophers, Eagles set to (finally) meet
In a meeting that could have happened two other times this season, the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Boston College Eagles will finally butt heads this weekend, as the two teams square off in the second of two NCAA Northeast Regional Semifinals in Worcester, Mass.
The Eagles, who last weekend won the Hockey East postseason tournament, traveled the State of Hockey two other times this season but never crossed paths with their Maroon and Gold-clad counterparts. BC was upended by Michigan in the opening round of the Icebreaker Invitational back in October, which left the Wolverines to take on and subsequently lose to Minnesota in the title game. Then, the tables turned a bit in December, as the Eagles won their opening round game of the Dodge Holiday Classic, but ended up facing – and beating – RIT in the title game after the Tigers upset the Gophers in opening round play.
Both the Eagles and the Gophers struggled at times during the regular season, but both teams turned in solid performances in their conference tournaments. The Eagles had won just one game in their previous six heading into the Hockey East tournament, but swept Providence in the opening round, and then dispatched of top-seeded New Hampshire in a triple overtime thriller before handling Vermont by a 4-0 score in the title game.
Minnesota, as we all know, played a marathon of a series in Mankato against Minnesota State, which resulted in three games, five overtime sessions, and an endless amount of drama. The end result was a Sunday night overtime goal by Tony Lucia which enabled Minnesota to make the WCHA Final Five. Senior Mike Howe’s goal with just over 12 seconds left in the quarterfinal game on Thursday night set the Gophers up for a date with Colorado College on Friday night. Freshman Mike Hoeffel then became the latest hero for Minnesota, scoring a pair of goals, including the OT winner, as the Gophers found their way to the championship game on Saturday night. And though they were unable to get past the Denver Pioneers, who won the game 2-1, there’s no doubt Minnesota is playing their best hockey of the season heading into the NCAA Tournament.
Despite that fact, Minnesota is the clear underdog this weekend. The Eagles have four players who have more points than their leading scorer, Blake Wheeler, who currently sits at 34 points. BC’s forwards are led by Hobey Baker candidate Nate Gerbe, who has 57 points in 39 games. The diminutive Gerbe never stops working, which is a big reason why the 5’5”, 165 lb. Buffalo Sabres draft pick has been able to excel at the college level.
One could argue that loss of Corey Schneider, who left after his junior season to sign with the Vancouver Canucks, was the biggest loss of any team in the nation this past offseason. Schneider backstopped the Eagles to back-to-back NCAA Frozen Fours, each time falling in the finals.
Eagles head coach Jerry York turned to freshman John Muse to take the reigns this season, and Muse has not disappointed. He has played every second this season, posting a 21-11-8 record with a 2.26 goals against average and a .919 save percentage.
His counterpart, Minnesota’s Alex Kangas, will likely need to be as sharp as ever against the Eagles, who average 3.52 goals per game this season. Minnesota, meanwhile, averaged just 2.43. So, it’s likely that the Gophers will need to score at least two goals – and probably three – to win this game.
For the Gophers to advance this weekend, the duo of Ben Gordon and Blake Wheeler are going to have to get going. The two upperclassmen were very good in the final regular season series of the year against Minnesota Duluth, but since then, they have combined for just three assists in six games and six overtime periods. If those two can start clicking again, the Gophers have a real shot to make some noise out east.
In the other Northeast Regional Semifinal, the Miami Redhawks – who are the No. 1 seed in the Northeast Region – will take on the No. 4 seeded Air Force Falcons. Gopher fans surely remember the Falcons, who gave Minnesota everything they could handle last year in the NCAA Tournament and again in the Holiday Classic this past season.
Saturday’s Gopher game will get underway at 6:30 p.m. (assuming the Miami / Air Force game doesn’t go long) and will be live on ESPNU and FSN North. The Sunday regional final will only air on ESPNU and will begin at 3:30 p.m.
|
| Written by: Cardinal @ Tue 3/25/08 7:17 pm |
| Comments: 0 :: View Comments (Post your comment) |
|
 One Streak Ends, Others Continue
St. Paul--Streaks have a tendency to continue. Denver goaltender Peter Mannino only surrendered one goal to Minnesota. Denver forward Tyler Bozak scored against Minnesota. And Minnesota became the fourth team to reach the WCHA Playoff Final and fall. The Pioneer's 2-1 victory in front of 17,907 fans secured the school's 15th playoff championship and kept Denver undefeated at XCel Energy Center.
"We knew obviously that Minnesota was fatiguing and you could see it," said Denver coach George Gwozdecky. "I wanted to see if we could continue to see us keep the pace as high as possible, and while obviously they didn't seem to be very fatigued in the third period, we kind of went with three lines. The beauty of playing in a tournament like this is you can play three lines on a regular basis pretty much because every four minutes you get a two minute break."
The Gophers started the scoring at 5:39 of the second period when Ryan Flynn got a second chance to tip a shot from the point. His first tip on a Cade Fairchild shot went just wide of the Denver goal. The puck came back to the point seconds later for Stu Bickel. As the shot came in from the point Mannino reached out for the pick, but Flynn got a blade on it inches away from the leather into the top corner. Three minutes later Denver got the bounce that had gone Minnesota's way all weekend. Bozak threw a puck out front from the corner, and it caromed off Bickel's skate past Kangas.
"When we play Denver we know two things," said Gopher coach Don Lucia. "We were going to score one on Mannino and Bozak was going to score on us--even though it was behind the goal line tonight. If he could play us 30 times a year, he'd probably be signing a pro contract right now and he could give us part of the bonus."
With the game tied and the period winding down Denver forward Anthony Maiani lofted a puck over the Gopher defense. Denver forward Tom May skated onto the puck and past Derek Peltier. Kangas tried to poke check the puck away, but May responded by putting the puck 5-hole. The goal gave the Pioneers a 2-1 lead heading into the locker room for the second intermission.
"Bozak had a chance earlier, I tried a poke check and he lost control. So I was kind of thinking the same deal--try to get him to mess up and fumble the puck," said Kangas. "He made a nice move, put it around my stick and slid it five-hole. Probably the wrong play at the time, but I thought it was a play I should make."
The goal gave Denver the lead and it seemed that maybe the Gophers tank was nearing empty.
"May broke in and got by Derek, maybe if it was the first game that might not have happened," said Coach Lucia. "He might have had a half-step more to work with, but our guys have played a lot of hockey the last nine days. You could see a bit where those one-on-one confrontations became a bit more difficult. I give our guys a lot of credit to come out in third period when they got down 2-1 and play as hard as we did."
Despite the loss, the Gophers are now looking ahead to the NCAA Tournament. The parity in college hockey, and specifically the WCHA has muddled the picture heading into selection Sunday. Scott Brown, from USCHO.com has predicted Minnesota will head to Worcester to play Boston College in a regional with North Dakota and Princeton. While College Hockey News has the Gophers headed to Albany to play Boston College in a regional with Miami and Niagara. Either way the team is keeping its head up going into the post-season.
"We got a bounce last night against CC, but we didn't really get too many good bounces tonight," said Ben Gordon. "It's just good to see ourselves get some bounces here as the post-season moves on, during the course of the year I don't think we got a whole lot of good bounces, but good bounces come from hard work."
Notes: The championship game drew 17,907 fans and the weekend drew 86,855 fans despite the snowfall... "We did not back in because of what somebody else did, we earned our way in," said Don Lucia... The all-tournament team was composed of TJ Oshie, Mike Hoeffel, May, Taylor Chorney, Chris Butler, and Mannino... Kangas was named MVP.
|
| Written by: evegoe @ Sat 3/22/08 11:40 pm |
| Comments: 1 :: View Comments (Post your comment) |
|
Hoeffel, Kangas, Gophers Continue Magic
 “It’s inspiring to watch them play.”
Coach Don Lucia? No. Tiger Coach Scott Owens? No. This was Denver coach George Gwozdecky describing the Gophers after his team advanced in the first semifinal game of the day.
It’s not the same kind of Gopher hockey that most are used to watching, but for right now it’s really working. Mike Hoeffel netted both goals and Alex Kangas continued his stellar play as the Gophers advanced to the WCHA Final Five title game with their third straight OT win, this time a 2 – 1 score over Colorado College.
“This team never ceases to amaze me, right now, with what they’ve been able to do,” said coach Lucia after the game. “It starts with your goaltender; he’s been brilliant.”
For the better part of the first period, the two teams were mostly in ‘feeling-out’ mode. Through the first 6 – 7 minutes, there was only one shot on goal, although that trend would not last. CC ended up dominating in shots in the first period, firing 20 on Alex Kangas, a season high in one period for the Tigers.
 “They are playing great team defense” said Coach Owens. “[Kangas] is in a zone right now.”
CC got on the board in the second period, just under a minute in, off of carryover power play time from the first. Andreas Vlassopoulos picked up a rebound off the back wall, and then banked in a shot off of off Derek Peltier’s leg.
A turnover by Tiger defenseman Nate Prosser helped tie the game just a short while later. Jay Barriball grabbed a loose puck, and put it in the slot to a wide open Mike Hoeffel, whose laser beam wrist shot beat Richard Bachman over his left shoulder.
“I thought Mike’s first goal was the big one,” said coach Lucia. “They had scored on the power play and we didn’t want to fall any further behind than that.”
Oddly enough, in a tie game late in the third period, the game opened up quite a bit. Each team had great puck movement through the neutral zone and had some good chances. The Gophers, at the end of the period however, really seemed to be losing their legs.
But it was the Gophers who came out firing in OT. They carried all the play, had all the chances, and got a great bounce to end it. Mike Hoeffel carried the puck in on the left boards, and fired a shot into the slot. The puck hit off of a Tiger defender, bounced off of Bachman’s back and went in the top of the net. The building erupted and the Gophers move on.
“We are coming together at the right time,” said Hoeffel when asked about his goal and his team’s newfound luck. “I don’t know how, but it deflected into the net.”
The Gophers will take on Denver at 7:07 Saturday night. Denver has never lost in the Final Five tournament at the Xcel Energy Center. The Gophers are on a roll. Unstoppable Force vs. Immovable Object?
“We play for a championship tomorrow,” said Coach Lucia. Who would have thought that just a couple of months ago?
Notes – After the first semifinal of the day, the WCHA announced that next season, MSU and Minnesota Duluth will host the Inaugural State of Minnesota College Hockey Showcase next season. On Saturday, November 1st, all four Minnesota based WCHA teams will complete their weekend schedules at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. On Friday, Duluth will host St. Cloud in Duluth and the Gophers will host MSU at Mariucci. On Saturday, all four teams will invade the ‘X’ as Duluth will host St. Cloud at 4:37PM, then at 7:37PM, MSU will host the Gophers. WCHA Commissioner Bruce McLeod shied away from calling this an annual series, but hoped to come up with a snappier name for it, as he said, something along the lines of a “Beanpot”….Coach Lucia said after the game that the best news of the day was that “Tom Pohl went home today”. Lucia added that it appears as though Pohl will be cleared to travel with the team for the NCAA regional next weekend...the Gophers will attempt to become the first team in Final Five history to win three games for the title. No team that has ever played in the 'play-in' game has won the Broadmoor Trophy that year.
|
| Written by: go4hcky @ Sat 3/22/08 12:23 am |
| Comments: 3 :: View Comments (Post your comment) |
|
Howe Goal Gets Gophers Past Huskies
 St. Paul--A team’s best penalty killer is often its goaltender. And Minnesota goaltender Alex Kangas proved that theory Thursday as Minnesota advanced in the WCHA Final Five with a 3-2 victory over St. Cloud State.
The freshman goaltender was tested early and often by St. Cloud State forwards Ryan Lasch and Andreas Nodl, but Kangas had an answer more often than not.
“He’s been solid for them down the stretch,” said Lasch. “He’s come up big for them as you saw tonight and on the power play he stopped us a couple times, which gave them a lot of momentum.”
Kangas made 25 saves on the evening, 12 of which came while the Gophers spent nearly nine minutes playing short-handed. The Huskies had seven power play opportunities, but the nation’s second rated power play produced only one goal.
“Some people call it that [I’m playing in a zone right now], but you can call it whatever you want,” said Kangas. “I feel good right now and guys are playing well in the defensive zone in front of me. That’s a big confidence booster for me knowing that I just gotta’ make one save and they’re going to clear out the junk in front.”
Kangas’ solid play between the pipes allowed Minnesota to keep the game close and the team finally got the bounce that has eluded them many weekends when a Derek Peltier shot from the point found a lane.
“I saw it come out to the point, and I was hanging out behind the net trying to get lost as I knew the puck would be coming,” said Mike Howe. “I was just trying to get open for a rebound, and sure enough it went off the back wall and came right to my stick and I just had to tap it in after that.”
Howe’s sixth goal of the season came with just 13 seconds remaining in the game and ensured the Gophers would face Colorado College Friday night in the WCHA Semifinal.
“Tonight was the type of game that we want to have; two-to-one, three-to-two,” said Gopher Coach Don Lucia. “That’s the type of game we have to be in to give ourselves a chance. And fortunately for us, we got a good bounce off the end boards and score the game winner. This team deserves a few bounces, because we haven’t got a lot this year.”
The game was tight throughout and Minnesota got on the scoreboard first when Tony Lucia crashed the net. The third line winger scored, giving the Gophers a one goal lead 25 second into the game.
“We’re not going to win by making a bunch of pretty passes coming up the rink,” said Minnesota Coach Don Lucia. “I think the first goal was critical tonight, especially when you come off what we went through--to be able to jump out the very first shift and play with a lead was huge.”
St. Cloud did tie the game seven minutes later with a power play goal when Garrett Raboin came down from the point finishing a pass from Lasch on the doorstep.
The Gophers re-gained the lead at 4:36 of the second period, opportunistically capitalizing on a 5-3 power play when Evan Kaufmann converted a rebound off a Blake Wheeler shot.
The Gophers protected their 2-1 lead by pulling back their forecheckers, implementing a 1-2-2 forecheck slowing the St. Cloud State attack through the second and third period. The Huskies struggled to establish flow and struggled to win any one-on-one battles.
St. Cloud State finally broke through the neutral zone late in the third. Raboin lofted a pass over the Gopher defense to Lasch, creating a two-on-one. Lasch found teammate Tony Mosey across the crease for an easy tap-in to tie the game with 4:26 left in the third period. The game looked headed to overtime until Howe’s game-winner.
“We’ve been right in it after every game we’ve played and all of sudden now it’s turned the other way a bit and we’re winning these close games,” said Coach Lucia. “That’s a credit to our seniors and our team that we’ve been able to hang in there and find a way to keep playing.”
Notes: Mike Howe on Tom Pohl, “Tommy’s been one of the guys all four years that he’s been here. He’s dedicated himself completely to the program. It’s tough seeing a guy like that go down, he’s a good guy in the locker room for us and we just kind of rallied around with what happened with him as we play in these games. We wish he gets a fast recovery and our prayers and thoughts are with him.”
Gopher seniors contributed on every Minnesota goal with Kaufmann and Peltier getting assists on the first goal, Kaufmann scoring the second goal, and Howe notching the game-winner off a Peltier rebound… 17 penalties were called during the game for a total of 34 minutes… Minnesota attempted 62 total shots to St. Cloud State’s 31 attempted shots… The Xcel Energy Center sold out for the first time on a WCHA Final Five Thursday game with attendance announced at 19,232.
|
| Written by: evegoe @ Fri 3/21/08 12:30 am |
| Comments: 0 :: View Comments (Post your comment) |
|
Gophers and Huskies set to battle in St. Paul
After winning what was one of the most entertaining – and likely draining – WCHA playoff series of all time, the Golden Gophers will look to continue their winning ways in St. Paul at the WCHA Final Five by taking on the St. Cloud State Huskies on Thursday night in the “play-in” game.
The Gophers got to St. Paul thanks to a pair of overtime wins last Saturday and Sunday to win the final pair of games in the best-of-three series at Minnesota State after dropping the first contest by a 1-0 score in double overtime. Sophomore Mike Carman’s overtime goal lifted Minnesota to a 2-1 victory on Saturday night to even the series at one all, and then fellow second-year player Tony Lucia notched his sixth goal of the season deep into the second overtime in Sunday’s 3-2 win which likely punched the Gophers ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
The big question on the minds of Gopher fans is will the team have anything left in the tank come Thursday night? The Huskies are playing their best hockey of the season, having lost just one in their last 11 games. Bob Motzko and Co. swept the Wisconsin Badgers last weekend at the National Hockey Center to both advance to the Final Five and also secure their spot in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
They key to St. Cloud’s success this season has been their power play, and specifically the play of freshman Garrett Roe and sophomores Ryan Lasch and Andreas Nodl. All three players have accumulated over half their points on the power play, which has sparked the SCSU power play to rank first in the WCHA at 21.9 percent. If the Gophers hope to have any shot of winning on Thursday night, they cannot afford to frequent the sin-bin too often.
The Husky power play has been solid all year, but the same cannot be said for sophomore Jase Weslosky. However, the Edmonton, Alberta native has really turned it on as of late, as the Huskies have allowed three goals or more just once since Feb. 9.
If Weslosky is on his game, Minnesota will really be in trouble, given its propensity for not being able to score goals. The Gophers did put a four-spot on SCSU earlier this year, though they also blew a three goal lead in that game as the teams skated to a 4-4 tie in St. Cloud. The night before, Minnesota played very well but not surprisingly had trouble scoring and ended up losing by a 3-1 score at Mariucci Arena.
Freshman sensation Alex Kangas, who is unquestionably the Gophers team MVP on the season, was certainly on his game last weekend, and will need to be even sharper against the high-powered Huskies on Thursday night.
The winner of this game moves on to the semi-finals to take on Colorado College. The winner of that game will then tangle with either DU or UND in the title game, while the losers battle earlier in the day on Saturday for third place. All games will air live on FSN North.
|
| Written by: Cardinal @ Tue 3/18/08 7:28 pm |
| Comments: 0 :: View Comments (Post your comment) |
|
 Tom Pohl update from the University of Minnesota...
Gophers’ Pohl in Intensive Care Following Surgery at Rochester Hospital
University of Minnesota senior Tom Pohl is in intensive care following surgery resulting from an injury suffered in the Golden Gophers’ double overtime victory over Minnesota State on Sunday in Mankato .
Pohl sustained a skull fracture when his head hit the boards in front of the team’s bench at 6:09 of the second period. The injury resulted in bleeding on the brain and Pohl was airlifted to St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester . Successful surgery was performed to stop the bleeding and stabilize the fracture. Pohl remains at the hospital for further observation.
“We are very fortunate that he has tremendous medical care,” said Minnesota coach Don Lucia, who is in Rochester with Pohl and his family. “We’re looking forward to him returning to school at one hundred percent and our thoughts and prayers remain with Tom and the Pohl family.”
|
| Written by: Jupiter @ Mon 3/17/08 3:24 pm |
| Comments: 2 :: View Comments (Post your comment) |
|
Lucia’s goal sends Minnesota to the Final Five
In what was a weekend series that no fan will soon forget, Minnesota sophomore Tony Lucia scored the game-winning goal with just over three minutes left in the second overtime to give the Golden Gophers a 3-2 win in the third and deciding game of their WCHA first round playoff series with Minnesota State. With the win, the Gophers move on to St. Paul and the WCHA Final Five, where they will take on St. Cloud State on Thursday night in the play-in game.
For the third night in a row, the two teams could not settle the score in regulation. Friday night’s game was won by the Mavericks, as they netted short-handed tally at the 17:36 mark of the second overtime to take a one-game lead in the best of three series. With their season likely on the line, Minnesota bounced back on Saturday night, thanks to Mike Carman’s fourth goal of the season with just under eight minutes gone in the first overtime.
As was the case with the previous two nights, each team had several great chances to take the series and advance to St. Paul. However, Minnesota sophomore Alex Kangas and MSU junior Mike Zacharias showed why they are arguably their respective team MVPs, as they both played outstanding hockey all weekend long.
Lucia’s goal, his sixth of the season, came thanks to a great job of fore-checking by linemates Evan Kaufmann and Ryan Flynn. Kaufmann got the puck to the net after Flynn battled a MSU defender in the corner; Lucia was tied up with the other Mavericks defenseman, but managed to slide the loose puck in past Zacharias for the game-winner.
Minnesota found itself down early in the contest thanks to Mick Berge’s 20th goal on the season. The Gophers would fight back to take the lead as Jay Barriball and Patrick White each scored their sixth goals of the season to give the Maroon and Gold a 2-1 lead heading into the third period. However, just 3:20 into the third, Kael Mouillierat tied the game at 2-2, sliding the puck past a screened Kangas.
However, that would be Kangas’ last slipup on the night, as he held steady the rest of the way in to earn his 10th victory of the season. His goals against now sits at a ridiculous 1.95 for the season, while his save percentage is an equally impressive .930. After this past weekend, there’s no doubt who is Minnesota’s team MVP.
On a more somber note, Minnesota senior forward Tom Pohl was hit by MSU’s Jason Wiley during the second period. Pohl’s helmet flew off and his face hit awkwardly against the boards near the Gopher bench. There was a great deal of blood on the ice, and Pohl – at a minimum – broke his nose and suffered a concussion according to reports. Some conflicting reports say the Red Wing native may have more serious head injuries, but those are unconfirmed.
As it stands now, 15 of Minnesota’s 41 games this season have gone to overtime, including nine of the last 14. One of those was a 4-4 tie at St. Cloud State, their Thursday night opponent. The Gophers blew a 4-1 lead at the National Hockey Center to the Huskies, who are one of the hotter teams in the country as they have just one loss in their last 11 games. This past weekend, the swept Wisconsin to advance to St. Paul.
|
| Written by: Cardinal @ Mon 3/17/08 8:04 am |
| Comments: 0 :: View Comments (Post your comment) |
|
Carman Forces Game Three
It’s been written too many times this season: a blown third period lead and a loss in OT.
But it wasn’t to be tonight. Playing their guts out, the Gophers again give up a third period lead but fought off a hard charging Maverick team at the end of regulation, and win it on a Mike Carman wrist shot 7:33 into overtime.
The game started poorly in the first few moments, but aside from those first few shifts which were entirely in the Gopher zone, just about every scoring opportunity came the way of the Maroon and Gold. The Gophers seemed like they were fresh off a week’s rest as they really out-skated and out-chanced the Mavericks. Several Gophers just barely missed goals, including close in chances by Jay Barriball and Mike Hoeffel.
The Gophers took back-to-back penalties around halfway through the period, but aside from a fantastic sliding save by Alex Kangas, the Gophers had just as much of the play as the Mavericks.
It took a fabulous play to get one past Mike Zacharias. Off a rebound/scrum in front of the net, Justin Bostrom took the puck, skated around Zacharias, then the whole net, and his wraparound attempt slid into the net through Mankato defenseman Brian Kilburg, who was acting as goalie because Zacharias was still out of his crease.
The period ended with the Mavericks really on their heels.
For the next 25 minutes, the Gophers played very well. Mankato couldn’t control the puck in any fashion, and the Gophers were getting some chances, and playing with an edge.
Just about the ten minute mark of the third period, however, things changed off a Gopher penalty.
With Pat White in the box, Andy Sackrison finished off a bang-bang play with a shot into the upper corner over a desperate Kangas glove. The crowd went wild and the Mavericks had new life. They pressured and pressured towards the end of the game but couldn’t get what would have been the winner in regulation.
OT started and Mankato had all the play. But our favorite color man Doug Woog’s prediction came true at the 7:33 mark. Mike Carman took the puck just over the Maverick blue line, used the defenseman in front of him as a screen, and ripped one over Zacharias’s shoulder. The puck hit off the defenseman’s (Channing Boe) leg on the way in, which really seemed to fool Zacharias, as the puck clinked off of the bar underneath the inside of the net.
Not to be overlooked tonight are two points, through two games. One is the play of Alex Kangas. Another stellar game by Alex, the Gophers would probably not be playing tomorrow night without his efforts. But two is the Gopher power play. Scoreless in 8 attempts in two games, the Gophers might have already punched their ticket to the Final Five with a goal or two on special teams.
The season is on the line tomorrow night as these two, probably exhausted teams, will finish off this series at 7PM on FSN.
Get Your SUNDAY Game Tickets - Click here
|
| Written by: go4hcky @ Sat 3/15/08 10:14 pm |
| Comments: 1 :: View Comments (Post your comment) |
|
Mavericks upend Gophers in 2OT thriller
In what was a game that no onlooker will soon forget, the Minnesota State Mavericks took a commanding lead in the best of three series, topping the Golden Gophers by a 1-0 score in double overtime.
Late in the second extra session, the Mavericks were whistled for having too many men on the ice. The Minnesota power play, which had scored in its six previous games, embarked on its fifth try of the night. The previous four resulted in two shots, very few chances, and obviously no goals.
The man-advantage would result in a score, but for the buys wearing Purple and White. Freshman defenseman Cade Fairchild turned the puck over at the MSU blueline, which enabled MSU’s Jon Kalinski and Trevor Bruess to break into the Minnesota zone. Kalinski dished the puck over to Bruess, the Mavericks’ leading scorer, and he beat Minnesota’s Alex Kangas with a high shot to end the drama-filled game.
Both teams had their fair share of chances over the course of nearly 100 minutes of hockey. Minnesota’s top line of Blake Wheeler, Ben Gordon, and Mike Howe had the best of the Gophers’ chances throughout the night; Jay Barriball, who returned from an ankle injury, also played well, and rang a shot off the pipe in overtime.
The loss puts the Gophers in a one-game whole, but from an emotional standpoint, this loss might be too much for a team to overcome on such short notice.
The Mavericks will look to (likely) end Minnesota’s season on Saturday at 7 p.m.
|
| Written by: Cardinal @ Fri 3/14/08 11:38 pm |
| Comments: 0 :: View Comments (Post your comment) |
|
Win or go home for the Gophers
Click here to purchase tickets to Friday's game
Click here to purchase tickets to Saturday's game
It’s been quite a while – eight years to be exact – since the Minnesota Golden Gophers have had the risk of their season ending before the WCHA Final Five commences. However, that scenario is staring the Maroon and Gold right between the eyes heading into this weekend’s first round playoff series with Minnesota State Mankato.
During Don Lucia’s first season as head coach of the Golden Gophers, his team finished the regular season in sixth place, which earned his team a trip to play the Colorado College Tigers, his former team. After winning 4-2 on Friday night, a Stuart Senden overtime goal on Saturday night would give the Gophers a sweep.
Minnesota fans will be looking for a similar outcome this weekend, and for good reason: if the Gophers are unable to win two of three against the Mavericks, it’s a virtual certainty that Minnesota’s season will come to an end. They currently sit alone in 12th place in the PairWise Rankings. Two wins this weekend would not only likely move them up a spot or two, but it would give them the chance to further enhance their resume next weekend in St. Paul at the Final Five. Conversely, if they are unable to make it out of Mankato with a pair of victories, they will at best hold steady in the PairWise, and will likely be jumped by other teams from across the nation that do make it their conference tournaments. Generally, a team must be in the top 13 in the PairWise Rankings to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Despite the face that the Mavericks, who finished the regular season with an 18-14-4 overall record, are the No. 4 seed, many are going to view Troy Jutting’s team as the underdog in this series against the No. 7 seeded Gophers. After all, the Gophers swept the Minnesota State earlier this season for their only WCHA sweep, and they have feel to the Mavericks just twice in the teams 28 lifetime meetings.
After being swept by North Dakota in mid-January, the Mavericks have been one of the hottest teams in the nation, going 9-4-0 over their final 13 regular season games. Junior netminder Mike Zacharias has provided stability between the pipes, which is an area that has plagued Minnesota State for years. His .919 save percentage ranks sixth in WCHA play.
Aside from solid goaltending, the Mavericks really don’t do anything overall great. They rank in the middle of the pack in WCHA play when it comes to scoring offense (5th, 2.54 GPG), scoring defense (7th, 2.68 GPG), power play (7th, 13.0 percent) and penalty kill (8th, 81 percent).
One thing that makes the Mavericks such a tough team to play against is their depth; the have four players with over 20 points – including sophomore Trevor Bruess and his team-leading 28 points – but they have a 13 players with 10 or more points. That’s one more than Minnesota if you discount the departed Kyle Okposo’s 11 points.
Given Minnesota’s history of owning the Mavericks, one would have to think that the Mavs are going to be a rather fired up group when they hit the ice on Friday night. This has the potential to be a program-changing weekend for Minnesota State. The first five minutes on Friday night could arguably be the most important stretch of time on the whole weekend. If Minnesota can withstand the onslaught that is likely to come at them early in the game, they will be in good shape to get a ‘W’ on Friday night and put the pressure squarely on the backs of the Mavericks.
For Minnesota, sophomore wing Jay Barriball is likely to return to the lineup after sitting out last weekend with an ankle injury. After Friday night’s 4-1 win over Minnesota Duluth, Lucia said that if they had lost that game, Barriball would have been out there on Saturday night. Assuming Barriball is healthy, he’ll likely be put back with senior Ben Gordon and junior Blake Wheeler to form Minnesota’s top offensive line. That trio will need to be a factor this weekend if Minnesota hopes to advance to the Xcel Energy Center.
Another key in this weekend’s games will likely be how the Gopher defense handles the forecheck of Minnesota State. The Bulldogs came pretty hard at Minnesota this past weekend, and often gave the Gopher blueliners fits and caused turnovers. The likes of Derek Peltier and David Fischer cannot be afraid to throw the puck off the glass to relive pressure; should they opt to hold onto the biscuit and try to make that extra pass, it could really cost them.
Freshman goalie Alex Kangas has been great all season for Minnesota, and he’ll likely play every second for the Gophers again this weekend. He was able to help carry the USHL’s Indiana Ice deep into the playoffs last season, and prior to his stint in the USHL, he was named to the All-Tournament Team during the 2005 AA State High School Tournament as a member of Rochester Century, so he certainly has a track record of excelling in the playoffs. He’ll likely need to stand on his head a time or two this weekend.
All three games will be broadcast live on FSN North, but check out the links at the top of this preview to get your tickets for this weekend’s games and make the trip down 169 to support the team. Tickets are only $14!
|
| Written by: Cardinal @ Mon 3/10/08 9:57 pm |
| Comments: 0 :: View Comments (Post your comment) |
|
Gophers Start Slow, Can't Catch Bulldogs
The Gophers just didn’t have much energy tonight; you could see it from the outset of the game. The Bulldogs had a bit more and capitalized on their chances as the Gopher seniors lose their final game in Mariucci by a 3 – 2 score.
It was a good game “for 20 minutes anyway” said coach Lucia after the game. “UMD was sharper from the get go, you could see that. They looked like they wanted the game more than we did tonight.”
The Gophers and Bulldogs played a really boring period aside from a large brawl in front of a stick wielding Alex Stalock, and another odd goal against.
About halfway through the period, a small scrum turned into a large one after Stalock decided to ring up Ben Gordon as he was tied up with someone in the crease. Gordon went after Stalock, which set off a melee with just about everyone on the ice. Oddly enough Stalock managed to escape penalty while Gordon was given an extra.
It didn’t matter much as there isn’t a whole lot more feeble than a Duluth power play. The Bulldogs did get on the board as Cody Danberg flipped a put from the corner that went off a Gopher defender in the crease and went over Kangas’s shoulder into the net.
The second period featured a lot more of the same, aside from players from both teams falling a lot. Of course, you had a bit more interaction between Gordon and Stalock that resulted in a Duluth-like power play by the Gophers.
At the 12:35 mark a horrible turnover in the Gopher end lead to a 2 – 0 Bulldog lead; Andrew Carroll put the puck out front, it bounced off a Gopher defender and went right to Mike Curry, who caught Kangas sliding the opposite way and snapped it into the net.
The Gophers got themselves back in the game, at least temporarily, with just over five minutes left in the period. Ben Gordon snapped a rebound over a diving Stalock when the Gophers had a five on three man advantage. Stalock was way out of position on the play, and no amount of complaining to the referee was going to overturn that goal.
“I’m kind of at a loss for words” said Gordon after the game. “It really hit me when we got off the ice that it’s the last time we’ll play a game out there.”
The Bulldogs got the winning goal by taking advantage of a penalty call at the end of the period. Drew Akins flipped a third attempt shot over a sprawling Kangas, and got what is usually a winning third goal for either one of these teams.
“Our kids played hard [with] a lot of intensity, we had a great second period” said Duluth coach Scott Sandelin. “Especially to score that quickly on the power play, in the last 30 seconds (of the period).”
The Gophers came out as a different team in the thir, and drew within one around the four minute mark of the third. The sea parted for Kevin Wehrs, and he danced to within a few feet of the goal. Stalock stopped his shot, but couldn’t control the rebound; Justin Bostrom pounced on it and put it in the open net.
Mike Hoeffel, who according to coach Lucia “is really coming on” had a fantastic third period, and had a couple of great looks, but couldn’t quite get the puck to settle down.
The Gophers will travel to Mankato next weekend to kick off the playoffs. “We always get a pretty good turn out down in Mankato with Gopher fans” according to coach Lucia. “It’s a good chance for a lot of Gopher fans to, maybe, infiltrate their arena and make it a little more of a neutral crowd.”
Well, that’s a nice little call out for all of us. We’ll see what happens this Friday night.
|
| Written by: go4hcky @ Sat 3/08/08 11:16 pm |
| Comments: 1 :: View Comments (Post your comment) |
|
Wheeler's two goals lead Minnesota past UMD
The statement “Minnesota has wrapped up seventh place” is certainly not a common sentence thrown around WCHA circles, but such is the case this year. Thanks to a pair of goals by senior Blake Wheeler, the Golden Gophers topped the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs by a 4-1 score on Friday night at Mariucci Arena.
The Gophers, who are now on a five-game unbeaten streak, got out to a quick lead thanks in large part to Wheeler. Less than a minute into the game, Wheeler notched just his second goal in his last 13 games. After senior Ben Gordon took the puck off the rail, the duo headed into the UMD zone on a two-on-one rush. Gordon fed the pass over to Wheeler, who one-timed the feed for his 14th goal of the season.
“He put it right on my tape,” Wheeler said. “I couldn’t miss that one.”
Later in the first period, the suddenly hot Minnesota power play would cash in, with Gordon and Wheeler again contributing. After digging the puck out of the corner, Wheeler dished it off to freshman Mike Hoeffel, who briefly hesitated and then hit Gordon with a perfect pass, which the International Falls native slapped into the net past a hung-out-to-dry Alex Stalock.
“Our team has to play from start to finish,” said Minnesota Duluth head coach Scott Sandelin. “It’s not acceptable.”
Lucia was very complimentary towards his upperclassmen after the game, noting the importance of their improved performance in recent weeks.
“You have to have seniors and your best players step up,” Lucia said.
Early in the second period, another senior would come through for Minnesota. After Ryan Flynn got the puck to the front of the net, Evan Kaufmann was able to tap a loose puck past Stalock, who appeared to have lost sight of the puck.
After that play though, the Bulldogs would dictate the play for a majority of the second period, culminating with a five-on-three advantage late in the period. But, as both head coaches noted after the game, the two-man advantage was split between the end of the second period and the start of the third period, so UMD was never able to fully setup.
Freshman goalie Alex Kangas was very solid again for Minnesota, stopping 25 shots as he earned his eighth win of the season. However, his record (8-6-9) is certainly not indicative of his play; the argument can me easily made that he’s the team’s MVP.
“Now that we’re scoring a few goals, it makes things easier,” Lucia said.
Sandelin pulled Stalock for the extra attacked with about 1:30 left in the third period, but the Bulldogs were unable to generate many good chances. Wheeler iced the game with a 180 foot goal into the empty net.
Because Minnesota State won their game versus Michigan Tech tonight, Minnesota will be unable to get home-ice advantage. They will likely travel to Mankato to take on the Mavericks, though a trip to St. Cloud is not out of the question.
“It’s more important how you’re playing that who or where you’re playing,” Lucia said. “If you look around the last few years, lots of teams have won on the road in the first round.”
Minnesota cannot jump ahead of either St. Cloud or Wisconsin. However, the Badgers and Huskies are now tied with 27 points, and Minnesota State is at 28, so there’s still a lot of shifting that could go on in regards to the final standings.
Minnesota was again without the services of sophomore wing Jay Barriball, who re-injured his ankle last weekend. Lucia said that if the team would have lost tonight, Barriball would have been in the lineup on Saturday. He expects the former Holy Angels star to be back with the team next weekend.
Now, the Gophers will look to keep their momentum going on Saturday night, where the team’s seniors will be honored in the annual tradition of Senior Night. The game will be live on FSN North starting at 7 p.m.
|
| Written by: Cardinal @ Fri 3/07/08 11:29 pm |
| Comments: 0 :: View Comments (Post your comment) |
|
Gophers, Bulldogs set to square off in key series
The Minnesota Golden Gophers enter this weekend’s series with the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs on a four-game unbeaten streak, and though their hopes to get home-ice for the WCHA playoffs are slim, they are very much alive for a NCAA Tournament birth.
A pair of three-point weekends has put the Golden Gophers back into contention to make the field of 16 teams that qualify for the tournament. As of today, Minnesota sits in twelfth place in the PairWise Rankings, a spot they will likely need to cling to if they hope to make it to the Big Dance.
Things appear to be pretty simple for the Gophers: make it to the WCHA Final Five and they'll make the tournament. If they're unable to do that, they'll likely miss the tournament for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.
In order to make it to St. Paul in two weeks, the Gophers will probably need to win their best-of-three series away from Mariucci Arena next weekend. The most likely outcome is a trip to Mankato to take on Minnesota State; if not Mankato, the Gophers will almost assuredly be playing at Wisconsin or at St. Cloud State, so making it to the Xcel Energy Center is not going to be an easy feat for Don Lucia and Co.
For Minnesota, if they are going to maintain their solid play, they are going to need junior center Blake Wheeler to step up. He has been their best offensive player this year, as he leads the team in scoring with 13 goals and 16 assists. However, he has really trailed off in recent weeks: he has just seven points (six assists) over the last 12 games. As he showcased late last season, the Plymouth native is certainly a big-game player, and they don’t get any bigger for this year’s version of the Golden Gophers than the four to five games they’ll partake in over the next two weekends.
Sophomore wing Jay Barriball re-injured his ankle in last Friday’s 2-2 tie with Alaska Anchorage but should be able to rejoin the team this weekend. Prior to his injury, Barriball had been a key component of the Gopher power play that, in recent weeks, had started to click. They scored four power play goals in two games versus Wisconsin, and followed that up with two goals with the man advantage against the Seawolves.
Freshman goalie Alex Kangas has let in a few questionable goals in recent weeks, but luckily for the Gophers, the offense has picked Kangas up. The Atlanta Thrashers draft pick bounced back nicely last Saturday, yielding just one goal to the Seawolves in a 4-1 victory, and figures to be between the pipes on both nights this weekend and into the playoffs.
The Bulldogs, meanwhile, have gone winless in the previous two weekends, getting swept at home by Colorado College and North Dakota.
Minnesota fans can sympathize with Bulldog fans when it comes to their respective teams having scoring issues this season. UMD has scored just one goal in its last four games, and generated very little offense in their previous two meetings with the Gophers, which resulted in a tie (1-1) and a win (2-1) for Minnesota.
The Bulldogs will rely on sophomore goalie Alex Stalock, who has great numbers (.918 save percentage, 2.26 goals against average) and will be counted on to hold the Gophers to two goals or less if the Bulldogs hope to emerge from Mariucci Arena with any points.
Both games get underway at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, though unlike Saturday's contest, Friday's game will be tape-delayed on FSN North. It will air immediately following the Wild game at around 9:15 p.m. As of now, it's scheduled to air live on one of Comcast's three FOX College Sports channels.
Puck Chatter
On Thursday, March 5, join former Golden Gophers head coach Doug Woog and current Director of Hockey Operations Mark Bahr as they co-host "Puck Chatter," live from Stub and Herbs in Stadium Village on the U of M campus. Doug and Mark will break down the X's and O's, answer your questions, and will be joined live by Frank Mazzocco, Glen Sonmor, and former Minnesota captain Mike Vannelli.
The show, which is sponsored by Labatt's Blue, will start at 7 p.m. and wrap up by around 8:30 p.m.
|
| Written by: Cardinal @ Wed 3/05/08 11:34 pm |
| Comments: 0 :: View Comments (Post your comment) |
|
Gophers Leave Alaska Winners
The Gophers turned the tables a little on their recent history tonight, finally getting over that two-goal hump, beating UAA 4 – 1 in their WCHA road regular season finale.
The Gophers and Seawolves played a mirror image type first period compared to last night. Halfway through the first period, the Gophers had a 2 – 0 lead, thanks to one power play goal and one even strength. Mike Hoeffel got the first one, a nice tip in off of an Evan Kauffman shot, while Kauffman one timed a Derek Peltier pass for the other.
Each goalie played fairly well, making several nice saves each. Alex Kangas seemed much more comfortable seeing the few longs shots that came his way, while Jon Olthuis came up with a few of his own, including a great save on a Blake Wheeler attempt.
The second period was plodding along at just the pace the Gophers wanted. They couldn’t put in that third goal that would put away UAA, but the good thing is that the Seawolves weren’t getting any chances.
Until a minute left and all of a sudden UAA was within a goal. Josh Lunden put a great pass through two Gopher defenders and a pinching Mat Robinson slammed it past Kangas.
A lot of Gopher fans probably thought they knew what was coming next.
But it wasn’t to be…thankfully. The Gophers killed off an early penalty in the third period, and then took advantage of their own power play. Mike Howe buried a cross ice pass into an open net and the Gophers had a pretty insurmountable lead against a pretty feeble UAA attack.
The Seawolves pulled their goalie with four and a half minutes to play, and it actually created a couple of scoring chances. Alex Kangas flashed his glove hand with 3:40 left, probably his best save of the season (other than the last minute save vs. Ohio State in his first career start). Ben Gordon finished off the scoring seconds later, dumping the puck into the open net from center ice.
The Gophers are still alive for home ice in the WCHA playoffs, but it will take some good luck to get there. They take on Duluth in the regular season finale next weekend, Friday and Saturday night, both live on FSN.
|
| Written by: go4hcky @ Sun 3/02/08 1:27 am |
| Comments: 1 :: View Comments (Post your comment) |
|
Minnesota blows two-goal lead, ties UAA 2-2
Despite getting out to an early two-goal lead, the Golden Gophers were unable to hang on for a victory on Friday night Sullivan Arena, as Minnesota and the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves skated to a 2-2 tie.
Senior defenseman Derek Peltier, who has been much maligned over the course of his final season in Maroon and Gold, scored both of Minnesota’s goals. The first one came less than a minute into the game, as the Plymouth native took a feed from Blake Wheeler which resulted in a two-on-one rush. Peltier took the shot and scored his third goal of the season.
Later in the first period, while on the power play, Peltier snapped a shot from the point that made it past a screened Jon Olthuis, the Anchorage goalie, to give the Gophers a 2-0 lead.
Near the end of the first period, UAA’s Paul Crowder, the team’s third leading scorer heading into the game, blasted a shot off Minnesota’s Alex Kangas’ glove that hit off the right post and made it’s way into the net to cut the Gopher lead to just a goal.
The second period would be played much closer to the vest, as neither team would get many “Grade A” scoring chances. The Gophers had a few good chances early in the third period, but were unable to extend their lead past one goal. That would come back to haunt them as Anchorage’s Ken Selby, a sophomore forward, notched his first goal of his career at UAA to tie the game at 2-2.
Minnesota would again apply pressure late in the game, but Olthuis stood tall and was able to preserve the tie for the Seawolves, who are assured to finish in tenth place in the WCHA for the third year in a row.
Speaking of the WCHA, the Gophers are now tied for seventh place with Minnesota Duluth at 21 points, though the Gophers have played one more game. UMD takes on North Dakota in a Saturday / Sunday series this weekend. Both teams currently trial St. Cloud State and Minnesota State by three points for fifth place.
The Saturday rematch between Minnesota and Alaska Anchorage gets underway at 10 p.m. and will be live on FSN North.
|
| Written by: Cardinal @ Sat 3/01/08 1:56 am |
| Comments: 1 :: View Comments (Post your comment) |
|
Gophers look to keep it going in Anchorage
After getting a key three points last weekend versus the Wisconsin Badgers, the Golden Gophers now head north to The Last Frontier to take on the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves in what will be Minnesota’s final two road games of the regular season.
Thanks to St. Cloud State’s sweep of Michigan Tech last weekend, the Gophers win and tie versus Wisconsin was good enough to pass Michigan Tech and move the Maroon and Gold into sole possession of eighth place in the WCHA standings. They are just one point behind Minnesota Duluth, who takes on the red-hot North Dakota Fighting Sioux at the DECC this weekend before visiting Dinkytown for a pair of games to conclude both teams regular seasons.
The Bulldogs trail SCSU and Minnesota State by three points each; the Huskies host the Badgers this weekend and then head to Grand Forks to take on UND, while the Mavericks travel to Colorado College before concluding their regular season with two games in Mankato against Michigan Tech.
The fourth place Wisconsin Badgers currently have 25 points, but only have two games remaining, so if UW stumbles at the National Hockey Center this weekend, they could be in a precarious position going into the final weekend of the regular season.
So what does it all mean for the Gophers? From a WCHA perspective, Minnesota has an outside chance at home-ice advantage. They will likely have to win their final four games in order to secure home-ice advantage during the first round of the playoffs, and even that might not be enough. Regardless, unless they really go in the tank over the next two weeks, they’ll likely be traveling to Denver, Wisconsin, St. Cloud State, or Minnesota State for their first round playoff series.
From a national perspective, the Gophers are currently in a four-way tie for 14th in the PariWise Rankings. They likely need to be in 13th place or higher in order to secure an NCAA Tournament berth. Among others, the Badgers are one of those teams tied for 14th, and UMD is alone at No. 13, but the Bulldogs have lost four of six and have a tough finish, so catching Scott Sandelin and Co. is very doable.
To make the “Big Dance,” Minnesota will need to make it to St. Paul for the WCHA Final Five. If they are upended in the first round of the WCHA playoffs, their season will likely be over. But, if they can make it to the Xcel Energy Center, they will be in very good shape to make the NCAA Tournament; winning a game or two in St. Paul would secure them an NCAA berth with room to spare.
The Seawolves have been eliminated from the WCHA and NCAA picture for quite a while now; they are going to finish in last place in the WCHA for the third straight season, and have just three conference wins on the year. One of those three victories came at Mariucci Arena earlier this season though, so Minnesota cannot take anything for granted this weekend.
UAA has won just one game since Dec. 29, so they are clearly going in the wrong direction. Last weekend, they were swept at Denver and in the prior two weekends they were swept by both Minnesota State and St. Cloud State.
They are last in the WCHA in both scoring offense and scoring defense. Their penalty kill is also last in the conference, so the suddenly hot Gopher power play (four goals versus Wisconsin) will have a good chance to keep its momentum going.
Freshman Alex Kangas was shaky in Saturday night’s 4-4 tie with the Badgers, but will likely get the nod in Friday night’s tilt versus the Seawolves. Junior Jeff Frazee could get a look this weekend, as this will likely be his last chance to play this season unless Kangas really slips up down the stretch.
As a reminder, there games will be televised on FSN North. Friday night’s game will start at 10:30 , while the Saturday rematch will get underway at 10 p.m.
|
| Written by: Cardinal @ Sun 2/24/08 4:09 pm |
| Comments: 0 :: View Comments (Post your comment) |
|
Three-point weekend gets Gophers back on track
Despite blowing a one-goal lead late in the third period in Saturday night’s 4-4 tie with the Wisconsin Badgers, the general outlook from the Minnesota side of this was positive.
“It was a pretty just outcome,” said Minnesota head coach Don Lucia, whose team has now moved itself into NCAA Tournament talk, which is something that was far from the minds of most Gopher fans before this weekend.
“We’d have been a lot happier with four points,” said sophomore wing Jay Barriball, who scored a pair of goals this weekend, giving him five on the season.
Minnesota got on the board first, thanks to freshman Patrick White, who also bagged a pair of tallies this weekend. The Grand Rapids native took the feed from senior defenseman Derek Peltier, who had two helpers on the night, and beat UW goalie Shane Connelly with a high wrist shot that deflected off the stick of the Badger defenseman.
On most weekends this season, scoring four goals would have been enough to win for Minnesota, thanks in large part to freshman goalie Alex Kangas, who has been superb. However, his played dipped a little bit on this night, as there were at least a few goals that would be classified as soft.
“You’re not going to make a goaltenders highlight reel tonight,” Lucia said.
The first goal Kangas allowed came off a wrist shot from the wing by third-liner John Mitchell. The shot his Kangas’ glove but trickled over the line.
Just “getting the puck to the net” was the message that Badger head coach Mike Eaves preached to his team, who accumulated 41 shots on the night.
After an Evan Kaufmann slapper gave Minnesota a 2-1 lead heading into the second period, a failed clearing attempt while on the penalty kill by freshman Mike Hoeffel allowed UW’s Michael Davis to knot things up a 2-2.
Minnesota would regain the lead midway through the second, as Barriball made a beautiful fake shot and then dished the puck to Ben Gordon, who one-timed the pass for Minnesota’s first of two power play goals on the night.
The Badgers would again answer. At 15:33 of the second period, fourth-line winger Podge Turnbull rolled out of the corner and fired a low shot on net that snuck between Kangas’ right leg and the pipe, tying the game at 3-3.
“That’s the frustrating part,” Lucia said, referencing the fact his team final managed to score a fair amount of goals in a game but to allow some “save-able” shots to get in.
Minnesota’s power play, which was dead-last in the WCHA coming into the weekend, got their second of the night – and fourth of the weekend – at 4:14 of the third period. UW senior defenseman Kyle Klubertanz tried to clear the puck from behind his own net up the middle of the ice. His clearing attempt was picked off by Fairchild, who faked a shot and dished a perfect pass to Barriball, who backhanded a shot in close quarters to make it 4-3 Minnesota.
“Dirty goals are good goals, especially on the power play,” Barriball said.
It appeared as though Minnesota would be able to hang on capture four points, but a late turnover by Gordon allowed UW freshman forward Patrick Johnson to walk unmolested into the high-slot and beat Kangas to tie things up with just over five minutes left.
The Badgers would get a late power play thanks to a Blake Wheeler holding call but were unable to convert.
Minnesota now sits alone in eighth place in the WCHA with 20 points, one back of Minnesota Duluth and two ahead of Michigan Tech. To get into fifth place and secure home-ice advantage in the first round of the WCHA playoffs, Minnesota will need to vault over UMD, St. Cloud State (24 pts., 24 games play) and Minnesota State (24 pts., 24 games played). The Badgers currently reside in fourth place, having gained 25 points, but only have two league games remaining – a pair at St. Cloud State next weekend.
At this point, things are getting simpler for the Gophers in terms of making it to “The Dance.”
“We’re going to have to win the first round of the playoffs to make the NCAA Tournament,” Lucia said.
Next up for Minnesota is a trip to Anchorage to take on the Seawolves before heading home to conclude the regular season with a pair against UMD. The Gophers likely need to win three of those four games to give themselves some momentum heading into the playoffs.
Gopher women see unbeaten streak end vs. Badgers
The University of Minnesota women’s hockey team saw its 21-game unbeaten streak come crashing down on Saturday afternoon at Ridder Arena, as the Wisconsin Badgers easily dismissed of the Gophers by a 5-1 score.
“We haven’t played a team of this caliber since Christmas, and that hurt us,” said Minnesota head coach Brad Frost.
Wisconsin was able to dominate the first period and constantly kept the puck in the Minnesota end. To their credit, the Gophers did a good job of limiting UW’s scoring chances, but still were outshot by a 14-8 margin.
“They [Wisconsin] were beating us to loose pucks all over the ice in the first period,” Frost said.
With just over five minutes remaining in the opening stanza, Minnesota goalie Kim Hanlon made a spectacular save to keep the game scoreless, but with just under two minutes to go, UW’s Hilary Knight would net her 16th goal of the season to give UW a 1-0 lead.
Just 3:18 into the second period, the Badgers would double their lead thanks to some sloppy play by the Gophers in front of their own net. Wisconsin corralled the puck, and it wound up on the tape of Anne Dronen, who ripped a shot high to the glove side from the slot for her first goal of the season.
The Gophers would get that all important next goal to prevent UW from extending their lead to three. Senior Whitney Graft led a rush down ice, and in the process, was hooked, which led to a penalty. But before UW could gain control of the puck, Whitney managed to get a shot on goal, which was turned away by Badger goalie Jessie Vetter, but the rebound was slammed home by Jenelle Philipczyk for her fourth goal of the season.
The score would remain 2-1 heading into the third period, but the Badgers would finally take control of the game on the scoreboard to compliment their on-ice dominance. They outshot Minnesota 16-13 in the final stanza and tacked on three goals, including a pair by Meghan Duggan, giving her 17 on the year.
“We need to play with that will to win,” Philipczyk said.
With the loss, Minnesota lost any shot they had of catching the first place Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs, who were one point ahead of the Gophers heading into the weekend. With Minnesota’s loss today and the Bulldogs victory over St. Cloud State, UMD wrapped up the regular season title.
The two teams split their previous series this season in Madison, and the Gophers will have another shot at the Badgers on Sunday afternoon at Ridder Arena.
Senior Bobbi Ross knows the importance of tomorrow’s rematch.
“It’s the biggest game of the year,” Ross said.
|
| Written by: Cardinal @ Sat 2/23/08 11:40 pm |
| Comments: 0 :: View Comments (Post your comment) |
|
Desperate Effort Gives Gophers Win
 Finally what Gopher fans have been waiting to hear.
“You could tell which was the more desperate team” said Badger coach Mike Eaves on Friday night.
The first period was probably the Gophers best period in several weeks, if not months. All four forward lines were skating and fore-checking very hard and it lead to a very nice win for the Gophers, 4 – 2, as they move up a bit in the standings to 8th, leapfrogging Michigan Tech.
In the first period, Wisconsin had two power play opportunities but didn’t have much organization in the Gopher zone. They got one shot through traffic, but Badger captain Davis Drewiske’s wrister from the point hit the pipe.
“We were spectators for two periods” said Eaves of the Badgers early efforts. “We didn’t show up until the third period.”
To the surprise, probably, of many Gopher fans, Derek Peltier got the Gophers on the board at the 9:49 mark. Peltier jumped in on a rush to make a three on two with Mike Carman and Ryan Flynn. Peltier got himself open, Carman sent him a pass across the slot, and he took out the water bottle over Shane Connelly’s right shoulder.
The Gophers continued the pressure but couldn’t get much through Wisconsin’s muddled up middle. The only time the Gophers didn’t get the puck down low was on their sole power play of the period which should come as no surprise to anyone reading.
The second period started...and then it happened. The start of more than one goal in a game!
In a penalty-filled period that featured some pretty paltry officiating, the Gophers actually took advantage with their first power play goal in seemingly two years.
Mike Carman scooped in a garbage goal from the mouth of the crease, about eight minutes in, from a rebound off a Kauffman shot from the point.
“Coach put up an article during the week about the Wild, titled ‘Gritty not Pretty’” said Mike Carman, speaking about the Gophers willingness to crash the net more tonight. “We couldn’t be sitting trying to tic-tac-toe the puck all the time.”
Shane Connelly seemed to be having trouble controlling his rebounds all night, and Pat White took advantage for his third goal of the season just a few minutes later. He knocked in his own rebound with a Badger defender draped all over him.
Things got a bit nasty as Wisconsin cranked up their efforts moving towards the end of the period. A Mike Eaves time out after the second Gopher goal seemed to get their physical play jumping quite a bit, but taking extra penalties usually gets you nowhere on the scoreboard, which was the case through two periods.
A goalie change usually will fire up a team and it was no different tonight. Scott Gudmandson replaced Shane Connolly to start the third; even though Connelly had trouble with rebounds all night, “He was fighting that part of his game” said Eaves, “but that’s not why we made the change”.
Wisconsin caught the Gophers on their heels to start the third period. After consecutive penalties on the Gophers, Wisconsin had over 90 seconds of five-on-three time and put one up on the board. Blake Geoffrion slammed home a cross-crease pass from Kyle Turris and the game got interesting for a few minutes.
A couple of good Alex Kangas saves later, and the Gophers got another power play goal to pretty much ice it. Jay Barriball collected his fourth goal of the season on a second try attempt from his own wraparound try.
“It’s nice to see a crooked number" on the board said Kangas. Just about all Gopher fans agree with that statement I would say.
Badger center Aaron Bendickson made a nice play, crashing the net to pull the Badgers within two with nine minutes left, but the Gophers did a good job of playing keep away the remainder of the period as a tired Badger squad had a difficult time catching their breath down the stretch.
“It was nice to score more than one” said coach Lucia. “It was an important win for us…we had to win tonight, and to our guys’ credit, we did.”
Important, yes; this makes tomorrow night’s game all the more important still. Can and will the Gophers play desperate enough again tomorrow to keep what is sure to be a hard charging Wisconsin team at bay?
|
| Written by: go4hcky @ Fri 2/22/08 11:45 pm |
| Comments: 0 :: View Comments (Post your comment) |
|
|
|
