Headline: Minnesota stays special in puck
Publish Date: 11/08/1994
Matthew Cross
Staff Reporter
 
Gophers coach Doug Woog described his team's effort on the penalty
kill against St. Cloud State this weekend as ``unbelievable.''
 
And he's getting used to saying that.
 
Minnesota remained the best penalty-killing team in the WCHA after
turning away nine of 11 Huskies' power plays this weekend.
 
The toughest test for the Gophers this season was in the second
period of Saturday's game in St. Cloud.
 
Junior defenseman Greg Zwakman was called for high sticking with 6:40
left, and, less than 30 seconds later, Brian Bonin was called for
interference.
 
The Huskies took a two-man advantage for one-and-a-half minutes.
 
Minnesota not only killed the penalty, it didn't allow St. Cloud
State to take a shot on goal until they tried to stuff Jeff Callinan
with under 15 seconds left in Bonin's penalty.
 
The team's success came from textbook puck clearing and great
defensive angles.
 
LEITZA SPEECHLESS
St. Cloud's rookie goaltender Brian Leitza was nothing short of
phenomenal Friday as the Gophers attempted 75 shots in their 5-3 win
at Mariucci Arena.
 
Leitza had a 3-1 lead going into the third period and was about to
record a rare St. Cloud win over the Gophers after saving 37 shots.
 
But his efforts were outdone when the Gophers showered him with 18
shots in the third period and scored four times.
 
A distraught Leitza said after the game that the verbal onslaught
from the student sections at Mariucci did not affect him.
 
``(The Gophers) just beat us,'' Leitza said.
 
ST. CLOUD STATE FANS GET ROWDY
The student sections at the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud were
full of noisy inebriates an hour before Saturday night's game.
 
``I'm really drunk,'' a St. Cloud State fan said before the game in
the parking lot. ``And I plan to sneak a bottle in too.''
 
During the game, two fights broke out among Huskies fans in the
student section. Those that didn't engage in fisticuffs chucked three
dead gophers onto the ice after Minnesota took a 4-1 lead in the
third period.
 
The rest of their repertoire included chants like ``Gophers suck''
and ``overrated.''
 
However, Minnesota was unfazed as it dominated the checking, the
passing and the scoring in its 5-2 victory.
 
``The crowd just gets (our team) going,'' co-captain Justin McHugh
said.
 
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
Dave Larson one-timed a Mike Crowley pass from the bottom of the left
circle Friday to tie the game at three.
 
``We worked on that pass for probably an hour,'' Larson said after
taking between 40 and 50 one-timers from the slot in practice.
 
``The first time I whiffed on it (in the game), and the second time I
shot over the net.''
 
BRINK OUT, CHECCO NOT
The Gophers received a scare early in the second period of Saturday's
contest when Nick Checco suffered a thigh bruise after a Huskies
player checked him into the boards.
 
Checco did not return to the game, but practiced Monday and said he
should be ready for this weekend's series at North Dakota.
 
With only eight seconds left in Saturday's game, Andy Brink became
the second Gophers player to receive a one-game disqualification for
fighting.
 
Brink got into a tussle with Dan Reimann, who grabbed Brink's helmet
and took it off.
 
Although no punches were thrown, Brink will sit out Friday's game.
 
Carol S. White                            BITNET: c-whit@uminn1
University of Minnesota        internet:[log in to unmask]
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(612) 625-8517                                    GO Gophers!!!