Headline: St. Cloud State garners respect
Publish Date: 11/04/1994
 
Matthew Cross
 
<W0I>Staff Reporter
 
When WCHA coaches voted St. Cloud State the preseason's No. 1 team,
they helped improve the program's reputation, but the Huskies have
yet to prove themselves.
 
They finished fourth last season -- five points out of first -- in a
tight WCHA race and returned 19 lettermen.
 
That's why they were chosen to lead the conference this season.
 
But St. Cloud State started this season 2-2 and is relying on
first-year goaltender Brian Leitza.
 
However, the worst of St. Cloud's problems are injuries.
 
They lost Neil Cooper -- their predicted No. 1 goaltender -- for the
season about two months ago when he suffered a broken jaw, thigh
bone, kneecap and several fingers in a car accident.
 
Senior wing Marc Gagnon broke his ankle in a game against Northern
Michigan last week and is out until late January.
 
And junior wing Kelly Reider separated his shoulder last week in
practice and is sidelined from this weekend's home-and-home series,
which begins tonight at Mariucci Arena.
 
The good news for the Huskies is that despite their losses they still
have an experienced roster.
 
St. Cloud coach Craig Dahl's team features an array of older players,
including 11 seniors, and 12 players with junior league experience.
 
``Most of these kids weren't getting offers right out of high
school,'' Dahl said. ``There's not many instances when a high school
player is ready to play (at the college level).
 
``The juniors (leagues) give them a chance to grow and mature as
hockey players.''
 
By contrast, the Gophers have only four seniors and seven players
from the juniors system.
 
The key to this weekend's series is whether Minnesota can keep things
rolling on special teams, an area where they have excelled in their
first four games.
 
Last season the Huskies had the top power-play unit in the WCHA and
were second on the penalty kill, but the Gophers are now unrivaled in
both departments so far.
 
St. Cloud has virtually the same special teams personnel from last
season, but Dahl said they haven't quite clicked yet.
 
``You can't become passive when you're killing penalties,'' Dahl
said. ``And we've become passive. Our special teams have to improve.
I think that will be the key to the series.''
 
Gophers coach Doug Woog can't complain about his teams power play and
penalty killing units, but he said that his team won't be able to
keep pace.
 
``Those special teams numbers are inflated,'' Woog said. ``They'll
become more real as the season wears on.''
 
Woog said that Crowley, a left-hander controlling the left point, has
been a key to the unit's success. He added that the Gophers must
start scoring in five-on-five situations, which includes beating the
goalie with better shots.
 
Minnesota worked on their checking angles this week in practice to
alleviate problems they've experienced, such as getting outnumbered
on opponents' counter attack.
 
The Gophers, who have given up less goals than any other team in the
conference, would like to see their stellar defense continue.
 
The three biggest reasons for that defense are: Greg Zwakman, Dan
Trebil and goaltender Jeff Callinan.
 
``(Trebil) and Zwakman are the backbone of this team along with
Callinan,'' assistant coach Bill Butters said. ``When the other team
goes on the offensive, we put those guys out there.''
 
Callinan, who will start on Friday, has a 2.24 goals against average
and a .907 save percentage, which ranks him atop the WCHA.
 
Fans can expect a rough series with a lot of penalties as both teams
average over 29 minutes per game.
 
Gophers notes: The Gophers are completely healthy for this weekend's
home-and-home series against St. Cloud State.
 
Jason Godbout suffered the only injury this season when he bruised
his shoulder during a game against Minnesota-Duluth, but he will
replace Brian LaFleur in the lineup this weekend.
 
``I don't remember the last time we had 29 guys healthy at this point
in the season,'' Woog said.