Today's (10/26/95) Minnesota Daily article
(http://www.daily.umn.edu/~online/daily/10261995/sports/puck26/)
 
Gophers freshmen like to play rough, on ice and at home
 
Jeff Sherry - Staff Reporter
 
He had his man against the ropes. Bill "the Hulkster" Kohn, a
freshman on the Gophers hockey team, had just torn off his shirt and was
going for the kill against Wyatt Smith, his freshman teammate.
 
That's when the telephone rang. Another Gophers freshman, Erik Rasmussen,
answered and briefly provided a reporter with play-by-play commentary of the
Wrestlemania action going on in Kohn's dorm room. It was 9:30, Tuesday
night. Only a few minutes later, Kohn had sent the others running for cover.
 
"They all left," Kohn said over the phone. "I cleared the house. Battle
Royale. Once I peeled off the shirt, Hulkamania set in, and they all took
off."
 
Going into the season, one of the things Gophers hockey coach Doug Woog said
excited him most was his incoming group of freshmen: Kohn on defense, and
Reggie Berg, Mike Anderson, Smith and Rasmussen at forward.
 
Their size, speed and spunk prompted Woog to call them his most promising
class since 1990, when Craig Johnson, Chris McAlpine and Joe Dziedzic
started with the Gophers. And much like those players, this year's crop
likes to mix it up -- a fact clearly illustrated by their grapple-fest the
other night.
 
"We've always played aggressive," said Rasmussen, who was named Minnesota's
Mr. Hockey at St. Louis Park High School in March. "I think we all believe
that's part of the way the game should be played."
 
Woog has asked the group to contribute immediately. Kohn is the only player
who has yet to see game action, and Woog said he will probably play this
weekend when Alaska-Anchorage comes to town. All four of the forwards have
seen significant minutes, with Berg and Rasmussen both getting time on the
first line.
 
"We've put them in positions that we project them being at later in the
year," Woog said. "That can be a little traumatic early in the season, but I
think they've done well."
 
Here are some of Woog's comments on this year's class:
 
Bill Kohn (6-foot-0, 186 lbs.): "We're really trying to get him in there.
We're kind of stuck with all the talent we have on defense. He's got a
strong shot and he will get playing time. He's a right-hander, so when he
plays he'll probably take Brian LaFleur's spot."
 
Reggie Berg (5-10, 180 lbs.): "He's got the most points out of the group
(two), and I think once Reggie's wrist gets better (from offseason surgery)
he'll be able to score even more."
 
Mike Anderson (6-1, 186 lbs.): "Mike's probably the least polished of the
group. He gives his all on every shift. He wants to do so much it probably
hampers him, but that's a good problem to have."
 
Wyatt Smith (5-11, 190 lbs.): "He's really an excellent two-way player for
us. He's a good defensive player, and his goal on Sunday (a breakaway at
Colorado College) shows he still has some good offensive ability."
 
Erik Rasmussen (6-2, 191 lbs.): "He's got enormous upper-end potential. He
gives us good physical play. But Erik has to make the adjustment to playing
60 minutes of hockey. He needs to play a complete game and not take any time
off out there."
 
Because Woog has given most of the freshmen sizeable amounts of playing
time, they haven't had much time to adjust from high school to the college
level. And while they agree the college game is harder, none of them say the
transition was as difficult as they expected.
 
"I thought it would be a lot tougher coming in, just because it's Division I
college hockey," Rasmussen said. "But it is definitely a lot tougher than
high school. The game's a lot faster, and everybody's bigger and stronger."
 
The freshmen have made the leap into college hockey look rather easy. But
this weekend will be different, with the Gophers opening their home
schedule. Each has played at Mariucci Arena before, but never to the roar of
9,000 Gophers fans.
 
Kohn, who spent last year playing for the St. Paul Vulcans of the United
States Hockey League, had a hard time describing what this weekend will mean
to him.
 
"Man, I've thought about that a lot," Kohn said. "Training all of last year,
with all those bus rides and everything else that went into me finally
getting here -- I guess there's no way to explain it. I guess it's going to
be an electrifying experience.
 
"Just to hear the M-I-N-N-E-S-O-T-A thing going, I think that's what is
really going to get to me. I honestly don't even know how to explain it."
 
And considering the Hulkster never usually has a problem with words, that's
really saying something.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
=A9The Minnesota Daily
 
Pam Sweeney
Go Gophers!
Nastier, Bigger, Faster in '95-'96!
 
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