Sorry this is late, nothing like a weekend away to send everything into a
tailspin!
 
Our flight out was uneventful, there were a few other Gopher hopefuls on the
plane, but most of the Gopher fans took one of two charters available to get
to Providence.
 
Stayed overnight in Framingham and headed for Providence early on Thursday. We
were able to check in at the Omni Biltmore early (I believe it was around
10:30am) and get settled before grabbing some breakfast in the hotel
restaurant. We met fellow Hockey-L'er John Feigal along with Gopher ticket
Master John Brant in there and discussed the days upcoming events and
speculated on the games.
 
Three of the host hotels were *very* convienient to the arena. The fourth
hotel was out by the airport and that's where the Gopher team was staying. All
the parents and charter folks were at the Biltmore. John Brant of the Gopher
ticket office had the Biltmore raise the Gopher "M" flag in front of the
hotel! Cool. As was already stated, the first game which started out as a
yawner, became the most exciting hockey game some of us have seen. It was
thrilling and had the crowd pinned in their seats! Of course I kept looking at
my watch and fretting, because the Gopher Pep Fest was scheduled to begin at
6:30pm and commence with the fans marching with the Pep Band down to the arena
at 7:30pm. The Hockey-L dinner kept getting shorter and shorter in my mind.
 
The in-between periods were spent meeting some new faces and selling buttons.
I even sold a few to non-Hockey-L'ers. Some guy came up and wanted to know
what kind of "club" we were. He had never even heard of the internet, but gave
me his business card to send him some information on our group. I didn't hear
about the trouble Nick had with the pins on his green jacket, till much later
and I am certainly lucky that no one was paying attention to us!!! I didn't
think the security was particularly that strict, so I was surprised to hear
about the problems other people had. I had hoped to get a BU pin before
returning, but didn't see the one I wanted....has a white Terrier on top and
looks really sharp! I had also made some Gopher hockey buttons, and the Gopher
hockey moms were chasing me all over the hotel. :-)
 
It was great to see so many Hockey-L sweatshirts and T-shirts all in one
place. I could see Ron across the arena, because he had his sweatshirt on. I
kept scanning the crowd with my binoculars to see if I could spot more
Hockey-L celebs. :-)
 
My friend Kathy and I had pretty good seats in section 215, right over one of
the exits, so we had no one in front of us. We did however have two rows of
Wisconsin fans up behind us and they greeted us with yelling: "Gophers suck!"
Gee, it made us feel right at home!
 
The dinner arranged by Ron was wonderful! (Thanks Ron!!) I met some more new
faces and was sorry that I didn't have more time to socialize. The room itself
was not conducive to introductions unfortunately, so I'll save my "surprise
intro" till next year in Cincinnati. (HEY, who's in charge of the dinner next
year? Any volunteers? I'll help coach you through it.) The highlight of the
dinner was when Wayne, Becky and baby Ben Smith arrived! It was great to
finally meet them and say thanks in person. And thanks again Wayne, for all
you do!
 
The Gopher game....well, the teams played well. Unfortunately for the Gophers
and their fans, BU was just better! We hung on through two periods, but they
overcame us in the third. It was a good effort, nothing to be ashamed of in my
book. I'd heard quite a bit about Mike Grier, but to tell the truth, I was not
impressed at all. (That's *not* a slam, BU folks) As another person said, it
didn't appear that his heart was in the game. He was just "there", seemed to
just hang around. We had a Gopher player like that a while back, not as big as
Grier, but I was reminded of "Pylon" when I saw Grier on the ice. I thought it
was wonderful, when after losing the game, all the Gophers gathered around
goalie Jeff Callinan. Of course the ever-vigilant-obnoxious press was trying
to get in their faces with a camera, but they just huddled together, as a
team.
 
After the game, the first two friendly faces we saw were Hockey-L'ers Tony
Biscardi and Adam Bryant. They were worried that we would be mad at them, and
gave us some consoling. It's really hard to be angry about a loss, or feel bad
when the winning fans are so humble. I really appreciated their gesture and I
won't ever forget it. You guys are the best. We hung around with the Gopher
parents and some of the Hockey-L crew discussing the days events. Eventually
some of the Gopher players came up. I talked with Jed Fiebelkorn's mom, she
was disconsolate. I gave her a hug, which she needed. Being a senior's mom
must be really tough. Then I saw some of the other players talking with their
parents. My favorite player, appeared very upset and was wiping tears from his
eyes as he talked with his parents. After a while, I went over and shook his
hand and told him how proud we all were of the team and that they played well
and had nothing to be ashamed of and to look to next year, which will be his
senior year. I hope that my words helped in some small way to ease the pain of
the loss.
 
As we were waiting for the elevator in the hotel, along comes Mike Eruzione! I
asked him if he had seen Linda, (another friend) who had been looking for him.
In the elevator, we told him that since BU had beaten us, we expected them to
"win it all". I hadn't realized that BU has had about as much luck as the
Gophers in the past 16 years until I read it in the paper. One of us needed to
win it this year!
 
Then off we went to the Westin and checked out the Barken Bash. The room was
packed with people and included Michigan Tech coach Bob Mancini, along with
Denver coach Gwozdecky and all sorts of media-types. The room was way too hot,
so we moved along to Adam and Tony's room a few floors up and spent some time
there, but we were exhausted from the day's events and headed back to the
hotel. Unfortunately, the kitchen in the hotel bar had closed at midnight and
we were hungry. We asked one of the waitpersons if there was a place close by
that we could get a bite at...he sent us to the Haven Bros. Semi/Diner on
wheels. What an experience! It was like entering the twilight zone and ending
up in the 1950's. The food was good (greasy, but good) and the prices were
very reasonable. There are even posted signs on the street corner: No Parking
after 4pm, Lunch Cart parking only, or something like that. :-)
 
Got up late the next morning and headed up through Boston and on to the North
Shore, all the way up to Rockport, Mass. The coast was a delight to these eyes
who hadn't seen it in a long time. Just as beautiful now as it was then. We
had a marvelous seafood dinner at a small restaurant in Gloucester, called
Schooner's. A small grocery store recommended it to us. The owner came over to
chat and check that we were happy with the food. When we said that we thought
the food was great, he said "so you'll be back?" and we laughed and said it
was kinda far from Minneapolis!! So, we chatted about the tournament and then
he wanted to know if we would recommend his place and I do wholeheartedly!
(Schooner's Restaurant & Topside Pub, 50 Rogers Street, Gloucester, MA) :-)
 
After we got back, the party was in Erik's room, right across the hall! The
Wisconsin bunch (David Parter, Jim L. and John P.) was there and Adam Bryant,
Tony Biscardi and Mr and Mrs Biscardi (both whom are a riot!!), Mike and
Heather Machnik, and Charlie and Jon Shub and maybe one or two others. If I
left you out, I am sorry...the weekend was a pleasant whirlwind of Hockey-L
faces new and old. We are also sorry that we had no way to invite the other
Hockey-L'ers, as we didn't keep a list of where people were staying. We will
be more organized NEXT year!! The party broke up rather late, and everyone
slept in on Saturday to gear up for the last game.
 
Funny note...a friend of mine who flew out from Seattle on Thursday for the
games, needed a place to crash for two nights. I had heard a rumor that she
was thinking of coming out and sent her some e-mail. Well, we sent e-mail
furiously back and forth on Wednesday before I left for the airport. Linda
stayed with Kathy and me in our room. I wish that I had seen more of her, but
the only time we spent together was when we were in the room asleep!!!
 
The Championship game was great. We were sitting in the Maine section, but
could see a lot of the BU crowd and it was fun watching them cheer their teams
on! There was a lady Maine fan who was sitting one section over from me. I
thought I recognized her banter and voice from Milwaukee two years ago, so I
went and asked her if she was there. She was, and had sat directly behind me.
This is a lady you would remember. She NEVER stops cheering and encouraging
the Maine team and players. And SHE IS LOUD!!!! :-) When I told her that she
was one of the loudest people I had ever heard she said "Thank you". A gal
after my own heart. If we cheered for the same team, it would make for quite a
loud cheering section!! She was fun to listen to, and never gave up, even when
her voice was fading.
 
There was another dinner with two sets of Hockey-L'ers heading off in
different directions, one for seafood and one for pasta. Then back to my room
for another impromptu gathering. This time James Bradshaw joined us also. We
watched some hoops, and then E$PN's SPortscenter to see the 30 seconds of
highlights of the game. :-) The party broke up early and we all turned in just
exhausted.
 
Sunday we went to brunch at a diner on Weybosset Street that had some
wonderful combinations of breakfast food. The hotel recommended the place. The
ride back to Boston and flight to Minneapolis was uneventful.
 
It was a GREAT weekend and vacation! I can't wait for Cincinnati!!!
 
-Carol
GO Gophers!!!  Thanks for a great season!!!
 
Carol S. White                            BITNET: c-whit@uminn1
University of Minnesota        internet:[log in to unmask]
Office of the Registrar
(612) 625-8517                                    GO Gophers!!!