I tried to take a road trip from Detroit to Tech one year with a Wisconsin friend but we never 
made it.  We tried to drive to Marquette after work on Friday but got caught in snow by the 
time we hit the Upper Peninsula.  We only made it as far as Munising with a foot of snow on 
the ground.  

The next day we tried to finish the trip to Houghton but hit white out conditions going up the 
lake shore.  We tried driving through the interior but hit the same conditions.  A police car 
with every conceivable light on pulled us over and told us to follow him to the next town to get 
a room for the night.  It didn't sound like he was giving us an option.

That night after the snow stopped we drop out a bit and tried to listen to some of the game on 
the radio.  Some day it would be nice to make to Tech for a game.

Doug Peterson

On Sat, Oct 20, 2012 at 7:30 AM, Erik Biever <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Paula and I, along with our friends Betty and Ron Deustermann, travelled to Houghton 
for what may be Minnesota's last road trip to Michigan Tech for quite some time. With 
the impending breakup of the WCHA as we have known it, the Gophers will probably 
not play here for the next several seasons. Too bad for us, because this has become 
our favorite road trip over the years. We first visited the Keweenaw Peninsula for 
Tech's Winter Carnival in 1993.

Yes, there was a hockey game last night. Tech was not impressed by the visiting 
Gophers' #1 ranking and dominated the first two periods, taking a 5-2 lead into the 
second intermission. The Gophers looked out of place on the NHL-sized surface. 
Perhaps they had it too easy last weekend on the big ice at Mariucci, where they swept 
the slower Michigan State Spartans. The Huskies kept moving their skates and took 
advantage of nearly every Gopher mistake. Tech led 3-1 after the first period and really 
put the game away in the second, chasing Gopher starting goalie Mike Shibrowski from 
the net after extending their lead to 4-1. The Gophs played well the rest of the way, 
holding the Huskies to 4 shots in the third period and drawing within two goals, but the 
final outcome was not in doubt. This is a different Tech team than we have seen in 
recent years. MTU coach Mel Pearson has truly turned his program around.

Along with our happy hosts, Liz and Bob Gilreath and their sons Rob and Paul, we 
retired to the Keweenaw Brewing Company in downtown Houghton to reflect upon the 
game surrounded by hordes of happy Huskie fans. They were very nice to us and the 
beer was good, too. Today we will do some sight-seeing in the nearby Porcupine 
Mountains, one of the parts of the western Upper Peninsula we haven't seen before. 
The rematch is at 7:00 EDT tonight. Perhaps the Gophers were still on Central Time 
last night, and will be better prepared for tonight's opening faceoff.

-- Erik