In a great effort to assist the UMD Bulldogs clinch the MacNaughton cup the
Minnesota Gophers went to Madison and came back with 3 out of 4 points for the
weekend!
 
Both games were on the TV here and a group of us watched the game on Friday
night at the home of fellow Hockey-l'er Erik and Paula Biever. Pam Sweeney and
I did our best to shatter any crystal they might have had in their house. ;-)
 
In the first period, Brian Bonin had one of the prettiest goals the Gophers
have gotten this season. He brought the puck in alone after a Badger turnover
and then had time to hesitate right in front of Carey. After Carey had
committed himself Bonin put his wrist shot in. WOW. This tied it up until the
Badgers scored twice more in the first to go up on the Gophers 3-1.
 
Doug Woog pulled senior goalie Tom Newman after the first period and inserted
sophomore Jeff Callinan. This turned out to be a brilliant move as Callinan
was excellent. Minnesota closed the gap in the second period to 4-3 with two
goals by captain Travis Richards and freshman sensation Andy Brink. Brink has
turned out to be our "secret weapon" and I bet that coach Woog is kicking
himself that he didn't bring him in sooner. (Brink was supposed to be
red-shirted, but due to the depletion of the defense he was put into the
line-up in January.) Brink played his second weekend as a center and his goal
in the second period was the second unassisted goal for the Gophers on Friday
night.
 
At 16:20 of the third period the Gophers tied the score up with a great goal
by "Big" Jed Fiebelkorn, who also walked right in on Carey to score after
spinning around in front of the net, then Callinan slammed the door shut. The
Badgers were getting frustrated but seemed to be holding it in check. The
Badgers played Friday night without Blaine Moore and Mark Strobel who were
both sitting out DQ's from the previous weekend.
 
On Saturday night the Gophers got their defense in order and made Wisconsin
play catch-up all evening. The Gophers got off to a fabulous start scoring at
0:38 and 1:06 both by defensemen!!! Travis Richards was the best I have ever
seen him - he rushed the Badger net twice for two goals on Saturday night.
Richards was quoted in the Star Tribune on Sunday saying: "I was in alone. In
fact, I was kind of nervous, because I've never been in alone like that."
 
Callinan was again outstanding in goal for the Gophers. John Michelizzi
started in net for the Badgers, but was replaced at the beginning of the third
by Carey. Carey was very good and made many excellent stops, but Wisconsin
justcouldn't catch the Gophers.
 
It was a tense third period as I knew that we had to beat the Badgers by TWO
goals in order to get the tie-breaker for second-place. When coach Sauer
pulled Carey for an extra skater in the last minute of play I KNEW that we
would get one in the open net!! (Really!) It wasn't easy, but if anyone could
pull it off it would be Craig Johnson who is brilliant with the puck. The
Badgers lost possession of the puck at their blue line and Johnson got to it.
Johnson first overskated the puck, but spun around and hit a 45-foot backhand
towards the net (which he couldn't see) and it went in the empty net.
Jubilation!!!
 
The turning point in the game is puported to be the killing off of a 5-on-3
the Badgers had on the Gophers. Talk about TENSE!!! I turned the sound off on
my TV ;-). Doug Woog was quoted in the Star Tribune saying: " Our guys were so
pumped up to kill that 5-on-3, I don't think I've seen them more fired up this
season. We battled tons of penalties and our goaltender didn't sieve out."
 
Credit the excellent play of the defense this weekend who FINALLY seem to be
coming into their own. (Hallelujah!!)
 
Now we take on St Cloud for two games this weekend and Michigan Tech goes to
Badger-land to see who will finish in second and third place in the WCHA.
 
       CONGRATULATIONS TO THE UMD BULLDOGS  --  1993 WCHA CHAMPIONS!!!!
 
-Carol