Having seen a number of posts regarding both sides of the Gopher
recruting and/or hatred of the Gophers, I thought I would add my 2
cents.  Those who think Jason Roy or Eric Burton are blowing this "Gopher
hatred" out of proportion are totally wrong.  Having lived in Duluth for
a number of years, I can attest to the fact the Gopher hockey team is
STRONGLY disliked in that region of the state.  People of Duluth see the
Gophers and their fans as tremendously conceited.  Many Gopher fans think
their team is morally superior to any other team because they only recruit
in-state.  Attend any game in Maruicci and you'll hear that they aren't
quiet about this fact either - many Canadian or European players get
insulted simply because of their home country.
The Gophers have multi-million shiny new arena arguably the best
overall hockey facilities in college hockey. They are able to select
their pick of the top recuits every year.
Yet is it funny that although the Gophers get the top hockey recruits
from the best hockey state in the country, they always
underachieve and fall short of expectations.  How many WCHA championships
have the Gophers won in the last 15 years?  I don't have the records on hand,
but I'm pretty sure UND, UMD, CC, and UW have each won just as many WCHA
championships.  Maybe someone on hockey-l can post these records.
I look at the recruits the Gophers get every year compared to other
schools and its amazing anyone else can compete.  But, thanks to Doug Woog,
many former MN high school phenoms turn into busts in the Gopher program.
Those selected few h.s. players who escape the grasp of the Gophers end
up going to other schools and become superstars (see Derek Plante,
Chris Maruicci a few years back at UMD, or presently Matt Cullen and
Mark Parrish at SCSU who are only sophs).
I do not intend this to be offensive to any Gopher fan, but only to show
that strong Gopher dislike is not an isolated case.
 
Paul Thalacker
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.