In message <[log in to unmask]> "Arthur C. Mintz" writes:
> >Bill Plummer says, in part..
> >> Are the Minn. Gophers coming out East this year?
>
> >Wayne Smith replies...
> >        It looks to me that the only Eastern team they will play is
> >      Cornell in their own tournament.  I expect them to do well against
> >      Eastern teams ;-(
>
> Rest assured we will do our best to prove you wrong. :)
>
Hmmm.  The other two teams in that tournament are Lake Superior State and Maine.
So if Minnesota plays another eastern team, it'd be Maine.  And just what would
Wayne's prediction for that one be??  Maybe he wants to reconsider that
statement! :-)
 
The rest of Bill Plummer's question was:
 And what are their prospects this year?
 
Hard to say.  They got to the quarterfinals last year with four freshmen (Mike
McApline, Dan Trebil, Charlie Wasley, and Greg Zwakman) playing
defense, so they should only get better, but they lost Travis Richards (grad,
playing on Team USA) on D.
At forward, they graduated only John  Brill, but they also lose their two best
forwards, Darby Hendrickson (jr) and Craig Johnson (sr), to Team USA.  Soph
Brian Bonin and the golfers, Jeff Nielsen (sr, cut from Olympic Team) and Andy
Brink (soph) need to step up.
In goal, Tom Newman graduated, leaving Jeff Calinan (jr) and Jeff Moen (soph),
who are both still somewhat unknown quantities.  (They also signed Steve Debus
from the Rochester Mustangs (!!!) of the USHL, but there's a good chance he'll
be red-shirted, at least according to something I heard last spring.)
 
*I'm* most concerned about finding some scoring punch.  (They may have found
another secret weapon, in Gopher baseball player Mark Merilla, who's been
working out with the team in captains' practices and scored a hat-trick in one
of their scrimmages, but no word on whether or not Woog will dig up a
scholarship for him or not -- hockey'd have to finance his scholarship in order
for him to be eligible, since he's here on baseball scholarship.  Also, I'd
thought he would only play if he signed a pro baseball contract, but he turned
down the offer, so he could still be playing baseball again next spring.)
 
Erik, however, is most worried about goal-tending.  (Maybe he'll post his views
himself!)
 
Pam Sweeney
Go Gophers!!!
1993 WCHA Playoff Champions!!!
Ski-U-Mah!!!