The Gophers kept 7,026 fans on the edges of their seats for most of Friday
nights contest with the North Dakota Fighting Sioux. In the third period, the
Gophers rallied to score three goals which is something that they had not done
during the regular season.
 
The first period was horrible with the Gophers missing passes, checks and
being generally disorganized. The Sioux came out jumping and it was only
senior goalie Tom Newman that kept the Gophers in the game. Newman took 17
shots. Remarkably only two goals, which he didn't stand a chance on, went in.
The Gophers scored their first goal on a shot from the right point by freshman
defenseman Charlie Wasley at 6:10 and tied the game at 1-1. The Gophers NEXT
shot on goal came at 18:50!!! The Sioux went up 2-1 at 8:19 when Riendeau
scored his first goal.
 
The Gopher's line of Andy Brink (from Bemidji) centering John Brill and Jeff
Nielsen (both from Grand Rapids) are nicknamed the "Northern Exposure" line.
The three players are all from northern Minnesota and live about 50 miles
apart. The "Northern Exposure" line had a great game and scored two important
goals in the second and third periods to overturn the 4-2 Sioux lead.
 
Second period goals were scored by Darby Hendrickson, and Brill. The third
period goals were scored by captain Travis Richards, Nielsen, and a second by
Hendrickson. Darby seems back to form after a rough recovery from a shoulder
separation. The Gophers played without freshman sensation Brian Bonin, who
left last Sunday's game against St Cloud with a slight shoulder injury and who
also sufferred a slight sprained ankle this week in practice. :-(
 
The crowd was NOT happy with the "officiating" as we were assigned "Brutal"
Bob Ames and newcomer Mike Schmidt. The linesman was Tim Schwaider. Ames has a
bad habit of ignoring things for a while and then calling "some" penalties.
Very inconsistent at best. They were loudly booed several times and the "Pull
your head out" cheer was heard twice. Sioux coach Gino Gasparini had several
"conferences" with Ames and looked very unhappy for most of the game.
 
Sioux superstar and Hobey Baker hopeful Greg Johnson was outstanding. He is
very quick and very dangerous. I don't think he sat down very much as he
skated his regular shift and also worked the power play and penalty kill for
the Sioux. Johnson scored the Sioux' third goal and assisted on another to
boost his point total even more for this season. Johnson had hit the 50 point
mark when the Gophers played against the Sioux February 12-13.
 
Until last night the Gophers were 0-9-1 in games when they came into the third
period trailing their opponents, and they were only 0-1-5 when tied after two.
This is an inspired team and all records go out the window on predicting how
they will do in a game or finish the year out. If they continue to amaze
themselves by playing up to their potential, it could get VERY interesting.
The Gopher hockey fans are hoping for another shot at the NC$$ tournament for
the Gophers this year! ;-)
 
-Carol