At 1:13 PM 10/10/95, paul thalacker wrote:
>The following article was written by Patrick Reusse, columnist for the
>Minneapolis Star-Tribune, on August 13.
>...
>
>"RICH HARVEST, REAPING LITTLE"
>Titles, not talent, elude 'U' hockey
>...
 
There's been a lot written about this article already, but to me, the
following quotes tell me how much credence we should give the writer.  His
selection of words is very telling.
 
>During that time, the Gophers have lost twice(1980 and 1989) in the
>championship game and they have choked six times in the national
                                 ^^^^^^
>semifinals.
>...
>The most recent examply of this crucial failing occured in late March in
                                 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>Providence, R.I.  Everything fell in place on that Thursday to allow
>coach Doug Woog to end his first decade on the job with his first
>national championship.
>Maine and high-powered Michigan played all-afternoon - into a third
>overtime - before Maine pulled off the upset.  Then, senior-laden Boston
>University came out and played two terrible periods against the Gophers.
>A tired, undertalented Maine team would be waiting in the Saturday
>final.  A nervous B.U. team was in the locker room, tied 3-3 after two
>periods, and frightened that its last chance for an NCAA title was
>disappearing.  So what happened?  The Gophers gagged in the third period
                                               ^^^^^^
>and wound up 7-3 losers.
 
I don't know what game he was watching.  I thought the Gophers overachieved
just to get to Providence and then to give BU a game through two periods.
His selection of words implies that Minnesota was solely responsible for
BU's win.  But BU was recognized as the best team in the country and they
played like it when it counted - they had more talent and more experience
than Minnesota.  For Reusse to say that BU was "nervous" and "frightened"
is plain silly.  They didn't look like a nervous or frightened team in the
third period.
 
On the following...
 
>There are only two things more ludicrous surrounding this hockey program:
>1) the monopoly on the state's talent has failed to produce a national
>championship in the '80s or '90s: and 2) the idea the puckheads pass
>along that somehow the Gophers are being noble in recruiting only
>Minnesota kids.
 
1) As we know, Minnesota doesn't exactly have a "monopoly".  A monopoly
would be like the one BU has with Catholic Memorial HS.  Many superb
players from the state of Minnesota have chosen to play for other schools
for various reasons.  If Minnesota always got the very best players from
in-state, then that would be a monopoly.
 
2) This might be the only somewhat valid point he makes, although it should
be qualified by saying that *some* people suggest that the Gophers are
"noble" for their recruitment policy.  Not all, and maybe not even most.
Gopher fans are right to enjoy the fact that they get to watch players from
their state play for the Gophers.  But those Gopher fans and media who
think this is somehow a "noble" policy demonstrate a lack of knowledge of
the dynamics involved in hockey recruiting at the other DivI schools.  And
people like Reusse who seem to believe the program should always win it all
just because they recruit in-state demonstrate a lack of knowledge of
college hockey.
 
Unfortunately, one of the things I remember most from the trip to St Paul
in 1994 was a newspaper column that I read the day after BU beat Minnesota
in the semifinals, 4-1.  The author of the column wrote at length about how
the Gophers could hold their heads high because they got there the right
way - staying with in-state players (not really "local" since many are from
far away but still within Minnesota).  He detailed all of the out-of-state
players BU had and the clear implication - I think it was even specifically
mentioned - was that BU's win was somehow tainted because their recruiting
policy wasn't the same.
 
This is certainly wrong.  If the intent was to annoy the visitors who were
in town for the weekend, it seemed to have worked, as I heard comments
about that article from a number of other people afterward.  I certainly
don't consider that writer's opinion to be equivalent to that of all Gopher
fans...yet, there still seems to be a decent-sized subset who do feel that
way.  It seems odd that they would be the same ones who turn the tables and
criticize the program for its policy when the team *doesn't* go as far as
they think it should.  You can't have it both ways.
 
At Merrimack, we have had players from many different states and Canada
play for our program.  We've had players from Minnesota, too.  We don't
consider them any different than the local players who play here.  Rather,
we're proud that these players, wherever they're from, have chosen to come
here over other schools and we're proud of the way they have represented us
on and off the ice.  I know people from other schools feel the same way.
 
I don't get the feeling that Doug Woog holds the same opinion that Reusse
and some others have.  I think Woog believes he can be competitive and at
least challenge for a national title on a regular basis by staying
in-state.  To date, I have seen nothing to show me that he is wrong.  What
is admirable is that he has chosen a recruiting policy that he thinks works
and he has proceeded to show that it works, as other coaches have done with
their different policies.  It is similar to coaches who have chosen, for
example, to concentrate on players who do well in school and have proven
they can be competitive with that policy too.  Woog is no more "noble" than
those coaches, nor do I believe he thinks he is.  It's as simple as that.
 
I'll close by repeating some of the Herb Brooks quotes Erik gave us:
 
>    "It's funny that this question is always brought up only when the
>Gophers lose.  You do not have to apologize for playing kids from Minnesota.
>They can play and win, and have done it before."
>
>    "The fact that the Gophers are playing only Minnesota kids is no big
>deal.
>
>    "The statement that we are playing only Minnesota kids, to me, has a
>ring of altruism.  You're not being a martyr by playing our kids.  Those are
>the facts."
 
Not much more needs to be said.
 
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                   [log in to unmask]            *HMM* 11/13/93
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