It was an interesting weekend! Not being able to accompany Erik, Paula and Pat
to Houghton I was forced to listen to the games on the radio. I've been
horribly spoiled by having most of them on TV. So, Al Shaver who does the
Gopher broadcasts became my "eyes" for the weekend pair.
 
Now there have been a few postings from those who were there and some who,
like me listened on the radio, and some who got the facts out of the
newspapers. I have been thinking about a well-rounded approach this time and
will use all of those resources in my report.
 
Michigan Tech is a very physical team. Now this doesn't necessarily mean
chippy, but they CAN be. The Gophers are usually a fast skating team, but when
forced to play in a smaller rink with a physical team, they will adapt to a
style that will allow them to stay in the game.
 
If that means that they need to play rough, then they will do what it takes.
The Gophers have learned, much to their chagrin, that retaliation does not
pay, so you need to take care of your interfering, holding, etc to begin with
and not after the fact. But I don't think that it makes them "look like an NHL
loser of the mid-eighties". The Gophers were playing to the Huskies level,
which is not always admirable, but can be very effective.
 
The referees had their hands full with both games, and it sounded like they
did an acceptable job. There were a couple of calls that were missed, but one
was from the melee in the second game and that is understandable. The fighting
DQ given to Casey Hankinson who allegedly didn't throw any punches in the
altercation that he was involved in, was probably explainable. The refs may
have been trying to send a message to both teams that really rough stuff would
not be tolerated. Then again, perhaps the Hankinson legacy (brother Big Ben)
has caught up with Casey already and has made him a marked man. I hope it was
the former and not the latter. Casey hasn't even begun to resemble (on the
ice) his penalized big brother Ben! :-)
 
The offensive production was great, especially Saturday. (Hey guys...try it at
home for a change, please?) ;-) Brian Bonin had two goals and an assist, Scott
Bell had two goals and two assists, and Justin McHugh (THE goalie's
nightmare!) had two goals and one assist. Defensive tandem Dan Trebil and Mike
Crowley had three assists each. Other goals were scored by Moser, Fiebelkorn,
Woog, Wasley and Kraft. Great to see the scoring spread out a bit.
 
Unfortunately, there were three DQ's over the two games. Hankinson was tossed
on Friday night and on Saturday Jesse (the body) Bertogliat, and Jay Moser
were also tossed. Moser was injured after being double-teamed by two Tech
players, but thankfully nothing was broken and he should be okay for this
weekend should Woog want to use him on Saturday.(Moser spent two hours in the
Houghton hospital being checked out after the game. There is also a *lovely*
photo of him battered and bleeding in the Daily today.)
 
The most penalized team in the WCHA is Michigan Tech. Coach Mancini really
should address that problem if he wants his team to advance. You can't score
many goals with guys sitting in the penalty box! On Friday night one of Al
Shaver's comments was that Minnesota was "getting hosed!" out on the ice.
There was apparently a lot of "trash talking" being done by the Tech players,
so when there was a report on Hockey-L that the Minnesota players were gooning
it up...I have to beg to differ. As another Hockey-Ler said "it takes two to
tango".
 
Now, for the Gopher goaltending. One of the problems on Friday night was that
Jeff Callinan didn't see a lot of action in the second period. Out of three
shots two went in!! I don't know if this is a problem of Cally's or just of
goaltenders in general, but it seems that when a goalie doesn't see a lot of
action, more mistakes are made and the puck goes in the net. :-( As I didn't
*see* the goals that were scored, I can't comment on possible defensive
breakdowns or whatever, but this is just a general observation I have noticed
about the Gophers this year. Jeff Moen sounded OUTSTANDING on Saturday and I
am *so* pleased. It has been a tough year for Jeff, and he's a MUCH better
goalie than his stats show. I hope we get to see more of him in what's left of
the season.
 
From the Star Tribune, a few notes from Sunday's article on the game:
 
Minnesota coach Doug Woog, while angered by Tech's style, praised his team for
playing "a little more gritty" Saturday than in Friday's 3-3 tie.
 
Mancini said that he was "disappointed" by his teams penchant for taking
penalties, and threatened lineup changes. <end quoted material>
 
From my sources here, I understand that coach Mancini pitched a hissy-fit
after the Friday game. Well, I guess he should take a peek at the game tapes
to see who he really should be upset with, and there won't be a Gopher or an
official in the bunch.
 
Now while I didn't agree with some of the previously posted reports on this
series, I don't expect everyone to agree with mine! I try to be as objective
as I can, but being the die-hard fan that I am, it's mighty hard some days.
 
Now the Gophers prepare for their rival from the north: the Minnesota-Duluth
Bulldogs. Another sold-out SRO crowd is expected!! Should be a great series.
 
GO Gophers!!!
-Carol
 
Carol S. White                            BITNET: c-whit@uminn1
University of Minnesota        internet:[log in to unmask]
Office of the Registrar
(612) 625-8517                                    GO Gophers!!!