Fellow Gopher Hockey Loyalists:
 
Now that the nightmare that was the Gopher's 1997-98 hockey season is over,
Gopher puck followers can certainly look forward to much better times.
This season was destined to be a disaster right from the start losing
Crowley and Rasmussen to the pros shortly before the start of school.
Without a doubt if Crowley would have had a Crowley like season he would
have won the Hobey Baker Award and would have been the difference in many
one goal games.  Also, losing Clymer for the season just a few games in was
a real killer.  Ben would have been a steady defensive defensemen,
contributed offensively, and quarterback the powerplay from the center
point.  There you go, three of the teams top five players heading into the
season gone.
 
Next, injuries.  You would have thought this year's team was made of tissue
paper the way the club lost players for two, three, four or more weeks at a
time.  The one knock recruiters have used against the Gophers has been that
young players don't get enough ice time due to the teams large roster.  So
what does Woog and his staff do for the first time?  Carry a smaller roster
(22 players).  At times, due to injuries, the rodents barely had enough
players to dress three full lines. Wierd wacky stuff!  Also no more of this
experiment that went wrong, I heard the Wooger say on the radio they other
day that they are beefing up the roster for next year.
 
Lastly, and my biggest worry going into the season, the team is currently
void of any "light a fire under you butt" type of leadership. Man, where's
a Scotty Bell when you need him!  Even with all of the early departures and
injuries you could see that the Gophers had enough talent, it's just that
they didn't appear to have that "if you can't go around the wall, then go
through it" type of mentality.  Last summer I worked a high school camp
with Steve DeBus and he told me the only negative thing about recruiting
all Minnesota players is that they are all to nice to one another and
everyone are friends.  Thus it is difficult for the "get in your face" type
of pressure to occur when it needs to.
 
Oh well, I look at this season in a positive manner.  Why?  First, the
Gophers now have experienced "pain" for the first time in a long while.
Hopefully they will learn from this and put forth the effort and intensity
to avoid it again in the future.  Next, the Gopher freshman received a ton
of ice time this season, this will put them ahead in the development curve
going into their sophomore seasons.  Finally, I simply love Gopher hockey.
It's kinda like pizza.  When it's bad it's good, and when it's good it's
great!
 
I'm pumped for next year and here's why:
 
Great recruiting year!  Defenseman, Jordan Leopold (Armstrong High School
via the USA Under-18 National Junior Program) is a world class skating
defenseman that can out "Crowley" Mike Crowley.  Forward, Pat O'Leary
(Armstrong High School) a big, strong drink of water with the hands of an
angel.  Forward, Doug Meyer (Bloomington Kennedy via the USA Under-18
National Junior Program) strong two-way player that is not afraid to bang
it up a little. Goaltender,  Adam Hauser (Greenway High School via the USA
Under-18 National Junior Program) believed by some to be the missing link
to a national title.  I've watched him on several ocassions hold his own
against professional players.  Forward, Johnny Pohl (Red Wing High School)
what can you say about the states all-time leading scorer but unselfish,
classy, and the heart of a lion. Defenseman, Nick Angell (Duluth East High
School) is strong, rugged and will add real offensive fire power from the
defensive position.  Forward, Erik Wendell (Maple Grove High School) is big
and strong and can definately play a variety of roles including goal
scorer.  Also, look for players like Jerrod Reinholz from Anoka to find
themselves on the roster come next fall.
 
Boy, add all of this talent to a team loaded with a ton of maturing talent
like Erik Westrum, Aaron Miskovich, Dylan Mills, Matt Leimbek and Stuart
Senden and I think you have the nucleous of a team the just might bring
home the bacon in the next few years.
 
That's great to get that off my chest, see all of you Gopher puckheads
charged up and ready to go next fall!
 
M-I-N-N-E-S-O-T-A, Minnesota, Minnesota, yeaaaaaaaaa Gophers!
 
Steven M. Bernhardt
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Golden Gopher Hockey "Minnesota's Pride on Ice"
 
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