Headline: Hockey team regroups for playoffs
Publish Date: 03/08/1995
Matthew Cross
Staff Reporter
 
A chart with the final WCHA standings hangs on the wall near Gophers
hockey coach Doug Woog's locker-room stall. He passes it more than a
dozen times a day.
 
On that chart he sees Minnesota in fourth place -- the worst finish
ever by a Gophers team under him.
 
But Woog doesn't see it as a depressing statistic. His attitude is
more focused on doing well in the playoffs.
 
``Last year we finished second by one point and this year we were one
point out of second,'' Woog said. ``That's just the way it goes, but
the biggest thing for us is to do well now.
 
``We are in better shape this year than we were last year. Our power
ranking is sixth in the NCAA right now and if we do decent in the
WCHA playoffs, we could get the fourth seed in the NCAAs.''
 
It's no secret that the Gophers haven't played their best hockey in
the past few weeks.
 
Minnesota has only one win in its past five games, and that includes
two games in which the Gophers were shut out.
 
Most Gophers players feel like they have something to prove to the
other teams in the WCHA.
 
``We finished in fourth place, so we want to try to redeem
ourselves,'' junior winger Dave Larson said.
 
``Our goal was to win the league or to win as many titles as we
can,'' he said. ``We didn't win the league, so we want to do
everything possible to win the Final Five.''
 
In order to do well in the playoffs, Minnesota has some changes to
make.
 
Going into the first round, where the Gophers will play a
best-of-three series against University of Minnesota-Duluth at
Mariucci Arena starting this Friday, Woog is faced with bringing his
team back to the fundamentals.
 
``It's not like we're on a horrible string,'' Woog said. ``Sometimes
warning shots are good, too. We have got to go after some guys, skate
and be more energized.''
 
For most of the season, Minnesota has relied on the first and second
lines for the majority of its offensive production.
 
In order to win in the playoffs, the Gophers need players like Justin
McHugh and Brian Bonin to come up big offensively.
 
``If (McHugh) doesn't score, we don't win,'' Woog said. ``That's true
of Bonin too.''
 
Woog said it was just as important for the players who aren't known
as big scorers to produce.
 
``If we could get a goal out of guys like (Larson) and (Jed)
Fiebelkorn, that would be enormous,'' Woog said. ``We need some guys
to score other than the offensive stalwarts.''
 
During a recent team meeting, Gophers coaches singled out certain
players that haven't performed to their expectations.
 
Larson was one of those players.
 
Larson, who scored 17 points last year with Minnesota, has only five
goals and five assists this season for a total of 10 points.
 
But in the past few games, he has stepped up his physical play and
has created more offensive opportunities.
 
He credited the Gophers coaches for putting more pressure on him
to play with more intensity.
 
``I haven't been playing as well as I should,'' he said. ``At the
team meeting, the coaches moved part of the burden on my shoulders to
help the team.
 
``We have to get back to the basics and play like we did at the
beginning of the season. I just have to do my job and play the
physical style.''
 
Larson said that Minnesota's task includes moving their feet
more and creating more offensive opportunities.
 
``Sunday's game was pretty good for us,'' Larson said. ``Hopefully
that will be a start of a good thing and get us rolling.''
 
And what better way to get things rolling than against intrastate
rival Minnesota-Duluth? The Gophers were 4-0 against UMD during the
regular season.
 
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