http://www.pioneerplanet.com/sports/hkn_docs/021398.htm
> Published Friday, December 19, 1997, in the Pioneer Press.
>
> Gophers rely on Smith
> Center dominates in U's lone-star state
>
> GREGG WONG STAFF WRITER
>
> If there has been a silver lining for the tarnished Golden Gophers men's hockey
> team this season, it has been the play of junior center Wyatt Smith.
>
> Many of the University of Minnesota forwards have struggled or have been
> inconsistent, but Smith has been outstanding.
>
> ``He's had a great year,'' Gophers coach Doug Woog said. ``He started coming on
> after the holidays last season and kept playing better and better.
>
> ``I don't know where we'd be without him.''
>
> Wait a minute. With Smith, the Gophers have a 4-10 record and are in the throes of
> a school record-tying seven-game losing streak. In the Western Collegiate Hockey
> Association, they are 3-7 and tied for last place with 3-9 Denver at six points going
> into this weekend's home-and-home series against first-place St. Cloud State.
>
> However, if Smith weren't playing so well, the Gophers might have been blown out
> in some of their many close games. They have seven one-goal losses, one more than
> all of last season.
>
> On a team struggling to find itself, Smith has been a dominating player. He leads the
> team in scoring (13 points), goals (eight) and plus-minus rating (plus-4).
>
> At the College Hockey Showcase in Michigan on Thanksgiving weekend, the last
> time the Gophers played, he scored three goals in two games and was the lone
> Gopher on the all-tournament team.
>
> Smith also is the Gophers' best faceoff man, kills penalties, plays the power play, is
> on the ice in most crucial situations and is the best combination of offensive and
> defensive forward on the team.
>
> ``He's a complete player, as dependable a two-way player as anyone we've had
> recently,'' Woog said.
>
> The 5-foot-11, 200-pound Smith, a two-time all-stater at Warroad (Minn.) High
> School, has played with great skill and confidence all season. He credits his stint
> with the silver medal-winning U.S. team at the junior world championships a year
> ago as the turning point.
>
> After scoring just four goals and getting five assists in 32 games as a freshman, he
> was 4-2--6 through 14 games last season before joining the junior team. After
> returning to the Gophers, he was 12-12--24 in the last 22 games and finished the
> season as one of the team's five best players, according to Woog.
>
> ``Playing with the junior team was a big boost,'' Smith said. ``When I got back,
> things just took off. And it's continued into this season. I've had a little more success
> than some of the guys probably because I've been a little more fortunate. The puck
> has been going in for me and not for them.
>
> ``But I know things can change in a hurry, so I have to keep working hard and
> playing hard. The other guys are doing that, so the puck will start going in for them,
> too.''
>
> Much of Smith's success has been masked because of the Gophers' poor start. That
> gnaws at him more than his individual success pleases him.
>
> ``If the team is going good, the personal things come with it. That's how you really
> measure things,'' he said.
>
> Smith is eager to resume play after a two-week layoff because he thinks the
> Gophers are close to ending their losing ways.
>
> ``We played well those two games in Michigan, and I wish we had kept playing,''
> he said. ``So I've been itching at the bone to get back at it. This is like a new season
> for us coming up, and I think we'll turn it around.''
>
> Goalie Steve DeBus agreed.
>
> ``This is a new beginning for us,'' he said. ``We've had some time off to regroup,
> and I think everyone is looking forward to the `new' season and getting that first
> win. Once we get that, we'll get rolling.
>
> ``We need to beat a good team like St. Cloud so we can prove to ourselves that
> we're a good team, too.''
 
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