> schools and its amazing anyone else can compete.  But, thanks to Doug Woog,
> many former MN high school phenoms turn into busts in the Gopher program.
> Those selected few h.s. players who escape the grasp of the Gophers end
> up going to other schools and become superstars (see Derek Plante,
> Chris Maruicci a few years back at UMD, or presently Matt Cullen and
> Mark Parrish at SCSU who are only sophs).
> I do not intend this to be offensive to any Gopher fan, but only to show
> that strong Gopher dislike is not an isolated case.
>
> Paul Thalacker
>
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>
 
I think it's time to set the record straight about Matt Cullen.  Matt WAS
recruited by Doug Woog, but for personal reasons (i.e. his father's - Terry
Cullen - ego) decided not to attend the U of MN.  It all centers around
Terry's comments to Woog about how Matt is going to be the next Gretzky, Matt
should be the gophers' top scorer, etc. etc..  Instead of agreeing
wholheartedly with Terry, Woog simply said that Matt would be a good addition
to the team.  This apparantly offended daddy Cullen.  When the letter finally
came from the gophers, Cullen never opened it up.
 
Bottom line:  kids choose not to attend the U of MN for various reasons.
 Some feel like they have a better chance of standing out in a program not
filled with MN H.S. all stars.  There are so many Div I quality players
coming out of MN each year, that the gophers don't even have enough
scholarships to cover them all.  The fact that 5 of ND's goals were scored by
MN kids simply shows that MN kids do well wherever they play.  Look at the U
of WI badgers...in a given year, half the team is from MN.  There will always
be MN stars who choose to attend other schools.  I think that speaks more to
the quality of H.S. hockey in MN than to Woog's lack of recruiting ability.
 
As far as the gophers "under-achievement", I think one must keep in mind that
when you start the season with a bunch of kids fresh out of H.S., they are
going to have ups and downs, but they will improve as the season (and their
college career) goes on.  With the gophers, it seems that year after year
they seem to peak as the season comes to the end.  That's what happens when
you have a group of kids who are continually getting better.  Contrast that
to a team stocked with 23-25 year old Canadians (or Americans for that
matter) coming out of Juniors.  These players are essentially as good as they
are going to get, and will only improve so much as the season goes on.
 
Russell Bergum
 
(Minnesotan trapped in the flat wasteland of Chicago)
 
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