MINNESOTA MIGHT HAVE TO EXPAND ITS BOUNDARIES
 
Associated Press
 
MINNEAPOLIS- Sacre bleu!  Has it really come to this?
 
University of Minnesota hockey coach Doug Woog says he might have to go to
Canada - as well as Europe, Massachusetts and Michigan - to get the elite
players that he always found in Minnesota.
 
He said he'd rather be competitive with Minnesotans than win championships
with outsiders.
 
"But no everybody agress with that," siad Woog, who in nine seasons as coach
has never recruited an out-of-state player.  "When you lose four or five
games, the critics come out.  And you start thinking: Maybe we've got to be a
little more aggressive with our recruiting."
 
His Gophers were 2-6-3 before Saturday's game against Michigan State at The
Palace, one of their worst starts ever.  They have the beautiful new Mariucci
Arena, but don't have the speed to take advantage of its bigger ice surface.
They are the only game in town, what with the NHL North Start having moved to
Dallas, but don't have the talent to take advantage of the situation.
 
"We want to maintain our tradition of excellence," Woog said. "We still think
Minnesota players can do it.  But we would not be against entertaining quality
players from elsewhere."
 
It's the first time he has entertained such thoughts.
 
"The advent of the major junior programs coming into Minnesota and getting
guys like Jamie Langenbrunner is a major concern,"  Woog siad, referring to
the 1992-93 AP Player of the Year, who skipped his senior season at Cloquet to
play in the Ontario Hockey League.
 
"This rink gives us different needs.  And with the junior teams coming into
Minnesota and offering money to the strongest candidates ... you need to find
elite players somewhere."
 
Woog, who has taken the Gophers to the NCAA Tournament every season he has
coached, has fewer elite players than ever.  He lost fowards Darby Hendrickson
and Craig Johnson to the U.S. Olympic team.  Another forward, Joe Dziedzic,
has a broken arm.
 
"If we had those players, our lack of speed and offense wouldn't be so
noticeable," Woog said.  "Those are exactly the kinds of players we might have
to go outside to recruit."
 
Why can't he simply reload with Minnesotans, as he has for almost a decade?
 
"We just don't have the volume of quality players available anymore," Woog
said.  "I'm worried that our supply line is diminishing too much."
 
That sound coming from St. Cloud is Craig Dahl playing the violin for his
distressed coaching colleague.
 
"Instead of coming to the rink with a vastly superior team," Dahl said, " now
he has to coach."
 
Dahl realized long ago that there is just so much in-state talent and that the
best Minnesotans usually want to be Gophers.  So rather than settle for
inferior talent, he recruits players form Canada and elsewhere.
 
A few years ago, Woog criticized Dahl, saying that St. Could State's new,
state-finance arena was built expressly for Minnesota players.
 
Dahl's response?  Mind your own business.
 
Now, he's amused by Woog's sudden change of heart.
 
"It's funny what a few losses does to one's principles," Dahl said.  "I seem
to remember him saying that John Mariucci would roll over in his grave if he
knew I was recruiting Canadians.  Well, what would John be doing now?"
 
Mariucci, the legendary former Gophers coach, was Woog's mentor and fostered
Woog's all-Minnesota philosophy.
 
Dahl notes that even though Woog laments the state's lack of talent, the
Gophers have signed the state's top three prospects.
 
 
Doug P.
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