The weekend was not a kind one to the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
 
After a great series of weekends that really made it look like the
Gophers were back on the winning track, trouble struck deep in the
heard of every cold (and I do mean COLD) blooded Minnesota fan.
 
The trouble was wearing VERY bright green uniforms.
 
In the previous five weekends, Minnesota had played some of their
best hockey of the season. Despite close losses to Colorado College
and Wisconsin, the record over those ten games was 6-3-1, and the
Gophers outscored their opponents 44-25 over that stretch, including
a four game stint (with games against Mich. Tech, UMD, and Denver)
where they outscored others 20-3.
 
Things were at their peak last weekend in Denver, as the Gophers
played a near perfect game in a 5-1 victory on Friday, and showed a
return to their earlier season form, losing 0-3 on Saturday.
 
That return carried over to this weekend.
 
I said after the Minnesota series in Grand Forks that the North
Dakota team would be one to watch out for in the later half of the
season. The last two weekends back me up on this, as the Fighting
Souix posted a split with CC last weekend, and effectively a split
this weekend with MN, two of the best teams in the conference.
 
Friday night saw a surprising North Dakota team that used its speed
to keep right up with Minnesota. Minnesota, contrary to what some
earlier posts have stated, is a speed and finesse team this year.
This has led to some difficulty on smaller rinks like Northern
Michigan's (I am not making excuses here--Minnesota played and
defeated both Michigan and Michigan State earlier this year on the
smaller surface at the St. Paul Civic Center). Until this weekend, I
don't think I have seen a team successfully skate with the Gophers
for more than a period (excluding the Brynas Tigers from Sweden). But
North Dakota, surprisingly, did.
 
This led to some VERY exciting hockey on Friday night. There were
several rushes up and down the ice, and it made for a very exciting
game, possibly the most exciting of the season.
 
But Minnesota ran into trouble with scoring once again. They did
outplay North Dakota, and had nearly twice the shots on goal, but
only managed to squeak out with a 3-3 tie. All the shots on net
seemed to go right into the chest of Kvalevog, the UND goalie.
 
 
A sidenote:
 
By the way, this brings up an interesting point I have been meaning
to make--can we as a group decide on a consistent letter scheme for
the University of North Dakota and the University of Notre Dame? One
can be UND and one can be ND, or we can use some other letters, but I
can't count the number of times I have seen a score and said "North
Dakota beat Michigan?!? I thought they were playing Wisconsin!" or
some such nonsense. I figure it out eventually, but it would be nice
to avoid confusion, wouldn't it?
 
 
Back to the report:
 
One thing that was NOT wrong with Minnesota for the weekend was the
power play. All three goals on Friday were power play goals, and they
ended up 5 for 11 on the weekend. A good sign from the 0 for 8 power
play from last Saturday's loss to Denver.
 
Saturday's game was different. It featured much less of the
end-to-end action that we saw on Friday, and much more of the "I
Forgot How To Play Hockey" style that the Gophers tend to fall into.
 
Both teams looked pathetic, especially in the second period. One of
the teams would send the puck out of their defensive zone, hit a
player at neutral ice, who would cough up the puck to an opposing
defenseman, who would pass to center ice, etc. ad nauseum. Stolen
passes, pucks skipping over sticks, players slipping and falling, it
was a comedy of errors.
 
No one could put together even one minute of quality play. The
remarkable thing is the lack of stoppages in this period. There were
no icings, no offsides. I remember thinking to myself: "There has
been constant play for nearly five minutes" at which point I made a
concerted effort to see how long it would be before a stoppage. It
took another minute or so, but play was finally stopped--due to a
North Dakota goal.
 
The game was so lackluster that even the normally rowdy students were
lulled into a state of sullen quiet. Nothing, it seemed, could break
the hypnotic spell of ineptitude the players had cast over the arena.
 
But then came the second intermission, and Minnesota and the
Minnesota fans got something back into them, as the first five
minutes of the third period were loud and exciting, seeing the
Gophers score three times in five minutes (including two goals on a
two minute 4 on 4 situation), to put them up 5-3.
 
Things looked good, and the Gophers and their fans settled back when
a North Dakota player took a penalty--as I said, the power play was
hot for the weekend. We thought that would put them away: one more
power play goal. And seconds later UND scored on a shorthanded
breakaway to bring the game within reach for the Fighting Souix.
 
Just a few more comments:
 
Where was Jeff Moen? Woog last played him in Michigan Tech, where he
earned an 8-1 victory, and won the MVP award for the series. Callinan
seemed to thrive on the competition, as his next three starts he
allowed only two goals. Sure, you can't pull a goaltender when he is
that hot, but Denver cooled him down with a 0-3 decision, where
Callinan didn't play his best 60 minutes.
 
 
So start Moen in the next game on Friday, to let Callinan know he
needs to keep up the good work.
 
Or give Callinan another chance: he allows a 3-3 tie on Friday,
including a soft goal or two. THEN start Moen on Saturday. Why stick
with the struggling goaltender? Give him some time off--get your
backup some confidence for the final run. I think Woog blew it on
this one. He hasn't handled the goalie situation well this year,
despite the fact that Callinan leads the WCHA in GAA.
 
There were a pair of players significantly absent this weekend, one
on each team.
 
For North Dakota, it was Landon Wilson. Last year, he had a reason
for not showing up on Saturday: Chris McAlpine checked him hard (but
legally) into the boards on Friday, and he was carried of the ice on
a stretcher. He had to go to the hospital with a concussion. Quick
comment: this year's freshman phenom (one of 'em), Ryan Kraft, was
sent to the hospital on Saturday with a mild concussion from a hit in
the second period. Coincidence?
 
This year, Wilson had no such excuse: despite tallying two goals, he
skated around like he had his mind on his sick grandmother or
something (no offense intended to people with sick grandmothers ;-).
He was easily the most disappointing player--I told all my friends to
watch him, and that he was either a) the big offensive threat, or b)
had a hot temper that would land him in the penalty box. Neither
happened. He was just sort of there.
 
#8 Kevin Hoogsteen and #11 Teeder Wynne were both VERY impressive for
North Dakota. Wynne in particular looked strong and active, and while
he DID spend some time in the penalty box, he was a force every time
he was on the ice. And he has a cool name. :-)
 
The player missing from Minnesota's roster was #19 Justin McHugh. He
has been hot ever since he returned from his knee injury sustained
against Michigan back in November. But the last game or two, and
ESPECIALLY in this set, he was ineffective. Woog split him and Brian
Bonin up on different lines, hoping that would fire McHugh up again.
But alas, it didn't help as he struggled both nights. He just didn't
look like his mind was in the game, as he misplayed several pucks,
slipped and fell on the ice, and just didn't hustle like his usual
self. He needs to step up if Minnesota wants to have any hope in the
remainder of the season (including the playoffs). He isn't co-captain
for nothing.
 
But #10 Scott Bell and #20 Mike Crowley both looked very good. Bell
especially played with tenacity and fire, and the team was rewarded
fro his efforts. He put forth an INHUMAN effort to keep the puck,
skate in front of the net, and feed Bonin for one of the third period
goals. I have seen pretty goals and dirty ones, but I would be
hard-pressed to think of one due to such incredible individual
effort.
 
Crowley is back to some earlier season form. Unfortunately, his
defensive partner, Dan Trebil, had a horrible weekend, and at least
two of the goals can be attributed directly to him (and to Callinan,
I suppose).
 
One thing I learned from the two games was the lack of class of the
Minnesota students. The entire weekend was an exercise in immaturity
for everyone in the section (except me and my pals, of course).
 
Friday was poster night, and after a few questionable calls, several
posters flew onto the ice, as has been discussed (AT LENGTH, sheesh).
 
Saturday was even worse, as the fans yelled almost constantly at the
referees. Good calls, bad calls; it didn't matter. Anything against
the Gophers was reason enough to moan and complain. I think a
Minnesota player could have cut the head off a North Dakota player
with a bloody hacksaw, waved it in front of a ref, and then been
called for a two minute minor (two minutes for decapitation), and the
fans would have screamed in anguish that they had been wronged.
 
As the section started a "These refs suck" chant (for the umpteenth
time) I felt an overwhelming urge to shout back "These fans suck". I
can understand venting some frustration, but good grief, do it with
some class...
 
The next weekend should be VERY interesting with a three way race for
second place (I wouldn't be too surprised to see a Denver sweep since
CC has already won the McNaughton cup), and Wisconsin will have a
tough time with a very good road team in Michigan Tech. Minnesota
will have problems of its own as they try to complete only the second
season series sweep over the resurgent St. Cloud Huskies (the other
season sweep is against UMD, who could be our opening round opponent
in the playoffs).
 
Meanwhile, there is also a four way race for the last home ice spot,
between St. Cloud, Michigan Tech, North Dakota, and Duluth. Michigan
Tech, if you ask me, is better off playing on the road this year.
 
Congrats to the CC Tigers, by the way, for winning the WCHA regular
season race (and thereby securing an NCAA appearance) for the second
consecutive year. I look forward to seeing them in the final five.
 
                                                Lee-nerd
                                                [log in to unmask]
 
"Violence is the last resort of the incompetent." --Isaac Asimov