Very early on Thursday morning, Erik Biever, Pat Gonzales, and myself
started off towards Houghton, Michigan for the Winter Carnival hockey
series, the Michigan Tech Huskies vs the Minnesota Gophers. Erik and
I, along with Carol White, had gone up for Carnival two years ago and
watched the Gophers tie the Huskies friday night and then get stomped
big time on Saturday 10-2. We still had a great time, and were looking
forward to the hockey rematch and to visiting with the Gilreath clan
again. The drive up to Houghton was an easy one this time, it was
evident that their winter had been very mild. The previous trip up had
featured driving through a national forest in near blizzard conditions:
trying to peer far enough ahead to see if the road continued or
actually ended in a big white blob like it appeared to. At least back
then we didn't have to worry about going off the road - previous snows
had been plowed to form big banks on either side - it was like driving
down a snow chute. There were no snow chutes this year, we got a chance
to admire the beautiful landscape we had missed before. You know you're
in Michigan when the houses stop being all white and take on two toned paint
jobs, green and white, green and gold, brown and gold. I think they are
painted that way so people can find their houses more easily in the
snowstorms.
We arrived at Houghton and drove past some of the big snow sculptures that
the various student organizations do for Carnival. They had to truck in
snow this year, but still managed to create some amazing scenes based on
the theme "Great feats of mankind, frozen in time." One scene done by a
Christian organization was of David & Goliath, featuring the feet of
Goliath. We had been speculating about big snowy feet ever since we heard
what the theme was and we were not disappointed. There was also an incredible
sculpture of Notre Dame. We found our way to campus and to the "staircase
in the middle of nowhere" that marks the entrance to the building where
Bob Gilreath works. Bob had sent us a map two years ago, but we had
forgotten it - to my amazement, Erik remembered the maze perfectly and
lead us directly to Bob's office. On our way we got noticed by some of
Bob's co-workers who remarked about our Gopher garb!!
Bob was happy to see us, as his vacation time started as soon as we arrived.
We noticed the NCAA Rule Book on his desk, an easy reach from his computer
keyboard. That night we had supper with Bob and Liz, and their kids,
Robert(10), Paul(8) and Sarah(2). Robert & Paul both like hockey and go to
the Huskie hockey games, but Sarah doesn't like to sit and watch. She has
an attitude, and my theory is that she would rather be out there with a
stick and a puck herself. After supper, Bob logged on and we sent our
arrival message out.
The next day, we met Bob for breakfast at a great little soda fountain
type place. Then we did the big tour of snow scultures, took photos,
and bought Winter Carnival pins. Two years ago Erik and I had a photo
taken of us in front of a big snow house and we sent it out as a part
of our Christmas card greetings. This year we got photos of everyone
in front of Notre Dame. After viewing the sculptures, Bob asked Pat,
who hadn't been to Houghton before, if she wanted to see the arena.
(See, there is *some* hockey related stuff in this report!) The answer
was yes, so up the hill we went to the John MacInnes Student Ice Area,
part of a very nice complex of sports and recreation facilities all in
the same building. We stopped to look around, and poked our noses into the
arena, only to find that our Gophers were there, practicing. What timing!
We hung around during practice and chatted with an old-timer who had come
along with the team.
Then it was time for the Blue Line lunch. The food was great and both
coaches were in good spirits. We found out during Doug Woog's talk
that the old-timer we had been talking to at the arena was a hockey player
from back in the '30's named Russ Gray who went along on a road trip with
the team once a year. Bob Mancini mentioned Hockey L, probably having
noticed my Hockey-L sweatshirt, and referred to it as the "Oprah of College
Hockey." He also asked Erik if he was the guy who did the RPICH on the list.
We met several other Hockey-Lers there, whose names escape me unfortunately.
After lunch, we headed up to Calumet, further up the Upper Peninsula,
which had been a boom town back during the big copper mining days.
We got a tour of the old opera house there, which had been restored and
was quite the sight. You could tell that Calumet had been a happening
place back then.
We got back in town in time for a quick pizza and then it was time to
get to the arena for the first game. It's a good thing that Bob also
likes to get to games early because that's our standard mode of operation
also. We like to watch the place fill up, we take in the warm ups, and
visit with people before the game. We had to cruise the Huskie Pro Shop
and get some of the best hot dogs in the WCHA, plus check out the ice cream,
of which they have many more flavors than our home sweet home Mariucci.
The first period starts, and it is obvious right away that the game is
going to be "tight". There are many penalties called and there is no
flow at all to the game for the first two periods. I had no arguement with
the calls, but it made for very choppy play. We were sitting with some
other Minnesota fans and some of the Gopher player's parents, and were
spelling out Minnesota after the goals. During the third period the band
came over to the stairs by our section and serenaded us with "Oh Canada."
I was still wearing my Hockey-L sweatshirt, and I know that some of the band
members are on the list and had read that whole USA-Canada hoo-haa that
started up when it was mentioned that some Gopher fans chanted U-S-A at the
MN-CC game. I couldn't figure out they managed to play their instruments
with such big grins on their faces. Unfortunately the joke was probably
only understood by about 15 people there at arena. The Huskie fan who sat
in front of us the next night mentioned it and was actually offended. It
wasn't really something we could easily explain to him either! We thought
it was funny. I don't really want to add to the band discussion going on,
but the MTU band members have the most interesting head gear - everyone
seems to have a different headpiece of some sort, including one depicting a
puck in a goal net, complete with a goal judges booth with a light on top.
The third period was better. Hockey was actually played, and the game ended
in a tie. I don't think that the Gophers played as nastily as Walt Olson
made them out in his Friday night report; comparing the number of penalties
on both sides certainly doesn't indicate that Minnesota played dirtier than
Tech, but it wasn't a pretty game by anyone's standards.
After the game we had a few brews back in Hubble, where Bob and family
actually live, since Houghton is too crowded for them!
The next day we slept in a bit and got over to Bob's house around noon and
headed back to the arena. The Winter Carnival games are always held on
Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Although things were still rough, the
Gophers broke the scoring open and won 8-1. I didn't like seeing World War
Three break out on the ice during the third period. I did like seeing Jeff
Moen play so well!! I gave him the big thumbs up after a play in the first
period, and he banged his stick on the ice, I hope in response. Since we
were sitting by the parents I think players looked up our way every now and
then. And he got a kiss from the Carnival Queen, a Winter Carnival tradition
for the MVP. We got to meet Walt Olson during the period breaks. After the
game we stood around and listened to the end of the Huskie women's
basketball game against Lake Superior State which they won in the final
minute of play, completing a sweep by both the mens and womens teams against
LSSU that weekend. So Bob was happy, and we were happy when we left the arena.
During the weekend, a winter storm warning was posted, and by the end of
the weekend there was much more snow than when we arrived! The trip back
was a little more adventurous than the trip up. It was nice to get the
three points this weekend. Road trips are a blast, especially with
Hockey-L folks anywhere you might travel to see college hockey. Many
thanks to the Gilreaths for putting up with Gopher fans all weekend, and
we hope to see you in St. Paul for the WCHA Final Five.
Paula Biever
"Frammin' on the jim jam ... frippen on the krotz ...
A schleppin' and a spritzzen in an all out ZOTZ!"
Wizard of Id, parker and hart
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