From today's Minnesota Daily
http://www.daily.umn.edu/~online/daily/11091995/sports/puck09/>=20
 
> Checco hopes scoring drought is over
 
> Jeff Sherry - Staff Reporter
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> Nick Checco, a junior winger on the Gophers hockey team, is
> not a loud, outspoken person.
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> When Checco lists what he enjoys doing in his free time, playing
> solitaire tops the list. He says he probably plays "about 100 hands
> a day" and just enjoys relaxing by himself down in his room at home.
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> "Around my close friends I'm pretty much outgoing," Checco said.
> "But once I get in a group of people I don't know, I pretty much
> shut up. It's hard for me to come up to some guy I don't know and
> talk to him."
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> Checco's personality provides him with plenty of time to think.
> Unfortunately, this isn't always a good thing. Many of his recent
> thoughts regarding his hockey performance haven't been very
> positive.
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> For example, take the Gophers' 4-3 win Saturday at St. Cloud State.
> Prior to the series against the Huskies, a personal scoring slump
> had made Checco seem as quiet on the ice as off it. He came into
> Saturday's game as the only one of Minnesota's 12 forwards who
> hadn't scored a point this year.
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> Checco was definitely happy the team won. But not getting a goal
> still left him frustrated, even though he did get an assist. He
> entered the season thinking this would be the year he would
> establish himself as one of the team's top scorers.
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> The degree of Checco's frustration could be seen clearly after the
> game. Brian Bonin and Casey Hankinson, his teammates on the first
> line, didn't get a goal either. When Checco considered the slump he
> was in and all the good opportunities his line had, he started
> blaming himself.
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> "I was thinking, 'Geez. It's me. I'm bringing it on everyone else
> now. Everybody I play with now can't score,'" Checco said. "I
> thought it was my fault theycouldn't score. I was totally thinking I
> was cursed -- like I was a jinx or something."
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> But now Checco knows better. In Sunday's game, he one-timed a pass
> from Brian Bonin past Huskies goaltender Brian Leitza for what would
> prove to be the game-winning goal. Throughout the weekend he showed
> the moves and speed he had only shown in flashes all season.
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> And Gophers coach Doug Woog noticed.
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> "In the last four games, he's had some really good ones, and we're
> hoping he's coming out of it," Woog said. "He needs to just start
> flying out there and use his speed to put some pressure on people.
> He's very, very fast. There's no use having a big engine under the
> hood if you never take it to the drag strip."
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> Woog had that speed in mind when he changed Checco's role with the
> team this season. In Checco's first two years here, Woog used him
> primarily as a defensive forward and limited his ability to skate
> freely.
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> The two talked prior to the season and Woog told Checco he wanted
> him to concentrate entirely on offense and be a more open and
> exciting player. Woog is confident Checco can still be that type of
> player, regardless of his slow start.
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> "It's hard to know why Nickie doesn't go as fast as he can go,
> because he's so fast," Woog said. "I'm just trying to encourage him
> to open up his offense and just become a crowd-pleaser. Let him get
> people excited and show off his skills. The only thing is, I can
> tell him that but he's got to do it."
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> Checco feels like he's getting closer to that level. He said he felt
> even more pressure early this season than he did coming in his
> freshman year after winning Minnesota's Mr. Hockey award in 1993.
> That self-imposed pressure got to him, but he says he looks at
> things differently now.
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> "I was thinking about trying to have a big year a little bit too
> much," Checco said. "I should have just concentrated on playing
> decent and playing for the big game. I was trying to do more things
> by myself."
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> When Checco finally scored, he took a pass from Bonin and delivered
> a shorthanded goal. It was a feeling he hopes he experiences several
> more times this season.
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> "I saw it hit the back of the net and I just went nuts," Checco
> said. "It was like scoring the first goal of my college career my
> freshman year. I was pretty pumped up. It feels good to score.
> Hopefully it can continue."
 
> =A9The Minnesota Daily
 
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