>  -- Once again the two-referee system proved to be a joke.
Yup, it sucks.  Probably won't change either.  Such is life in the
WCHA.
 
>  -- Minnesota is the best team Michigan has faced this season. That
> said, the general consensus among the Michigan section was that the
> Wolverines would win 7 of 10 if they played on a regular basis.
Well, I would have to disagree with them.  I could see 6/10 for
either team depending on who is having the off night.  Both teams have
some scoring punch (which is unusual for the Goph's).  Last year I may
have agreed though.
 
> (Take that for what it's worth.)  Michigan looked very flat on
> Saturday (too content with the football team's win, perhaps?) and
> Minnesota outworked them.  The nothing half of Michigan's
> all-or-nothing power play showed up.
Boy did it!  What was the final count, 1 for 10?  I would like to say
that the Goph's kill was that good, but I don't think so.
 
> Several people have commented on the Wolverine's speed, but I (and
> those with me) thought that Michigan looked very slow versus the
> Gophers.  The normal spring in their stride and cuts just wasn't
> there.
Mich looked a bunch quicker vs Wisc.  I don't know if they had a
rough week before the Showcase that would have contributed to dead
legs or not, but when the Goph's decided to skate with them instead of
hook or hold on to them they were the quicker team.
 
>  -- Minnesota's Brian Bonin impressed me very much.
I think that he has had his name legally changed to Hoby Bonin. At
least that's what we're calling him in our little corner of Mariucci.
 
>  -- Don't get one of your defensemen trapped in the Gopher
> zone!!  Minnesota's most dangerous play was to hold (yes,
> hold) an opposing defenseman that pinched in too far and
> create an odd-man rush in their favor.  They worked it to
> perfection both nights.  And, it's going to continue to work
> until someone has the gumption to whistle the hold behind
> the play.
 
I would have to call them solid body checks that they finished off
well.  And then they discussed with the other player how well they
finished off their check while they were on the boards.
 
I think that this is something that people have done to Mn in the past
and Mn couldn't really respond because they were always such a small
team.  Now they have a bunch of big guys on wing that can take on a
big defenseman and hold his own.
 
Actually this is something that I am trying to get my team to do if
the D comes in to the zone too far.  It's not necessarily a hold, but
if they make the mistake of coming in too far, they need to make sure
that they won't get caught.  It's something that the D needs to be
concious of before they step up.  This is something I learned early on
when I played defense and many teams do it as a general rule.  I don't
consider it dirty or cheap play unless there are blatant holds (which
always seems to be determined by which team you're cheering for).
 
I don't think that this caused Michigan to lose the game though.
They misfired on a number of shots in front of DeBus and Minnesota
didn't.  I also think that Bonin, Kraft and Crowley just took over the
game when they decided they wanted to.  (These three impress me more
and more every time I get to see them skate.)  Michigan just didn't
have enough that night to respond.  I don't know if it was an off
night for them or not, but I sure am glad that we don't have to play
them more often.  I'd hate to lose more often than we already do.
--------------------------------------------------------
Rob Zielinski
Systems Administration
The REP Company, Bloomington, MN
 
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