Being the one Gopher fan of my friends that was home during the game, I
figured I would take advantage of that and be the first one to write about
the game!

I was very impressed that the Gophers came out right away and were
intercepting the puck in the neutral zone to break up the play.  The other
thing that I have said to friends at work is that the Gophs need to start
scoring first...which they did tonight.  Additionally, they may not have
scored on their first power play, but they did move the puck well and did
not make too may mental errors.
Ellsworth was stellar in goal for the Huskies early in the game.  It could
have been 4-0 by the end of the first.  But instead, the Huskies were only
down one after the first.  They did not give up, even though at times they
seemed to have trouble with Minnesota's speed.  Coming back in the 2nd, you
would not think that the Huskies had any trouble with the Gophers at all.
Another breakdown in defense, and a lack of facing the puck left Weber
leaving the 5-hole wide open for the Huskies to tie it up.  They just
stayed in it and worked.  I think that shows the depth of our league as
even a team that "numbers" wise is low, can come back at you at any time.

One side-note here:  During the 2nd intermission, on the t.v. they talked
about the early start time at 7pm on Friday nights.  Doug Woog mentioned
that many teams have already gone back to the 7:30 start on Fridays.  U of
Minn needs to do the same, and my understanding (I walked into the middle
of the conversation) was that Woog was lobbying for that with the U and Fox.
   I personally would love to see that.  A 7:30 start allowed me time to get
home, eat dinner and still pick my Mom up in time to get us to the arena by
7pm.  7pm starts on Saturdays is fine...but trying to beat rush hour
traffic and relax before the game is impossible with a start a 7.  That is
why I gave up my Friday night half of my tickets to my friend.  I am too
tired and feel too rushed after work to enjoy the game on Friday.  (IMHO)
For you trivia buffs:  The last time U of Minn had a 7:30 start on a Friday
was in 1985.  Oh, my!

The third period brought some mental lapses - that we have seen in the last
few weeks - but they were not as bad as they have been in the past.  The
Huskies decided to stay out of the box, so it made for a lot of action at
both ends of the ice. I was not even sure that we would come out of it
without a tie until DeMarchi scored an open net goal with 20 seconds left.

I was also happy to see the team (including Paul Martin -who is not known
for physical play) get more physical and hit a lot.  Personally,
considering all the injuries we have endured recently on major players,
that the boys would never get over being afraid to hit.

Overall, I was impressed with both teams, it was another good WCHA battle.
   And it was over in just 2 hours and 10 minutes!  I like that 5 second
rule....more time to celebrate at the bar!

Everyone have a great weekend.

Kathy Martin
Go Gophers!
2002 NCAA Men's National Champs