Headline: Bonin earns WCHA honors with a four-goal weekend
Publish Date: 01/31/1995
Matthew Cross
Staff Reporter
 
Following his first hat trick of the season and a six-point weekend,
Gophers center Brian Bonin was honored as Offensive Player of the
Week.
 
Bonin had four goals and two assists at Wisconsin's Dane County
Memorial Coliseum this weekend, and has 11 points in the past four
games (six goals, five assists).
 
It took only nine seconds for Bonin to score his first goal Saturday
night. He won the opening faceoff, strutted past Badgers goaltender
Kirk Daubenspeck and stuffed the puck in the net.
 
Bonin's offensive potency has moved him into fourth place among the
WCHA scoring leaders with a season total of 37 points from 21 goals
and 16 assists.
 
As a team, the Gophers had their most productive weekend offensively
(11 total goals) since the first series of the season, when they also
tallied 11 goals against Minnesota-Duluth.
 
Leading the way for the Gophers were Bonin, Justin McHugh (three
goals and two assists) and Dan Trebil (two goals and two assists).
 
Bianchi's best/worst moment
----------------------------
It was Joe Bianchi's biggest goal of his hockey career, but moments
after scoring the winning goal for Wisconsin on Saturday night with
only 4:42 remaining in the game, he couldn't muster a smile.
 
Bianchi, the younger brother of former Gopher Tony Bianchi, was told
by his father, John, in the locker room after the game that his
grandmother had just passed away.
 
He stepped into the press conference after the game looking down
at his watch, barely saying a word.
 
``It was definitely the biggest goal of my career,'' Bianchi agreed.
``But actually it was a bad play. I should have made a pass to
(Shawn) Carter, but the puck bounced my way and I just spun around
and shot.''
 
Godbout update
---------------
Gophers defenseman Jason Godbout suffered a severe thigh bruise with
about 13 minutes left in Friday night's game when Wisconsin winger
Rick Enrico leg-checked Godbout into the boards.
 
Enrico's knee dug into Godbout's thigh, which the rookie from
Hill-Murray said caused spasms for about 45 minutes after the game.
 
Godbout was unable to play on Saturday, which forced the Gophers
to play only five defensemen in the game.
 
``I thought I broke my leg at first,'' Godbout said. ``But I
feel 100 percent better today and (Gophers trainer Bob) Broxterman
said he's optimistic for next weekend.''
 
Godbout is officially listed as day-to-day.
 
Badgers' Tompkins out for season
---------------------------------
Soon after getting back to Madison, Wis., from the World Junior
Hockey Championships in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, Badgers sophomore
winger Dan Tompkins had finals.
 
After being out of town for three weeks, Tompkins had fallen so far
behind in class that he was unable to make the grades necessary to
compete. Tompkins will be forced to sit out the remainder of the
Badgers' season.
 
``Hopefully we can make up for him not being here,'' Sauer said.
``Danny is a skilled forward and he was gaining confidence.''
 
Michigan Tech notes
---------------------
The Gophers will travel to Houghton, Mich., this weekend to take on
Michigan Tech, which is only two points behind Minnesota in the
conference standings.
 
The Huskies are the worst home team in the WCHA with a 4-7-1 record
(.375 winning percentage), and they are also the most penalized team
in the conference.
 
They average just under 30 minutes in penalties per game, while the
Gophers are averaging just over 25 minutes.
 
Michigan Tech's leading scorer is Pat Mikesch, who is tied with Bonin
for fourth among WCHA scorers with 37 points.
 
Mikesch was a member of the WCHA's All-Rookie team two years ago
when he led the conference's first-year students in scoring.
 
He led the Huskies in scoring last season with 50 points.
 
MTU's starting goaltender, Luciano Caravaggio, has mononucleosis and
is out of action indefinitely.
 
Michigan Tech is having its annual Winter Carnival this weekend
and this year's theme is ``Great Feats of Mankind Frozen in Time.''
 
Carol S. White                            BITNET: c-whit@uminn1
University of Minnesota        internet:[log in to unmask]
Office of the Registrar
(612) 625-8517                                    GO Gophers!!!