Floppin' Wally:
Ah Ha! Just as I suspected! The Finnish Hot Dog did get hit or appear to
have gotten hit, then took an Olympic dive and drew a penalty against his
opponent. I knew at some point in the series Wally would do some
theatrics! Unfortunately in this case, those acting lessons paid off and
the Red Pioneers collected goals out of the penalties. The Minnesota
penalty kill had been top notch up until last night. I guess you can't
expect a team to kill every penalty.
 
Crime Pays:
DU was successfull in sticking to their physical and rough style of play
Saturday night. The pinko Pioneers' constant thuggery knocked the
rodent-sized Gopher players off their game plan of grace, finess and general
excellence in skating and passing. As the Gophers failed to score when
they got power play opportunities the Pioneers were free to play even
more physically and grind the Gophs down even more because there was
little to fear from the  Gopher's impotent power play.
 
Grudge Match II:
Next weekend against UND should be similar to this weekend's series
except there probably won't be any diving goalies. The fierce hatred that
seems to well up out of usually calm and kind Minnesotans when the
Fighting Sioux come to town is remarkable! The Sioux were the root of
Minnesota's season derailment when they tied and beat the Gophs in Grand
Forks back in November. To repay this insult, I'm sure the Gophs will be
out to knock off the rising UND team. This will be the last full weekend
home series for the Gophers so hopfully they'll provide the fans with a
sweep.
 
Players to Watch:
With the expectation of a very physical series, I'm going to be watching
for some very rough play from Gopher bad guy Scott Bell and Sioux tough
dude Landon Wilson. Wilson will probably remember being taken off the ice
on a guerney last year at MaRiucci arena. He's probably going to be out
to show the Minn. team that he can't be as easily dismissed this year.
Wilson and Gopher defenseman Mike Crowley played together on the US
Junior team.
 
Fantasy Update:
Well, it looks like my fantasy of the Gophers winning all their remaining
games and the CC team losing 4 were just that.... A fantasy! It would
appear that the Tigres (spelled in francais just in case there are any
French Canadian players on the CC team who might be reading this) are
going to take their second straight McNaughton cup. Now for the
playoffs..... Let's see.... Alaska Anchorage? Maybe we'd better send some
players from MTU up there to give you some pointers on how to beat the
regular season champ in the playoffs!
 
Speaking of MTU:
Next weekend the UP Huskies travel to CC. What a rematch! There isn't a
better group of rough and tumble hockey players to be found than MTU! I
smell upset!
 
Well, I think this has been enough rambling for now!
 
GO GOPHER VICTORY
MINNESOTA GO
 
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