Headline: Two Gophers suspended for fightin
Publish Date: 11/15/1994
Matthew Cross
Staff Reporter
 
There's no curve for this weekend's test against Michigan.
**********************************************************
By only earning one point from North Dakota this weekend, the Gophers
hockey team received a wake-up call, but they made it hard for
themselves to ensure wins against Michigan Tech.
 
Midway through the second period of Saturday's game with the Gophers
down 4-0, Jed Fiebelkorn instigated a fight with North Dakota's Kevin
Rappana.
 
A brawl ensued, and Fiebelkorn and Rappana were given five-minute
misconducts for punching, and game disqualifications.
 
At the same time, Gophers wing Casey Hankinson plastered Scott Kirton
into the right corner boards hard enough to leave Kirton motionless
on the ice for a few minutes while trainers attended him.
 
Hankinson was called for checking from behind and given a five-minute
misconduct, a game disqualification and a two-minute minor for
roughing.
 
Thus, Minnesota is without Hankinson and Fiebelkorn for Saturday's
matinee with Michigan Tech at Mariucci Arena.
 
Losing Hankinson and Fiebelkorn will hurt the Gophers' depth, but it
will also provide opportunities for backup players.
 
Possible candidates are Brandon Steege, Jesse Bertogliat, Bobby
Dustin and Joe Pankratz.
 
Under Coach Doug Woog's system, the player with the best week in
practice gets the nod.
 
Penalty kill still ``killer''
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One of the few bright spots for the Gophers this weekend was their
continued dominance on special teams.
 
Minnesota was perfect on the kill (12 of 12) and scored on three of
12 power plays.
 
The Gophers will be faced with their toughest head-to-head special
teams competition this weekend against Michigan Tech.
 
The Huskies rank second behind the Gophers' top-rated penalty-killing
and power-play units.
 
Killing themselves
******************
If the Gophers would like to stay among the best teams in the
country, they need to cut down on the penalties.
 
Minnesota leads the WCHA with four player disqualifications,  and
they trail only Michigan Tech for the most penalty minutes.
 
The Gophers average 31 minutes in penalties per game and had a
season-high 50 minutes in Saturday's game at North Dakota.
 
Consequently, they suffered their only loss of the season 4-3.
 
Sioux fortune haunts  Gophers
*****************************
Minnesota finally experienced a ``luckless'' game last weekend, as
North Dakota got all the bounces.
 
Gophers goaltender Jeff Callinan gave up four goals Friday night,
none of which will make the highlight reel.
 
``They weren't real pretty goals,'' Callinan said. ``But you can't
dwell on that.''
 
To even the playing field at Ralph Engelstad Arena, the Gophers tried
everything, including pulling the goalkeeper and sending players out
in pairs instead of lines.
 
That didn't help. The Gophers trailed 4-0 at one point.
 
``We knew they were good,'' co-captain Scott Bell said. ``But we
thought we were going to win. We always think we're going to win.''
 
The Gophers did come back, but could only muster three goals in a
valiant third-period effort.
 
The first line's ability to score is still a major question mark for
Woog, who is contemplating major lineup changes that include moving
rookie Ryan Kraft to the starting lineup.
 
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