I did my usual thing down at Bayshore Park and waved flags with the
Bayshore Patriots in support of our troops and hurried home so that I
could get to the local pub - Clubhouse - to watch the Gopher game.  I
was met my my friends Keith and Alison who graciously let me sit with
them again while I watched the game.  ( I should mention that now I
have a soldier close to me to wave my flags for.  For those of my
friends in Minnesota who met my best friend, Reina, her son is going
into the army on Nov. 2nd for boot camp.  He will be programming and
fixing bradley tanks.  There is a chance after he is first sent over to
Germany in February 2005 that he could be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan.)

But this time I brought a piece of paper with me so that I could write
things down as we went along so that my report would not be so hollow.

Unfortunately, it is going to start out that way....I did not see the
first Mankato goal (on the power play), so I could not tell you if it
was a somewhat regular "five-holer" goal that Briggs usually seems to
give up once during each game.  Now considering that the Mankato goal
was so early, I was not sure that the Gophers would not go into some
short of shell early.  I have seen that happen in past years.  But was
pleasantly surprised to see that even though the Gophers were not
dominating, they did not give up.  With about 3 minutes left in the
first, Peltier scored.  It was then 1-1 at the end of 1.

Now going into the second period we continued with both teams spending
their allotted times in the penalty box.  At this point, I was
discussing some local politics with Keith and Alison as Keith's brother
is running for Mayor in the town I live in.

But I am not sure what happened, but I lost count and all I saw were
white Gopher uniforms running around in front of the Mankato goal.  I
lost track and could not tell you all who scored, but at the end of the
2nd it was 5-2 for the Gophers.

About this time Keith and Alison had left and I moved to a table that
was closer to the tv to watch the third.  I have to say that at this
point, the Gophers started to dominate the game.  There were a couple
of lapses, but the end result was a 9-2 win.  I saw a clip of the
Mankato coach talking to one of the goalies.  I am not sure, but who
started for Mankato?  He was talking to Nixon I think and at the end of
the game if I am correct, it was Volp in the net.  Please correct me
here if I am wrong.

I was very happy with what I saw.  But I am sure that it will not be
the blow-out it was tonight on Saturday.  Mankato cannot be discounted,
They will not lay down and die on Saturday.  Actually, by the hitting I
saw at the end of the third, we could be in for a real "fist-fight" if
the ref does not keep it under control.

So here are some questions for my Minnesota friends:

1.  They showed on tv the All-American wall at the arena.  It looked
like they were showing a new pic.  The player had an "A" on his
jersey...was this Keith Ballard by any chance?

2.  Who is this "Zelkin" guy?  (ref)  Never heard of him before.

3.  And who IS the Gopher captain now?  I saw Barry with the C on a
couple of weeks ago, but now he is wearing the A and Stephens has the C
on.  What did they decide?  Are they going to rotate like the Wild, or
did they decide on one captain?

Well, I need to go to bed.  It is now after 11 and I know that all my
friends are sitting at Stub and Herbs having a beer (as it is only 10
there in Minneapolis).  gotcha!  I got to drink beer during the whole
game!   :-)

Have a great hockey weekend everyone.

Kathy M.
Go Gophers!