As disapointed as I was to see the Gophers lose to NMU in the WCHA final,
I was even more upset when I saw that the seedings had been set before
the 3rd place game was even finished! While I was glad to see 3 WCHA
teams get bids, I think North Dakota was more deserving that Wisconsin.
The Sioux finished only 2 pts behind the Badgers, and beat them in
head to head competition, including their 5-2 win in the 3rd place game.
It really took a lot of meaning out of the championship game, knowing
that it meant absolutely nothing.
 
Overall, the WCHA tourney was very exciting. In the first semifinal
game, the Gophers took a 3-0 lead on two power plays, and a short-
handed goal before the Badgers fought back. Wisconsin pulled their
goalie with about a minute left, and scored to make the score 3-2.
Then, with 47 seconds left, the Gophers took a penalty, giving the
Badgers a 6-4 advantage. They had a very good scoring opportunity
at the 10 second point, missing a puck slidden across the crease.
 
In the second game, North Dakota came out flying, taking 2-0, and
4-2 leads before NMU opened the flood gates, scoring 6 straight
goals to win 8-4.
 
North Dakota handled the 3rd place game from the start. They never
trailed, and seemed to totally outplay the Badgers. Too bad it
didn't mean anything. Final score, 5-2.
 
The championship game was very close. The Gophers seemed to have
an upper hand in the 1st period, but couldn't get the puck past
Pye, who was the tourney MVP.  The second period belonged to
Northern, as they jumped out to a 2-0 lead. The Wildcats stretched
their lead to 3-1, before Trent Klatt scored with about 5 minutes
remaining. In the last minute, Northern took a penalty, and the
Gophers pulled Stolp, giving them a 6-4 advantage. Only 10 seconds
elapsed before Northern poked the puck out, and scored on an
open net from the red line, making the final score 4-2. Both teams
played well, even though there was some chippy play on both sides.
At the end of the 2nd, a fight broke out between Szabo of Northern,
and Zmolek or the Gophers. The refs warned them that they could
get thrown out for next weekends games if things didn't settle
down. As it was, Szabo got 6 minutes, and Zmolek got 4. Earlier,
both teams got 3 men put in the box at once due to a skirmish
at the NMU net, when Scott Bell of the Gophers ran into Pye.
 
Total attendance for the 4 sessions was just under 44,000.
Attendance has dropped each year the WCHA's have been held
at the Civic Center, down from a high of over 51,000 back in
1988. This could be due to a number of reasons. First, hockey
over-saturation! The State High School tourney was held Thursday-
Saturday, at the Civic Center and drew just under 100,000 fans
in 6 sessions. (Note: This is why the WCHA's are held Sun/Mon).
Also, the No-Stars had two games over the weekend, drawing about
7000/game. Another reason could be that Gophers fans are getting
tired of seeing the Gophers lose! In 4 years, the Gopher have
failed to win the playoff title in their own back yard.
 
On a side different topic... a local sports reporter for the Mpls
paper was whining this morning about how unfair the competition
in college hockey has become, due to the number of Canadian Junior A
players that are being recruited. Both NMU, and LSSU have a number
of 21 year old 'freshmen'. In a recent Sports Illustrated article,
the LSSU coach even said he likes his players to have Junior
experience before he recruits them. The Gophers, and a number of
other teams, recruit only high school players, giving them younger,
and less experienced teams. My question is... Is there an age limit
set by the NCAA for college competition? Is it legal for a 21
year old freshman to play 4 years?
 
go go gophers... BEAT PROVIDENCE!!
shari