Lynn Burke writes:
 
>        Folks in Minnesota should read Tom Powers' column in Sunday's St.
>Paul Pioneer Press. I saw it on the Knight-Ridder newswire at the office.
>The title is "Let's Beef Up Scholarship Patrol."
>
>        The substance is a comparison of Minnesota's stay-at-home
>recruiting as compared to other WCHA teams, with references to the "North
>Dakota Maple Leafs" and the "Northern Michigan Canucks."
 
Here we go again.  At this time last year, the local columnists were
roasting Coach Woog for NOT recruiting out of state.  Now that the Gophers
have started the season on a positive note, it must be time to blast the
competition instead.  Anything to sell a newspaper, I guess.  :-(
 
Emphasis on Minnesota-born players is a cornerstone of the hockey program at
Minnesota under Coach Doug Woog.  This policy has paid off in a consistently
successful program, though at the cost of passing up players who might have
fit in well with the Maroon and Gold.  While the in-state recruitment policy
has worked well for the Gophers, it in no way implies that other schools can
or should have similar policies.  Each school must set its own priorities
for recruitment of players.
 
I ask that HOCKEY-Lers not take the words of ill-informed newspaper
columnists as being representative of the Minnesota hockey community.
 
-- Erik
 
GO GOPHERS!
SKI-U-MAH!