=46rom the Tuesday (10/17/95) Minnesota Daily.
Contains
        update on LaFleur's injury
        Line changes aplenty
        Hot in Houghton (re: Jeff Moen)
        Happy Anniversary? (Gophers' road record)
        Colorado College Domination
        It's better to be lucky ...  (MTU shootout)
 
Hockey player OK'd after head injury
 
Jeff Sherry - Staff Reporter
 
Gophers junior defenseman Brian LaFleur was cleared to play hockey
Monday, two days after suffering a minor head injury in Saturday night's 5-2
loss at Michigan Tech.
 
LaFleur did not play the remainder of Saturday's game after hitting his head
in a collision during the second period. Sophomore forward Jason Godbout
moved to defense after the injury. Gophers trainer Bob Broxterman said the
team withheld LaFleur for prec autionary reasons.
 
Michigan Tech's team physician examined LaFleur on Saturday. He received
clearance to play again Monday from Dr. Richard Feist of Boynton Health
Service.
 
Line changes aplenty
 
Gophers coach Doug Woog threw different offensive line combinations at
Michigan Tech this weekend, with varied results.
 
In Friday night's 4-2 win, Minnesota started freshman Reggie Berg at left
wing, Brian Bonin at center and Casey Hankinson at right wing. Ryan Kraft
centered the second line, with Nick Checco and Dave Larson on the wings.
 
In Saturday's 5-2 loss, Kraft took Berg's spot at left wing and freshman
Erik Rasmussen moved into Kraft's center position on the second line. There
were player changes on all four lines.
 
Woog said the player combinations had nothing to do with the games'
outcomes.
 
"Every line had a chance to make something happen," Woog said. "We just
didn't capitalize enough. To me, it didn't make a whole lot of difference
who played with who -- it was who competed hardest."
 
Hot in Houghton
 
The winning, 24-save performance from Jeff Moen on Friday provided the
senior goaltender with a strong start to the season. But his performance in
Houghton, Mich., was not without precedent.
 
Last season Moen earned most-valuable player honors at Michigan Tech's
winter carnival on Feb. 4. In one of his few starts last year, he made 23
saves in the Gophers' 8-1 win over the Huskies.
 
Happy Anniversary?
 
After splitting with Michigan Tech this weekend, the Gophers stretched their
run of consecutive road trips without a sweep to eight.
 
The last time Minnesota swept a road series was Oct. 21-22, 1994 at
Minnesota-Duluth. This weekend the Gophers travel to Colorado College for
games on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, Oct. 21-22.
 
Colorado College Domination
 
Colorado College's 8-4, 6-2 sweep of Wisconsin this weekend not only vaulted
the Tigers to the top of the WCHA, it also provided its players with an
extra sense of satisfaction.
 
In all of their years at Colorado College, none of the current players had
ever swept a series from the Badgers.
 
That fact was hard to believe this weekend. After falling behind 4-3 in the
first period of Friday's game, Colorado College dominated Wisconsin. The
Tigers demonstrated their offensive firepower with 15 different players
scoring a point, including All-WCH A goaltender Ryan Bach, who got an
assist.
 
Even Colorado College's freshmen joined the fun. Brian Swanson, the
preseason WCHA rookie of the year, scored two goals and three assists.
=46reshman defender Scott Swanson also totaled five points. In all, five
Tigers had multiple-goal games this weekend.< p> The sweep marked the first
time since 1988 that Wisconsin lost both games of a season-opening series.
 
It's better to be lucky ...
 
During the second intermission of the Gophers' game Friday night at Michigan
Tech, a local fast-food restaurant sponsored a contest in which a fan chosen
from the stands tried to shoot one of two pucks through a 12-inch hole in a
w ood barrier in front of the goal.
 
A Michigan Tech student was selected, and she walked out to the blue line,
waving to the cheering crowd. On her first attempt she swung and missed the
puck completely. She tried a second time and made contact, but the puck slid
to the corner of the rink.< p> On the third attempt her aim was perfect, and
she won the $200 jackpot.
 
Doubling over with laughter, she made her way up to the press box to claim
her prize. There she revealed the secret of her success to a reporter.
 
"I'm so drunk, I couldn't even see the goal," she said.
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
=A9The Minnesota Daily
 
Pam Sweeney
Go Gophers!
Nastier, Bigger, Faster in '95-'96!
 
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