After hearing many people expressing interest about the coming
RPI-Minnesota matchup for the NCAA tournament, and after hearing a
few specific questions asked and answered, I thought I would post a
message containing the inside scoop on Minnesota, for RPI fans, and
any other possible opponents.
 
I am more than willing to do this without any sort of reward, but it
might be nice for RPI and other schools to do this as well. It would
help for fans to know what to expect.
 
The Golden Gophers are the hockey team representing the University of
Minnesota, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This year represents the
Gopher's 11 consecutive NCAA tournament appearance, a record, the
last 10 of which have come under head coach Doug Woog. Overall, it is
Minnesota's 22nd postseason appearance, also a record.
 
This year's team returns almost all of the standouts from last year's
team, which advanced to the final four. There were four outstanding
seniors on that team that did graduate.
 
To replace them came a spectacular set of freshmen, including WCHA
rookie of the year #20 Mike Crowley. He is a tremendously talented
defenseman who skates extremely well and sees everything that happens
on the ice. He had a slight shoulder sprain in the North Dakota game,
made the injury worse in the Colorado College game, and sat out the
Denver game in the final five to try to heal. He is expected to play
on Friday.
 
Minnesota is led offensively by the WCHA regular season scoring
leader, junior forward #21 Brian Bonin. He has over 50 points in all
games, and by a late season push, managed to overcome some talented
Colorado College forwards to win the WCHA scoring title. He is
tremendously gifted with puck handling, and if you see a Gopher
player skating around an opposing defenseman, it is probably Bonin.
 
The Gopher's home rink, Mariucci Arena, has an Olympic sized ice
sheet, and the team's strategy and strengths reflect that. They are
very much a skating team, that relies heavily on team speed and
passing proficiency. When passing and skating well, no team in the
country can stand against them.
 
Luckily for the other 11 teams in the tournament, they don't often
skate and pass at their best level.
 
Another Minnesota trademark is defense. They have consistently had
one of the top defenses in the country, finishing 2nd only to Maine
in total defense. They are stingy in allowing goals.
 
Which is good, because their offense is not particularly great. For
an open-skating, speedy team, the number of goals scored is
particularly low. If it comes down to a shootout (not the Hockey East
variety), bet against Minnesota. They have had three shutouts this
season, all on the road (1-0 @Alaska-Anchorage, 3-0 @Denver, 3-0 @St.
Cloud) while earning only one (3-0 at home against Minn-Duluth).
 
Minnesota's top goaltender is #31 Jeff Callinan. He finished top in
the WCHA in GAA, and has an save percentage around .890. He also
finished top in the WCHA in the fewest shots faced, about two-thirds
of the shots for goalies playing a comparable number of games. He
clearly benefitted from a strong defense. He is not a particularly
outstanding goaltender, despite his good statistics, and that was
shown when he was not chosen either first or second all-WCHA team.
Minnesota fans are very afraid of Callinan's habit of leaving goal to
go play the puck, as he has allowed five or six soft goals by being
out of position.
 
The Gophers do not have much size, so they tend not to play a very
physical game, which has led to some problems in the past. One of the
biggest (and most physical) players is fan favorite #27 Jed
Fiebelkorn. Jed plays on the third line, the most physical of the
four regular lines. It is not clear quite why, but the fans go crazy
for Jed. Of course, how can you NOT like a guy named Jed?
 
Since there is not much size available, the team relies on grit.
There are a number of very tenacious players, who just don't give up.
Sticking with a guy who has the puck, keeping control when double or
triple teamed, and swooping in from nowhere to take away an
opponent's scoring chance.
 
These players are led by co-captains #19 Justin McHugh and #10 Scott
Bell. McHugh, unfortunately, re-injured a knee that kept him out of
the lineup for about 6 weeks, and it is still unclear if he will play
this weekend. Bell, on the other hand, has been burning hot during
the last couple of weeks of the regular season, and throughout the
playoffs. He has won the most determined player award for his
sophomore, junior, and senior years.
 
The coach's son #23 Dan Woog is another tenacious player, and has
earned a spot on the third line by playing tough, consistent, heads
up hockey. He is on the "physical" third line with Fiebelkorn.
 
The other key players are the ones who have played well of late,
particularly who is coming on strong in the postseason.
 
Leading this list is freshman forward #7 Ryan Kraft. Most likely, he
would have been rookie of the year if Crowley had not been in the
picture. Earlier in the season he seemed to have a bad luck streak
going, and each shot on net that he had hit a post. He just couldn't
score. But this problem is being resolved now, as he has scored a
goal in each of the playoff games, and was voted into a spot on the
WCHA Final Five all-tournament team for his outstanding play.
 
Another player is #33 Nick Checco. He is famous for playing mediocre
seasons, but coming on like gangbusters in the postseason. It
happened in high school, it happened last year, in his rookie year
with the Gophers, and I expect it will happen again this year. He has
played a little better, but nothing yet. He could be very dangerous.
 
Also, #9 freshman Casey Hankinson. Already a crowd pleaser in
Minneapolis because of the play of his older brother Ben (who is now
playing minor league hockey), he has had a couple of key goals
(including an overtime game winner against Minn-Duluth), and many
more chances, during the last two weekends. Look for Coach Woog to
play him in upcoming games.
 
First line starter #17 Dave Larson has had a very disappointing
season, but had two goals and was inches away from a hat trick
(several times) in the WCHA consolation game against Denver. The fire
may have been started.
 
But in a defensive team, the real story is defensemen. While the
forwards have made it a duty to play solid defense as well, the
defensemen could determine the game in the upcoming game(s).
 
Crowley, who I already discussed, is on the opening defense pair with
#5 Dan Trebil. Trebil is not the most outstanding defenseman, and
despite being a big guy (6-2, 200+ pounds), he doesn't use his weight
all that well. He is a VERY slow skater, put an EXCELLENT poke
checker. He also has a blast of a slap shot, and that has allowed him
to become the Gopher's leading offensive defenseman.
 
A very hot player is #4 sophomore Brian Lefleur, who combines size,
speed, and defensive smarts to be an excellent overall defenseman. He
has been on a tear ever since returning to the team from the US
junior team in December. He has a slow shot, that is often read and
blocked, and he doesn't pass particularly well, but is good in all
other respects.
 
Freshman D #28 Jason Godbout has been a solid contributer to the
team, but wad a knee injury that sidelined him for Saturday's game
with Denver. It is sore, but he will be playing against RPI. It is
not clear how the injury will affect him, if at all.
 
Those are the key players, and the key patterns. Here is how they
match up against certain teams:
 
Against RPI:
 
I didn't get a chance to see RPI play this last weekend, in their
tournament games, but I understand they play a fast-paced, quick
skating game. That may be bad news, as I have only seen one or two
teams keep up with the Gophers in a matching of speed. The goaltender
seems to be hot, and it is a Minnesota trademark to make ANY goalie
look like a future NHLer. I fully expect this game to hinge on
defense, and be quite low scoring.
 
Against Colorado College:
 
The Gophers have played five games this season against CC, and would
welcome the chance to make it six. Of the four regular season games,
Minnesota outplayed the Tigers in three, but only won two, as a five
minute defensive lapse led to the Tiger win.
 
The game in the WCHA final five was VERY evenly played, as was
evidenced by a 15:00+ overtime mark. There were several good chances
by both teams, and a waved off goal for the Gophers was a
heartbreaker. Minnesota would like to get revenge, and tie the season
series up at 3-3.
 
Against Boston University:
 
Minnesota hosted Boston University in the Mariucci Classic this year,
and the two teams, both missing key players to injury and World
Juniors, skated to a thrilling overtime game. BU won it in the
overtime session, but the game was awfully close, and BU would
certainly be afraid to face them, I would think.
 
Against Lake Superior State:
 
The two teams didn't play each other this year, but last year LSSU
was a participant in the Mariucci Classic, and the style of the two
teams was evident, in a game that went, again, to overtime. The two
teams match up well, Lake State would no doubt do a good job of
taking away the skating prowess of the Gophers in a game ground out
along the boards.
 
Against Clarkson:
 
Which Clarkson? I have tried to get a feel for the Golden Knights,
but the team has been inconsistent all year. Maybe a Clarkson fan
could help me out here.
 
 
Games being played in Madison, as already mentioned, shouldn't affect
the Gophers in a negative way, as they play there twice a year. They
are quite used to the hostile fans, and the layout of the rink.
 
Should the Gophers make it to Providence (not that I am saying they
will), well, I have no idea about the ice surface there, and if it
would help or hinder them. I also don't know if the fans would be
positive, negative, or non-existent. I suppose it depends who they
would be playing (i.e. Boston University or Clarkson vs. Lake State).
Best not to look to far into the future.
 
I hope this has helped other teams get a handle on the Gophers. But
not too good a handle! I look forward to some exciting games this
coming weekend!
 
                                                Lee-nerd
                                                [log in to unmask]
 
"Violence is the last resort of the incompetent." --Isaac Asimov