I thought I had posted something about this last night (just like the
post that will follow), but they never came back to me, so I maybe I hit
the wrong button.  If you all have seen this already, accept my apology
and move on.
 
The Gophers played much better on Saturday night, but I must disagree
with Frank Mazzocco and Tom Reid, who called it a "convincing win"; I
thought St. Cloud outplayed them.  The next time we Gopher fans are
complaining that we didn't get any of the breaks, someone should remind
us of this game.  The Huskies hit the pipe at least seven times (plus
one time they hit DeBus in the skate and it bounced out the other way.
Trust me, this was not a kick save; they just hit him in the skate
instead of the open net.) and the whole affair could have been very
different.
 
The whole game followed the pattern that Minnesota played much better on
offense than on defense.  They scored three power play goals, doing some
of the things I had hoped to see.  Twice they scored when someone took a
blast from the point and it was tipped in front.  There was also some
nifty passing to set up other scores.  Of course, this also led to some
of the defensive breakdowns when a Gopher made a nifty pass right to a
St. Cloud player.  All in all, it looked more like last year's team in
that they looked like they were trying too hard to make the great play.
 This is a step in the right direction from the zombie-like performances
put forward recently.  They've still got a lot of work to do, but this
is progress.
 
In much the same way, the officiating took a step up.  Mark Thomas does
not seem to like to call interference at all, so it runs rampant.  It's
not the style I like at all, but I could at least live with it.
 
Minnesota dominated the first period, but committed enough errors that
they were only ahead 2-1.  DeBus wasn't terribly sharp and would remain
that way for the whole game.
 
In the box score, it would seem, that the second was where Minnesota
really owned the game, extending the lead to 5-2.  This is a false
impression.  Someone must have put a plexiglass shield behind DeBus,
because I can't figure out any other way the Huskies didn't score more.
 Mark Parrish (I think) hit the post three times on one shift.  (By the
way, someone, I think Geoff Howell, claimed that Matt Cullen was the
best player on the ice.  I have to disagree; Parrish was unbelievable.)
 Add in the near misses, and the Huskies outshot Minnesota badly.  It
was two goals by Minnesota late in the period that provided the big
margin.
 
The third period was very exciting.  Unlike Minnesota on Friday, St.
Cloud simply would not go away.  The win was not secure until the last
minute and a half, when the Gophers took control of the puck and
essentially wouldn't give it back.  I was very impressed with St. Cloud
and wish them well in upcoming games.
 
Two Minnesota players stood out as having a good series.  Brett
Abrahamson had a goal on Friday and took the shot that Wyatt Smith
tipped in on Saturday.  It seemed to me that he was committing fewer
errors than most of the rest of the team.  It's been a struggle for him
the last couple of years to get any ice time.  He really seems to have
fought through it well.
 
Dave Spehar is really starting to develop.  He's on a nine game scoring
streak and the creativity he displayed in high school is really in
evidence lately.  He also backchecked nicely a number of times, which
was one of the real worries when he got here.  He is still going to have
to deal with his diminutive size.  He was leaned on a lot last night and
finally retaliated, drawing coincidental minors.  Since play out here
is so much more physical than that which the French Connection deals
with, it's going to be a problem.  As he gets better, Woog is going to
have to give him a bodyguard, a la what Jason Botterill does for Brendan
Morrison.
 
So, it was another weekend in which every team at the top of the WCHA
split their series.  Four teams are within two points of the lead; seven
within six points.  This could get exciting.
 
J. Michael Neal
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.