Here's the season wrap-up from the Minnesota Daily.  I think it's actually more
of a preview of next season's team than the headline indicates, however.  I also
couldn't resist adding a few notes about next year's recruits (including their
high schools, for you Bob Norton fans!).
 
Headline: Hockey season was a roller coaster ride
Publish Date: 04/06/1994
 
David Jackson
 
<W0I>Staff Reporter
 
To say the Gopher hockey season was one of peaks and valleys would be
an understatement.
 
The season began with Minnesota in search of a win and continued to a
stretch where the Gophers seemingly could not lose. The roller
coaster ride ended with a NCAA tournament semifinal loss last
Thursday to Boston University.
 
The 4-1 loss was the last collegiate game for six seniors: Jeff
Nielsen, Chris McAlpine, Tony Bianchi, Eric Means, Joe Dziedzic and
Steve Green. During the season, the Gophers learned to live without
Dziedzic, who broke his arm twice, and Green was strictly a backup,
but the other four players will be difficult to replace.
 
McAlpine is the biggest loss, because his departure leaves Minnesota
with no dominating physical presence. While the Gophers are a skating
team, they've always had at least one player able to physically
intimidate opponents.
 
Nielsen leaves and takes 29 goals with him, leaving the Gophers with
only Brian Bonin as a proven sniper. His physical play in the corners
and in front of the opponent's net will be sorely missed.
 
At 5-foot-7 and 5-foot-9 respectively, Bianchi and Means probably
don't have the size to play in the NHL, but they will be missed in
the Gopher lineup. Both were excellent passers who made up for their
lack of bulk by making smart decisions with the puck. They were
invaluable on the power play.
 
On the positive side, since Nielsen, Dziedzic and Bianchi played on
the same line, and McAlpine and Means on the same defensive pairing,
most of the Gophers' lines remain intact.
 
That's important, especially up front, where Bonin, Justin McHugh and
Dave Larson formed the Gophers most effective line late in the
season. All three return next year.
 
With Nick Checco's emergence in the playoffs and the improved play of
Andy Brink, Bobby Dustin and Dan Woog, the Gophers retain that
feeling of a group of gnats swarming the opposition.
 
Incoming forwards Ryan Kraft, Joe Pankratz and Jason Seils play the
classic Gopher style, using great speed and hands to generate scoring
chances.
 
Clint Johnson, who will attend Minnesota on an Evans Scholarship, is
a 6-foot-3-inch, 200-pounder who gives the Gophers another big guy to
go with Larson and Jed Fiebelkorn.
 
{Kraft is from Moorhead, Seils from South St. Paul, Johnson from Duluth East.
Pankratz is from Bloomington Jefferson, but has played USHL the last 2 years,
although he has been out with an abdominal muscle tear most of this year.}
 
On defense, both the Dan Trebil-Greg Zwakman and Charlie Wasley-Brian
LaFleur pairings worked effectively, one defenseman often stepping up
in the offense while the other hung back to prevent quick breakouts
by the opponent.
 
Add to these four defensemen sophomore Mike McAlpine, who never got
the chance this season after a number of injuries, and St. Cloud
State transfer Jay Moser, and the Gophers have a strong core of
veteran defensemen.
 
Then add incoming recruits Mike Crowley and Jason Godbout, probably
the two best defensemen in the state, and you have the makings of one
of the top blueline groups in the country. And none of the eight will
be seniors next year.
 
{I think they're regarded as two of the best defensemen in the state in the last
couple years.  Crowley, from Bloomington Jefferson, is an offensive defenseman
whom his coach calls the best he's ever coached -- and that includes former
Gopher and current San Jose Shark Tom Pederson, as well as current Gopher Dan
Trebil.  Godbout, from Hill-Murray, is one of those guys everyone's been
watching since he was a freshman.}
 
And both goaltenders return, giving Minnesota experience at the most
important position. While team defense is just as important as
goaltending for Minnesota, the Gophers enter next year knowing they
can count on two proven, capable goalies.
 
With his work in the playoffs and his continuing mastery of rival
Wisconsin, Jeff Callinan has emerged as a big-game goalie. And Jeff
Moen, who began this year in search of his first college win, gained
his experience by winning the WCHA championship game.
 
Steve DeBuss, a Proposition 48 casualty this season, will push the
two goalies for playing time.
 
Gopher notes: The Gopher hockey banquet will be held on April 17 at
the Sheraton on Industrial Blvd. The public is welcome to attend.
Cost is $20. For reservations or questions, call Patti Babcock at
625-2886.
 
 
 
Pam Sweeney                            Go Gophers!!!
[log in to unmask]      1993 & 1994 WCHA Playoff Champions!!!
                                  1994 NC$$ PHinal PHour!!!
                                        Ski-U-Mah!!!