Dave Fischer wrote:
> Thursday, March 19, 1998
>
> WCHA ANNOUNCES 1997-98 AWARD WINNERS
>
> All-WCHA First Team
>
> F Brian Swanson Colorado College Jr
> F Jason Blake North Dakota Jr
> F Andre Savage Michigan Tech Sr
> D Curtis Murphy North Dakota Sr
> D Craig Anderson Wisconsin Jr
> G Karl Goehring North Dakota Fr
My only disagreement here is Jason Blake. He led North Dakota in
scoring. but I thought the team had several more valuable forwards.
Hoogsteen and Jay Panzer come to mind. Then again, I don't make any
secret of the fact that I simply dislike Blake (a lot), so I might be
biased. Andre Savage is a surprise; I certainly hadn't considered him,
but he is definitely a good choice. He certainly killed the Gophers
during the crucial series played in Houghton and I' ve gathered the
impression it wasn't a unique weekend.
>
>
> All-WCHA Second Team
>
> F Steve Reinprecht Wisconsin So
> F Reggie Berg Minnesota Jr
> F David Hoogsteen North Dakota Jr
> D Andy Sutton Michigan Tech Sr
> D Calvin Elfring Colorado College Sr
> G Brian Leitza St. Cloud State Sr
>
> All-WCHA Third Team
>
> F Wyatt Smith Minnesota Jr
> F Mike Peluso Minnesota-Duluth Sr
> F Paul Comrie Denver Jr
> D Scott Swanson Colorado College Jr
> D Josh DeWolf St. Cloud State So
> G Doug Teskey Alaska Anchorage Jr
I have a couple of disagreements here. Where's Curtis Doell? He's got
good numbers (31 pts for a defensemen ain't shabby) and every time I saw
him, he was making a menace of himself on the ice. Big, tough kid who's
no fun to play against and knows when to jump into the play. Okay, he's
a thug, but you need one of those. I'd probably have Doell and Scott
Swanson on the second team, with Sutton and DeWolf on the third.
And anyone putting Reggie Berg ahead of Wyatt Smith is only looking at
the scoring totals. Berg was inconsistent, disappearing during November
and December when a different stamp could have been placed on the
season. And Berg, while improving, isn't exactly the best two-way
forward around. Smith has done it all for the Gophs this year, scoring
big goals, taking key face-offs (when he's not getting tossed out),
establishing a physical presence. In my view, Wyatt Smith belongs on
the second team, and someone else should take Berg's space (Anders Bjork
and Jay Panzer come to mind).
>
>
> All-WCHA Rookie Team
>
> F Jay Panzer North Dakota
> F Mark Rycroft Colorado College
> F Kevin Granato Wisconsin
> D Paul Manning Colorado College
> D Ryan Coole Minnesota-Duluth
> D Trevor Hammer North Dakota
> G Karl Goehring North Dakota
No real disagreements here, except that Jay Panzer is a junior; his
brother Jeff IS a fine pick for the all-rookie team.
>
>
> PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Curtis Murphy, North Dakota
> STUDENT ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Mitch Vig, North Dakota
> CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Andy Sutton, Michigan Tech; Matt
> Henderson, North Dakota
Again, I'll push for Curtis Doell, but I explained all of that above.
> ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Karl Goehring, North Dakota
> WCHA COACH OF THE YEAR: Craig Dahl, St. Cloud State
I'd have to take Dean Blais (I've never thought that getting the most
out of a very good team is as easy as it looks) or Jeff Sauer over
Dahl. Still, the Huskies did surprise considering the loss of Cullen
and Parrish. Punting away second place at the end, though, costs Dahl
my (theoretical) vote.
J. Michael Neal
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