David Parter writes:
>
> The article includes this quote from Woog, in big type, next to his picture:
>
>     "We still think Minnesota players can do it. But we would not be
>     against entertaining quality players from elsewhere"
>
Woog has been saying this for years.  It's nothing new.  Still, there haven't
been any non-Minnesota recruits.  (Who was the last one, Steve MacSwain from
Alaska?  Or maybe John Blue?)
 
The suggestion of recruiting non-Minnesotans has cropped up sporadically over
the past several years whenever the Gophers lose a few games.  What IS new is
that Woog feels that he doesn't even have a chance at all the top Minnesota kids
any more now that some of them are opting to play Tier I junior, forfeiting
their eligibility.  Of course, the Langenbrunner kid from Cloquet going to
Peterborough at the suggestion of the Dallas Stars is the prime example named.*
Woog DOES sound to be keeping this handy as an explanation if he signs a
non-Minnesotan, but it is NOT anything new to hear him keeping the option open.
 
* I find this very interesting in that the Stars encouraged Doug Zmolek to play
with the Gophers after drafting him in the first round a few years ago.
Zmolek's rights were later claimed by San Jose and he moved right into the NHL
after his junior year without ever playing a game in the minors.
 
------------------------------------------
While I'm at it here, I'll add this weekend hockey note:  I drove with my
parents to see my sister Lisa and her husband William Sangrey in Tulsa this
weekend.  (We left at 9:45 Tuesday night after seeing the weather forecast and
drove straight through until 10:15 AM Wednesday.  We beat the ice storm to
Kansas City by less than an hour, as we found out from the accidents on radio
traffic reports we heard on our way out of town!)  On the way back last night we
hit more ice just south of KC this time (back end of the big storm!) and started
tuning the radio to look for a weather/traffic report.  Instead we recognized
the voice of the Gophers' broadcaster!  The game with Michigan State was tied
3-3 very late in the second period.  We found our weather report during the
period break and were able to listen to the entire third period, with the
exception of some fadeouts near the end (with the Gophers were clinging to a 5-4
lead :-o) as we got more interference near Kansas City.  The said fadeouts meant
that about all we heard of the last two minutes was:
   "He Scores!  Minnesota leads 6-4!"
and, not too much later:
   "He Scores!"
We couldn't tell who scored that time, as Al Shaver manages to sound excited no
matter who scores;  maybe a little more so when his team does, but not so much
that we could pick it up under those conditions.  However, just a little bit
later we heard:
    "Minnesota wins 6-5"
We were able to hear enough of the post-game show to learn that Minnesota's 6th
goal was an empty-netter and that the last goal was scored with 3 seconds
remaining in the game.  Also, color man Glen Sonmor (former Gophers and North
Stars coach and, through last year, a Flyers scout) rated Jeff Nielsen the
Gophers' player of the game, with mention also given to Justin McHugh.
 
I guess I heard about as much of the game as Carol saw originally.  Now I get to
go see if I got it on my tape.  (I think I'll fast-forward right through the 6-0
loss to Michigan, though.)  It was nice to be able to catch a college hockey
game :-) as we were 400 miles from home driving on ice of our own :-(
Who says there's no college hockey in Missouri!?!  :-)
 
Pam Sweeney                            Go Gophers!!!
[log in to unmask]         1993 WCHA Playoff Champions!!!
[log in to unmask]              Ski-U-Mah!!!