Very early on Thursday morning, Erik Biever, Pat Gonzales, and myself started off towards Houghton, Michigan for the Winter Carnival hockey series, the Michigan Tech Huskies vs the Minnesota Gophers. Erik and I, along with Carol White, had gone up for Carnival two years ago and watched the Gophers tie the Huskies friday night and then get stomped big time on Saturday 10-2. We still had a great time, and were looking forward to the hockey rematch and to visiting with the Gilreath clan again. The drive up to Houghton was an easy one this time, it was evident that their winter had been very mild. The previous trip up had featured driving through a national forest in near blizzard conditions: trying to peer far enough ahead to see if the road continued or actually ended in a big white blob like it appeared to. At least back then we didn't have to worry about going off the road - previous snows had been plowed to form big banks on either side - it was like driving down a snow chute. There were no snow chutes this year, we got a chance to admire the beautiful landscape we had missed before. You know you're in Michigan when the houses stop being all white and take on two toned paint jobs, green and white, green and gold, brown and gold. I think they are painted that way so people can find their houses more easily in the snowstorms. We arrived at Houghton and drove past some of the big snow sculptures that the various student organizations do for Carnival. They had to truck in snow this year, but still managed to create some amazing scenes based on the theme "Great feats of mankind, frozen in time." One scene done by a Christian organization was of David & Goliath, featuring the feet of Goliath. We had been speculating about big snowy feet ever since we heard what the theme was and we were not disappointed. There was also an incredible sculpture of Notre Dame. We found our way to campus and to the "staircase in the middle of nowhere" that marks the entrance to the building where Bob Gilreath works. Bob had sent us a map two years ago, but we had forgotten it - to my amazement, Erik remembered the maze perfectly and lead us directly to Bob's office. On our way we got noticed by some of Bob's co-workers who remarked about our Gopher garb!! Bob was happy to see us, as his vacation time started as soon as we arrived. We noticed the NCAA Rule Book on his desk, an easy reach from his computer keyboard. That night we had supper with Bob and Liz, and their kids, Robert(10), Paul(8) and Sarah(2). Robert & Paul both like hockey and go to the Huskie hockey games, but Sarah doesn't like to sit and watch. She has an attitude, and my theory is that she would rather be out there with a stick and a puck herself. After supper, Bob logged on and we sent our arrival message out. The next day, we met Bob for breakfast at a great little soda fountain type place. Then we did the big tour of snow scultures, took photos, and bought Winter Carnival pins. Two years ago Erik and I had a photo taken of us in front of a big snow house and we sent it out as a part of our Christmas card greetings. This year we got photos of everyone in front of Notre Dame. After viewing the sculptures, Bob asked Pat, who hadn't been to Houghton before, if she wanted to see the arena. (See, there is *some* hockey related stuff in this report!) The answer was yes, so up the hill we went to the John MacInnes Student Ice Area, part of a very nice complex of sports and recreation facilities all in the same building. We stopped to look around, and poked our noses into the arena, only to find that our Gophers were there, practicing. What timing! We hung around during practice and chatted with an old-timer who had come along with the team. Then it was time for the Blue Line lunch. The food was great and both coaches were in good spirits. We found out during Doug Woog's talk that the old-timer we had been talking to at the arena was a hockey player from back in the '30's named Russ Gray who went along on a road trip with the team once a year. Bob Mancini mentioned Hockey L, probably having noticed my Hockey-L sweatshirt, and referred to it as the "Oprah of College Hockey." He also asked Erik if he was the guy who did the RPICH on the list. We met several other Hockey-Lers there, whose names escape me unfortunately. After lunch, we headed up to Calumet, further up the Upper Peninsula, which had been a boom town back during the big copper mining days. We got a tour of the old opera house there, which had been restored and was quite the sight. You could tell that Calumet had been a happening place back then. We got back in town in time for a quick pizza and then it was time to get to the arena for the first game. It's a good thing that Bob also likes to get to games early because that's our standard mode of operation also. We like to watch the place fill up, we take in the warm ups, and visit with people before the game. We had to cruise the Huskie Pro Shop and get some of the best hot dogs in the WCHA, plus check out the ice cream, of which they have many more flavors than our home sweet home Mariucci. The first period starts, and it is obvious right away that the game is going to be "tight". There are many penalties called and there is no flow at all to the game for the first two periods. I had no arguement with the calls, but it made for very choppy play. We were sitting with some other Minnesota fans and some of the Gopher player's parents, and were spelling out Minnesota after the goals. During the third period the band came over to the stairs by our section and serenaded us with "Oh Canada." I was still wearing my Hockey-L sweatshirt, and I know that some of the band members are on the list and had read that whole USA-Canada hoo-haa that started up when it was mentioned that some Gopher fans chanted U-S-A at the MN-CC game. I couldn't figure out they managed to play their instruments with such big grins on their faces. Unfortunately the joke was probably only understood by about 15 people there at arena. The Huskie fan who sat in front of us the next night mentioned it and was actually offended. It wasn't really something we could easily explain to him either! We thought it was funny. I don't really want to add to the band discussion going on, but the MTU band members have the most interesting head gear - everyone seems to have a different headpiece of some sort, including one depicting a puck in a goal net, complete with a goal judges booth with a light on top. The third period was better. Hockey was actually played, and the game ended in a tie. I don't think that the Gophers played as nastily as Walt Olson made them out in his Friday night report; comparing the number of penalties on both sides certainly doesn't indicate that Minnesota played dirtier than Tech, but it wasn't a pretty game by anyone's standards. After the game we had a few brews back in Hubble, where Bob and family actually live, since Houghton is too crowded for them! The next day we slept in a bit and got over to Bob's house around noon and headed back to the arena. The Winter Carnival games are always held on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Although things were still rough, the Gophers broke the scoring open and won 8-1. I didn't like seeing World War Three break out on the ice during the third period. I did like seeing Jeff Moen play so well!! I gave him the big thumbs up after a play in the first period, and he banged his stick on the ice, I hope in response. Since we were sitting by the parents I think players looked up our way every now and then. And he got a kiss from the Carnival Queen, a Winter Carnival tradition for the MVP. We got to meet Walt Olson during the period breaks. After the game we stood around and listened to the end of the Huskie women's basketball game against Lake Superior State which they won in the final minute of play, completing a sweep by both the mens and womens teams against LSSU that weekend. So Bob was happy, and we were happy when we left the arena. During the weekend, a winter storm warning was posted, and by the end of the weekend there was much more snow than when we arrived! The trip back was a little more adventurous than the trip up. It was nice to get the three points this weekend. Road trips are a blast, especially with Hockey-L folks anywhere you might travel to see college hockey. Many thanks to the Gilreaths for putting up with Gopher fans all weekend, and we hope to see you in St. Paul for the WCHA Final Five. Paula Biever "Frammin' on the jim jam ... frippen on the krotz ... A schleppin' and a spritzzen in an all out ZOTZ!" Wizard of Id, parker and hart ^^^^^^^^^^^^