I was going to make this a long post detailing much of John Gilbert's article in the April 1 issue of US COLLEGE HOCKEY MAGAZINE, but I've typed way to much already today. Suffice it to say, I'm not a John Gilbert fan. Unfortunately, he's probably the most visible college hockey writer of today, so the masses likely view him as an expert. To the point, Gilbert "turned on his own" and attacked Minnesota recently, while trumpeting the blue-collar work of the 1994-95 Wisconsin Badgers. If you're a Badger or Gopher fan, the article is worth seeking out. (There, I said something positive about USCHM. :-) I'll give you a taste of it below: [begin quoted material] When the regular season ended, the Badgers had caught Denver for a second-place tie, seven points behind Colorado College to be sure, but a point ahead of a Minnesota team which had made a weird transition that was inversely proportional to Wisconsin's. The Gophers went from a work-ethic humility to a cocky arrogance startling in its contrast to past Gopher teams. Coach Doug Woog, always affable and a media darling in every city for nine years, lost respect in virtually every WCHA city for a sudden attitude turnabout. Woog alienated his peers with a policy of never praising an opponent, constantly blaming losses on referees, and even challenging and threatening players on opposing teams from the bench. Secretly, the referees issued only one complaint each week, and it was always made by whatever pair was assigned to Minnesota's games. At Colorado College, Wood ridiculed CC's educational system at a Blueline Club luncheon, the intent of which still has club members mystified. During that series, Wood sent a player off the bench to threaten Peter Geronazzo that "a bounty" was being taken on him for colliding with Gopher goaltender Jeff Callinan. At Northern Michigan, Woog similarly issued a threat to Greg Hadden, who skated over to the Minnesota bench and reacted by telling Woog contact was allowed in the WCHA and to quit whining. Woog protested to coach Rick Comley that he shouldn't allow one of his players to talk to an opposing coach with such disrespect, and complained that Northern was intentionally trying to injure his players. At Michigan Tech a couple of weeks later, Woog's co-captain, Scott Bell, went to the Tech bench and unleashed an expletive-filled tirade at coach Bob Mancini. Apparently Wood found it easier to tolerate such disrespect as long as it went the other way. [end quoted material] John H U Mich And, as much as it hurts to read it, I'll compliment Gilbert on the following line regarding the CCHA postseason: "Michigan couldn't win the CCHA crown because it's playoff time, and Lake Superior State was coming."