Shining Path wrote: > >The Gophers played some unbelievable hockey this past wknd in the College >Hockey Showcase. It is always hard to play away from home and the >Gophers played Mich. and MSU good both games. Everybody contributed. Jeff >Moen had an off night but Steve DeBus came in and picked up the win. The >Gophers have an off wk coming up and the it is time for another rivalry: >North Dakota @ Minnesota. I don't think the Gophers played all that wonderful. In fact, I thought Michigan outplayed us except for the sudden re-appearance of our penalty kill. For anyone who saw the stats, the fact that the Wolverines had ten power plays to Minnesota's five was not a reflection of poor refereeing. The Gophers were often a step behind on defense and consequently took a lot of hookings and holdings to stop scoring chances. This is in contrast to Friday night, where they didn't clutch and grab so much when beaten and gave up five goals to Michigan State. Quite frankly, if Jason Botterill had any idea how to stay in a hockey game, Minnesota would have lost on Saturday night. It is interesting to compare this year's team to last year's. The College Hockey Showcase provides the perfect vehicle to do that. Just like last year, the Gophers won two one goal games; they were very different games though. Last year, they completely dominated the Spartans and only had to make a late comeback because of a fluke goal and their chronic inability to actually put the puck in the net. They outshot State something like 41-17 and that was very reflective of the play. Granted, State is a better team this year, less talented maybe, but far more disciplined (they're unlikely to put on the kind of Keystone Kops display of coverage that they did against Wisconsin in the West Regional). Nevertheless, the defense Minnesota played this Friday was vastly inferior to the performance last year. Granted, I've come to accept that Dan Trebil is going to turn the puck over at the blue on a regular basis, but there were too many Spartans coming in clean on the net. A small part of this is surely due to Doug Woog deciding to try to create more offense, but I think the team misses Bill Butters coaching the defense. The Minnesota-Michigan game last year was one of the most entertaining games I have ever witnessed. I was there live, and I have watched a taped replay and they were two different games. On tape, Minnesota definitely had the edge in play. What the TV couldn't show was the extent to which the Gophers sucked it up to do so. Playing a bigger, more physical team and losing McHugh and Checco early on, they took a real pounding. By late in the second period, every stoppage of play saw the Gophers completely bent over, looking like a completely spent team. I didn't think there was a chance that they could come back. I admit, that I'm picking out their best game of an entire season, except perhaps a total wipeout of Denver late; other than the trip to Duluth, though, they haven't come close to matching that kind of intensity. This team has more pieces than last year's but they still need to fit them together. We, like the Maine fans and some of the others out there, are fortunate to be rooting for a team that can have a such good record and still be looking to find its stride on a consistent basis. I do agree though, that DeBus played very well. I will not be surprised if, over the next few months, he forces Woog to go away from the strict rotation he has employed so far. Moen has played very well; I think that, as the team gels, DeBus is probably the guy who can carry us the distance. Not to leave people with the wrong impression by only carping, Minnesota did play well. But they don't show the same effort that last year's team did. If they really want to make this the year, they need to combine this team's talent level with that team's spirit. I'm sure that we are going to have a very good season; I'm not so sure that we're going to have a great one. J. Michael Jackson HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.