From today's (11/20/95) Minnesota Daily http://www.daily.umn.edu/~online/daily/11201995/sports/col20/ > UMD coach keeps perspective in defeat >=20 > DULUTH -- His Bulldogs had just made WCHA history by becoming the > first team in 41 years to get swept at home in consecutive shutouts. > Minnesota-Duluth coach Mike Sertich was in no mood for a night on > the town. >=20 > Sitting in his office Saturday night after his players had humbly > dispersed from the locker room, Sertich wasn't agonizing, he just > didn't want to be seen in public. >=20 > "In Duluth?" he said. "I might get shot." >=20 > Bulldogs fans -- 5,433 on Friday and Saturday night at the Duluth > Entertainment and Convention Center -- had watched 120 minutes of > hockey without celebrating a single goal. >=20 > Even worse, the rival Gophers had come to town and added insult to > Friday's 2-0 victory, by stomping UMD 7-0 on Saturday. >=20 > Not since Michigan Tech lost 5-0 in consecutive games to North > Dakota on Jan. 5-6, 1954, had a WCHA team shown such offensive > ineptitude at home. >=20 > The scene was set for the classic coach's tirade: thrown sticks, > shattered water coolers, broken chalk boards. Sertich could have > torn his players apart for allowing an eight-game home winning > streak to end so miserably. >=20 > But Sertich, who in many ways draws comparisons to Indiana men's > basketball coach Bobby Knight, chose another approach. >=20 > "He just came in here and asked if we thought we could have done > anything differently," UMD captain Joe Ciccarello said. >=20 > Of course, no one had any answers. Who could explain eight > consecutive defeats to Minnesota? >=20 > But that's where Sertich left it. The only four-time winner of the > WCHA Coach of the Year award reminded everyone about next weekend's > series at Northern Michigan and sent them on their way. >=20 > "There's no sense yelling at them when they're down," Sertich said. > "It's like your kids at home. They know they screwed up." >=20 > Sertich, 48, is admittedly a different coach since he collapsed at > Mariucci Arena while his Bulldogs were playing the Gophers on Feb. > 11. People thought he was having a heart attack, but doctors at > University Hospital found a communication breakdown between his > brain and heart, which is treatable with medication. >=20 > "I used to let this game totally consume me," Sertich said. "But you > can't get all wrapped up in it. This game teaches you about life, > but it's not bigger than life." >=20 > Sertich made the Bulldogs seem larger than life for Northern > Minnesota hockey fans during the mid-1980s. Duluth and the Iron > Range produced many hockey legends before then, but UMD's program > had always played second-fiddle to the Gophers' until he began his > head coaching career there in 1982. >=20 > Sertich won coach of the year honors his first three years as the > Bulldogs won the WCHA title in 1984 and 1985 and played in a > thrilling four-overtime loss to Bowling Green State in the 1984 NCAA > championship game. >=20 > The Bulldogs also won the WCHA title in 1993 and Sertich was again > named coach of the year. Like Knight, who turned a sometimes > laughable Indiana team into a basketball dynasty, Sertich found the > formula to prosper in an area where the interest ran thick. >=20 > The Gophers may label themselves "Minnesota's Pride on Ice," but UMD > prides itself in its sovereignty from the southern program. >=20 > Two years ago Sertich chastised a Daily reporter for differentiating > between the teams as "Minnesota" and "Duluth." When the teams met > last year at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center, a UMD > official asked the scoreboard operator to switch the Gophers' label > from "Minnesota" to "UM -- Twin Cities." >=20 > Bulldogs fans like nothing more than when their team sends the > Gophers back down to Minneapolis with their tails between their > legs. On those nights, the noise inside the convention center keeps > people awake across the bridge in Superior, Wis. >=20 > With five minutes remaining in Saturday night's game, however, > single voices could be picked out of the UMD audience. >=20 > "Just score one," an elderly fan pleaded. "That's all we're asking." >=20 > But the Gophers defense and goaltender Steve DeBus steered every > shot away, just as netminder Jeff Moen had done the night before. >=20 > After his brief post-game speech, Sertich settled into his office. > It was after 10 on Saturday night, and he planned to watch the video > tape, like he does every night UMD plays. >=20 > Assistant coaches, trainers and equipment managers stopped in to say > their good-byes. And even at the end of his long weekend when > reporters came knocking with their questions, he fielded them all -- > sprinkling a few wise cracks in with his answers. >=20 > The losses still hurt, but considering the strength of the opponent, > he kept things in perspective. "We weren't exactly playing Marathon > Oil," he said. >=20 > His good humor showed he wasn't about to let this game consume him. > Not anymore. >=20 > -------------------------------------------------------------------- > [Image] >=20 > -------------------------------------------------------------------- > =A9The Minnesota Daily HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.