I've said earlier that this year I would be very disappointed if Minnesota did not manage to advance farther than they have the last two years. Well, I better get myself ready for a wake. I'm fully confident that they will beat Anchorage next week; those may be the last meaningful games they win this year. It's not even that the wheels have completely fallen off. They're playing almost as well as they did during the early stretches of that long unbeaten streak. Of course, that was the period when i was crying out that they weren't playing as well as the record would indicate. It's looking like I was right back then. They aren't getting the bounces now and can't manufacture the play needed to just make things happen. It's not even just that the Gophers are losing; for reasons discussed previously, dropping a few seedings in the NCAAs might not be a bad idea given the long lay-off they're facing. But the way in which they are losing is very frightening. The MSC broadcasters went on a length about how they're playing hard and were dominating the puck control and outshooting Wisconsin almost 2-1 on the night. Maybe, but that sounds a lot like the trip to North Dakota (at least the second game) and last Saturday's game in St. Cloud. They're ignoring the other thing all these games have in common: Minnesota is giving up four or five breakaways and 2-on-1s *per period*. A total breakdown in this kind of coverage has re-appeared in their game lately. I'm not sure whether the defensemen are getting really careless or whether the forwards are supposed to be coming back much faster. I suspect it's largely the latter, given the aggressiveness with which Gopher defensemen press the attack. The other thing that has to happen is for the scoring to open up. The Gophers' first two goals (the one's scored when there was still some sort of contest) were by Moser and Crowley. We're not getting any points from beyond the first line and top defense pair. Where are Checco and Kraft and Hankinson, etc? It can't be that they're all playing defense (see above). I think that something has gotten completely out of whack. Minnesota's best scoring chance in the first period came on a 2-on-1 when Hankinson passed the puck to Charlie Wasley in front of the net. Wasley put it straight into Daubenspeck's bread basket (something the whole team did tonight. Don't get me wrong; Daubenspeck played very well, but we made it easy on him, all things considered). This has happened a lot this year. Defensemen in general and Wasley in particular have ended up on the finishing end more times than I can count. Wasley has a total of one goal for the season. He made a lot of good plays at the other end tonight, and I certainly don't mind seeing him on the ice, but it ought to have become clear by now that *he has no shot*!!!! Shouldnt the systems that the team run take this into account and try to work it so that someone else is on the other side as Hankinson brings the puck up with only one defender back? Wooger, there's only one Crowley, and he can't be on the ice all the time! I'm back into my mode of muttering that this time has a long way to go if they plan to be on the ice in Cincinnati. Unfortunately, there isn't much time to get it done. J. Michael Jackson HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.