The Gophers held their annual end of the season banquet this afternoon. I took extensive notes as several Gopher fans were unable to attend. I'll start with the awards and then go into the comments and quotes from the senior speeches that way, if you are not interested, you can delete right after the awards. There were approximately 450 people in attendance, a new record high for the banquet. Three of the Gophers were missing, Brian Bonin and Mike Crowley are in Vienna, Austria for the World Juniors and Greg Zwakman was still ill from his trip last week to Mexico (He drank the water!) Athletic Director, Mark Dienhart was the first speaker and he was asked by Master of Ceremonies, Frank Mazzocco to comment on the recent developments involving the WCHA and the CCHA. His comments, which are paraphrased were: He would give no speculation on what might happen, but he said that everyone is very interested in what Minnesota thinks. He envisions more teams in Div. I hockey in the future and thinks that it will be good for the sport. He sees this increase in teams to be positive and will allow more flexibility and allow more inter-league play in the future. Okay, now on to the awards.... Assistant coach Mike Guentzel received an award for his perfect coaching record in Div. I, for his job during the WCHA Final Five tournament. Frank Mazzocco, did comment that the Gophers were playing so well at that point, that HE could have coached the team to a win on that day too. :-) There was a special award to Dr. Engebretson, who is leaving Minnesota to accept a Head of Orthopedics job back in Norway. Annual Team Awards ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mike Crupi Most Determined Player: Charlie Wasley, senior D Elwin "Doc" Romnes Leadership/Sportsmanship: Dan Trebil, senior D Frank Pond Rookie of the Year: Erik Rasmussen, freshman F Dr. V George Nagobads Unsung Hero: Greg Zwakman, senior D John Mayasich Outstanding Student-Athlete: Dan Trebil, senior D John Mariucci Most Valuable Player: Brian Bonin, senior F ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There was a special recognition of broadcaster/announcer Al Shaver, who officially retired immediately after the Gophers last game in East Lansing, Mich. against Michigan. Al worked for many years as the voice of the North Stars while they were in Minnesota, and is known for his great style and informative comments. Woog presented him with a large framed photograph of the arena, with a giant Minnesota M emblazoned on it. For once in his life, Al was speechless. He said that he wished that John Mariucci (Maroosh) was still around, and what a great teacher and philosopher Maroosh had been and compared him to Socrates. Al received a standing ovation from the crowd and was very moved by the presentation. He stated that the last three years had been the best of his career, while broadcasting for the Gophers. Comments and Quotes from the Banquet ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Each member of the senior class gave a short speech to the audience. I'll hit the highlights of each individual speech. Jesse Bertogliat, forward ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ He was very emotional, but thanked his family and especially former assistant coach Bill Butters. He stated that Butters was the reason he decided to come to the University. He also commented that he was glad that all the players were such good friends. Andy Brink, defense/forward ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Short and sweet. Thanked his family and the seniors, but most of all Bill Butters who instilled values and a good attitude. Bobby Dustin, forward ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Another very emotional speech, although the first thing he said was that he had never taken a speech class, so we'd have to accept his style. He thanked Bill Butters and the support staff. He also thanked his roommates/teammates, Trebil, Zwakman, Larson and the other seniors. He related an incident where he and Trebil and Zwakman came home after a night out and "trashed their apt." and when roommate Larson came home the following morning he thought that they had been robbed! :-) He then, said to Larson "What are you laughing at Lars, you're next!" He was very choked up at the end. Dave Larson, forward ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ He had some notes. Thanked Woog, former asst coach Mark Mazzoleni and Bill Butters. He said that he had never beaten Trainer Bob Broxterman in Jeopardy and doubted he ever would. He continued, thanking the hockey academic advisors, by stating that although he was never an All-Academic Athlete, but that he tried. He thought that his Freshman year was "pretty damn long" and that he didn't believe the seniors at his first banquet, when they said that the four years just flew by. Now he knew what they meant...it did go by fast. He laughed about his girlfriend who would try to "shrink his head" on those nights that he had scored a goal. He also said on the senior video that the wild shirt which the team gave to coach Woog on his birthday last year in Denver...that his dad has one just like it and he hopes that it's a fad that will catch on. Jeff Moen, goalie ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Started out okay, but soon disolved into tears. He said it went very fast for him. Said that he will always remember the guys in the locker room....that was the best memory. He also said that if he couldn't win a National Championship with this bunch of guys, that he didn't want to win one at all. He thanked his first year goalie coach Paul Ostby, who helped him the most. He also thanked his girlfriend's parents who happened to be in Chicago the weekend of the Regionals and decided that East Lansing "was on their way home to Minnesota". He thanked his parents who made financial sacrifices for him...how his mother's new set of furniture always looked like new goalie pads. Jay Moser, forward (originally defense) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Another very short speech. Thanked his parents and was happy with his senior year roommates Dan Hendrickson and Brett Abrahamson. Ryan Peterson, student manager ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanked Mazzoleni, Ward, Guentzel and Bill Butters. He said he was the only one on the team not from Minnesota. He is moving to Scotland in the summer and getting married. Bill Butters will be the head usher at the wedding and all the ushers will be wearing KILTS. Dan Trebil, defense ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ He had 100 assists as a defenseman. He said that he was not much of a talker and I think he was underestimating himself. He said that he was surprised that he won the leadership and sportsmanship award, that his talks around the net would have disqualified him. He said that he would just look at Dustin or Lars and start laughing and have to skate away. He said that he thought asst coach Guentzel was the emotional leader for the team and thanked Bill Butters for being an unbelieveable individual. Also thanked Mrs. Dustin who kept coming over to clean their apt. no matter how bad it got. He said "it's the guys". Charlie Wasley, defense Greg Zwakman, defense ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With Greg Zwakman ill, Charlie spoke for both of them. He thanked Bill Butters, his parents, friends and teammates, especially the seniors. There was also a special presentation by the Gopher Blueline Club to Al Shaver for special recognition and outstanding contribution to the Gopher program. It was a four-hour affair and well worth the time. Thanks to all who read this far! -Carol (how long till next season starts???) HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.