Nick Jankovich wrote:
 
Duke Shegos, CCHA referee
> extraordinaire,
>  apparently felt the need to leave his whistle in the locker room prior to
>  the thrid period, as non-calls were rampant on both sides of the puck.
 
Was this Matt Shegos?  I've never heard of Duke, and Matt reffed the second
game last night.  Other than that, the comments are absolutely correct.  The
first half of the game was called tightly, and the second half might as well
have been played without a ref at all.
 
>  Brian LaFleur of Minnesota had 2 goals and 1 assist, including a breakaway
>  goal in the 2nd period.
 
He also played some good D.  LaFleur has really stepped up his game.  It is
nice that the freshmen have advanced to the point that Woog is willing to put
Clymer and Lyons out on the ice together.  Now that they are paired, Crowley
and LaFleur look like they are developing the same kind of chemistry that
Crowley and Dan Trebil had last year.  Plus, LaFleur plays the kind of
defense that I kept asking of Trebil: very physical.
 
>  The big news was that Erik Rasmussen of the Gophers was scratched on
>  half-hour before the game due to an inner ear infection, yet the Gophers,
>  especially Reggie Berg who took Rasmussen's spot on the first line, took
>  up the slack well.
 
Actually, it was Dan Hendrickson that took Rasmussen's spot.  I think Woog
wanted Hendrickson's ruggedness up there, but the skill difference between
him and Rass showed (though Hendrickson is playing much better than he did
last year).  Plus, Woog had already decided to move Nick Checco onto a line
with Ryan Kraft and Berg in an attempt to generate some more scoring.  It
seemed to work; not only did Kraft have a very pretty goal, but Checco was
much more visible than he has been for a while.
 
The Gophs best line was the checking line of Dan Woog, Wyatt Smith and Nate
Miller.  These guys were all over, and Miller and Smith each had a goal.
 They were really fun to watch.
 
The only down note was Minnesota's inability to finish.  In the first two
periods, they spent most of the time in their offensive end and were able to
get it in close frequently.  Then that last pass was off the mark or someone
hacked away at the puck ineffectually.  It was made more painful by the
number of rebounds Alban left in front.
 
All in all, a good weekend for the Gophers.
 
J. Michael Neal
 
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