I thought I had posted something about this last night (just like the post that will follow), but they never came back to me, so I maybe I hit the wrong button. If you all have seen this already, accept my apology and move on. The Gophers played much better on Saturday night, but I must disagree with Frank Mazzocco and Tom Reid, who called it a "convincing win"; I thought St. Cloud outplayed them. The next time we Gopher fans are complaining that we didn't get any of the breaks, someone should remind us of this game. The Huskies hit the pipe at least seven times (plus one time they hit DeBus in the skate and it bounced out the other way. Trust me, this was not a kick save; they just hit him in the skate instead of the open net.) and the whole affair could have been very different. The whole game followed the pattern that Minnesota played much better on offense than on defense. They scored three power play goals, doing some of the things I had hoped to see. Twice they scored when someone took a blast from the point and it was tipped in front. There was also some nifty passing to set up other scores. Of course, this also led to some of the defensive breakdowns when a Gopher made a nifty pass right to a St. Cloud player. All in all, it looked more like last year's team in that they looked like they were trying too hard to make the great play. This is a step in the right direction from the zombie-like performances put forward recently. They've still got a lot of work to do, but this is progress. In much the same way, the officiating took a step up. Mark Thomas does not seem to like to call interference at all, so it runs rampant. It's not the style I like at all, but I could at least live with it. Minnesota dominated the first period, but committed enough errors that they were only ahead 2-1. DeBus wasn't terribly sharp and would remain that way for the whole game. In the box score, it would seem, that the second was where Minnesota really owned the game, extending the lead to 5-2. This is a false impression. Someone must have put a plexiglass shield behind DeBus, because I can't figure out any other way the Huskies didn't score more. Mark Parrish (I think) hit the post three times on one shift. (By the way, someone, I think Geoff Howell, claimed that Matt Cullen was the best player on the ice. I have to disagree; Parrish was unbelievable.) Add in the near misses, and the Huskies outshot Minnesota badly. It was two goals by Minnesota late in the period that provided the big margin. The third period was very exciting. Unlike Minnesota on Friday, St. Cloud simply would not go away. The win was not secure until the last minute and a half, when the Gophers took control of the puck and essentially wouldn't give it back. I was very impressed with St. Cloud and wish them well in upcoming games. Two Minnesota players stood out as having a good series. Brett Abrahamson had a goal on Friday and took the shot that Wyatt Smith tipped in on Saturday. It seemed to me that he was committing fewer errors than most of the rest of the team. It's been a struggle for him the last couple of years to get any ice time. He really seems to have fought through it well. Dave Spehar is really starting to develop. He's on a nine game scoring streak and the creativity he displayed in high school is really in evidence lately. He also backchecked nicely a number of times, which was one of the real worries when he got here. He is still going to have to deal with his diminutive size. He was leaned on a lot last night and finally retaliated, drawing coincidental minors. Since play out here is so much more physical than that which the French Connection deals with, it's going to be a problem. As he gets better, Woog is going to have to give him a bodyguard, a la what Jason Botterill does for Brendan Morrison. So, it was another weekend in which every team at the top of the WCHA split their series. Four teams are within two points of the lead; seven within six points. This could get exciting. J. Michael Neal HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.