Bulldogs add illness, injury to last-place woes
From a distance, UMD’s final weekend in the WCHA sounded so familiar it should have been predictable: Two games at (pick an opponent), play well and lead in both games, only to lose by (fill in the one-goal loss scores). On this occasion, however, the fact that the Bulldogs led 3-2 but lost 4-3 with 50 seconds left at Colorado College, and then led 2-1 but lost 3-2, told only part of the story.
This time, UMD coach Mike Sertich, who thought he had seen everything during this 4-20-4 last-place season, had all sorts of new problems to deal with. A sudden streak of flu virus struck the team last week, and, coupled with various injuries, left the team with seven fourwards and four defensemen able to play by the end of the weekend.
“We didn’t need a team bus, we could have put everybody who could play in a minivan,” said Sertich.
UMD continued its penchant for playing extremely well against the WCHA’s top teams — losing three games to champion North Dakota that weren’t decided until the closing minutes, tying the Sioux in the fourth game between the two, and splitting two games with third-place Denver, before the two excruciating losses at CC.
This time, there is the added intrigue of UMD having to go right back out to Colorado Springs to face the CC Tigers again in this weekend’s WCHA playoff opening round. All nine WCHA teams, plus Minnesota State-Mankato are involved in this weekend’s playoffs. The pairings find Mankato at North Dakota; UMD at CC; Michigan Tech at Denver; St. Cloud State at Wisconsin; and Alaska-Anchorage at Minnesota.
The five winners advance to Target Center for the Final Five, a one-game elimination round, which is like having the NHL play best-of-seven through the playoffs, then a one-game, winner-take-all Stanley Cup final.
Will last weekend’s series give UMD help in the playoffs?
“I don’t know,” said Sertich. “Maybe they were sandbagging.”
Sertich was joking. But, he added: “They’ve got some guys who can go, like Swanson, Petersen and Swanson (Brian Swanson, Toby Petersen, Scott Swanson), and Jon Austin played well.”
The problem for the Bulldogs, of course, is wondering how many will be healthy enough to board the plane for the flight to Colorado.
“It all started last week on Wednesday night,” said Sertich, sounding like he was about to read the script from E.R. “Derek Derow came down with the flu pretty bad. On Thursday, Judd Medak, Andy Reierson and Jeff Scissons all got hit with it, and it’s the kind of flu with headache and fever, more than stomach flu.”
With Colin Anderson and Curtis Bois already staying behind — Anderson with a pulled abdominal muscle and Bois to take care of a personal situation, only to come down with the flu himself — the Bulldogs didn’t have any extra manpower. Derow, Medak, Reierson and Scissons all stayed in bed till game time Friday, and all played, but only a couple shifts a period, Sertich figured.
“Late in the first game, Tommy Nelson turned an ankle, and he was done for the weekend,” said Sertich.
“So on Saturday night, we had four sick guys, Nelson out, so we moved Kent Sauer from defense to forward. But halfway through the game, Ryan Coole went out with one of the worst-looking injuries I’ve ever seen.”
Coole got his hand stepped on in a tangle, and nearly had the little finger on his left hand completely severed. It tore cartilage and tendons, and he was hospitalized.
“So we moved Sauer back to defense,” said Sertich. “And then Craig Pierce got knocked out. Concussion. Gone. Our trainer, Terry Hanson, just got back to the bench from getting Coole off to the hospital and Pierce gets knocked out.”
So with the forward crop reduced from 12 to seven, and the defense from six to four, backup goaltender Tony Gasparini played heroically, making over 50 saves.
“There wasn’t much we could do, but change the forecheck, hang on, and let ’em shoot,” said Sertich. “It was the weirdest weekend I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Will the Bulldogs get some of their ill and injured players back? That’s just the newest part of the ongoing saga. The sick players are still sick, and the type of flu they’ve had often takes a week to 10 days to run its course. Coole is out for sure, and Nelson and Pierce are day to day.
This team doesn’t need a bus or a minivan; an ambulance would be more appropriate.
Final WCHA 1998-99
W L T Pts GF GA
North Dakota 24 2 2 50 142 76
Colorado College 20 8 0 40 103 68
Denver 15 11 2 32 101 95
Wisconsin 13 12 3 29 76 81
Minnesota 10 12 6 26 90 99 Alaska-Anchorage 10 13 5 25 57 71
St. Cloud State 8 16 4 20 79 95
Michigan Tech 9 19 0 18 67 99
Minnesota-Duluth 4 20 4 12 71 102
1998-99 WCHA Scoring Leaders
Final Conference (3/8/99)
Rk Name/Position/Year/Team NHL G A Pts PPG Pen-Min PP SH GW
1 Jason Blake/C/Sr/UND – 20 29 49 1.75 11-22 8 1 1
2 Jay Panzer/RW/Sr/UND 16 24 40 1.48 4-8 4 0 2
3 Brian Swanson/C/Sr/CC NYR 17 22 39 1.39 11-22 7 0 2
4 Paul Comrie/C/Sr/DU EDM 13 21 34 1.21 23-65 3 1 1
5 Jeff Panzer/LW/So/UND – 15 18 33 1.22 6-12 5 1 3
Lee Goren/RW/So/UND BOS 17 16 33 1.18 7-14 7 0 4
Brad Williamson/D/Sr/UN – 7 26 33 1.18 12-24 4 0 2
8 Reggie Berg/LW/Sr/UM TOR 15 17 32 1.14 14-28 2 1 2
9 James Patterson/LW/Sr/DU – 17 14 31 1.11 18-44 10 1 3
10 Jeff Scissons/C/Jr/UMD VAN 14 15 29 1.04 14-28 7 0 2
Ryan Homstol/LW/So/UMD – 10 19 29 1.04 9-26 4 0 1
Scott Swanson/D/Sr/CC WSH 6 23 29 1.04 6-12 2 0 0
13 Jeff Ulmer/RW/Sr/UND – 12 16 28 1.08 17-34 1 0 1
Wyatt Smith/C/Sr/UM PHX 16 12 28 1.00 13-26 5 3 2
15 Darren Clark/RW/Sr/CC – 10 17 27 1.29 15-30 5 0 3
1998-99 WCHA Goaltending Leaders
Rk Name/Year/Team NHL GP W L T GA Avg. SV%
1 Gregg Naumenko/Fr/UAA – 25 10 10 5 2.23 .924
2 Jeff Sanger/Fr/CC – 24 16 8 0 2.42 .905
3 Andy Kollar/Fr/UND – 12 10 0 0 2.62 .896
4 Karl Goehring/So/UND – 19 14 2 2 2.69 .903
5 Graham Melanson/So/UW – 27 13 12 2 2.83 .909
6 David Weninger/Sr/MTU WSH 23 9 14 0 3.12 .905
7 Stephen Wagner/Jr/DU STL 27 13 11 1 3.25 .883
8 Dean Weasler/Fr/SCSU – 22 7 10 4 3.29 .900
9 Adam Hauser/Fr/UM – 26 10 11 5 3.32 .879
10 Brant Nicklin/Jr/UMD – 23 3 17 2 3.63 .897
Others (less than one-third of team’s minutes)
Colin Zulianello/So/CC – 6 4 0 0 2.23 .896
Tony Gasparini/UMD/ 7 1 3 2 2.96 .916
Buell, Silver Bay prove captivating
By Ken Buell
For the Up North Newspaper Network
Even dream seasons have humble beginnings. What began as a quick trip to see my nephew Greg Buell, my younger brother Andy’s son, play a little hockey, turned into a strong emotional tie to Silver Bay’s hockey team, its terrific fans, and my own family.
It was especially rewarding when this team hit its stride in the Section 7A tournament, and made it all the way to the state tournament. Even in defeat, I couldn’t have been prouder of this team and the grit and heart these players showed.
It also seems like just a couple of weeks ago when I wrote down my thoughts after seeing Greg and the team for the first time…
Most native Iowans would never consider an 8-hour round-trip drive to see a high school hockey game, but this is different. My nephew, Greg, is a starter for the Silver Bay hockey team, and word is that he is pretty good at it. Besides, it has been a long stretch at the office, so any excuse for a road trip is a good one.
Silver Bay is located on Lake Superior’s North Shore, so the show starts long before the game. Highway 61 from Duluth to the Canadian Border is one of North America’s most scenic, but I never have seen it quite like this.
In the early evening darkness, a bright orange full moon rises from the lake like a second dawn. It hugs the cliffs and rocky shoreline ahead of me, and settles into a 2 o’clock position in my windshield. It is all I can do to keep my eyes on the twisting road.
I remember why I like this place so much. Even the names of the lakeside hamlets evoke feelings of adventure and mystery. French River. Little Marais. Castle Danger.
The adults stop at the local restaurant before the game. We pass on the lutefisk special, but Greg’s mother, Leanne, is too nervous to enjoy dinner anyway. After all, her son is the goaltender, and in his job, any mistake is punctuated by a flashing red light and noisy jeers from the crowd. I’m not sure that goalies really suffer so much for that, but their mothers do. We hurry to the arena.
The folks in these stands know their hockey, and they treat it as seriously as their other life values. Unlike games in the Twin Cities, nobody — that’s nobody — forgets to take his hat off for the National Anthem.
The Silver Bay Mariners have not beaten the Superior Spartans since 1984. The Spartans appear big and physical, and early in the game Greg is flattened by a cheapshot from a 230-pound defenseman. Greg may not have known there was a player on the ice that outweighted him by 80 pounds, but he is aware of it now. Mom covers her eyes.
The Mariners show no signs of intimidation. With six 200-pounders of their own, they can take care of themselves. But each makes a mental note to take better care of the goalie from here on.
Silver Bay clearly has the better team tonight. They flash the light three times in the first eight minutes and never look back. The third period is played under running time, a sort of mercy rule that keeps scores from getting out of hand.
With the final tick of the clock, Greg gloves his 18th save to ice a 6-0 shutout, his first at this level. With a broad smile, he glides to the boards and flips the puck to his dad. I watch the postgame celebration through misty eyes. The cold air in this old rink must be getting to me. I am bursting with pride, but can only imagine how Andy feels. For a rare moment, I wonder how a son of my own might have turned out.
It turns out that Greg Buell can flat play hockey, is a 4.0 student, and remains one of the nicest young men you could know. After the game, he is invited to join a high school senior all-star team that will tour Australia next summer.
The moon guides me back to Duluth, bathing the lake in perennial twilight and calming her surface. Who could know that when her mood changes, this lake can snap a tanker’s back and hide its crew away forever?
The truck is humming along and easily could take me all the way home, but it’s getting late, and I opt to spend the night in Duluth. For just 35 bucks, the downtown Best Western will offer a fair bed and the requisite noisy plumbing. As I savor this night into the next morning, I resolve that I will have to do this more often.
And I have. To the Mariners and folks from Silver Bay, thank you. And don’t be surprised if you see a big guy in a Gopher jacket in your arena next season. Greg will be gone, but I might be back anyway.
(Ken Buell is the University of Minnesota’s assistant athletic director in charge of internal operations. He started this essay after first seeing his nephew, Greg, play for the Mariners this season, and he finished it after seeing him play in the state tournament.)
State title more than just hockey to Roseau
In groups and by themselves, Roseau’s hockey players headed for the dressing room late Saturday night, and coach Bruce Olson finished the last television interview and also disappeared. But Rams captain Phillip Larson stayed out on that chewed up Target Center ice, willling to keep talking, and also anxious to take his time, as if he wanted to absorb every last vibe of Roseau’s sixth state championship.
Beating Hastings 4-0 in the final game meant a rallying point for a new era in Roseau hockey, and it meant something special to the town itself.
Bernie and Nancy Burggraf, back in Roseau, missed this tournament, which is rare. It is unheard of for the Burggrafs to miss a tournament with Roseau involved. Bernie used to be mayor of Roseau, while his wife, Nancy, taught power-skating to every Roseau hockey player for the last 20 or so years and captured her skill on videos that remain in demand.
In the past year, Nancy has slowed down, but not by choice. She learned she has Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis(ALS) — Lou Gehrig’s disease — which causes deterioration of nerves that control muscular functions, and she has been helpless to stop its irreversible toll. It cannot be treated, although life expectancy can vary. Nancy lost the ability to speak several months ago, and these days she must be fed intravenously. She was moved into Roseau Area Hospital before the tournament.
“I had a chance to fly down for the games, and I was going to,” said Bernie, the town’s former mayor, during a telephone call just before the tournament. “But Nancy and I have never done anything separately, so I stayed home with Nancy. She’s alert, and in no pain.
“On Tuesday, a bouquet of flowers came to the hospital for Nancy,” Bernie added. “It was from the Roseau team, and the card said: ‘We miss you, we love you, and we’re going to win the championship for you.’ Tears rolled down her face when she saw that.”
When the Rams completed their title game victory, they piled up and danced in celebration. Then they got together in front of the television cameras, and as they held their trophy high, they shouted, in unison: “One, two three…Nancy, we love you. This is for you.”
“She taught us all our skating skills, from the time we were 8 or 9,” said Phillip Larson. “We didn’t even like it at that age; we didn’t know what she was doing for us. But we dedicated the tournament to Nancy.”
The blue ribbon with the gold medal was hanging around his neck, and Larson captured what the championship meant to him, personally.
“The thought of this has consumed me since I was 8, when I was sitting in section 234 of the old Civic Center, watching Billy Lund pick up the trophy,” said Larson, recallling the 1990 championship, the most recent of Roseau’s five previous titles. The others were in 1946, 1958, 1959 and 1961. “I’m sick and tired of looking at all the banners in Roseau that we had nothing to do with.
“When the last seconds were ticking off, I broke down on the bench. This is for my dad, my mom, Roseau…everybody.”
The Rams had polished off Rochester Mayo in a tough 2-0 opener, then cruised past Holy Angels 6-2 in the semifinals, in what was a lopsided enough game that coach Olson could play his fourth line some, keeping everybody fresh for the final. Hastings, meanwhile, had miraculously escaped from Blaine in a 7-6 opener that required two last-minute goals by Dan Welch, including the winner with the clock showing “0:00.2,” then had to survive two overtimes to overcome Elk River 2-1 in the semifinals.
Still, Hastings, a team that depends on first linemates Dan Welch and Jeff Taffe for most of its scoring, stormed out and fired the games first seven shots, meaning goaltender Jake Brandt had to be solid before Roseau could begin to function.
“Hastings came at us hard at the start,” said Larson, a senior winger whose leadership capacity has been exemplified by this being his second year as captain. “After a few minutes of the first period, I looked up at the shot board and saw it was 7-0 for them. They were pinching down from the points on our wings to keep the puck in our end. We looked at each other on the bench and we knew, that as good as they were, we had to get settled down and start playing our game.
“When we finally got our first shot on goal, you could feel it on the bench, and in our hearts.”
There was no panic when the Rams were outshot 7-0 in the early going.
“I knew they’d come out really rockin,’ ” said Roseau coach Olson. “I was hoping we could weather that and keep going. They were really coming at us with speed, and I told our guys the game would be won in our end. Jake was fantastic in goal.”
Josh Olson scored at 6:40 of the second period, and David Klema scored after first poking the rebound free from the crease at 8:03. In the third period, Mike Klema scored a power-play goal at 1:27, and Matt Erickson glanced one in off the goaltender at 5:24. Fittingly, four different players scored. Teamwork till the end.
The Rams had a modest 25 shots, but limited Hastings to 19 shots. That meant after yielding the first seven shots of the game, the Rams outshot the Raiders 25-12.
Coach Olson, who ignored checking tactics to simply rotate three lines regularly, said: “You have to have a team. You can always shut down people.”
Phillip Larson said the superior individual achievements of Hastings or Elk River were impressive, but had limitations. “Every team here has skill, and you can get through a season with one or two lines,” Larson said. “But once you’re here, hard work and teamwork can make the difference.”
About then, some Target Center maintenance crew members walked onto the ice surface and asked Larson to leave, so they could get to work covering the ice and preparing the arena for Sunday night’s Alanis Morrisette concert.
Larson nodded and skated, slowly, toward the exit. But you could tell he didn’t want to leave.
Hastings outlasts Elk River in 2 OTs
After both team’s star players battled themselves to a standoff, sophomore Travis Kieffer slammed in Pete Swanson’s feed from behind the goal at 10:15 of the second sudden-death overtime Friday night to give Hastings an exhaustive 2-1 victory over Elk River in a classic state tournament Class AA semifinal.
Swanson stopped abruptly to reverse directions behind the net, lost possesion but regained it off the base of the net, then chipped a pass out on the left side of the cage, and Kieffer banged it in just after midnight to send Hastings into tonight’s championship game against Roseau.
Seemingly exhausted when outshot 7-1 in the first overtime, the Raiders rejuvenated themselves after the ice was resurfaced, outshooting the Elks 10-3 in the 15-minute second overtime. Hastings advances with a 22-4 record, while Elk River (23-3) will face Holy Angels for third place.
“Our plan was to put our second line, and our top set of defensemen, out against their big line,” said Elk River coach Tony Sarsland, referring to the Welch-Taffe-Nick Husting line.
Executing such a plan against the state’s most explosive offense is far different than planning it, but the tenacious Elks executed it well, bolstered by an outstanding early save by Mitch Glines, and the only goal of the first period from Carson Ezati.
Taffe opened the game with a strong rush and fed Welch for a shot, but Glines came up with a great save, which had to energize the Elk River segment of the crowd, to say nothing of the Elks on the bench.
Elk River’s splendid junior defenseman Paul Martin, who displays his greatness by almost always making the easiest, simplest play efficiently, also is capable of the huge play, and he pulled one out midway through the first period. He beat one forechecker in his own end of the rink, then set sail, stickhandling up across center ice, meandering all the way up the left side.
When he couldn’t go any farther, Martin fed John Brumer, who flung a shot from the left corner at the crease. Goalie Matt Klein blocked it, but Carson Ezati shot again from the same wide angle. This time, Klein gave him a couple of inches short-side, and the puck pinballed off the goalie, the pipe, and then back off the goaltender before tumbling into the net.
Playing defense to protect a lead — especially a 1-goal lead — usually is strategic suicide, but the Elks squelched Hastings throughout a scoreless second period. Elk River had a 14-6 edge in shots at the second intermission, but it seemed unimaginable that anybody could hold off the Raiders that totally for three periods.
It was true. At 1:56 of the third period, Adam Gerlach rushed up the left side. A right-handed shooter, Gerlach had a better shooting angle from the right circle, and he snapped a wrist shot just over a fallen defenseman, and it glanced off the glove or left shoulder of Glines and caught the upper right corner of the net.
That meant Elk River had to open up offensively again, and the Elks did so effectively, outshooting the Raiders 13-4 in a wildly entertaining third period, as the teams exchanged rushes and stirred up more chances than in the first two periods combined.
Martin made a strong charge, had his shot blocked by a defender, and Joel Plude put the follow-up over the net. Then Welch picked off a loose puck and sped away on a breakaway, but Glines held his ground and Welch shot wide right. Next, Klein came up with an enormous save for Hastings when Joey Bailey cut loose with a 1-timer from the right circle.
The crowd gave the teams a heartfelt standing ovation at a stoppage in play for their amazing display. Then, in the closing minutes of the third period, Welch took off again, kicking the puck ahead for a breakaway. This time he beat Glines, but his shot hit the right post and the carom came back between the goalie’s legs…and out.
In the first overtime, Elk River’s conditioning came into play. The Elks, who are run through a boot-camp style conditioning program during their fall training, had outshot the Raiders 27-10 through the regulation three periods, and had a 7-1 edge in the eight-minute first overtime. At that, the only shot Hastings got in the first extra session was from center ice, while Martin led three or four Elk attacks.
Klein made a big, sprawling save at one point and Plude’s rebound hit his leg pad.
Roseau championship quotes
[Quotes from state championship AA hockey game, insert where you need them…JG.]
What does the title mean to the Roseau players?
“I broke down on the bench,” said Roseau captain Phil Larson. “This has consumed me since I was 8, when I was sitting in section 234 of the old Civic Center, watching Billy Lund pick up the trophy. I’m sick and tired of looking at all the banners in Roseau that we had nothing to do with.
“This is for my dad, my mom, Roseau…everybody.”
There was no panic when the Rams were outshot 7-0 in the early going.
“I knew they’d come out really rockin,’ ” said Roseau coach Bruce Olson. “I was hoping we could weather that and keep going. They were coming at us with speed, and I had told our guys the game would be won in our end. Jake was fantastic in goal, and after we got past that first part, I thought they looked pretty tired.”
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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