Men’s traditions don’t fit women’s hockey
By John Gilbert
Back in the late 1980s, Rochester John Marshall reached the Minnesota state high school hockey tournament led by a pair of defensemen, Doug Zmolek and Eric Means. They were a Mutt and Jef defensive tandem, with Zmolek a 6-foot-2 specimen already being eyed by the NHL, and Means a stocky 5-foot-8. But they both had all the tools, offensively and defensively.
While covering all levels of hockey for the Minneapolis Tribune in those days, I always seemed to pick out players who might be overlooked, but whose play I admired, and I’d keep an eye on them. Means was my guy back in the 1988-89 season, when JM went all the way to the title game before falling 5-4 in overtime to Bloomington Jefferson. Both Zmolek and Means went on to play for the Gophers. Zmolek left early to sign a pro contract. Means, always in the background, overshadowed by bigger stars, played all four years and was outstanding.
Hockey hasn’t changed a lot from those days, with almost all North American men’s hockey following the old Canadian tradition of teams trying to prove they’re better than their foes, and if they can’t do it with skill, they might try to beat on that foe physically. If you can intimidate an opponent’s players, get them off their game, you’ve got a good chance to beat them. That Canadian style, up and down lanes, dumping the puck in, pressing and hoping for a lucky turnover to get a scoring chance, and playing tough, all the time, has prevailed.
Along with that, men developed some unwritten rules: You don’t try to show up an opponent, you don’t try to rub it in, and if you offend an opponent, be prepared for them to react aggressively — maybe with a bodycheck, maybe with a cheapshot, maybe with subtlety, or maybe with ugly openness.
That has always been one of the refreshing differences between men and women playing the game. Nobody could have envisioned women’s hockey’s emergence, sweeping Minnesota high school girls into a new form of competition, and finding their pinnacle in college hockey, or Olympics. Bodychecking, as the men know it, is not allowed, although there is plenty of meaningful contact to stop or squeeze off a foe. Imagine a men’s game where the players had to avoid the high-speed charges, crosschecks and intent-to-injure killshots. Or a departure from the macho coach who sees his team team as less-skilled and tells his players to “run ’em!” Instead, if men’s coaches had to confront skilled teams with tactics and creativity, it might be a better game.
Haley Irwin (10) congratulated Audrey Cournoyer, who scored twice in UMD's 4-1 victory over MSU-Mankato.
The Women’s WCHA has evolved from a decade ago, when some of the teams had players who could barely skate, couldn’t shoot, and barely understood how to get out of their zone. UMD got the drop on the whole league by hiring Shannon Miller, a tough, aggressive woman who had coached the Canadian Olympic team that was upset by the U.S. in the gold medal game at Nagano, Japan, a year earlier. Miller and the Bulldogs won the first three NCAA women’s tournaments ever held.
Miller proved to be a rare combination of a Bulldog and a wildcat, at the same time, and was clearly the best coach in the Women’s WCHA. As always, if the teams are similar in talent level, the games can be exciting and highly competitive, but UMD had to find a Minnesota, or a Harvard, or later Wisconsin, to extract its highest level of play. A decade later, the competitive level of the WCHA is better than ever. The bottom teams can now challenge the top teams — as they will attempt to prove in the first round of WCHA playoffs.
Blatant physical intimidation tactics simply don’t happen in women’s hockey. Nobody raises an eyebrow if a superior team keeps scoring to the end of a one-sided game, although generally, teams don’t try to pile up the goals. Maybe making plays and scoring to the end is less of an insult than a pulling up and obviously trying not to score.
One very interesting and enormous change in the Women’s WCHA is in coaching. Of the eight WCHA teams — UMD, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio State, St. Cloud State, Bemidji State, North Dakota, and Minnesota State-Mankato — seven have had a woman head coach at some time or other. The only one that hasn’t is MSU-Mankato. Of the other seven, Shannon Miller remains as the only female head coach in the league. Think about that.
Nobody can criticize the job done by Mark Johnson at Wisconsin, Steve Sertich at Bemidji State, or Brad Frost at Minnesota, but it is interesting that all of these grand institutions have been unable to find a woman to coach young women. Therefore it shouldn’t be surprising that Shannon Miller accrues more criticism than all the other coaches combined. Maybe, from a league traditionally run by men and from a coaching fraternity of all men, it should be expected that other might resent the amazing success and bold demeanor of the only female coach. Usually the blend is smooth, but not always.
Modern women’s hockey, and traditional men’s “by the book” hockey came to a passionate collision in the last weekend of the regular 2011-12 season at AMSOIL Arena. UMD’s Bulldogs needed to win to assure the fourth and final home-ice spot, and faced last-place Minnesota State-Mankato. The Mavericks are now coached by Eric Means, one of my former favorite players, who switched after years of assisting Troy Jutting with the Mavericks men to take on the head women’s job a few years ago. Jon Austin, former International Falls and Colorado College star, hired on as assistant. It’s been a tough year for the Mavs, whose deficiencies need improvement at every position. But they try hard.
The Friday game started, and UMD’s Audrey Cournoyer scored on a quick rebound of a Haley Irwin shot at 0:45. The Mavericks tied it when Kari Windberg scored midway through the first period, but Shara Jasper puts UMD ahead again, and Cournoyer’s second of the game made it 3-1 after one. Irwin, who assisted on both Cournoyer goals, scored in the second period to make it 4-1. Shots were pretty even, a credit to the Mavericks, but they couldn’t score any more on Jennifer Harss, so the game headed for a 4-1 finish. Cournoyer had a couple chances for a third goal. From the press box, I didn’t realize that Irwin had reached 199 points for her four years at UMD.
MSU-Mankato defenseman Erika Magnusson (14) shoved Audrey Cournoyer into the goalie as Jenna McParland (19) tried to corral the rebound.
In the final minute of play, Shannon Miller called a time out. UMD has had the tendency to lapse this year, and mind-reading from the press box, my thought was that Miller might well be suggesting a strong finish this time, to get into playoff mode. She sent out her first line. Almost immediately, MSU-Mankato’s Kelsie Scott was whistled for cross-checking. It was a forceful hit, could have been checking from behind, and it put UMD on the power play with 24 seconds remaining. If the plan was to get Irwin her 200th point, or Cournoyer her hat trick, it didn’t seem like a big deal.
The clock ticked down into its final 10 seconds, and Irwin rushed with the puck up the left side, where she met some congestion at the left circle. As she slowed, suddenly, Lauren Smith, a junior first-line wing from MSU-Mankato, blasted Irwin, knocking her face down to the ice. The blow was an apparent wildly flung elbow flipper that struck Irwin on the helmet. As Irwin dropped to all fours, Cournoyer picked off the puck — remember the puck? — and darted in from the circle, all the way to the net. She tried to jam in a shot but was stopped. Mavericks defenseman Erika Magnusson shoved Cournoyer over goaltender Alli Altmann, but Cournoyer held her balance.
Lauren Smith (25) peeled off after cross-checking Audrey Cournoyer from behind into the crossbar as the clock reached 0:00 in the 4-1 UMD victory.
In the next instant, Cournoyer was blown away by a high-speed cross-check from behind, flying helmet-first into the crossbar, and down, as the clock reached 0:00.
The two coaches came off their adjacent benches and it was clear they were discussing things in a hostile manner. I have seen Shannon Miller go after people to make a point, and I wondered if that was the case this time. “I came out to shake hands, as I always do,” said Miller. “He said, ‘Nice time-out, you (bleeping) (bleep).” From there, the conversation turned south, apparently. Miller claims that when she expressed outrage that Irwin might be seriously hurt, Means said something like, “Good, I hope she has a separated shoulder.” A photographer stationed nearby, between the benches, pretty much corroborated Miller’s recounting of the situation, although the language was not fit for family consumption.
UMD coach Shannon Miller glared at MSU-Mankato coach Eric Means, left, after their volatile post-game conversation.
Meanwhile, UMD’s plan was to recognize its top student-athletes after the game, and all those with a 3.5 or higher grade point average lined up on the blue line. That created a bizarre scene: UMD trainer Beth Clute helping Irwin struggle to her feet, and off to the dressing room; game officials huddling by the scorer’s table to figure out the penalties; and the scholar-Bulldogs standing on the blue line, waiting for about 10 minutes.
The public address announcement said: “Penalty at 20:00 to the Mavericks No. 25, Lauren Smith, 5-minute major penalty and game misconduct, for contact to the head.” But when he went to repeat it, it changed to, “The Mavericks No. 25, Lauren Smith, 5-minute major penalty and game disqualification for checking from behind.”
Well, I asked, which is it? Turns out, it was both. Lauren Smith, who had KO’d Haley Irwin with an elbow to the head, then raced to the crease in time to blast Cournoyer into the crossbar.
Before I spoke with Miller, I stopped at the much more accessible visiting team corridor and waited. Means and Austin came out, and I renewed acquaintances with two former players who are now old friends, in a private and exclusive interview.
“Your team played a heck of a game, until the last shift,” I said, “then your No. 25 seemed to lose it. What happened?”
Means launched into a mini-tirade; notebook ready, I tried to write it all down.
“Taking a time-out with 40 seconds left? That’s bullshit,” Means said. “On the bench, I said, if they put No. 12 out there, run over her.”
I stopped Means. “Are you kidding? Did you really tell your players to run UMD’s top player?” As it turned out, Smith took out UMD’s top two forwards, which should put her in the WCHA record book somewhere, with two 5-minute majors, a game misconduct and a game disqualification, with her double-barreled attack at 20:00.
“I’m proud of her and I wish she could play tomorrow night,” Means said, meaning Saturday’s rematch.
Without any knowledge that Means had essentially admitted he sent his players out after UMD’s top stars, Miller was livid. She said she was going to file a report. The WCHA generally sends such reports back to member institutions to enforce any further discipline. It could become a he-said, she-said issue — for those who weren’t in attendance.
In my completely private interview with Means, I repeatedly asked if that sort of attack wasn’t something from “the book” of men’s hockey, an ugly part of pro, or junior, or college, or even high school hockey, but which seems out of bounds — way out of bounds — in women’s hockey.
“Well,” said Means, “then don’t put your best players out there for the last 40 seconds when it’s 4-1.”
The next night, Jamie Kenyon scored twice in the first three minutes for UMD, then Irwin scored on a power play, and celebrated a little extra with her fist pumps, as she headed back toward her bench. On the way, she had to pass the MSU-Mankato bench, and maybe it just seemed like Irwin paused in that vicinity to make sure the Mavericks knew she had gotten her goal, after all.
The Bulldogs went on to win 7-1 to complete the sweep, and now it’s on to playoffs. UMD is at home against Ohio State Friday night and Saturday afternoon, and Sunday if necessary, while MSU-Mankato heads for league champ Wisconsin. St. Cloud State is at Minnesota, and an extremely interesting series finds Bemidji State at North Dakota. We can hope that the long-standing difference between the “unwritten rules” of men’s and women’s hockey might return to the women’s normal form, because some traditions just aren’t worth continuing.
When does a touchdown earn 2 points?
Zach Hulce, a transfer and senior, got his chance in the UMD backfield and promptly ran for two touchdowns against Northern State.
By John Gilbert
Watch sports live or on television, and no matter how many games you see, you’re likely to see something you’ve never seen before. Take the UMD football game against Northern State University last Saturday. There were no arguments, but there was one play that could be put in a time capsule to show how difficult the officials’ job can be, and raise some stimulating questions, at the same time.
When is a touchdown worth only two points? When is a safety actually a touchdown? When can a ball-carrier land on his backside on his 1-yard line, but be ruled in the end zone? When could one play be called any of three ways and a logical case could be made that any of the three was correct?
Only in a UMD football game, apparently. It happened at a crucial spot in last Saturday’s homecoming game, with the Bulldogs clinging to a 7-6 lead over Northern State of South Dakota. (Makes you wonder, by the way, if there’s a Southern State of North Dakota, doesn’t it?) Twice in the game, UMD’s hustling special teams attackers downed punts at the 1-yard line, putting the Wolves in serious trouble. On the second of these, in the second quarter, with UMD leading 7-6, the Bulldogs attacked on defense. On third and nine from the 3, Northern quarterback Nick Wanner tried to gain some running room, but was jolted at the line of scrimmage, and as he fell backwards the ball was fell loose for a fumble. As the ball landed in the end zone, UMD senior Derrick Zappa, who seemed to be in the middle of every Northern play all day, pounced on it. His teammates raised their arms, signaling “touchdown,†as one official, on the goal line, also signaled “touchdown.†Another official, however, signaled “safety,†and after a brief discussion, the ruling was for a safety, two points for the Bulldogs to increase a 7-6 lead to 9-6.
Northern State's Nate Wanner lost the ball before his tail-first landing just outside the end zone; the ball clearly was at rest over the goal line, as UMD's Derrick Zappa pounced to recover for an apparent touchdown.
As the accompanying photos indicate, Wanner’s rear end is down at about the 1, and his upper body is falling backwards, toward the goal line. The ball is already loose, on the turf in the end zone, as Zappa pounces on it. The case could be made for three possible rulings: (A.) Wanner was down where his butt hit the turf, before he lost possession, making it fourth down, Northern, on its 1; (B.) Wanner was going down, and his upper body wound up crossing the goal line before the fumble, so it was a safety; or (C.) Wanner fumbled as he was going down, so it didn’t matter where he or his butt landed, it was a loose ball, meaning touchdown UMD when Zappa recovered.
The Bulldogs celebrated a touchdown, but officials ruled it a safety, meaning Wanner was down, in the end zone, before he fumbled.
The officials chose “B†but it appeared evident to me (and my camera) that it had to be “C.â€Â I was walking the sideline, right near the goal line, and it was clear that the ball had come loose as Wanner was going down, and it landed on the ground as Wanner landed a few feet away. The ball had to still be in Wanner’s possession, with Wanner in the end zone, for it to be a safety, but clearly, no part of Wanner’s body crossed the goal line when he still had possession, so it couldn’t be a safety. The only plausible call was that it was a fumble, and a touchdown for Zappa and the Bulldogs. This is not so much a second-guess, as to relate the rarity of having three potential rulings on one play, and nobody on either side would have argued no matter which one they chose.
Fortunately, the Bulldogs went on to win 37-6 with a strong second half, and now stand 7-1 overall and 6-1 for a share of first place in the Northern Sun. The eventual title could well be determined Saturday, when the Bulldogs play at St. Cloud State. A huge factor for UMD was that freshman running back Austin Sikorski, who had broken loose for 185 yards the previous weekend, and gained 23 yards on five carries through the first quarter, mostly on UMD’s first touchdown drive, went out with a knee injury and was helped off the field.
Second-unit running back Brian Lucas, who often alternated with fellow-freshman Sikorski, finished off the first-quarter drive with a short touchdown run, and carried 16 times for an even 100 yards in the game. Coach Bob Nielsen had an interesting philosophy. “With Sikorski out, I tried to limit Lucas’s reps,†Nielsen said. So he went to third-unit transfer Zach Hulce.
Hulce, from outstate Washington, attended Glendale Community College in Arizona, then transferred to West Virginia, before being sidelined with a knee injury. He transferred to UMD, and has been waiting his chance as a senior. It appears he made a good choice. “I’m not really into the cold, but I like to win,†he said. Hulce carried 8 times for 85 yards, breaking free for two successive second-half touchdowns that turned a 16-6 lead to a 30-6 bulge. Hulce ran through an enormous hole for a 20-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, and blasted through several defenders before sprinting 44 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown. Steve Ierilli, the fourth running back of the day, added 68 more yards on nine carries, mostly in the fourth quarter.
WCHA WOMEN’S RACE TIGHT
The UMD women’s hockey team played two strong games last weekend, but lost a wrenching 4-3 first game to Wisconsin at Amsoil Arena. The Bulldogs had a weird second game, heavily outshooting the Badgers, but lost 6-3 after a faltering first period. The Badgers have a lot of firepower returning from last year’s WCHA and NCAA champs, and deserve their No. 1 rating.
UMD can take inspiration from both losses, however. In the first game, after spotting Wisconsin a goal by Brianna Decker, freshman Jenna McParland scored twice to lift UMD to a 2-1 lead after one period. Her first goal came on a power play, when Haley Irwin squeezed a pass from deep on the right side through the crease — behind goalie Alex Rigsby — and McParland had a slam-dunk at the left post. Wisconsin turned up the attack in the second period, outshooting UMD 17-7, but had to wait until the closing minutes to get goals from Carolyne Prevost and Hilary Knight for a 3-2 lead at the second intermission. Audrey Cournoyer scored for UMD at 7:18 of the third, tying it 3-3, and the game seemed headed for overtime, until a Badger penalty gave UMD a late power play. But with 1:14 remaining, the irrepressible Knight broke free and scored on a shorthanded breakaway to give the Badgers a 4-3 triumph.
In the second game, UMD roared to the attack at the outset, outshooting the Badgers 12-3 for the first 14 minutes, but unable to get anything past goalie Alex Rigsby. When UMD got the only penalty of the first period, Hilary Knight (who else?) scored with a power-play slapshot at 17:05, then Brianna Decker scored at 18:04, and Kelly Jaminski scored at 18:39. The three Badger goals in a 1:34 span put the Badgers in command.
UMD fought back when Pernilla Winberg scored on Haley Irwin’s pass out, but Carolyne Prevost got her first of two goals and Saige Pacholok got another for a 5-1 Wisconsin lead.
Pacholok’s goal, at 18:16 of the middle period, was another one of those rarities. She was called for a delayed penalty for interference, and on the delay, goalie Jennifer Harss raced out of the UMD goal for a sixth attacker. UMD’s Vanessa Thibault had the puck deep in the right corner during the delayed-penalty advantage, and when she fed a pass back to the right point, it hopped the stick of Tea Villila at the point, and slid all the way down the ice — 175 feet or thereabouts, and right into the unguarded UMD net. Pacholok was sent to the penalty box for her delayed interference, and was later named as the official goal-scorer because she was last to touch the puck before UMD’s “own†goal-against.
UMD, which outshot the Badgers 23-7 in the second period, closed the deficit to 5-2 when Audrey Cournoyer scored on an Irwin rebound during a two-skater power play to end the middle session. And when Katie Wilson scored a power-play goal to open the third, it brought the Bulldogs up to 5-3. One more goal would have put them close enough for a pulled-goalie finish, but Prevost scored into the empty net with 24 seconds remaining to secure the 6-3 finish.
Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson said his Badgers might get an easy weekend, but he can’t envision it yet. “We started with North Dakota, then we split with Minnesota, then we come here to face the Bulldogs, and next weekend we play Boston University,†said Johnson. “North Dakota is definitely a top contender, and we beat Minnesota in a hard-fought game before they blitzed us in the second period. Same thing here against Duluth. It’s great for our league to have so many competitive teams, even if it gives us coaches grey hair.â€
Shannon Miller’s Bulldogs are at home again this weekend in an action-filled Amsoil Arena. The UMD men play Bemidji State Friday and Saturday nights, while the UMD women face North Dakota’s best team ever in 3 p.m. games Saturday and Sunday.
Not to be outdone, the undefeated UMD volleyball team, which snapped Concordia of St. Paul’s winning streak to take over first place in the Northern Sun, will put its unbeaten 14-0 league record on the line at Romano Gym against Northern State at 7 p.m. Friday, and the University of Mary on Saturday at 4 p.m., before a Tuesday night nonconference “breather†against Concordia of St. Paul — which will try to reverse things and snap UMD’s perfect season. UMD is 23-0 overall, while Concordia, which won the first and third games before UMD rallied to win the last two, is now 13-1 and 22-1 overall. While the rematch is nonconference, it could have far-reaching impact on upcoming playoff seedings.
Ducks had Rosey look from season’s start
(This article was originally written in mid-September, 2011, and after Oregon and Wisconsin won their way to the Rose Bowl, it appeared appropriate to reprint it here, in early December of 2011.)
By John Gilbert
Two weeks into the football season, and I may have just finished watching the Rose Bowl champion. You can bet on Wisconsin, if you’re a Big Ten loyalist, or you can bet on Nebraska, if you realize what the Big Ten has recently done. Or you could bet on Arizona State or someone exotic.
Me? I’m taking the Oregon Ducks.
A group of us, who write about automobiles, were gathered together in Portland, Oregon, where we had a good time driving the new Hyundai Veloster all day, and attending a venue or two of the Northwest Music Festival at night. Then came Saturday, and we drove Velosters — neat little sporty coupes that are quick, fun to drive, and should get over 40 miles per gallon, all for a price of under $15,000 — down to Eugene to watch Oregon play its home opener against Nevada.
Now that game might not have held such interest for me if we had a major college football attraction right here in Minnesota. But the University of Minnesota proved that its tradition is stronger than new coach Jerry Kill could have foreseen. The plan is to celebrate for a week losing close to a strong team, such as Southern California, and then fall flat on its face against a really poor team, such as New Mexico State. Losing that game, in the Gophers home opener, caused Kill to suffer a seizure on the sideline. Word is, he’ll get out of the hospital and be back on the bench for this Saturday’s game. Which makes you wonder if he’s a reasonable fellow, after all.
The Vikings, of course, went out to San Diego with their new quarterback, Donovan McNabb. I think McNabb might have a big year, but I worry that he might be over that proverbial hill. He completed five passes, for 39 yards, the worst statistics in his long, long, looooonnng, career. And the Vikings lost to the Chargers in their season-opener.
Fortunately for those of us in Duluth, we have Minnesota-Duluth, the defending Division II champion, and the No. 1 ranked D-II team in the land again. I missed the home opener, against Upper Iowa, which gave the Bulldogs a good battle. This weekend, it’s off to Bemidji State, and the fact is already established that even this early in the season, the best team, and the best-coached team, in Minnesota is the UMD Bulldogs.
Back to the Big Ten, which has been over-rated for about five or six years now. Sure, there’s Michigan, and Wisconsin, and occasionally Iowa or Penn State, but in general, the Big Ten is not in the class of the Southeast Conference, or the Pac-10, or whatever they’re calling the one that used to be the Big Eight, and the Southwest, before they tried to combine them, or break them up, or whatever.
Personally, Boise State is my new favorite D-1 team, simply because the NCAA’s Bowl championship playoff system is weird, and I always pull for Boise State to win enough games to foul it up. Last year, Boise State lost one game, and it was at Nevada, when Boise’s usually can’t-miss placekicker missed what would have been the game-winning field goal at the end of regulation, and incomprehensibly missed again to cost Boise the chance to win in overtime and go undefeated.
This season, Oregon started ranked No. 2 in the country, and played No 4 LSU down in New Orleans to open. LSU beat the Ducks, but not until Oregon had decisively outgained LSU but blew the game with fumbles and interceptions. That set the stage for last Saturday’s Oregon home opener, where the Ducks had won 16 straight games, and the opponent was Nevada, which promised to be a formidible foe, after a 13-victory season in 2010 and bringing a seven-game winning streak into this season.
Promises, however, aren’t always easy to keep. It was a hot day, in the 90s, very little breeze, during a record September hot spell that has turned some of the more fertile fields to dust. We trooped into Autzen Stadium and sat low in one corner. What unfolded below us was a pretty incredible performance.
An unusual pattern developed. Nevada had some extremely fast defensive secondary players, but their defensive scheme must have anticipated Oregon would only throw short passes. On several occasions, a Duck would race down the sideline, into the clear, and catch a pass from Darron Thomas with no defender within 20 yards of him. Yet in a couple of seconds, the speedy defensive secondary guy would overtake the Oregon receiver and nail him to prevent a touchdown. It made you wonder why, if they were fast enough to overtake the Oregon receivers, they didn’t simply back off on the tight coverage and prevent the easy receptions in the first place.
Oregon jumped ahead 13-0 in the first quarter, and in the second quarter one of the more misleading statistics in football history showed Nevada with the ball for 11:02, and Oregon with the ball for 3:58, but Oregon outscored Nevada 28-7 in the quarter. Oregon had the ball seven times in the first half, scored six touchdowns, and punted once, then the Ducks scored two more touchdowns on their first two possessions of the second half. When it was over, the Oregon Ducks had beaten the Nevada Wolfpack 69-20.
The most common view of Oregon's LaMichael James, whose Rose Bowl will have to be his Heisman Trophy.
Darron Thomas threw six touchdown passes, while going 13-19 for 295 yards. LaMichael James, who was among front-runners for the Heisman Trophy last year, scored on a 67-yard touchdown run, caught a pass from Thomas for another TD, and ran a punt back for his third touchdown of the day. De’Anthony Thomas caught two passes for the day, both for touchdowns.
Oregon completed 15 passes to Nevada’s 23, but Oregon averaged 22.1 yards per reception to Nevada’s 10.1 yards. And, Oregon intercepted three Nevada passes.
The capacity crowd was dressed in predominate yellow, and kept up a low yell of “OOOOOOOO-ooo-oooo-oh.†Apparently in Oregon, Ducks yell something that sounds like “Oh.†It was a fun crowd, jovial, and only occasionally abusive to the Nevada visitors. Battalions of Oregon cheerleaders pretty much encircled the playing field, but the Nevada cheerleaders did fine, too. On one occasion, the Nevada cheerleaders raced into the end zone, doing a series of flips and complete somersaults in the air, prompting the comment that the Nevada cheerleaders were more talented than the Nevada secondary.
There’s a long way to go in this season, of course, but when all the firing is done, and they’re picking the teams to play in the Rose Bowl, you can pick whichever team you like. I’m picking Oregon.
Go Ducks.
DJOKOVIC — REMEMBER THE NAME
During the French Open, I wrote here that some talk-show guys were making fun of the fact that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were meeting in the final, saying of course they were because they are the only two recognizable names in men’s tennis. I pointed out that when you don’t know something, you don’t need to go on radio to prove your shortcomings, because when Federer beat Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, it was the first time Djokovic (pronounced, “Joe-ka-vichâ€) had lost a match since November, and that he was easily as good, if not better, than Nadal or Federer right then.
Sure enough, when they played at Wimbledon, Federer won the first two sets, then Djokovic put on one of the great clinics in pro tennis history to win three straight to gain the final, where Djokovic, from Serbia, beat Nadal, from Spain.
In case you missed it, the U.S. Open finished the 2011 season of majors last Monday, and once again Djokovic, now ranked No. 1 in the world, had to face Federer in the semifinals. Again Federer won the first two sets. And again, incredibly, Djokovic won the third, fourth and fifth sets to claim the match. That made it only two times in his career that Federer had won the first two sets and lost the match, and they were in the last two majors, against Djokovic.
That sent Djokovic, No. 1, against No. 2 Nadal in the final, and it was a repeat of Wimbledon. Djokovic won the first two sets, lost the third, then won the fourth to claim his third of four majors this year. Once again, Nadal played well enough to beat Federer or anybody else on the tennis tour, but it wasn’t good enough to beat Djokovic. Djokovic’s record for the year is 34-2, which analyst John McEnroe said was probably the most incredible season any tennis player has ever had.
ROY WAS NEVER A STAR
The last time I saw Roy Niemi was in the Super One store on 60th Avenue East and Superior Street. Just a chance meeting, but, as usual, we stood and talked for long minutes, and then we went outside and talked for more minutes, in the parking lot. Roy had moved from Lakewood down into a house in Lester Park, and he suggested we should get together some time, just to sit around drinking coffee and talking about UMD sports. Or whatever.
I had known Roy since I was 5 years old, when my family moved to Lakewood. He was a few years older, and he was always a big, tough character, but always possessing a ready laugh, as well.
Before that, I saw him at Amsoil Arena, where he was down on the floor of the arena for UMD’s big celebration after returning home with its first-ever NCAA Division I men’s hockey championship. Roy was sitting there with Mayor Don Ness, discussing what a great season it had been.
As an athlete, Roy Niemi was never a big star, but he was tough and willing, which made him an important football player, at Duluth Central and at UMD. He may not have been a star, but he was something of a legend to the younger kids, myself included.
There was the time he was goofing off in the ditch alongside the Lakewood Road, back when it was gravel all the way up. They used to make sure the road was as smooth as it could be by occasionally grading it, with, of course, a road grader. It used to be high adventure, as a young kid, to run out by the road and watch this massive grader, looking like an immensely oversized but earthbound dragonfly rolling along on those giant, heavy-lugged tires. The inevitable happened, and the grader ran over Roy Niemi. He not only lived through it, he seemed to recover fully and gain in stature for having taken on and whipped a giant piece of machinery.
He also was one of the many who went swimming in Lester River, down by the railroad bridge. He made a dive, where it was too shallow, and he struck his head on a huge boulder just below the surface. The impact broke his neck, but he recovered. He had to spend most of a year wearing a giant protective headgear while his neck healed, but again, he overcame it and again proved his invincibility to us all.
Since he retired, I’d see him at various UMD sports events. He was always an avid booster, and every time we’d have an enjoyable time dissecting the game.
So it was with considerable shock, and pain, that I returned from Oregon and learned that health problems had proven relentless, and Roy Niemi died, late last week, in a Duluth hospital.
UMD jolted by opening Gopher sweep
By John Gilbert
Nobody seemed to realize it until UMD coach Scott Sandelin mentioned it in the euphoria that followed UMD’s NCAA championship victory against Michigan last April, but UMD was the only WCHA team that made it all the way through last season without losing two games in a row.
It was an interesting statistic, because UMD had gone 2-4-2 down the homestretch to drop to fifth place, before saving its season so gloriously in the NCAA tournament, so what the Bulldogs had done at any time during the regular season meant nothing once the tournament started. So maybe this season, Sandelin again will get the chance to hold up a piece of tournament hardware, and nobody will recall that UMD has lost three straight games and we’re only four games into the season.
Before the season started, one of my predictions was that with top-ranked Notre Dame and a vastly improved Minnesota opening the season the first two weekends at Amsoil, the Bulldogs could play very well and be 0-4. Well, they have played very well, and they’re 1-3.
The Gopher series lived up to all the hype of being Duluth’s top sports attraction, this year or any year. The first game drew 6,751 to Amsoil, and the Gophers won 5-4 in overtime; the second game drew 6,784 — an all-time record to watch UMD play hockey in Duluth — and again the Gophers prevailed, also by 5-4.
Without question, if the Bulldogs play the same two games, at the same intensity and with the same number of scoring chances, they would sweep most series, and split the rest. But last weekend, whenever the Bulldogs got a break to go their way, the Gophers seemed to come back and get a bigger break.
Freshman Kyle Rau squeezed the puck in for one of his three goals in Minnesota's 5-4 first-game victory over UMD.
The Gophers appear to be headed for a return to WCHA prominence, and if they do, it will be because of their younger players. In the first game, sophomore Erik Haula scored twice, as did freshman Kyle Rau, who was last seen diving to the ice to bunt in the overtime game-winning goal to break Duluth hockey hearts by lifting Eden Prairie to victory over Duluth East. Meanwhile Nate Condon, another sophomore, came up with the game-winner in overtime to snuff the Bulldogs in last Friday’s series opener.
UMD freshman Caleb Herbert leaped to celebrate his goal against Minnesota.
“It means everything,†said Condon. “It’s our first conference match-up, and to come here and win especially, against Duluth, the top team.â€
At the same time, UMD’s young players also jumped into the spotlight. Trailing 2-0, freshman Caleb Herbert made a spectacular rush to cut inside defenseman Ben Marshall and put a neat backhand in past goaltender Kent Patterson an instant before leaping for glee at the crease. Senior Travis Oleksuk, old reliable, scored in both games. Late in a speedy third period, Justin Crandall, another UMD freshman, scored a huge goal to give UMD its first lead of the game, at 4-3 with 2:00 remaining. The Bulldogs had their break, and they rallied in front of goaltender Kenny Reiter, but the Gophers had a couple more breaks up their sleeve. During a scuffle in front, Haula got his stick on the puck and it glanced in off a defenseman’s skate to tie the game with 0:45 remaining in regulation. Then Condon came off the bench and raced to the net to whack Taylor Matson’s bounced pass out of the air to win the game with 56.7 seconds left in overtime.
UMD outshot Minnesota 50-44, but the Bulldog power play was a decent 1-5 while the Gopher power play connected on 3-6. The Bulldogs played well enough to win, and could well have won, but giving up the tying goal in the last minute of regulation and the winning goal in the last minute of regulation left the sting reality that last season is officially over.
The next night, UMD turned up the intensity, outshooting Minnesota 50-16, but found themselves out of breaks and apparently out of the game after seeing a 2-0 lead dissolve into a 5-2 deficit. Oleksuk and Jack Connolly, the two go-to senior guns up front, staked the Bulldogs to their early lead. But Minnesota senior Jake Hansen and Condon scored goals on the third and fourth Gopher shots of the first period, gaining a 2-2 deadlock, even though UMD outshot the Gophers 18-4.
UMD defenseman Chris Casto dived into the net, after inavertently knocking in a Gopher goal credited to Nate Condon.
Condon said his teammates heckled him after the period for having “one goal and no shots,†because his shot off the end glass bounced crazily to the crease, and UMD freshman defenseman Chris Casto inadvertently knocked it past Reiter and into the goal. Casto dived in after it, but too late.
In the second period, big Scott Bjugstad swiped the puck and scored on a breakaway to make it three straight goals on three shots, Condon scored his third goal of the weekend to make it 4-2, at a point when UMD held a 27-7 edge in shots.
Midway through the third period, Rau scored his third goal of the weekend for a 5-2 Minnesota lead. It seemed like one of those games where UMD would get all the shots but the Gophers would get all the goals. But Herbert, the former Bloomington Jefferson star who had scored to get UMD untracked Friday, came up with a huge goal with 8:22 remaining to cut the UMD deficit to 5-3. And J.T. Brown cleanly intercepted a careless Gopher outlet pass and moved in to beat goaltender Kent Patterson with 5:05 left. Plenty of time for a closing rally, and the Dogs did rally, outshooting Minnesota 20-6 in the final period, but the Bulldogs were unable to get one more break, and were unable to score again, falling 5-4. UMD was 1-6 on power plays, and Minnesota 3-3. For the game, UMD outshot Minnesota 50-16, making it 100-60 for the weekend. And 0-2.
It’s going to take a little time to get everybody up to the same rhythm, but UMD’s effort was outstanding. This weekend, the Bulldogs are off to Providence and Minnesota goes home to play Vermont, in a pair of nonconference match-ups. Then it’s back to the WCHA chase, where Minnesota isn’t the only surprise. Michigan Tech, if you didn’t notice, swept Wisconsin 2-1 and 3-2 in a pair of overtime thrillers, indicating a wild race ahead. The Bulldogs have no need to panic, just the need to get their speedy attackers into a better rhythm of working together and scoring a little on the power play.
Meanwhile, UMD’s women open WCHA play at Amsoil against No. 1 Wisconsin, which split a rousing series against Minnesota in Madison last weekend. There hasn’t yet been a game in 12 years between Wisconsin and UMD that wasn’t of playoff championship quality, and this weekend’s series could be more of the same.
UMD’s football team caught a break last weekend when Wayne State was upset, opening up a clear shot at another Northern Sun title for the once-beaten Bulldogs. But not without some hard work and consistency, which they will display against Northern State in Saturday’s 1 p.m. homecoming game.
HIGH RISK OF SPORTS
In and around the Gopher-Bulldog hockey series, it was exciting to watch Texas finish off Detroit in the American League playoffs, while St. Louis was simply the better team in beating Milwaukee, when the Brewers picked an inopportune time to come completely unglued with a comedy of errors allowing the Cardinals to beat them and waltz into the World Series. Texas and St. Louis should put on a great World Series. We’ll see.
In the NFL, the Vikings had a horrendous night, again, this time against Chicago in a devastating 39-10 setback. At 1-5, rookie Christian Ponder will replace Donovan McNabb at quarterback, and since this seems to be the year of emerging young quarterbacks in the NFL, we shouldn’t have been surprised that Ponder looked so impressive in brief duty in the fourth quarter at Chicago. Nor should we be surprised if he breathes new life into the otherwise talented Vikings this weekend. The unbeaten and apparently invincible Green Bay Packers come to the Metrodome to face the Vikings, and nobody with a sound mind would pick the stumbling Vikings to beat Aaron Rodgers and the slick Packers. But I think the timing might be perfect for the Vikings to take a spirited run at them. Sure, the Packers could destroy the Vikings by six touchdowns, but watch out for Ponder to lead the Vikings to a belated come-together game and possibly the biggest upset of the season.
As for the Gophers, I do not anticipate anything resembling an upset against Nebraska on Saturday. I’m not sure Nebraska is a super-power, but the Gophers seem to self-destruct against mediocre teams, and even if they play their best game of the season I can’t foresee them giving the Huskers anything resembling a challenge.
BIGGEST RISK OF ALL
While watching all the games last weekend, the sobering realization clicked once again that hockey teams, football teams, and baseball teams all can win and lose, but there can be nothing that puts into proper perspective how those are just games than to see the ultimate risk faced by race drivers in the high-speed world of the IRL. You must have seen the season finale at Las Vegas on Sunday, or maybe you saw downtime during the two hours while track officials tried to clear up the debris from a 15-car mass mayhem crash going into Turn 2 on the high-banked oval.
Finally, the worst news came. Race driver Dan Wheldon had died of injuries in the crash.
Every time an athlete dies, with a disproportionate number of them being race drivers, everybody talks about what a great guy he was. In Wheldon’s case, it was true. The 33-year-old Englishman with the ready smile was an outstanding driver, and his situation tells a lot about where high-buck, open-wheel racing is right now. The IRL isn’t close to Formula 1 for exotic cars and exotic places to race, but Formula 1 displays its excellence on the greatest road-race courses of the world. The IRL runs on some road courses but also runs on some ovals, with the most significant being the Indianapolis 500.
But the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a 2.5 mile oval with long straightaways and barely any banking in the four corners. The other ovals in the U.S., such as at Las Vegas, are higher banked in order to contain the popular big NASCAR stock cars. IRL cars can run at speeds up to about 225 miles per hour, and because this was the final race for the season, promoters were trying to lure as many drivers as possible.
They ended up with 34 drivers, one more than are spread out around Indy, and they would be piled together in a pack on only a 1.5-mile oval. They also would be going at incredible speeds because of the banking, which reduces the need, or the inclination, to lift off the throttle.
But here’s the harsh reality. Those promoting IRL races are desperate because crowds have fallen off in tough economic times. NASCAR writers claim that IRL fans turn to NASCAR, but I don’t believe that. There are still few similarities between the two. At any rate, as a final lure to attract media attention, promoters offered a bonus of $5 million to any IRL driver who didn’t have a regular full-season ride, if that driver would agree to start last in the field and try to win. A fan was selected who would split the prize, $2.5 million each.
Dan Wheldon won the 2005 Indianapolis 500, which is best remembered as the first Indy that Danica Patrick raced in. I was sitting near Turn 1 and watched as Patrick captured the fancy of 400,000 race fans by moving into the lead with only a few laps left, but her gamble on making it on her final drops of fuel fell short by just a couple of laps, and Wheldon sped past her to win the race.
Wheldon didn’t have the financial backing to get a full season contract this year, but he did put together a one-time deal for Indy, and won what had to be a spectacularly satisfying second 500 this past May, gaining the lead late when an inexperienced driver made a late mistake and yielded the lead.
Because he didn’t have a full-season ride, Wheldon jumped at the chance to put together a deal and try to go from last to first in the Las Vegas final. While many other drivers, and Wheldon, were outspoken in their criticism of the speeds of the cars on the smooth, high-banked, short oval track, and the inexperience of some entries. The cars were certain to bunch up, and as they reached 225 in a pack, any slight mistake would be compounded with the inability to react in such heavy traffic.
Several drivers, including Franchitti and Patrick, said they tried to race over the first few laps, then backed off and dropped to the lower part of the track, because it was too risky to try to run with the over-aggressive inexperienced drivers. But Dan Wheldon didn’t back off, because he had too much riding on his outcome. He started 34th, and wove his way up through the back-markers, passing 10 cars on the first 12 laps.
He had no way of knowing what was about to happen in the cluster of cars running just ahead. One driver seemed to get slightly out of shape, and his wing touched another car’s rear tire. When that happens, one of the cars might go out of control, but the other is likely to be vaulted upward. Several cars spun and slammed into the outer wall. Several had nowhere to go when spinning, swerving cars abruptly appeared directly in their path at over 200 mph.
Fireballs were everywhere as cars hit other cars and some hit the outer wall, with at least two of them flipping. Just about at that instant, Wheldon’s car sailed into the mess. With the entire track clogged with spinning, crashing cars, Wheldon’s No. 77 struck a spinning car and went airborne. It flipped and cartwheeled to the outside, and it appeared his car was too high to hit the padded outer wall and directly struck the catch fence above it — cockpit first.
All the other drivers were checked and all of them knew that Dan Wheldon was in the most precarious situation. All expressed the fervent hope he would be OK, as he was airlifted by helicopter to a Las Vegas hospital. Two hours later, the grim news came out. One of the most charming and engaging personalities on the circuit, and an excellent race driver, had lost his life. The drivers insisted the race be terminated, and the 19 remaining cars formed up in rows of three and drove five slow laps as a tribute to their fallen friend.
I thought it was one of the most moving things I’ve seen, and when “Amazing Grace†was played over the loudspeakers, it seemed appropriate — far more appropriate than an earlier rendition of “Danny Boy†that proved that, indeed, they were in Las Vegas, and show business was still out there.
Everyone has expressed all the grief that is felt throughout auto racing, and the usual complaints about speeds being too fast, and tracks accommodating too much speed. They are right, of course. So is the suggestion that IRL cars should race on road courses rather than short ovals.
But to me, the most unforgivable element of a tragic day in sports was the sickening, show-biz style promotion of coaxing someone to risk it all and try a virtually impossible charge from last to first for the whopping lure of $5 million. It was extra incentive that was completely unnecessary and inappropriate in a high-speed sport like Indy Car racing — which, lest anyone forget, is already at the outer limits of being too high-risk.
Bulldogs look for new hockey success
By John Gilbert
Jack Connolly has been in too much of a hurry to stop and think about what UMD has accomplished during his time with the Bulldogs. But as the 2011-12 season began, there were a couple of lasting memories that were right near the surface of his consciousness.
First, he naturally recalls UMD’s first NCAA tournament championship, won last spring at Xcel Arena in St. Paul, when the Bulldogs beat Notre Dame 4-3 in the semifinals, then also beat Michigan 4-3, in overtime, for the title. His memories of Notre Dame are particularly significant, because that’s the team that will open UMD’s season Friday and Saturday at Amsoil Arena.
“Notre Dame plays a fast-paced game, and their two best players were freshmen,†said Connolly, after the Bulldogs opened with a 5-1 victory over Lakehead University from Thunder Bay. “They were a young team, and they return a lot of players, so we know we’ll get one of our toughest games right off. Fortunately, we came out on top when we played them at the tournament, and we’ll have to be ready to play our best against them.â€
Connolly also recalls his time as a freshman, when he came out of the USHL after his days of stardom at Marshall, and had to prove himself as a 5-foot-8 hustler in college hockey.
“As a freshman, you hear it a lot,†he said. “The seniors tell you to enjoy your time in college, because it goes quick. You don’t think about it much, but they were right.â€
That’s right, Connolly is a senior, and one of his biggest duties as captain will be to make sure the Bulldogs don’t spend too much time being full of themselves for their NCAA title run last season. “We have to be leaders and get the young guys headed in the right direction,†said Connolly, who always has been a leader by example on the ice.
Last season, Connolly centered Mike Connolly and Justin Fontaine on what was the nation’s top-scoring college line. Their play at full strength and on the power play was a vital factor in UMD’s success. Fontaine was senior, and signed with the Minnesota Wild. Mike Connolly, who was a junior, signed a pro offer from Anaheim. So Jack Connolly has new linemates for this season.
To start with, at least, he will play between fellow-senior Cody Danberg and sophomore J.T. Brown. Danberg injured his knee last season and was given the chance to return as a red-shirt senior this season. Brown had an impressive freshman season, capped by being named most valuable player at the Frozen Four. Brown sat out last weekend’s exhibition game for breaking team rules in an off-ice incident after last season. The line, however, shows great promise already, as does the second forward unit with Travis Oleksuk centering Dan DeLisle and Joe Basaraba.
Against Lakehead, a team that seemed more eager to run into UMD players and make the game ragged than to try to set up any shots — Connolly scored the first goal of the season on a power play, and after Lakehead tied it 1-1, Oleksuk set up a goal by Basaraba to end the first period, then scored power-play goals himself in the second and third. Adam Krause, a 6-foot-3 freshman from Hermantown, got his first collegiate goal to cap the victory. UMD outshot the Thunderwolves 28-9, and Lakehead’s ninth shot was a length-of-the-ice clearing try that happened to go on net.
Other impressive Bulldogs last weekend included David Grun, who ran over several foes with timely offensive-zone hits. And the goaltending appears a strong point, with Kenny Reiter and Aaron Crandall splitting the Lakehead game. Connolly, Danberg, Oleksuk, Grun, defensemen Brady Lamb and Scott Kishel, and Reiter are the seven seniors on the club.
After the severe test promised by Notre Dame next, the Bulldogs will welcome what is expected to be a much improved Minnesota team next week, making four playoff-quality games to start the regular season.
BULLDOGS FIND EXPLOSIVENESS
UMD football coach Bob Nielson said before last Saturday night’s game against Minnesota State-Moorhead that he thought this year’s Bulldogs would have to be a grind-it-out team, that may lack the offensive explosiveness of the past three seasons.
Then came Saturday night, and if you ask the visiting Dragons, UMD seemed plenty explosive. In what may have been the offense’s coming out party, the Bulldogs whipped MSU-Moorhead 49-21. Junior quqrterback Chase Vogler threw touchdown passes to Kris Olson and Joe Reichert in the first quarter, then threw another to Reichert in the second for a 21-0 halftime cushion.
The big question for UMD this season, however, is the running game, and who would step in as the big gun. After the top three running backs — all seniors — departed from the 15-0 championship run of a year ago, a trio of freshmen have filled in, and suddenly blossomed. The depth chart shows Austin Sikorski as first-team running back, Brian Lucas as second-team running back, and Zach Hulce as third-team.
Vogler, a dangerous runner when he’s not passing, was 17-21 for 204 yards and three touchdowns, and also ran seven times for 46 yards. Sikorski carried 12 times for 48 yards, and Lucas, who came in from the U.S. Army military prep school, carried 12 times for 112 yards and two touchdowns. In the second half, MSU-Moorhead kept rallying to threaten, and Nielson turned the offense over to hulce, who carried seven times for a game-leading 127 yards and a TD. Zach Zweifel, another freshman, playing wide receiver, caught six passes for 99 yards to lead a balanced group of eight receivers with at least one reception.
The Bulldogs miss the warm weekend weather in Duluth and travel to Winona for a game Saturday night, but they now stand 4-1 overall, and 3-1 in the Northern Sun. The Bulldog football team doesn’t return home until October 22, and by then the UMD volleyball team will have clinched the title and be aiming for national honors, while the UMD men and women will be well into their hockey season.
UMD WOMEN FACE BC
It has become traditional for UMD’s women to challenge for the WCHA and NCAA titles, and there are five NCAA banners waving from the rafters of Amsoil Arena to show for their first 11 years. But this year will be particularly challenging for the Bulldogs, who split two warm-up games with the Whitecaps, an amateur team comprised of former college standouts, last weekend. While the UMD men face Notre Dame at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, the UMD women have a serious opening series against a swift and potent Boston College team at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
The challenge this season is that three players from the Swedish National team who were coming to UMD have been sidetracked. Eligibility issues prevented two of them from coming, while the third, Erica Gromm, is still planning to come but was stricken with a food-borne ailment over the summer that has caused her to face a lengthy recovery and she may not come to UMD until midseason, at best.
The loss of three such promising freshmen was particularly noticeable last weekend, when star senior Haley Irwin missed the two Whitecap games, and Jessica Wong, UMD’s sparkplug defenseman, returned from an injury to play at partial speed Friday before sitting out Saturday.
Still, UMD managed to wear down and beat the experienced Whitecaps in the first game, when Audrey Cournoyer scored in the first minute of the second period to tie the game 1-1, and Pernilla Winberg came through for the overtime winner in a 2-1 battle. Winberg pounced on the puck in the crease to score after Katie Wilson’s shot from the left edge hit the far post and landed on the goal line with 45 seconds remaining in the 5-minute overtime.
“We had a lot of scoring chances, and we’ll have to learn to put them away,†said Winberg. “But we have a lot of new players, and we did OK. We’ll only get better.â€
UMD had to come back from a 1-0 deficit to win the first game, but Jenny Potter, former UMD star, Olympic standout, and mother of two, scored the first goal and Erin Cody the second, and when UMD came back for a 2-2 tie on goals by Wilson and freshman Jenna McParland, the Whitecaps responded with two goals 31 seconds apart late in the second period, and Cody, former Bemidji State star, got her second to make it 5-2 before the Bulldogs got Wilson’s second goal of the night in a 5-3 setback.
Wilson centering Cournoyer and Winberg looks like UMD’s top line, regardless of when Irwin returns. Wilson, who has spent three seasons being a strong player but in the shadows of some outstanding Swedish players, now gets the chance to step into a leadership role on the scoreboard as well as with her experience.
Goaltender Jennifer Harss, captain Kacy Ambroz, and defenseman Mariia Posa are the only seniors on the team. UMD outshot the Whitecaps 42-29 in the first game, but Sanya Sandahl, a Duluth Central grad who played at Cornell, was outstanding in goal.
Wilson said she knows the Bulldogs are in for a stiff test against Boston College. “The last time we played BC was in my freshman year,†Wilson said. “They’ve improved, and they went to the Frozen Four last year.â€
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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