DOT Line leads Fighting Sioux to sweep of Gophers

Ryan Duncan, Jonathan Toews and T.J. Oshie of North Dakota are not related, but if they were, theyÂ’d be Siamese triplets. Joined at the heads and hands.

After three months of creating mostly questions, the best forward line in the nation is supplying the University of North Dakota hockey team with some good answers. If you happened to be inside Mariucci Arena last weekend, you realized this weekÂ’s WCHA Offensive Player of the Week should be the Duncan-Toews-Oshie line. Yes, itÂ’s possible to have co-winners of the award, so why not co-co-winners? It would make sense, because the top Fighting Sioux line is impossible to separate.

The three quick, and extremely skilled sophomores seem to read each otherÂ’s minds, and their hands simply react to share the puck with spectacular passes. Their play led North Dakota to resounding 5-3 and 7-3 victories at Minnesota, for a sweep over the No. 1 ranked Golden Gophers.

The Sioux are far more than just one line, of course, and they are quick to point to their teammates, and particularly goaltender Philippe Lamoureux for credit. But in the case of these guys, “just one line” is a misnomer. Maybe they should be called the “DOT” line – for Duncan-Oshie-Toews. It also works because if the Fighting Sioux are to make their familiar second-half surge to national puck prominence this season, all they need to do is sign on the Dotted Line.

In Friday’s 5-3 victory, North Dakota fell behind 2-0, then stunned the first of two standing-room-only crowds at Mariucci into silence by volleying five consecutive goals past Kellen Briggs. Of the five, the Dotted Line scored three of them, punctuated by five assists. On Saturday, when the Sioux shelled Jeff Frazee with three first-period goals, and then tormented Briggs some more with two more in both the second and third periods, the Dotted Line got four of them, with five more assists. For the weekend, then, the trio snapped passes around to leave their signature on 7 goals and 9 assists for 16 points. Duncan scored 4-3—7, Oshie 2-2—4, and Toews 1-4—5, with virtually every point a reward for some spectacular and inseparable passing plays.

Duncan now has scored 21 goals-15 assists—36 points for the season, and Oshie has 9-20—29, and Toews 7-18—25. Duncan’s totals are outstanding, and his 21 goals lead the nation, as do his 16 WCHA-game goals lead the league.

“They’re the best line I’ve seen,” said Minnesota coach Don Lucia. “If they play like this the rest of the season, they’ll all have 25 goals.”

Any other questions?

Well, yes. Where the heck has this line been all season? Going into the season, that line was the reason some observers thought the Fighting Sioux would win the WCHA title, even thought the coaches picked them only for third, behind Minnesota and defending NCAA champion Wisconsin. Their prolific output at Minnesota – which produced the first Fighting Sioux sweep at Minnesota since Feb. 15-16, 1980, but where have Oshie and Toews been, after remarkable freshman seasons? Why weren’t they scoring, when the Fighting Sioux followed up a strong 4-1-1 start in the WCHA by suffering through a painful 1-8 plunge that dropped them down below also-ran status, to a 5-9-1 league record that dropped them hopelessly out of contention, and out of any discussion for home-ice in the playoffs. About that time, Minnesota was on a nation’s best 22-game unbeaten streak to take command of the WCHA race.

The Gophers didn’t lose the nation’s No. 1 rank by splitting at Wisconsin, and then splitting against Denver. But suddenly, they didn’t bounce back from a Friday loss and were swept by North Dakota, which means the Golden Gophers have lost four of six to let Denver and St. Cloud State move back into contention. And, as if to supply yet another answer to whether the Fighting Sioux will be heard from this season, North Dakota has finally risen to 9-9-2 in the WCHA – even .500 – and is 6-0-1 for the longest current unbeaten streak in the nation.

As for the magical DOT line, all three are strikingly different, although they share a basic humility as easily as they share the puck. Duncan, who is from Calgary and played at Salmon Arm in the British Columbia Junior League, is 5-foot-6 and 158 pounds. After the Saturday game, a Twin Cities reporter, perhaps baiting him, asked Duncan if he thought the Gophers were over-rated. “I wouldn’t say they’re over-rated,” said Duncan. “I would say we had been under-achieving. We played well on other weekends, we just didn’t seem to get the breaks. These were a huge two wins for us. We came into a tough arena and won two big games.”

As for playing with Toews and Oshie, Duncan, who is a free agent, said: “It’s great. Those guys are first-round draft picks, and they’re going to make a lot of money some day.”

Oshie is a 6-foot, 188-pounder from Warroad, Minn., who was a first-round draft pick of the St. Louis Blues, and who scored 24-21—45 as a freshman last year, leading the nation with nine game-winning goals. He also agreed that the Gophers were far from over-rated. “They’ve earned it,” he said. And the Sioux?

“We came together on December 17, when Michigan Tech swept us,” said Oshie. “We realized right then we had to change what we were doing. No, I don’t think we were taking it easy because we had come on so strong at the end of last season. As the start, we just had nobody grinding. We were not playing with a lot of grit. We might have four going, instead of five, on a shift. Or two going instead of three.
“Maybe me and Jon [Toews] felt like we had to do too much. But this weekend will definitely help us out and be a springboard for us the rest of the way.”

Toews, who is 6-foot-2, 202-pounder from Winnipeg, was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks, and scored 22-17—39 as a freshman last season, as the Sioux reached the Frozen Four before losing a semifinal 6-5 thriller to Boston College. He helped beat Team USA in the recent World Junior Tournament when he scored three consecutive goals on a three-round shootout that decided a 2-1 victory for Canada.

“We lost five key players from last year’s team,” said Toews. “With those guys, it was easy for T.J., Ryan and me to fly under the radar a little. This year, we got off to a slow start by not doing the little things. Now, we’re doing them.

“I played better at the World Juniors than I had been. I got something like 4 goals and 2 assists,” Toews added. “When I got back, it was more of a mental thing for me. Obviously, your body is tired, but it’s such a mental boost, I was excited to get back. We played with a lot of confidence this weekend, and we’ve got to use this and keep playing the way we are. Our line is firing on the power play, and no one really worries who does what, because somebody will come through.”

To hear Oshie and Toews talk, they worked hard but just had a lot of bad luck the first half. Nice try, guys, but the shroud of trying to avoid any alibi and now be explained, because theyÂ’ve recovered, but Oshie and Toews were pretty much taken off their game while trying to play through serious injuries. Oshie was trying to grip his stick after suffering a broken thumb at the start of the season, Toews missed nine games overall, most of them with a shoulder injury, and he came back to play but wasnÂ’t 100 percent.

“They’ve all played that hard all season, but they haven’t had the rewards until last Saturday night,” said coach Dave Hakstol, referring to a game when North Dakota fell behind Bemidji State 2-0 before roaring back for a 6-3 victory.

Once Hakstol knew that his interrogator was aware of the seriousness of the Oshie and Toews injuries, he acknowledged that they had been severely hampered through the first half of the season. “Those guys compete every game,” said Hakstol. “But Toews and Oshie are just now getting back to 100 percent. It wasn’t like Toews had a great World Junior tournament because he got healthy – he didn’t get healthy until it was over. Their energy is back, both mentally and physically. But it was hard getting through those injuries.”

Getting the big line clicking again gives the Sioux a positive bottom line. Or, make it DOTted Line. When things started going their way, nothing could stop them. Saturday, for example, they came out flying, with freshman Darcy Zajac scoring on a swift counter-rush 2-on-1 with a short-side bullet at 6:16. Barely a minute later, Chay Genoway got the puck after turning back another Gopher rush, and after he carried into the Minnesota zone, the puck was poke-checked off his stick. But Toews arrived just in time to keep it in at the blue line, and fed Duncan, a left-hand shooter deep on the right, and DuncanÂ’s short-side goal made it 2-0.
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A very interesting byplay followed. Mike Howe of Minnesota broke hard for the net on a power play, lowered his shoulder and barreled into Lamoureux. Instead of a penalty, referee Jon Campion called Genoway for holding less than a minute later, and Erik Johnson scored for Minnesota on the two-man power play. Five minutes later, Ryan Stoa scored another power play goal, and then Howe boosted the Gophers to a 3-2 lead on yet another power-play goal. For the game, Minnesota had a 12-5 edge in power plays, and for the weekend series, it was 23-10. But compared to the first half of the season, that sort of adversity was nothing. Instead of being knocked flat, North Dakota bounced back. Literally.

Robbie Bina got the puck while killing yet another penalty with 1:13 remaining in the wild first period, and as he took a step across his own goal line, he flung a long clearing attempt on goal. The puck sailed down the ice, bounced twice, and, when goaltender Jeff Frazee dropped to his knees in the crease, it took a bad-hop and went over his shoulder and into the left edge – a 165-foot fluke goal, which tied the game 3-3. Lucia sent Kellen Briggs in to relieve Frazee for the second period, but the Fighting Sioux were flying again.

With Duncan deep on the right and Oshie deep on the left, the Sioux power play always seemed to have one — or both — open for the good-angle, off-hand shot. Duncan connected from deep on the right for a power-play goal at 11:29 of the second period to put North Dakota up 4-3, although nobody could know it would eventually stand up as the winner. Erik Fabian tucked in a wraparound on Briggs 24 seconds later, and the Sioux were up 5-3.

That left it to the third period, but Oshie, a right-handed shooter deep on the left, one-timed a Duncan pass for a power play goal at 5:13, and Oshie converted a highlight-film pass from Toews, with Duncan also assisting, to make it 7-3 midway through the period.

Lamoureux was solid in goal, the Sioux defense was hustling, everybody chipped in – and the Sioux signed off on the Dotted Line.

Gophers, Sioux, Huskies carry WCHA hopes into NCAA

The WCHA has high hopes for capturing its sixth consecutive NCAA hockey championship when the tournament begins this weekend, and Minnesota, North Dakota and St. Cloud State clearly stand as the best three teams in the league when it comes to accomplishing that feat.

Minnesota won the league and playoff championships, and is the No. 1 seed at the West Regional at Denver when the Golden Gophers (30-9-3) take on at-large challenger Air Force Academy (19-15-5) in Saturday’s match. North Dakota (22-13-5) the 3-2 overtime loser to Minnesota in the league Final Five title game, remains the hottest team in the WCHA, if not the country, and stands as favorite against Michigan (26-13-1) in the other West semifinal.

That is a colorful foursome. Minnesota coach Don Lucia and Air Force coach Frank Serratore are longtime close friends, dating back to when Lucia played high school hockey at Grand Rapids, and Serratore tended goal for Greenway of Coleraine, seven miles to the east. Their wives, Joyce Lucia and Carol Serratore, are extremely close friends and will sit together while their husbands’ teams battle on the Denver ice below. Lucia’s son, Tony, plays for the Gophers, while the Serratore family includes twin boys, Tom and Tim, who are solid 16-year-old prospects.

Also, North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol, who is attempting to lead the Fighting Sioux to their third straight Frozen Four, was a defenseman and captain of the Minnesota Moose in the International League when Serratore was their coach. That’s a tight clique for Michigan coach Red Berenson to try to break through.

St. Cloud State (22-10-7), meanwhile, made a strong run at Minnesota in the league stretch-run, then got worn down a bit in playoffs, concluding with two stinging losses in the Final Five. But the Huskies should have everything back in place in time for the East Regional at Rochester, N.Y., as No. 2 seed to take on Maine (21-14-2) in a Friday semifinal, while Clarkson (25-8-5) is No. 1 seeded and faces Massachusetts (20-12-5) in the other semi.

That leaves the Northeast regional at Manchester, N.H., where New Hampshire (26-10-2) is top seed and meets Miami of Ohio (23-13-4) in one Saturday semifinal, with No. 2 Boston College (26-11-1) meeting St. Lawrence (23-13-2) in the other, and the Midwest Regional at Grand Rapids, Mich. which opens with Friday night semifinals pitting No. 1 Notre Dame (31-6-3) against Alabama-Huntsville (13-19-3), and No. 2 Boston University (26-11-1) against Michigan State (22-13-3) in the other.

What’s wrong with that picture?

Nothing is wrong, it would seem, for the teams that made it. Except for the unfortunate setting that finds that if Minnesota and North Dakota both win semifinal games, they would meet each other to recreate the classic battle they waged in the WCHA Final Five championship game with only the winner advancing to the Frozen Four in St. Louis two weeks later. Too bad, if that happens, that such a time-capsule match couldn’t be played on the larger stage of a potential national championship showdown.

It’s true that St. Cloud State ranks on paper as favorite against a very good Maine team, and the Huskies did whip top-seeded Clarkson, from the ECAC, in a 4-0, 7-2 series in November, that could give the WCHA two spots in the Frozen Four. The Huskies had a rugged three-game test before ousting Minnesota-Duluth in three overtimes, which may have left them drained during two hotly contested games against North Dakota and Wisconsin at the Final Five.

Wisconsin, by winning two of three games at the Final Five, was too good too late to be considered as a team worthy of defending its NCAA championship. “I know there’s a lot of No,. 1 seeds relieved that they don’t have to play the defending NCAA champs, with that goaltender (Brian Elliott) and the way they’re playing right now,” said Minnesota coach Don Lucia, noting that the Badgers finished with an 8-3-2 flourish.

So after such a hotly contested season, only three survivors move on, and both Minnesota and North Dakota will be pulling for St. Cloud State to make it, and undoubtedly, if the Gophers and Fighting Sioux meet again, whichever one doesn’t win will grudgingly hope its conqueror will go on to bring more fame to the WCHA.

There’s always the chance for a potential NCAA final between St. Cloud State, with star goaltender Bobby Goepfert and a team-oriented attack led by Andreas Nodl and Andrew Gordon, and either Minnesota, behind the freshman duo of Kyle Okposo and Jay Barriball and the suddenly hot Blake Wheeler, or North Dakota, with its fabulous first line of Jonathan Toews centering T.J. Oshie and player-of-the-year Ryan Duncan.

But that’s far off. For now, the three tournament teams can set aside the fact that the WCHA’s intensely competitive season hurt the league when it came to the NCAA selection committee’s criteria. The case could be made that Denver, Michigan Tech, Colorado College, and late-charging Wisconsin could have been strong NCAA tournament entries.

As strong as that argument is, consider that Hockey East has five teams in the 16-team NCAA field, with New Hampshire and Boston College favored to meet in the Northeast final, Maine and Massachusetts getting half the chances in the East, and Boston University standing as a strong threat as No. 2 seed in the Midwest.

And the CCHA has four teams in the field, with No. 1 ranked Notre Dame and No. 3 seed Michigan State good shots at meeting in the Midwest final, while Michigan could overthrow the WCHA in the West Regional, and Miami is a long-shot, but could prove tough, in the Northeast.

Only the ECAC, with Clarkson in the East and St. Lawrence in the Northeast, has fewer than the WCHA’s three entries, once the mandatory selections of the Atlantic Hockey winner (Air Force) and the College Hockey America tournament winner (Alabama-Huntsville) were selected. Their selections bumped Denver, Michigan Tech, and other WCHA candidates out of the field.

Moreover, there is the suspicion that the selection committee is still stung by the fact that the Frozen Four two years ago was comprised of four WCHA teams at Columbus, Ohio, which was great for WCHA bragging rights, but didn’t do much to spread the wealth of college hockey beyond its cult-following level in the NCAA’s view.

Nobody expects the NCAA committee, or its computerized selection process, from doing any favors for the WCHA — although another case could be made that winning five straight championships might deserve extra merit — but it also doesn’t seem fair to punish the WCHA for its excellence. After all, when the WCHA foursome all reached the Frozen Four two years ago, all four of them had to win two tough regional games to earn their places.

This season, the WCHA teams compiled a 51-22-6 record against nonconference opponents. Minnesota was 8-1, including victories over Michigan (8-2), Michigan State, and Alabama-Huntsville, and a season-opening loss to Maine. St. Cloud State was 6-0, including the two victories over Clarkson, North Dakota was 6-2, including a victory over St. Lawrence, and two October losses against Maine.

While limiting the WCHA to three teams may seem an injustice, a greater injustice might be to put Minnesota, ranked No. 2 behind Notre Dame in the country, and No. 1 in the Pairwise computer rankings, and North Dakota, a team that rose from an injury-hampered first half to lose only twice in 21 games since Christmas (15-2-4) before falling 3-2 to Minnesota in the league playoff final, into the same regional.

It would have been easy to place North Dakota in the Midwest, or the Northeast, for that matter. In fact, in any season, the best and possibly only way to measure if one league has an edge over the others would be to disperse its teams to as many different regionals as possible. And it would only seem fair that since Hockey East, which last won the title six years ago, and the CCHA, which last won nine years ago, both have the chance to win three of the four regions, the WCHA should have a similar opportunity.

Did we mention that the WCHA might deserve more respect than to have its top team and its hottest team clash in the same regional? To recount, the WCHA has won the last five NCAA championships in a row, six of the last seven, and seven of the last 10…But now it seems the NCAA’s selection process is penalizing the WCHA for its success.

Gophers, Denver split may foretell playoff showdown

The WCHA Final Five is a couple of months away, and the NCAA tournament is farther still, but Minnesota and Denver already have given a fair approximation of the potential such future clashes could hold, if the Gophers and Pioneers happen to run into each other in such pivotal settings.

Great goaltending, tough defenses, and dangerously quick forwards make both teams formidable, and are the reasons both are at the top of the WCHA standings. Of course, Minnesota still has a stranglehold on the MacNaughton Cup chase with 10 games remaining, because at 13-2-3, the Golden Gophers had 29 points and Denver, at 10-6-2, had 22. It would take a Minnesota collapse for Denver to catch up, and then thereÂ’s St. Cloud State, intervening at 10-4-4 for 24 points.

“I don’t think we’ve even talked about the league championship,” said Denver coach George Gwozdecky. “One of the reasons is that in the ’01-02 season, we put so much emphasis on it, it sapped a lot of our gas.”

True, the 2001-02 Denver team might have been the most powerful in Gwozdecky’s regime, but as top seed, it was upset by bottom-seeded Michigan, in a West Regional at Ann Arbor, and Minnesota – guess who? – went on to win its first of two straight NCAA titles. Denver, reducing emphasis on the league chase, won the next two NCAA titles, before Wisconsin won last year. So Denver and Minnesota, winners of four of the last five NCAA crowns, have a history.

All of that put further emphasis on their series at Mariucci Arena January 19-20. It was the only meeting between the two, and as luck would have it in this seemingly Golden Gopher season, the games were in Minneapolis. The Gophers – who had just had a 22-game overall unbeaten streak snapped – held a 21-game home unbeaten streak (17-0-4) at Mariucci Arena, and Denver hadn’t won a game there since November of 2003.

Both teams had lost mightily after last season, with Hobey Baker winner Matt Carle departing DenverÂ’s defense and Paul Stastny doing the same to the Pioneers top line to sign a pro contract, just as Minnesota had lost ace forwards Ryan Potulny, Phil Kessel, and Danny Irmen. In the exchange, Denver has struggled to score, except for junior Ryan Dingle and freshmen Brock Trotter and Tyler Ruegsegger, while MinnesotaÂ’s potent incoming freshmen like Kyle Okposo and Jay Barriball have reinforced returning scorers like Blake Wheeler and Ben Gordon, while defenseman Alex Goligoski has triggered much of the offense.

Bolstered by rock-solid play from senior captain Mike Vannelli and juniors Goligoski and junior Derek Peltier, freshmen Erik Johnson (6-foot-4) and David Fischer (6-foot-3) have added clout to the defense. The result has been solid protection that has made senior Kellen Briggs and sophomore Jeff Frazee look almost unbeatable in goal. Their fantastic statistics led one Twin Cities newspaper to preface the series with a huge feature on how Minnesota might boast the best goaltending tandem in the nation – overlooking the detail that Denver’s senior Glenn Fisher and junior Peter Mannino aren’t exactly chopped liver, and they have two (count ’em, 2) NCAA trophies to prove it.

Gwozdecky smirked his familiar smirk about that piece before the first game, while Fisher claimed he hadnÂ’t been aware of it. Nonetheless, the Gophers and a standing-room throng of 10,119 quickly became aware of FisherÂ’s ability when he went out and stopped all 31 Minnesota shots for a stunning 1-0 shutout against Briggs. The result left both with sparkling .935 save percentage marks for the season, with FisherÂ’s 1.92 goals-against record just a tad behind BriggsÂ’s 1.72 mark.

The only goal of the game came midway through the second period of a tense, scoreless duel, when freshman defenseman Keith Seabrook blasted a shot from the blue line that Geoff Paukovich deflected artfully past Briggs, who came up with the other 22 Denver shots. That goal came on a power play that had been whistled when Minnesota freshman Jim OÂ’Brien sprinted in from the right side, veered through the crease while Fisher was focused on the puck on the left side, and OÂ’Brien caught Fisher with a blind-side elbow to the facemask. FisherÂ’s head snapped back, and he dropped to the ice. Referee Todd Anderson immediately called OÂ’Brien for goaltender interference at 8:58, and the goal came at 10:04.

It was clear by video replays in the press box, also viewed by referee supervisor Greg Shepherd, that there was a clear impact, which may have been embellished by Fisher, but that didn’t prevent further intrigue for the rest of the weekend. Later, for example, a Gopher television interviewer shouted a few things at Anderson, and in the following week he was summarily dismissed by Fox Sports North. A Minneapolis Star Tribune account of the game inexplicably said replays showed there was no contact, and quoted Gopher coach Don Lucia as saying he had seen “the whiff,” and claimed Fisher could have been penalized for taking a dive.

Fisher, calmly facing a herd of reporters after the game, said: “He caught me with his elbow. It may not have looked bad from upstairs, but I was watching the puck, and you don’t expect to get hit in there [the crease].”

A few other goaltenders around the WCHA might have suggested to Fisher that he should be anticipating that the Gophers, who are the best in the league at going to the net with abandon, seem to occasionally let their trajectory and velocity carry through the crease. But both goaltenders had great saves to reflect on.

Briggs came up with an enormous save midway through the third period, when Dingle, an elusive, 18-goal scoring centerman, got a breakaway. “The puck rolled on me just a little,” said Dingle. “And Briggs saw that and made a great play.”

Fisher stymied a Gordon breakaway in the first period (“He faked to his backhand, and tried to go 5-hole,” Fisher said), but made his best save to end the game, although he didn’t appear to be credited with a save. He had blocked a shot in heavy traffic, when the 6-foot-4 Wheeler – who might be the best in the league at planting his body at the edge of the crease to be in position for tips and rebounds and also blocking the goaltender’s field of view – was wide open just to the right of the net. The rebound went right to Wheeler, who had to wait for the puck to settle to the ice. That gave Fisher a chance to dive across, and defenseman Andrew Thomas dived across behind him in the crease. Wheeler shot, and it appeared Fisher’s thrusted stick deflected the shot up and over the goal with the final second ticking off the clock. The shot chart on the scoreboard didn’t change, as the statistician apparently thought Wheeler simply shot two feet over the net from point-blank range.

“Yeah, I got my stick on it to deflect it,” said Fisher. “I had an extra second to get across, so we got lucky. I don’t think about shutouts, but when we played Lowell, they got a goal with 4.3 seconds left to ruin a shutout, and I thought of that at the end.”

Lucia said: “We had some good scoring chances, and it was a hard-fought game with a lot of 1-on-1 battles. But we had 10 freshman or sophomore forwards out there, and when you play good teams with good goaltenders, you’re going to have games like that.”

Denver, of course, also had 10 freshman or sophomore skaters in the lineup, and MinnesotaÂ’s freshmen (Okposo, Barriball) and sophomores (Wheeler, Ryan Stoa) are its scoring leaders.

The most prophetic line after the 1-0 opener was by Gwozdecky. “Those were two pretty good heavyweights going at it tonight,” the Denver coach said. “Early on, and late in the game, we got bottled up a little, but we beat a very good team in their building. Briggs and Frazee have been outstanding all season, and their numbers and results speak for themselves. But would I trade Fisher and Mannino for them? No.”

On to Game 2, and some REAL fireworks. Frazee went to the Minnesota nets, and Fisher played again, because Mannino, who has by far the best career save percentage of the four, at .920 over three years, including two NCAA title games, was still a notch away from being 100 percent recovered from a knee injury.

The second game was more of a goaltending nightmare than a duel, and the night belonged to Mike Vannelli, Minnesota’s soft-spoken senior defenseman and captain. Okposo scored his team-leading 15th goal in the first period for a 1-0 Minnesota lead at 5:42, and by then, Denver already had been whistled for four penalties and Minnesota five – setting a tone of animosity for the game. And especially for the opening period.

Tempers may have been ready to flare up, and if they needed a spark to ignite, it came at 15:45. Jim OÂ’Brien, the wayward kamikazee skater from Game 1, raced up the right side amid some traffic, but he broke free of a checker as he veered toward the net and crashed heavily, face-to-face, into Fisher. Gopher loyalists insisted that O’Brien was cross-checked into the crease, but replays showed he was clear of any contact and made no effort to alter his chosen course — as if the shortest distance to wherever he was going went through the crease.

If Fisher hadnÂ’t anticipated being run in the crease in the first game, he proved a quick learner, as he beat several teammates to jump on OÂ’Brien just as both teams engaged in a long and spirited tussle. While the officials struggled to pry bodies apart in the crease, the most punches were being thrown out in the faceoff circle, where MinnesotaÂ’s Ben Gordon and DenverÂ’s J.P. Testwuide grappled, then fell to the ice, with Testwuide winding up on top and hurling enough punches for a TKO.

Testwuide and Gordon got fighting majors, and while a couple others got misconducts, OÂ’Brien got a charging penalty, and Fisher was penalized for slashing. For the game, Minnesota had 19 penalties for 60 minutes and Denver 18 penalties for 55 minutes, and the impact on the game was that Denver went 3-for-9 and Minnesota 2-for-7 on power plays. But the 1-0 goaltending duel flared into scoring bursts in the second period.

Justin Bostrom tipped freshman defenseman David FischerÂ’s screened point shot past Fisher at 6:58 of the second for a 2-0 Minnesota lead. Thirty-one seconds later, as a delayed penalty was signaled against Denver, Vannelli moved in from center point, deking around one defender, then firing a shot that was blocked by diving defenseman Chris Butler. Vannelli retrieved the blocked puck and stepped to his right, firing again to hit the upper right corner from 15 feet for a 3-0 Gopher bulge.

Brock Trotter got one back for the Pioneers just 19 seconds after that, backhanding in a rebound at the right edge of the crease, his 12th of the season, to make it a three-goal flurry in a 52-second span of the game. Five minutes later, SeabrookÂ’s power-play shot from the left point hit Frazee and trickled through to cut it to 3-2.

Before the second period ended, Minnesota went on a two-man power play, and Vannelli moved in from the right point and fired a shot into the left edge of the net, with the shot glancing off a defender to get past a screened Fisher at 17:46. Still on the power play, Vannelli moved to center point and blasted a long one-timer past the screened Fisher at 18:22.

Hats came sailing out of the packed Mariucci Arena stands for the hat trick, which was rare for a defenseman, if not for a Vannelli. MikeÂ’s dad, Tommy Vannelli, was a star center on two Minnesota NCAA championship teams under Herb Brooks back in 1974 and 1976.

With the three-goal lead restored at 5-2, the Gophers seemed in full control. But Chris Butler scored on a power play with four seconds left in the second period to bring Denver back to 5-3.
When the Gopher cheerleaders came out to do their customary formations prior to the third period, they all wore baseball caps selected from the large assortment that had been cleared off the ice for VannelliÂ’s hat trick.

Midway through the third period, any Gopher celebrating was traded for tension, as Geoff Paukovich scored from the left side for another power-play goal, and it was 5-4. Denver, which outshot the Gophers 45-36, couldnÂ’t come up with the equalizer, and the 5-4 score held for the split.
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“It was one of those games,” said Gwozdecky. “Both teams were a little testy at first, and there were times where the game was hanging on the brink of being a blowout. It was like two pretty good heavyweight fighters going at it.”

This time, the fighting analogy was even more appropriate. And it sounded as if the White House speech writer was handing scripts to both coaches.

“It was one of those games,” said Lucia. “It was probably entertaining for the fans, because it was two good teams that went hard, toe-to-toe, at each other.”

Vannelli said his last hat trick was “in Peewee or Bantam, I don’t know.” He deferred the usual questions about how youthful the Gophers are, with Vannelli and Briggs the only seniors.

“It’s unfair to put all the pressure on the freshmen to score,” said Vannelli, who singlehandedly relieved that pressure. “Our forwards were really working the puck down low, then got it up top to me. On my second goal, I saw the open left side and tried to hit it, and I think the puck glanced off one of their sticks. On the last one, I just tried to shoot as hard as I could.

“Denver is a great team, and they’ve won a couple of national championships recently. It was really a battle, both games were really physical. After last night, we could sense it would be a little intense tonight.”

Both coaches anticipate a possible meeting on down the road a ways. “They’re a terrific team,” Gwozdecky said of the Gophers. “We knew after being beaten, they’d come out like this, and play with more energy, just like every teamin this league does. There were positives for both teams to take from this series. Minnesota keeps their seven-point lead over us, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we run into them again, at the end of the season.”

Lucia said: “Denver has a good team, with third and fourth lines that are mature, big, strong checkers, good defense, and great goaltending. Will we see them again this year? I hope so. It was a good way for us to learn how hard we have to compete.”

Two heavyweights, slugging it out with skill, skating, defense, goaltending, and, occasionally, by slugging it out.

Gophers trip Badgers twice, grip No. 1 in WCHA, nation

MINNEAPOLIS, MN. — The University of Minnesota hockey teamÂ’s strong start through the first two months of the season has reached 6-0-2 atop the WCHA, and 10-1-2 atop the national ratings – so impressive that the only remaining person predict the likelihood that the Golden Gophers might falter isÂ…Golden Gophers coach Don Lucia.

Lucia is not a pessimist, but he realizes the unlikelihood of avoiding a slump all season. And heÂ’s painfully aware of what can happen if that flat spot comes too close to the end of the season.

It seemed unfair when the WCHA coaches picked Minnesota as preseason favorite, since it was clear the Golden Gophers would have to count on freshmen to fill the very large skates of players like Ryan Potulny, Phil Kessel, Gino Guyer and others. But so far, MinnesotaÂ’s freshmen have played a pivotal role, outplaying the best freshmen on every other WCHA team and helping Minnesota roar off to first place in the WCHA and the No. 1 rank in the nation.

Tyler Hirsch, returning from a redshirt year off, leads the team, and the WCHA, with 17 points in all games, and tied for second with 16 points are Gopher freshmen Kyle Okposo and Jay Barriball, both with 9-7—16, ahead of sophomore Blake Wheeler (7-7—14), junior Ben Gordon (5-9—14) and senior defenseman Alex Goligoski (4-9—13). The play of Okposo has been little short of spectacular, while Barriball has been an unexpected sparkplug.

“We’re not going to play nine freshmen and not have our ups and downs,” said Lucia. “We’ll go though a couple of weekends with some injuries or something, and my thought is that if we can just find a way to get points every weekend, we should be OK. We’ve been fortunate to catch teams when we have. We played Colorado College when they had a couple defensemen out, and Duluth was a little banged up when we played them, and Wisconsin was missing Jack Skille, and then got a couple more guys banged up against us in the first game.

“I think you’ll see our league have more compression, instead of separation,” Lucia added. “We haven’t seen Denver or North Dakota yet, and we know they’re both tough. Michigan Tech and Alaska-Anchorage are much better, and CC will be fine, and St. Cloud is in good shape right now. But while we’ve been fortunate when we’ve played teams, we’ve taken advantage, too, and put some points in the bank.”

So far, the Golden Gophers have faced good teams, bad teams, inexperienced teams, traditional rivals, and the defending NCAA champions, and theyÂ’ve done more than just take a point or two every weekend — they havenÂ’t lost a WCHA game. Their only loss this season was 3-1 against Maine in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame game at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul. Since then, the Gophers have put together the nationÂ’s longest undefeated streak (10-0-2).

Now, at 6-0-2 atop the WCHA, Lucia says he focuses on the “lost” column of the standings. That shows Denver is second at 5-2-1, North Dakota 4-3-1, and Colorado College 4-2, but while all of them are certainly within striking distance, that zero in Minnesota’s loss column looks larger and larger. The toughest games in that 12-game undefeated streak were a pair of ties, 5-5 and 3-3, against St. Cloud State, but the Golden Gophers came back from that to topple defending national champ and archrival Wisconsin 2-1 and 3-1. That sweep was a role reversal from a year ago, when Wisconsin came to Minnesota, swept the Gophers, and it seemed the Badgers were going to run away with the WCHA title.

“But look what happened last year,” said Lucia.

True, last season the Badgers lost All-America goaltender Brian Elliott, dropped into a slump for a few weeks, and Minnesota stormed past to win the league title and gain the No. 1 rank. However, at the end of the season, Wisconsin beat the Gophers 4-0 in the WCHA playoffs, and the Gophers never recovered, losing to Holy Cross in the NCAA regional, while Wisconsin got things back in order and went all the way to the NCAA title.

The Gophers are going so well right now that Lucia pulled star winger Tyler Hirsch out of the lineup against Wisconsin. Lucia said Hirsch had fallen behind in a couple of classes, and he not only has decided to tighten up his discipline this season, he wants to make sure he has Hirsch’s skills for the whole season. “When Tyler came back this year, I said I wanted two things,” said Lucia. “I want him to have a big year, and to graduate.”

Without Hirsch, the Gophers had to work harder to score, but, as usual, they scored just enough to sweep Wiscoonsin. They won 2-1 when Goligoski scored on a first-period power play, then Barriball made it 2-0 in the third period with a goal that looked more like a veteran than a freshman. Wheeler had skated up the right side and passed across the slot. As Elliott, WisconsinÂ’s ace goaltender, slid anticipating the shot, Barriball already had anticipated that move and had quickly rapped a backhand for the far side of the net to score.

“I’m not surprised by Kyle’s play, but Barriball is definitely a surprise,” said Lucia. “He was going to play at Sioux Falls in the USHL, and when Phil Kessel signed a pro contract, he came in. He’s tenacious around the net, and he’s got great hockey sense – the instincts about where to go, and the puck finds him. He also has a good shot, and he has that habit of scoring goals.”

BarriballÂ’s goal proved to be the first-game winner against Wisconsin, after Ross CarlsonÂ’s goal broke the shutout bid of senior goalie Kellen Briggs.
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The next night, Minnesota fell behind 1-0 on Ben StreetÂ’s deflected goal in the second period. In the third, Ryan Stoa tried to pass out front to Okposo, but the pass hit the back of ElliottÂ’s blocker and caromed into the net for the equalizer.

With 5:43 remaining, the winning goal was an all-freshman happening. Tony Lucia – the coach’s kid – played an outsnding shift, hustling and forechecking and circling to attack again. Amid the flurry, freshman defenseman Brian Schack got a shot away from inside the left point. Elliott blocked it, and it popped up. Minnesota’s Mike Carman went hard to the net, and it was impossible to tell whether Badger freshman John Mitchell shoved him into the crease or chased him there, but they both bumped into Elliott, who fell facing south, while the puck landed in the north end of the crease. Lucia, about 20 feet out from the cage, saw the congestion of bodies and zipped around to the right and made a headlong dive, poking the free puck as he slid to the end boards. It was his first goal, and it was a reward for an outstanding shift.

At the end of the game, Okposo fed Wheeler for an open-net goal, and the Gophers had a 3-1 victory for the sweep.

Sophomore Jeff Frazee tended goal in the second game, as Lucia – the dad – continued to alternate him with Briggs. In league play, both have 3-0-1 records, and Frazee has a 1.71 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage, while Briggs is 1.96, and .924.

Goaltending has been easier because of strong defensive play. Goligoski, a junior, pairs with senior Mike Vannelli, the captain, while junior Derek Peltier pairs with freshman Erik Johnson, the NHL’s No. 1 overall draft pick last summer. The third unit has a pair of freshmen, Brian Schack and David Fischer, but the rookie blueliners have been solid, rather than inconsistent, and their size – all three are over 6-foot-2 – lets them make up for any uncertainty with a dose of aggressiveness.

So far, everything has fallen into place so well, itÂ’s understandable that coach Lucia might be looking for a possible flat spot, and heÂ’d prefer it to come early enough for the Gophers to be able to rebound. Of course, thereÂ’s always a chance there wonÂ’t be any slump, but if there isnÂ’t, it will take coach Lucia until about a week into April to realize it.

Gophers trip UMD in OT, face Wisconsin for title

MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. — The University of Minnesota proved thereÂ’s no place like home Saturday, rising up to defeat favored Minnesota-Duluth 3-2 on sophomore Gigi MarvinÂ’s power-play goal in sudden-death overtime in the WomenÂ’s WCHA semifinals at Ridder Arena – the only facility of its kind built specifically for a womenÂ’s college hockey team.

The victory earned a spot in Sunday’s championship game against No.1 ranked Wisconsin, which blanked Ohio State 4-0 in the first semifinal at Ridder, and it also proved the Gophers were true to their insistence that they had been able to put out of their minds two thrashings – 7-1 and 5-1 – at the hands of UMD in Duluth two weeks ago. The victory also rekindles Minnesota’s hopes to reach the eight-team NCAA women’s hockey tournament field. The Gophers were No. 9, and UMD No. 7 going into the WCHA semifinals, and while the result may not drop the Bulldogs out of the top eight, it could lift the Gophers just enough to squeeze into the select field, which will be announced Sunday.

Of course, a victory for Minnesota (23-11-1) in today’s league playoff final would secure a spot, and that was what Gopher coach Laura Halldorson was focusing on. “We can only worry about playing Wisconsin,” said Halldorson. “We’re just really excited and proud, because we gave everything we had to win a tight game against Duluth. We’ve had great games in the past, a lot of them with much at stake, as there was in this one.

“Kim Hanlon was fantastic in goal, and getting on the board first was huge – a huge momentum boost. We’re going to have to do that against Wisconsin, too.”

UMD coach Shannon Miller said she was uncertain of her team’s security in the NCAA selection process. “You never know,” she said. “We were fairly solid in seventh coming in, and Boston College and Harvard both lost. We do have the strongest league in the country, so it would seem logical that we should have three teams in the field.”

Unlike the pivotal series which boosted UMD (22-10-4) into second place and dropped Minnesota to third, in which the Bulldogs jumped off to 5-0 leads through two periods both nights, Minnesota battled through the first period by outshooting UMD 9-6, and taking a 1-0 lead on the first goal, scored by senior Andrea Nichols on a power play in the last minute of the period. Anya Miller shot from center point, and when UMD freshman goaltender Kim Martin blocked it, Nichols smacked in the rebound from wide to the left of the goal.

The Bulldogs didnÂ’t exactly get the upper hand in the second period, being outshot 5-3 in the tight, defensive struggle, but they did tie the game at 4:12 on a power play of their own. Freshman Emmanuelle Blais carried deep on the right side, circled behind the net, and came all the way out to complete the circle at the top of the slot before firing toward the net. Saara Tuominen, another freshman, knocked it in.

Minnesota regained the lead at 2-1 at 12:39 of the middle period when sophomore defenseman Melanie Gagnon sent a harmless-looking shot on goal with Marvin screening in front. Martin appeared to have the shot under control, but it eluded her and trickled in, putting the Gophers up until the third period.

UMD senior Jessica Koizumi tied the game, sprawling to poke in the puck at 4:50 on another power play, and UMD rose up to take control of the game, outshooting the Gophers 14-3 in the third period, but unable to put anything else past Hanlon.

“There was a scramble, and I was falling,” said Koizumi, who is playing with a brace on an injured knee. “We want another chance. Our team has just gotten everybody back from injuries, and we’re just coming together. I’ve been in this position many times, and I’m crossing my fingers that we get into the NCAA tournament, because this is my last year, and I really think we’ve got a team that could win it.”

In the overtime, UMD senior defenseman Ashly Waggoner and a Gopher were scrapping for the puck and when the Gopher went down, referee Jay Mendel called Waggoner for tripping, at 0:52. The Gophers kept the pressure on after a corner faceoff, and Marvin scored at 1:08.

“I looked up, and saw an opening, and put it in,” said Marvin, who scored her 18th goal to tie Bobbi Ross for the team lead. “We’re high right now, we just won a big game against a great team, and we’re excited to play Wisconsin. We were very calm before the overtime, focused, and very confident.”

UMD coach Miller waited afterward to talk to Mendel. When asked about it, she said: “All I did was ask him whether it was proper to talk on the ice, or if we should go down in the corridor. We went off the ice. I asked him how he could make a call like that and not let the teams decide a game like that.”

Asked about the difference in the teams in the semifinal, compared with the two games two weeks ago in Duluth, Miller said: “They obviously played a lot better. You can’t come to Duluth and get spanked 7-1 and 5-1 and not come back and play with some fury. I was proud of our team, because we competed hard, and I thought we played our best when we outshot them 14-3 in the third period.”

Halldorson, meanwhile, said she decided to not mention that shot differential when the teams went off for resurfacing before the overtime. “I didn’t mention the shots, because the score was 2-2,” she said.

The third period gave UMD a 23-19 shot advantage for the tight contest. “After we played at Duluth, we just wanted to forget about it and finish strong,” said Hanlon. “We knew we were going to win.”
Hanlon was asked if she was as confident when a shot by Michaela Lanzl in the third period hit the left post and the ricochet went out through the crease behind her. “I guess I had my angle right,” she cracked.

Minnesota winger Erica McKenzie said: “Warming up, there was a weird vibe. We were calm, and people weren’t talking, but you could see it in everybody’s eyes – we were ready. I knew right when we got that power play, we were going to score and win the game. And then coach came down the bench and had some choice words for us.”
Halldorson clarified. “Wait a minute,” she said. “All I said was, ‘Would you guys please end this?’ And I’m glad Gigi took me up on it.”

BAUER, BADGERS WHIP OSU 4-0

ItÂ’s been a fantastic year for Ohio StateÂ’s womenÂ’s hockey program, and coach Jackie Barto credited a special crop of seniors for raising the Buckeyes to previously unattained heights. Unfortunately, the Buckeyes ran smack into the No. 1 rated Wisconsin Badgers, who stifled Ohio StateÂ’s offense and skated to a 4-0 victory that returns Wisconsin to the championship game. It wasnÂ’t like the Badgers overran the Buckeyes. They got a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by Jasmine Giles late in a very evenly played first period. But much as the Buckeyes tried after that, they were never able to sustain enough offensive pressure to puncture Jessie VetterÂ’s 22-save shutout at Ridder Arena.

When the media requested players to interview after the game, the Badger staff declined to call on captain Sara Bauer, their captain, the defending Patty Kazmaier Award winner, and the just-named repeat winner of the Women’s WCHA player of the year award. After all, she gets interviewed all the time, and she undoubtedly will be called upon after the championship game. Besides, other players starred in the 4-0 victory – Meghan Duggan, who scored shorthanded in the second period to make it 2-0, and Angie Keseley and Jinelle Zaugg, who padded the margin in the third period with timely goals against Buckeye goaltender Erika Vanderveer. And also, of course, there was Vetter.
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However, Bauer made her presence felt with her usual near-flawless performance, and brilliant plays by the tiny but tenacious 5-foot-3 senior center from St. Catherines, Ontario, orchestrated easy goals by both Duggan and Zaugg.

“We’re thrilled to get another opportunity to play in the championship game,” said Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson, who had guided the Badgers to an even more outstanding season than a year ago, when they won the WCHA, the WCHA playoff, and the NCAA title. This year’s Badgers are 32-1-4, and ranked No. 1, with the WCHA league title in hand, and the playoff title within their grasp today.

The final count obscured the competitiveness of the game. The only goal in the first period came on a power play at 17:38 by Giles, giving the Badgers a key opening lead. Badger defenseman Meaghan Mikkelson, named the top defensive player in the league, got her first of two assists on the goal.

Ohio State coach Jackie Barto, whose team finished a program-best 20-13-4, said: “We had a couple real good scoring chances in the first and second periods, and if one of them had gone in, it might have been a different game, We’ve had some success on offense against Wisconsin, though; we’d been able to crash the net and get some rebounds this season.”

But not this game. In the second period, Wisconsin was killing a two-skater penalty shortage when Bauer got the puck in her own zone. She played the puck off the boards to herself, and seemed to mesmerize everybody in the rink as she raced down the left boards. Instead of merely dumping the puck in to kill time, Bauer held onto it, and carried deep into the left corner. About then, Meghan Duggan, a 22-goal-scoring freshman winger from Danvers, Mass., came out of the penalty box and skated for the net. Bauer passed it, and Duggan had her 23rd goal, a shorthanded gem.

“That second goal put a little dent in us,” said Barto. “Our team kept competing, but Vetter played solidly, and Wisconsin is very good defensively.”

Early in the third period, Angie Keseley made it 3-0, getting her stick on a loose puck while diving into a scramble at the crease at 6:05. And as the game neared its conclusion, Bauer did her thing again to seal it. With 3:06 remaining, Bauer forechecked to swipe the puck behind the Ohio State goal. She did a quick stop and go, reversing her direction on the end boards and carrying back behind the net, then passing out to the goal-mouth. Zaugg, a 6-foot-1 junior from Eagle River, Wis., was there for a one-timer. Vanderveer had no chance, and the Badgers had their 4-0 victory.

“I liked the way the last 40 minutes went,” said Mark Johnson. “The first 20 was a chess match, because nobody wanted to make a mistake. We made a couple of adjustments, and the team really responded well. We scored first on the power play, then Sara made a great play to Duggan coming out of the penalty box for the shorthanded goal.”
Vetter, who is 17-1-3 but only alternates with Christine Dufour (15-0-1), credited her defense. “Our D has been great all year, blocking shots,” Vetter said. “We had a little case of nerves in the first period, but we settled down.”

The Badgers settled down, and prepared to defend their league playoff title.

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• 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.
  
  For those who want to keep up with John Gilbert's view of sports, mainly hockey with a Minnesota slant, click on the following:
  
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• Exhaust Notes:

  PADDLING
  More and more cars are offering steering-wheel paddles to allow drivers manual control over automatic or CVT transmissions. A good idea might be to standardize them. Most allow upshifting by pulling on the right-side paddle and downshifting with the left. But a recent road-test of the new Porsche Panamera, the paddles for the slick PDK direct-sequential gearbox were counter-intuitive -- both the right or left thumb paddles could upshift or downshift, but pushing on either one would upshift, and pulling back on either paddle downshifted. I enjoy using paddles, but I spent the full week trying not to downshift when I wanted to upshift. A little simple standardization would alleviate the problem.
  
  

  SPEAKING OF PADDLES
  The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution has the best paddle system, and Infiniti has made the best mainstream copy of that system for the new Q50, and other sporty models. And why not? It's simply the best. In both, the paddles are long, slender magnesium strips, affixed to the steering column rather than the steering wheel. Pull on the right paddle and upshift, pull on the left and downshift. The beauty is that while needing to upshift in a tight curve might cause a driver to lose the steering wheel paddle for an instant, but having the paddles long, and fixed, means no matter how hard the steering wheel is cranked, reaching anywhere on the right puts the upshift paddle on your fingertips.
  
  

  TIRES MAKE CONTACT
  Even in snow-country, a few stubborn old-school drivers want to stick with rear-wheel drive, but the vast majority realize the clear superiority of front-wheel drive. Going to all-wheel drive, naturally, is the all-out best. But the majority of drivers facing icy roadways complain about traction for going, stopping and steering with all configurations. They overlook the simple but total influence of having the right tires can make. There are several companies that make good all-season or snow tires, but there are precious few that are exceptional. The Bridgestone Blizzak continues to be the best=known and most popular, but in places like Duluth, MN., where scaling 10-12 blocks of 20-30 degree hills is a daily challenge, my favorite is the Nokian WR. Made without compromising tread compound, the Nokians maintain their flexibility no matter how cold it gets, so they stick, even on icy streets, and can turn a skittish car into a winter-beater.