Twins stadium stampede tramples public, logic
The Minnesota Twins will get a new, open-air, boutique stadium in downtown Minneapolis. And the University of Minnesota football Gophers (remember them?) will also get a new, open-air stadium. We know for certain that next year, after the legislators figure the people will have softened their feelings about this yearÂ’s decisions, the Minnesota Vikings also will get a new, open-air stadium.
Maybe the turmoil and raving has cooled to the point where some logic might be applied to the situation.
I am all for the outdoors, just as I am a lover of all sports – especially hockey and motorsports, but also including everything from baseball-football-basketball to the more off-beat, such as soccer, and track, and anything else where good competition can be enjoyed. I might pass up going to a game in any sport to participate myself in a ballgame or some active family endeavor. But, major league sports are a definite attraction.
LetÂ’s declare that football is meant to be played outside. Even in Minnesota. ESPECIALLY in Minnesota. Baseball is meant to be played outside, too, although a closeable roof seems like a no-brainer, when 20-25 of the 81 home games might be affected by inclement weather.
By inclement weather, I don’t mean a nagging drizzle, in which baseball can still be played – albeit with concerns that someone named Mauer, or Morneau, or Santana doesn’t slip and injure something. I’m referring to the near-freezing, hard drizzle, where the game might go on, but fans will simply choose to not attend. Sports columnists and broadcasters, sitting inside their heated and cooled press boxes, keep urging us that they could still play a ballgame in bad weather. But it’s the fans that matter.
Many fans will choose alternatives to sitting outside in miserable weather, and columnist/broadcasters sheltered by air-conditioned, food-and-drink-filled press boxes have no business demanding that fans should brave the elements that sportswriters and broadcasters never face at a game. Maybe we should build a retractable roof over the grandstands, and the field, and leave the press box uncovered. See how those fingers can work those computer keys in a little drizzle, or some sleet.
The most distasteful part of the Twins stadium issue was the outright panic generated by what amounted to media-supported blackmail. The Twins would leave for sure if we didn’t build them a stadium, we were told. Remember, they raved, weÂ’re not building it for Carl Pohlad and the Twins, weÂ’re building it for ourselves, so that we can continue to enjoy major league baseball in our own boutiquey little stadium.
When the issue stalled, stadium forces whined that public money built the Guthrie, although they conveniently avoided carrying out the comparison, because one private owner doesn’t control every event in the Guthrie and serves as the only beneficiary of 100 percent of the revenue.
Remember, now, IÂ’m a sports guy, and I prefer outdoor baseball and football, and always did. That goes back to the time when some of the same people coerced us to build the indoor Metrodome. So IÂ’d love to see the right deal on the right stadium. The media continued to push the stadium as our way of living up to other major U.S. cities, which virtually all have built new stadiums.
Overlooked in the debate by all was a nugget brought out by Pat Kessler, on WCCO-TV’s “Reality Check,†which cuts through the flak and hyperbole on major issues. Kessler said researching the 11 years that the Twins have been professionally lobbying the legislature and the populace for a new stadium, he found that a total of 14 new major league baseball stadiums have been, or are being, built. Three of those 14 were financed 100 percent by team owners. Can you imagine that? The remaining 11 are financed on an average of 50 percent by team owners.
Altogether, that’s an average of about 60 percent owners’ money for each of the last 14 new stadiums, folks. In Minnesota, Carl Pohlad, billionaire extraordinaire, owns the Twins and could easily afford to build the entire stadium by himself, yet he somehow manipulated a deal where he would pay 25 percent. Not 100 percent, not 60 percent, not 50 percent, but only one-fourth of the new playground for his boys – even though Pohlad and the Twins stand to make all the profit from tickets, concessions, and ad revenue at the new stadium.
Did the stadium-pushing media fail to do the same research as WCCO-TV? Or, worse, they did the research but decided not to offer the results that didn’t boost their stance. We canÂ’t blame Carl. He made his millions, which became billions, by banking, where you maneuver and manipulate to take what you can get, without any needless spending, and without letting up anybody indebted to you. Carl did it well, and apparently, heÂ’s still doing it. He gambled, and held out, figuring his patience would allow the media to finally whip itself into a frenzy. Sure enough, they have helped stampede baseball fans and the legislature into believing that their constituents — the taxpaying publilc — would agree that it was a good thing for them to be socked for 75 percent of the expense.
It would have been very interesting if the legislature had said, “OK Carl, we’ll pay for half of a new stadium, and if you want it, you pay for the other half.†Or, how about if Carl pays his one-fourth, but then pays himself for building the suites, which will make him huge earnings? At the very least, perhaps Pohlad could have been embarrassed into kicking in for a retractable roof.
As the media stampede gained momentum, anyone who hesitated to jump on their bandwagon was ridiculed for trying to run the Twins out of town. Columnists and broadcasters blasted legislators with outrageous accusations that were almost slanderous. The targets included thoughtful legislators who merely wanted to figure out a more rational way to finance a new stadium. They certainly wanted the Twins to have a new playground, but also felt compelled to stay in harmony with their constituents.
But the media surge immediately branded them as trying to run the Twins out of town with their hesitancy.
Three decades ago, when the Twins, Vikings, and Gopher football team all clamored for a new, indoor stadium, I didnÂ’t like the move, although it made some sense for baseball to escape the changeable Minnesota elements for air-regulated 70-degree conditions under a roof. Baseball is best played outdoors, but in a major league season now starting in April and finishing in October, there is the risk of some cold, drizzly, even snowy and sometimes wind-chilly days.
Postponements are a pain – even if doubleheaders are great. Expansion means that teams don’t often return for another trip to make up lost games. So the benefits of playing outside most of June, July and August, become shaky on the few foul-weather days in those months, and during the many foul-weather days in April, May, September and October. A roof makes some sense, and a retractable roof – regardless of the expense – makes the most sense of all.
The current plan left an interesting trail. Not long ago, tunnel-visioned people in the sports media assumed that all citizens shared their zeal, so they clamored for surveys and sought a public referendum for various sports causes. Surprise! The tax-paying public has unfailingly voted down any such public financing of private-owner-team stadiums. So this time, the zealots excluded the voters and insisted that there couldnÂ’t be any referendum. They said the people elected those legislators and councilors, so let them now do their work and decide for the voters. They knew, of course, that it is far easier to intimidate a few legislators than to coerce a herd of people anxious to not spend their money to build a playpen for billionaire owners and millionaire players.
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The media tirades came from younger types who canÂ’t remember the past, and from older fellas, confident they had already outlived most of the folks who recall their identical tirades that the Twins and Vikings would move if we didnÂ’t build them an indoor stadium. Some of us still remember.
Almost everybody in Minnesota, including non-sports-fans, wants the Twins and Vikings to stay in Minnesota. Frankly, I donÂ’t foresee either of them moving anywhere. But for some reason, almost every sports broadcaster and columnist seemed to buy into and contribute to the Twins-will-leave-this-time-for-sure campaign.
The issue became one of legislative votes, but it wasnÂ’t simply for or against public financing. The vote, we heard, was either in favor of guaranteeing billionaire owner Carl Pohlad a chance to gain fabulous wealth, over and above his already stupendous wealth, or to vote in favor of the Twins leaving Minnesota. LetÂ’s see, voting for or against a public gift makes sense; suggesting the vote was for a public subsidy or to force a major league sports franchise to leave was Ridiculous.
Last time all this happened, we laughed at the absurdity of the threats, but agreed to build the Metrodome because there was some merit to escaping the elements. This time the majority didnÂ’t laugh, but for some reason, enough legislators bought into the plan even while their constituents seemed to see through the blackmail. Using such an unreasonable and invalid method to secure the needed votes – by the narrowest of margins – seemed bizarre. But then we’re living in an era where, if a gane of Saudi Arabian extremists commits a terrorist act against the United States, our government would respond almost immediately by going to war…with Iraq.
So the legislature passed a Twins Stadium bill for downtown Minneapolis, beyond Target Center. First Avenue is elbow-to-elbow with people almost every night, as the trendy younger folks hustle off to neat restaurants, bars, night clubs and concert venues. Years ago, an attempt to clean up Hennepin Avenue pushed the less-desirable element to First Avenue, but when First Avenue became the trendiest spot in town, where were the homeless, the drug-dealers, the muggers, supposed to go? They migrated back to Hennepin Avenue. As they say, everybodyÂ’s got to be somewhere, and short of eradicating them, solutions seem scarce.
So the pushers of the new stadium, who had repeatedly said that Minneapolis needs the stadium down past Target Center, in order to save the city from the hassles of recent increases in murders, muggings, drug-dealings, street crime, and the nuisance of pan-handlers. Those untidy happenings occur less in Minneapolis than in other major cities, but itÂ’s an issue, nonetheless.
Apparently, the stadium advocates have it figured out, because theyÂ’ve assured us that the street people and the homeless and the bad element will disappear, just because thereÂ’s a ball game tonight. Hopefully, the muggers will be responsible enough to not rob those fans of their umbrellas.
Fighting Sioux carry WCHA hopes into Frozen Four
The similarities are a little eerie on two fronts, but North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol is convinced his Fighting Sioux are ignoring revenge, or redemption, when they carry the WCHA colors into the NCAA Frozen Four semifinals against Boston College Thursday night, at Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
Maine (23-14-2) plays Michigan State (24-13-3) in the first semifinal, with North Dakota (24-13-5) and Boston College (28-11-1) reprising their semifinal of a year ago. That means that no matter how much credibility the NCAA selection committee wants to attribute to its computer ranking system, none of the four regional top seeds are at the final party this weekend. BC finished second to New Hampshire in Hockey East, with Boston University third, Massachusetts fourth and Maine fifth. Maine was the third seed when it beat St. Cloud State and Massachusetts to win the East Regional, and BC was the No. 2 seed in its region. Michigan State was fourth in the CCHA standings, and No. 4 seed in the Midwest Regional before upsetting BU 5-1 and taking out No. 1 seed Notre Dame 2-1.
North Dakota, on the other hand, finished as the hottest team in the WCHA, rising to third place by losing only two games since Christmas. Included in that run was a sweep at Minnesota, but the Sioux lost 3-2 in overtime in the WCHA Final Five title game to the Golden Gophers, before reversing that result in the West Region final. Hakstol, in his third year as head coach at North Dakota, is taking the Sioux to the Frozen Four for the third straight time, and it will also be the school’s 22nd trip, where they’ve won seven titles, and they’ve compiled the NCAA-best 38-16 record in NCAA tournament games.
The presence of the Jonathan Toews-centered line with T.J. Oshie and Ryan Duncan on the wings, plus a tough and mobile defense, the goaltending of Philippe Lamoureux, and the late emergence of an explosive second line with Chris VandeVelde centering Matt Watkins and Chris Porter, puts the Sioux in strong position to add to the historically impressive list of North Dakota achievements.
But there are a couple of those haunting warnings that seem to hang out there — for everyone but Hakstol and his players, at least.
First, the Fighting Sioux face the hottest team in the nation in Boston College, which has won 12 straight games since a 2-1 overtime loss to archrival Boston University in the Beanpot Tournament. A year ago at the Frozen Four semifinals in Milwaukee, the same BC Eagles jumped ahead of North Dakota 3-0 in the first period and held off two determined Fighting Sioux rallies to eliminate the Sioux 6-5.
Second, North Dakota fell behind 2-0 in the opening minutes against a very explosive Michigan team in the semifinals of the West Regional two weeks ago, and after rallying to get ahead 4-3, the Sioux were victimized again for two opening goals in the second period, before order was finally restored and North Dakota won 8-5. They advanced to beat Minnesota in a 3-2 overtime thriller in the region final the next day to gain the Frozen Four for the third time in Hakstol’s three years as coach.
So it would seem that the chance to avenge last year’s loss to Boston College, coupled with the more recent realization that spotting a skilled opponent a bunch of goals, should assure the Fighting Sioux with an overload of incentive.
“Revenge is not the motivation,” said Hakstol. “Certainly, there is not a chance we’ll be looking past Boston College, but I can tell you the difference in our preparation has been completely different.
“Last year, when Boston College got ahead 3-0, we reacted like a young team, back on our heels. We were down 3-0 on five shots, then we caught up at 3-2 before we gave up a big goal. We made another comeback later, but BC was too good to come back on. This year, when Michigan jumped ahead, our bench was solid. We reacted like a veteran team, with quiet confidence.
“Michigan had some high-impact forwards — real dynamic, with great speed, and very aggressive, almost on the edge of cheating offensively.”
The difference was in the midst of a game that resembled a wild-west shootout, Lamoureux suddenly regained command, and simply stopped allowing goals.
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“In an 8-5 game, it’s not often you pick the goaltedner for the player of the game, but Phil was the key player for us against Michigan,” said Hakstol. “Phil settled in, after we made a glaring mistake on their fifth, go-ahead goal, when he stopped T.J. Henrick on a short-handed breakaway. That was the play of the game. And maybe that’s the difference between last year’s team and this one. Last year, we kept rallying but fell short against Boston College; this year, in the same kind of game, we got a huge save that caused a momentum swing.
“I don’t make many comparisons to teams of different years, but there is one place I can do that — in the 7-8 days of preparation between the Regional and the Frozen Four, the difference in our preparation is one place where our experience has helped us. Last year, we had 12 freshmen playing, and we had just hosted the regional in Grand Forks, where there was a big upset, with Holy Cross beating Minnesota, and we won it. I think our preparation slipped for the Frozen Four, and it was a hangover from the satisfaction we felt at winning the regional.
“This year, we have a quiet confidence, and our work ethic has been consistent, whether things have gone our way or not.”
Things definitely did not go North Dakota’s way through the first half of the season. Hakstol refused to use youth as an excuse — and the Sioux have 13 freshman or sophomores in the lineup — but he couldn’t avoid using the reality of three injuries that hampered the Sioux. Oshie broke his thumb right before the season started, and Toews tried to play with a separated shoulder that kept him out nine games, and hampered his play until January. Duncan, the third member of the line called the best in the country, scored enough to lead the league, and become a Hobey Baker finalist, while his linemates got healthy. The other injury? Lamoureux.
“The worst injuries we had were to Oshie, Toews and Lamoureux — certainly three of our top players,” said Hakstol. Once Lamoureux returned, and the all-sophomore top line started to click with all its appendages functioning, there was no stopping the Sioux. And when Hakstol moved VandeVelde, a freshman, up to center Watkins and senior Porter, the offense became more potent.
“That second line was our best at the Regional,” said Hakstol, after Porter, who got the overtime game-winner by outflanking Gopher defenseman Erik Johnson’s stick-check attempt before connecting on a wraparound, was named outstanding player of the regional.
Still, the Sioux not only are young, but many have come directly from high school to college, without the benefit of junior.
“If you want to make youth an excuse, it is,” said Hakstol. “But at this time of year, this is what we’re about. It’s great to be involved with a chance to compete for a spot in the national championship game. And it’s terrible to not be here. It’s unfortunate we had to face Minnesota in the regional instead of the Frozen Four, and it’s unfortunate that only three teams from our league were picked for the NCAA tournament. But as a league, we stick together. I think there’s a great mutual respect within the league, with all 10 of us so competitive, and yet we stick together for the sake of the WCHA.
“So we want to carry the league’s colors at the Frozen Four.”
Big Wheeler rolls Gophers into NCAA tournament
Blake Wheeler stood up against the wall in the corridor outside the University of Minnesota’s Mariucci Arena dressing rooms, and stretched his body up to its full, 6-foot-4 length. His team-dyed blond hair gave his smile a distinct beach-boy-like charm, and while he is not an
arrogant young man, he clearly was enjoying his sudden emergence as the media’s choice as team spokesman.
The Gophers were getting ready to depart for Denver, where they are No. 1 seed facing Air
Force Academy Saturday night in the NCAA’s West Regional. Wheeler was the interviewee of
choice after his sudden and unpredicted emergence as an offensive triggerman was a
primary reason that Minnesota beat a desperate Wisconsin team in the semifinals, and
cooled off sizzling North Dakota in an overtime thriller to win the WCHA Final Five. Wheeler
scored his first hat trick since Breck School when the Gophers beat Wisconsin 4-2 in the
semifinals, and, after getting numerous chances and setting up Ben Gordon’s goal during the
2-2 three-period standoff with North Dakota, Wheeler scored an incredible, diving,
one-handed goal in overtime to win it 3-2.
“We let it all hang out and played our ‘A’ game to beat North Dakota,” Wheeler said. “We just
have to replicate it again this weekend. Things hadn’t been going that well, but when you face
a little adversity, you’ve got to rectify it.”
Wait a minute. This guy expects to play in the NHL some day, and he uses “replicate” and
“rectify” in consecutive sentences?
“I’m a private school guy,” he laughed.
He also got to spend an evening with Wayne Gretzky after the Final Five, when Gretzky, now
the boss of the Phoenix NHL club that drafted Wheeler, came to Xcel Center to play the
Minnesota Wild. Obviously, Wheeler was drafted for the potential that a 6-4, 212-pound
forward with good speed and hands promises. Living up to that potential is not always easy.
Wheeler scored only 9 goals as a freshman, and he only seemed to find his scoring touch
once the regular-season ended this year.
He scored only 13 goals during the regular season, and only seven in 28 WCHA games, with
six others in nonconference action — including three in a 7-1, 5-1 sweep over Wayne State,
and another against Ferris State. Furthermore, Wheeler scored only one goal since the
calendar turned over to 2007, which includes the last 16 WCHA games, when the Gophers
sputtered along at a .500 clip. Nobody was requesting Wheeler for post-game comments in
that stretch.
But when the playoffs started, Wheeler scored once against Alaska-Anchorage, but
Minnesota then had to extend itself to escape in a third game of the WCHA series. So his
three goals against Wisconsin, and another against the Fighting Sioux give him four goals in
his last two games, and sends the Gophers off on a high to the NCAA tournament.
The mood is distinctly different than last season, when the Gophers had the wheels come off
during two losses at the Final Five, and getting deposited in the hockey equivalant of a scrap
yard when Holy Cross upset them in the West Regional first game. Three straight losses was
hardly the way a No. 1 rated power should end a season.
“Our confidence level is completely different from last year,” Wheeler said. “It feels great the
way our team came out and played last weekend. It’s easy to go out and do well when the
whole team is playing that well.”
Naturally, the WCHA speculation about the West Regional is that North Dakota could get by
Michigan while the Golden Gophers beat Air Force, which would “replicate” the classic Final
Five battle in Sunday’s game, which carries a slot in the Frozen Four as a reward.
“We’ve got to get by our first game before we can thing about North Dakota or Michigan,” said
Wheeler, who deflected any attempts to focus on his offensive heroics in favor of
team-oriented concepts.
“Maybe the blond hair brought us all together or something, but we’re playing for each other
out there,” said Wheeler. “Guys are all playing their roles.”
He meant the scorers are scoring, the playmakers are making plays, the checkers are
checking, goaltenders are stopping pucks, and all seems to have returned to the form the
Gophers enjoyed during a midseason 22-game unbeaten streak — and not the way they
struggled through a 7-7 close to the regular season that immediately followed the streak.
As a role-player, however, what exactly does Wheeler see as Wheeler’s role?
“My role is to be a leader up front,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys, and I can show ’em
what it’s all about.”
Spoken like a true senior. Or junior. But Wheeler is only a sophomore, more like one of those
“young guys” himself than like a veteran. And his play has been spotty, ranging from flashes of
great potential to stretches of “did-No. 17-play-tonight?” ineffectiveness, even while centering
freshman Jay Barriball — the team scoring leader — and junior Ben Gordon on the second line.
Coach Don Lucia covered for Wheeler, saying it was tough for him to change positions, even
though the move was from wing to the freer-flowing center slot that most wingers would prefer.
But even Lucia balked when it was suggested that maybe he was satisfied that Wheeler had
become almost a checking center rather than an offensive catalyst. “Not playing between
those two guys,” Lucia said.
His play, however, is good reason for Gopher fans to be optimistic. The hat trick against
Wisconsin was dazzling, but his overall play against the Fighting Sioux was outstanding, even
before the spectacular finish. Wheeler could be seen throughout the game using his speed to
outflank defensemen, and his power to veer toward the goal, and several times Sioux
goaltender Philippe Lamoureux was left sprawling after great saves had denied Wheeler from
scoring. His other contribution came when it was 1-1 late in the second period. Captain Mike
Vannelli stood firm at right point to chip an outlet attempt back up the right boards. Wheeler
got to the puck in heavy traffic, and made a very neat little pass to Gordon, who stepped in to
score.
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The classic, and a goal that will be replayed whenever videotapes or conversations cover
great goals of this season, or through Golden Gopher history, came at 3:25 of sudden-death
overtime. Wheeler saw Barriball getting the puck on the right boards in the Gopher zone, so
he broke for the left side, toward the Sioux blue line. As the two had done before, Barriball
flung a long pass, but this time it was too far ahead of Wheeler, and it appeared to be heading
for an icing call as it slid up the left side.
Wheeler charged after it, with Sioux defenseman Brian Lee in hot pursuit. Lamoureux stepped
out a bit, just in case, and seemed to have the angle covered, but Wheeler dived straight
ahead, using his right hand to break his belly-flop fall to the ice, and chopping at the puck with
only his left hand on the stick. He got a solid piece of the puck, and sent it up and into the far
edge of the net.
“I didn’t see it go in,” Wheeler said. “I took a whack at it, and got kind of lucky.”
So Wheeler’s emergence, on a team whose scoring leaders are freshmen Barriball and Kyle
Okposo, is sort of like Exhibit A of why Minnesota has regained the rhythm and flow so
necessary to take into the NCAA tournament. His own personal lack of scoring paralleled the
Gophers struggle to win consistently. Wheeler shrugged and said, “It’s better to score now
than then, I guess.”
Wheeler also said that he didn’t see any change in his role or his responsibilities as the
team’s fortunes fluctuated.
“You can’t get too high or too low,” Wheeler said. “One minute you’re a hero, and one minute
you’re a zero.”
Then he smiled that happy-go-lucky, beach-boy type smile, and added, “It’s definitely more fun
to be a hero.”
Wheeler outdoes himself to beat Sioux in WCHA final
SAINT PAUL, MN. — Blake Wheeler, the hat-trick star of Minnesota’s semifinal
victory,
outdid himself with a spectacular, diving goal at 3:25 of sudden-death overtime
to lift the
Golden Gophers to a 3-2 victory over North Dakota in the WCHA Final Five
championship
game.
Both teams played at a feverish pace throughout the game, with the teams trading
rushes and
great plays — offensively and defensively — on into the overtime. A day
earlier, Minnesota
coach Don Lucia had said he was tired of hearing how great his young players
were, because it
overlooked the fact they were still freshmen and sophomores. Then, a freshman
fed a
sophomore for the game-winner.
Freshman Jay Barriball came up with the puck on the left boards near the Gopher
blue line,
and he spun and flung a long diagonal pass for where he knew Wheeler was
lurking, near the
North Dakota blue line. The puck zipped past, unreachable by Wheeler, who
immediately
chased after it to avoid icing. Sioux defenseman Brian Lee, himself a sophomore,
was in hot
pursuit, and goaltender Philippe Lamoureux was ready, but had good reason to
anticipate an
icing.
Wheeler had other ideas, and he dived, headlong, and swatted at the puck as he
hit the ice,
chipping a shot that went up and beat the startled Lamoureux to the far side.
“I took a whack at it, and I didn’t see it go in,” said Wheeler. “I was
surprised when the
crowd started cheering. A couple of times, Jay got the puck and I blew out of
the zone. This
time it was a little ahead of me. As I got to the puck, I saw the goalie coming
out a little, and
decided to take a whack at it. I got kinda lucky.”
The game drew a title game record 19,463 to Xcel Center, making it the largest
crowd ever to
see a WCHA game, and running the three-day, five-session total to a record
88,900. While it
seemed like it might be a hometown, if not a home-ice, venue for the Gophers,
the cheering
was louder for the Sioux. That seemed to change, however, when Wheeler
belly-flopped for
the winning goal — his fourth in two days, after scoring only three others
since January 1.
“It was a heck of a play,” said North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol. “Blake had a
great
tournament, and he made a big effort on that goal, and got some good fortune to
go with it.
It was a hard-fought game, a great college hockey game and a showcase for our
league,
before a great crowd.”
“These were two great teams, with great players, and both competed very, very
hard,” said
Gopher coach Don Lucia. “Kyle Okposo’s line had to shut down (Jonathan) Toews’s
line, and
we figured that if they could neutralize them, we hoped another line could get
some goals.
That’s what Blake and Ben Gordon did.”
The first Gopher goal, in fact, came from defenseman Erik Johnson, with
third-liners Tony
Lucia and Mike Carman assisting. Scoring first was a prime objective of both
teams, and the
pace was dazzling from the start. The teams had 10 shots apiece in a scoreless
first period,
although the Gophers had four of the five first-period power plays. The Gophers
may have
gotten their game flow back in order by having to play well to get past an
aroused Wisconsin
team 4-2 in the semifinals, while they also knew they had to play up to the pace
of the
Fighting Sioux, who overran St. Cloud State 6-2 in the semis. But as fast as the
pace was, the
period was punctuated by some crunching, high-speed bodychecks as the teams
exchanged
hits as liberally as rushes.
Midway through the second period, Johnson, Minnesota’s big freshman defenseman,
rushed
up the right side and slammed a shot from the circle that hit goaltender
Philippe Lamoureux
but had enough steam to continue through for a goal at 8:26.
The Fighting Sioux capitalized on a two-man advantage for the 1-1 equalizer.
Taylor Chorney,
a sophomore from Hastings whose dad, Marc Chorney, is a former Sioux star, got
the goal
with a blast from center-point past Gopher sophomore Jeff Frazee at 13:24.
Minnesota regained the lead at 2-1 when Mike Vannelli chipped the puck up the
boards from
the right point, and Wheeler, who had three of the goals in the 4-2 victory the
day before,
flipped a quick and clever pass off the boards to Gordon, who scored with a
quick shot at
15:36.
Duncan, who joins T. J. Oshie flanking Toews on North Dakota’s explosive first
line,
connected at 1:54 of the final period to tie the game 2-2 on a power play. But
he was far from
celebratory after the game.
“It was definitely a bitter pill to swallow when we saw them lift the Broadmoor
Cup,” said
Duncan. “Hopefully, we’ll take a positive from this and get another chance at
them.”
Minnesota captain Mike Vannelli said: “All three players on that line are
unbelievable, and you
have to be aware of them whenever they’re on the ice. We definitely did a great
job of
shutting them down, and our forwards came back to help out a lot. They’re
definitely one of
the top teams in the nation, but we proved we’ve still got it.”
The Gophers outshot North Dakota 11-5 in the third period despite giving up the
only goal, and
had a 41-25 edge for their aroused play during the whole game. But it was the
41st of those
that the fans will long remember, and which will carry Minnesota into an upbeat
run at the
NCAA tournament.
Wheeler hat trick paces Gophers past Wisconsin
SAINT PAUL, MN. — Winning was not important for the University of Minnesota
hockey team in the WCHA Final Five, because the Golden Gophers are ranked No. 1
in the Pairwise computer ratings, and are thus assured of a berth in the NCAA
tournament. But playing well — regaining their once-dominant flow — was of
utmost importance.
The Gophers managed to do both in Friday night’s second semifinal, beating
Wisconson 4-2, before a Final Five record crowd of 19,359 at Xcel Energy
Center. The loss was stunning for Wisconsin, which came to the tournament
knowing that it had no chance of climbing high enough in the ratings to make
the NCAA, and only the automatic berth based on winning the tournament could
give them a chance to defend the title the Badgers won last year.
The 4-2 loss was gained on an empty-net goal, and the closeness of the game was
evidence both of how well Wisconsin played — outshooting Minnesota 31-25 — and of how well the Gophers had to play to beat such an inspired, and desperate, foe.
Minnesota had climbed to the top with a 22-game unbeaten streak that carried
over to January, but since that streak was snapped, the Gophers had gone only
9-8 to the finish, including being extended to three games before beating
last-place Alaska-Anchorage in the first playoff round. During that sputtering
stretch, the top-line players were often displaced by third and fourth line
players who came up with the goals.
But that, too, may have been overcome. Sophomore Blake Wheeler, who had scored
only three goals since the first of the year, scored three times against the
Badgers, including the empty-net clincher. He scored at 5:52 of the first
period, when he beat star goaltender Brian Elliott to a loose puck at the left
side of the cage, and Wheeler, who was beyond the goal line, reached back out
to stuff his shot between Elliott’s pads.
Wheeler also scored the pivotal goal, with four seconds left in the second
period, to break a 2-2 tie, setting the stage for his critical empty-net
clincher.
Wisconsin was only seventh seed, but records can be tossed aside whenever
Minnesota and Wisconsin play.
Minnesota (29-9-3) moves on to face North Dakota (22-12-5) in the Saturday night
championship game. Both, along with St. Cloud State, are assured spots when the
NCAA names its 16-team field on Sunday.
For the Badgers, of course, there is one more game — a third-place game
Saturday afternoon against St. Cloud State. But they knew the urgency of going
all the way. “There were some teary eyes in the dressing room,” said Wisconsin
coach Mike Eaves. “We knew we had to win the tournament to have a chance,
because we’re ranked 20th.
“The Gophers came out with pretty good energy, but we came out of the first
period even, and could try to build on it. We outshot them in all three
periods, and I thought Brian (goaltender Brian Elliott) was solid. I’ll have to
see how he feels, to see if we can ride him one more time.”
David Drewiske tied the game at 1-1 in the last minute of the first period, when
he golfed a shot from wide to the left that was headed well wide to the right,
but it glanced off defenseman Erik Johnson’s skate and the ricochet went right
into the net past goalie Kellen Briggs at 19:16. Enlivened, the Badgers came
out and took a 2-1 lead at 1:37 of the second, when Jake Dowell skated up the
left side and scored with a wrist shot, short side, from the left circle, as
Briggs played him to pass.
But captain Mike Vannelli tied it 2-2 for Minnesota with an odd goal, shooting
from the blue line into heavy traffic in front, and scoring when the puck hit a
Wisconsin defender in the hindquarters and trickled into the right edge at 11:00
of the second period. At 2-2, the teams were trading rushes, and trading
stifling checking games in an even battle. A faceoff just inside the Badger
blue line with 8.6 seconds remaining in the middle period proved the game’s
turning point.
Wheeler, a center, was shunted over to left wing so that freshman Kyle Okposo
could take the faceoff. “They replaced me with Kyle on the faceoff — a guy who
could actually win the faceoff,” laughed Wheeler, who credited relaxing and
enjoying the moment for his first hat trick since Breck High School days.
Okposo pulled the draw back to Mike Vannelli, who zipped a pass to Alex
Goligoski for a shot from the left point. Wheeler, meanwhile, had broken free
from left wing, skating straight toward the net, and he cleanly deflected
Goligoski’s shot through Elliott.
{IMG2}
The tie-breaking goal, with only 4 seconds remaining in the second period, stood
up as the game-winner when Briggs and the Gophers traded rushes through the
third. Wisconsin played hard, and with proper desperation, but the Gophers, who
have been ragged and inconsistent through the past two months, flowed with
rhythm.
Afterwards, Minnesota coach Don Lucia stressed how youthful his Gophers are,
with only Briggs and Vannelli as seniors, and when asked about facing red-hot
North Dakota, Lucia said: “I know we don’t have a chance.”
Lucia was being sarcastic, about the raves coming North Dakota’s way for the hot
streak the Sioux have put together — including a 5-3, 7-3 sweep at Minnesota.
Or was he serious? The media watching the semifinals couldn’t be certain, but a
fitting final is predicted.
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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