Brodt, Curtin aim to inspire future women’s Olympians
Where were you when Team USAÂ’s womenÂ’s hockey team was upset by Sweden, 3-2 in a Winter Olympics semifinal shootout, to preclude the United State from its assumed slot in the gold medal game against Canada?
A lot of women and girls down to the youngest age of hockey interest may remember exactly where they were. Two of them, Winny Brodt and Ronda Curtin, probably wonÂ’t remember, because they had other things on their minds.
Ronda Curtin, one of the premier elite players in Minnesota’s young but proud female hockey history, was home, helping coach the St. Thomas women’s college team and trying to find time to play for the amateur Minnesota Whitecaps. Winny Brodt, who preceded the most famous sister act in Minnesota hockey annals – Ronda and Renee Curtin – at Roseville High School’s early state powers, was also home. She celebrated her 28th birthday, which came one day after Team USA’s stunning defeat, by also playing for the Whitecaps, a recently formed team that plays amateur senior women’s elite teams from all across Canada.
Both of them were among the best half-dozen players in the history of Minnesota girls high school hockey, starring at Roseville High School, and later at the University of Minnesota. Arguably – although it’s not arguable in Minnesota – both should have been on this year’s U.S. women’s Olympic team, and on the 2002 team as well. But they are not just sitting home grousing about it. They are doing something about it, trying to invent ways to help Minnesota’s burgeoning crop of new young girls at the youth and high school levels to have realistic goals in the sport.
Hockey observers from throughout the world are amazed and impressed with the development of female hockey in Minnesota, and how high school girls hockey has accelerated the development of far beyond any other area of the country, and, in fact, the world. Minnesota high school stars go on to college, and are generally among the better players on their teams. So it might seem logical that Minnesota-raised high school players might dominate the U.S. National and Olympic team, the way their male counterparts did, at least up through 1980, when amateurs played.
But the womenÂ’s U.S. Olympic team, which should be the pinnacle of girls through their development phase, has not been a realistic objective for most Minnesota girls and women. True, Krissy Wendell and Natalie Darwitz, two of the other elite players in MinnesotaÂ’s high school girls annals, and Jenny Potter, the famous mom on the team, were stars on Team USA. But thatÂ’s it. Those are the only three women who grew up playing hockey in Minnesota to make Team USA.
Winny Brodt, a swift, free-skating defenseman, who defended responsibly but was best-known for her spectacular end-to-end rushes, was the last player cut. Ronda Curtin, third on the all-time Minnesota high school girls point-scoring list, and who went on to star at the University of Minnesota as a forward, and then switched to defense where she was named All-America, didnÂ’t even bother to try out.
“I saw what was happening to Winny, and I decided – why bother?†said Ronda. The fact that Curtin was never invited to camp or encouraged to try out became more curious when this year’s team took one too few forwards and one extra defenseman, with the idea of shifting some players up to play forward.
“Considering that the three best players on Team USA are Jenny, Krissy and Natalie – all from Minnesota – doesn’t it make sense that they might have tried to find a few more from here?†Curtin asked.
Brodt shares RondaÂ’s opinion, even removing her personal involvement. “Forget all those players who are from somewhere else but might have played at Minnesota or UMD, there are only three homegrown Minnesotans on the U.S. team,†Brodt said. “Does that mean, in eight years they havenÂ’t been able to find another Minnesota player?Ââ€
Despite the easy alternative of being bitter, however, Brodt and Curtin have actively moved toward helping future players develop.
“Ronda and I are running a hockey program for girls 8 to 18 at different arenas around the Twin Cities,†said Brodt. “We started last year, at Fogerty Arena, and Bloomington, and Wakota, and we’re going to expand, maybe to Highland and other arenas. The whole purpose is to work on fundamentals in a setting where the highest level of girls of all ages can participate. We have an evaluation to make sure we get the best, qualified players. In girls hockey, with no checking, it’s a lot easier for younger girls around age 10 to play with older girls over 12 or so.
“Last year, I decided I wanted to stay as involved in hockey as I could, and I could see the numbers of youth programs for girls, while I grew up playing with boys because thatÂ’s all there was. ItÂ’s great that there are so many girls programs for younger girls, but what I notice is that in most cases the girls are treated like girls, instead of like athletes. I was treated like ‘one of the guys.Â’ At our camp, we want to treat the girls like athletes, so they can develop to the maximum of their ability.Ââ€
Ronda Curtin is the opposite of Winny Brodt when it comes to playing style. Ronda is tall and strong, a classic skater who can overpower an opponent with her size, strength or booming shot, while Brodt is a shorter bundle of energy who can fly end-to-end and beat foes with great bursts of speed. But they share the common asset of hockey sense, as well as exceptional ability.
“From coaching at St. Thomas, the thing IÂ’ve noticed most is that the girls skate well and have good ability,†said Ronda Curtin. “But they often lack the ability to see the ice. ThatÂ’s one of the things weÂ’re hoping to develop in the camps Winny and I are running.Ââ€
Seeing the ice is hockey parlance for the great and elusive skill of seeming to know where everyone on the rink is during play – of carrying the puck, but knowing where both teammates and foes are and are likely to be. It seems to be a gift of exceptional players – what separates the Wayne Gretzkys and the Neal Brotens from the average stars. It is an extention of “hockey sense,†and many think it is inborn, because gifted players have it instinctively and don’t play mechanically.
Ronda Curtin and her younger sister, Renee – who is the state’s all-time points leader but whose career tragically has been curtailed by repetitive concussions – definitely have that hockey sense, that ability to see the ice. So does Winny Brodt. And, of course, Natalie Darwitz, Krissy Wendell and Jenny Potter also share that same level of the incredible skill.
In fact, if we were going to select an all-time Minnesota women’s team – for now and possibly forever – Darwitz, Potter, Wendell, Winny Brodt, Ronda and Renee Curtin would be the elite six. If we were selecting an all-time girls high school team, the first unit would have Darwitz centering the Curtin sisters, with Brodt and Wendell on defense. If you wanted to add a goaltender, there are many, but we could pick Sheri Vogt, who went on to stardom at Minnesota State-Mankato, and, after establishing clearly the second-best statistics with Team USA, she was a last-cut along with Winny Brodt.
Potter, incidentally, doesnÂ’t make the all-time high school team for an apparently forgotten reason. Various magazine and newspaper features often credit her for being a high school record-scoring phenom at Edina High School. But Jenny Schmidgall played amateur hockey, with boys and with teams like the Minnesota Thoroughbreds, up through the time high school girls hockey was starting. She never played girls high school hockey.
At any rate, Ronda Curtin and Winny Brodt both agree that Team USA has been a great source of inspiration for young Minnesota girls interested in hockey, but so far it hasnÂ’t been a realistic objective. College hockey has been a realistic goal, and high school hockey is the perfect, and unique, stepping stone to college scholarships at the Division I level, or highly competitive play at the Division III state school level. Their objective is to give young girls a way to develop to the peak of their ability, to play the game at their highest personal levels, and to enjoy the game at its maximum.
The Brodt-Curtin connection goes back a couple of decades, when their family homes were — and still are – next door to each other in Roseville. The young women are off on their own, but they still return home frequently, where all the kids in both families grew up playing various sports, but primarily hockey. Roseville Arena and other various indoor and outdoor rinks became familiar to them, but their most prominent venue was the Curtin driveway.
Boot hockey, the perfect method for developing stickhanding skills as well as how to function in congestion, was an almost daily endeavor, all summer, and often through the winter, unless the two households of kids chose to walk over to the outdoor rink adjacent to Roseville Arena, where the John Rose Oval is now located. The driveway kept hockey alive all summer, however.
“Luke Curtin and I were the same age, and we were the two oldest, so we would be on opposite teams,†said Winny. “IÂ’d get Kurt, who is LukeÂ’s younger brother, and Luke would get Ronda on his side, and then Renee would play, too. WeÂ’d have some pretty ferocious battles.Ââ€
Ronda Curtin remembers those days, too. “My dad had street hockey nets there for us in the driveway, and a board we could shoot against,†said Ronda. “WeÂ’d play 2-on-2, or 3-on-3, or 3-on-2 – depending on who showed up. Sometimes my dad would flood the back yard in winter, so we could skate, but weÂ’d still play boot hockey in the driveway, too.Ââ€
When it came to organized hockey, there were precious few chances for girls. So Winny Brodt played on the Roseville boys A Peewee team at age 10-12, and then starred for the Roseville A Bantam team, age 12-14.
“We learned from playing with and against boys, and as the boys got older and stronger, we had to improve the same way,†Winny said. “That was the driving force behind our playing ability.Ââ€
When girls started playing high school hockey, Roseville came on board a year later, and Winny Brodt was on that team. In 1996, Winny won the first Ms. Hockey award. “Ronda was a freshman on that team, and Renee played as a seventh-grader,†Winny recalled. She also recalled being able to dominate those early high school games, often skating from her own zone, past every opponent, to score goals.
“It is really amazing to see how far high school hockey has come in such a short time,†Brodt said. “It was like skating around cones in some games back when I played. I probably had better hands then than since.Ââ€
There still could be future involvement for Brodt and Curtin with Team USA, and, they hope, for more and more Minnesotans in the future, possibly graduates of their camp. The shocking U.S. loss to Sweden in this yearÂ’s Olympic semifinals is expected to signal a major change in philosophy for USA HockeyÂ’s womenÂ’s teams.
Until now, the team has been pretty much a private club selected by coach Ben Smith, who was named coach of Team USAÂ’s women since it first participated in the Olympics and won the gold medal in 1998 at Nagano. It was logical to select an Eastern-dominated team back then, because Eastern colleges had played hockey for years and the West was just getting started at the college level, and players like the Curtins, Brodt, Darwitz and Wendell were helping with the high school upsurge.
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After the 1998 gold medal, a normally reasonable Minneapolis Star-Tribune sportswriter wrote that Team USA might have won the Olympic gold medal, but there was a question whether it could beat a Minnesota high school all-star team. I was that writer, and I absorbed a lot of criticism for it. But after that season, a game for elite players was conducted at Columbia Arena, including high school, college and Olympic players, and a line of high schoolers named Darwitz, Curtin and Curtin scored twice on the first shift and dominated the game.
Still, Smith and Team USA stayed intact, but added Darwitz and Wendell, with Darwitz leaving her final two high school years to prepare for the 2002 silver medal team. So they were part of the mix this year, with Potter, as top players on the 2006 bronze medal. The apparently downward spiral from gold to silver to bronze, culminated by the shocking loss to an improving Sweden team – which almost didn’t participate in 2002 because Swedish hockey officials weren’t sure they could be competitive – will undoubtedly signal a change.
The selection process may shift to more of the format the men used to use when amateurs manned the teams, through history, of selecting a coach for each yearÂ’s national team, and having regional tryouts, where the East vs. West rivalry led to intense competition but also to selections that were more than simply retaining personal favorites.
Harvard coach Katey Stone is a possible new coach, or Mark Johnson, the coach at Wisconsin, which won the WCHA womenÂ’s title this season. Whatever, it may bring a change in concept to USA HockeyÂ’s national team selection.
“IÂ’d love to see an all- Minnesota team play the Olympic team right now,†said Winny Brodt. “It would be great if they had actual games between the East and West to use for selection of the team.Ââ€
East-West rivalries were common to the men. In fact, when the late Herb Brooks selected 12 Minnesotans to the legendary 1980 menÂ’s Team USA, he worked so hard downplay the fact that 16 of the 20 players were from the west, that every movie, book and chronicle of that team, so far, has featured Jim Craig, Mike Eruzione and Jack OÂ’Callahan, three of the four Eastern players.
WomenÂ’s hockey is at the stage where it deserves similar treatment. The rise in the competitive level of Minnesota girls hockey is unprecedented in high school sports not only in the state, but nationwide. In other parts of the United States, girls play on youth club teams in small pockets, and the most elite of them advance to prep schools and perhaps NCAA colleges.
In Minnesota, every young girl with an interest in skating and hockey can find an outlet of rapidly expanding youth teams, or maybe playing on boys teams at younger levels. Then they can look forward to the Minnesota State High School LeagueÂ’s programs for large or small school teams that continue to reach out to every corner of the state.
ItÂ’s a worthy and realistic objective. And if college, or national team, participation follows, that would be just fine with Winny Brodt, Ronda Curtin, and all of Minnesota. Anyone seeking more information about the Brodt-Curtin girls elite training camp can find it at www.skaterslink.com.
Schaublin near invincible in UMD sweep of Harvard
Minnesota-Duluth was prepared for a pair of traditional highlight games against Harvard last weekend, but instead the Bulldogs steamrolled the Crimson for a pair of 6-1 triumphs. The sweep lifted UMD to the nationÂ’s No. 2 rank behind St. Lawrence, plus a sweep of the WCHA player of the week honors, with Noemie Marin offensive player of the week, Rachel Drazen defensive player of the week, and Michaela Lanzl freshman of the week.
What about Riitta Schaublin?
Riitta Schaublin is UMDÂ’s goaltender, a self-made standout often overlooked next to her free-wheeling teammates, despite dominant performances in goal. She doesnÂ’t seem to mind, but she would like to figure out how to get some of the shutouts she deserves.
Schaublin, who admits to being 5-foot-11 but looks much larger in her goaltending gear,leads the WCHA womenÂ’s goaltending statistics with a superb 1.28 goals-against mark, and with an equally-impressive .948 save percentage for the 12-2 Bulldogs, who lead the WCHA at 10-2 with losses only during splits at Wisconsin and at Minnesota.
And yet, her statistics should be still better – which sounds outrageous, considering the junior from Basel, Switzerland, and the Bulldogs have only yielded four goals in their last seven games. Since losing 4-1 at Minnesota a month ago, Schaublin shut out the Gophers 6-0 – the first time they ever been blanked at Ridder Arena – then won 6-1, 3-0 at North Dakota, 3-0, 5-1 back home against Bemidji State, then 6-1, 6-1 against Harvard.
Those seven games show four games with one goal against and three shutouts amid a seven-game goal differential of 35-4, but Schaublin only has credit for two shutouts so far all season. Not that it has had any effect on her focus, which is crystallizing UMD’s championship hopes.
That includes the fact that she will not be leaving the University of Minnesota-Duluth womenÂ’s hockey team to play in the upcoming Winter Olympics in Italy. ThatÂ’s good news for UMD, bad news for UMDÂ’s WCHA opponents, and not exactly good news for Switzrland.
Schaublin proves the benefit of UMD having such diverse international players in a sort of backhanded way. While the Bulldogs have developed star players for the U.S., Canada, Sweden, Finland, and Russia, in recent national and Olympic competition, they also got standout goaltending from Patricia Sautter, who will return to her native Switzerland for the Olympics. Schaublin also came from Switzerland, and has proven, by her development last season and this one, that she would be a valid member of the Swiss team.
“I gave Riitta her choice,†said UMD coach Shannon Miller. “I told her I was behind her 100 percent if she wanted to join SwitzerlandÂ’s team for the Olympics, itÂ’s just that I had to know, last summer, what she intended to do, because I would recruit another goaltender if she was going to go. She decided to stay with us, rather than be backup to Patricia at the Olympics.Ââ€
Minnesota-Duluth staked its claim to women’s hockey excellence by recruiting an international roster of players from the start of its program. That was a key reason why UMD won the first-ever WCHA season title, then strung together NCAA tournament championships the next three years – the first three women’s NCAA hockey tournaments ever held.
The international flavor makes sense, based on coach Shannon MillerÂ’s long-standing status of coaching CanadaÂ’s National and Olympic teams, and it continues to pay dividends this season. The Bulldogs, currently ranked No. 3 in the nation, have Schaublin from Switzerland, defenseman Suvi Vacker and winger Mari Pehkonen from Finland, winger Michaela Lanzl from Germany, French-Canadians Noemi Marin, Karine Demeule, Melissa Roy and defenseman Myriam Trepanier, Canadians Sara OÂ’Toole, Juliane Jubinville, Krista McArthur and Jill Sales, and U.S. skaters Jessica Koizumi from California and defenseman Ashly Waggoner from Alaska, plus Minnesotans Allison Lehrke, Samantha Hough, Larissa Luther, Tawni Mattila, defensemen Rachael Drazen and Kirsti Hakala, and backup goaltenders Danielle Ciarletta and Annie Meyer, plus support players Erin Holznagel and Becky Salyards. Hakala is from nearby Cloquet, while freshman center Mattila and Salyards are from Duluth.
The Bulldogs will miss Marin, the nationÂ’s leading scorer, this weekend when a rejuvenated Minnesota State-Mankato comes to the DECC for a series. Marin is not only a gifted goal-scorer, she is a star shortstop on CanadaÂ’s national softball team, which is conducting tryouts. At Olympic time, the Bulldogs will lose Lanzl, a spectacular breakaway threat who not only is UMDÂ’s most exciting player but also is GermanyÂ’s best player.
Meanwhile, if a fluctuating lineup can be bailed out by great goaltending, Schaublin is ready for the challenge. Against Harvard, she was invincible in the first game, while Marin, Vacker and Mattila staked UMD to a 3-0 lead in the first period, and MarinÂ’s second-period goal, plus a pair by Lanzl in the third, made it 6-0 with six minutes remaining. A careless penalty with three minutes to go proved costly, and HarvardÂ’s Jennifer Raimondi scored on a power-play rebound with only 1:38 to go to ruin SchaublinÂ’s shutout.
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The next night, Schaublin was again unbeatable, as Marin scored in the first period, and Drazen, Lanzl, Koizumi, Pehkonen and Marin made it 6-0 at the second intermission. But again, the shutout went away in the third period when HarvardÂ’s Laura Brady broke in to score.
That wasnÂ’t nearly as exasperating as the Bemidji State series when Schaublin gave up no goals in two games, but came away without credit for a shutout, and with only one victory. In the first game, Schaublin discovered one skate had been sharpened incorrectly during pre-game warm-ups, and trying to adjust it made it worse, she discovered during game introductions. She skated to the bench after the National Anthem, and told Miller she would have to come off at the first whistle. That occurred at 0:11, when Pehkonen was called for a penalty. Miller said she thought Schaublin would come to the bench for a little fine-tuning, but instead she went right to the dressing room to get her old skates.
So Miller put freshman Danielle Ciarletta in at 0:11, and she played for just over four minutes, without facing a shot No hots, no saves. Meanwhile, Lanzl broke loose and scored at the other end at 1:15 for a 1-0 UMD lead. By the time UMD had drawn two more penalties, Schaublin was ready to go with her backup skates on, and returned to the ice at 4:23 with UMD two skaters short. She survived, and went on to block all nine Bemidji shots in the first period, and all 19 Bemidji shots for the game. When Lanzl scored again in the second period, and Marin hit an empty net at the end, UMD had earned a 3-0 victory. Schaublin, the teamÂ’s career shutout leader, had notched another. Or had she?
Nope. The rules say that when more than one goaltender is used, whichever one is in the game when the winning goal is scored gets credit for the victory. So Ciarletta, without making a save in her four-minute stint, got the victory, and Schaublin, who stopped 19 of 19 shots, got nothing. Not the shutout, nor the victory.
“Ridiculous,†said Miller, although Schaublin shrugged it all off.
The next night, Bemidji State attacked much harder, but again UMDÂ’s offense was too much. Lanzl and OÂ’Toole scored in the first period, and Jubinville scored twice in the second for a 4-0 lead. Schaublin, of course, had allowed nothing, stopping all 16 Beaver shots. Miller decided to let Ciarletta get some experience in the third period, and she gave up a goal to Allison Johanson midway through the period while making nine saves, before Krista McArthur connected later to complete a 5-1 victory. Once again, Schaublin missed a chance for a shutout, but at least she got to win the game. Incredibly, had Bemidji rallied for four goals against Ciarletta, then she, and not Schaublin, would have gotten credit for the win.
Oh, and back when UMD shut out Minnesota 6-0 at Minnesota, Schaublin was not voted one of the gameÂ’s three stars, because even though she made 22 saves and some Ridder Arena history, UMDÂ’s first forward line swept the honors. At least that week, when the WCHA panel looked over the significant happenings in the league, Schaublin was justifiably named defensive player of the week for the league — if not the game.
Stifling Harvard twice, while stopping 53 of 55 shots, was a major achievement for Schaublin. But bigger things are coming, first with Minnesota State-Mankato coming to the DECC this weekend, and then Wisconsin coming to the DECC for a series that might decide the WCHA title, the No. 1 spot in the nation, and league goaltending honors.
Fighting Sioux take the high road into NCAA tournament
There are no guarantees for the North Dakota hockey team in the NCAA tournament this weekend. Because the Fighting Sioux must play in the East Regional at Worcester, Mass., they will go from probable underdogs against Boston University in FridayÂ’s opening game, to certain underdogs against Boston College in SaturdayÂ’s region final.
Not an easy path, to Columbus and the Frozen Four. However, the Fighting Sioux didnÂ’t flinch at being routed along the dirt road.
A year ago, Dean Blais was known as one of the premier coaches in hockey as the head coach at North Dakota, and two of the nationÂ’s top players and top scorers were Zach Parise and Brendon Bochenski. The season ended, Parise turned pro, and so did Bochenski, then so did coach Blais, who took a job as one of the associate coaches with the Columbus NHL team.
That was just the start of the tough trail for North Dakota. Dave Hakstol rose from an assistant position to become head coach, and with Brad Berry and Cary Eades as assistants, he started reassembling the Fighting Sioux. Then the parade of injuries started. The Sioux didnÂ’t need a team bus, they needed an ambulance. The teamÂ’s fortunes went up and down, but by the end of the season, things started to fall into place
After holding off UMD to claim the fifth and final home-ice spot in the WCHA playoffs, North Dakota crushed UMD 8-2 and 6-1. Their reward was the Fighting Sioux got the chance to play three games in three days, if they could win the play-in game against Wisconsin, a team that tied for third ahead of the Sioux.
Nobody, starting with rookie head coach Dave Hakstol, has taken anything for granted. They had to face a higher-seeded Wisconsin team in the WCHA play-in game, and they won 3-2.
“Our goal tonight,†Hakstol said after that game, “was that we wanted to get back here Friday afternoon.Ââ€
That meant they had to win that first game. “This was just a continuation of the series weÂ’ve had with Wisconsin this season. It was physical, and there was a good pace to it.Ââ€
With three goals in the game, the Sioux had nine players get one point each, and Jordan Parise played well in goal with 33 saves. Hakstol was asked if the Sioux were reaching a peak of their seasonÂ’s play.
“WeÂ’re getting there,†Hakstol said. “WeÂ’ve played pretty well the past three or four weeks, and thatÂ’s because weÂ’re close to being healthy. People say our fourth line played well, and I really donÂ’t consider them a fourth line, itÂ’s just that they havenÂ’t been together much. They added some stability, because we were able to use the whole bench.Ââ€
That fourth line, with Brian Canady centering Erik Fabian and James Massen, came with a huge goal against Wisconsin. Fabian jarred the puck loose with a big hit, then Canady rushed into the Wisconsin zone, making a perfect pass that Massen – a right-handed shooter coming in on the left side – was able to one-time for a 2-0 lead.
Hakstol was asked if he thought the victory would give his team an NCAA berth, and he said: “The bottom line is, the only thing we can control is our play.Ââ€
The victory meant a quick turnaround, from Thursday night to the first Friday afternoon semifinal – against WCHA champ Denver. Hakstol’s relief at being healthy was short-lived, because in the second period, with the game tied 1-1, Brady Murray, who had missed 15 games with shoulder problems, reinjured the shoulder. On the next shift, sophomore defenseman Robbie Bina was checked from behind into the side boards and needed to be helped from the ice on a stretcher. He suffered a broken bone in his neck. A minor penalty was called on Denver’s penalty-leader, Geoff Paukovich, although post-game review caused WCHA officials to suspend Paukovich for the championship game.
The midgame timing of the incident was interesting. There have been a lot of hockey teams that would have responded to such incidents, and the loss of a key player on a call that they found disagreeable, with some blatant hostility. Some Fighting Sioux teams might have been first to vent such animosity. But the Sioux simply raised their intensity level, and took the game to the Pioneers. But Gabe GauthierÂ’s second goal of the game, in the first minute of overtime, gave Denver a 2-1 victory.
“IÂ’d be lying to you if I told you there wasnÂ’t a lot of emotion,†said Hakstol. “But itÂ’s playoff time. We tried to focus on what was important, and we played well, even though we had to play the rest of the game with 10 forwards.Ââ€
It was at that point that the Sioux left the rough and rocky road for the high road. Nick Fuher, who scored North DakotaÂ’s goal and was named to the all-tournament team, said: “There was a lot of emotion in the game, but weÂ’re a team that plays on emotion.Ââ€
The best praise came from Denver coach George Gwozdecky, who knew his top-seeded Pioneers had escaped a passionate test. “First of all,†Gwozdecky said, “I want to give a great deal of credit to North Dakota. They did a tremendous job, and they gave us all kinds of problems. They were very well coached, and they forced us to play in our defensive zone for long periods of time. It was as difficult and tiring a job as we’ve had to do all year.
“It sure didnÂ’t look like they had played last night.Ââ€
The next day, the Sioux had to come back for their third major effort in three days and face Minnesota on the same Saint Paul Xcel Energy Center ice. With 14,730 on hand for the afternoon third-place game, North Dakota, in HakstolÂ’s mind, was still playing to control what they could control, and not worry about the NCAA seedings.
Quinn Fylling gave North Dakota a 1-0 lead at 9:23 of the first period, but Minnesota tied it a minute later, as the Sioux looked spent, understandably, and were outshot 11-3 for the first period. When the Gophers went up 2-1 on a power-play goal in the second period, the Sioux were continuing to be outshot heavily. They drew a penalty, and things looked bleak.
But Rastislav Spirko – called “Sparky†by his teammates – lived up that nickname at 10:53. He rushed up the ice, 1-on-1 with Minnesota defenseman Chris Harrington. Spirko, a freshman from Vrutky, Slovakia, made a couple of dekes and Harrington went down, then Spirko retrieved the puck, put a great move on goaltender Kellen Briggs, and easily tucked the puck in behind him at the left edge for a 2-2 tie.
Early in the third period, defenseman Matt Greene whistled a shot from inside the right point past Briggs on the short side, and late in the final period, Fuher carried in 2-on-1, faked a pass, deked, and beat Briggs to the short side, clinching a 4-2 Sioux victory. When they should have been exhausted from their third game in three days, the Sioux outshot Minnesota 12-5 in the pivotal third period.
“We’re here, it was a big game, and it doesn’t matter whether it was the third game in three days, or the fifth game in five days,†said Greene.
He noted that the team had taken time to visit Bina in Regions Hospital, and while there had been no condition report given about their fallen comrade, Greene said: “We saw him today and it was pretty tough to see a guy on your team lying there. But he was in good spirits. If you know him, heÂ’s a pretty funny kid, and he told a couple of good jokes.Ââ€
Spirko, who joined Fuher on the all-tournament team, said: “That was big motivation. We were playing for Robbie.Ââ€
Hakstol, who seemed to learn a lot about himself and his team as this season progressed, obviously got a cram-course in both during the three-day tournament.
“On the large scale, big-picture, national scene, there probably wasn’t a lot of meaning to this game,†Hakstol said. “But within our locker room, it meant a lot. When you put it all together, with guys out, we not only survived, we turned the game our way. The mood in the locker room was that if you put this jersey on, you play to win.
“We had to put three new players in the lineup. Scottie Foyt stepped in and got an assist on our first goal. Lee Marvin gave us a lift. And Kyle Radke played a good role out there. Jordan Parise did his job in goal, and I’m proud of the way our team found a way to win.
“WeÂ’ve shown the ability over and over to put the pieces back together, to fight back and battle back.Ââ€
And Fighting Sioux reward is that they get to play on, to challenge BostonÂ’s best, in the form of Boston University and then, maybe, Boston College, the No. 1 ranked team in the country. But nobody who watched the Fighting Sioux perform in the WCHA Final Five would bet against them. Gwozdecky, in fact, said he told some of the North Dakota players that he had a feeling they might meet again at NCAA time. The Fighting Sioux would go for that.
Video snaps Gopher defense into 1st place form
University of Minnesota hockey coach Don Lucia runs a tight ship, tight enough that a casual observer might think he’s a control freak. But if his defensemen suggest they’d like to watch some videos, Lucia is likely to encourage them to watch all they want – as long as the video is of the final Golden Gophers game of the 2001-2002 season.
That just happened to be the game in which Minnesota defeated Maine in overtime to win the NCAA championship for the first time in 23 years. And even though Minnesota repeated as NCAA champs a year later, the 2002 title game video is No. 1 on Lucia’s “recommended video†list for his defensemen.
It also might be precisely the reason the Golden Gophers have moved within reach of winning the WCHA regular-season championship, are ranked No. 1 in the country, and obviously are now among the elite teams most-favored when it comes to picking this yearÂ’s NCAA championship favorite.
Despite continued protests from Lucia – who insists on saying that winning the MacNaughton Cup as WCHA regular-season champion is not an objective – his players publicly repeat the coach’s mantra, but privately acknowledge that they wouldn’t mind hanging more than one banner this season. To that end, when Minnesota beat Denver 3-2 last Friday to end the Pioneers 7-game winning streak, the Golden Gophers vaulted past Denver into first place. When they followed up by whipping the Pioneers 5-1 for a series sweep, they elevated themselves to a position two points ahead of Wisconsin and three up on Denver.
With only two weekends to go, the Gophers would have to lose at least two of their remaining four games – against Alaska-Anchorage and Minnesota-Duluth, the bottom two teams in the WCHA. The WCHA this season has been its most unpredictable in decades, if not ever, but the likelihood of the Minnesota Express being derailed seems slim for a couple of reasons. First, because they are on a 7-0-1 surge of their own, and stand 14-1-1 since December 3, which has become a day to remember for the Gophers. Especially their defense.
On that night in December, Minnesota hit its low point for the season. Wisconsin had come to Mariucci Arena and the night after the Badgers administered a 4-3 setback, they humiliated the Golden Gophers 4-0 in the rematch. Wisconsin was flying high, No. 1 in the WCHA and No. 1 in the nation, but the worst part of that weekend was that the Gophers defense seemed powerless to cope with the Badgers. Turnovers gave Wisconsin numerous chances, and a stumbling inability to cope with the resulting rushes rendered Minnesota to also-ran status.
Amazingly, the next weekend Minnesota went up to Grand Forks and swept North Dakota. That sweep got the Gophers rolling, and they have kept on rolling, particularly with a pivotal payback sweep at Wisconsin and then last weekend’s sweep against Denver – their two main adversaries atop the standings.
Lucia doesnÂ’t deal much in superlatives, but the offense has come alive in the last two months. The key triggerman with his scoring consistency is junior center Ryan Potulny, bolstered by the return to health of timely-scoring junior wing Danny Irmen, important goals from surprising sophomore Ben Gordon, smart two-way defensive work from captain and center Gino Guyer, and continued eye-popping set-ups from freshman Phil Kessel. But the performance of those forwards, and goaltender Kellen Briggs, would be comparatively meaningless if the defense hadnÂ’t made a 180-degree turnabout.
So what happened? Did Lucia bring back NHLers Jordan Leopold, Keith Ballard and Paul Martin for that series, and dress them up to impersonate Gopher blueliners?
Almost.
“After that Wisconsin weekend,†Lucia said, “when we went up to North Dakota I had our defense watch a video of the 2002 title game. Specifically, I said to watch Leopold, Ballard and Martin, and how played in our zone, how they used the glass to get the puck out of the zone when they had to, and everything they did.Ââ€
Presto! As if by magic, the visualization lesson took hold and the Gopher defense went from stumbling to self-assured. Senior Chris Harrington, who had strayed far from the confident style he showed as a freshman, and fellow-senior P.J. Atherton played better and better. A Minneapolis newspaper columnist who rarely mentions hockey wrote an item that Gopher defenseman Mike Vannelli is the son of Tom Vannelli, a Gopher star of the 1970s – never mind that Vannelli is a junior, but had gone unnoticed for three years.
Sophomores Alex Goligoski and Derek Peltier snapped into focus, Goligoski returning to the confident rookie he had been last year, and Peltier compressing his play into smart and beneficial shifts. And freshman R.J. Atherton now plays with smooth force, instead of the sort of hesitancy that usually leads to the wrong move.
Instead, all the right moves have cleared pucks from danger and ignited Minnesota rushes, instead of opposing forechecks. By chance, Ballard was back at Mariucci Arena to watch the Denver series, because the weather was more hockey-like than his residence in Scottsdale, Ariz., while playing for the Phoenix Coyotes. Leopold and Martin might have been, but they were in Turin, Italy, as part of Team USAÂ’s Winter Olympic endeavor.
Meanwhile, any NHL or Olympic team would have been impressed to watch the Gopher defense calmly kill two five-minute major penalties in FridayÂ’s game, even with Atherton and Goligoski gone as the two whistled for checking-from-behind majors and game misconducts. No problem. Andy Sertich moved back to defense, and no damage was done.
The defensemen are helping out offensively, too. The 3-2 victory over Denver started when AndersonÂ’s whistling point shot was deflected in by Gordon, Harrington assisted on the always-opportunistic PotulnyÂ’s 23th goal to break a 1-1 tie, and Potulny added No. 24 on a power play for the winner.
The next night ended almost as it began. Denver star defenseman Matt Carle drew a slashing penalty in the first minute, and Irmen – just back from a shoulder injury – scored at 1:08 on the power play, assisted by Harrington and Goligoski. The assist was Harrington’s 100th career point. Gordon finished a perfect 2-on-1 rush from Kessel 29 seconds later, and Irmen scored on Kessel’s rebound midway through the first period for a 3-0 cushion.
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When Gabe Gauthier scored, finally, for Denver at 19:06 of the middle period, Goligoski ignited an immediate counter off the ensuing faceoff, resulting in Potulny setting up freshman Ryan Stoa at the goal-mouth at 19:14, nullifying whatever lift the Pioneers might have gained at 3-1.
“I thought weÂ’d get a momentum change on our goal, but eight seconds later, they came right back,“ said Gauthier. “Everything was rolling on our seven-game winning streak, but we hit a stopper, and it was Minnesota.Ââ€
GoligoskiÂ’s assist was his 100th point as a Gopher, and when he moved in from the right point to score himself midway through the third period, he started on his second 100.
“We got a couple of lucky bounces,†said Irmen. Somebody asked Irmen if the Gophers could see the WCHA title in their grasp now, and he said that no, that wasn’t an objective, and they had to go up to Anchorage and play game by game.
Yeah, right Danny. But with four games to go and a two-point lead, the Gophers would have to cave in to avoid winning the MacNaughton Cup, wouldnÂ’t they?
“Well, I guess we control our destiny, and if the title is there, we’ll take it,†said Irmen.
Irmen spoke as though he had been programmed by a chip installed in his brain at the Don Lucia Clinic of Proper Responses. No boasting, no predictions, no looking too far ahead, and no controversial statements whatsoever. Remember, this is the same coach who told assistant John Hill not to comment to the media the week before Alaska-Anchorage – the team Hill coached through last season before returning to be an assistant at Minnesota – to avoid anything that might end up inspiring the Seawolves.
However, given Lucia’s “programming†of the Gopher defense, and Minnesota’s No. 1 status in the WCHA and in the national polls, three things are pretty certain: Hill will probably remain silent on this week’s trip to Anchorage, the Gopher defense will continue to impersonate Leopold, Ballard and Martin, and the Gophers – protests notwithstanding – will probably move one weekend away from the MacNaughton Cup.
Denver wins, leads Final Five charge toward Frozen Four
SAINT PAUL, MN. — Who else but the WCHA could hold a five-team tournament and have everybody win? ThatÂ’s what happened with the leagueÂ’s annual Final Five playoff, where the five first-round playoff winners convened at Xcel Energy Center. Denver, the top seed by the slim margin of goal-differential over co-champion Colorado College, defeated the Tigers 1-0 to win the Final Five championship.
That was on Saturday night, and on Sunday, the NCAA selection committee named Denver, CC, third-place winner North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin to the 16-team NCAA tournament field, meaning for the first time all five Final Five teams reached the select field for the NCAA tournament.
It was no surprise that Denver and Colorado College, both of whom jockeyed for the nation’s No. 1 rank through the last several weeks, were both seeded No. 1 at different regionals. The surprise was that Minnesota, which lost 3-0 to CC in the semifinals, and also lost 4-2 in the third-place game to North Dakota – in what was the third game in three days for the Sioux – was also named a No. 1 seed. The Golden Gophers were the top ranked team in the nation for three weeks in a row in midseason, before struggling through much of the second half, but their strong first half entrenched their status in the pairwise computer rankings used by the selection committee.
North Dakota, playing its best hockey of the season, defeated Wisconsin 3-2 in the “play-in†game between the fourth-seeded Badgers and fifth-seeded Fighting Sioux. North Dakota then came back with a strong performance against Denver, losing 2-1 in overtime. The Sioux also lost Robbie Bina when he was checked from behind into the side boards and suffered a fractured vertebra in his neck. Denver’s Geoff Paukovich, who was given a minor penalty on the play, was suspended for the league championship game after league officials reviewed the videotape of the hit.
North Dakota also lost star forward Brady Murray with an aggravated shoulder injury, 15 seconds earlier, and played heroically the rest of the way with 10 forwards before losing the game, which was its second in an 18-hour span. When the Fight should have been completely out of the Sioux, they came back the third day and stung Minnesota 4-2 for the third-place trophy.
The Final Five has no special bearing on the NCAA Selection Committee, but North Dakota’s courageous three-day run earned the Sioux all-tournament berths for winger Rastaslav Spirko and defenseman Nick Fuher, while Colorado College winger Brett Sterling and goaltender Curtis McElhinney also made the select six, and Denver center Gabe Gauthier – who scored both goals in the 2-1 overtime victory over North Dakota – and defenseman Matt Laatsch rounded out the all-tourney team. Sterling was named tournament MVP.
Denver coach George Gwozdecky stuck with his alternating goaltender plan, using Glenn Fisher in FridayÂ’s semifinal, and coming back with freshman Peter Mannino for the title game 1-0 shutout over Colorado College. Mannino also shut out the Tigers 5-0 in the last game of the regular season, lifting the Pioneers into a tie with CC for the MacNaughton Cup, and earning the top playoff seed in the WCHA on the basis of goal-differential. Gwozdecky had difficulty comparing this team to last year, when Denver was eliminated in the first round of league playoffs by CC, and missed the Final Five, only to get voted back in when the NCAA selected its 16 teams. Rested and ready, Denver went all the way to capture the NCAA championship, with, of all things, a 1-0 title-game shutout.
“All season, this team hasnÂ’t set any long-term goals,†said Gwozdecky. “ThatÂ’s given us the opportunity to win every weekend, and we are not emotionally spent.Ââ€
That stability, as well as their experience and poise, could make Denver the pre-tournament favorite to defend its NCAA crown. They got something of a break in NCAA pairings, where things worked out even though the Pioneers actually ranked as the third-best team by NCAA selection committee reasoning.
In the committee’s ratings, Boston College ended up No. 1, and is the only non-WCHA team to gain a No. 1 seed. Colorado College was ranked No. 2, despite the final loss to Denver, which was No. 3. A major decision the committee faced was between Minnesota and Cornell for the Nos. 4 and 5 slots. It came down to the “common-opponent†phase of evaluation, and the only common foe was Michigan, which beat Cornell, while Minnesota had beaten Michigan 6-1 at Thanksgiving time.
Following Cornell came Michigan, North Dakota and New Hampshire, in order, as the remaining No. 2 seeds, then Harvard, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Boston University, in order, as the No. 3 seeds, and Maine, Colgate, Bemidji and Mercyhurst as the four No. 4 seeds. Each regional gets one team of each seeding group.
Had Minnesota been bumped to fifth, it would have become the top No. 2 seed, while Cornell would have been No. 1 at Amherst, N.Y., and then either Denver or Colorado College would have been sent to Mariucci Arena as No. 1. But since Minnesota is No. 1, the Gophers remain home to host to the West Regional, while Denver goes to Amherst, N.Y., as No. 1 seed in the Northeast Regional, and CC goes to Grand Rapids, Mich., as No. 1 seed at the Midwest Regional. North Dakota, which put on a courageous display at the WCHA tournament, is No. 2 seed at Worcester, Mass., in the Eastern Regional, where Boston College is the top seed. Wisconsin remained ranked high enough to be a No. 3 seed at the Midwest Regional.
That leaves WCHA teams in position to challenge for all four Frozen Four spots for the April 7-9 event at Columbus, Ohio. The toughest regional might be the Midwest, where CC faces Colgate, while Wisconsin takes on host Michigan in the other Friday semifinal. In the East Regional, also Friday and Saturday, Boston College is heavily favored over Mercyhurst, and if the highly ranked Eagles prevail, they would face the winner between North Dakota and Boston University in another tough regional.
In the Northeast Regional, Denver is heavily favored over Bemidji State, the College Hockey America champion, while New Hampshire faces Harvard in the other semifinal on Saturday. If Denver beats a strong Bemidji entry, the Pioneers would be solid favorites against either Harvard or UNH for the Frozen Four berth.
Denver, CC, North Dakota and Wisconsin all move eastward, where they will find plenty of competition, but none of them probably mind avoiding coming to Mariucci Arena, where they might have had to beat Minnesota at Mariucci Arena to advance. The Gophers hardly have an easy route, however, facing Maine in the Saturday afternoon semifinal, while Cornell faces Ohio State in the other game. Minnesota may be the No. 1 seed in the regional and Maine No. 4, but the Gophers are trying to regroup after losing twice at the Final Five, while Maine finished the season on an upsurge, losing 2-1 in two overtimes to Boston College in the Hockey East tournament semifinals.
While the WCHA gained five slots in the NCAA field, Hockey East had four, with BC, BU, New Hampshire and Maine, while the ECAC got three, with Cornell, Harvard and Colgate, and the CCHA only got two, with Michigan and Ohio State. If the five WCHA entries all play up to their top potential, the disappointment will be that the Frozen Four only has four openings.
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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