Badgers stand in way of MSU-Mankato season, Final Five

It has been a long season of feeling as though they had to prove themselves, week after week, for the Minnesota State-Mankato Mavericks, but they continued to do just that, winding up in a second-place tie with Minnesota, behind only Colorado College. In fact, the Mavericks lost only one of their last 21 games, and even that loss gave them a chance to prove themselves anew.

The loss came in the next-to-last week of the regular season, when Mankato took a school record 17 game unbeaten streak to Colorado College and got shot down, 8-1. The next night, CC was whipping the Mavericks again, 6-4 after two periods, when Mankato roared back to win 9-6.

“To come back the second night against what I think is best team in country, was very important to us,” said Mankato coach Troy Jutting, whose team was picked for ninth at the start of the season by rival coaches.

The Mavericks’ reward for such an outstanding season is another chance to prove themselves – this weekend, in a first-round WCHA playoff series against Wisconsin.

“Our students are gone this weekend, but our community is very excited to be hosting playoff series,” said Jutting, who knows, from the season series against the Badgers, that nothing will come easily. “We got an overtime win the first night, and a tie the second at Wisconsin. I think the two teams match up well against each other.

“I didn’t really know where we’d be at the start of the season. We lost a couple good players late in the summer, and I just didn’t know. We started off the year 0-3-2, and I think it took a little time to let it sink in that those guys who left weren’t going to be here. But I knew we had some good kids back. Some stepped up, like Grant Stevenson, and our goaltenders. Things worked out well for us to finish second, and weÂ’ve got home ice to defend.”

ItÂ’s easy to see how Jutting can keep his players humble. It comes naturally. But Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves places Minnesota State-Mankato (15-6-7 in WCHA, 18-8-10 overall) on a pedestal nonetheless.
“We are playing one of the top teams in the WCHA, and they seem to be a team of destiny. They’ve gotten some good senior leadership, and their goaltending has been strong.”

Indeed. Mankato has gotten solid goaltending, but the key for the Mavericks has been the play of linemates Grant Stevenson and Shane Joseph, which has been nothing short of phenomenal. Joseph wound up second in WCHA scoring to Colorado College’s Peter Sejna, with 24 goals and 24 assists for 48 points. Overall, he has 27-30—57, which ranks eighth in the nation on a points per game basis. Stevenson, meanwhile, finished fourth in WCHA scoring at 20-24—44, and passed his linemate to place fifth in national scoring at 24-31—55 in fewer games.

Together, they have been magical. After their comeback victory at CC, Tigers coach Scott Owens said the biggest mistake his team made was to get into a “shinny game” with Minnesota State, which is dangerous, “because they can score,” Owens said.

“We have some concerns,” Jutting said. “But the strengths of our team is very good character. The leadership of seniors like B.J. Abel, and the great job done by Grant Stevenson have been very important. Stevenson didn’t play in the second game at CC, and we held him out this past weekend [against Nebraska-Omaha]. But he’s OK, and should be close to 100 percent now. We lost Joe Bourne, a senior defenseman, last weekend and that hurts because he’s a leader, too.”

Wisconsin (7-17-4, 13-21-4 overall) struggled through the first half of the season, and only started to show signs of life in the last month. Successive weekends against Alaska-Anchorage and Michigan Tech gave the Badgers the opening to go 3-0-1, a stretch that was pivotal in climbing over Tech and into eighth place.

“Our goaltending has been one of our better things, because it’s been more consistent,” said Eaves. “In the second half of the season, we haven’t had the big highs and lows. We’re taking care of the puck better. It’s a game of mistakes, and fewer mistakes mean more success.

“We’ve fiddled around with lines so much, I think we’ve finally found some chemistry. That has helped us a lot in the second half. Also, in the second half of the year, our freshmen doubled their points.

“Stepping into this situation, you have expectations, and as you get to know the team, they change. In terms of the type of year this has been, it’s been a real test. You have to learn to control the things you can control. By doing that, you short-term things in the storms. For the most part, we’ve been in close games all year.”

UMD finds no time to celebrate home ice against St. Cloud

There are a lot of things that the University of Minnesota-Duluth hockey team deserves to celebrate this season. There is the play of freshman Isaac Reichmuth in goal, and of freshman Tim Stapleton at center, and the midseason arrival of T.J. Caig, another first-year standout, has bolstered UMDÂ’s once-spotty offense further. The play of senior Pat Francisco has been inspirational up front, and the play of Beau Geisler, a senior who most likely will get another year of eligibility, has been exceptional on defense.

The sum total has been a rise from ninth to fifth by the Bulldogs, and their 32 points, based on a 14-10-4 WCHA record, shows an improvement of 17 points in league play over last season, far and away the best. Minnesota State-Mankato improved 13 points, and North Dakota 10, for comparison.

But there’s no time to celebrate. If the Bulldogs feel smug for 48 hours this weekend, they will be through for the season. Despite their strong run, the ‘Dogs rank either 19th or 20th in the polls, so even though the NCAA has expanded its hockey tournament to 16 teams this season, the only way UMD has a chance to make it is to win this weekend and hope to move up in the rankings, and then do win, or at least make a strong run at winning, the WCHA Final Five – a tall order.

But for now, St. Cloud State presents a strong enough challenge.
“It’s certainly been exciting for us,” said UMD coach Scott Sandelin. “It was a goal to finish in the top five and get home ice. We’ve been pretty consistent all year, with a young team. We got points every weekend, with the exception of Mankato.”

While Reichmuth rendered senior goaltender Rob Anderson to backup duty, Anderson has come on and played spectacular goal the last month, winning the second game in three of the last four series, after Reichmuth seemed to start giving up a few more goals.

“Obviously, Isaac has been the guy in goal most of the season, but we’re in a great situation, now,” said Sandelin. “ Robbie has won his last four starts, and it’s been a tough year for a senior, but I’m very happy for Rob. He got his chance, and never looked back. If our series with St. Cloud goes three games, we definitely will use both goaltenders.

“Up front, we’ve gotten tremendous play out of Tim Stapleton, who led our team in scoring as a freshman. And T.J. Caig, Nick Anderson, and players like Jon Francisco and Luke Stauffacher – a lot of guys have contributed. Balanced team, lot of guys who have overachieved. On defense, Ryan Geris and Steve Czech, who has played every game, have done well as freshmen. Beau Geisler has been our leader, and players like Neil Petruic and Tim Hambly have gotten much better. Jay Hardwick has played almost every game. It’s a pretty good group. They move the puck, and think the game very well.”

While the Bulldogs were rising to contention, the Huskies fell from contention when a succession of injuries finally took a toll. The biggest loss was Ryan Malone, who went out for about two months, first with a pulled groin, then when he returned to the lineup, he suffered a broken kneecap in his first game back and was out another month.

“As a team, we’re pretty excited about putting reg season behind us and getting started again,” said Fred Harbinson, St. Cloud State assistant coach. “We lost 95 man-games to injuries this season, and weÂ’ve been inconsistent. Ryan Malone was out for three series, then back for one. In his first game back, he hurt his knee. HeÂ’s only played 23 games total. He was probably 80-85 percent last weekend, but heÂ’s kept rehabing, and heÂ’s ready to play this weekend.”

When he was healthy, Malone played with Jon Cullen and Joe Motzko on what appeared to be the best line in the WCHA. “Malone played on a line with Cullen and Motzko last week,” said Harbinson. “WeÂ’re definitely a different team with him back in the lineup. But weÂ’ve got a big task going into Duluth. We had great series. We each won two, they had 11 goals and we had 9. Duluth is one of the hardest-working if not THE hardest working team we’ve played all season. On top of that, theyÂ’ve got a great goaltender in Reichmuth. We know we’re going to have to match their work-ethic, otherwise there won’t be a Final Five for us this year.”

Sandelin, while happy to be at home, knows the importance goes only so far. “Quite frankly,” he said, “weÂ’ve been as good on the road as at home. WeÂ’re 9-6-1 on road, 9-7-3 at home. The biggest thing is we’ve cut down our goals-against a lot. Now weÂ’ve got some expectations. But when you have some success, expectations should rise.”

Anoka blows down Roseville offense to win AA final 4-1

SAINT PAUL — Anoka blew across the Xcel Energy ice surface like their namesake Tornadoes Saturday night, gathering force as the game progressed and overturning an early deficit to beat Roseville 3-1 and capture the schoolÂ’s first state high school hockey championship before 17,163 fans.

The heroes were many for the Tornadoes, who spotted Roseville a 1-0 first-period lead, then defused the explosive Raider offense the rest of the night, while Andrew Johnson scored the tying goal in the second period, and Craig Chapman tipped in a power-play blast by Tim Manthey midway through the third period for the eventual game-winner.

Derek JohnsonÂ’s deflected empty-net goal with 52 seconds remaining finished off the victory. Ben Hendrick assisted on the first two Anoka goals, including a remarkably clever play to set up JohnsonÂ’s tally.

Anoka (26-3-2) finished the season with an 11-0-1 stretch run, while Roseville (25-4-2) lost for the first time in 10 games, after riding an 8-0-1 run to the final game.

Both Roseville and Anoka play an aggressive, up-tempo offense but tough and unyielding defense – assets that certainly contributed to getting them to the title game. Anoka defeated Duluth East 4-3 in Thursday’s quarterfinals, then eliminated defending champ Holy Angels 2-1 in Friday’s semifinals. Roseville outlasted a tough White Bear Lake outfit 4=3 first and then harnessed Eden Prairie 4-1. Holy Angels got by Eden Prairie 2-1 in Saturday’s third-place game, the preliminary to the final.

The teams dueled through a scoreless first 11 minutes, each getting a power play without being able to convert. But at 11:41, Brandon Svendsen fed the puck ahead to Andy Carroll, speeding up the right boards. With one Anoke defender back, Carroll cut toward the slot to pick him up as a screen, then snapped a hard wrist shot just past the defenseman, snaring the net before goaltender Kyle Olstad could spot it.

The Tornadoes had a couple of excellent opportunities to tie it early in the second period, when brothers Andy and Aaron LaHoud had a 2-on-0 chance after an outlet attempt took a crazy bounce off the right corner boards and caromed right out in front. But goaltender Jerad Kaufmann went down for one save and stayed there for the second. Svendsen immediately came back on a break-in at the other end, but Olstad held firm.

It took a brilliant play for Anoka to get the equalizer at 12:51 of the second period. Ben Hendrick, a 5-foot-8 senior, carried the puck up the left boards, appearing oblivious to the fact that a Roseville defenseman had him lined up for a big hit. Turns out, he anticipated perfectly, pivoting to his left to brace for the hit, and an instant before beding slammed into the left boards, Hendrick snapped a backhand pass softly across the slot. Speeding into the zone was Andrew Johnson, catching the pass all alone and streaking to the net, where he cut to his left, waited until Kaufmann dropped to the ice, then flicking his shot up and over the fallen goaltender.

That set the stage for the third period, with the teams standing absolutely even at 1-1, with the shots 11-11.

But the Tornadoes had been getting stronger and gaining momentum as the game progressed, and they seemed stronger still in the third period, putting on more and more pressure in the Roseville end. At 7:46, RosevilleÂ’s Kyle Odegaard was penalized for high-sticking. It may have been retaliatory, it may have been from being tired and frustrated. It proved pivotal when the ensuing power play resulted in AnokaÂ’s go-ahead goal, by Chapman.

Again, however, it was the diminutive Hendrick who was involved, sending a perfect pass to center-point, where Tim Manthey, who rarely left the ice all night, blasted a slapshot through traffic at 8:42. Chapman got a piece of it, deflecting it past Kaufmann for the 2-1 lead.

Anoka outshot Roseville 22-17 for the game, thanks to an 11-6 edge in the third period. Anoka had worked so hard to gain the upper hand that even after breaking the tie the Tornadoes kept the pressure on, attacking relentlessly and preventing the Raiders from getting their offense going.

Roseville coach Steve Sertich called time out with 1:24 left and pulled goalie Kaufmann for an extra skater. The Raiders battled for possession, but the puck came loose near the left boards, and Derek Johnson tried to launch the puck out of the zone. His clearing attempt may not have been on-target, but it was partially deflected by RosevilleÂ’s Neal Carlson, trying desperately to regain possession, and the deflected puck veered down the ice and landed right in the middle of the empty net with 52 seconds remaining.

The Raiders made one last spirited bid, but Anoka goaltender Olstad held firm. An unfortunate skirmish after the save resulted in RosevilleÂ’s Collin Cody delivering a cross-check to Tim Manthey, knocking off his helmet, knocking him down, and leaving Cody in the penalty box with a 5-minute major penalty.

Manthey, son of Anoka coach Todd Manthey, and arguably the best player in the three-day tournament, led the Anoka contingent that also included goaltender Kyle Olstad and forwards Ben Hendrick and Sean Fish on the all-tournament team. RosevilleÂ’s goalie, Jerad Kaufmann, and Raider teammates Neal Carlson on defense and Pat Eagles and Andy Carroll up front also made the team. The rest of the all-tourney team included forward Kevin Huck and defenseman Jack Hillen of third-place Holy Angels; forward Josh Frider of consolation champ Moorhead, and defenseman Dustin Mercado of White Bear Lake.

Talented Gophers awaken just in time for Tech, playoff run

Minnesota get on a hot streak a year ago and won the NCAA title, with the only loss in the Gophers final 11-1 stretch coming in the WCHA Final Five title game against Denver. Despite losing a group of standout seniors, WCHA rivals may have been waiting all year to see the same sort of chemistry from the Gophers this season, and, after assorted injuries and other problems, the sleeping giant seems to have awakened at just the right time again.

Maybe it was the twin comebacks against Denver, where a 3-0 deficit became a 3-3 tie and then a 4-1 deficit became an 8-5 Gopher victory. Or maybe it was a 5-3 victory and 1-1 tie against St. Cloud State that produced the three points to boost the Gophers into a tie with Minnesota State-Mankato, where the tie-breaking edge gave the No. 2 league seed to the Gophers, but all seems in order for another stretch run.

Michigan Tech, the ninth-place finisher at 7-18-3 to MinnesotaÂ’s 15-6-7, and with an overall record of 10-22-4 compared to MinnesotaÂ’s 20-8-9, comes to Mariucci Arena for the first round of WCHA playoffs. The Huskies, who made an uprising in January to threaten a rise, fell back again in February, including two tough losses against Wisconsin in the last home series.

The Huskies regained some hope when they went to Duluth and stung Minnesota-Duluth 6-3, to avenge two losses to the Bulldogs at Winter Carnival in Houghton, Mich. – only to lose the rematch by the identical score. But coach Mike Sertich was his usual witty self as he looked ahead to the trip to Minneapolis.

“We beat a pretty good hockey team on their rink in Duluth, so we’re using that as a springboard for the playoffs,” said Sertich. “They’re the ones who sent us on our tailspin at Winter Carnival, and that was on our minds when we went up there. We changed some things, and went in there and played well on the small rink.”

Sertich was then asked what the difference would be going from the WCHAÂ’s smallest rink in Duluth to the vast Olympic-size 200-by-100 sheet at Minnesota.

“Not a problem,” said Sertich. “We’re practicing on Keweenaw Bay to get ready for the big ice, and the nice thing about it is the lake’s frozen over, so we don’t lose the puck.”

Minnesota, however, seems to be in perfect position, despite various problems. Captain Grant Potulny, who scored the winning goal in the 5-4 overtime NCAA final victory against Maine, broke his ankle in the first game of the season and missed the first half of the year. Matt Koalska was out with hernia surgery. Barry Tallackson struggled, and then went out with a broken collarbone. All three were expected to be major offensive leaders for the Gophers, who, instead, turned to freshman Thomas Vanek.

The lanky sniper from Austria didn’t let them down. He led all WCHA rookies in league scoring with 15 goals, 13 assists for 28 points, while overall he led the Gophers with 24-27—51, ranking seventh among all WCHA scorers in all games, and second only to North Dakota’s Zach Parise in overall rookie scoring.

Troy Riddle, also, has 24-23—47, after scoring the game-winning goal at St. Cloud last Friday, and notching the lone Gopher goal in Saturday’s 1-1 standoff.

“Thomas Vanek has exceeded my expectations,” said Minnesota coach Don Lucia. “I thought he’d score, but not 50 points. Early in year, Riddle and Vanek seemed to be the only two who scored for us for a while. Now, the rest have picked it up, and Riddle and Vanek havenÂ’t scored as much.

“ItÂ’s been a good year for us, because we had our share of injuries, but fortunately everybody is back at the crucial time of the season. IÂ’m proud of the kids to be able to hang in there and get their points. Potulny is back, and Tallackson is starting to play well. Been a tough year for Barry. He had 13 goals as freshman, and we thought he might score 15, 18, 20 goals this year. But he hurt his shoulder, then went off to the Junior tournament. He has been frustrated. But lately, heÂ’s been playing a lot harder, and the puck seems to find a way to go in when you’re doing that. His elevated play has really helped.”

As for Tech, Lucia recalls four tough games early in the season. The teams played four times in the first month, with Minnesota going 3-0-1.

“I think tech is much-improved,” said Lucia. “Offensively, they can score some goals, and they can get around the rink. We’ve just got to focus on the short-term. WeÂ’ll worry about this weekend, and not look ahead. Our whole focus is on winning against Tech and advancing to the Final Five.”

Sertich pointed to inconsistency, particularly in goal, as affecting the Huskies and being a key this weekend. “We played very well in January when we got good goaltending, and then we didnÂ’t play very well in February, and we didn’t get very good goaltending from either kid. Our team has a tendency to look over their shoulder when things go against them. But it helps to have players like Brett Engelhardt, who epitomizes all that a leader can be. And Colin Murphy got 19 goals, and Chris Conner is everything we thought he’d be.”

Conner, a freshman, has 11-23—34, while sophomore Murphy has 19-19—38, and Engelhardt 16-15—31.

“Our dropoff point is greater than Minnesota’s,” Sertich said, referring to MinnesotaÂ’s depth. “They didn’t have Tallackson or Potulny or a couple of other guys who were injured when we played them early in season. ThereÂ’s no question that the emotion of last year carried over — they’re still the national champions, and will be until somebody beats ’em.”

Fighting Sioux hope to rebound against puzzling Pioneers

ThereÂ’s no place like home for the holidays, or, rather, for the playoffs. Just ask Dean Blais, coach at North Dakota, which dropped from what seemed like annual contention to have to go on the road for last yearÂ’s playoffs. This year, the Fighting Sioux ranked No. 1 in the nation for most of the first half of the season, then dropped through most of the second half, but held on to fourth.

The “Zach Attack” led by freshman center Zach Parise may someday rival the “Hrkac Circus” for the NCAA championship days of the Tony Hrkac-based offense, but Parise is only a freshman, albeit a spectacular freshman. With the top five WCHA teams getting home ice, it should be a relief to the Fighting Sioux to have home ice, but the presence of powerful Denver, the defending WCHA champion, at Ralph Engelstad Arena promises to make the Sioux in something less than a hospitable mood.

“It’s good to be back having home ice after having to play at Minnesota last year,” said Blais, whose North Dakota club went 14-9-5 in league play to finish one point ahead of Minnesota-Duluth. The Sioux swept Wisconsin to end the season, while UMD was splitting with Michigan Tech, which proved the difference between fourth and fifth.

“We had two good games out at Denver,” said Blais. “We lost both games, but they were good games. This could be the toughest series of all, the way Denver moves the puck.”

Denver coach George Gwozdecky is aware that the Pioneers are one of the WCHAÂ’s puzzles this season. Big, strong, fast and impressive, and with outstanding goaltending, the Pioneers were the consensus pick of the WCHA coaches to win the league title. When Minnesota suffered some key injuries early in the season, Gopher coach Don Lucia was most concerned that Denver might run off with the league title.

Instead, the Pioneers had their own problems, dropping to the middle of the field, and ultimately missing home ice, finishing 11-11-6.

“We’ve had a disappointing year from our perspective, and for a number of different reasons,” Gwozdecky said. “We felt some of our strength would be up front, and we’ve struggled to score goals at times. On blue line, we also at times struggled. In goal, Wade Dubeliewicz got hurt and missed nine games.

“But now, weÂ’ve got zeroes across the board. ItÂ’s a new season, and weÂ’re going into a very tough place to play against a very tough team. If you play well, you continue to move on, if you don’t, you don’t.”

Both teams have done extremely well in nonconference games, which is why both have remained ranked among the top 15 teams in the country, ahead of, for example, Minnesota-Duluth, which has never risen above the “also received votes” category despite finishing ahead of Denver. North Dakota is ranked 11th in the polls, while Denver is 14th, and UMD is either 19th or 20th. North Dakota’s 14-9-5 league record swells to 24-9-5 overall, while Denver’s mediocre 11-11-6 league mark looks a lot better at 20-12-6 overall.

“We took advantage of our home games in the first half, and we were playing well,” Blais said. “We went 10-0, nonconference. Zach Parise is an atypical freshman. He is always dangerous offensively, and he and Brendon Bochenski carried us with their scoring the first half of the season. Exactly what happened in the second half was that teams with last change had their two best defensemen out against Zach and Bochenski. Their scoring dropped off a little. As good as the players are in this league, the coaching is so good, you can’t outmaneuver anybody.”

Parise, the son of former NHLer J.P. Parise, has 25 goals, 32 assists for 57 points. That’s a remarkable season for anyone, let alone a freshman, and it ranks him fourth-best among national scorers in points per game. Bochenski, a sophomore who always has had the knack of beating goaltenders, is 32-25—57, with the same overall points as Parise, and the WCHA leader in overall goals, one ahead of Peter Sejna. Obviously, their scoring is pivotal to the Sioux hopes.

“The fact that we were falling off, not knowing if we’d get home ice, has made us a better team,” said Blais. “The only question is, is there a goaltender out of our four who can make a difference?”

Gwozdecky is proud of his teamÂ’s 7-1 nonconference record, and says a key factor in DenverÂ’s demise to a .500 WCHA record was losing all four games to arch-rival Colorado College.

“To be successful, you have to have a good start and maintain your health,” Gwozdecky said. “My hat’s off to Minnesota, because they had some real health issues, but they hung in there. We’ve had patchwork lineups since November. But our nonconference record is 7-1, and we shut out Michigan State 5-0, won 4-0 against New Hampshire, and 6-0 against Miami, and those are pretty good quality teams.

“But our season has been challenging from the perspective of playing very well at times, in the season and within some games, then look like we’ve never even practiced. ItÂ’s happened a lot in recent games, and it’s a concern. ItÂ’s been a collaboration of a lot of different things. At this time of year, youÂ’ve got to start strong, stay strong and finish strong. Part of it is tactically, part mentally.”

North Dakota has been pretty healthy all season, then suddenly has a major question mark with David Hale, one of the team’s most solid defensemen. “David Hale lost 15 pounds, and didn’t have an ounce of fat on him,” said Blais. “He had night sweats, was sick. We finally got him down to Rochester, and he has a condition called IGA, which is kind of a kidney disease. He came back and skated on his own, but he’s going back down there. It hurts us a lot to lose him, but they feel they have a handle on his problem in Rochester. There’s a chance we might get him back, but right now, getting him healthy, and making a full recovery, is what’s most important.”

Denver will go with its favored goalie rotation, with Adam Berkhoel Friday and Wade Dubeliewicz on Saturday, and if it goes to a third game? “We’ll just have to wait and see,” said Gwozdecky.

For both Denver and North Dakota, ratings are important, because only one of the two can advance to the Final Five, and whichever team loses this series is in serious jeopardy as far as NCAA invitations are concerned. “We’re playing best hockey of year, but basically, if you lose to Denver, then it’s all in the hands of a selection committee,” said Blais.

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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.