Bemidji coach Olson watches UMD women celebrate title

It was pretty much the perfect ending to a perfect regular season for the University of Minnesota-Duluth womenÂ’s hockey team. After romping to a 10-0 victory at Bemidji State, the Bulldogs returned home to almost duplicate the feat with an 11-3 Sunday matinee triumph over Bemidji at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center on Sunday afternoon.
The victories clinched the WomenÂ’s WCHA title at 21-2-1 for UMD, which finished regular-season play ranked No. 2 in the country at 27-3-2. While it is normal to conduct some sort of senior day before the final home game of the regular season, UMD coach Shannon Miller chose to hold this one after the final game, knowing the pregame ceremony might bother the visitors from Bemidji State, and the possible emotion might bother the UMD players.
So, after the game, a carpet was unrolled on the DECC ice, and while the 1,443 fans stayed in place, the eight seniors were called to center ice one by one. Joanne Eustace, Jenny Hempel, Erika Holst, Navada Russell, Patricia Sautter, Hanne Sikio, Michelle McAteer, and Maria Rooth. They walked out with parents or adopted Duluth family members, and there were a lot of tears and emotion spilling after an incredible four-year run. Rooth and Holst are from Sweden, Sikio from Finland, Sautter from Switzerland, Eustace, McAteer and Russell from Canada, and Hempel from Minnesota.
As the ceremony continued, a tall figure stood over behind the glass in the corner, where the visiting team enters and leaves the rink. It was Bemidji State coach Bruce Olson.
“That’s a great team,” said Olson, whose team still has a weekend to go at 5-12-5 and 9-15-6. “What can you do? They’ve got some awesome players. All we can hope to do is land one or two kids with that kind of skill, and then maybe some others will follow.
“We know it might be difficult to get up to that level at Bemidji, be that’s what we hope to do.”
Olson knows that thereÂ’s a gap between the top of the WomenÂ’s WCHA, and teams such as UMD and Minnesota. But Wisconsin has closed the gap on them, and Bemidji State hopes to challenge Ohio State and keep moving up, while also bringing some stability to the Beavers program.
“I’m the third coach the program has had in four years,” said Olson.
“But look at where we are. We got to Ohio State for the final weekend and we’ve got a chance to finish fourth. Ohio State is tough, but if we happen to win, we’d finish fourth, and that would be the best Bemidji State has ever done.”
Regardless, the Beavers and Buckeyes are on a collision course to play this weekend in the season-ending series, and then to meet again at Englestad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D., in the WomenÂ’s WCHA Final Five playoff March 6-8. The fourth and fifth teams play a one-game knockout, for the right to face UMD in the semifinals, while Minnesota finishes the regular season against Wisconsin, and then comes right back to take on the Badgers again in the WCHA semifinals.
It is likely that two teams will advance to the NCAA Frozen Four in Duluth, with UMD and Minnesota both being ranked among the nationÂ’s top three teams all season, and Wisconsin among the top seven.
Olson, who was a star player at Roseau High School and then at UMD, coached in North Dakota and returned to coach the boys high school team at Roseau before going back to North Dakota to further his degree, and while there, he coached the North Dakota club team that this year started varsity hockey. His team reflects his steady and classy approach to the game.
Olson has eight seniors on the Bemidji State team, led by Amber Fryklund of Hibbing, who leads with 12 goals and 18 assists for 30 points. Lill Raynard, another senior, plays on FryklundÂ’s wing. Betsy Hegland, Alicia Kinsman and Kerri McEwen form an all-senior third line, and Amy Shepler in on the fourth line, while Lisa Peters leads the defense and Bre Dedrickson is one of three rotating goaltenders.
The challenge for Bemidji State was immense against UMD. The Bulldogs have so much scoring power they had overrun the Beavers 9-0 and 10-0 earlier in the season. Adding SaturdayÂ’s 10-0 victory meant that UMD had outscored Bemidji State 29-0 in three victories. But the Beavers played hard in the Sunday match at the DECC.
After Caroline Ouellette staked UMD to a 1-0 lead, Raynard scored her ninth goal of the season to not only give Bemidji its first goal against UMD in four games, but to tie the game 1-1. Nora Tallus and Sikio came right back with goals 48 seconds apart for a 3-1 UMD lead, but Kinsman scored with a diving deflection of a long pass to bring Bemidji up to 3-2.
UMD was not to be denied, with Sikio and Rooth scoring 41 seconds apart in the final minute of the opening period to make it 5-2, and the Bulldogs never looked back. They outshot Bemidji State 45-16, and Jenny Potter scored three goals and four assists, Sikio added two goals and four assists, and Rooth, the captain, was named No. 1 star with three goals and one assist.
That means Potter continues to lead the nation in scoring with 32-51—83. Ouellette has 26-37—63, Holst 29-28—57, Sikio 22-26—48, and Rooth 19-29—48. Rooth now has 226 points to become UMD’s all-time leading hockey scorer, breaking Dan Lempe’s 24-year-old mark of 222 career points for the Bulldog men.
Olson, whose Bemidji State team tied the Gophers 2-2 early in the season, and has a victory and a tie in an early series with Ohio State, knows this yearÂ’s Beavers have improved as the season has gone along. And they have more to go. But watching him watch the on-ice celebration by UMD at the DECC made you realize he has an idea for where he wants to take the Bemidji State program.

Freshman Vanek steps in, steps up to pace Gopher offense

When the chips are on the line in WCHA hockey, tradition says depending on a freshman to do the scoring is risky. For the Univesrsity of Minnesota, however, putting the pressure on freshman Thomas Vanek has led to amazing rewards and results, and with only two weekends to go in the regular season, this topsy-turvy season is far from over.
The Gophers, in fact, seem to be masters of connecting seeming opposites. Their motto, in fact, could be both: “What a difference a year makes” and, “How similar can two years be?”
A year ago, the Gophers were starting a phenomenal 11-1 closing surge to win the NCAA championship, behind the glorious leadership of seniors Johnny Pohl (27 goals and a national best 79 points) and Jordan Leopold (20 goals, 58 points and the Hobey Baker Award), plus the 34-goal scoring of junior Jeff Taffe. All three of those fellows are gone, as is goaltender Adam Hauser, who set a WCHA record with 83 career victories. The goal-happy Gophers of a year ago showed eight players in double figures for goals, with Taffe (34), Pohl (27), and Leopold (20) followed by Troy Riddle with 16, Grant Potulny 15, Barry Tallackson 13, and 10 each from Matt Koalska and Keith Ballard.
Obviously, it’s impossible to replace such impressive leadership as Pohl, Leopold, Taffe, Hauser and the other seniors provided. The Gophers have struggled to score some times this season, with only Riddle rising to show improvement over last season’s stats. Riddle has 22-23—45. But here’s the astonishing part: No other Gopher has hit double figures in goals – except for Vanek.
But the second part of this season’s motto is not to be trifled with. Despite hurting for balance and consistency in goal-scoring, the Gophers stand 13-6-5 in the WCHA, good for 31 points and third place behind Colorado College and Minnesota State-Mankato. Now look back to last year’s fantastic season – at the exact same point in the season the Gophers stood 14-7-3, for 31 points. Exactly the same!
From here on the parallel requires close scrutiny, because the Gophers finished 11-1 a year ago, and they take that knowledge into this weekendÂ’s series against preseason WCHA favorite Denver, while being fully aware that Mankato is at Colorado College, a series that ends MankatoÂ’s season, while the Gophers still have two games with St. Cloud State and a chance to move higher than third.
Points and victories matter far more than individual goals, but the emergence of Vanek, who is dueling North Dakota freshman Zach Parise for the nationÂ’s rookie scoring lead, is providing the ignition for the Gophers.
A rookie from Graz, Austria, by way of Sioux Falls from the USHL junior ranks, Vanek may have no knowledge of last yearÂ’s individual achievements, but he certainly doesnÂ’t shrink from the challenge. A lanky, 6-foot-2, 210-pound winger, Vanek cruises to his own beat when heÂ’s on the ice. Instead of the hustling, whirling-dervish two-way workers that populate teams throughout college and pro hockey, Vanek seems to coast and avoid congestion, almost disappearing until the puck touches his stick, at which time his game turns positively electrifying.
That style has led to some whispered criticism about how he doesnÂ’t get involved, doesnÂ’t hustle, doesnÂ’t like contact, although even the whisperers know that a lot of players can make it into the National Hockey League if they possess the puck-skills Vanek displays everytime he gets the puck on his stick.
“He plays under control,” said Gopher coach Don Lucia. “Vanek is not going to be first up on the forecheck, or using his body. But he’s very strong on the puck, and very dangerous. He’s got a chance to score 30 goals as a freshman. He’s far and away the best natural goal-scorer we have.”
An interesting note is that when the game gets serious, VanekÂ’s determination seems to rise as well. Of his 24 goals, 13 of them have been scored in the third period. A perfect example came last Friday night at the DECC in Duluth. It had been a strange game, scoreless for one period, then 2-0 for Minnesota, on goals by Ballard and Riddle, before UMDÂ’s Jon Francisco and T.J. Caig countered for a 2-2 tie before the second period ended.
Marco PelusoÂ’s goal at 0:16 of the third put UMD ahead 3-2, and Luke Stauffacher boosted UMD to a 4-2 lead at 7:00.
“We weren’t playing well, we had turnovers,” said Vanek. “Down two goals, we had to get going. Play hard. We have to have some players step up, and I’m one of the guys to step up and get a goal.”
At 7:42, Vanek went to work. “I was behind the net,” he said. “I saw the goalie cheating one way, and I yelled to Matt DeMarchi, who passed it to me and I got a wraparound.”
Sounded simple. But the Gophers still trailed 4-3. Riddle got his second goal of the game by coaxing the puck to trickle across the line on a power play at 11:45. And with 3:31 remaining, Vanek turned it up, considerably. Koalska knocked the puck ahead after a center-ice turnover, and the Gophers charged. It was a ragged rush, and nobody was really open, but Vanek had the puck.
He simply charged for the net, irrepressibly, and didnÂ’t stop until he had jammed the puck past goaltender Isaac Reichmuth.
“It is loud in this arena,” Vanek said. “The fans are right on top of you. But I like it. I don’t know what it is about the third period, but I wanted it.”
And, he got it.
Strangely, however, the Saturday rematch had an even more spectacular finish, but was a reversal. Again the game was scoreless through one period. Again Minnesota struck first, but this time it was for a 3-0 lead in the second period, as Garrett Smaagaard and freshmen Gino Guyer and Tyler Hirsch scored consecutive goals. Evan Schwabe got one back for UMD, but the Gophers seemed in solid command at 3-1 with a period to go.
Nick Anderson got an early goal for the Bulldogs, but Paul Martin countered for Minnesota, and it was 4-2. At that point, however, UMD rallied. Tim Stapleton, yet another freshman, scored on a one-timer to make it 4-3, and the Bulldogs pulled goalie Rob Anderson, which led to one of the weirdest final minutes anywhere. With the goalie pulled, the Bulldogs couldnÂ’t get out of their own end. Vanek shot one just over the crossbar, and two or three other good Gopher chances either missed or were blocked by defensemen.
The ‘Dogs couldn’t escape their end until 20 seconds remained, just time for one frantic rush. They charged, with Stapleton getting the puck on net. Justin Johnson caught it, but juggled it, and it dropped into the crease next to him, just as UMD captain Francisco arrived and knocked it in, tying the game 4-4 with 11 seconds to go.
Overtime started, Hammond got the puck back to Steve Czech at the right point, and Czech’s blast found the back of the net, courtesy of the slightest deflection by Francisco. “The ref asked me if I got it,” said Francisco, who earlier turned down a similar goal that would have meant a hat trick. “I said I touched it, but give the goal to Czech.”
Instead, the official properly awarded it to Francisco, for a hat trick, and a sweet 5-4 shocker for UMD.
“We have to learn how to close out games like this,” said Lucia. “We could have clinched home ice for the playoffs tonight. We were playing well when we got up 3-0, and I thought we could have done better after that, but Duluth did some good things too.”
The loss snapped an amazing streak in which the Gophers had gone 17-0-4 in the second games of WCHA series, over two seasons. The Gophers were only 13-11-2 in first games. But they also haven’t lost two games in a row in 77 games – the longest streak ever for any WCHA team.
Meanwhile, stopping Vanek proved decisive for UMD, just as being unable to stop him had been pivotal for the Gophers the night before. Along with his two-goal third-period outburst at UMD, Vanek scored the game-winner to end a 5-4 victory at Michigan Tech, he scored twice in the third to lift the Gophers to a 5-5 tie with Michigan State, and his third-period goal tied Colorado College and sprung the Gophers to a 3-2 victory.
And while the rookie may not know it, only one year ago the Gophers had to fight to gain a split at Duluth, and many of those older Gophers recall that as the springboard to Minnesota’s closing rush to the championship. “It was a very disappointing loss,” said Potulny, the captain, who was sidelined with a broken ankle for the first half of the season. “But it could be exactly what we need to make us realize what we have to do the rest of the way.”

Sertich plans to psyche Huskies to regain Tech glory years

There are two types of media folks covering the WCHA these days – the ones who don’t quite get Mike Sertich’s deadpan humor, and those who thank their laptops that Sertie is still coaching, because he is certain to enliven every post-game discussion with a few barbs, one-liners, or clever metaphors.

In this age when coaches are concerned about their jobs to the point of being nervous about letting the media have free access to their players, it is no wonder that they choose their words carefully. Most of them select their own comments carefully, reverting to the Coach’s Cliché Book to talk about working hard, getting outworked; getting breaks, or not getting breaks; or about the need for players to “step up to the next level.”

And then there’s Sertich. He spent 18 years as head coach at Minnesota-Duluth before he “got resigned.” Not even a year later, he was hired in midseason to take over at Michigan Tech, and he now is in his third season of trying to lift the Huskies up through the rugged WCHA to respectability, on their way to contention. It’s been a tough rebuilding process, but through it all, Sertich’s collection of zingers has continued to expand.

Two weeks ago, the Huskies had to go to Grand Forks, N.D., to face a North Dakota team that had just been thumped twice at Colorado College to fall from the nationÂ’s No. 1 rating in the spectacular new Engelstad Arena. Almost predictably, the Fighting Sioux spent a stiff week of practice under coach Dean Blais, and came out firing on all cylinders. The result was an 8-0 rout of Michigan Tech.

After the game, a reporter asked Sertich if, out of such a drubbing, he could find anything to take away. Sertich shrugged and said: “I don’t know…I’m going to take a walk around the building and see if I can find something to steal.”

Sertich then was asked if the goal barrage was something like an avalanche, and he proceeded to verbally wander through a deadpan explanation of what an avalanche really was. It went something like this: “You may not understand what an avalanche really is, but it can begin when a mass of snow gathers on an esker,” he said. “After it builds to a certain point, a tiny bit of snow might start to fall, and it may gather momentum enough to overcome inertia. And you know, a body in motion tends to stay in motion, and due to the angle it’s falling, it accumulates mass, and speed, and that’s what does the damage…”

Uhhh, coach? What was my question?

“You know,” said Sertich, “I’m at a technological university.”
If the reporters wander off in a quandary, Sertich uses his own humor and some interesting psychological ploys to keep his youthful Huskies from getting too dismayed when things donÂ’t go their way. Obviously, it can work, because 24 hours later, Tech stunned North Dakota 5-2 in the rematch.

Without putting too much emphasis on it, Sertich explained that he had gotten to know Don Simila, a clinical psychologist who works at Marquette General Hospital, and used to play hockey. “We exchanged some ideas,” said Sertich. “He’s very laid back, but he’s dynamic and he observes everything. We brought him in as a sports psychologist, and we have a group meeting once a week.”

ItÂ’s not that Sertich didnÂ’t feel up to the task of psyching his troops. Far from it. But he knew that things had changed in the overall aura of Michigan Tech hockey, from the glory days of John MacInnes, back when Sertich was a player at UMD.

“I think our meetings have addressed what was wrong,” said Sertich. “We had developed an attitude where maybe even coming here there was an expectation of losing, it had permeated the program for a long time. We’re kind of isolated up here at Houghton, and it’s a tough school. We felt we had to redefine our culture. I think they’ve learned some things about the program, some values, and we empowered them to create their own standards.

“The meetings have been pretty much the players’ meetings, and it’s fun to watch their success grow.”

The victory at North Dakota was a shocker, but it gave the Huskies another step on their climb. Picked for last in the WCHA by the coaches in the preseason Grand Forks Herald poll, the Huskies had climbed to eighth, putting some distance between themselves and Wisconsin and Alaska-Anchorage with a 6-11-3 record. That is nowhere near where Sertich wants them to be, but it also represented the benefits of a six-week stretch of 6-5-1.

The Huskies went back home for their legendary Winter Carnival series, against Minnesota-Duluth, and the Bulldogs – on the rise to contention themselves – smacked the Huskies twice. “They came in here very well prepared and certainly took it to us,” said Sertich. “They’re pretty good. I was impressed.”

As for the record, Sertich said: “I don’t pay much attention to that. We’ve still got a way to go, but we’re at the point where we can make it miserable for somebody else.

“We only have two seniors in the lineup, Greg Amadio and Chris Durno, and four juniors, so we’re extremely young,” Sertich added. “Our scoring has been pretty well spread around. We don’t have a big scorer, but we have a line of Jon Pittis, Colin Murphy and Chris Connor. They’re fun to watch, and they’re pretty intimidating – Pittis is 5-5, Murphy 5-10 and Connor 5-6.

“Back on defense, Justin Brown is a junior, and Clay Wilson is a sophomore, and the rest are freshmen. All of them have had their moments in the sun…and in the doghouse.”

Wilson, a smooth puck-handling defenseman, has shown signs of true stardom. And another sophomore, goaltender Cam Ellsworth, has been the key figure in TechÂ’s rise, giving the Huskies consistent play that often tends toward spectacular.

With Tech somewhat secured in eighth place, thatÂ’s better than ninth or tenth, and it also puts the Huskies in position to cause some grief in the playoffs. Up above them, the race for everything from second through seventh is a scramble, with six teams separated by eight points, with six games remaining. Minnesota State-Mankato has a two-point edge in second place, but has played two more games than its pursuers. After Colorado CollegeÂ’s pace-setting 37 points, Mankato has 31, Minnesota 29, North Dakota 28, UMD 25 and both Denver and St. Cloud 23. So UMD, Denver and St. Cloud are all battling to claim the fifth and final home-ice position.

As for the Huskies, there is no reason to look ahead to a potential playoff rival. There is, however, considerable evidence that they will be “psyched up” to make things difficult for every team they might face. And while the present looks good for Tech, the future only looks better.

‘Forgotten’ senior seizes chance to bolster surging UMD

Rob Anderson has no illusions about regaining the No. 1 goaltending slot for Minnesota-Duluth. He knows freshman sensation Isaac Reichmuth has that pretty well wrapped up. But Anderson, a Bulldog senior who had more than paid his dues the past three years, also found it distasteful to trade his hopes for “All-WCHA goaltender” for qualifications of “forgotten man of the year.”
If one game could count as the comeback of the year, Anderson pulled it off, making 33 saves for a 2-1 victory over Denver that might have been UMDÂ’s biggest victory of the season, because it vaulted them from seventh place, past Denver and into a tie for fifth with St. Cloud State as the battle intensifies for a top-five finish and home ice in the playoffs.
Anderson did his best to help UMD rebuild from last place during his first three seasons, and he finished last season with a strong 9-11 record, including a 4-2 finish with a 2.45 goals-against mark in his last seven starts. And he didnÂ’t play poorly to start this season, but while he gave no reason to lose his position, Reichmuth took over the job with a flourish and Anderson has had to admit he, too, has become a fan.
“Isaac Reichmuth is the best goaltender I’ve ever seen play,” said Anderson. “He’s constantly been standing on his head, and for three months he never let in a bad goal. He’s a great kid, too, and I like him a lot. But no matter how well he’s playing, it doesn’t mean I don’t want to get in there now and then and show that I’m still part of the team.”
Reichmuth was playing for the Trail Smoke-Eaters in the British Columbia junior league the past two seasons, while Anderson was toiling to become the mainstay in the UMD nets while a new coaching staff under Scott Sandelin tried to redesign the Bulldog program.
Anderson, from Superior, had backed up Brant Nicklin as a freshman, then, when Sandelin took over as coach, Anderson had to prove himself all over again and alternated with freshman Adam Coole in the UMD nets. The pair split the goaltending duties last season, too, but the UMD coaches gave a scholarship to Reichmuth, and even though the Anderson-Coole duo played well down the stretch, CooleÂ’s scholarship was pulled and he transferred to St. Cloud State.
So when the season started, Anderson was the senior veteran and Reichmuth the freshman flash who was Trail’s most valuable player two years in a row, with over 90 percent saves and a goals-against average of 3.63 last season. Anderson opened the season with a 2-2 tie against Notre Dame, and Reichmuth played a 4-3 loss to the Irish the next night. Anderson played both games against Colorado College, a 4-4 tie and a 4-3 loss to the eventual league-leaders. Then the ‘Dogs went to Alaska-Anchorage, and Reichmuth needed only 15 saves to win 3-2, and Sandelin gave him the start the next night, too, and UMD tied the still-winless Seawolves 2-2.
Sandelin continued to go to Reichmuth, who rose to the top of the WCHA goalie statistics while starting 21 of 22 games, with Anderson starting only an exhibition game against Bemidji State on Dec. 2. Reichmuth started 12 straight games after that, although at Minnesota State-Mankato, Reichmuth gave up all the goals in 5-3 and 4-1 losses. Anderson relieved with five stop in the second game.
Anderson had waited patiently, but he had no animosity.
“I’ve never been through anything like that,” said Anderson. “I kind of wondered if I’d ever get a chance to play again. I had lost a game by a goal to the No. 1 team in the country (CC) and then I went through a frustrating time. I was showing up for practice every day and working hard, but not playing. There was really nothing I could do, or say, because it wasn’t about me, it was about the team. And he was playing well.”
When Denver came to Duluth last weekend, Reichmuth faced Adam Berkhoel, but instead of a goaltending duel, UMD outgunned the Pioneers 6-5. Sandelin decided to give Reichmuth a break, and started Anderson in the Saturday Denver game.
Anderson responded with eagerness, but he tried to temper it. “I was pumped up to play, but I didn’t want to be too high,” Anderson said. “It was fun to finally get back in there.”
UMD struck first, with rookie flash T.J. Caig pulling a corner faceoff to Jesse Unklesbay, who scored at 8:19 of the first period. Less than five minutes later, the Bulldogs gave the speedy Pioneers a 3-on-1 break, and Connor James raced up the left side and drilled a hard shot for a 1-1 tie. But that was it. Anderson dueled league-leading goalie Wade Dubielewicz the rest of the way, with a busy night, because Denver outshot UMD 34-21.
“Denver is really good,” said Anderson. “They never give you an easy shot, and everyone in their lineup goes 90-frickin’ miles an hour.”
But Anderson was quick and poised, and stopped everything. With only 3:27 remaining in the third period, Luke Stauffacher spun free and scored on Dubielewicz, and Anderson held firm through a wild, six-attacker finish to claim the 2-1 victory.
“Based on all that has happened, this was the biggest win for me ever,” said Anderson. “I have no idea if I’ll get the chance to play at Michigan Tech this weekend, or when I’ll get another start. Isaac is the most skilled and best goalie I’ve seen in the league, but I may have to give a little wave and say, ‘Hey, coach! I’m still here!”

MSU-Mankato surge to contention eliminates sympathy

The WCHA menÂ’s hockey chase has been filled with turbulent ups and downs all season, but in the midst of all the surprises, the most enormous understatement is that the sympathy for Minnesota State-Mankato has ended.

Two very elusive guys named Shane Joseph and Grant Stevenson stand 1-2 in league scoring for the “Alberta Clipper” line, igniting an 11-game unbeaten streak that might be titled “Tie one for Troy” for the ride to third place, which has left the whole league shaking its collective head.

There’s not a lot of time wasted in sympathy by WCHA men’s teams for others in the highly-competitive league. But Minnesota State-Mankato was the recipient of a lot of league-wide sympathy last summer, when Tim Jackman in late July and Jimmy Cunningham in August decided to leave school and sign pro contracts. The Mavericks had made some strides to get up into the middle of the WCHA picture, and the loss of those two players – both among the top three of the team’s returning scorers – would undoubtedly doom them to a plunge to the lower reaches of the WCHA this season.

But as the month of January hurtles toward a conclusion, the Mavericks have ridden an 11-game unbeaten streak (6-0-5) – and overtimes in seven of the last nine games – to third place in the WCHA, behind only the sizzling pace being set by Colorado College and North Dakota. Behind them are preseason co-favorites Denver and Minnesota -– the two teams MSU-Mankato just played, with one victory and three ties – as well as St. Cloud State and resurgent Minnesota-Duluth. Minnesota-Duluth is a team that would be the league’s biggest surprise if it weren’t for MSU-Mankato’s amazing season, and the Bulldogs are the next foe for the Mavericks in a battle for home-ice hopes.

Mankato coach Troy Jutting faced two questions: Is he surprised by the MavericksÂ’ third-place stance? And, is it mathematically possible to tie all the rest of their games and still finish third?
“I knew we were going to have a great group of guys,” said Jutting. “But to say we’d be in third place at this point in the season…I’d have to say I’m surprised. I knew we’d work hard, and right now, we’re playing together really well. We’re getting great leadership, and they’ve got a lot of pride.”

“We knew Shane would score. He came in here after a big year in junior and broke his leg in one of the first couple of games and redshirted all year. He had a little trouble adjusting to the pace of the game in his freshman year, but then he comes back and scores 20 goals as a sophomore. Grant Stevenson had scored only 16 points, but we thought he had a lot of skill.”

Shane Joseph and Grant Stevenson fit together like a hand in a glove on an all-Alberta line, where left winger Joseph is from Brooks, center Stevenson from Spruce Grove, and right winger Dana Sorensen is a junior from Beaumont. As a tandem, Joseph and Stevenson have proven unstoppable for Maverick foes. Joseph, a 5-foot-9 scooter, has 17 goals, 19 assists for 36 points to lead the WCHA, and 20-24—44 overall; Stevenson, a 6-0 playmaker, has 14-21—35 to trail Joseph by one point in league scoring, and 18-28—46 to lead his linemate by two points overall.

As for the ties? Jutting laughed and admitted he hadnÂ’t done the math yet. At 7-5-7 in the WCHA, and 10-7-9 overall, the Mavericks have gone into overtime for a record 12 times, with two victories, one loss and nine of those games unresolved. But as long as junior Shane Joseph and sophomore Grant Stevenson keep up their torrid scoring pace, and veterans like junior Cole Bassett and B.J. Abel keep chipping in timely goals and bolster the leadership, the Mavericks keep rolling along, win or tie.
“We’re young, and we’ll learn,” said Abel. “Our unbeaten streak is great, but we have a goal of making it to the national tournament. We’ve done a lot of conditioning, and maybe that’s helped get us ready for so many overtimes. We knew we’d have a team that was close, and right now, we all do our jobs and everybody is pulling for everybody else.”

Jutting would seem to be a shoo-in for coach of the year in the league. He not only has taken what was basically a no-name outfit and prodded them into contention, but he has combined some neat tactics along with some great team chemistry to guide the Mavericks into a position to be reckoned with. The Mavericks are likely to send a winger or two all the way to the far blue line to stretch out an opponentÂ’s defense and facilitate a breakout, and their quickness makes them dangerous everytime they gain possession and turn to their transition game.

In goal, Jensen, a junior from Twin Cities suburb Apple Valley, was the No. 1 netminder, and Volp, a sophomore from Eden Prairie, was a distant No. 2. Jensen played 11 straight games at one point, but when he faltered, Jutting went to Volp and liked what he saw. Even though neither has league-leading statistics, both have been outstanding since Jutting started alternating them.

MSU-Mankato needed a break at Minnesota, and got it in the first game, when the Gophers found themselves in a rare predicament of having Troy Riddle, Paul Martin and Matt DeMarchi all in the box together after flagrant, close-order penalties late in the second period. Abel smacked in a 2-man power-play goal with 1:15 left in the period to tie the game 1-1, and with Minnesota still two skaters short, Bassett smacked in another 2-man power-play marker for a 2-1 lead. Jerrid Reinholz tied it 2-2 with 2:57 left in regulation, then the teams played a scoreless overtime.

Minnesota outshot Mankato 36-21, and hit four pipes as well, but Jon Volp was brilliant in goal for the Mavericks, and 10,060 fans went away puzzled.

The next night, Mankato spotted Minnesota leads of 1-0 and 2-1, but fought back for ties on goals by Stevenson and Bassett, then Brad Thompson gave the Mavericks a 3-2 lead in the third period. When Keith Ballard and Jon Waibel scored midway through the third, Minnesota was back on top at 4-3. But Jutting pulled goaltender Jason Jensen in the final minute, and Jeff Marler scored with 26 seconds left for a 4Stevenson and Bassett, then Brad Thompson gave the Mavericks a 3-2 lead in the third period. When Keith Ballard and Jon Waibel scored midway through the third, Minnesota was back on top at 4-3. But Jutting pulled goaltender Jason Jensen in the final minute, and Jeff Marler scored with 26 seconds left for a 4-4 tie.

Again Minnesota outshot the Mavericks, this time 47-30, but the Mavericks extended their unbeaten streak to 11. The week before, at Denver, Mankato led 3-1 until Denver pulled its goaltender and scored twice in the last minute for a 3-3 tie against Volp. In the second game at Denver, Joseph, Abel, Bassett and Joseph again scored and Jensen stymied the Pioneers for a 4-2 victory. That means in a four-game stretch against the WCHAÂ’s co-favorites, the Mavs took five points and didnÂ’t lose.

The Mavericks donÂ’t discriminate, playing close and dramatic games with every foe. Before Denver, MSU-Mankato claimed 4-2 and 5-4-overtime victories over Michigan Tech, after starting January with a 3-2 victory and 4-4 tie against Wisconsin. That makes a 4-0-4 record since the first of the year, and six of those eight games required overtime.

While there is a lot of the season remaining, the Mavericks have played more games than hot-pursuers like St. Cloud, Minnesota, UMD and Denver, which makes their hold on third place tenuous. But creative scoring, strong defense, solid goaltending and a lot of chemistry make them a threat the rest of the way.

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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.