New and retro Mini Cooper S makes the ‘S’ stand for ‘smile’
TURN-ON IS STANDARD EQUIPMENT WITH MINI COOPER S
If you have the blues, or the blahs, you might spend untold thousands in therapy to try to get happy. Or, you could buy a 2003 Mini Cooper S.
There simply is no way to drive the new Mini Cooper without smiling.
Precious few cars have elicited such a response. One was when Volkswagen reinvented the Beetle, and another might have been the first time you ever saw a PT Cruiser. But maybe not. Whatever your preference, the new Mini Cooper is a retro trip definitely right up there with the BeetleÂ’s resurrection as far as an automotive turn-on.
To clarify: We are talking about the Mini Cooper S, which is the garden-variety Mini Cooper with a supercharged engine and a much more aggressive demeanor, to say nothing of handling capability.
Back in the 1950s, in the days of the original Volkswagen Beetle, Great Britain had a proud automotive tradition of its own and made small cars that fit onto narrow, crowded European streets. One of those tries was the Mini, nicknamed because of its diminutive, squarish size and shape. A tiny, squarish little car with the wheels located way out at the corners, the Mini had great handling and even its tiny stock engine gave it a favorable power-to-weight ratio when it was launched in 1959.
Two years later, legendary British race car designer John Cooper stuffed a potent little formula racing engine into the Mini, and the “Mini†became the “Mini Cooper.†Almost with each passing year through the ’60s, the Mini Cooper’s engine grew in potency. They were made into the 1970s, although they weren’t brought into the U.S. after 1967.
My first contact with one came in one that was used for autocross competition by Jerry Hansen, a Twin Cities amateur racing legend who won multiple national championships and later bought Donnybrooke Speedway and turned it into Brainerd International Raceway. Hansen had a Mini Cooper maintained by his crew and he would routinely hurl it around every Twin Cities autocross course, beating Corvettes, Porsches, Camaros, Mustangs and whatever else showed up.
After one such Sunday afternoon event in the late 1960s, Hansen took me for a ride through a virtually deserted downtown Minneapolis. One of his crew owned a beautiful and powerful Z-28 Camaro, and Hansen drag-raced him for half-block bursts at about six consecutive intersections on a one-way street. Hansen jumped ahead at the start each time, before the Camaro would roar past. Then we came to an intersection where cars were already filling two of the three lanes at a red light. HansenÂ’s crew guy won the race to the third open lane. So Hansen pulled around all three cars on the right, drove up in the bus stop lane, then turned 90 degrees and drove the little Mini down the crosswalk, then he turned 90 degrees again, nosing slightly into the intersection for an instant before backing up until he was right in front of the Z-28Â’s grille.
That was 30-some years ago, but IÂ’ll never forget neither HansenÂ’s brashness nor the Mini CooperÂ’s incredible turning agility and quickness. Now we flash forward, to the mid-1990s, when BMW bought the rights to what was left of BritainÂ’s faltering BMC-Rover group, gaining Range Rover, which it later sold to Ford, and rights to the Mini Cooper.
For 2003, there is a new Mini Cooper, 30 full years after the originalÂ’s demise. It looks like an exact replica, but itÂ’s not. ItÂ’s actually 24 inches longer, 11 inches wider and over 1,000 pounds heavier. With an overall length of 143.9 inches, the Mini is less than 13 feet long, which is more than two feet shorter than a Honda Civic coupe. If the Mini Cooper is the shortest vehicle sold since the GEO Metro, it has a meaningful and aggressive flair.
To say the new Mini is a joint project is putting it mildly. The car is still built in England, with over half its parts from Great Britain and 15 percent of the rest from Germany. The engine comes from Brazil – Brazil! – from a joint-venture plant shared by BMW and Chrysler, which, of course, is now Daimler-Chrysler. So BMW and Mercedes, arch-rivals in everything automotive, both have an interest in this engine, which is an iron-block, 1.6-liter four-cylinder, with a chain-driven, single-overhead-camshaft. That, too, is small, and it turns out 115 horsepower, which is adequate to move a 2,767-pound car.
Ah, but the Mini Cooper S gets a supercharged version of that engine, with 163 horsepower at 6,000 RPMs and 155 foot-pounds of torque at 4,000 RPMs. The engine is controlled by a “drive-by-wire†electronic throttle.
The transformation to more power is amplified by the sports suspension, wider wheels, all-season traction control and, on the test car, 17-inch alloy wheels with 205/45 Pirelli “run-flat†tires. Such tires appear to be the coming trend, but in the Mini it’s mandatory, because there is simply no spare room for a spare tire. Four-wheel disc brakes with antilock, and an electronic brake distribution device, allows short, sure stops.
I haven’t driven the standard Mini Cooper, which has a base price of $16,850, but the “S†starts at only $19,850 with the blown motor. Add a few options and trim items and you can easily raise those prices by $5,000. Mini Coopers are sold by BMW Group dealerships, and 20,000 of the cars are to be sent to this country, a nominal figure which makes it pretty certain they all will be gobbled up.
Every auto magazine rushed to be first to drive the Mini Cooper, and most of them claimed to be first. But some of the early tests indicated a rough choppy ride and a crummy interior. By the time I test-drove the “S†several differences have appeared. The interior has neat, contemporary seats that are very comfortable and supportive, and I thought the instrumentation was novel, with a large tachometer mounted on the steering column, and a larger speedometer, with other gauges inset, mounted in a big, round instrument right in the middle of the center dash.
A Getrag 6-speed manual transmission on the test car made it perform very well, with factory tests showing 0-60 times of 6.9 seconds (compared to 8.5 with the standard Mini). Theyh also show a top speed of 135 with the supercharger. None of the numbers matter, however. What matters is that itÂ’s quick, itÂ’s fun, and it feels fantastic, no matter how you drive it.
On four freeway trips of two hours each, the Mini never got tiresome. Its smooth stability easy-running engine delivered 28 miles per gallon of premium fuel, and rode straight and true. The handling is so responsive and precise with the quick-ratio power steering that you have to avoid driving by your own rules – tight U-turns, slaloming around slower cars and SUVs – and focus on less-critical things, such as choosing which half of your parallel parking space to use. The optional xenon headlights are bright and well-focused and the foglights illuminate the shoulders to help watch for deer.
The Mini Cooper S has a weird effect on other drivers, particularly those in very large SUVs. Because the Mini is a BMW, you feel safe and secure in the solid build-quality of the Mini, even when surrounded by giant SUVs. But when you come upon an SUV on the freeway and ease past it, count to 10 and you will invariably find the SUV driver charging past you at 80-plus. I passed two women in a minivan at the speed limit, and they soon flew past us at what must have been 90.
Maybe as a link with its predecessor, the new Mini has some idiosyncracies. Switchwork for the power windows and the foglights, for example, are on a little horizontal panel at the bottom of the center dash area, down by the base of the shift lever, and they are separated by little plastic knobs that prevent you from hitting the wrong toggle switch, even if they make it a bit difficult to hit the right one. Still, I liked the switches; IÂ’d simply prefer that they were mounted higher, say above the audio system or between the audio and heat-air controls.
The cupholders are between the center dash and the shift lever, but if you have a thermal cup in the holders, be careful because it will be lodged in tightly against the center dash. When I shifted into third and fifth on several different occasions I was certain I had broken a finger smashing directly into my cup. Fortunately the audio system was strong enough to drown out my choice of descriptive words, and, just as fortunately, my coffee wasnÂ’t in a styrofoam cup, because I would have smashed it instead of my finger.
The well-formed bucket seats offer easy access to the rear. Push down on a lever and the backrest folds forward and the whole thing slides ahead. With the square roofline, there is plenty of rear headroom, although storage space is at a premium, with only a tiny bin behind the rear seat, so you tend to turn it into a two-seater and load up the rear seat with luggage.
The test car also had a sunroof that covered virtually the entire roof, with the front half tilting or opening, while the rear half was a skylight to alleviate any threat of claustrophobia for rear-seat occupants. There is no claustrophobia from the driverÂ’s seat. Only a silly smile that you canÂ’t seem to get rid of.
UMD women blitz St. Cloud State, but Lesteberg stays focused
Jason Lesteberg is both an optimist and a realist, which are not always easy to juggle for a Division I college hockey coach.
After moving south from Bemidji State to take on the task of rebuilding the St. Cloud State womenÂ’s hockey program, Lesteberg knew what he was in for. The Huskies, like a lot of college teams that have sprung up around the country, may have been caught underestimating the caliber of womenÂ’s hockey, and suffered when caught short of the talent level of the elite teams.
The future, Lesteberg is certain, is bright for the Huskies, because of the eight freshmen playing regularly. Five of his 12 forwards, two of his six defensemen, and one of his two goalies are first-year players. That includes forwards Krista Simonson from Hibbing and Ashley Stewart from Toronto. In addition, two of the other forwards and two of the other defensemen are sophomores.
“Maybe some of our older players have lost a little of the fire from having to struggle so much,†said Lesteberg. “But weÂ’ve got seven freshmen in the lineup, all of them being counted on heavily, and all of our young kids have got that competitiveness inside.Ââ€
The WomenÂ’s WCHA has reached an interesting plateau, where Minnesota-Duluth and Minnesota seem to take turns leading the league and subsequently raising the standard of play game after game and season after season. The rest of the WCHA seems to be improving considerably, but the gap still remains.
Lesteberg and his youthful Huskies have seen that gap, up close and personal.
“Our games against Wisconsin, Bemidji State, Ohio State and Mankato have all been very competitive,†Lesteberg said. “But programs like Minnesota and UMD have been running very competitively since they started. We had played Minnesota, and I think UMD and the Gophers are very comparable. So we expected high-tempo games against UMD.Ââ€
St. Cloud State got what it expected.
The Huskies were whipped 10-1 and 8-0 by Minnesota, which was ranked No. 1 at the time. Then they went to Duluth, and the Bulldogs administered two more shellackings, 11-1 and 8-2.
Both games had their similarities, because moved ahead 1-0 in the first game, then Roxy StangÂ’s goal tied it for the Huskies, before UMD edged ahead 3-1 at the first intermission. The Bulldogs then broke free and roared to the 10-1 rout. Olympian Jenny Potter had two goals and five assists, while Tricia Guest got her second straight hat trick, and Erika Holst added four goals. UMD outshot the Huskies 52-17, including a 38-8 bulge in the last two periods.
In the second game, again UMD went up 1-0 early, and again Stang tied it 1-1 for St. Cloud State. This time, Ashley Stewart put the Huskies up 2-1, before Potter gained a 2-2 tie for UMD midway through the first session. After that, Potter put on a show, scoring three times in the second period, around HolstÂ’s 20th goal of the season, as UMD went ahead 6-2, then Potter scored twice more in the third, and wound up the game with an incredible six goals. UMD won 8-2, outshooting the overmatched visitors 54-14, and 40-6 over the second and third periods.
Still, Lesteberg retained his even demeanor.
The four crushing losses in succession had dropped St. Cloud State to 3-9 in the WCHA and 3-12 overall.
“But we split with Wisconsin and Mankato,†said Lesteberg. “We played them pretty even in the first period, but we can’t seem to put 60 minutes together. We have a stretch where nine of 13 games are against ranked teams, and if get through that, the second half of our schedule is more favorable from now on.
“A team like UMD can transition on you like the wind blows. We want to get to where they are. WeÂ’re trying to bring in the best players and build a program with strength from within. But UMD is at the level of play we want to get to. WeÂ’ve got a freshman like Krista Simonson, and we think she has the potential to become like a Potter for us. She has to work on here strength and her hockey sense, but she has the skill level.Ââ€
While UMD is the two-time defending NCAA champion, and the Gophers are the two-time defending WCHA league champion, Lesteberg knows thatÂ’s where he wants his Huskies to be going.
“It’s great to play against players like UMD has, with Potter, Holst and Maria Rooth. We don’t really have any upper classmen at that level, but they also have some great players who won’t be in the league next year. I noticed UMD had two true freshmen in the lineup, and we had seven; UMD had three or four sophomores, and we had five or six.
“I like where weÂ’re at with our team, and I REALLY like where weÂ’re at with our younger players. I think a lot of colleges added womenÂ’s hockey and I donÂ’t think they knew how good it could get.Ââ€
UMD (9-0-1 WCHA, 13-1-2 overall) outshot the Huskies 106-31 for the two games combined. The Huskies goaltenders got a workout against UMD, with freshman Brie Anderson making 41 saves in the first game, and junior Ellen Brinkman blocking 46 shots in the second.
Potter was flat magnificent, taking over the national scoring lead with her fantastic weekend. The quick-striking junior has 18 goals, 24 assists for 42 points, after her seven points on Saturday and six on Sunday, including eight goals among the 13 points.
Lesteberg even saw a ray of hope in watching Potter fill the net.
“Potter got seven points in the first game,†Lesteberg said, “but she got nine points against us once. So weÂ’re improving.Ââ€
(John Gilbert has covered the WCHA for over 35 years and writes features for the men’s and women’s website. He just completed his first book, “Return to Gold Country,†about last year’s Minnesota men’s NCAA championship team, and he can be contacted at jgilbert@duluth.com.)
Colorado College threatens early end to WCHA title race
It’s been a year of surprises in the WCHA. North Dakota, Minnesota State-Mankato and Minnesota-Duluth all have made surprisingly strong runs at contention, but all of those teams could become “other†surprises while being outdistanced by Colorado College. The Tigers have lost just two of their first 28 games overall, and only one of 20 WCHA games while claiming the top rung in the WCHA and the nation.
Last weekend was the most recent example. North Dakota was ranked No. 1 in the nation when it came to Colorado Springs last weekend (Jan. 31-Feb. 1), even though CC stood two points ahead of the Fighting Sioux in first place in the WCHA, and had skated the Sioux to a pair of ties in Grand Forks.
No respect.
When the Sioux jumped ahead 3-0 in the first period of the first game, it looked like the bubble might be bursting for Colorado College. But the Tigers stalked back, cutting it to 3-2 by the second intermission, then becoming the first team all season to sting the Sioux when Dakota led after two periods, winning 5-3 on an empty-net-goal finish.
The Tigers won 4-1 the next night, and found themselves remarkably alone atop the WCHA standings. At 14-1-5, the Tigers have 33 points, leading second-place Minnesota State-Mankato by six, and Mankato has played two more games than CC. The challenges keep on coming, however, and as soon as CC finished whipping North Dakota to supplant the Sioux as No. 1, they find defending NCAA champ Minnesota coming to Colorado Springs this weekend (Feb. 7-8).
CC coach Scott Owens admitted that even he is surprised at how his team has run up a 10-game unbeaten streak (7-0-3), taken over the No. 1 ranking in the nation, and threatening to turn the rest of the WCHA into a race for second.
“I’d have to say I’m surprised at our record,†said Owens, after his Tigers climbed to the 14-1-5 WCHA record and a stunning 21-2-5 overall mark. “We’ve found different ways to win. Sometimes it’s the Clark-Sertich-Sejna line, sometimes it’s the power play, or the freshmen. And out goaltender has played exceptionally well.
“WeÂ’ve also gotten some help, because some people are beating each other.Ââ€
However, nobody is beating the Tigers these days. Owens and the Tigers point to great chemistry, that elusive quality of togetherness and mutual respect that teams either have or wish they had. They also, however, have some exceptional individuals.
In Peter Sejna, the Tigers might have the best individual player in the country, a cinch All-America and Hobey Baker candidate. They also have Tom Preissing, quite possibly the best defenseman in the WCHA, the country, and in the minds of Hobey Baker voters.
Sejna, a junior winger from Slovakia, got lucky last weekend, assisting on an empty-net goal, before notching a goal and two assists in the second game to run his point-scoring streak to 29 games and give him 19 multiple-point games. He has 18 goals and 20 assists in league games for 38 points – second only to Minnesota State-Mankato’s Shane Joseph, who has 40. Overall, however, Sejna has 28-29—57, which not only leads all WCHA scorers, but outpaces runners-up Grant Stevenson of Mankato and Zach Parise by eight points.
If Sejna is the ignition for the offense, linemate Noah Clarke is fourth in league scoring at 8-23—31, and an overall season of 12-34—46, where his 34 assists leads the nation. Three of Clarke’s 12 goals and five of his 34 assists have been game-winners. Centering Sejna and Clarke is Marty Sertich, a freshman who has shown all sorts of flashes rarely seen since his dad, All-America and Olympian Steve Sertich, patrolled center-ice for Colorado College a couple of decades ago.
“Marty Sertich has been very good,†said Owens. “He has good hands, and I guess you could say he has good bloodlines.Ââ€
Meanwhile, Preissing, the captain, is a big and tough leader who has been equally amazing back on defense. He has 18-15—33, which ties him for the most goals ever by a CC defenseman, and gives him the most points of any defenseman in the nation. Preissing is eighth in WCHA scoring with 11-12—23.
“Sejna and Preissing have both been good, especially offensively,†said Owens. “TheyÂ’ve got the numbers to back them up. Preissing is very improved both offensively and defensively.Ââ€
If that means the offense and the defense are in capable hands, what about in goal? It was there that Jeff Sanger graduated, leaving what appeared to be a gaping hole. Curtis McElhinney stepped in, however, and has a 16-2-5 mark, and with his 12-1-5 WCHA ledger, McElhinney is second only to DenverÂ’s Wade Dubielewicz in goals-against with 2.28, and tied for third with a superb .911 save percentage. McElhinney has lost only two of 30 games over two seasons.
“We thought heÂ’d be a good goaltender,†Owens said. “But IÂ’m surprised me by being so far up in all the numbers.Ââ€
Colorado College has had the tools for all three of OwensÂ’ years as coach, but the Tigers have fizzled, either a lot or a little, at the start of those last three seasons. In 1995-96, the last year of Don LuciaÂ’s reign, the Tigers started out 16-0-2 and kept up the tempo all the way to the Frozen Four. But when Lucia left for Minnesota, and Owens took over, the Tigers started 3-4 and came in fifth at 14-11-3. In his second season, the Tigers started 6-0 but then lost three in a row and improved just one notch, to fourth at 17-11. Last seson, CC started 0-5 and came on strong to finish fourth again at 16-10-2.
This season, however, things have been different, right from the drop of the first puck.
“This year, we’ve just gotten off to a good run at the start,†said Owens.
But for those who like statistics, CC has compiled some eye-poppers. Consider that the Tigers have scored 90 goals in league games, a 4.5 average, which easily outdistances MankatoÂ’s second-best average of 3.86. The Tigers have scored 60 more goals than last-place Wisconsin. More than that, the 90 CC goals are almost perfectly apportioned, with 30 in the first period, 29 in the second and 31 in the third.
They also lead in goals-allowed – 16-10-20 by periods – for an average of 2.3 per game. That’s sharply better than second-best UMD’s 2.61, and it means the Tigers have given up 34 fewer goals than Alaska-Anchorage.
CC also has the best power play, with 29 goals in 99 chances for 29.3 percent effectiveness, while the Tigers have killed 94 of 108 penalties, for 87 percent efficiency. St. Cloud State is second at 81.7 percent. The penalty-killing unit is another surprise.
While those numbers leave the rest of the WCHA behind, perhaps the most surprising thing is that on paper, the Tigers look like a rebuilding team. “We play at least six freshmen every game,†said Owens. “Five of our 12 forwards are freshmen, and one or two of our defensemen are freshmen.Ââ€
Those freshmen include players like Sertich, and center Trevor Frischmon, who, Owens said, “continues to play very well. He can scoot, and heÂ’s a great penalty-killer.Ââ€
On paper, the Tigers figured to be rebuilding, and to strive to compete in the middle of the WCHA pack. But these are far more than “paper†Tigers.
(John Gilbert has covered the WCHA for over 30 years. He just completed a book, “Return to Gold Country,†about last year’s Minnesota NCAA title team. He can be reached by e-mail at: jgilbert@duluth.com.)
Chelsey Brodt steps up, helps Gophers gain split at UMD
The University of Minnesota rose up from being flattened and gained an unlikely split against Minnesota-Duluth in what was a battle of national, as well as WCHA, womenÂ’s hockey titans. Neither team had ever been ranked lower than third in the nation, but beyond league title overtones, the series was all about footsteps, about having big skates to fill, about stepping up to a higher level, and about taking a bold stride forward in a critical situation.
Many of those steps were taken by Minnesota freshman Chelsey Brodt, who scored the clinching goal in the Gophers 4-2 reversal in the second game. But that stride didnÂ’t come until many other footprints had been made at Mars-Lakeview Arena, where the first steps were required to move up the hill. The usual harborside DECC site was housing a boat show, so the series was shifted to Mars-Lakeview Arena on the Marshall High School campus. ItÂ’s a cozy little arena, bright and shiny with good ice, but with only 1,000 seats.
The Gophers had been swept by UMD 4-3 and 6-5 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis on Nov. 30-Dec. 1, and had battled to stay in hot pursuit of the Bulldogs ever since. But Minnesota had suffered a huge loss when Krissy Wendell was knocked out of the lineup the previous weekend. Wendell had centered Natalie Darwitz, and sophomore Kelly Stephens on Minnesota’s top line all season, and Wendell and Darwitz – both freshmen and both U.S. Olympic teammates – were the top two Gopher scorers and the keys to Minnesota’s title hopes.
Wendell scored the winning goal to give Minnesota a 2-1 victory for a sweep over Ohio State, and with only seconds remaining in the game, a Buckeye player knocked Wendell down at center ice and she was knocked out for the rest of the regular season with a broken clavicle. She went out with 26 goals and 27 assists for 53 points, while Darwitz had 26 goals, 28 assists for 54 points through 23 games, leaving the Gophers 15-2-1 in the WCHA and 22-3-1 overall, good for the No. 3 rank in the country.
UMD, however, was 18-1-1 atop the WCHA and 24-2-2, and ranked No. 2 behind only Harvard.
While the Stephens-Wendell-Darwitz line had scored 67 of MinnesotaÂ’s 127 total goals for the season, replacing Wendell on the line was no small matter. Coach Laura Halldorson pulled freshman Chelsey Brodt up from defense and put her at right wing, shifting Darwitz to center. Minnesota hockey fans recognize Darwitz as perhaps the most explosive center in girls high school hockey history from her days at Eagan, but Brodt had always followed in the footsteps of her sister, Winny Brodt, a senior on the Gopher squad.
The difference is that Winny Brodt has scored 11-18—29, while her little sister had 0-4—4. Putting her 0-4—4 stats up with Darwitz (26-28—54) and Stephens (15-12—27) made the line look a little lopsided, but Chelsey made the best of it.
“I had never played forward, and I didnÂ’t know how IÂ’d do,†said Chelsey Brodt. “Especially playing with Darwitz and Stephens and their speed.Ââ€
The experiment appeared a small matter when Minnesota-Duluth came out flying and hammered the Gophers 7-1 in the stunning first game. Hanne Sikio, Larissa Luther, Maria Rooth and Krista McArthur scored for a 4-0 first-period lead, and Halldorson pulled goaltender Jody Horak for Brenda ReinenÂ’s relief. Darwitz scored her 27th goal just 10 seconds into the second period, and the Gophers held at 4-1 until late in the middle period, when Rooth and Erika Holst scored for a 6-1 cushion, and Nora Tallus completed the romp in the third.
That victory moved UMD forcefully to within Saturday nightÂ’s game of clinching the WCHA title. And the lopsided nature of the score made things look bleak for the Gophers in the rematch.
First, there was the matter of the goaltending. Halldorson said she had a brief conversation with Horak, her sophomore ace who had clearly been off her game – 1.72 goals-against and .928 save percentage – when she allowed four goals on 16 shots in one period of the Friday game. Horak wanted to get back in there, and Halldorson sent her to the net. It was a far different first period, although Erika Holst’s 28th goal, on a power play, staked UMD to a 1-0 lead with three minutes left in the opening session.
While UMD kept attacking, while also defusing the Darwitz line, Minnesota’s supporting cast stepped up. Allie Sanchez scored her sixth goal of the season with a backhander at 4:35 of the second period, and Winny Brodt rushed up the left side from defense and fired her 12th goal of the season past Patricia Sautter at 13:50 to give Minnesota a 2-1 lead – its first lead of the weekend. Hanne Sikio, however, tied it 2-2 with her 19th goal before the period ended.
The third period was a matter of survival. Kelsey Bills was penalized for cross-checking, but Horak and the Gophers withstood UMDÂ’s 30-percent power play. Bills, a junior from Alberta who grew up playing on boys teams, came out of the penalty box and moments later raced up the right side, turned the corner beyond the defense, and cut to the net, where she scored at 7:01 to break the 2-2 tie.
Exactly 1:38 later, the spotlight turned directly onto Chelsey Brodt, unlikely though that seemed. She had spent most of the two games skating hard and hoping she wouldnÂ’t look out of place with her more-accomplished linemates. And when her big opportunity came, it first appeared she might have blown it.
Brodt carried the puck up the right side, with a step on the defense. As she rushed, she saw an opening as she got to the faceoff circle, and she pulled the trigger. Instead of sailing into the mesh, as might have happened in a normal Cinderella story, BrodtÂ’s shot flew over the net, high and wide by a couple of feet over the crossbar.
“She looked like me on that one,†laughed her sister, Winny Brodt. “IÂ’m the one theyÂ’re always accusing of shooting high.Ââ€
Nobody accuses Chelsey of shooting AT ALL, but after her shot missed, and the puck zipped around the boards in the right corner, Chelsey Brodt alertly went to the front of the UMD net. Darwitz had sped in and gathered up the puck, then curled off the boards, looking for an opening as she crossed the slot, 40 feet out. Darwitz shot and the puck wound up behind Sautter at 8:39, giving the Gophers a 4-2 cushion. But the Gophers didn’t all rush to Darwitz for their congratulations – they went to Chelsey Brodt. Sure enough, she had deflected the puck in.
“My first goal!†Chelsey gushed. “And in my first series up front. All I did was go in front, and I had my stick down. The puck went right off the blade of my stick. Last night, we didnÂ’t play that bad but things didnÂ’t bounce our way. Tonight they did, and this was exciting, especially against Duluth.Ââ€
The Bulldogs intensified their attack through the final 10 minutes, but Horak came up with 13 saves for 33 in the game, many of them while surrounded by all five UMD attackers at close range. When it was over, the Gophers celebrated, then they all skated over to the corner and celebrated again, high-fiving through the glass to a smiling young woman wearing street clothes. It was Krissy Wendell.
The loss of her presence was pivotal for Minnesota, but the Gophers came back to forestall UMDÂ’s championship celebration by a week, at least. The Gopher comeback came because other players stepped up, Chelsey Brodt filled some big skates as a forward, and the Gophers took a major stride after three straight losses to UMD to maintain the No. 3 national rank, and to reinforce their hopes should the teams meet again, in the WCHA playoffs, or possibly in the NCAA Frozen Four.
Anoka rallies to beat Duluth East in AA puck quarterfinals
SAINT PAUL, MN. — Respect and admiration for their opponent, a good memory, and a goal by a sprawling Ben Hendrick with 18 seconds remaining gave the Anoka Tornadoes a 4-3 victory over Duluth East before 16,714 fans at Xcel Energy Center Thursday afternoon in the opening round of the boys Class AA state hockey tournament.
The victory puts Anoka up against defending champion Holy Angels in SaturdayÂ’s late semifinal. Holy Angels whipped Moorhead 5-2 in the opening game of the quarterfinals.
AnokaÂ’s collective memory was from January 11, when Anoka (23-4-1) lost for the third of only four times this season. It was in Duluth, and East stormed back from a 3-1 deficit to outshoot the Tornadoes 31-11, tying the game 3-3 with 2.4 seconds left, and then beating Anoka 4-3 in overtime.
“This wasnÂ’t really revenge, but we knew what to expect,†said Hendrick, a senior whose critical game-winner was his 27th goal of the season. “When we were down 3-2 after two periods, all the coaches really talked about was how the third period has been our best all season, when weÂ’ve scored the most.Ââ€
Junior Andrew Johnson scored the tying goal at 5:44, skating up the slot to take a neat drop pass from Zach Nelson, then firing high into the left corner of the net over goaltender Jake Maida.
After that, EastÂ’s Greyhounds were on their heels as Anoka outshot them 11-4, but the game seemed to be broiling along toward overtime during the final minute of the third period. An East defenseman circled back into his own end and flipped the puck up the left boards, but it slid all the way down to the Anoka end for icing. With the faceoff in the right corner of EastÂ’s zone, Hendrick nudged the puck forward, tried to step through but fell to the ice, swatting at the puck as he landed.
“I pushed it through their centerÂ’s legs,†said Hendrick. “He got a piece of my leg and I was on my knees. As I went down, I chopped at the puck and it hit the goalie and went through his legs.Ââ€
The goal came with 17.1 seconds remaining, which registers officially as 18 seconds. Whatever, it tolled the end of an 11-2 surge that had carried East (14-11-4) to the Section 7AA title, and the momentum to take control of the game after two highly entertaining periods.
East struck first, when John Jacques blasted a shot from the right point that Rob Johnson tipped ever so slightly to beat goalie Kyle Olstad for a power-play goal at 6:00. Craig Chapman tied it for Anoka at the right edge of the crease, redirecting a perfect power-play pass from Hendrick, who had rushed in from the left side before zipping his pass to Chapman.
Sean Fish put Anoka ahead 2-1 with a goal at 5:38 of the second period with an opportunistic goal after Maida had uncharacteristically wandered out of his net. The usually cautious junior netminder went back to play the puck, then wound up misfiring on it when he tried to ring the boards through the left corner. Andy LaHoud picked it off and alertly sent a soft pass across in front of the goal, and Fish closed in to deposit it in the unguarded net.
The Greyhounds bounced back immediately, and Andy Sternberg snapped a 35-footer past Olstad at 5:59 – regaining the tie at 2-2 after just 21 seconds.
When Derek Johnson was penalized for Anoka, the Greyhound power play clicked as Rob Johnson deflected in his second goal of the game, this time after a Chris Johnson shot at 7:34. The 3-2 lead looked impressive, particularly when East outshot Anoka 18-10 through the first two periods. But the Tornadoes recalled the game at Duluth, and the coaches were well aware of their inability to beat East in their annual rivalry.
“We havenÂ’t beaten those guys since 1986,†said Anoka assistant coach Rick Wesp. “And when we lost to them in Duluth this year, they really took it to us. Mike Randolph is one of the best coaches in the state, so we knew theyÂ’d come with their ‘AÂ’ game.Ââ€
Randolph was philosophical afterward. “We had a couple of breakdowns,†he said. “We were in pretty good position in the third period, up by one. But we just did not finish the game. Their big-time players stepped up at a big time.Ââ€
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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