Gophers turn on playoff magic to overcome UMD 7-4

SAINT PAUL, MN. — ItÂ’s all in the timing. Minnesota met arch-rival Minnesota-Duluth four times during the WCHA season, and for the first time since UMD joined the WCHA, the Bulldogs won all four times. But that was against the “Regular Season” Gophers. Friday, the “Playoff Gophers” showed up at Xcel Energy Center and whipped the Bulldogs 7-4 in the second semifinal of the WCHA Final Five playoffs.

Just like that, the sting of being swept twice by the Bulldogs was left in the rear-view mirror. The Gophers, who seemed to be in neutral all season in the afterglow of two straight NCAA national championships, advanced to Saturday nightÂ’s playoff final with a 25-13-3 record to face No. 1 ranked North Dakota. UMD, meanwhile, must pick up the pieces of a disheartening loss and take a 25-12-4 record into the third-place game against Alaska-Anchorage.

By those records, UMD seems to have an edge on the Gophers, by the slimmest of margins. By league standing, the Bulldogs had a clear edge, finishing second to MinnesotaÂ’s tie for fourth and No. 5 seed in the league playoffs. But the timing of the victory boosts the Gophers ahead of UMD and into fourth place in the country in the strange computerized world of NCAA ranking criteria.

That means that regardless of what happens on the final day of the league playoffs, top-rated North Dakota and Minnesota both will be among the nationÂ’s four top seeds, each assigned to a different regional, along with Maine and Boston College. The loss means UMD will become a No. 2 seed, to be assigned wherever the NCAA selection committee chooses to send them on Sunday.

All of those things were riding on FridayÂ’s game, which drew a WCHA record crowd of 19,208 to Xcel Energy Center. More disturbing than even the loss was how it came about, in a complete unraveling that has to leave coach Scott Sandelin wondering what happened.

The Bulldogs opened in complete command, outshooting the Gophers 19-8 in a dominating first period, which produced a 3-1 lead. Luke Stauffacher slammed in a goal at 2:08, Evan Schwabe got his first of two when he cruised in from the right side and shot high, glancing his shot into the short side off the arm goalie Kellen Briggs at 9:06.

Minnesota countered when Troy Riddle scored his 22nd goal on a power play at 14:03, but that barely slowed down the speeding Bulldogs, who went up 3-1 just 18 seconds later when Schwabe skated up the left side, faked a shot then stepped to his left to score beyond Briggs, who had dropped to the ice.

ThatÂ’s the way the Bulldogs had done it all year, countering quickly to put down opposing rallies. But in the final minute of the period, the Bulldogs turned the puck over when a careless pass in the neutral zone left a clear chance for Gino Guyer, who rushed up the left side but shot off the left base of the net. Guyer, however, got to the end boards first and threw the puck back out front, where Danny Irmen cashed in against goalie Isaac Reichmuth, just 35 seconds before intermission.

The Gophers still trailed 3-2, but the goal was pivotal. “The goal at the end of the first period was big,” said Minnesota coach Don Lucia. “That typifies Danny Irmen, too. We’ve got some guys who don’t want to get their noses dirty, but at this time of year, guys who are willing to get their noses dirty seem to score the goals.

“We thought this game was very important, but we came out in the first period and we weren’t playing at the level we needed against a great team like Duluth. And they are a great team – as good as any we’ve played. Up front, I thought only Riddle and Irmen were competing for us in the first period. After the period, there were a few blankety-blanks said, and I thought we played much better the last two periods. We were able to put some pressure on their ‘D.’ ”

It didnÂ’t seem like pressure, so much as the entire UMD team seemed to become infected with a strange tendency to throw the puck away. A team that had played virtually flawless hockey to beat Minnesota 4-3 in overtime and 4-2 at Mariucci Arena in October, and 6-1 and 4-1 in Duluth five weeks ago, embarked on a series of defensive lapses that became contagious.

Irman broke loose while killing a penalty, gathered in Keith BallardÂ’s long pass, and sailed in to score on a crease-crossing move at 4:51 of the middle period, and the shorthanded goal lifted the Gophers to a 3-3 tie. Ten minutes later, the Bulldogs had the puck in complete possession in their own corner, but a mishandled pass squirted out to the slot, resembling a perfect feed to Gopher Ryan Potulny, who immediately drilled his sixth goal in only four games since coming back from a season-long injury.

“We had a good first period, then they got that goal at the end of the first,” said Schwabe. “That was a downer, and from then on, we lost the game at both blue lines. We got outskated, outhit, out-everythinged.”

After outshooting Minnesota 19-8 in the first period, UMD was outshot 32-13 thereafter, for a 41-31 Gopher edge for the game.

Trailing only 4-3 when the third period started, the Bulldogs got renewed life when Justin Williams scored at 0:41 to tie it 4-4. But the occasional UMD offensive rushes were overwhelmed by the BulldogsÂ’ inability to clear their zone. They failed to get the puck out of the zone at 3:45, and a couple of passes later, Minnesota took advantage when Thomas Vanek scored his 23rd goal to break the 4-4 tie.

The Gophers got a huge goal at 14:41 when Jon Waibel fired a pass from deep on the right that found Andy Sertich alone at the left edge of the crease, and he shoveled it in before the beleaguered Reichmuth could respond to make it 6-4. The Bulldogs struggled to get back in the game over the last five minutes, but by then they could scarcely complete a coherent pass, and the Gophers – who outshot UMD 20-6 in the final period – finished the victory with Barry Tallackson’s empty-net goal with 36 seconds remaining.

For a team that had played so consistently through the entire season, such a collapse seemed out of character. Coach Scott Sandelin was asked if he had ever seen such a turnabout this season. “Yeah,” he said. “Last Sunday. We were up 5-0 on Mankato in the first 11 minutes, and we were lucky to win 6-5. That’s two games now where we didn’t play very well defensively. That’s the most disappointing thing for me. You’re not going to win playing defensively like that.”

Gophers urgently need urgency in WCHA

MINNEAPOLIS, MN. — Urgency has become the key word for the University of Minnesota hockey team. Urgency has been notably absent from the considerable arsenal of weapons that made the talent-laden, two-time defending NCAA champion Gophers the unanimous pick as preseason favorites to win the WCHA.

Urgency is usually a given in the high-speed world of college hockey, but this year, it has remained elusive for the Gophers. Even a sweep over Alaska-Anchorage last weekend failed to end the season-long quest for urgency, and with only two weekends remaining in the regular season, that quest has becomeÂ…well, urgent.

“We are lurking,” conceded coach Don Lucia, who is well-aware of the team’s potential compared to its performance. “All of our players are not playing their best, and the next couple of weeks, against Denver and St. Cloud State, will be real indicators.”

Some of the Gopher players are aware that the intangible quality called chemistry has not yet materialized, although the return of Grant Potulny from a shoulder injury seemed to help jump-start Gino Guyer, for example, who got a goal each night against Anchorage.
“I’d say if you measured us against our potential, we’re probably at about 80 percent,” said Guyer, who acknowledges that he was among those sputtering. “For a lot of the season, we’d play two good periods, then take one off. The guys definitely want it, it’s just a matter of getting it done.”

Potulny has watched the inconsistency. “I think 80 percent is right on,” said Potulny, who was eager far more than the spare duty and power play shifts he got against Anchorage. “We’ve been getting a lot of spark from our third and fourth lines, but we seem to have two lines going most nights, and we’ve got to have four lines going. We just need one weekend where we get everything going, and maybe Denver will be it.”

When Minnesota won the last two NCAA titles, the Gophers didnÂ’t win the WCHA title either time, seizing national championships after 2001-02 champ Denver and 2002-03 winner Colorado College both were upset in NCAA regionals. Both times, however, the Gophers were on a steady upward surge through the closing weeks of the regular season. Yet this team is so talented that the Gophers could stumble for another few weeks, even in WCHA playoffs, and still manage to get into the NCAA tournament, then turn it on and go all the way to a threepeat.
Lucia rolled his eyes about lurking to that extreme. “It’s possible for a team to turn it on in the playoffs, but it’s not going to happen very often,” he said. “More often than not, a team has to be playing well at the end of the regular season to do it. I think you finish where you do in the standings for a reason.”

A nice winning surge over the last two months elevated Minnesota to respectability, and since boosters look only at wins and losses, a 16-2-2 tear from mid-December into the first week of February seemed to make everything OK. One Twin Cities columnist, who hadnÂ’t been seen at a game all season, made a point of praising the Gophers for the great turnaround after a dismal start. The greater question was: How could a team so loaded with talented players and depth, as well as expectations, virtually eliminate itself from title contention by starting the season 1-6-1 in the WCHA?

Lucia was jokingly accused of going to extremes to try to make his favored Gophers underdogs, but there were many reasons. Injuries (which every team suffers), too-high expectations (the residue of two straight NCAA titles), a lack of leadership (when captain Grant Potulny was injured), inconsistency (when too many goals were allowed), and inability to score (lack of goals by Guyer, Barry Tallackson and Matt Koalska, key participants the last year or two, who worked hard without tangible results).

The scoring of sophomore Thomas Vanek and speedy Troy Riddle offset the liabilities, but among the team enigmas is Vanek, a finesse player with a golden scoring touch, who inexplicably led the Gophers in penalties as well as scoring. “Thomas still leads our team in scoring chances,” said Lucia.

Early injuries to star defenseman Keith Ballard and skilled sophomore Chris Harrington provided more ready excuses, and Kellen Briggs has taken over in goal and can be excused for a few shaky games because heÂ’s only a freshman, albeit a 20-year-old freshman. Meanwhile, rationalizations have become a clear and present danger as replacements for realistic self-evaluation to recognize and correct shortcomings.

“We have some deficiencies and I don’t know if they’re correctible,” said Lucia.

Technical breakdowns might be traceable to a lack of chemistry or hunger, but such deficiencies can be summed up by that key word – urgency. A nonconference sweep over Bemidji State completed the 16-2-2 run the first weekend in February, setting up a decisive trip to Duluth. Minnesota-Duluth had opened the season by swiping two games from the Gophers at Mariucci Arena, 4-3 in overtime and 4-2. So with both revenge and the chance to climb into WCHA title contention, various Gophers were quoted saying they’d be ready for an all-out effort. Instead, UMD throttled the Gophers 6-1 and 4-1 to take over first place, dropping the Gophers to 11-10-1, and various Gophers were quoted the following week saying they “weren’t ready” at Duluth.

Various media outlets started spreading the latest rationalization: UMD had more older players than the Gophers. It can’t be recalled if any of those sources excused UMD for being at the bottom of the standings when they were much younger than the Gophers. But it provided a diversion from those alumni still grumbling that the Gophers have a half-dozen out-of-state players this season – more than in any season during the all-Minnesotan or almost-all-Minnesotan regimes of Doug Woog, Brad Buetow, Herb Brooks, Glen Sonmor and John Mariucci.

Potulny, who is both old, turning 24 March 4,and from just across the river from Minnesota in Grand Forks, N.D., has long been forgiven for those alleged transgressions as third-year captain and unquestioned leader. His attitude may not yet prevail over all the younger players who may have started this season pretty certain that another title would be automatic.

A season-opening tournament at Omaha saw a 4-0 loss to Maine and a 7-3 victory over Nebraska-Omaha, then the WCHA started with two losses to Duluth and a split with Denver, all at Mariucci, and two losses at North Dakota and a tie and a loss at upstart Wisconsin for a 1-6-1 launch. Even though the only losses for the next 20 games were at Alaska-Anchorage and to North Dakota, the top four teams in the league remained above the Gophers.

Success at Duluth could have pushed the Gophers higher, although the 3-2, 5-2 sweep over Anchorage left the Gophers still with the fifth and final home-ice playoff spot. It also got them within striking distance of St. Cloud and Wisconsin for third place, which avoids the deadly “play-in” game between fourth and fifth when the league playoffs reach Final Five status.

“Getting Potulny and Vanek back is big, because we’re 14-3 with a full lineup,” said Lucia.

Alaska-Anchorage coach John Hill, who was Lucia’s assistant at Minnesota before going north, to Alaska, has made great strides with the Seawolves, but is consumed by making more strides. “Minnesota has got an awful lot of skill,” Hill said. “If they play with some grit, they’ll be awfully tough.”

Grit. It’s a great word that’s almost reached cliché status, and it’s related to those others, like chemistry and hunger, that have been hanging there all season. All the words now are preempted though, because it’s time for urgency.

Perennial Packer power prevails at girls puck peak

Even the most enthusiastic booster couldnÂ’t have predicted the incredible skyrocket ride experienced by girls hockey in just 10 short years. In the first official Minnesota State High School League girls tournament, even optimistic officials were surprised when Aldrich Arena was filled to overflowing for a four-team shootout.

The tournament moved on to the cavernous but comparatively impersonal State Fairgrounds Coliseum, where it continued to grow. Last season, it moved into the sparkling new Ridder Arena on the University of Minnesota campus. The Gophers women’s hockey team – a national championship challenger every year since its inception – had the facility built specifically for women’s hockey, because it provided a cozier location for the slowly growing women’s crowds than the adjacent Mariucci Arena, which the two-time defending NCAA champion men regularly overfill.

Maybe it is a measure of the impatient upsurge of girls high school hockey that some coaches actually protested that the girls should be placed in the enormous Excel Center in Saint Paul, home of the Minnesota Wild and the boys high school hockey tournament. Cooler outlooks have prevailed, however.

“Ridder Arena is the perfect place for the tournament at this time,” said Dave Palmquist, coach of the South St. Paul team that has been the state’s most consistent girls hockey power. “If we someday grow to the point where we need a bigger facility, great. But I always felt that the worst thing we could have was 3,000 or 4,000 fans in an arena that seats 18,000.”

Besides, there are more serious challenges facing girls hockey, despite the rapid expansion of the sport. Things like the expansion of developmental programs for girls, a comparative fall-off of elite players, the split of AA and A classes by size of schools, the prominence of private schools, and open-enrollment maneuvering as some players seek more-successful programs for their own personal prominence. All of these are difficulties that must be overcome if girls hockey is to continues its growth.

Observing it all, Palmquist is sort of like the driver of a car on a vacation trip – the passengers can all relax and take in the scenery, but the driver has a unique view from a more involved standpoint.

Palmquist, whose hair is thinning on top as the only indication he has aged beyond his 20s, still has the youthful vigor he brought from a job coaching boys hockey at Minnehaha Academy. “I had been at Minnehaha for seven years,” said Palmquist, “I came to South St. Paul for the first year of the program, and this is my 10th year.”

South St. Paul hasnÂ’t overwhelmed the stateÂ’s girls hockey tournament every year, but the Packers have been among the best while developing a unique program. Teams from Apple Valley, Burnsville, Roseville, Blaine, Hibbing, Eagan, Park Center and Bloomington Jefferson have risen to incredible heights and then leveled off, tracing the ever-fluctuating ups and downs of high school athletics, but South St. Paul simply started at the top and stayed there, never experiencing any wavering.

When it comes to ups and downs, South St. Paul has avoided the “downs” while constantly remaining with the “ups.” Palmquist is greatly responsible for being the driver of that limousine, and it never has been more evident than the last three years. After winning the state title in 2002 and 2003, the Packers beat Hastings 4-1 for the Section 2AA championship to ride the crest of a 27-0-1 season, and an incredible 86-game undefeated streak — a record for boys or girls.

A tie against Cloquet-Esko-Carlton early this season was the only reason the Packers record was 85-0-1 instead of 86-0 going into the state tournament.

“On November 25, 2001, we lost 2-1 to Blaine,” said Palmquist. “That made us 2-2 for the season, and we went on to finish 29-2 and win the state title. Last season we went 31-0 and won it again. It’s really something. Winning two state championships really motivates coaches and players, and also the younger kids who see what it can mean. We’ve been able to stay strong because of a special group.”

When Palmquist came to South St. Paul, girls hockey in the state had been confined to only a sparse few youth programs. Individuals like Jenny Schmidgall of Edina either played on boys teams or were attracted to the Minnesota Thoroughbreds, a selected all-star team that gave top players a place to play. From there, a number of girls developed and were recruited by eastern college programs. High school girls hockey, and later the start of Minnesota colleges starting varsity programs at the Division I and III levels, changed all that.

South St. Paul had the benefit of a strong ringette program, which adding the luxury of solid numbers for depth from the start. A tiny seventh-grader named Kelly Kegley attracted great attention as a standout when she transferred in to help anchor the Packers through their development years, and she went on to play at Wisconsin.

Other programs came up with exceptional players – Winny Brodt and sisters Ronda and Renee Curtin made Roseville the early dominant team, and later Krissy Wendell at Park Center and Natalie Darwitz at Eagan made girls hockey a true attraction. Those players, in years to come, may be looked back on as the John Mayasich-type heroes of the first years of boys hockey. Darwitz, in fact, bypassed her senior year at Eagan to join Wendell for a development year with the U.S. National team, and became key players on the 2002 U.S. Olympic team, which was upset by Canada in the gold medal final. Both now play for the No. 1 ranked Gophers.

“Krissy and Natalie, the Curtins, Winny Brodt – they were so talented that they set a standard for girls hockey,” said Palmquist. “They stood out by so much both because they were so talented and because a lot of other teams just starting out didn’t have players who could play with them.”

There is no Darwitz, who scored 85 goals as an eighth-grader at Eagan, or Wendell, who played boys high school hockey up until her junior year, then scored over 100 goals in a season when she switched to girls hockey at Park Center, on current girls teams, or even visible in youth programs. But top teams now have a lot of players from new girls youth teams who raise the average skill level enough to make it more difficult for the standouts to stand out.

So dominant were Wendell and Darwitz that they continue to be universally referred to by their first names only. “We were the only team to beat Krissy’s Park Center team,” said Palmquist, “after beating Natalie’s team to get to state.

“I’ve talked to a number of people who think that the development of girls hockey has definitely leveled off, and maybe even declined a little,” Palmquist added. “A lot of programs just don’t have the numbers coming up. It takes a lot of money, and a major commitment by parents and families, driving the kids around to practice. We’ve been able to stay pretty consistently strong, and I attribute a lot of that to a good group of youth coaches.”

Some of the top Packers players this season include Amanda Stohr, Maggie Fisher, Ashley Young and Felicia Nelson. It helps the program that Stohr, a Ms. Hockey finalist, is one of only two seniors on the squad, with goaltender Sarah Crnobrna – who has never lost a game – the other. Fisher, Nelson, and Young, who is the daughter of former Packer and Michigan Tech star John Young, are among a half-dozen juniors on the team. So there shouldn’t be much letdown next season.

“We’ve maintained it pretty well, but eventually, I think size could catch up to us,” said Palmquist. “We’re a small school, and we’re pretty locked in with no chance of growing. When you look around the state, you see so many good pockets of good players, but I think we’re faced with some of the same situations as the boys.”

Strictly for the sake of nurturing girls hockey, a split into two tournaments might have been more productive if the second class was for new programs, to encourage more start-ups. But the high school league followed guidelines used in other sports and split by enrollment. Smaller schools have been allowed to choose to play up, as South St. Paul has done, but some state powers, such as Warroad and Hibbing, play dominant roles in Class A.

“I think the split to AA and A took away some merit from the state tournament,” said Palmquist. “The South St. Paul boys team dropped down to Class A for the first time this season, and someday we might have to.

“Open enrollment is another problem, because, just like the boys, kids are moving to more successful programs. It’s happening all over the state, and it’s a tough issue. The strong get stronger, and the private schools keep getting better. If you look, you’ll see a lot of the same big schools at the top of the ratings for both boys and girls. The biggest suburban schools keep getting more dominant, and unless you’re in some place like Eden Prairie or Eagan, most of us have the bare minimum of girls coming up.”

For the first decade of girls hockey, however, South St. PaulÂ’s program has managed to stay among the best powerhouses. When the state resectioned its teams, and expanded the state tournament to eight teams, South St. Paul ended up in a section that also included perennial powers Eagan and Roseville. In some years, they were three of the stateÂ’s four or five best teams, all with strong supporting casts as well as standouts.

While some may say that individual stars havenÂ’t been as visible, Palmquist personally knows they still exist. South St. Paul has had Erica Hawkinson, Sarah Ahlquist, Ashley Albrecht and the current crop. The Packers had to find a way to penetrate Hill-Murray goaltender Emily Brookshaw in the 2AA semifinals, and it took 50 shots to produce goals by Fisher, Nelson, freshman Rita Simones and Young for a 4-1 victory.

That sent the Packers into the final, where they had to confront a Hastings team that got by Henry Sibley 5-2 when Erica McKenzie scored a hat trick. McKenzie, a strong-skating stickhandler with a powerful shot, is a two-time Metro player of the year and another Ms. Hockey finalist.

McKenzie is skilled enough, and had a strong-enough supporting cast, to be a valid threat in the 2AA final to South St. Paul’s hopes of a threepeat, while the Packers – well aware that their incredible streak must end sometime – countered with their usual balance and depth of talent. The Pack shut down McKenzie and broke open a tight game late for a 4-1 victory, getting two goals from Amanda Stohr and one each from Fisher and Young.

“We’ve had the quality at South St. Paul pretty consistently,” said Palmquist. “And we want to keep it going as long as we can.”

Dodge Magnum, Chrysler 300C go back to rear drive

PALM SPRINGS, CA. — Minivans? Front-wheel drive? Cab-forward design? Chrysler Corporation convinced us of the societal benefits of all of the above, and now the same Chrysler – or a reasonable facsimile thereof – is about to convince us to set those attributes aside and make way for the new Chrysler 300 and Dodge Magnum.

DaimlerChrysler unveiled its new corporate twins, the Chrysler 300 and the Dodge Magnum, to the automotive media last week at Palm Springs. The front-engine/rear-drive twins replace the front-drive LH, 300M and Intrepid. Chrysler hopes to sell enough of the twins to replace the 230,000 Chrysler LH models sold last year.

But if these are twins, Chrysler’s marketeers are desperately trying to separate them at birth. The Chrysler 300 comes in four versions – the 300, 300 Touring, 300 Limited, and 300C – as only a blunt-nosed – almost brick-shaped – sedan; the Dodge Magnum has three different models – the base, the SXT and the RT, all of them resembling chopped custom wagons where the roof has been lowered to leave windows tapering from thin to thinner as you move rearward, emphasizing a “don’t-call-it-a-station-wagon” shape.

The base cars have the high-tech, dual-overhead-camshaft 2.7-liter V6 with 190 horsepower and 190 foot-pounds of torque; the middle models come with the single-overhead-cam 3.5-liter V6, with 250 horsepower and 350 foot-pounds of torque; and the top models have the Hemi, a 5.7-liter V8 with 340 horsepower and 390 foot-pounds of torque that will send the cars from 0-60 in 6.3 seconds.

Prices run up over $30,000 and beyond for the top models of both, which have Hemi power and all-wheel drive, but the most amazing features is their low base price — $23,595 for the 300 and $22,495 for the Magnum, including destination charges. The cars are built at Brampton, Ontario, which makes them “domestic” U.S. cars via NAFTA.

The pushrod Hemi V8 also gets a five-speed automatic instead of a four that handles the overhead-cam V6s. The all-wheel drive system – a concession to those of us who drive in snowy climates – will be available by fall on either the 3.5 V6 or 5.7 Hemi V8 cars, but not on the 2.7 base cars, although all models will have traction-control devices. The all-wheel drive system will not be flexible but will have a constant fixed ratio of 62 percent power to the rear and 38 percent front. Chrysler’s splashy new “Hemi” refers back to the hemispherical combustion-chamber 426 V8 engines that powered Dodge and Plymouth cars to NASCAR stock car domination, back in the 1960s and 1970s, when NASCAR forced entrants to run engines based on their production powerplants. Nowadays, all of them run a formula-enforced engine size that none of them builds, so the engines, like the cars, are strictly purpose-built with a phony body resembling a stock car.

Chrysler did put hemispherical tops on the combustion chambers of the new 5.7, but the engine is of pushrod configuration. Pushrods are those devices that actuate valves when the camshaft is located down in the engine block, a process rendered obsolete by overhead camshafts over the last couple of decades.

Chrysler officials admit that if a combination of escalating fuel prices, increasing fuel-economy standards, and tightened emission standards were to occur, manufacturers might have to go back toward lighter vehicles with front-wheel drive and overhead cams. But for now, the corporate lobbyists have suppressed such changes, and manufacturers are creating more and more power. Once higher than 300 horsepower, front-wheel-drive units are strained to handle it all and steer as well, so the trend is toward rear-wheel drive, for the advertised purpose of better handling.

The new pushrod Hemi has been refined with an eye on fuel economy, with a multi-displacement system that deactivates four of the eight pistons when you donÂ’t need full power. General Motors is preparing its second attempt at variable piston firing, but ChryslerÂ’s vehicle development manager Jack Broomall is pretty confident that his company will be first on the street with it.

“Our multi-displacement system will give us a 15 to 20 percent improvement in fuel economy,” said Broomall. “When you’re cruising, the V8 will run in four-cylinder mode. Everything from the pistons, the valves and the roller-type valve lifters shut down on the front and rear pistons on the left side and the two center pistons on the right.”

Broomall said the difference between the four pistons that work all the time and the four that take cruising-time off is slight, but he conceded that after 150,000 or so miles on dynamometers, he could notice a slight difference in the wear characteristics of the piston rings.

Both the 300 and Magnum are impressive to drive, although in the time allotted, we didnÂ’t get time to drive all of them in one day of hustling from desert to mountain top and back to desert in both models. My copilot and I wanted to try the base 300 to see if the high-tech but small 2.7-liter V6 could move such a hefty car efficiently. But by the time we both had driven a Touring model with its mid-range 3.5-liter V6, we were meeting with the group for lunch at a home originally built by Frank Sinatra, for $75,000 in 1946. Piano-shaped pool and all, it sold a few times subsequently, most recently when an entrepreneur got it in rough shape for $135,000 in 1996, and resold it for $1.3 million in 2000.

By the time we came out, the Chryslers had disappeared and we were whisked away to climb aboard Magnums. This time, we pounced on a Hemi, and followed the same route. The V8 provided much more power and a much deeper sound, as anticipated. My co-driver said he had been told all the Magnum Hemis were all-wheel drive, so when I got my turn behind the wheel, I believed it, the way the Magnum tracked around curvy mountain switchbacks and stayed pointed where I aimed it.

Although there was a little snow in the mountains, it was wet, slushy stuff and definitely not icy, but I was still impressed with the carÂ’s capabilities. I was even more impressed afterward, when I learned that these were preproduction models, and did NOT have all-wheel drive.

Chrysler officials claim that the 300, which is a couple inches higher and slightly shorter than the existing 300M, represents the “new definition of the classic U.S. sedan.” It has a large, bold grille on that vertical front, a high vantage point that is aimed at satisfying the demand of SUV-buyers to have a higher outlook on traffic, and a lot of room inside.

The interior layout is well thought out, seats are comfortable and supportive, and stowage behind the second seat in the Magnum is vast, as is the 300Â’s trunk. The cars are stable and feel firmly planted, possibly aided by their weight, ranging from 3,750 to over 4,000 pounds.

Front-wheel-drive devotees can still choose from the Neon, Stratus or Sebring, or Caravan/Town and Country minivans, which remain the backbone of the Dodge/Chrysler stable. But if the trend toward larger, higher, bigger sedans with more power, the 300 and Magnum should be positioned right up front.

(John Gilbert writes weekly automotive columns; he can be reached at jgilbert@duluth.com.)

Bulldogs sweep Gophers again, claim WCHA lead

Where, do we suppose, is the “Taconite Trophy?”

That was the question asked, delicately, of Minnesota coach Don Lucia after the two-time defending champion Gophers had been blitzed 6-1 by Minnesota-Duluth in a stunning Friday night series opener at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center.
“The what?” said Lucia.

“The Taconite Trophy,” it was repeated.

“I’ve never heard of the Taconite Trophy, and I have no idea what it is,” Lucia said.

This is not a case of arrogance, or of anything else. The Taconite Trophy was created somewhere around three decades ago, and it was to go to the winner of the intrastate season series between Minnesota and UMD. There was a time, in the first 38 years since UMD got into the WCHA, that the Bulldogs had the upper hand on the big-city Gophers. In fact, the ‘Dogs had won the series 10 times in those 38 years, although never once in those 10 seasons did they ever sweep all four games.

Since some fantastic league-championship Bulldog teams won the trophy in 1982, ’84 and ’85, they have only held the upper hand on the Gophers once, and that was in the 1992-93 season, proving that while UMD was experiencing the usual ups and downs of any college program, Minnesota had remained a perennial WCHA power, seemingly impervious to the “downs.”

So that means that Lucia needn’t be embarrassed about not knowing about, or the whereabouts of, the Taconite Trophy, because it has been in the hands of the Gophers for 11 straight years – so long that it is never even brought out for debate. In fact, the UMD coaches were as perplexed as Lucia when the subject was brought up, because they had never heard of it, either.

Somebody said it is collecting dust on some shelf in some supply room at the University of Minnesota. But maybe itÂ’s time to find it, dust it off, and UPS it on up I35 to Duluth, because not only did UMD stun the Gophers 6-1 on Friday, but they seconded the notion with a 4-1 victory on Saturday. Raucous crowds of 5,406 and 5,418 filled the DECC for the games, which also were on statewide television.

The sweep also goes into the history books, because UMD, which opened the season winning 4-3 in overtime and 4-2 to sweep Minnesota at Mariucci Arena, thus completed the first four-game season sweep any Bulldog team had ever inflicted over any Gopher team in their 39-year WCHA hockey rivalry. Over those years, Minnesota had swept the Bulldogs seven times, most recently in 1994-95, 1995-96 and 1999-2000 – three times in the last decade. So it’s about time for the ‘Dogs to howl, but there wasn’t much of that.

UMD coach Scott Sandelin remained his usual self, which means that despite being immensely satisfied at what he has built in four seasons at UMD, he is never going to be tossing out a controversial line, or boasting, or showing any emotional outbursts. The only difference in SandelinÂ’s post-game demeanor is that his office between the UMD dressing room and the weight-training facility was jammed with friends and well-wishers.

Aside from demolishing their big-campus rivals, the sweep boosted the Bulldogs into sole possession of first place in the WCHA, because North Dakota split at Colorado College to fall out of the week-old tie with UMD. Yet another impressive layer to UMDÂ’s surge is the extension of the nationÂ’s longest unbeaten streak to 12 games (11-0-1) to claim the top WCHA slot at 16-5-1 (20-8-3 overall).

At the other side of what has become one of the more surprising WCHA races in years, the Gophers – two-time NCAA champions and unanimous preseason pick to win the WCHA – dropped to 11-10-1 in the WCHA, still clinging to the fifth and final home-ice playoff slot behind UMD, North Dakota, St. Cloud State and Wisconsin. The Gophers seem secure in holding that spot, with a three-point edge on Colorado College and only six games remaining. But nobody anticipated the talented and veteran Gophers to be one game over .500 at this point in the season.

Coming into the series in Duluth, Minnesota had made a run up from a shaky start to go 11-1-2 over 14 games. As usual, that had commanded enough attention to obscure UMDÂ’s 9-0-1 run.

In fact, when UMD faced Colorado College on Jan. 16-17, the national ratings showed North Dakota first, Wisconsin fourth, St. Cloud State sixth, Denver seventh, Minnesota eighth, CC 10th, and UMD 12th. That’s a very impressive showing for the WCHA, with seven teams among the nation’s top 12. But UMD, being 12th, was in the same old syndrome – no respect. At that point, UMD had already swept Denver and Minnesota on the road, and was about to sweep CC.

Two weeks ago, the same ratings prior to the first weekend in February showed North Dakota still first, Minnesota fifth, Wisconsin seventh and UMD eighth. On top of that, Minnesota came into the series boasting the top power play in the country, going 41-for-146 for a blistering .281 percentage. As if all that wasnÂ’t enough to amplify the pivotal nature of the weekend confrontation at the DECC, the pairwise rankings, approximating the NCAA tournament selection process, ranked Minnesota and UMD tied for fourth, behind only North Dakota, Boston College and Maine.

The great thing about all of that is it could be set aside when the puck dropped. And when it dropped, the Bulldogs showed why they have been the most consistent team in the WCHA all season, with quick-countering attackers, balanced on every line with small but aggressive skaters, plus a veteran, rangy defense that was solid throughout, led by Beau Geisler, whose hand injury finally seems healed; and Tim Hambly, who is playing his best and most confident hockey in three years. Neil Petruic, also, played superbly all weekend. And behind them, sophomore goaltender Isaac Reichmuth was near-flawless.

Nick Anderson and Tyler Brosz staked Duluth to a 2-0 lead in the first game, and Barry Tallackson countered for Minnesota with a screened 35-footer to cut it to 2-1. But Gopher scoring star Thomas Vanek, a finesse player who somehow leads the Gophers in penalty minutes this season, charged and blindsided Jesse Unklesbay at the end of the opening period, setting off a brief but intense five-on-five scrap, and earning UMD a four-minute power play.

Geisler skated all the way from the point to the net to score at the end of that power play, then UMD astounded its fans when Brosz scored at 14:44, Evan Schwabe scored at 15:58, and Junior Lessard got his 20th goal of the season at 18:30. Four unanswered goals in the second period, and the 6-1 final was engraved.

The next night, Marco Peluso took center stage, breaking hard across the goal-mouth while blocking a pass ahead and quickly stuffing it past Minnesota goaltender Kellen Briggs for the only goal of the first period. Keith Ballard, MinnesotaÂ’s All-America-class defenseman, scored a disputed goal while being knocked skates-high into the crease at 7:46 of the second period, and the 1-1 tie appeared a probably springboard for rally by a much more intense Gopher team.

But in the last minute of the second period, Hambly and Petruic strung together slick passes and Peluso deftly tipped the puck in from wide right for UMDÂ’s tie-breaker. In the third period, Lessard notched his 21st on a power play, and Luke Stauffacher hit an open net for the 4-1 clincher.

Reichmuth stopped 60 of 62 Minnesota shots for the weekend, the Bulldogs stifled Minnesota’s power play with 0-for-10 futility, while UMD was 3-4 the first game and 3-6 the second. That was the final touch: UMD not only took first place in the WCHA, swept the Gophers for the weekend and the series, finally passed them in all the rankings, and also now has the best power play. The Bulldogs are 31-for-107 in league play for 29.0 percent (to Minnesota’s 28-104 for 26.9), and overall, the ‘Dogs are 42-158 for 26.6 percent (to Minnesota’s 41-156 for 26.3).

There was no gloating, no boasting from the Bulldogs. They all expressed determination to continue their surge next weekend at Colorado College. Then they come home for a monumental showdown against North Dakota, before finishing the regular season at Wisconsin. If the Bulldogs are going to win it, they will have to earn it. But they have a respectful admirer in Lucia, who, after UMD swept the Gophers at the start of the season, said he thought the Bulldogs could win the league title. He hasnÂ’t changed his opinion.

“They were good at the start of the season, and they’re much better now,” said Lucia. “We watched ‘em on video, and we play the top teams from all over the country, so we knew how good UMD was. Reichmuth is very good, and they have a lot of experience, and everybody is playing hard. They can play six defensemen, and if they keep getting that kind of goaltending, they’re in great shape. They’re in first place now, and they control their own destiny.”

Kind words, indeed. NowÂ…about that Taconite TrophyÂ…

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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.