CTS-V moves Cadillac into luxury-hot rod category

COLUMBUS, OHIO — Multitasking, they might call it. A fantastic weekend, IÂ’d say. The tasks included doing a few stories on the NCAA hockey tournament in Columbus, trying to get to Columbus when air tickets were pretty much gone, and figuring out a way to still do a road-test while on the road.

The solution was perfect. Denver beat North Dakota for the NCAA title, I was able to fly in and out of nearby Dayton, Ohio, with only a couple extra days tacked on, and a new, dark burgundy Cadillac CTS-V was awaiting me in Dayton, and it proved a welcome ally.

Having a high-powered cohort made me feel right at home for my first trip to Columbus. The CTS-V is a beautiful car, stunning even, and it goes better than it looks. It comes with a 400-horsepower Corvette V8 churning those rear wheels. There even seemed to be an eerie welcome on my first day in suburban Columbus, when I drove about six blocks from the Radisson Hotel and found upon a classy steakhouse named “J.Gilbert’s Wood-Fired Steaks.” I showed the manager my card, he got a chuckle out of the coincidence, and he gave me a souvenir mug with their – my – name embossed on it.

The CTS-V is the corporate hot rod from Cadillac, the luxury, high-brow arm of General Motors. It stood out, because everywhere you look you see Hondas and Acuras, with Honda’s Marysville, Ohio, factory nearby. Columbus was host to the NCAA;s 2005 national collegiate hockey tournament for the first time. College hockey is an exciting alternative in this year of NHL lockout/strike, although ESPN’s NHL broadcasters seem to be more familiar with basketball than college hockey, judging by Bill Clement’s constant references to the crease and goal-mouth area as “in the paint.”

The youthful infusion of thousands of college hockey fans backing North Dakota, Denver, Colorado College and Minnesota helped set a proper scene for the CTS-V, because it is a car for the young-at-heart among the upper-crust. The CTS was a breakthrough vehicle, above the level of a compact, certainly, yet leaving plenty of room for the larger STS and the still larger DeVille.

The CTS broke new ground because it was front-engine with rear-drive, and it carried the then-new chiseled look that we didnÂ’t realize was to become CadillacÂ’s signature appearance. We knew it promptly when, shortly afterward, the XLR sports car, the SRX crossover SUV, and then the STS all came out wearing the same chiseled look, in place of the smoothly rounded lines that previously distinguished Cadillacs.

The CTS comes standard with Cadillac’s high-tech – GM calls it “high feature” – 3.6-liter V6 engine, with dual overhead camshafts and plenty of power, as well as variable valve-timing that boosts it far beyond any other V6 GM has produced in terms of horsepower, torque, and potentially fuel economy and durability. The CTS lists for about $40,000 that way.

But hot on the wheels of the CTS came the CTS-V, and adding that hyphen and “V” indicates that the Corvette Z06 V8 has been stuffed under the hood. That boosts the base price up to $49,490, and a few options, such as a sunroof, put the test-car’s sticker at $53,680. You wanna play with the big German and Japanese sport-luxury sedans, it costs a bit.

Curiously, this is not the new 6.0-liter V8 in the new 2005 C6 Corvette, but the 5.7-liter V8 from the 2004 Corvette, the last of the C5 versions. But by going to the Z06 version of last year’s engine, it matches the 400 horsepower of the new ‘Vette. The CTS-V reaches 400 horses at 6,000 RPMs, while developing 395 foot-pounds of torque at 4,800 RPMs.

Those are high revs for a pushrod engine, and yes, remember that even while Cadillac has been GMÂ’s vanguard for new, high-technology engines, the Corvette remains with its 50-plus-year-old pushrod engine style, still depending more on huge displacement than technology to make great wads of power.

Other features are just as significant as the Corvette engine to make the CTS-V an impressive package. The Tremec six-speed manual is a smooth-shifting unit that comes along with the engine from Corvette, and huge, 14-inch vented rotors on Brembo disc brakes adorn all four corners. Traction control, and CadillacÂ’s StabiliTrak stability control also is standard. There also are a lot of creature comforts, such as leather seats, and run-flat tires that have a high-performance profile but will get you home instead of blowing out if punctured. Foglights, a sunroof, XM Satellite radio, and an eight-speaker audio system, along with a navigation system, also are standard on the test car.

Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the CTS-V is its appearance. Simple as that. The CTS has that abrupt down-sloping front end, with sharp vertical edges, and a wide and open grille, underlined by a bumper and lower façade that has more grille opening and indentations for foglights. That’s distinctive enough, for starters. The CTS-V goes beyond that, with a fine-mesh plating on the grille that really sets off the prominent Cadillac shield-and-braiding emblem located in the middle, just above the gently arched V.

The big wheels – 18 inch alloys that are 8.5 inches wide – not only house the run-flat tires, they also set off the profile of the CTS-V from the side by filling up those large wheel-wells, and they give the car a more determined, sporty stance than the garden-variety CTS. Just behind the front wheelwells there are colorful little V-emblems, which is the only other tipoff that you’ve got the CTS-V, because the rear emblem simply says “CTS.”

The interior is less luxurious and definitely more sporty, retaining plenty of class in the way that a BMW interior can be neat without being ostentatious. The three-spoke steering wheel has all manner of remote switches, and the stick shift is right there on the console, welcoming you every time you enter the car with the reminder – a Cadillac, with a stick shift!

Driving along I-70 from Dayton to Columbus, and around the I-270 beltline of Columbus, I discovered that a lot of other drivers established an attitude toward the CTS-V. Maybe it was the dark, sulty but shiny paint, or the little trim features, but it seemed as though everybody driving anything from Cavaliers to SUVs wanted to pass me, and if I ever eased past any of them, they’d immediately speed up and repass. Corvettes generally get a different kind of respect from fellow road-sharers, but maybe there’s still some time needed for people to realize the CTS-V is hot – too hot to waste any energy zapping Cavaliers and assorted SUVs as they strain and sway to get ahead.

The CTS-V handles like no previous Cadillac sedan. Firmed up suspension pieces and quick, precise steering means that if you crank the steering wheel just a bit, the big (3,847-pound) sedan cuts in as if it thinks itÂ’s a sports car. The six-speed stick means you can reach down for more revs and more torque whenever you need it, but there is so much available you almost can pull out of almost any situation in fourth or fifth without the feeling of lugging the engine.

I was able to get 23 miles per gallon on a specific pre-dawn 75-mile run from Columbus to Dayton, but in freeway-city combined driving that figure dipped to 16. I must admit, however, that I was, shall we sayÂ…exercising the engineÂ’s power most of the time.

The skip-shift is an unqualified nuisance. HereÂ’s the deal: About a decade ago, GM wanted the Corvette to get a high EPA fuel-economy estimate, so to bolster mileage and emissions, it engineered a stick shift to go directly from first to fourth on normal acceleration, thus fooling the EPA computers. If you start up very slowly, or if you hammer it and charge away from a stop in first, it will go into second smoothly. But on moderate acceleration, the shift lever is deflected from first to fourth. I criticized the Corvette for that, because my favored method of driving is to start up moderately, and then maybe hammer it a little in second gear. If you do that in a Corvette, you find yourself in fourth, lugging the engine, and wrestling the shift lever back up, over and down into second.

I heard from dozens of Corvette zealots who claimed I was unjustly mean for criticizing the car, and besides, they wrote, you can go to Radio Shack for a device that bypasses the thing. I know about that device, and I also know that GM is the only company in the world that uses such a nuisance gadget to get their car certified. And it’s been about 10 years now. Besides, I countered, when does the ad campaign come out that says: “You want the Great American Sports Car? Send $50,000 and we’ll not only give you a new Corvette, we’ll also give you a map to the nearest Radio Shack so you can make it shift properly!”

I donÂ’t think weÂ’ll be seeing that promotion. But I also know that while the skip-shift is a dreadful nuisance in the Corvette, it is beyond contempt in a vehicle wearing that braid-surrounded-shield of a Cadillac. And yet the CTS-V has the skip-shift.

There is one other nitpick I must register about the CTS-V. Although it has a stick shift, it has a pedal emergency brake. Most sticks have a brake lever located adjacent to the shift lever so you don’t forget it’s engaged. On the CTS-V, when you engage the emergency brake, you have to reach down and pull up on the release on the lower left edge of the dashboard. So on several different occasions when I had engaged the emergency brake, I went to start up, realized the brake was still set, then reached down and pulled up the little switch – and, presto, I unlatched the hood! Yes, the hood release is located about an inch from the brake relese, in “I” formation. After a while, I’m sure you would get it right. But not every time.

The problem is compounded when the unlatched hood stays down, and unless you stop and get out immediately to close it, it becomes a challenge to remember it later. A couple of times, people who were attracted to look at the car as I got out of it said, “Hey, did you know your hood is open?”

For overall performance, the CTS-V is a rocket ship. It will perform with some of the world’s best sports sedans, making up for the technology it may lack with pure displacement grunt. I’ve seen published tests where the CTS-V goes 0-60 in 4.7 seconds, and run 13.1-second quarter miles at nearly 110 miles per hour. Interestingly enough, Cadillac also has brought out its STS for 2005, and it has Caddy’s 4.6-liter high-tech V8 with dual overhead cams and four valves per cylinder. That engine is smaller, but higher tech, and Caddy engineers are dabbling with an STS-V – supercharging the 4.6 V8, which just might make it faster than the CTS-V.

But here we are, talking about Cadillacs as if they were BMW M5s, or Audi S4s, which – come to think of it – is exactly what Cadillac probably wants us to do.

(John Gilbert writes weekly auto reviews and can be reached at cars@jwgilbert.com.)

Denver stifles North Dakota 4-1 to win NCAA puck title

COLUMBUS, OHIO — DenverÂ’s rejuvenated power play and clutch performances by freshmen at both ends of the Schottenstein Center rink suppressed North Dakota 4-1 Saturday night to give the Pioneers their second straight NCAA hockey tournament championship.

“There are different emotions this year, because of the expectations we had from last year,” said Denver coach George Gwozdecky. “When we won the WCHA Final Five, in the midst of the celebration, Matt Laatsch, our captain, congratulated me on my 400th win. I told him, and the whole team, that I appreciated it, but it sure would be sweeter to celebrate No. 405.”

Doing that meant going all the way to the victory the Pioneers achieved Saturday night, and they achieved it with a hard-core crop of seniors, but also a couple of amazingly skilled freshmen in goaltender Peter Mannino and second-line center Paul Stastny.

Mannino, who had never faced more than the 43 shots Colorado College hurled at him in ThursdayÂ’s semifinals, faced 45 shots from the Fighting Sioux, many of them point-blank tries, but he stopped 44 of them, including all 23 in the third period, and earned tournament most valuable player honors.

At the other end of the Value City Arena ice surface, another freshman, center Paul Stastny, the son of former NHL star Peter Stastny, scored two power-play goals for Denver. He beat Zach Parise at 10:08 of the second period for what was to become the game-winning goal, and one which wonÂ’t make his personal highlight video, and he scored again at 8:19 of the third with a deadly shot off a great feed from Matt Carle for a 3-1 cushion.

That set the stage for another example of DenverÂ’s team structure, because Stastny bypassed the chance for a hat trick to feed Gabe Gauthier, who scored the final goal into an empty net with 37 seconds to go.

The victory gives Denver a closing nine-game winning streak and a final 32-9-2 record, while North Dakota finished 25-15-5 while suffering only its second loss in its final 12 games.

“Congratulations to the University of Denver and coach Gwozdecky,” said North Dakota’s first-year head coach Dave Hakstol. “We did everything we wanted to do. We set the tone early with some good physical play, and making some real good plays. We probably played well enough to win, but it wasn’t our night.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our performance, but Mannino made an awful lot of good saves. He played extremely well, and that’s a factor you can’t control.”

North Dakota established its physical plan on the gameÂ’s first shift, when Chris Porter rocked the boards with a bodycheck on Denver defenseman Brett Skinner. Gwozdecky said Skinner suffered a separated shoulder on the play, but after doctors examined him, he insisted on coming back to play. The 1-1 first period ended when Skinner absorbed another huge hit, this time by Erik Fabian, with the blow breaking a corner plexiglass pane and causing the last six seconds to be tacked onto the start of the second period.

It was that sort of game – the Fighting Sioux delivering hard and high-velocity bodychecks all over the rink, which led to a 45-23 edge in shots, and the Pioneers weathering the blows, and battling back to capitalize on their opportunities while Mannino simply stifled constant close-in North Dakota chances.

The Pioneers struck for the first goal, at 6:15 of the first period, and it was a strange one. On a broken rush, DenverÂ’s Gabe Gauthier knocked the puck ahead to retain possession and wound up wide of the goal on the left and too deep to shoot. He jammed a hard pass toward the crease, and got it to squeeze through Parise, but it hit the skate of Sioux defenseman Matt Smaby and the ricochet stopped in the crease, where Jeff Drummond had a 2-foot gimme.

The Fighting Sioux killed a penalty, and got the 1-1 equalizer on a power play of their own at 9:52, when Nick Fuher moved from the left point toward center and fired a shot that Travis Zajac deflected past Mannino.

The goalies both got revenge before the first period ended, however. Kevin Ulanski got the puck and broke free behind the defense on the right side and rushed the net, with winger Jeff Drummond making it a 2-on-0. Ulanski carried right to the crease and fired, but Parise robbed him.

North Dakota, which outshot the Pioneers 10-7 in the opening period, had two good chances in close order. Mannino went down for a big save, but the rebound went to the right of the net, where sophomore Erik Fabian – who had scored the first two goals in the 4-2 semifinal victory over Minnesota – snapped it high for the short side, but Mannino’s glove snaked up and got it. Moments later, Rory McMahon passed toward the net, and Ulanski took down Colby Genoway, who was breaking to the net for a deflection try, and the two slid past the goal as Mannino went down and blocked the puck.

Denver killed off two penalties to open the second period, then the Pioneers gained a 2-1 edge on their first power play midway through the second period when UlanskiÂ’s screened shot from inside the right point was deflected past Parise by Stastny.

“I went to the net, and a one-timer by Ulie went off me and in,” said Stastny. “Where did it hit me? In the…ah…butt.”

The 2-1 lead held until Stastny had a goal that SHOULD make it into his personal highlight film, as well as into the rapidly expanding file by sophomore defenseman Matt Carle, who rushed into the North Dakota zone, stickhandling around and through much of the Sioux defense on the left side, before delivering an amazing pass across the slot. Stastny drilled a quick shot into the short side.

“Mattie danced three guys, and threw it right on the tape to me,” said Stastny. It was such a great rush and pass that the Pioneers immediately went to Carle to celebrate, Stastny included.

Mannino was asked about any problem with nerves, as a freshman facing such a big challenge as the national championship game. “It’s not nerves, it’s excitement,” said Mannino. “You dream about this your whole lilfe.”

North Dakota defenseman Matt Greene said: “From the bench a couple of times he’d go down and we thought the puck was in. Then he’d get up, and the puck would be underneath him. Then they shoot a puck and it hits a knee, then the crossbar, and goes in.”

Mannino had so many close encounters in the game it was difficult to pick the best, but the most pivotal might have been the shot by Fabian from just to the right of the crease, because it was still a 1-1 game in the first period. Mannino, down, snatched it with his glove, but the catching motion caused at least part of his glove to cross the goal line, and the officials reviewed the play with video monitors in the press box.

“I just made a quick reaction,” said Mannino. “I went up and grabbed it. I didn’t think it was in, but I thought it should have been reviewed.”

The ruling was no goal. And the Fighting Sioux shouldnÂ’t have been surprised, because by then, nothing else was going to get past Mannino either.

Subaru B9 Tribeca is anything but ‘benign’ for 2006

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. – Subaru may be establishing its own personal time-warp with the introduction of the B9 Tribeca, which is the largest SUV-type vehicle ever built by the company and is intended to parlay the historic aircraft tradition of Fuji Heavy Industries and the weirdly contracted name of a New York borough, and come out with its vehicle of the future.

Subaru has declared that the Tribeca will be the companyÂ’s flagship, retaining all the virtues that have made Subaru popular and adding to its reputation as a leader in all-wheel-drive vehicle production. After the Legacy, Outback, Impreza, and new WRX STi compact hot-rod, thatÂ’s saying something.

The name itself certainly draws attention. Tribeca comes from the New York City region so named as a compressed abbreviation from being “triangular” in shape and located “below” the “canal.” As for the B9 part of the name, it remains to be seen how prominent it will be, because at least a couple of journalists at the world introduction of the vehicle in San Francisco urged company officials of the needless risk of naming a bold new vehicle as the alpha-numeric equivalent of “benign.”

Despite being introduced at the Detroit auto show in early January, and because the Tribeca wonÂ’t be in showrooms until early summer, the media was asked to hold all driving impressions until June 1. So we will pretend we havenÂ’t driven the Tribeca yet, but the vehicle itself commands scrutiny anyway.

First, its looks. Subaru always had designed and built tough little all-wheel-drive vehicles that were a little on the eccentric side, until the 2005 Legacy and Outback – which are smoothly designed and very impressive, as well as being not eccentric. The Tribeca represents something of a return to eccentric, from a styling point at least. Unusual for certain, a little bizarre maybe – but definitely not benign.

From the side, the Tribeca looks a lot like the Acura MDX, or the Lexus RX330, or a little like the BMW X5. ThereÂ’s a good reason for that, because those are the three primary vehicles Subaru used as target benchmarks for design.

From the rear, the Tribeca retains that similarity, although its taillights are quite a bit higher, running along a beltline that circles the car and also is quite high, giving the vehicle a taller appearance than it needs. That, too, is by design. Tom Ishitobi, one of the design engineers on the project, said: “We got a lot of criticism that the Forester looked too low, so we moved the taillights and the beltline up higher on the Tribeca.”

It is from the front, though, that the Tribeca is most unusual. Looking straight on, there is a tall, slightly oval center grille, flanked by long, horizontal openings on either side. A few observers were sure that was to copy Alfa RomeoÂ’s corporate grille from sports cars long past, but thatÂ’s not true. The reality is that the front-end look is designed to resemble the fuselage and wings of an airplane coming at you, to reflect the aircraft heritage of Fuji Heavy Industries, SubaruÂ’s parent company.

A little investigation unearthed the facts that Fuji started building aircraft in the 1920s as Nakajina Aircraft company, located in Ota City, Gunma-Ken, Japan. The administration building at that facility is shaped like a capital “T” with a serif on the bottom, resembling the design of an airplane when viewed from above. Fuji still builds aircraft in that facility, including helicopters, a jet trainer, and smaller private planes. Fuji also contributes design and engineering to specific elements of Boeing’s 767 and 777 jets.

At any rate, the front view is a stylized view of some of the early aircraft, and it makes a memorable impression to any observer.

Andreas Zapatinas came on board as chief designer of the Tribeca, but that was after the exterior was already designed, so his contribution is mainly to the interior. And the interior is stunning, mostly resembling the very impressive curves and cockpit-style layout of the Infiniti M45 in the way it curves around the instruments to the center stack, then back up on the passenger side.

Inside, the Tribeca is the first Subaru that can carry seven occupants, although it can be bought without the two-seat third bench. The split second row and the third row can all fold flat for stowage, as can the right front bucket for hauling extremely long objects.

Personally, I question SubaruÂ’s history as an SUV maker. True, Subaru wagons preceded the trend toward all-wheel-drive family trucksters, but theyÂ’ve always been flexible, utilitarian all-wheel-drive vehicles and wagons. When the SUV craze took over its dominant role, Subaru understandably tried to buy into it, but to me, they were never considered SUVs.

Subaru claims the Tribeca is a “crossover SUV,” but I question that, also, because to cross over, a company generally combines a truck-like SUV with a sedan or wagon, coming up with a compromise, which is so popular these days. Subaru didn’t have a larger SUV to use for the top end of the crossover, so the Tribeca, instead, comes closest to being a full-fledged midsize SUV.

It is based on an enlarged platform from the Legacy and Outback, longer in wheelbase, length and wider in track, and its body structure is strengthened for a 22-percent improvement in torsional rigidity and 55-percent increase in bending stiffness compared to the Legacy/Outback.

Ground clearance is 8.4 inches – greater than the Explorer, for example – and an new suspension system has a strut-style front and double-wishbone rear.

The engine is a 250-horsepower derivative of the six-cylinder flat-opposed “boxer” engine from the WRX STi, peaking at 6,600 RPMs, and torque is 219 foot-pounds at a 4,200-RPM peak. A five-speed automatic is the only transmission, and the symmetric all-wheel-drive system divides 45 percent of power to the front and 55 percent to the rear, adjusting to driving conditions from there.

Vehicle Dynamics Control controls Variable Torque Distribution, and an all-speed, all-wheel electronic traction-control system is all standard on every Tribeca.

Safety technology includes front seat side airbags and a curtain side bag system for the front seats, and four-wheel disc brakes with antilock and electronic brake force distribution also are standard.

The Tribeca, which originally was intended for U.S. distribution only but now will go worldwide, will be built in SubaruÂ’s plant in Lafayette, Ind. Prices start at $30,695, ranging up to $37,695 for the top-line, seven-passenger with rear DVD entertainment, navigation system, and all the trimmings.

(John Gilbert writes weekly reviews and can be reached at cars@jwgilbert.com.)

Fighting Sioux ‘soldier’ past Gophers 4-2 in NCAA semis

COLUMBUS, OHIO – North Dakota spent the whole season trying to figure out how to score goals and now that they’ve solved that problem they won’t stop playing. The Fighting Sioux beat Minnesota 4-2 Thursday night in the second semifinal of the NCAA Frozen Four, and now get to play in the last college hockey game of the season – against Denver for the NCAA championship on Saturday night.

Minnesota coach Don Lucia, whose team finished 28-15-1, summed the semifinals up best. “The best teams usually win at this time of year,” he said. “North Dakota was the best tonight, and they deserve to march on. The two teams playing the best are going to play Saturday night and they both deserve to be there.”

As for the Fighting Sioux, Lucia added: “You’ve got to have skill guys, but you also have to have soldiers, and right now, their soldiers are playing extremely well.”

The prime soldier who added another solution to the forgotten goal-scoring problem came in the 6-foot-2, 210-pound frame of Erik Fabian, a sophomore fourth-line left winger from Roseau, Minn., who had scored one goal in the entire regular season. He now has scored four post-season goals after getting the first two goals against Minnesota – one in the first and one in the second periods.

Freshman center Travis Zajac took over next, with a power play goal in the first minute of the third period and a shorthanded goal at 5:00 to give North Dakota a 4-0 cushion. The way Jordan Parise was tending goal, that looked more than comfortable, but the 17,094 fans saw the game tighten when Mike Howe scored on a two-man power play at 6:17 of the final period, and Gino Guyer scored before the second penalty expired at 7:40.

“We got ahead 4-0, but you know it’s not going to be that easy,” said Sioux coach Dave Hakstol. “Not against a team like Minnesota. They played hard to come back and make it a two-goal hockey game. But from that point, I thought we settled down and played with an awful lot of poise to close out the game against a very good Minnesota team.”

The Fighting Sioux (25-14-5) have lost three times in three games against defending NCAA champion Denver, but they can take heart that the last one was a 2-1 overtime thriller in the WCHA Final Five semifinal game. That was the only time in eight playoff games that North Dakota failed to score at least three goals, and one day later, the Sioux beat Minnesota by an identical 4-2 count for third place.

Hakstol and the Fighting Sioux players insist they knew this team had the qualities needed to make the run to the NCAA title game, but they disguised it well, masquerading as a team that couldn’t score all season. At the end of the regular season, the fifth-place Sioux had scored an average of 2.7 goals in 36 games overall, while giving up 2.36; in league play, the Sioux scored only an average of 2.53 goals in 28 games, while giving up 2.39. By stark contrast, in eight league and NCAA playoff games, North Dakota has scored 36 goals – an average of 4.5 per game – and given up only 14 goals – an average of 1.75.

Those are championship statistics, and prove that the anyone-can-score offense and Parise’s goaltending have suddenly risen to the level of the always-rugged job done by North Dakota’s large and hostile defense. “What made us successful is that everyone stuck with it and chipped in,” said Hakstol. “Virtually a different guy or different line comes through each night. Our fourth line hasn’t always been together because we had to fill in for some injuries, but they’ve been together constantly for the last five weeks, and they’ve been a catalyst for us the last two months.”

Parise, who made 26 saves and defused an always-dangerous Minnesota attack on its first six power-play chances, before they broke through on the last two, said: “We had plenty of doubts during the season, but we just persevered, and we all got on the same page.”

Fabian explained that his line’s motivation for the game came in a little pre-game visit from Hakstol. “Coach Hakstol took Brian Canady, James Massen and myself aside this morning and said, ‘We need you guys to come up big for us,’ “ Fabian said. “I took that to heart.”

The first period started with both teams rotating through their forward lines, and on the first shift for North DakotaÂ’s fourth line, Fabian forechecked deep on the left side of the net, flushing Minnesota captain and senior defenseman Judd Stevens out on the right side, the swiping the puck from behind and whirling to score on a 15-footer all in one motion.

“I don’t think Stevens knew I was behind him,” said Fabian. “I was actually surprised when I did go for his stick that it came up so easy. When I got the puck on my stick, I looked over and saw that Briggs wasn’t quite ready, so I figured I’d just fire one, and it went in.”

It stayed 1-0 in the second period, as Parise made a couple of huge saves, and midway through the period, Fabian struck again, pouncing on the puck at the end boards, and plowing out on the right side into heavy traffic to score at the right post.

“On the second one, I was actually surprised because my back was to the net, and when I looked, nobody was on me, so I walked it out front and threw it up high.”

North Dakota outshot Minnesota 32-28 for the game, but the Golden Gophers had a 13-7 edge in the middle period, but hurt themselves when Barry Tallackson and Danny Irmen took successive penalties on hard hits from behind in the last two minutes of the session. That put the Sioux on the power play to open the third period, and Zajac scored with a rebound from the slot at 0:45 for a 3-0 bulge.

Canady was given a double minor, for hooking and roughing, at 3:09, which could have been the antidote to the comfortable lead. Instead, sophomore Drew Stafford made a strong penalty-killing rush up the right side, kept possession behind the net, and fed out to the slot, where Zajac drilled a low shorthanded goal through the knees of the falling Briggs at 5:00.

In the next minute, Mike Prpich joined teammate Canady in the penalty box, and on the two-man edge, Howe ruined PariseÂ’s shutout with a screened 15-footer from the slot at 6:17. The Gophers were still on the extended power play when Guyer corralled the puck in the left circle and scored at 7:40, giving the Gophers new life at 4-2.

“Our captains (Matt Greene and assistants Matt Jones, Rory McMahon, and Andy Schneider) did a great job settling things down, not only on the bench but on the ice,” said Hakstol.

And the Fighting Sioux fought on to gain a berth in the 20th all-WCHA national championship game.

Denver rips CC Tigers 6-2 in Frozen Four PP shootout

COLUMBUS, OHIO — After Denver and Colorado College had tied for the WCHA season championship, split four games with each other, and played a scintillating 1-0 game won by Denver for the league playoff crown, a tight, tense battle was anticipated for ThursdayÂ’s first NCAA Frozen Four semifinal. But Denver had other ideas.

The defending champion Pioneers connected on six of 12 power-play opportunies for all their goals and stunned Colorado College 6-2 before 17,116 paid attendance at Value City Arena in Schottenstein Center on the Ohio State campus. It will be the ninth time Denver has reached the NCAA title game, and the Pioneers are 6-2 in those matches, most recently one year ago.

Luke Fulghum scored a pair of first-period goals to stake the Pioneers to a 2-0 lead and establish a cadence of two goals in each period for Denver. Gabe Gauthier scored two later goals to build a 5-1 lead and finish off whatever drama remained. Defenseman Matt Carle had a goal and two assists, and Adrian Veideman finished the scoring with one last power-play goal in the final minute. Defenseman Brett Skinner added three assists for Denver.

Colorado College got a second-period goal from Brian Salcido and a third-period goal from James Brannigan, also both on power plays. But if it was a power-play duel, DenverÂ’s 6-for-12 clearly overmatched CCÂ’s 2-for-8.

Denver will take a 31-9-2 record into SaturdayÂ’s championship game against another WCHA opponent, because Minnesota and North Dakota met in Thursday nightÂ’s second semifinal.

Colorado College ends its season at 31-9-3, and could take little satisfaction from the fact that, at even strength, the game was a scoreless standoff, and that the Tigers outshot Denver 43-29. But Denver coach George Gwozdecky switched his pattern and went with freshman goaltender Peter Mannino, who usually plays the second game of each weekend with sophomore Glenn Fisher getting the first game. Mannino responded with a brilliant performance, stopping repeated close-in chances by the Tigers, whose even-strength edge in rushes and chances was rendered moot.

“Peter Mannino was terrific in goal,” said Gwozdecky. “He was one of our top stars, if not our best player in the game. I made the decision to go with Peter strictly based on today’s game. Peter has had more success against this opponent. Parts of our game, we did a good job – especially on the power play – but in other areas, it wasn’t our best. No disrespect to out opponent; they played hard, generated countless scoring chances, and Peter was outstanding.

“One thing we were able to do was get the shooting lanes open on the power play. It was a game when our power play was very effective. It’s rare when there are that many goals scored in a game, and none are at even strength. But a couple of good bounces went our way.”

Gwozdecky said he hasn’t decided about Saturday’s goaltender. Mannino said he has a close friendship with Fisher. “This was a good call tonight, but , me and Glenn have become good friends,” said Mannino. “We’ve played every other game all year. I’ve never played two games back to back all year.”

Mannino even got an assist on the game’s final goal, for good measure. That might have been the last indignity for the Tigers, whose goaltender had been the WCHA’s best all season. “I feel bad for Curtis,” said CC coach Scott Owens. “He’s been the guy who’s carried us so often this season, but he got hung out to dry a little today.”
CC, one of the least-penalized teams in the WCHA and the country, was nailed 14 times for penalties by CCHA referee Matt Shegos, who called the game tightly, and also issued 10 penalties to the Pioneers.

“I thought we moved, skated pretty well, and got to the net better than in our previous two games against them,” said Owens. “But we shot ourselves in the foot with some of the penalties, and we could never quite make the big play happen to get going. It’s tough when you have to kill off 12 penalties, and you’re one of the least-penalized teams in the country.

“We had killed 22 of the last 23 penalties against them, but the roof fell in today. Some things were called a little different than what we were used to, and we were a little dumb some of the time. I thought we got frustrated, and lost our composure a little bit for a while there.”

The game started like a typically tight chess-match between the two storied rivals. But Fulghum rushed in and beat defenseman Lee Sweatt, deking outside and cutting inside to come in alone and score on McElhinney. If that was a dazzling rush, his second goal, 1:32 later, was one of the good bounces coach Gwozdecky was talking about.

“I got a pass from Matt Carle and was able to get past their defenseman,” said Fulghum. “Then I scored five-hole on McElhinney.I was lucky on the second one, because Brett Skinner got off a great shot on net from the blue line, that probably would have gone in on its own, but it hit off my behind and went in.”

CarleÂ’s power-play goal from center point made it 3-0 at 6:05 of the second period, but CC rekindled memories of rallying from a similar 3-0 deficit against Michigan in a 4-3 Midwest Region final victory when SalcidoÂ’s shot from the blueline glanced in to spoil ManninoÂ’s shutout midway through the second period.

That 3-1 count was as close as CC could get, however, as Gauthier scored from the right circle on a 4-on-3 power play 10 seconds before the second period ended. The Pioneers had a two-man advantage when Gauthier deflected Jeff DrummondÂ’s pass to the goal-mouth from deep on the right at 5:42 of the third period, making it 5-1.

“Their older defensemen played so confidently and moved the puck so quickly,” said Owens. “It’s a great-shooting team, and they changed the shooting angles and got the puck through from the blue line. It was a credit to Denver.”

The Tigers continued to skate and generate opportunities, but Mannino – who had shut out CC in both the final regular-season game to gain a share of the league title and in the Final Five championship match — remained solid. The Pioneer defense also continued to squelch CCÂ’s league-best scoring tandem of Marty Sertich and Brett Sterling, but Brannigan finally connected for a Tiger goal when he spun and scored with a rebound at 13:02 of the third.

“Going into the game, I knew Peter had our backs covered,” said Gauthier. “He has so much poise and confidence, he doesn’t play like a freshman. And he gives us great confidence offensively and defensively.”

VeidemanÂ’s closing goal was on a 2-on-1, when he carried in on the left, faked a shot, then shot, and beat McElhinney.
“We came for two games, and we’re very disappointed,” said CC defenseman Mark Stuart. “It was fun, and a great experience coming to the Frozen Four, but it’s definitely too short.”

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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.
  
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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.