Even upturn for Gophers has a downside as well
E-mail messages, Tweets and Twitters were buzzing. Nobody wanted to say anything too loudly, and University of Minnesota hockey coach Don Lucia wasn’t hitting any panic button, but after they had started 0-3-1, everyone was wondering: “What’s wrong with the Gophers?”
The biggest part of the problem was North Dakota and Denver, the teams rated the top two in the WCHA this season, and the teams Minnesota just happened to open against. An opening loss followed by a tie at Grand Forks wasn’t too bad, but then the Gophers came home to Mariucci Arena to face Denver, and the Pioneers posted a pair of stinging 3-0 shutouts on Minnesota, leaving the Golden Gophers 0-3-1, with all three losses by shutout.
The most stalwart Gopher boosters were overlooking the power of those first two opponents, but the Gophers themselves might have been looking ahead more than behind. Alaska-Anchorage came to Mariucci Arena, and while the Seawolves played well enough, the Gophers rallied from a 1-0 deficit to claim a 5-1 victory.
However, even when there was good news it wasn’t all good news. In the first Anchorage game, Minnesota freshman Nick Leddy, a No. 1 draft choice of the Minnesota Wild, was caught after shooting from center ice, and the shoulder-to-chin contact point of the bodycheck broke Leddy’s jaw. He should be back by mid-December.
The Gophers kept it together for a 3-1 Sunday victory and a much-needed sweep, but again the good news was offset by more bad news.
On the Tuesday after that series, Gopher senior winger Jay Barriball collided during a drill and suffered a knee injury that will require surgery on Friday — the day when the Gophers take the Kohl Center ice in Madison to face Wisconsin. Barriball, who scored his 100th career point against Anchorage, will yield his first-line positon and miss the rest of the season. He has been granted a medical red-shirt and could return to play next year.
Lucia has seen it all before, and knows that suffering over the past can’t help preparing for the future, and preparing to face the Badgers in Madison is always a compelling task.
“We have a lot of good players, and we have to have some of them step forward,” said Lucia. “I think we will. We opened 0-3-1, but look who we played. We have some nonconference commitments to play on Thanksgiving weekend and at Christmas time, so we couldn’t schedule any nonconference opponent before we went up to North Dakota. We didn’t play well in the first game up there, but we came back and got a tie the next night.
“Against Denver, our scoring chances against them were pretty even, but Denver played really well and Cheverie was very good. Our problem was that we didn’t score on the power play, and in this league, when teams average 2 or fewer even-strength goals a game, you have to get goals on your power play to win.
“The biggest thing is that we’ve made progress each week, but it hadn’t transferred to the games.”
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Although they have impressive manpower throughout the lineup, there have been a couple of focal points for the Gophers this season. One is junior goaltender Alex Kangas, while the scoring would have to come from Jordan Schroeder, a sophomore who became the team’s go-to gunner as a freshman last season, and Barriball, who is by far the top scorer in the Gopher program. After reaching 100 points on 38 goals and 62 assists, Barriball stands far ahead of the No. 2 career scorer on the roster, captain and coach’s son Tony Lucia, who has 26-33–59.
With Barriball out, the focus more clearly is on Schroeder, who was the preseason choice to be player of the year, but who started off slowly, much like his team. Last year, Schroeder centered Ryan Stoa and scored 13-32–45 for his rookie year.
“Let’s not lose sight of the fact that Jordan Schroeder just turned 19,” said Don Lucia. “Ryan Stoa was a heck of a complement for him last year, and we know Jordan is the kind of player who likes to pass. We just have to find people to put with him who can score goals. Jordan got four assists last weekend, so we think he’s ready to go.”
In goal, Kangas was solid last season, but maybe a cut short of the exceptional level he had shown a year earlier, as a freshman. Despite the shaky 2-3-1 record, the coach says the goalie has played well, even when he alternated with sophomore Kent Patterson a couple weekends.
“Kangas has been terrific so far,” said Lucia, saying he played well enough last Friday to earn the Sunday start as well.
The question is, can the Gophers keep their momentum going and move up among the league leaders?
“All I know now is we lead the league in knee injuries,” Lucia said.
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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