Rumpel, Badgers top top-seeded Huskies
By John Gilbert
SAINT PAUL, MINN. — Wisconsin hockey coach Mike Eaves wasn’t ready to say that his Badgers are riding a wave of good karma after they knocked off top-seeded St. Cloud State 4-1 in Friday in the first semifinal of the Red Baron WCHA Final Five tournament.
But it’s as good an explanation as any. The Badgers (21-12-7) had sidetracked Minnesota State-Mankato in a 7-2 shocker in Thursday’s quarterfinals, while St. Cloud State, as league champion, had a bye into the semifinals. The Huskies outshot Wisconsin 31-21, but goaltender Joel Rumpel was more than just solid, with 30 saves in a performance that defused the Huskies offense. The Badgers now face upstart Colorado College, which upset No. 2 seed Minnesota in Friday’s second semifinal.
Wisconsin goalile Joel Rumpel blocked a shot by St Cloud's Drew LeBlanc.
“I don’t know how you feel about karma,” said Eaves, “but all I know is at the start of the season, we didn’t have much of it.”
St. Cloud State coach Bob Motzko was more pragmatic in his assessment of the Badgers. “They’re pretty banged up, with some of their top players hurting, but as the game went on, they got stronger,” said Motzko. “They’re just dialed in right now. I don’t think we played poorly; they were wearing down in the second period, I felt, but in a game like that, a couple little mistakes can hurt you.”
The Badgers started the season 1-7-3, have gone 19-5-4 since then, on a defensively focused roll that has created more offensive possessions, and carries them into Saturday’s 7 p.m. playoff championship game against the winner of Friday night’s Minnesota-Colorado College game. But the Badgers now are playing with confidence at the offensive end of the rink, too.
But at Xcel Energy Center, there also have been a momentum-generating run of good luck. Against Mankato, the Badgers got a major penalty and scored short-handed, and when Mankato got a major penalty, the Badgers scored on the power play. That sort of thing continued Friday, as a controversial call that could have given St. Cloud State a 2-1 lead instead went Wisconsin’s way. From that point on, the Badgers broke the 1-1 tie on John Ramage’s power-play blast in the second period, and prevented any ideas of a Huskies comeback when Nic Kerdiles and Tyler Barnes added third-period goals — Kerdiles on a power play and Barnes into an empty net at the end.
Badger goaltender Joel Rumpel blocked Drew LeBlanc's attempt in the 4-1 victory over No. 1 seeded St. Cloud State.
Being rested and ready is no guarantee at Final Five time, and the Badgers continued riding the positive vibes against St. Cloud State. After killing an early penalty, the Badgers took a 1-0 lead on a startling play when Joseph LaBate carried across the Huskies blue line and surprised goaltender Ryan Faragher with a 50-foot missile just past a screening defenseman. The shot caught the lower right and Wisconsin led 1-0 at 10:46.
The goal seemed to awaken the Huskies, who responded with a power play goal four minutes later. Nic Dowd, who seemed to be involved in almost all the big plays all game, rushed up the left and passed to the slot. His pass skimmed just past Jonny Brodzinski, which may have decoyed goalie Joel Rumpel, because it got through to Ben Hanowksi, whose quick, low blast went right in.
That set the stage for the biggest controversy of the tournament. St. Cloud State appeared to be on the verge of taking a 2-1 lead when Jimmy Murray carried up the right side of a 2-on-1 and shot. Rumpel made the save, but the the rebounding puck in the slot. Dowd, one of the Huskies top guns, pounced on the loose puck and shot from 10 feet, toward the middle of the open net. Rumpel, scrambling to cover, pivoted to his right but had no chance to get in the way, so he let his big goal stick slip from his grasp, diagonally back toward the far post.
By a remarkable bit of “puck luck,” Dowd’s shot hit the handle of the perfect trajectory of the sliding stick — just enough to deflect the puck wide to the left by about a half inch. Dowd, who started to raise his arms to celebrate the obvious goal, instead grasped his helmet in disbelief.
Huskies coach Bob Motzko, seeing the replay on the big video screen, had a long discussion with the officials, who finally agreed to consult with the video review staff upstairs. The rule book says when any defensive player throws their stick to deflect a puck that is obviously going into the net, it shall be ruled a goal. In this case, incredibly, the decision was “no goal,” with the explanation that a St. Cloud State player had knocked Rumpel’s stick from his grasp. Repeated video views indicated that the goaltender was not touched as he pivoted to his right, coincidentally holding his stick firmly until the perfect time to slide it into the path of the rebound shot.
In the post-game press conference, Rumpel put it in perfect perspective. “It was a weird play,” he said. “I made the first save, then I kind of dove, and knocked it out. The puck hit the knob of my stick.”
Are you saying a St. Cloud player knocked the stick out of your hand?
“No, no player hit my stick,” Rumpel said. “The puck hit my stick and went wide.”
At that point, a 2-1 St. Cloud State lead would have been an enormous lift for the Huskies, and an enormous hit on the Badgers karma. But disallowing it reversed both those possibilities.
“It could have been the turning point in the game, no question about it,” said Eaves.
The teams traded later power plays in the first period, but it stayed 1-1 until the second. Taylor Johnson went off for hooking, and Ramage bombed a pass from Nic Kerdiles in for his power-play goal at 2:08 for what would prove to be the game-winning goal.
“I saw Nic going down the wall so I moved in,” said Ramage, Wisconsin’s only senior defenseman. “Nic made an unbelievable pass to me and I don’t know if my shot hit something or not.”
It did appear to glance off something on the way, but for sure it hit the net.
St. Cloud State increased its shot frequency with a 15-5 edge in the second period, but Rumpel was outstanding. “St. Cloud State had the tempo and pace early,” said Eaves, “but Joel stopped some good scoring opportunities and gaves us a chance to get our legs underneath us.”
Kerdiles and Ramage swapped roles in the third period, after Tim Daly was given a 5-minute checking from behind penalty and game misconduct, just when it appeared the Huskies momentum might find the equalizer. Instead, at 10:29, just 13 seconds into the major penalty, Ramage cut loose from center point and Kerdiles deflected it past goaltender Ryan Faragher for a 3-1 cushion.
“We thought we were in good position,” said Hanowski. “It was 2-1, then we got that major, and they came out and scored right away to make it 3-1. That was pretty deflating.”
Motzko pulled Faragher with a minute and a half to go, but Barnes hit the empty net with 1:11 left for the 4-1 cushion. The game was essentially over, but not the karma. Ryan Little of the Badgers was penalized 5 minutes for checking from behind and a game misconduct. When the Huskies got a major, the Badger power play put the game away; when the Badgers got a major, only 50 seconds remained and it was anti-climactic.
Talk about dialed in.
Upstart CC stuns North Dakota 4-3 in OT
By John Gilbert
SAINT PAUL, MINN. — Peter Stoykewych fired a screened shot from the right point at 4:52 of sudden-death overtime to give Colorado College a stunning 4-3 victory over North Dakota in the second quarterfinal game of the Red Baron WCHA Final Five, sending the tenacious Tigers into Friday’s second semifinal against Minnesota.
Stoykewych got the puck when Jeff Collett won a right-corner faceoff and passed back. Because he’s a left-handed defenseman playing the right point, Stoykewych had to shift for a shooting angle, creating a screen of bodies at the net. His shot appeared to glance off a defenseman to elude goaltender Clarke Saunders.
Alex Krushelnyski's short-handed breakaway goal puffed the netting behind North Dakota goalie Clarke Saunders to lift CC to a 2-2 tie.
The Tigers, who lost the first playoff game at Denver before rallying to win the next two and gain the Final Five after an eighth-place finish in the WCHA, have now clawed their way to within one game of the .500 mark at 17-18-5. The loss ended North Dakota’s bid to win its fourth consecutive Final Five, assuring a new champion in the final Final Five under the WCHA’s current structure.
To survive, CC used Joe Howe’s often spectacular goaltending through the first two periods, when they were dominated by North Dakota (21-12-7). But Colorado College’s outright tenacity was equally important. Outshot 11-4 in the first period despite having three power plays, CC got the first goal of the game from senior center Rylan Schwartz. But the Tigers had to rally from a 2-1 deficit in the second period, with Schwartz setting up a breakaway goal by Alex Krushelnyski, before gaining a 3-2 lead on a Hunter Fejes goal to open the third.
Drake Caggiula’s second goal of the game gained the 3-3 deadlock for North Dakota at 12:45 of the final period, but by then, the Tigers had caught up to North Dakota’s rapid tempo and was battling UND on even terms.
North Dakota came storming out at a near-frantic pace to open the game, but the exuberance came at a price, when Caggiula was called for an over-aggressive charge that flattened a Tiger skater at 2:17.
Colorado College capitalized at 3:06, when Cody Bradley got loose in front, carried across the slot right to left, and attempted to make a blind pass backwards to Schwartz. The pass hit a sliding North Dakota defenseman and the ricochet went toward the crease, behind goaltender Saunders, and Schwartz had an easy tap in.
Caggiula’s spirits took a distinct turn upward later in the first period, though, when Carter Rowney forechecked the puck free and fed Rocco Grimaldi, who headed toward the net from the right circle, then passed across the slot to Caggiula, whose quick shot beat Joe Howe in goal for a 1-1 tie.
The team formerly called Fighting Sioux but now nicknameless ended the first period strong. After killing off successive penalties that overlapped for a 57-second two-man CC power play, North Dakota struck fort what appeared to be a pivotal goal when Danny Kristo curled out to the left faceoff circle and fired a bull’s-eye past Howe with 9.1 seconds showing, for a 2-1 lead.
CC was penalized for too many men on the ice at 7:42 of the second, but turned the game around with Krushelnyski’s huge goal at 7:54. Schwartz made the penalty-kill sing when he sent a perfect breakaway pass to Krushelnyski, who sailed in all alone and snapped his shot into the right edge to tie the game 2-2.
Jared Hanson (24) and Jeff Collett (21) celebrated when Peter Stoykewych's shot from the right point foiund its way into the North Dakota goal in overtime.
It stayed that way until the third period, and then the opportunistic Tigers claimed a 3-2 lead at 3:42, when Hunter Fejes carried up the right side, crossed the blue line and pulled the puck abruptly to his left, firing past a screening defenseman to beat Saunders from 50 feet.
North Dakota, racking up a lot of shots, found Howe basically impenetrable through the second period and much of the third, but with 7:15 remaining and the hopes of the green-clad fans dominating the cavernous seating section fading with each minute, Caggiula rushed across the blue line and dropped a pass off to his right to Colten St. Clair, then broke up the middle to convert St. Clair’s deft return pass, with Howe having no chance of covering.
That sent the game speeding into its final minutes, with overtime looming as a distinct possibility. Both teams exchanged spirited rushes, with CC doubling its shot tally for the game in the third period, but Howe and Saunders continued to come up with the right answers.
In the overtime, CC got three shots while North Dakota failed to register any, leaving UND with a 32-23 edge, but one goal short.
Badgers quick start stuns MSU-Mankato 7-2
By John Gilbert
SAINT PAUL, MINN. — A pair of short-handed goals by Jefferson Dahl helped stake Wisconsin to a 4-0 lead and the Badgers skated past Minnesota State-Mankato 7-2 in the first of Thursday’s quarterfinals at Xcel Energy Center. The victory gives the Badgers a spot against top-seeded St. Cloud State in Friday’s 2 p.m. semifinal of the WCHA Red Baron Final Five tournament.
The Badgers (20-12-7) who finished tied with Mankato and Denver for fourth in league play, ranked 10th in league scoring, but gave little respect to all-conference goaltender Stephon Williams with an uncharacteristic opening outburst — three goals in the first 8:11. Then they withstood the Mavericks constant attempts to get back in the game, and kept adding goals even while being outshot 40-27.
Asked if the Badgers had scored seven goals in a game before, coach Mike Eaves said: “No. God, no! I don’t know how to coach when we’re ahead.”
Tyler Barnes opened the game with the first of his two goals, picking the puck off the side boards and racing in on a breakaway, and shooting into the upper right corner of the net at 1:03.
Wisconsin's Tyler Barnes sprawled after scoring his second goal and running over Mankato goaltender Stephon Williams, making it 5-2 and knocking Williams out of the game.
”Obviously, it was not the start we wanted,” said first-year Mankato coach Mike Hastings. “We wanted to get at least to the second minute. But credit Wisconsin. I don’t think we reacted too well, but our guys continued to battle. Give Wisconsin credit for taking advantage when we gave them the openings.”
Four minutes after the opening goal, Wisconsin’s Joseph LaBate drew the first penalty of the day, and Dahl scored the first short-handed goal of the day. Ryan Little chipped the puck up the right boards and Dahl gathered it in and sped up the right. When he was unable to turn the corner on the Maverick defenseman, Dahl shot from deep on the right side and beat Williams from nearly an impossible angle at 6:11.
“I didn’t really see any opening,” Dahl said. “I knew I had a step on the defenseman, so I just threw it on net.”
Exactly two minutes after that, Nic Kerdiles scored after a dizzying passing sequence. Barnes, wide on the left, passed to Rob Ramage, who relayed the puck to Mark Zengerle, and his quick feed to Kerdiles in the right circle was met with a one-timer that hit Williams but trickled through for the 3-0 start at 8:11.
“We could have done a better job not letting their guys come in wide open,” said Matt Leitner, defending the goaltender who has bailed out the Mavericks so often this season. “We left him on an island out there.”
Wisconsin's Jefferson Dahl (14) was stopped by Mankato goalie Stephon Williams, but he scored two other short-handed goals.
The Badgers were short-handed again in the second period when Dahl got loose up the right side, but Williams made the move to stop him and his shot hit the short-side post. But moments later, Dahl carried up the right side, 2-on-1 while still on the penalty kill, and he passed back to the traling Jake McCabe in the slot. McCabe one-timed a return pass and Dahl put it away from point-blank range at 8:50 — his seventh goal of the season and fourth against the Mavericks. “The puck just seems to go in for me when we play them,” he said with a shrug.
At 9:37 of the second period, Ramage saw Teddy Blueger approaching on a rush, and when Blueger passed the puck, Ramage, at a glide, and with his stick and elbows down, crashed into him. Video replays disclosed that Blueger’s helmeted head struck Ramage about in the bicep and he went down hard. It was the kind of play that might be a penalty on the running back in next year’s NFL, but this time the officials gave Ramage a penalty then, after conferring, made it a 5-minute major for charging.
The extended power play gave MSU-Mankato the opening, and Jean-Paul LaFontaine sent a no-look behind-the-back pass from deep on the right to Zach Palmquist, who one-timed a shot over goaltender Joel Rumpel to cut Mankato’s deficit to 4-1.
Wisconsin goalie Joel Rumpel stopped MSU-Mankato captain Eriah Hayes in 7-2 Badger victory.
Wisconsin padded it to 5-1, though, on a 4-on-4 situation, when Barnes knocked the puck in on a goal-crashing rush from the right side at 12:24. Williams was injured on the play, and left the game, replaced by Phil Cook. With Ramage still in the box, Eriah Hayes notched another power-play goal to make it 5-2, but that was as close as the Mavericks could get.
Rumpel was red-hot, with 15 saves in the second period and 16 more to blank the Mavericks in the third. Meanwhile, Dahl, a junior from Eau Claire, Wis., appeared to score a hat trick with a deflection at the left pipe at 16:50 of the middle period, but the goal was disallowed, leaving him with two goals and two close misses.
Not that it mattered. Frankie Simonelli and Joseph LaBate scored goals for Wisconsin in the third period and the Badgers cruised into the semifinals.
At 24-13-3, MSU-Mankato came into the day rated No. 8 in the Pairwise calculations, which mimic the NCAA selection committee’s criteria, which should mean that while Wisconsin will undoubtedly slip ahead of them, the Mavericks also should be secure for an NCAA berth on Sunday.
BMW X1 has style, size, power; needs X-Drive, tires
BMW X1 with 2.0-liter turbo four, was quick and agile with rear-drive and Pirelli Cinturatos on dry pavement.
By John Gilbert
When I first had the chance to drive the new BMW X1, I was impressed with the looks and performance, and the diminutive size of the new smaller brother of the X5 and X3 SUVs from BMW’s ever-expanding stable.
It is more compact than most crossover SUVs, but most people don’t need the enormous size of the heftiest vehicles that brought the U.S. auto industry to near the point of capitulation. In many ways, for those who need room for only four occupants and light storage, the smaller the better, because that means better performance and far better fuel economy are attainable. The X1 fit that bill perfectly.
My first drive was last fall at the Midwest Auto Media Association fall rally, and I only drove it briefly. Impressed though I was, I was surprised to learn that the vehicle was only 2-wheel drive, with the rear wheels being the ones that drove the X1 with its front-mounted, 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine supplying plenty of punch for all-wheel drive. Driving as I do predominately in Minnesota, which has long and snowy winters as well as gorgeous summers, having a pickup or utility vehicle with rear-wheel drive should be grounds for incarceration.
I was assured the X1 does come with X-drive, BMW’s slick all-wheel-drive system. That made me eager to get one for a week-long test drive over the winter months.
Traditions generally cross past, present and future boundaries, and every March in Minnesota, a couple of those traditions run smack into each other. One of those is that when it comes time for the state high school hockey or basketball tournaments, a late-season blizzard is the norm. This year, Mother Nature celebrated both of those tournaments — and many of the days in between — with the snowiest March ever. Those heavy snowfalls, of course, afforded extra winter test-driving time.
In automotives, one tradition from the past is that conventional front-engine/rear-drive affords the most exciting and satisfying high-performance “feel” for sporty vehicles. In Minnesota, of course, it snows every once in a while, and when it snows on top of ice, treacherous road conditions can lead to all sorts of slippery, terrifying driving, and nose-heavy front-engines with light-in-the-rear, rear-wheel-drive adds more than just excitement to the mix. When front-wheel-drive vehicles took over, white-knuckle driving in icy conditions ended in Minnesota and other snow-belt states, and all-wheel-drive has taken that sense of security to another dimension.
Even with front or all wheels driving the vehicle, tires are still extremely important to any driver’s peace-of-mind in wintry driving. Most major brands make special all-season or winter tires, with the most popular being the Bridgestone Blizzaks, a softer-compound tire that grips ice, churns through fresh snow, and keeps improving its ability to work well enough on dry pavement without wearing quickly. My favorite winter tires are the Nokian WR or WR-G2, because they have uncompromising tread compound that maintains its flexibility no matter how cold, while high-performance tires tend to harden and have less traction when it’s cold.
Some manufacturers equip their press-fleet vehicles with good all-season tires during winter. Others don’t seem to be aware that there’s a difference. BMW is one of the few companies that stubbornly refuses to change from the all-out handling performance tires it sends on its vehicles, regardless of region. BMW also is one of those German companies that stubbornly held firm on rear-drive vehicles until recently. Now it sells its splendid 3-Series, 5-Series, and even 7-Series sedans with X-drive, and of course its various SUVs also have X-drive. Read more
Final Five just one of week’s attractions
By John Gilbert
Hermantown's own Drew LeBlanc leads St. Cloud State into the Final Five, after a senior year as captain, WCHA Player of the Year, top scorer, all-WCHA first team, WCHA All-Academic, and inspiration behiind the Huskies first WCHA title.
We will wait until next week, after this weekend’s WCHA Final Five, to pay tribute to the best college hockey tournament in the land. Even if you count the NCAA Frozen Four. This will be the last Final Five — the final Final Five — for the WCHA as we know it.
There are six teams in the Final Five, but only five games, which allows the league to keep the popular name. Of the six, Minnesota and Wisconsin are hoping to head for the NCAA tournament next week but then are headed for the Big Ten’s new hockey conference next year. St. Cloud State, North Dakota, and Colorado College are also hoping to win and advance to the NCAA, but for certain, they are going to the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference next fall. Only Minnesota State-Mankato among the Final Five entries will be remaining in the WCHA, which obviously will be undergoing major surgey before next season.
Next year at this time, the new NCHA — UMD, St. Cloud, North Dakota, Miami of Ohio, Western Michigan, Nebraska-Omaha, Denver and Colorado College — will play their whatever-it’ll-be-called tournament at Target Center in Minneapolis, while the Big Ten Conference — Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State — will play their tournament at Xcel Center. Both will run head-to-head on the same weekend.
And all the teams in those two leagues will not care a bit where the remaining teams that make up the WCHA will be playing their tournament. That will be a sad evolution for a league that has been the best college hockey league every year it has existed. But we can worry about that later. For now, let’s get on over to Xcel Center and enjoy the WCHA Final Five for all it’s worth, through Friday semifinals and on to Saturday night’s championship game, with Fan Fest, and all the carnival atmosphere that fans from North Dakota, Wisconsin, St. Cloud, Mankato and Minnesota can stir up.
Savor it. Remember it. Take photos with your cell phone. Because it’s going away.
What a weekend!
Pick your favorite: The WCHA Final Five at Saint Paul’s Xcel Energy Center; the state high school boys basketball tournament at Williams Arena and Target Center; the women’s NCAA Frozen Four at Ridder Arena; the surging Minnesota Wild, on the road but coming home for a Saturday matinee; and, on TV only, the University of Minnesota’s basketball team, which is off in Texas to play UCLA in the massive NCAA men’s tournament. The NCAA likes to call its over-hyped, all-consuming basketball tournament “March Madness,” but we know that the real March Madness is going on right there in River City — also known as the Twin Cities. Let’s count down the attractions, from the bottom up:
- ESPN, which will carry so many basketball games along with every other network, had an impromptu survey, nationwide, in which voters said Minnesota stood the best chance of springing an upset in the first round. Those fans undoubtedly heard of Minnesota beating Indiana, but had no idea of the totally inept shooting and ball-handling perpetrated by the Golden Gophers in virtually all games before and since that magnificent performance. If the Bruins have a couple guys who can run, jump, pass and shoot, the Gophers could be in for a quick exit. On the other hand, Minnesota is the most dangerous kind of tournament foe — a team with considerable skill that is prone to junior-high type mistakes and missed shots, but can, on occasion, get it all together for a good half. And maybe two.
- The Wild can’t play better than they did at Vancouver, in what was the final game between the two as division rivals, before sanity finally returns to the NHL and geographic realignment will put the Wild in with natural rivals like Chicago, Winnipeg, St. Louis, and other Midwestern teams. True, the infusion of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter have meant a world of difference to the Wild. But the addition of rookies like Jonas Brodin, Charlie Coyle, and Jason Zucker also has made a huge impact. Zucker and Coyle are both 21, and Brodin is only 19. Remember when the non-hockey types were claiming that Suter was playing poorly because he was getting paid a lot and didn’t score? Calmly and quietly, Suter has done his thing, playing a lot and partnering with Brodin — a key reason that Brodin appears to be remarkably error-free despite loads of ice-time as Suter’s partner. That leaves key returnees like Mikko Koivu, Dany Heatley, Devin Setoguchi, and others with room to perform without the pressure to carry the team. And Matt Cullen, former St. Cloud State and Moorhead High School star, is playing like he’s 26 instead of 36. With Niklas Backstrom hotter than a pistol in goal, and a smothering team defense that has become more than just opportunists on offense, the Wild could make a bid for season and playoff heroics.
- The Gopher women, riding a 39-0 season into the Frozen Four at their home rink Friday and Sunday, should win it. Amanda Kessel and her freshman linemates will score, but watch Megan Bozek, who is a female Paul Coffey back on defense, and Noora Raty, the record-breaking goaltender from Finland. Sure, Boston College will be a tough semifinal foe, and the winner of Mercyhurst and Boston University will provide a worthy final opponent, but when the NCAA decided to save a buck and rank North Dakota No. 8, just so UND could be seeded at Minnesota last Saturday night, it was an atrocity. Recall back on December 8-9, BU came to AMSOIL Arena and UMD played the Terriers to a 2-2 tie, outshooting BU 30-22. The next night they played a stellar 0-0 standoff, with UMD outshooting BU 39-19. Both great games, but my feeling is that North Dakota could have beaten BU, BC, or Mercyhurst, and had UND been sent off to play any of them, then UND would be in the Frozen Four. Instead, they played an amazing triple-overtime classic at Minnesota, with the Gophers winning 3-2 when Mira Jaluso got a shot and Rachel Bona scored on the rebound at 18:51. That means the teams played 118 minutes and 51 seconds, or a mere 1:09 short of playing two entire games back-to-back.
- The boys high school basketball tournament gives the Northland three hopes, although they’ve probably already played by the time you read this. We have Lakeview Christian Academy in Class A, where the more games the Lions play, the more Anders Broman will score, setting the all-time career scoring record up there far enough to perhaps never be broken. In AA, Esko got to state with a Section 7 final victory that will live within those boys all their lives. Here’s the scenario: Esko sees a 10-point lead vanish and Mora goes right past the Eskomos for a 62-60 leadm which becomes 63-60 on a free throw with 8.6 seconds left. Esko’s top gun, Casey Staniger, scored his 25th point on a free throw to cut it to 63-61, then he purposely missed the second shot, and in the melee that followed, Mora knocked the ball out of bounds with 1.1 seconds showing. Decision time. I would want Staniger in position for the last desperation shot, but he is the best passer, and he was sent to pass the ball in to Kory Deadrick inside to try to tie the game. But Deadrick’s path was blocked. With 1.1 seconds to go, Staniger passed to the open kid, ninth-grader Jaxon Turner, who had-not-taken-a-single-shot all game! Staniger, at the top of the key, turned and fired, and the ball went in at the buzzer — a 3-pointer that gave Esko a 64-63 victory. Even the script of Hoosiers couldn’t top that one. The third Northland hope is Grand Rapids, in AAA. The Thunderhawks are hitting on all cylinders, and have a shot to do some serious damage at state.
- The Final Five gives Northland fans one major player to focus on — Drew LeBlanc of Hermantown, the captain and redshirt senior leader of the St. Cloud State Huskies. They’ll be in the 2 p.m. semifinal on Friday, having won their first WCHA season title in their last season in the league. LeBlanc, who suffered a compound fracture to his leg in the 10th game last season. Coach Bob Motzko said that LeBlanc, who had trained hard for a big senior season and passed up the chance to sign a pro contract, came to practice the following Monday in a wheelchair. It took seven months to recover, and when he got the chance for a redshirt repeat of the senior year he had been deprived of, LeBlanc jumped at it. He is the fourth-leading scorer in the WCHA, but more important, his consuming team-first attitude has made him the WCHA Player of the Year, and first-team forward on the all-WCHA team. Going into the Final Five with 13-37–50, he jumped at the opportunity to play with two freshmen, and promptly helped Jonny Brodzinski of Blaine and Kalle Kossila of Finland to matching 32-point seasons. Brodzinski has 21-11–32, and Kossila 15-27–32. Brodzinski, a heavy-shooting former teammate of Minnesota’s Nick Bjugstad, scored his 21 goals so far with a WCHA-leading 20 of them NOT on the power play.
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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