Gophers, Denver split may foretell playoff showdown

The WCHA Final Five is a couple of months away, and the NCAA tournament is farther still, but Minnesota and Denver already have given a fair approximation of the potential such future clashes could hold, if the Gophers and Pioneers happen to run into each other in such pivotal settings.

Great goaltending, tough defenses, and dangerously quick forwards make both teams formidable, and are the reasons both are at the top of the WCHA standings. Of course, Minnesota still has a stranglehold on the MacNaughton Cup chase with 10 games remaining, because at 13-2-3, the Golden Gophers had 29 points and Denver, at 10-6-2, had 22. It would take a Minnesota collapse for Denver to catch up, and then thereÂ’s St. Cloud State, intervening at 10-4-4 for 24 points.

“I don’t think we’ve even talked about the league championship,” said Denver coach George Gwozdecky. “One of the reasons is that in the ’01-02 season, we put so much emphasis on it, it sapped a lot of our gas.”

True, the 2001-02 Denver team might have been the most powerful in Gwozdecky’s regime, but as top seed, it was upset by bottom-seeded Michigan, in a West Regional at Ann Arbor, and Minnesota – guess who? – went on to win its first of two straight NCAA titles. Denver, reducing emphasis on the league chase, won the next two NCAA titles, before Wisconsin won last year. So Denver and Minnesota, winners of four of the last five NCAA crowns, have a history.

All of that put further emphasis on their series at Mariucci Arena January 19-20. It was the only meeting between the two, and as luck would have it in this seemingly Golden Gopher season, the games were in Minneapolis. The Gophers – who had just had a 22-game overall unbeaten streak snapped – held a 21-game home unbeaten streak (17-0-4) at Mariucci Arena, and Denver hadn’t won a game there since November of 2003.

Both teams had lost mightily after last season, with Hobey Baker winner Matt Carle departing DenverÂ’s defense and Paul Stastny doing the same to the Pioneers top line to sign a pro contract, just as Minnesota had lost ace forwards Ryan Potulny, Phil Kessel, and Danny Irmen. In the exchange, Denver has struggled to score, except for junior Ryan Dingle and freshmen Brock Trotter and Tyler Ruegsegger, while MinnesotaÂ’s potent incoming freshmen like Kyle Okposo and Jay Barriball have reinforced returning scorers like Blake Wheeler and Ben Gordon, while defenseman Alex Goligoski has triggered much of the offense.

Bolstered by rock-solid play from senior captain Mike Vannelli and juniors Goligoski and junior Derek Peltier, freshmen Erik Johnson (6-foot-4) and David Fischer (6-foot-3) have added clout to the defense. The result has been solid protection that has made senior Kellen Briggs and sophomore Jeff Frazee look almost unbeatable in goal. Their fantastic statistics led one Twin Cities newspaper to preface the series with a huge feature on how Minnesota might boast the best goaltending tandem in the nation – overlooking the detail that Denver’s senior Glenn Fisher and junior Peter Mannino aren’t exactly chopped liver, and they have two (count ’em, 2) NCAA trophies to prove it.

Gwozdecky smirked his familiar smirk about that piece before the first game, while Fisher claimed he hadnÂ’t been aware of it. Nonetheless, the Gophers and a standing-room throng of 10,119 quickly became aware of FisherÂ’s ability when he went out and stopped all 31 Minnesota shots for a stunning 1-0 shutout against Briggs. The result left both with sparkling .935 save percentage marks for the season, with FisherÂ’s 1.92 goals-against record just a tad behind BriggsÂ’s 1.72 mark.

The only goal of the game came midway through the second period of a tense, scoreless duel, when freshman defenseman Keith Seabrook blasted a shot from the blue line that Geoff Paukovich deflected artfully past Briggs, who came up with the other 22 Denver shots. That goal came on a power play that had been whistled when Minnesota freshman Jim OÂ’Brien sprinted in from the right side, veered through the crease while Fisher was focused on the puck on the left side, and OÂ’Brien caught Fisher with a blind-side elbow to the facemask. FisherÂ’s head snapped back, and he dropped to the ice. Referee Todd Anderson immediately called OÂ’Brien for goaltender interference at 8:58, and the goal came at 10:04.

It was clear by video replays in the press box, also viewed by referee supervisor Greg Shepherd, that there was a clear impact, which may have been embellished by Fisher, but that didn’t prevent further intrigue for the rest of the weekend. Later, for example, a Gopher television interviewer shouted a few things at Anderson, and in the following week he was summarily dismissed by Fox Sports North. A Minneapolis Star Tribune account of the game inexplicably said replays showed there was no contact, and quoted Gopher coach Don Lucia as saying he had seen “the whiff,” and claimed Fisher could have been penalized for taking a dive.

Fisher, calmly facing a herd of reporters after the game, said: “He caught me with his elbow. It may not have looked bad from upstairs, but I was watching the puck, and you don’t expect to get hit in there [the crease].”

A few other goaltenders around the WCHA might have suggested to Fisher that he should be anticipating that the Gophers, who are the best in the league at going to the net with abandon, seem to occasionally let their trajectory and velocity carry through the crease. But both goaltenders had great saves to reflect on.

Briggs came up with an enormous save midway through the third period, when Dingle, an elusive, 18-goal scoring centerman, got a breakaway. “The puck rolled on me just a little,” said Dingle. “And Briggs saw that and made a great play.”

Fisher stymied a Gordon breakaway in the first period (“He faked to his backhand, and tried to go 5-hole,” Fisher said), but made his best save to end the game, although he didn’t appear to be credited with a save. He had blocked a shot in heavy traffic, when the 6-foot-4 Wheeler – who might be the best in the league at planting his body at the edge of the crease to be in position for tips and rebounds and also blocking the goaltender’s field of view – was wide open just to the right of the net. The rebound went right to Wheeler, who had to wait for the puck to settle to the ice. That gave Fisher a chance to dive across, and defenseman Andrew Thomas dived across behind him in the crease. Wheeler shot, and it appeared Fisher’s thrusted stick deflected the shot up and over the goal with the final second ticking off the clock. The shot chart on the scoreboard didn’t change, as the statistician apparently thought Wheeler simply shot two feet over the net from point-blank range.

“Yeah, I got my stick on it to deflect it,” said Fisher. “I had an extra second to get across, so we got lucky. I don’t think about shutouts, but when we played Lowell, they got a goal with 4.3 seconds left to ruin a shutout, and I thought of that at the end.”

Lucia said: “We had some good scoring chances, and it was a hard-fought game with a lot of 1-on-1 battles. But we had 10 freshman or sophomore forwards out there, and when you play good teams with good goaltenders, you’re going to have games like that.”

Denver, of course, also had 10 freshman or sophomore skaters in the lineup, and MinnesotaÂ’s freshmen (Okposo, Barriball) and sophomores (Wheeler, Ryan Stoa) are its scoring leaders.

The most prophetic line after the 1-0 opener was by Gwozdecky. “Those were two pretty good heavyweights going at it tonight,” the Denver coach said. “Early on, and late in the game, we got bottled up a little, but we beat a very good team in their building. Briggs and Frazee have been outstanding all season, and their numbers and results speak for themselves. But would I trade Fisher and Mannino for them? No.”

On to Game 2, and some REAL fireworks. Frazee went to the Minnesota nets, and Fisher played again, because Mannino, who has by far the best career save percentage of the four, at .920 over three years, including two NCAA title games, was still a notch away from being 100 percent recovered from a knee injury.

The second game was more of a goaltending nightmare than a duel, and the night belonged to Mike Vannelli, Minnesota’s soft-spoken senior defenseman and captain. Okposo scored his team-leading 15th goal in the first period for a 1-0 Minnesota lead at 5:42, and by then, Denver already had been whistled for four penalties and Minnesota five – setting a tone of animosity for the game. And especially for the opening period.

Tempers may have been ready to flare up, and if they needed a spark to ignite, it came at 15:45. Jim OÂ’Brien, the wayward kamikazee skater from Game 1, raced up the right side amid some traffic, but he broke free of a checker as he veered toward the net and crashed heavily, face-to-face, into Fisher. Gopher loyalists insisted that O’Brien was cross-checked into the crease, but replays showed he was clear of any contact and made no effort to alter his chosen course — as if the shortest distance to wherever he was going went through the crease.

If Fisher hadnÂ’t anticipated being run in the crease in the first game, he proved a quick learner, as he beat several teammates to jump on OÂ’Brien just as both teams engaged in a long and spirited tussle. While the officials struggled to pry bodies apart in the crease, the most punches were being thrown out in the faceoff circle, where MinnesotaÂ’s Ben Gordon and DenverÂ’s J.P. Testwuide grappled, then fell to the ice, with Testwuide winding up on top and hurling enough punches for a TKO.

Testwuide and Gordon got fighting majors, and while a couple others got misconducts, OÂ’Brien got a charging penalty, and Fisher was penalized for slashing. For the game, Minnesota had 19 penalties for 60 minutes and Denver 18 penalties for 55 minutes, and the impact on the game was that Denver went 3-for-9 and Minnesota 2-for-7 on power plays. But the 1-0 goaltending duel flared into scoring bursts in the second period.

Justin Bostrom tipped freshman defenseman David FischerÂ’s screened point shot past Fisher at 6:58 of the second for a 2-0 Minnesota lead. Thirty-one seconds later, as a delayed penalty was signaled against Denver, Vannelli moved in from center point, deking around one defender, then firing a shot that was blocked by diving defenseman Chris Butler. Vannelli retrieved the blocked puck and stepped to his right, firing again to hit the upper right corner from 15 feet for a 3-0 Gopher bulge.

Brock Trotter got one back for the Pioneers just 19 seconds after that, backhanding in a rebound at the right edge of the crease, his 12th of the season, to make it a three-goal flurry in a 52-second span of the game. Five minutes later, SeabrookÂ’s power-play shot from the left point hit Frazee and trickled through to cut it to 3-2.

Before the second period ended, Minnesota went on a two-man power play, and Vannelli moved in from the right point and fired a shot into the left edge of the net, with the shot glancing off a defender to get past a screened Fisher at 17:46. Still on the power play, Vannelli moved to center point and blasted a long one-timer past the screened Fisher at 18:22.

Hats came sailing out of the packed Mariucci Arena stands for the hat trick, which was rare for a defenseman, if not for a Vannelli. MikeÂ’s dad, Tommy Vannelli, was a star center on two Minnesota NCAA championship teams under Herb Brooks back in 1974 and 1976.

With the three-goal lead restored at 5-2, the Gophers seemed in full control. But Chris Butler scored on a power play with four seconds left in the second period to bring Denver back to 5-3.
When the Gopher cheerleaders came out to do their customary formations prior to the third period, they all wore baseball caps selected from the large assortment that had been cleared off the ice for VannelliÂ’s hat trick.

Midway through the third period, any Gopher celebrating was traded for tension, as Geoff Paukovich scored from the left side for another power-play goal, and it was 5-4. Denver, which outshot the Gophers 45-36, couldnÂ’t come up with the equalizer, and the 5-4 score held for the split.
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“It was one of those games,” said Gwozdecky. “Both teams were a little testy at first, and there were times where the game was hanging on the brink of being a blowout. It was like two pretty good heavyweight fighters going at it.”

This time, the fighting analogy was even more appropriate. And it sounded as if the White House speech writer was handing scripts to both coaches.

“It was one of those games,” said Lucia. “It was probably entertaining for the fans, because it was two good teams that went hard, toe-to-toe, at each other.”

Vannelli said his last hat trick was “in Peewee or Bantam, I don’t know.” He deferred the usual questions about how youthful the Gophers are, with Vannelli and Briggs the only seniors.

“It’s unfair to put all the pressure on the freshmen to score,” said Vannelli, who singlehandedly relieved that pressure. “Our forwards were really working the puck down low, then got it up top to me. On my second goal, I saw the open left side and tried to hit it, and I think the puck glanced off one of their sticks. On the last one, I just tried to shoot as hard as I could.

“Denver is a great team, and they’ve won a couple of national championships recently. It was really a battle, both games were really physical. After last night, we could sense it would be a little intense tonight.”

Both coaches anticipate a possible meeting on down the road a ways. “They’re a terrific team,” Gwozdecky said of the Gophers. “We knew after being beaten, they’d come out like this, and play with more energy, just like every teamin this league does. There were positives for both teams to take from this series. Minnesota keeps their seven-point lead over us, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we run into them again, at the end of the season.”

Lucia said: “Denver has a good team, with third and fourth lines that are mature, big, strong checkers, good defense, and great goaltending. Will we see them again this year? I hope so. It was a good way for us to learn how hard we have to compete.”

Two heavyweights, slugging it out with skill, skating, defense, goaltending, and, occasionally, by slugging it out.

UMD survives slump, injuries to regain elite form

There was nothing coach Shannon Miller could do. At the start of the season, it appeared her University of Minnesota-Duluth hockey team might have the talent and depth to challenge defending league and NCAA champion Wisconsin for WomenÂ’s-WCHA supremacy. But the first half of the season saw the Bulldogs hop from problem to problem, and suffer enough losses to let Wisconsin get away, and Minnesota assume second place. Then the injuries came.

Before the break, the biggest problem facing Miller seemed to be how to reorganize her most skilled players so they could mesh into a more consistent and balanced attack. Some played well, some misfired. First linemates and close friends Jessica Koizumi and Noemie Marin both were racking up the points, but most of them seemed to be in individual outbursts. Rarely were they making the kind of creative plays that could inspire the team. That made it easier for foes to shut down the Bulldogs, and they definitely did get shut down.

After issuing Wisconsin its first loss of the season, 2-0, the Bulldogs lost 1-0 in the second game at Madison. Next, they lost 3-1 and 4-0 at Harvard. Back home, they dropped the first game against Ohio State, 3-0. That meant the Bulldogs had lost four straight – unheard of for Miller’s elite program – but also, a very talented lineup had scored only one goal in four games after being shut out the other three.

That puzzling slump dropped UMD down to around 10th in national rankings, although when Miller shook up the forward lines, they seemed to get things back in order by rebounding to whip Ohio State 9-1 in the second game. But then came the month off, so instead of building on their new-found inspiration, they scattered for a break.

When the Bulldogs opened the second half of the season with a 3-3 tie and 2-1 victory against Niagara, the revised lineup showed nine players missing with injuries or recovery from surgery, and a tenth – speedy sophomore Michaela Lanzl – was back home playing for her native Germany in a holiday tournament.

“We lost Kim Martin at the Four Nations Cup,” said Miller, starting her recount with the freshman and former Swedish Olympic star who aggravated an old leg injury. “We got Elin Holmlov back for one game at 100 percent against Ohio State, then she went home to Sweden and hurt her backÂ…Sara OÂ’Toole suffered a back injury in the first game against Niagara…And Samantha Hough twisted her knee while dancing.”

Miller was asked if she was not about to outlaw dancing, was she reconsidering her willingness to send her players back to assorted countries for mid-season tournament play.

“No way, it’s what’s best for them and for hockey,” Miller said. “These players are some of the best young players in the world. They need to come here to get better than they might get in their own countries, then they need to go home and help their countries. You’ve got to look globally at the big picture. I’ve coached seven years at the national level.

“We have had to take a different look at how we play. With so many players out, we’ve had to adapt. I like to take risks defensively to score goals, but, given our situation, we’ve had to concentrate on defense-first. We’ve stressed backchecking, pulling together, and our team spirit has been outstanding.”

A pivotal factor in UMD’s second half is the return to form by goaltender Riitta Schaublin, who anchored the sweep against St. Cloud State, and another sweep at Bemidji State, which gave the Bulldogs a five-game winning streak. At the same time, Minnesota had lost twice at home to Wisconsin to drop into a tie with UMD for second, then dropped out of that tie by losing both games at Minnesota State-Mankato – against a Mavericks team that had only beaten the Gophers once previously in seven seasons.

That brought UMD back into second place as the primary threat to WisconsinÂ’s league pace-setters. Not that it would be easy. UMD next goes to Ohio State, where itÂ’s a safe bet to assume the Buckeyes will remember their winning streak ending in that 9-1 disaster at UMDÂ’s hands. After that, UMD goes home to face Wisconsin and Minnesota in two of the seasonÂ’s most intriguing series.

To rise to 14-5-1, the Bulldogs had to take a circuitous route. A St. Cloud State team anxious to move up into WCHA contention was a stiff test. The Bulldogs trailed 2-1 after two periods, then erupted to put three goals past senior goaltender Laurie St. Jacques in the third period, before tacking on an empty-netter for a 4-2 victory.

St. Cloud coach Jeff Giesen continued to play his three-goalie musical chairs game the next night, and he almost hit on an upset winner when he tabbed junior Kendall Newell. All three goalies have had their bright moments this season, so Giesen has rotated those two with junior Carmen Lizee. The difference is that Newell – who proved to be a UMD nemesis last season – has had her best games against Wisconsin and UMD, the best two teams the Huskies have faced.

UMD stormed the Huskies net from start to finish. After outshooting the Huskies 31-27 in the first game, the ’Dawgs had a 35-17 edge in the second, but Newell stopped everything, artfully steering rebounds away from the shark-like UMD forwards, and stopping 34 UMD shots until the final one got away. It wasn’t a fluke, but it indicates the kind of pressure UMD was applying. Lanzl, right at the crease, deflected a center-point shot by Jaime Rassmussen that struck Newell on the inside of her left arm, rebounding to land in the left side of the crease – to Newell’s right. Before she could cover it, Lanzl, who was sprawling to the ice, poked in the loose puck with 4:48 left, and UMD escaped with a 1-0 sweeper.

The problem facing St. Cloud coach Jeff Giesen is picking the right goalie on the right night. At Ohio State, Giesen started Newell but the Buckeyes scored three in the first period and Lizee relieved to hold a 3-3 tie. The next night, Lizee started and gave up five before St. Jacques relieved and yielded just one goal in a 6-1 loss.

Interestingly, in the rotation, St. Jacques has won four games, Lizee three, and Newell only one. St. Jacques’ victories were over Robert Morris, Bemidji State, Boston University and Vermont. Lizee has beaten Ohio State twice, early in the season, and Vermont. Newell, whose only victory was against Minnesota State-Mankato, lost 2-1 in overtime to Wisconsin and later fashioned 2-2 and 3-3 ties against the top-rated Badgers, and adds that 1-0 nail-biting loss at UMD. So against Wisconsin and UMD, the top two teams in the WCHA, Lizee gave up two goals in one game, a 2-0 loss to UMD. St. Jacques was nicked for 16 goals in three games – two against UMD and two periods against Wisconsin, while Newell gave up only nine goals in five games – four against Wisconsin and the gem at Duluth.

At UMD, Miller has had no concerns about which goaltender to use. Martin and Schaublin were splitting duties early, and when Schaublin seemed to lose her focus, Martin took over. Now Martin is out, and Schaublin has taken back the job that won her All-America honors last year.

“I got into a real bad slump,” said Schaublin, after blanking St. Cloud. “It was mental. Kim came in, but that wasn’t the problem. I had one bad game, a really horrible game against Mankato, and it broke my confidence. I lost my cockiness. It affected me everywhere in life. I don’t know what it was, and it came back gradually. Finally, I believe in myself again.”

If Schaublin has regained her confidence, the Bulldogs can regain their swagger during the stretch run. And MillerÂ’s patience may pay off, especially if a few of those missing jerseys start returning to the lineup.

UMD’s win streak too brief to escape WCHA cellar

The unbeaten streaks put together by Minnesota and St. Cloud State were by far the longest in all of college hockey this season, and when they finally came to an end — just a few minutes apart — the honor of the nation’s longest streak went to the University of Minnesota-Duluth, ironoically.

UMD had struggled with that other kind of streak as they set new standards for futility during the first half of the season. The Bulldogs were intensely competitive in almost every game, but they almost invariably played just well enough to lose. The ‘Dogs were victims of both of those record streaks while being swept by the Gophers and Huskies, but they ended the first half with a meager 2-10-2 record, solidly in last place in the highly competitive WCHA.

The Bulldogs’ struggles stood up as one of the WCHA’s biggest surprises this season, because UMD had been picked by rival coaches and other WCHA observers to be a solid, middle-of-the-pack team, and a contender for playoff home-ice if not the regular-season title. When the Bulldogs started the second half anew, they actually earned the honor of replacing Minnesota and St. Cloud State by establishing what proved to be the nation’s longest winning streak. But that achievement was short-lived — too short to lift the Bulldogs out of the WCHA cellar.

Going into the weekend of January 12-13, Minnesota had ridden the nationÂ’s longest undefeated streak to command of the No. 1 rank in the country. The Golden Gophers had lost their opening game 3-1 to Maine in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame game, then reeled off a 22-game unbeaten streak, registering a 19-0-3 stretch that somehow withstood even the loss of five prime players, who joined Team USA for the World Junior tournament.

Snap! Wisconsin All-American goaltender Brian Elliott was at his sharpest, and the Badgers played a near-flawless game for a 2-1 victory in the first game of that series in Madison. Former Duluth East winger Ross Carlson scored both goals for the Badgers, and hit two pipes as well.

The news of Wisconsin ending the Minnesota streak meant that the longest unbeaten streak in the nation became the property of St. Cloud State, which had clearly been the surprise success story of the league through the first half. The Huskies stumbled at the start, then got a tie at North Dakota, then tied Minnesota both nights of a home-and-home series. The three straight ties were considered upsets, but the Huskies followed by winning 12 straight games.

St. Cloud’s 12-0-3 unbeaten streak of 15 games was a worthy replacement for Minnesota’s 22-game stretch, but it lasted only a matter of minutes. The Huskies were favored at home in the National Hockey Center, entertaining long-time archrival Minnesota State-Mankato, but the Mavericks and Huskies had been at each others throats through parallel lifetimes in Division II football, basketball and all other sports, so with both of them emerging as Division I hockey programs, the old rivalry only gained in intensity. Sure enough, Minnesota StateÂ’s last-place status in the WCHA meant as little as St. Cloud StateÂ’s 15-game unbeaten streak when the two teams collided. Mankato won 6-4, with St. Cloud’s loss following Minnesota’s loss by only a few minutes.

Almost simultaneously, the nationÂ’s two longest streaks were snapped. Strangely enough, yet another game on that same night featured Minnesota-Duluth. The Bulldogs had lost five straight games, and had gone 1-8 until they found a way to beat Bowling Green, the CCHA’s last-place team, in the third-place game of a tournament at Ohio State over Christmas. They rode that semblance of momentum to a pair of narrow victories over Michigan Tech 2-1 in overtime and 5-3 when they opened the second half of WCHA play back at the DECC. Tech, after a quite-impressive array of upsets during the first half, fell back with the two setbacks, while UMD suddenly saw hope.

So on that same January 12 night, playing at home in the DECC, UMD spotted Colorado College a 2-0 head start and then beat the Tigers 4-3 for their most dramatic victory of the season, winning on Jeff McFarlandÂ’s goal, with 2:22 remaining. Goaltender Josh Johnson, who seemed the forgotten man during most of the first half of the season while freshman Alex Stalock carried the load, was victimized by CCÂ’s fast start, but he toughened as the Bulldogs came back from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits to capture the same kind of late victory they had given away with troubling frequency.

The victory allowed UMD to keep pace with Minnesota State-Mankato, and to climb within one point of Michigan Tech, and it also meant that the Bulldogs had won four straight games. Because the lengthy streaks of both Minnesota and St. Cloud State had ended that night, UMD’s modest four-game winning streak became the longest in the nation.
The honor lasted one day.

The next night, things looked good for a Bulldog sweep. Mason Raymond, who had scored the third UMD goal in the first game, scored a first-period goal for a 1-0 lead, and added his third goal of the weekend by poking in a power-play rebound early in the second for a 2-0 UMD lead. Stalock protected the lead by stopping all 16 CC shots through two periods, and continued his mastery until midway through the third period.

At that point, the Tigers woke up and UMD found itself facing that old, familiar feeling. Brandon Polich smacked in a power-play rebound at 10:45. Then Polich, behind the net, passed out front to Braydon Cox for the tying goal at 14:10. Bill Sweatt, who had scored the first goal in FridayÂ’s game, scored the Saturday game-winner at with 1:27 remaining on another power play. With Stalock pulled, UMD attacked, but Cox flung a long shot into an open net for his second goal of the night with 59 seconds left. The Tigers had won 4-2, scoring all four goals during an 18-shot barrage in the final period. And, for the third time in 24 hours, the nationÂ’s longest winning streak was over.

“You couldn’t really get mad,” said Scott Owens, Colorado College coach. “We played pretty well. UMD played up to the form people expected of them all season. I think you saw two pretty good college hockey games this weekend. Coming back to win was good for us, because every point in this league is huge. It’s been a struggle for us to score since Christmas. But Matt Zaba made a pretty good save right before we scored, and it was nice for Polich to get that one up here, and then Billy got the game-winner.”

Zaba, who got a night off when sophomore Drew OÂ’Connell manned the nets against FridayÂ’s determined UMD rally, was solid throughout the second game, even when trailing 2-0 after two periods. Raymond, clearly one of the leagueÂ’s elite players, snapped a 15-footer past him from the left side for his first goal, and the second one came when Zaba blocked a long shot and landed next to the goaltender. Zaba never saw it. Raymond pounced, and poked it in.

“It was a tough game,” said Zaba. “They came at us hard, but we expected it.”

For UMD, it was a letdown, another in a season of such letdowns. With veteran defensemen Jason Garrison and Ryan Geris out, the ‘Dogs had five freshman or sophomore defensemen, along with freshman netminder Stalock, but nobody was looking for alibis. UMD stayed in a tie for last with Minnesota State-Mankato, which also lost its rematch at St. Cloud State.

UMDÂ’s record has featured a number of games when they found a way to lose in the closing minutes, but they came away from the CC series by suffering a power outage at St. Cloud, losing 6-0 while failing to get a single shot until the Huskies had gone ahead 3-0 in the second period. In the second game, UMD turned up the intensity, but wound up losing 6-5, even though Raymond assisted on all five goals in an amazing night.

Unfortunately for UMD, Minnesota State-Mankato was idle, so the Bulldogs dropped to 5-13-2 and sole possession of last place. The amazing thing about UMDÂ’s season-long struggle is that opponents — most prominently Minnesota, St. Cloud State, and Denver, the league’s top three teams — keep insisting that UMD will catch fire before the season is over. They stress that the Bulldogs have good talent, seem to be well-coached, are getting good goaltending, and just have been unlucky in so many close losses.

The Bulldogs, for example, led the Gophers 2-1 until Mike Vannelli’s third-period goal, then Tyler Hirsch, who is no longer with the Gophers, scored the winner at 0:49 of overtime.
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UMD lost 5-2 at Bemidji State, in a nonconference series, but came storming back to jump ahead in the rematch, back at the DECC. By chance, a promotion asked fans to bring stuffed animals, which would be donated for Christmas to a children’s charity. The idea was cleared with the WCHA to allow fans to hurl the toys onto the ice after UMD’s first goal, and UMD players quickly cleaned them up, although there was undoubtedly a break in potential momentum. UMD went up 2-0, and more fans tossed more animals onto the ice. The officials then warned the fans via the public address announcer that any more tossing of animals on the ice would result in a penalty to UMD. Sure enough, UMD got a third goal, and one tiny youngster, sitting down at ice level, who had tried and failed to toss his stuffed toy over the glass after the first two goals, tried one more time and made it. The officials penalized the Bulldogs, and by the end of the power play, the Beavers had seized the momentum, and scored four third-period goals for a dramatic and exciting 6-5 victory.

Bad luck? Maybe. But it’s also possible that UMD’s plumbing for misfortune set new standards by actually seeing a sure victory turn around because of a stuffed animal.

UMD’s struggles are also remarkable because Raymond has played extremely well, while Bryan McGregor has been the surprise of the team with a career season as a senior, and sophomore Matt Niskanen has been outstanding offensively from defense. Behind the youthful but eager defense, Stalock has been sensational in parts of his freshman goaltending season. That seems like enough assets for at least be a middle-of-the-pack presence, and certainly more than a last-place standing would indicate.

Meanwhile, Minnesota went into the leagueÂ’s halfway point in control of first place, and it remained unclear who might emerge to challenge the Golden Gophers. After Minnesota had bounced back to beat Wisconsin in the second game at Madison, the Gophers returned home and lost a scintillating 1-0 game to Denver goaltender Glenn Fisher, before again rebounding for a 5-4 victory in the second game.

Two splits on two straight weekends did nothing to knock the Gophers out of the No. 1 national rank, and the Gophers still threatened to run away with the league title, at 13-2-3. Denver and St. Cloud State are locked in a duel to see who has the best shot at second – the Huskies climbing to 10-4-4 with the sweep over UMD, and Denver at 10-6-2. Colorado College, at 10-6, is right there, too, but almost flying under the radar. Those four are solidly ahead of fifth-place Wisconsin and North Dakota, which are leading the rest of the group but looking up in pursuit of .500.

At the other end of the standings, UMD got the reprieve of a weekend off, but at 5-13-2, being idle was hardly the best way to try to catch Michigan Tech, Minnesota State-Mankato, and Alaska-Anchorage, for a possible escape from last place.

Concept cars put on an auto show of their own

DETROIT, MICH. — Concept cars. What a concept! It used to be that manufacturers would make up weird, futuristic car models and put them at display to draw attention to their “real” cars at auto shows. That was then. Now days, concept cars often, if not usually, are set out to gauge reaction on what manufacturers intend to produce within a year or two.

The battle in the marketplace is only going to get hotter in the future, if the concepts shown at the Detroit Auto Show this week and next are any indication. Typically, since there are various Car of the Year and Truck of the Year awards, some group actually has a “Concept Car of the Year” award voted on by – who knows? – the soothsayers among my fellow-journalists.

At Detroit, the concept cars were spectacular. In fact, with so many manufacturers coming out with new vehicles in the last year, the case could be made that there were fewer newsworthy production vehicles, while an increase in flashy concepts carried the auto show circuit.

If I had to pick one from the Detroit International Auto Show, my vote would go to the Mazda Ryuga. Always among the more creative in concept styling, Mazda has outdone itself with the Ryuga, which is an extremely low, hip-high, four-seater that is actually a foot lower and a foot shorter than a Mazda3 compact. Unique, double-width doors rise up and over the roof to access an ultramodern interior. The driver has a cockpit-style setting, complete with video rear-view enhancements, while the occupants have the form-fitting comfort of a futuristic lounge. If you like aesthetics, consider that the gently angled and tapering headlight slits were designed to mimic the flow of dew off a bamboo leaf.

U.S. companies were prominent in the concept game as well. Chrysler Group, for example, showed off a Jeep Trailhawk, a lowered amalgamation of the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee in looks, with removable roof panels and a four-passenger interior. Then they switched right over to a surprising and well-received luxury-crossover wagon, called the Nassau. It is a tightly styled four-seater with a sloping rear hatch and an impressive, Crossfire/Pacifica type grille. The Nassau has a 6.1-liter Hemi V8 powering a unique personal-luxury vehicle, and even an official from a competitor said, “They’ve got to build it.”

Ford had a major display, including the Interceptor concept, which J Mays introduced as “modern American muscle,” with 400 horsepower and the ability to run as a flex-fuel vehicle. Ford also showed the squarish Airstream Concept that runs on lithium batteries, and a Lincoln MKR with a twin-turbocharged V6. Next to those, an entirely redone Focus – including a coupe model – and revised Five Hundred with a better grille, and Fusion models bolstered with all-wheel drive – were impressive but fought little space in the spotlight.

General Motors, hot from sweeping Car of the Year (Saturn Aura) and Truck of the Year (Silverado pickup), showed off a Camaro convertible, which might have been a first — a concept of a concept. It is a top-down version of the year-old Camaro concept, which remains in the yet-to-become-production category. Chevy also turned out an all-new midsize sedan, bearing the familiar Malibu name.

Bigger news was the Volt, an electric-powered concept with a plug-in recharging system that GM product vice president Bob Lutz called “shocking,” and added that he had never been more enthusiastic about a car, because this one can turn various types of fuel into electric power. For a man who swore off, and at, hybrids just two years ago, Lutz has become a major believer. The Volt is limited to 40 miles on a full plug-in charge, but the system doesn’t need to add to your household electric bill, and can regenerate electricity via a 1.0-liter turbocharged engine with your choice of gas, E85, hydrogen, or even bio-diesel.

Among imports, Mazda was far from alone, as everyone from Acura, Lexus, Volvo, and Mercedes, to Nissan, Hyundai, and Volkswagen, among others, showed off impressive concept cars.

Mercedes displayed the Ocean Drive, a huge, four-door convertible, loaded with features and luxury accommodations. Mercedes was the last manufacturer to build a four-door convertible, back in 1962 when the Type 300D finished a five-year run, so Mercedes brings back the idea with the Ocean Drive.
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Volvo, always conscious of new safety technology, has a new XL60 concept model, a compact SUV loaded with new safety features but also with a dashing new style.

Another dazzler is the Acura Advanced Sports Car Concept, a sports car that will become the next NSX. Acura brought out a long, low, LeMans-racer-type sports car in the mid-engine NSX in 1992, and except for changing the headlight design, it remained the same as a limited production gem all these years. The concept will be the NSX replacement, with a V10 engine and SH-AWD. Designed in the U.S. and assembled here as well, the car is expected to set styling and technical standards for future Acura sedans.

Nissan, another company that has tried out new production vehicles as concepts first, has both the Rogue, a new, personal conveyance, and the Bevel SUV, described as a “single purpose, multi functional vehicle. It has a hybrid engine, with a 110-volt outlet for power-tools, computers, etc., in the rear and it has its power source recharged by solar roof panels.

Toyota spent its concept energy on a FT-HS, a new sports car design with a 400-horsepower hybrid using a 3.5-liter V6 with electric power. It also turned to upscale Lexus for a fabulous Super Car LF-A concept, which is a revised version of a concept model brought out two years ago. This time,it has a V10 with 500 horsepower and a rear transaxle. The car appears aimed at Porsche and Audi type sports cars – as well as, uh, NSX replacement cars.

Hyundai put the Veracruz on display, but if it was a concept vehicle, it didn’t work – because it looked good enough to drive away on the spot.

Imagine that. A concept that works, right now. Among the outgrowth of concept cars, that’s what we can hope for.

Gophers trip UMD in OT, face Wisconsin for title

MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. — The University of Minnesota proved thereÂ’s no place like home Saturday, rising up to defeat favored Minnesota-Duluth 3-2 on sophomore Gigi MarvinÂ’s power-play goal in sudden-death overtime in the WomenÂ’s WCHA semifinals at Ridder Arena – the only facility of its kind built specifically for a womenÂ’s college hockey team.

The victory earned a spot in Sunday’s championship game against No.1 ranked Wisconsin, which blanked Ohio State 4-0 in the first semifinal at Ridder, and it also proved the Gophers were true to their insistence that they had been able to put out of their minds two thrashings – 7-1 and 5-1 – at the hands of UMD in Duluth two weeks ago. The victory also rekindles Minnesota’s hopes to reach the eight-team NCAA women’s hockey tournament field. The Gophers were No. 9, and UMD No. 7 going into the WCHA semifinals, and while the result may not drop the Bulldogs out of the top eight, it could lift the Gophers just enough to squeeze into the select field, which will be announced Sunday.

Of course, a victory for Minnesota (23-11-1) in today’s league playoff final would secure a spot, and that was what Gopher coach Laura Halldorson was focusing on. “We can only worry about playing Wisconsin,” said Halldorson. “We’re just really excited and proud, because we gave everything we had to win a tight game against Duluth. We’ve had great games in the past, a lot of them with much at stake, as there was in this one.

“Kim Hanlon was fantastic in goal, and getting on the board first was huge – a huge momentum boost. We’re going to have to do that against Wisconsin, too.”

UMD coach Shannon Miller said she was uncertain of her team’s security in the NCAA selection process. “You never know,” she said. “We were fairly solid in seventh coming in, and Boston College and Harvard both lost. We do have the strongest league in the country, so it would seem logical that we should have three teams in the field.”

Unlike the pivotal series which boosted UMD (22-10-4) into second place and dropped Minnesota to third, in which the Bulldogs jumped off to 5-0 leads through two periods both nights, Minnesota battled through the first period by outshooting UMD 9-6, and taking a 1-0 lead on the first goal, scored by senior Andrea Nichols on a power play in the last minute of the period. Anya Miller shot from center point, and when UMD freshman goaltender Kim Martin blocked it, Nichols smacked in the rebound from wide to the left of the goal.

The Bulldogs didnÂ’t exactly get the upper hand in the second period, being outshot 5-3 in the tight, defensive struggle, but they did tie the game at 4:12 on a power play of their own. Freshman Emmanuelle Blais carried deep on the right side, circled behind the net, and came all the way out to complete the circle at the top of the slot before firing toward the net. Saara Tuominen, another freshman, knocked it in.

Minnesota regained the lead at 2-1 at 12:39 of the middle period when sophomore defenseman Melanie Gagnon sent a harmless-looking shot on goal with Marvin screening in front. Martin appeared to have the shot under control, but it eluded her and trickled in, putting the Gophers up until the third period.

UMD senior Jessica Koizumi tied the game, sprawling to poke in the puck at 4:50 on another power play, and UMD rose up to take control of the game, outshooting the Gophers 14-3 in the third period, but unable to put anything else past Hanlon.

“There was a scramble, and I was falling,” said Koizumi, who is playing with a brace on an injured knee. “We want another chance. Our team has just gotten everybody back from injuries, and we’re just coming together. I’ve been in this position many times, and I’m crossing my fingers that we get into the NCAA tournament, because this is my last year, and I really think we’ve got a team that could win it.”

In the overtime, UMD senior defenseman Ashly Waggoner and a Gopher were scrapping for the puck and when the Gopher went down, referee Jay Mendel called Waggoner for tripping, at 0:52. The Gophers kept the pressure on after a corner faceoff, and Marvin scored at 1:08.

“I looked up, and saw an opening, and put it in,” said Marvin, who scored her 18th goal to tie Bobbi Ross for the team lead. “We’re high right now, we just won a big game against a great team, and we’re excited to play Wisconsin. We were very calm before the overtime, focused, and very confident.”

UMD coach Miller waited afterward to talk to Mendel. When asked about it, she said: “All I did was ask him whether it was proper to talk on the ice, or if we should go down in the corridor. We went off the ice. I asked him how he could make a call like that and not let the teams decide a game like that.”

Asked about the difference in the teams in the semifinal, compared with the two games two weeks ago in Duluth, Miller said: “They obviously played a lot better. You can’t come to Duluth and get spanked 7-1 and 5-1 and not come back and play with some fury. I was proud of our team, because we competed hard, and I thought we played our best when we outshot them 14-3 in the third period.”

Halldorson, meanwhile, said she decided to not mention that shot differential when the teams went off for resurfacing before the overtime. “I didn’t mention the shots, because the score was 2-2,” she said.

The third period gave UMD a 23-19 shot advantage for the tight contest. “After we played at Duluth, we just wanted to forget about it and finish strong,” said Hanlon. “We knew we were going to win.”
Hanlon was asked if she was as confident when a shot by Michaela Lanzl in the third period hit the left post and the ricochet went out through the crease behind her. “I guess I had my angle right,” she cracked.

Minnesota winger Erica McKenzie said: “Warming up, there was a weird vibe. We were calm, and people weren’t talking, but you could see it in everybody’s eyes – we were ready. I knew right when we got that power play, we were going to score and win the game. And then coach came down the bench and had some choice words for us.”
Halldorson clarified. “Wait a minute,” she said. “All I said was, ‘Would you guys please end this?’ And I’m glad Gigi took me up on it.”

BAUER, BADGERS WHIP OSU 4-0

ItÂ’s been a fantastic year for Ohio StateÂ’s womenÂ’s hockey program, and coach Jackie Barto credited a special crop of seniors for raising the Buckeyes to previously unattained heights. Unfortunately, the Buckeyes ran smack into the No. 1 rated Wisconsin Badgers, who stifled Ohio StateÂ’s offense and skated to a 4-0 victory that returns Wisconsin to the championship game. It wasnÂ’t like the Badgers overran the Buckeyes. They got a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by Jasmine Giles late in a very evenly played first period. But much as the Buckeyes tried after that, they were never able to sustain enough offensive pressure to puncture Jessie VetterÂ’s 22-save shutout at Ridder Arena.

When the media requested players to interview after the game, the Badger staff declined to call on captain Sara Bauer, their captain, the defending Patty Kazmaier Award winner, and the just-named repeat winner of the Women’s WCHA player of the year award. After all, she gets interviewed all the time, and she undoubtedly will be called upon after the championship game. Besides, other players starred in the 4-0 victory – Meghan Duggan, who scored shorthanded in the second period to make it 2-0, and Angie Keseley and Jinelle Zaugg, who padded the margin in the third period with timely goals against Buckeye goaltender Erika Vanderveer. And also, of course, there was Vetter.
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However, Bauer made her presence felt with her usual near-flawless performance, and brilliant plays by the tiny but tenacious 5-foot-3 senior center from St. Catherines, Ontario, orchestrated easy goals by both Duggan and Zaugg.

“We’re thrilled to get another opportunity to play in the championship game,” said Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson, who had guided the Badgers to an even more outstanding season than a year ago, when they won the WCHA, the WCHA playoff, and the NCAA title. This year’s Badgers are 32-1-4, and ranked No. 1, with the WCHA league title in hand, and the playoff title within their grasp today.

The final count obscured the competitiveness of the game. The only goal in the first period came on a power play at 17:38 by Giles, giving the Badgers a key opening lead. Badger defenseman Meaghan Mikkelson, named the top defensive player in the league, got her first of two assists on the goal.

Ohio State coach Jackie Barto, whose team finished a program-best 20-13-4, said: “We had a couple real good scoring chances in the first and second periods, and if one of them had gone in, it might have been a different game, We’ve had some success on offense against Wisconsin, though; we’d been able to crash the net and get some rebounds this season.”

But not this game. In the second period, Wisconsin was killing a two-skater penalty shortage when Bauer got the puck in her own zone. She played the puck off the boards to herself, and seemed to mesmerize everybody in the rink as she raced down the left boards. Instead of merely dumping the puck in to kill time, Bauer held onto it, and carried deep into the left corner. About then, Meghan Duggan, a 22-goal-scoring freshman winger from Danvers, Mass., came out of the penalty box and skated for the net. Bauer passed it, and Duggan had her 23rd goal, a shorthanded gem.

“That second goal put a little dent in us,” said Barto. “Our team kept competing, but Vetter played solidly, and Wisconsin is very good defensively.”

Early in the third period, Angie Keseley made it 3-0, getting her stick on a loose puck while diving into a scramble at the crease at 6:05. And as the game neared its conclusion, Bauer did her thing again to seal it. With 3:06 remaining, Bauer forechecked to swipe the puck behind the Ohio State goal. She did a quick stop and go, reversing her direction on the end boards and carrying back behind the net, then passing out to the goal-mouth. Zaugg, a 6-foot-1 junior from Eagle River, Wis., was there for a one-timer. Vanderveer had no chance, and the Badgers had their 4-0 victory.

“I liked the way the last 40 minutes went,” said Mark Johnson. “The first 20 was a chess match, because nobody wanted to make a mistake. We made a couple of adjustments, and the team really responded well. We scored first on the power play, then Sara made a great play to Duggan coming out of the penalty box for the shorthanded goal.”
Vetter, who is 17-1-3 but only alternates with Christine Dufour (15-0-1), credited her defense. “Our D has been great all year, blocking shots,” Vetter said. “We had a little case of nerves in the first period, but we settled down.”

The Badgers settled down, and prepared to defend their league playoff title.

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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.