Gilbert, Badger veterans top BC for NCAA puck title

MILWAUKEE, WIS. — Defenseman Tom Gilbert put the finishing touch on a spectacular season for both the Wisconsin Badgers as a team, and his own outstanding four years of college hockey in the most memorable way possible Saturday night, moving up to score a goal midway through the third period to beat Boston College 2-1 and claim the NCAA hockey championship before 17,758 mostly red-clad fans at Bradley Center.

It was a homestate triumph all the way for the Badgers, who first had to drive a couple hours northeast to win the Midwest Regional at Green Bay, before driving an hour east from Madison to Milwaukee for the Frozen Four. Typically, the victory was secured by Gilbert and the Badger defensemen, and, of course, goaltender Brian Elliott, with a team defense easily as responsible for the success as the goal-scorers. And a little luck didn’t hurt, as a late, desperation shot by Boston College’s Peter Harrold clanked off the pipe, and didn’t go in, as the final seconds elapsed.

It took all that to win the big NCAA Frozen Four plaque as the Badgers finished a 30-10-3 season with a 9-1 surge for the schoolÂ’s sixth NCAA title, creating a magical sweep, after Wisconsin also won the women’s NCAA hockey title. Boston College finished 26-13-3.

Previous Wisconsin titles came under Badger Bob Johnson in 1973, Â’77, and Â’81, with Jeff Sauer taking the Badgers to the 1983 and 1990 crowns. This is the first one for Mike Eaves, who is in his fourth year. Eaves was a star player on the 1977 title team, and he recalled the euphoria of winning as a player, compared to his measured enjoyment as a winning coach.

“As a player, you have such an emotional investment in the game,” said Eaves. “In Â’77, from the time we won the game until I got to the locker room, I donÂ’t remember anything that happened. As a coach, it was fun to…hug each one of those guys, and look each of them in the eye, and say, ‘job well done.Â’ ”

After all the talk about fantastic freshmen throughout the tournament, the Badgers relied on their veterans, as junior Robbie Earl scored to tie the game 1-1 in the second period on a pass from senior captain Adam Burish. Joe Pavelski – a key veteran although only a sophomore – assisted on both goals, and won a tournament-high 20 faceoffs in the game, while losing 12.

All three linemates had three points in the tournament, But Pavelski, who won a tournament-high 20 faceoffs while losing 12 in the title game, and set up both Badger goals, was the only member of the line that failed to make the all-tournament team, which listed Earl, Burish and BC’s Chris Collins as forwards, Gilbert and BC’s Brett Motherwell as defensemen, and Elliott as goaltender.

Earl was selected most outstanding player of the tournament, but it had to be a close call. Media voters tend to go with goal-scorers, and Earl had three, although his second goal in the 5-2 semifinal victory over Maine was an empty-netter, and it’s doubtful the Badgers would have won the title without the slick feeds of Pavelski and Burish, as well as Earl’s goals.

For Gilbert, another of the five seniors on the team, his 12th goal came at a most opportune time. The Badgers were carrying play, but had to fight to gain the 1-1 tie until midway through the third period.
Manning the right point on the Badger power play, Gilbert moved in, cruising unnoticed up the slot, as Pavelski held the puck near the end boards on the left side. Pavelski saw him coming but didn’t tip off his play before sending a perfect pass out to the slot. Gilbert caught the pass, with an instant of room to coil up and pick a spot, then he snapped a 25-foot wrist shot just inside the left post at 9:32.

“It’s a play we’ve worked on all week, with either me coming in, or Robbie Earl on the backside,” said Gilbert. “I’m an offensive defenseman, and I like to be the fourth guy in on the attack. I’ve got to give credit to Joe Pavelski, though. He was looking at Robbie, and he gave a no-look pass to me. I just knew that shot was going in.”

The big crowd erupted, and stayed on a high through the last 10 minutes, but it was a tough way for BCÂ’s sophomore goaltender Cory Schneider to end his run. Wisconsin outshot Boston College 39-22 for the game, while Schneider kicked aside 37 of those Badger shots to give his team every chance to win.

“I think Wisconsin is the best team we have played this year, over 60 minutes,” said Boston College coach Jerry York. “Cory Schneider kept us in the game. He was terrific. Wisconsin really has an excellent hockey team. There were a lot of comments in our locker room and from our players about how well-coached, how talented, their players are, and how well they played tonight.

“I thought our club got just what we wanted – we got to the third period in a very tough environment to play in, and with 10 or 12 minutes left in the game, it’s 1-1 for the national championship. They capitalize on their power play, we didn’t capitalize on ours. That was the difference.”

Befitting the obvious importance of the game, Boston College and Wisconsin sparred like wary heavyweights from the start, intent upon not betraying any critical weaknesses. Wisconsin had a 17-9 edge in shots in the first period, but the first round of the goaltending duel went to Schneider, who stopped all 19 Badger missiles.

The Eagles, meanwhile, got one past Elliott at 9:01 of the opening session. Dan Bertram, the busiest guy in the rink in the first period with three penalties and an assist, got the assist by burrowing in on the forecheck and prying the puck free on the right end boards, then jerking a pass out to the slot. Pat Gannon, a fourth-line sophomore center, was closing in and smacked a backhander that eluded Elliott and caught the upper right corner of the net.

“When the pass came out from behind the net, I got my stick on it,” said Elliott. “It got through, and somehow their guy got off a backhand, up high. It was a really good goal.”

Getting any manner of puck past Elliott in the last 10 games. Coming into the final game, Elliott had gone 8-1 in his last nine games, with an amazing 0.81 goals-against average, and an equally incredible .967 save percentage. So giving up one goal in the final actually raised his goals-against mark.

He had little chance on the Gannon goal, but he atoned for it anyway by blanking the Eagles through a much more even second period, and all the way to the finish.
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Meanwhile, Wisconsin rewarded the large and loyal crowd by getting the equalilzer on EarlÂ’s goal at 1:17. Earl was upended by a big bodycheck as he rushed toward the BC end. He got up slowly, and limped a couple steps heading for the bench. When he spotted his linemates attacking deep up the right boards, though, Earl had an instanteous recovery that would have made the Mayo Clinic proud. Earl quit limping and broke for the net, arriving at the crease just in time to convert BurishÂ’s pass, an instant before Earl was dumped into the cage himself.

“I was going to the bench,” said Earl. “Then we got a turnover, and Joe Pavelski went the other way. So I went to the net, and Adam made a great pass.”

The goal tied the game and gave Earl the team goal-scoring title. EarlÂ’s 24th goal of the season led Pavelski’s 23 and Burish’s 22. Pavelski leads Wisconsin in scoring with 23-33–56, to Earl’s 24-26–50, while Burish (9-23–32) edged Gilbert (12-19–31) for third.

The emotional victory was well documented by the Badgers in the aftermath.

“This is the best feeling, the best university, the best group of guys, and the best coaching staff,” said Gilbert, who is from Bloomington, MN.

Elliott attributed his strong finish – nine goals-against in Wisconsin’s last 10 games – to the team’s spiritual leaders.
“It’s been a testament to how great our seniors have been,” said Elliott, a 6-foot-3 junior. “When I came here, they were only sophomores…They’ll be my brothers for life.”

New Eclipse Spyder high in style, needs more ‘evolution’

When Mitsubishi recreated its Eclipse with a brand new model for 2006, I had a few mixed feelings about it. Now Mitsubishi has completely redone the Eclipse Spyder for 2007, and I still have a few mixed feelings. In self-examination, I don’t think it’s me – the Eclipse and its convertible Spyder brother seem to be caught between the old traditional Mitsubishi and an attempt to remake the company’s automotive arm into a trendy, youthfully popular element.

The Eclipse is stunning in its looks, and Mitsubishi did well to stick to the very popular concept car that it had previously shown around on the major auto show circuit. So the Spyder, which is the third generation of turning the Eclipse into a convertible, shares the same front-wheel-drive handling and performance as the Eclipse coupe.

Front-wheel drive is a curious thing these days. Around the winterless areas of the country, and including the offices of all the major car magazines, the tradition is to criticize any car with front-wheel drive as being incapable of high-performance or a fun-to-drive quotient. We here in the Great White North know better.

People who risk occasionally getting caught in snowstorms from November until April are aware that front-wheel drive has tremendous benefits in icy driving conditions. When rear-drive advocates say traction control systems make rear drive equally good in winter, they betray an ignorance to the fact that sophisticated traction control also can be installed on front-wheel-drive vehicles, thus making them even more advantageous. Winter drivers among us will accept the fact that you canÂ’t hang the rear end out when you corner too hard, and trade it for great foul-weather traction, supplemented by making a FWD car handle as good as possible.

So the Eclipse handles well, and so does the Spyder. You feel the front-wheel drive through the steering wheel, which means you can get an early tip-off if you happen to over-drive it into a turn, or you can stay on the power and simply steer through a turn where youÂ’d have to lift off with rear-wheel drive.

The Eclipse Spyder, like its coupe predecessor, comes with a very strong 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine, or a very strong 3.8-liter V6. Both are dual-overhead-camshaft, multiple-valve engines, both with excellent power. The four has 162 horsepower at 6,000 RPMs, and an equal 162 foot-pounds of torque at 4,000 RPMs, and comes with a five-speed manual or a four-speed optional automatic with Sportronic manual control.

The V6 has 260 horsepower at 5,750 RPMs, and 258 foot-pounds of torque at 4,500 RPMs, with a standard six-speed stick, or an optional five-speed Sportronic automatic, and drive-by-wire electronic throttle control.

Lots of power, and Mitsubishi’s MIVEC – which stands for Mitsubishi Innovative Variable Valve Timing Electronic Control, and we can only be thankful they skipped a few initials – propel the Spyder with either the four or the six with plenty of quickness. MIVEC can adjust valve timing and lift as if the engine was changing camshafts as you rev up the single-overhead cam engines past 4,000 revs in the V6 or 4,300 in the four.

Personally, I prefer my Mitsubishi performance cars to have small engines that over-achieve, whether by turbocharger or tightly refined technology. That is not to say that the 2.4 or 3.8 engines are inferior in any way. They seem very strong and very good in brief introduction in the Spyder. But there are historic and current reasons for my preference.

The management and promotion arms of Mitsubishi are fairly new, since the Japanese company has undergone some major alterations in recent years. And maybe I have more of a historical perspective on Mitsubishi vehicles than some of them do.

At the introduction, held in San Diego a couple of months ago, Dave Schembri, the executive vice president of sales and marketing for Mitsubishi Motors of North America, traced the EclipseÂ’s roots from the old Cordia, to the Starion, then the 3000 GT, then the VR-4 Galant, and up to the first Eclipse.

“Unique and purposeful design,” Schembri calls it. “At the Detroit Auto Show introduction, the new Eclipse looked like a work of art. It looks great from every angle, and every line. As a representative of the manufacturer, I say that, but just being a car guy from Detroit, I also can say it.”

Schembri also said Mitsubishi is using different marketing. Instead of targeting young singles and first-time buyers, the way every other manufacturer is doing these days, Mitsubishi is going after “Generation E – meaning everyone,” he said. “Our target is attitude and lifestyle more than age and income. We hope to attract anyone with an active lifestyle, an extroverted personality, and who might want to reward themselves with the right car. This is a car that is love at first sight and fun to drive. We call it the ‘attainable exotic.’ ”

Priced at $25,889 for the Eclipse Spyder GS, and $28,769 for the GT, the Spyder offers a four-door convertible, although the back seat is strictly for small people and/or short hops.

Product manager Mike Evanoff said that the Spyder is a “move forward, with a link back” to the Eclipse’s history.

That was about where I raised my hand. I once raced a Dodge Colt, made by Mitsubishi, in a couple of Showroom Stock road races, and I owned a high-revving Colt wagon, and later owned a 1979 Colt GT, which was a wild little thing that could screech the tires in the first three gears even while delivering 41 miles per gallon – all with outstanding 1.6-liter Mitsubishi four-cylinder engines. My son owned a Cordia, and our whole family lusted after the 3000 GT/Dodge Stealth.

The first Eclipse used that 1.6-liter engine, and the upgraded models, whether Eclipses, Plymouth Lasers, or Eagle Talons, used turbocharged versions of that little engine, and all-wheel drive. Since the new Spyder is trying to be loyal to the tradition of the first Eclipses, I asked, why the transition away from the strong little engines, of 2.0 liters or smaller, to comparatively large, boulevardiering type 2.4 and 3.8?

An answer was that American buyers want more torque, and instantaneous power at low end, so larger displacement handles that as an evolution up from the smaller engines of the predecessors.

Aha! The magic word was “evolution.” So my next question is that since Mitsubishi makes a world-class compact sedan, named the Evolution, and it has a turbocharged 2.0-liter four with all-wheel drive, why not simply intall that drivetrain in the Eclipse and Eclipse Spyder? When you think about it, the Evolution is a winged model of the Lancer, which is a competent but unexciting compact sedan – the most unassuming of Mitusbishi vehicles. Successful as that is, would the same drivetrain, placed under the most exotic, most stylish, and most…assuming of vehicles be an instant worldwide classic?

Hmmm, said Mitsubishi officials. Not a bad idea, a couple of them said. Now, I canÂ’t believe Mitsubishi executives and engineers honestly hadnÂ’t even thought of or considered such a combination. But we will take them at face value, and keep an eye on their unspoken future products.
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As it is, the Spyder is a strong and stylish car. The Spyder is only 200 pounds heavier than the coupe, which is remarkable, considering that the body required considerable reinforcement, with new floor and rear cross-members to increase rigidity without the coupeÂ’s roof structure. The car is 55 percent stiffer in torsional rigidity than the previous generation Spyder.

The top is a three-layer cloth deal, with a rear window and defogger. Built by American Specialties and delivered intact to the Normal, Ill., Mitsubishi plant, the top stows under a flip-up tonneau cover at the rear, and it goes down in under 7 seconds, then that cover snaps shut tightly to make a seamlessly neat convertible.

Nice features include an instrument pod that was inspired by road-racing motorcycles, and a standard Rockford Fosgate audio system with 650 watts, and nine speakers including a subwoofer, and capability for playing six CDs, or MP3. The subwoofer is centrally mounted in the backrest of the rear seat, aiming forward like a huge, sonic cannon. It has the capability of digitally changing sound styles for different types of music, which can be programmed among six choices, and it has a good sound equalization system to compensate for having the top down.

Mitsubishi anticipates that Spyders will account for 25 percent of all Eclipses, and that 75 percent of Spyders will be picked with automatic transmissions. Stylish, exotic-looking, a lot of neat features and benefits…All in all, it’s a very strong and moderately priced convertible that is the perfect stopgap. At least until we can find a little turbo all-wheel-drive as the perfect “evolution” of the breed.

Elliott’s ‘mini-shutout’ helps Badgers reach NCAA final

MILWAUKEE, WIS. — Wisconsin goaltender Brian Elliott had to settle for a “mini-shutout” Thursday, but he was at his best when the pressure was greatest and Wisconsin whipped Maine 5-2 in the second semifinal of the NCAA MenÂ’s Frozen Four hockey tournament. The victory gives Wisconsin a unique opportunity to duplicate the NCAA WomenÂ’s title that the Badgers already have in hand when they face Boston College Saturday at 7 p.m. for the menÂ’s national championship.

“When the women won the title, Mark Johnson said the ultimate winner was women’s hockey,” said Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves, a former star and co-conspirator with Johnson on a Badger NCAA championship team in 1977. “I think we could say that when we play Boston College Saturday night, the ultimate winner will be men’s hockey, because it will be two tremendous teams playing and it should be a great game.”

The Badgers (29-10-3) will face Boston College, which outlasted North Dakota 6-5 in ThursdayÂ’s first semifinal. After the first game drew 17,637 to Bradley Center, the night game drew 17,691, and it was a raucous, Badger-backing gang that made the hour-long trek east from Madison to cheer for the Badgers from the time they hit the ice.

Elliott made 19 of his 32 saves in the second period, preventing the Black Bears from keeping pace, as the Badgers scored twice to break a 1-1 tie. For the game, Wisconsin got two goals and an assist from Robbie Earl, a goal and an assist each from Ross Carlson and Adam Burish, and possibly the key goal of the game from Bob Street to pull away from a 3-2 nail-biter.

“The Ben Street goal was huge,” said Eaves. “The game was like a three-act play. They played well at first and then we came on in the first period, then in the second and third periods, our big players came up big – Elliott, Robbie Earl, Ross Carlson, Burish…”

Burish was first to take the spotlight, scoring midway through the first period. Burish had special reason to realize that a Badger title is almost mandatory to his family, because his sister, Nikki Burish, was a star on the Badger women’s team. “My sister said, ‘If you don’t win this thing, I’ll be one-up on you for the rest of your life,’ ” Burish said. “Now we have one more left to win a championship. That’s what we came here to do.”

Maine, however, tied it at 17:37 when Keith Johnson shot from the slot. Elliott went down to block it, and as Maine’s Keith Johnson loomed over him looking for a rebound, it was unnecessary, because the puck had found its way in already. The goal ended an amazing streak; Elliott had shut out Minnesota 4-0 in the third-place game of the WCHA Final Five, then blanked Bemidji State 4-0 in the first game of the Midwest Regional, and shut out Cornell 1-0 in three overtimes – almost two full games. The 270 minutes include an NCAA tournament record of 210 minutes. Elliott had gotten his game together after recovering from a knee injury to run up an 8-1 string, and he has given up only eight goals in the nine games, with five shutouts.

The goal didn’t seem to bother Elliot -– not based on his second period. Maine outshot Wisconsin 19-13 in the middle session, but the only goals came when Carlson and Earl connected. Carlson got the puck on the penalty kill and sped up the left side. With one defenseman retreating to cover, Johnson did a little hop-step to the slot, and drilled his shot past Maine’s freshman goaltender Ben Bishop at 4:18, to break the 1-1 tie. The 2-1 lead was hardly substantial, but with Elliott in goal, it was a good building block. Four minutes later, Earl carried up the right side and scored again, and it was 3-1.
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Elliott credited his teammates for blocking a lot of shots. His teammates don’t need to compliment Elliott – it goes without saying. “People talk about how Dominik Hasek plays so well in practice as well as games,” said Eaves. “That’s Brian, too. In practice, he doesn’t want to let any in.”

Perhaps an even more impressive factor for the junior goalie who leads the nation in goals-against average (1.55) and save percentage (.938), and now has a 26-5-3 record for the season, is that when a rare goal does get by him, he remains unruffled, and rarely gives up another in close order.

At 11:19 of the third period, the Black Bears executed an impressive rush. Josh Soares carried in on the right side and left a behind-the-back pass for Greg Moore, who passed across the slot to Mike Lundin, and the junior defenseman stepped into his shot and scored, high right.

That cut WisconsinÂ’s lead to 3-2, but 57 seconds later, Street, a freshman center from British Columbia, carried up the right side and shot from the circle. Bishop blocked it, but after a teammate overskated the rebound, Street got to it. Then he whiffed on one shot, but chipped a follow-up backhand in. That one punctured MaineÂ’s attempt at generating momentum.

EarlÂ’s second goal was an empty-netter, but it couldnÂ’t have been prettier to the big crowd. With Bishop pulled for an extra attacker, Josh Engel flipped the puck ahead. Earl chased after it, and got to it barely in time to convert a wide-angle shot from the left side with 1:44 remaining.

For the game, Wisconsin outshot Maine 39-34.

“Now we’ve got a chance to win the last game of the year,” said Eaves. “That’s something we’ve talked about since the first game of the year.”

Despite spirited rallies, Sioux fall to BC in Frozen Four

MILWAUKEE, WIS. — Faced with a three-goal deficit three different times, the North Dakota Fighting Sioux did the only thing they know how to do – fight back vigorously. But this time, in ThursdayÂ’s first semifinal of the 2006 NCAA Frozen Four, the Sioux ran out of time and fell 6-5 to quick-striking Boston College before 17,637 fans at Bradley Center.

Three goals by Hobey Baker finalist Chris Collins were pivotal for Boston College (25-12-3), but despite the much-heralded Collins and goaltender Cory Schneider, after leads of 3-0, 5-2 and 6-3 had evaporated, the ultimate difference came down to goals by three freshmen – light-scoring defensemen Brett Motherwell and Anthony Aiello, and a spectacular rush by Nathan Gerbe – to give the Eagles enough substance to end North Dakota’s season at 29-16-1. The victory puts BC into Saturday night’s national championship game against Wisconsin.

The youthful Fighting Sioux, who had come of age for a season-high six-game winning streak that carried them to the WCHA playoff title and into the Frozen Four, were victimized by a similarly young Boston College team, which jumped ahead 3-0 in a stunning first period, then regained that margin at 6-3 to blunt a determined Sioux rally.

Collins, who scored two goals in the first period to create BC’s first three-goal lead, completed his hat trick with a clean break to end the second period and give BC its third three-goal lead. The goals give Collins 34 for the season, and made it clear why he – along with Wisconsin goaltender Brian Elliott and Denver defenseman Matt Carle – are the three finalists for the Hobey when it is awarded Saturday night.

“Boston College played very well, very hard, and executed better than we did,” said North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol, who has brought his team to the Frozen Four in both of his two years as coach. “The thing I’m most proud about our guys is that we always battle. There wasn’t an ounce of quit, until the final buzzer.”

The Sioux skated 10 freshmen, as it has done all season, but BC had seven freshmen in the lineup, and the Eagles, like North Dakota, got hot at playoff time to ambush archrival Boston University in regional play to get to Bradley Center. Some in the media tried to create a revenge motive, because BC was eliminated by North Dakota last year in the regional at Worcester, Mass., but Schneider and Collins said that sounded good, but had nothing to do with this yearÂ’s drive to go all the way.

Ironically, after MotherwellÂ’s fourth goal, on a screened wrist shot, opened the scoring, AielloÂ’s first goal of the season may have been most significant. The Sioux had cut the 3-0 deficit to 3-2, when, late in the second period, AielloÂ’s wide-angle shot through a tangle seemed to magically get through goaltender Jordan Parise. That seemed to stun the Sioux into a bit of impatience, and Collins followed up make it 5-2, instead of 3-2, at the second intermission. Without AielloÂ’s goal, the Sioux would have been in perfect position to overrun the Eagles with their three-goal the third period.

“That was a great time for his first goal of the year,” said Schneider, “because we were on our heels right then.”

But BC could never relax, as the Fighting Sioux made a spirited closing bid. Down 6-3, Travis Zajac scored shorthanded at 15:42, and 18-year-old freshman Brian Lee snuck a wrist shot from center point past Schneider with 13 seconds remaining.

“We had a great rush early, but we were hanging at the end,” said BC coach Jerry York. “Even with 12 seconds left, and a faceoff at center ice, there was no doubt this one wasn’t over until the final buzzer.”

North Dakota goaltender Jordan Parise may not have been as dominant as he had been through the Sioux stretchdrive, but mostly he was the victim of his youthful teammates being caught by the speedy Eagles. Hakstol reacted with surprise to a press conference question about whether he considered pulling Parise. Interestingly, nobody seemed to fault Schneider, who allowed an uncharacteristic five goals – two of them shorthanded.

The first period hole was strange. North Dakota outshot BC 12-5, yet trailed 3-0. Motherwell staked BC to a 1-0 lead at 7:43, then Collins rushed up the left side on a near-breakaway, waiting as long as he could before a defender could cut him off, then snapping a shot from the left circle that beat Parise and snared the extreme upper right corner at 12:34. True, the shot crossed in front of PariseÂ’s body, but it was perfectly placed, by a senior sniper who now has 34 goals, after scoring only 30 his first three years.

The Sioux didnÂ’t seem to lose their poise, and instead intensified their attack, but Schneider stopped everything, and at 18:48, the Eagles got lucky when Collins fired again from the left circle, and his shot glanced off defenseman Joe FinleyÂ’s stick for a deflection that found the net to make it 3-0.

North Dakota broke through Schneider at 4:23 of the second period, while killing a penalty. Rastislav Spirko carried up the right side, and shot from the circle. The puck was blocked, but when Schneider swept the puck away from a closing winger on the left side, he put it right back on the right, where SpirkoÂ’s quick reaction converted the wide-angle chance as he passed the goal on the right.

The Sioux kept coming, and just after a power play failed to click, Matt Watkins, behind the BC goal, passed out to Rylan Kaip, who was barging to the crease from the left side. Kaip caught the pass and jammed it through Schneider at 13:25 to lift the Sioux within striking distance at 3-2.

As quickly as they closed in, however, the Eagles got the huge goal from Aiello, who rushed up the boards from right point, cut toward the net, and shot from a wide angle through traffic. Parise was on his knees, and appeared to have left no hole, but the puck found its way through at 15:38.

That restored the BC equilibrium at 4-2, and it may have made the Sioux impatient, while again shorthanded in the final minute of the second period. Benn Ferriero got possession on the right boards and flipped the puck to the slot, where – guess who? – Chris Collins was racing in alone. Collins shifted to his right, made a good move to get Parise to move, and snapped his shot in on the right side at 19:37.
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All that effort to make it 3-2, and the period ended 5-2 – another three-goal deficit. “Those two goals late in the second period turned things around,” said Hakstol. “Especially the fourth goal. Then we got caught with tired legs and had a poor line change at the end of a shift, which led to a bad decision.”

Indeed, the Sioux opened the third period and started stalking the 5-2 deficit. Toews, a 17-year-old freshman, got the puck high in the slot on a power play, circled to his right, and glanced a short-side shot off Schneider an in at 8:11, cutting it to 5-3.

But again Boston College came right back, this time, when Sioux defenseman Matt Smaby played it cautious and chose not to race Nathan Gerbe for the puck. Gerbe, another talented BC freshman, made a quick rush, 1-on-2. He caught Smaby still trying to get set, and beat him with a great deke to get past him on the right. Zooming in all alone, Gerbe saved one more deft move for Parise, cutting sharply to score at the left post. That goal, at 10:33, came just 2:22 after the Toews goal and made it 6-3, again seeming to puncture the UND bid.

“They got that early lead, and it made it tough to come back,” said Sioux junior Drew Stafford. “But we did. I’m very proud of our guys for showing a lot of heart. The trouble was, we’d get one and they’d get one.”

At 6-3, the Sioux made a final bid. Another penalty was no obstacle for North Dakota, as Stafford found Zajac with a slick pass, and Zajac, a sophomore from Winnipeg, skated in alone, deked, and beat Schneider with a backhander inside the left pipe. The shorthanded goal cut the deficit to 6-4 with 4:18 remaining.

Yet another North Dakota penalty diverted the rally, but back at full strength, and Parise pulled for a sixth attacker, the Sioux pressed in the final minute, Zajac got his third point of the game with an artful draw on a left-corner faceoff, pulling the puck back to the left point. Lee, an 18-year-old rookie who also had assisted on ZajacÂ’s goal, moved to center point to pick up a screen, then sent a wrist shot from 60 feet that beat Schneider just inside the left post.

The clock showed only 13 seconds remaining — actually, 12 and a decimal on the new scoreboard, showing 10ths of a second. That led to YorkÂ’s assessment, that even then, the game was in doubt. What would appear to be less in doubt is that, with fourth-line center Mike Prpich the only senior in the semifinal lineup, the Fighting Sioux will be back and looking for more next season.

Fighting Sioux could repeat 1997 history at Milwaukee

Ah, history. They say those who donÂ’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and presumably that goes for hockey coaches as well as Presidents. North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol might both learn from, and repeat, some history as he takes the Fighting Sioux to Milwaukee for the NCAA Frozen Four.

The Fighting Sioux (29-15-1) play Boston College (25-12-3) at 2 p.m. Thursday in the first semifinal at the Bradley Center, with Wisconsin (28-10-3) facing Maine (28-11-2) in the 7 p.m. second semi. The winners meet for the national title at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Last week, the media and the Frozen Four coaches were linked by conference call. One Boston-accented television broadcaster who repeatedly criticized North Dakota for “dumb penalties” in its 4-1 NCAA championship game loss to Denver last year, said he noticed that the Sioux used power-play goals to win the West Regional, so he wondered if Hakstol would “talk about” his change in coaching philosophy, turning those dumb penalties into power plays.

Hakstol paused slightlyÂ… Hakstol always pauses slightly, before delivering astute and articulate answers, even to dumb non-questions about dumb penalties.

“I have had no change in philosophy, either in how we play, or in the attitude we always try to play with,” said Hakstol. “We want to play very aggressively, with speed, and use our natural skill. But we always want to be physical, and everything generates off that.”

Great response. Direct, to the point, and exactly the way the Fighting Sioux play. Many coaches would have seized the opportunity to lobby about not taking penalties in hopes of getting favorable treatment from officials, but not Hakstol. It is engraved on the psyche of every Fighting Sioux player that to live up to the program’s heritage, they come at you with no secrets – no mystery. Here they are, with their Native American logo proudly on their chests, and if you can’t see it too well now, pay attention, because it will be up close and personal in a second, an instant before they crunch you into the boards.

What you see is what you get, and if the Sioux play at a pace that is too rough for you, and too fast for you, wellÂ…too bad.

Youthful, and inconsistent early, nobody would call this year’s Fighting Sioux team physically intimidating, and certainly not chippy. But they play textbook in-your-face Sioux hockey, and they do it well. It could be said that Boston College and Maine are sort-of surprises at the Frozen Four, while Wisconsin is the favorite. But North Dakota is the hottest team in the country right now, because it is the hottest of the Frozen Foursome – the only college teams still playing.

Not noted during the press conference was that HakstolÂ’s first team reached the Frozen Four a year ago by taking the hard road through the WCHA playoffs. After beating UMD 8-2, 6-1 in the first round to earn a slot in the “play-in” game, the Sioux beat Wisconsin 3-2, then lost to Denver 2-1 in overtime in the semifinal. In the third-place game, North Dakota came from a 2-1 deficit to beat Minnesota 4-2. The weekend’s work lifted North Dakota to an NCAA berth, ranked 10th.

All that meant the Fighting Sioux were banished to the East Regional in Worcester, Mass. No problem. They simply whipped Boston University 4-0 and then took out No. 2 Boston College 6-3. The Sioux took their share of penalties, and then some, at the regional, but held both BU and BC to identical 0-for-9 shutouts on their power plays. Maybe penalties aren’t so “dumb” if you kill them off in the process of overrunning highly regarded opponents.

The Sioux beat Minnesota 4-2 in the NCAA semifinals before losing 4-1 to Denver in the championship game.

At this year’s Frozen Four, of course, there is a considerable new look to the Fighting Sioux. When the television cameras show close-ups on the ice,look closely and see how youthful they look. ThatÂ’s not an illusion, that so many of them look like teenagers. With a half-dozen forwards and four of six defensemen being freshmen, these Fighting Sioux are young. For examples, Jonathan Toews, a brilliant center, wonÂ’t turn 18 until the end of the month, and defenseman Brian Lee is still 18.

They may be too young to have a sense of historical perspective, because they were youngsters in fourth grade the last time the NCAA Frozen Four was in Milwaukee, in 1997. But repeating history wouldnÂ’t be a bad thing for North Dakota, because North Dakota beat Colorado College 6-2 and Boston University 6-4 to claim the national title in the 1997 tournament at Bradley Center.

That was in the second year of the Dean Blais coaching regime, and his assistants were Mark Osiecki and Scott Sandelin. Blais spent one year rebuilding, then the Sioux won the WCHA championship. It appeared that bigger and better things would be in the future for that Sioux group, but they were impatient, and everything came together as they won the WCHA Final Five, a stepping stone to the Frozen Four title. The team was led by a young sophomore dynamo named Jason Blake, but at Milwaukee, players like goaltender Aaron Schweitzer and checking-line skater Matt Henderson stepped to the team-oriented forefront to lead the way.

Sound familiar? Hakstol is in his second season, and he did his rebuilding job on the Sioux last year and part of this one. Osiecki will be at the Frozen Four too, but as assistant coach at Wisconsin, while Sandelin is now head coach at Minnesota-Duluth. Hakstol’s assistants are defensive specialist Brad Berry, and the redoubtable Cary Eades, who went off to coaching accolades at Warroad High School before returning to his alma mater as Hakstol’s assistant. No one has checked his driver’s license, but “in-your-face” might be Eades’ middle name.

Other similarities are that the Sioux are led offensively by a freshman dynamo named T.J. Oshie, who would as soon run over an opponent as score a goal, which means he ran over quite a few, because he scored 24 goals centering the first line, including a nation’s best nine game-winners. The attack that came of age winning the WCHA Final Five playoffs includes 10 freshmen and only a couple seniors – indicating the Fighting Sioux might be a year or two away from being a dominant team.
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Nobody would say this yearÂ’s Fighting Sioux had a dominant season. They started WCHA play 1-3, struggled to stay above .500 much of the year, tying Colorado College for fourth in league play, finishing 16-12 in the WCHA. However, the biggest lesson from 1997 to this year is that championship teams take advantage of opportunities when they arise, and it doesn’t work to wait for the so-called dominant team to rise to the surface, because it might not happen.

But thatÂ’s old news. The Fighting Sioux are 29-15-1 overall, and after never winning more than three games in a row all season, they now have won six straight games, having finished off Minnesota State-Mankato with two straight victories after an opening playoff surprise, then beating Wisconsin and St. Cloud State to win the Final Five, before taking out Michigan and upstart Holy Cross to win the West Regional, at home in Grand Forks.

Junior Drew Stafford missed the Final Five with an injury, but came back to notch his 24th goal of the season in the regional. That ties him with freshman Oshie in team goals, while Toews has 21, making the Sioux the only Frozen Four team with three 20-plus goals. While many scorers can boast about padding their statistics with power-play goals, StaffordÂ’s 24 include a nationÂ’s best 7 shorthanded goals.

The balanced scoring has come together, and the Sioux power play is clicking at 29.4 percent in their last 15 games. At the regional, in beating Michigan 5-1, Oshie, Stafford, Ryan Duncan, Toews and sophomore Travis Zajac each scored a goal, and in beating Holy Cross 5-2, again five different scorers connected, with Toews, Duncan, junior defenseman Matt Smaby, Zajac and freshman Matt Watkins scoring. Toews had three assists with his two goals in the two games, and was named outstanding player at the regional.

“Toews is an extremely big part of our team,” said Hakstol. “He was a pretty young man coming tour campus last fall, but he’s adjusted very well, on and off the ice. He didn’t put up the numbers he expected of himself early, and now we’re seeing the results. He’s really starting tocome on and is a dynamic force offensively.

“The play of our defensive corps is a mirror image of our whole team. With four freshmen back there, we did some great things, but also had some inconsistent play. Certainly Brad Berry has done a great job staying positive with them, and they’re not afraid to play; if they make mistakes, they’re not afraid to go right back out there. In the WCHA you’re dealing with some outstanding forwards, so it’s a pretty big learning curve for young defensemen – especially in the first half of their freshman year.”

One of the intriguing things about this particular Frozen Four is that all four teams have exceptional goaltending. Jordan Parise, who has emerged as an outstanding leader as well as perhaps the most competitive goalie in the nation, mans the nets for the Sioux, and will oppose Cory Schneider, who recorded eight shutouts for Boston College. Brian Elliott is the star goaltender for Wisconsin, and Ben Bishop has had a strong season for Maine.

Boston College coach Jerry York suggested his team has some other parallels with North Dakota. “We have four freshman defensemen too, and as the year went on, we had a better team than I had envisioned,” York said. “We had a little slide, but then we rallied to win against Vermont, and caught fire. We’re a little dangerous to play, right now.”

BC’s offense is a bit of a surprise, too, because Kevin Collins, who was a strong player and a “9-11 goal scorer for three years,” said York, suddenly found a belated scoring touch and has 31 goals, earning one of three Hobey Baker finalist slots, along with Elliott, and Denver defenseman Matt Carle.

The Sioux donÂ’t have anybody up for such lofty awards. But they have a dedicated focus on the big team plaque thatÂ’s given out Saturday night.

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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.