Plan ahead for Super Bowl, and expect the Vikings to win it
The Vikings will win the Super Bowl.
There, it’s been said. I’d like to see them play Oakland, but that’s wide open on the AFC side.
What has happened is that the NFL’s never-ending quest for parity has created a league with all teams as close to equal as possible, aided by free-agency. Teams are so equal that upsets aren’t upsets anymore, and a team that is expected to be real good is assured of losing two or three games along the way. When such a team loses a couple games it should win, that team can end up with a mediocre record, with the fellows from Washington (6-4), Tampa Bay (6-5) and Jacksonville (4-7) submitted as Exhibits A, B and C.
The Minnesota Vikings have emerged as being more than equal, by surprise. They were figured to be about in the middle of the Central Division of the NFC, with the Lions, Packers and Bears, all clustered behind Tampa Bay. The Vikings had lost two quarterbacks (what were their names again?) and some defensive guys, which led coach Dennis Green to be criticized by experts all across the country. The audacity of Green choosing to go with an untried young quarterback also met with hoots and heckles.
Before the season started, I wrote that under the Vikings system, an adequate quarterback could look very good, throwing the ball to Randy Moss and Cris Carter and handing it to Robert Smith. The fact that Daunte Culpepper was a giant who also could run made him more than just adequate in the Vikings’ picture. It was easy to generate debates, and even a few friendly wagers on the issue.
One fellow right in the Duluth Budgeteer News office bet that Culpepper would implode and the Vikings would go 7-9. Another argued that they’d struggle and come in 9-7. I was pretty sure they’d be better than that, so I took 10-6, just to get in on a plan for dinner, with the two losers buying for the winner. The Vikings are 9-2, but I think it would be tasteful, so to speak, to wait a couple more weeks before picking out the restaurant.
As for the Super Bowl Â… True, the Vikings’ defense has given up a lot this season, but they are getting better, and cutting down the opposing points and yards. Besides, look around the league. Who plays great defense anymore? Miami’s defense, and Tampa Bay’s, of course, are impressive, and Baltimore and New Orleans have been stingy. The Vikings have allowed 235 points, which is more than all but the porous Chicago Bears in the Central Division.
But a strange transformation has taken place throughout the NFL along with the parity scheme. The teams that play the best defense seem to have the most trouble scoring. Of the 31 NFL teams, 17 have given up fewer points than the Vikings, 13 have yielded more points so far this season. The Vikings can play decent defense when a big play requires it, as they showed Sunday in overwhelming a good Carolina team, coming up with three straight big plays when Carolina had first and goal at the 1, but had to settle for a field goal.
It was Carolina that just defeated the St. Louis Rams, the team that shocked the Vikings, and the whole league, one year ago. The Cardinals couldn’t handle a team that the Vikings clearly outclassed on Sunday. And it is the Rams who represent the biggest obstacle to the Vikings once playoffs start, because the Rams are one of four teams that have scored more points than the Vikings, and the only one on the NFC side. And the Rams’ defense has given up more points than all but San Francisco in the whole NFL.
Those are pragmatic reasons for picking the Vikings to win the Super Bowl. The best reason is just a simple gut feeling. No other team can strike as quickly, from anywhere, to put points on the board, and the Vikings have a rising crest of confidence on their side. Culpepper has forced critic after critic to swallow preseason words of doom and gloom, first by showing a gutsy ability to run around, over and through opposing defenses, then learning to read and check off to secondary receivers and in selection of alternative plays at the line of scrimmage.
Robert Smith not only is the most articulate and intelligent player in the NFL, he also is the best and most exciting running back in the league. Carter is arrogant and temperamental, but nobody comes through more predictably under pressure, when the pass is coming and crucial yards are necessary. Moss is simply the most gifted receiver in the league, with the ability to outjump any and every defensive back, and the burning desire to catch every pass thrown to him blended with the demand to be thrown to more often.
Green remains indifferent if not unfriendly to the media, but who cares? His players love him, and respond to his orders, and the offensive and defensive coordinators all seem to be on the same page. If the situation arises in a big playoff game this year, we can assume the Vikings won’t “take a knee” and capitulate. When the pressure is on, Culpepper can give the ball to Smith, or pass to Carter or Moss for the big plays, and, if nothing is available, watch for Culpepper to instinctively run at, through and over somebody to get the job done.
Make plans now for your Super Bowl party now. Just remember to wear something purple.
John Gilbert is a sports writer for Murphy McGinnis Newspapers. He can be reached by e-mail at john.gilbert@mx3.com.
Sioux make bid for title; Bulldogs make strides for respectability
The pupil came to study at the foot of the master last weekend. Score two for the master.
UMD coach Scott Sandelin obviously intends to institute the same principles that have made North Dakota the dominant team in the WCHA, principles Sandelin helped enforce during his six years as Blais’ assistant with the Fighting Sioux. It was no surprise that North Dakota beat the Bulldogs both games, 5-3 and 5-2, but both games were hard-fought, showing both how far UMD has come under Sandelin, and also underscoring just how far the Bulldogs have to go.
“It takes a little while to adjust, but I thought we played a little better, and a little smarter,” said Sandelin. “The kids battled and worked hard. We’ve played some good games against some very good teams. But we’re getting better. Instead of getting no bounces, we got some bounces.”
The Bulldogs put up a stirring battle both nights, but dropped to 1-7 in WCHA play, going into this weekend’s nonconference trip to Vermont, where they will play New Hampshire and Vermont. The Fighting Sioux extended their unbeaten surge to seven games (6-0-1), and are 7-2-1, a point behind first-place Minnesota, a team the Sioux beat and tied last week.
Outside of the existing Engelstad Arena, which might be the best college hockey rink in the country, several of the largest cranes ever seen in the nation towered above the erector-set skeletal array of parts a couple of blocks away, which will be the new Engelstad Arena, by FAR the best college hockey arena in the land. It will be an $80-million structure, with 48 suites — 46 of which have already been sold at $28,000 for three years. There will be granite floors with marble inlays, tiled walls, and will have 350 television sets showing the patrons what’s going on, even while they’re at concession stands or in the rest rooms.
Meanwhile, UMD can’t quite match that for off-ice clout. The Bulldogs are still trying to figure out how to get a modest structure built on campus, but that’s far from Sandelin’s concern at present time. He is simply striving for getting his players all headed in the same direction, hopefully the direction North Dakota has been taking for the last four years, during which they’ve won three league titles and a runner-up slot, plus two NCAA championships.
Sandelin has stressed a no-nonsense, work-ethic code of discipline, off the ice and on. For the weekend, the Bulldogs worked consistently hard, but, as Sandelin knows only too well, teams don’t outwork North Dakota under Blais. While the Bulldogs worked hard, the Sioux worked hard and scored goals.
Sophomore goaltender Rob Anderson extricated himself from Sandelin’s doghouse with his performance both nights. He played the first game and was nothing short of spectacular, holding the Bulldogs in the game despite being outshot 44-17, and the outcome was uncertain until Ryan Bayda’s empty-net goal with 16 seconds to go for the 5-3 score.
Mark Carlson, Nate Anderson and Jon Francisco got the goals, bringing UMD back from deficits of 2-0, 3-1 and 4-2 to make it close. But the Sioux got goals from Bryan Lundbohm — who was inexplicably left alone for several seconds — and fromTim Skarperud, Trevor Hammer, Jason Notermann and Bayda.
After the first game, Sandelin acknowledged that a disciplinary move had rendered Anderson to the second man in the goaltending rotation with freshman Adam Coole just before Game 1 at Minnesota. But, Sandelin obviously wasn’t about to hold any grudge, and when Anderson played well in the second game against Michigan Tech, he gave him his start at North Dakota. In that second Tech game, Sandelin also benched captain Derek Derow and awarded the captaincy to defenseman Andy Reierson.
Derow didn’t exactly come out flying in the first game at North Dakota, and he played sparingly after the first period. Meanwhile, right after the first Sioux game, Michael Miskovich waited in the hallway outside the UMD dressing room to talk to Sandelin. “Miskie wanted to apologize for not keeping the puck in the zone,” said Sandelin.
In the second game, Miskovich was rewarded for his dilligence by scoring the first goal to give UMD a 1-0 lead, and Derow seemed to buy into the message with a hustling performance that began with an assist on the play. However, penalty problems bedeviled the Bulldogs. Ace Sioux defenseman Travis Roche tied it with a power-play goal before the first period ended, and Bayda and Lundbohm made it 3-1 with two more power-play goals on Coole in the second period.
Later in the second period, Coole stopped the goal-crashing rush of Kevin Spiewak but suffered a dislocated thumb in the collision and left the game in pain. Anderson came in and made another spirited effort, blocking all 11 shots he faced in the second period and only yielding a goal by Lundbohm, who swatted a Wes Dorey pass out of the air for a goal midway through the third period.
By then, Tom Nelson had scored to bring UMD within 3-2 to open the third period, and again the Bulldogs came on, making up for a 35-16 shot deficit after two periods with a 15-4 edge themselves in the third. If Lundbohm’s second goal of the game was the clincher, Roche’s second of the game came into an empty net with 28 seconds to go.
“You’ve got to give them credit,” said Lundbohm, a junior from Roseau who boosted his WCHA-leading goal total to 16 goals — same as the total of UMD’s 12 forwards who played Saturday. “They did a good job of not letting us get to the net. We needed to get a couple bounces on the power play to beat ’em.”
UMD’s work-ethic falls 5-2 to UND’s work-plus-goals-ethic
GRAND FORKS, N.D.—Both teams lived up to their WCHA reputations Saturday night: The UMD Bulldogs worked hard, while the North Dakota Fighting Sioux worked hard and scored goals, to claim a 5-2 series-sweeping victory.
“That’s what happens when you have Bryan Lundbohm on your team,” said North Dakota coach Dean Blais.
Lundbohm was the difference, scoring two goals to run his WCHA-leading tally to 16. The 12 skaters who manned UMD’s forward slots last night also have 16, only that’s their total for the season.
Nobody knows better than UMD coach Scott Sandelin that North Dakota, under Blais, simply doesn’t get outworked. You can beat the Sioux, but you can’t outwork them. Sandelin is trying to establish a similar work-ethic in his first year since leaving the Sioux staff, and he has been quite successful.
“It takes a little while to adjust, but I thought we played a little better, and a little smarter,” said Sandelin. “The kids battled and worked hard. We’ve played some good games against some very good teams.”
The difference in the two teams, at this point, is North Dakota’s flashy first line, and its impact on the power play. Bryan Lundbohm, the WCHA’s top goal-scorer, scored his 15th and 16th of the season and assisted on another to provide the margin of victory, after he also had scored one in Friday’s 5-3 North Dakota victory. Ryan Bayda, the sophomore winger on the big line, scored his 10th ,of the season and second of the weekend, and added an assist, while center Jeff Panzer had two assists.
Travis Roche, the superb Sioux sophomore defenseman, departed from his habit of only setting up goals by scoring his first two goals of the season, the second into an empty net.
The Bulldogs put up a stirring battle both nights, but dropped to 1-7 in WCHA play, while the Fighting Sioux extended their unbeaten surge to seven games (6-0-1), and are 7-2-1, a point behind first-place Minnesota, a team the Sioux beat and tied last week.
“You’ve got to give UMD a lot of credit,” said Lundbohm. “Both their goalies played well, and they did a good job of not letting us get to the net. Last night we couldn’t get anything going on the power play, and tonight we needed to get a couple of bounces and three goals on power plays.”
Lundbohm, who scored the actual game-winner in the second period, added an artful goal midway through the third when he deflected a pass from Wes Dorey out of the air and into the net, the only goal Anderson yielded, and an unstoppable one.
“We did a good job of forechecking, and I passed down low to him,” said Lundbohm. “He passed it back to me, and it was a little bit off the ice — maybe 6 inches — and I happened to get my stick on it.”
Right. He just happened to get his stick on it. “Goals like that,” said Sandelin, “go in when you’re winning. But instead of getting no bounces, we got some bounces tonight.”
The Bulldogs stood 5-5 in shots after eight minutes, and Derek Derow fired one off goalie Karl Goehring’s mask on one impressive attempt. Then the Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead on Michael Miskovich’s goal at 11:46. It was a small victory for the constant effort put out by the sophomore from Grand Rapids.
The Sioux offset that when they were awarded the only two penalties of the first period, and the Sioux power play took over. Roche moved up from center point and fired a shot that starting UMD goaltender Adam Coole partially blocked, only to be left helpless as the puck trickled into the net behind him at 15:08.
In the second period, the Sioux came out storming, outshooting UMD 21-6 and appearing to settle the issue with two more power-play goals for a 3-1 lead. Bayda scored at 2:37, after Coole had scrambled to make two or three deft saves, but his final dive across the crease couldn’t keep up with the Sioux rapid puck movement had isolated Bayda at the right edge for a quick shot.
At 7:38, Lundbohm deflected a Roche point shot past Coole, and it was 3-1. Coole, a freshman, was injured midway through the second period when he came up with an impressive save on a hard rush by Kevin Spiewak. Coole recovered to make another save, but was shaken up and helped from the ice with what was later diagnosed as a dislocated thumb. Rob Anderson, who had been brilliant in Friday’s loss, came in and blocked all 11 Sioux shots for the remainder of the second period, once again holding the ‘Dogs in the game.
UMD put some pressure on North Dakota in the third period, and Tommy Nelson, who had sat out a fighting suspension Friday, scored at 1:08 of the third to suddenly close the gap to 3-2.
Lundbohm, however, restored some breathing room with a goal at 9:36 with his airborne goal.
Sandelin pulled Anderson with 2:12 to go, for a 6-on-4 power play, Goehring and the Sioux held firm. In the final minute, Roche flipped a shot from center ice that deflected off the stick of UMD’s Mark Carlson and found the empty net for the clincher.
Fighting Sioux overcome Anderson’s heroics to trip Bulldogs 5-3
GRAND FORKS, N.D.—The public address announcer at Engelstad Arena gave UMD coach and former North Dakota assistant Scott Sandelin a warm and lengthy introduction. The crowd of 6,067 followed up by giving Sandelin a rousing ovation. But Rob Anderson gave Sandelin his most-appreciated tribute of the night, by kicking out 39 North Dakota shots and giving the UMD Bulldogs the chance for an upset.
Turns out, it wasn’t quite enough, but it took Ryan Bayda’s empty-net goal with 16 seconds remaining to settle a 5-3 Fighting Sioux victory in Friday night’s series opener. But coming close enough to for a pulled-goalie, six-skater attack through the last two minutes despite being outshot 44-17 was an impressive climax for a spirited effort by the Bulldogs.
“He gave us a chance to be in the game — to win the game,” said Sandelin. “That’s what we needed. That’s two good games in a row for Robbie. He followed up a good performance last Saturday with another good one tonight.”
With Anderson stopping shot after shot, UMD closed up to 3-2 in the second period, getting the only goal of the period while being outshot 17-5. The Bulldogs trailed 4-2 after Jason Notermann’s shorthanded goal midway through the third period, but Jon Francisco scored with 4:05 remaining to close the gap to one goal again.
All of that, however, was due to the play of Anderson. The sophomore goaltender from Superior had seemed the heir-apparent to take over in goal, after playing several games as a freshman backing up the senior Brant Nicklin last season. But he got himself at least partially into new coach Scott Sandelin’s doghouse before the first game at Minnesota, and freshman Adam Coole played and earned the starting slot in the alternating rotation.
Sandelin acknowledged that his difference with Anderson at the start was “a discipline thing.” And, perhaps showing he is striving to meet the coach’s demands for discipline, Anderson would only say “I can’t talk about it.”
Anderson certainly did his talking on the ice Friday night, when he counteracted the formidable Sioux offensive force with an acrobatic array of stops — diving, sprawling, sometimes hurling his body to the ice and thrusting an arm or a leg up in the air to stop a seemingly certain goal.
“My outlook coming into North Dakota was that I figured they were a good team, and I’d probably get 40 shots,” said Anderson. “So I figured if I could keep ’em to four goals, I could keep us in the game as long as possible and we’d have a chance.”
The Fighting Sioux outshot UMD 15-8 in the first period, but couldn’t break the scoreless tie until 17:36 had elapsed. Oddly, the breakthrough came when Bryan Lundbohm inexplicably wound up all alone at the goal-mouth. It’s never wise to leave a player uncovered in front of your net, and especially when he’s the WCHA’s leading goal-scorer. The junior from Roseau plucked the rebound away from Anderson after a shot from Jeff Panzer, and was all alone with time to waitÂ…and waitÂ…and wait some more, finally getting Anderson to drop before flicking his 14th goal into the upper left corner.
If it’s dangerous to leave such a scorer uncovered, it’s more dangerous to sag a little after giving up a goal. The ‘Dogs did that, and Tim Skarperud whistled in another goal 25 seconds later for a 2-0 lead. UMD recovered from that lapse to make it a wild final three minutes in the first period, as Judd Medak outraced a Sioux skater for a loose puck deep on the right side, and fed to the crease where Mark Carlson knocked it in at 18:41 for his first goal of the season. Now a left winger, Carlson was a defenseman until two weeks ago.
That got UMD back into the game at 2-1, but Trevor Hammer, another Roseau product, scored from the left circle with three seconds remaining in the period to make it 3-1, with all four goals coming in the final 2:24 of the period.
Anderson had a strong first period, but he really showed his merit in the second, when he stopped all 17 Sioux shots — many of them point-blank amid scrambles — and UMD scratched its way back into the game on a two-man power-play goal, one of only five shots in the period. Nate Anderson got the goal, sneaking to the crease from the right side just in time to convert Drew Otten’s pass at 3:57, before goalie Andy Kollar could react.
“Their goalie played great,” said North Dakota coach Dean Blais. “Especially in the second period, when we outshoot them 17-5 and lose the period 1-0.”
The Bulldogs got a power-play to open the third period, but Notermann stole the puck and raced in shorthanded, only to be foiled by Anderson, who dived out to poke-check the puck away. The Bulldogs got another power-play chance at 7:17, and Notermann got another shorthanded breakaway, after Kevin Spewak blocked a pass. This time, Notermann sped in and beat Anderson at 8:12.
“We were just plugging away, and we figured we’d finally score on him,” said Notermann, a sophomore from Rochester. “I don’t think I’ve gotten two shorthanded breakaways in a game since high school. He surprised me on the first one, by poke-checking me. So on the second one, I decided to shoot instead of deking.”
That goal took UMD out of proximity, but Francisco brought the ‘Dogs back to 4-3, cruising up the slot just as Ryan Homstol got control of the puck deep in the right corner. Homstol passed to the slot and Francisco got everything on a one-time blast that caught the left edge of the net with 4:05 remaining. That left the game up for grabs until the end, and his play gave Anderson renewed fire.
“This was my first start in here,” said Anderson. “Last year we came in here and Brant Nicklin gave up about six goals, and I came in for him and got smoked for four more.”
Sertich to coach at Michigan Tech
Mike Sertich is making a return to college hockey coaching, and he is doing it at the DECC this weekend.
No, Sertich is not returning to UMD, where he coached 18 seasons until being dismissed last spring. He decided Tuesday morning to accept an offer he had received Monday night to become the new head coach at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Mich. The Michigan Tech Huskies play UMD at the DECC Friday and Saturday nights.
Sertich made the announcement on the sports-talk radio show he just began hosting on WDSM, 710 AM. In typical Sertich fashion, he did it with style and subtlety, first talking about “scoops.”
Long-suffering Michigan Tech had upset North Dakota in the opening game of this season, but have since lost seven straight games, including a sweep last weekend against Minnesota State-Mankato. When asked if he thought Michigan Tech might be considering a coaching change, Sertich said that indeed they might be. When asked if such an opening ever came up and Tim Watters were to be fired, would he be interested in returning to the coaching life he loves, Sertich said yes he would.
Then, when asked if he thought such a turn of events could occur, Sertich said: “I would have to say Â… it’s a done deal.”
After the blockbuster announcement had settled in, Sertich said he had discussed the situation with Tech Athletic Director Rick Yeo Monday night.
“When I got home, there were two phone messages from Rick Yeo,” Sertich said. “I thought he was wondering how many passes I wanted.”
Sertich meant for this weekend’s Tech-UMD games. Sertich hasn’t attended a UMD game this season, since being relieved of command and replaced by Scott Sandelin.
“I thought about it a lot last night, but this morning I was having coffee with my wife, Audie, at 6:30, and she asked me if I’d made a decision. I said, ‘Not really.’ I thought about it some more, and on my way into the station for the show, I decided I’d do it. I guess the fire is still burning.”
Sertich, a native of Virginia, Minn., played high school hockey there and then at UMD. He got into coaching by assisting Gus Hendrickson at Grand Rapids High School, and after turning that school into the state’s premier power of the 1970s, Hendrickson and Sertich went to UMD in 1975. Sertich served as Hendrickson’s assistant until Hendrickson was dismissed.
One of the legends of the WCHA is how Sertich was hired only on an interim basis, because athletic director Ralph Romano had an ex-UMD star who was still in the NHL in mind to coach the following year. But under Sertich the 1982-83 Bulldogs went 28-16-1 in his first season and he was voted coach of the year. That got him a permanent contract.
In 1983-84, the ‘Dogs went 29-12-2, won the WCHA title for the first time in history, and went all the way to the NCAA championship game before losing a 5-4 quadruple-overtime classic to Bowling Green. Again, Sertich was coach of the year. And in 1984-85 UMD went 36-9-3, won the WCHA and again got to the NCAA final four before losing in overtime to RPI in the semifinals. Sertich was named WCHA coach of the year for an unprecedented third consecutive year.
The Bulldogs, under Sertich, had trouble maintaining such a high standard, as would any team, but Sertich was known throughout college hockey for his innovative and progressive style of coaching.
His term at UMD peaked again at 21-17-2 in 1997-98, when the Bulldogs capped it by beating Minnesota 5-4 in overtime in the third game of a league playoff series at the DECC, and Sertich ran across the ice in glee and slid into the goal cage in the postgame celebration.
But in 1998-99, the talent ran thin and UMD plummeted to 7-27-4 and ninth place. The Bulldogs stood 11-11 last season before a tailspin of 4-11 in the last half of the season left them eighth, at 15-22. Athletic Director Bob Corran fired Sertich, although he and the school held a press conference to announce that Sertich had resigned. His all-time UMD coaching record is above .500 for the 18 years, with 335 victories, 306 losses and 44 ties, with a 250-245-38 record in WCHA play.
Sertich had the last year of his contract worked out in legal terms during the summer, and spent most of the summer at his Island Lake home, fishing. When he got the opportunity to host the talk radio show three weeks ago, it was an immediate hit. It just had a short run, although Sertich promised to call in from Houghton.
“I’m going home after the show, loading the truck up and heading for Houghton,” Sertich said.
“It’s quite an honor to be asked, although I’m a little apprehensive. I’ll meet with the kids tomorrow, and we’ll be coming up to the DECC this weekend.”
Obviously, it will be a pressure-filled weekend for Tech and Sertich, but his usual sense of humor came through.
“I told Rick Yeo that I would do just about anything, but I won’t call season-ticket holders,” said Sertich, referring to a distasteful task he was ordered to do last year at UMD.
“Now that I’ve been in the media, I guess I can be my own critic,” he added. And, as for the chance Tech wins, he said his postgame celebration will be the model of decorum. “I have a no-sliding clause,” he said.
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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