Rooth, Puputti lead slow-starting Bulldogs to 7-0 1st-game win
DULUTH, MINN. — For most of the first period, it looked like Year 2 might be more of a problem than the UMD women’s hockey team anticipated. But after holding off a spirited opening by St. Lawrence, the Bulldogs put things together in time to skate to a 7-0 victory at the DECC.
Goaltender Tuula Puputti held the Bulldogs in the game during their out-of-sync start, which was pretty much forced on them by St. Lawrence. Once UMD got untracked, then caught fire for four second-period goals, it was smooth sailing to the victory behind three goals and an assist from Maria Rooth and the shutout goaltending of Puputti.
“They’re a good team and we had to work,” said Rooth, a free-wheeling sophomore winger from Sweden. “We knew we could score, but it was the first game, and it just took us some time.”
UMD coach Shannon Miller got exactly what she expected, and wanted, for an opening series, which concludes with a Saturday night rematch.
“I expected them to come out and put some pressure on us, and I told the team that, because they have a good team with a good coach,” said Miller. “We didn’t outshoot them by that much, and while it was 7-0, there really wasn’t that big a margin in the game. I’m proud of our team, though, because I expected us to have some nervous energy, and I knew once we got it out, we’d go. And we responded well.”
St. Lawrence put the puck in deep and forechecked right off the opening faceoff, and the Saints fired off the first five shots of the game. Amanda Sargeant had a couple of excellent scoring chances. In fact, when UMD was finally given a shot on the board, it was a gift, coming when Hanne Sikio’s shot hit the right post and glanced back into the crease without ever being on goal. The Bulldogs, who opened with a lot of romps last season, were being given sympathy statistics.
“We knew from playing against them last year that it would be a tough game,” said Puputti. “But I really like to start with a game like this.”
UMD killed two penalties, then got a power play of its own and made it click late in the first period. Freshman winger Sanna Peura from Finland shot one off a pipe, and then Pamela Pachal, a defenseman who moved up deep on the left, scored at 16:07, with one second left in the power play.
It wasn’t as though any big weight was lifted, but the Bulldogs started to click right after that. Rooth had the puck in the right corner, skated to the net, then snapped a shot high into the short side at 17:43 for a 2-0 lead.
“I was going to give it to Jenny Hempel because she was screaming,” said Rooth. “But the goaltender heard her and stepped out, and left me the whole side of the net.”
That goal got Rooth untracked, and she opened the second period by sneaking out of the UMD zone for a long pass from Brittny Ralph, then zoomed in alone at goalie Caryn Ungewitter, beating her with a high-speed deke and a shift to her backhand at 3:58. But Rooth had to share the heroics with a pair of freshman forwards.
Peura, hustling for the puck all night, blocked an outlet try and rushed for a shot, with Sikio knocking in the rebound for a 4-0 lead. Rooth made it 5-0 with another end-to-end rush at 12:46. The second-period onslaught concluded at 18:08 when Sheena Podovinnikoff, another freshman, was sent sprawling to the ice but saw the puck and swept in a rebound for the 6-0 cushion.
St. Lawrence coach Paul Flanagan switched to Rachel Barrie in goal for the third period, and she came up with 11 saves, yielding only Hempel’s goal midway through the session, after Rooth had circled around behind the net and fed across the goal-mouth.
As Miller had said, the scoreboard didn’t reflect how competitive the game was. The Bulldogs had a 32-27 edge in shots, but Puputti had to be outstanding to record the shutout. After the early Saints attack, she also had to stop a third-period chance when Suzanne Fiacco broke in alone.
“Tuula played very well,” said Miller. “She’s so ‘on’ her game right now, she’s really playing well.”
Pro hockey’s ultimate uncertainty can’t affect Kurvers’ class act
Tom Kurvers sat up high, in the press box of the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, watching the fledgling Minnesota Wild play an exhibition game. He was wearing a dress shirt and tie, and his cool demeanor, and handsome, winning smile were the same as when he skated on defense for the UMD Bulldogs.
Kurvers came from Bloomington Jefferson, making the transition from high school star to college hero with ease. He always played with poise, and he helped usher in the most successful era of UMD hockey. He was a junior on the team that made Bulldog history by making its first-ever appearance in an NCAA tournament in 1983, and his senior year couldn’t have been more memorable.
Kurvers was the captain when the Bulldogs won their first WCHA championship in 1984. That was the year UMD had to move to Williams Arena in Minneapolis to play host to a playoff series against North Dakota because of a boat show at the DECC. A UMD “home” record crowd of 7,297 watched the ‘Dogs whip the Sioux 8-1 to come as close as possible to winning a two-game, total-goal series in one game. UMD stayed close the next night, losing 5-4, to claim the series and move on to the NCAA tourney.
After beating Clarkson, UMD ventured to Lake Placid, N.Y., for its first try at the NCAA final four. Bill Watson and Bob Lakso scored goals and UMD beat North Dakota 2-1 in the semifinals, and the next day, Kurvers — already the WCHA most-valuable player — was presented with the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as the top colllegiate hockey player in the country. The night after that, UMD lost 5-4 in a four-overtime classic against Bowling Green in the national championship game.
Kurvers, who may well be headed for the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in the next couple of years, went on to play defense for 11 seasons in the NHL, with the reputation as a smooth, poised goal-creator at the point of power plays. Had he been a physical terror, Kurvers undoubtedly would have stayed in one place for his full career, but he was far too classy to merely be a thug. So he played for Montreal, Buffalo, New Jersey, Toronto, Vancouver, the New York Islanders and Anaheim.
Another very classy individual, Bobby Smith, hired Kurvers to scout for Phoenix a couple years ago, and it was in that capacity that Kurvers was “home” in Minnesota, visiting the Xcel Center. He is caught in the midst of one of the most peculiar situations in NHL history, as owner Richard Burke, who bought the Winnipeg Jets with the intention of moving the franchise to the Twin Cities, then found that the Minneapolis city fathers had sold the farm at Target Center to the Timberwolves so thoroughly that an NHL franchise couldn’t hope to break even.
So the Jets moved on to Phoenix, and Burke put Smith in place to run the franchise. But Burke is trying to sell the team now, and when it is finalized, Wayne Gretzky has been promised the position to run the franchise. That means Smith is running the team day to day, knowing each day might be his last. Same for Kurvers.
“Wayne isn’t there yet, so it’s business as usual until the transition actually happens,” Kurvers said. “We’re pretty sure it will come sometime before the end of the year, but until then, none of us knows what our future will be. So I was anxious to get out on the road and do some scouting, of the NHL, AHL, IHL — anywhere, because its pretty uncertain back in Phoenix.”
Kurvers and his wife had their second child, a baby girl named Rose, in August. Their older daughter is Madison, 5. “My parents are still in Bloomington, so it’s fun coming back here,” Kurvers said.
Like everyone else who is from Minnesota and has ever played the game, Kurvers is happy for Minnesota to be back in the NHL. And Kurvers can provide a bit of extra insight into the new Wild regime, under coach Jacques Lemaire, because he spent a year playing under him in Montreal.
“Jacques Lemaire is the most astute coach I ever had,” said Kurvers. “He knew all the little signals from each player, the signals they give off when things are going good or going bad. He learned them in a hurry, and it helped him know how to work with each player. I only had one year under him, and I wish it could have been longer.”
When Gretzky, another class act, takes over the Coyotes, it is anticipated he’ll stock the administrative positions with his own friends and associates. If he has a clue, he will make sure to keep Tom Kurvers in the operation. If not, and Kurvers becomes available, he has so much respect around the NHL that it seems certain he’ll be quick to find another job. Kurvers is a star player who never forgot where he came from. He helped put UMD’s hockey program on the national collegiate map, and he’d be an asset to any operation. Look for him at a hall of fame near you, soon.
SPEAKING OF HALL OF FAME
You’ll read about it officially after it’s all signed, sealed and delivered, but you can write this down as fact, right now: Herb Brooks will be the head coach of the 2002 men’s U.S. Olympic hockey team that will play in Salt Lake City.
Worldly Bulldog women’s hockey team set for St. Lawrence series
If last season proved anything to the UMD women’s hockey team it was to shoot for the sky, because even the loftiest of projections is not out of reach.
Year 2 starts this weekend, and when St. Lawrence comes to the DECC to take on the Bulldogs Friday and Saturday nights it will be some evidence of how much difference a year makes. Especially when it’s a spectacular, league-championship, final-four type year.
None of the nation’s established eastern colleges wanted to venture out west to play a small college in its first season, so UMD had to go east to play the top teams.
“We went out to Lake Placid for a tournament and we beat St. Lawrence out there,” said UMD coach Shannon Miller. “We beat ’em 3-1, but they were small and incredibly fast. They’re only about two hours from Montreal, and they’ve recruited seven or eight Canadian players, including a couple I tried to recruit.”
They would be defenseman Isabel Chartrand and large forward Gina Kingsbury. So, having reloaded an already-potent attack, and with appreciation for what Miller has built at UMD, St. Lawrence became the first of four eastern colleges more than willing to come to Duluth this year to engage one of the nation’s elite teams. ECAC powers New Hampshire, Harvard and Northeastern are scheduled to come to the DECC for consecutive UMD series in December and January.
“And Dartmouth wanted to come out and play us too, but we didn’t have any room on our schedule,” said Miller. “What a difference a year makes.”
St. Lawrence will be a stirring first test for the Bulldogs, who have to prove they can stay at last year’s high plane. And to do that, they’ll have to find enough goals to replace the 93 that Jenny Schmidgall figured in, with her 41 goals and 52 assists. Schmidgall is taking at least the first semester off to have a baby, although she is skating through some of the team’s lighter drills at practice, just to stay sharp.
“I think a lot of people will score on this team,” said Miller, after Monday’s typically high-spirited practice session. “Maria will score, Erika, Hanne, Sanna, Hempel.”
Deciphering the coach’s run of first, last and nicknames, she is counting on the international flavor of her Team World personnel: sophomores Maria Rooth and Erika Holst from Sweden, and Hanne Sikio and freshman Sanna Peura from Finland, plus Jenny Hempel fromÂ…Hopkins.
“Maria will shine, big time,” said Miller. “She and Erika are playing so well together. And Hanne is playing with a lot more confidence. Sanna has good hands and is making a very good complement to her linemates.”
Peura’s linemates are center Joanne Eustace and winger Sikio, while Holst centers Rooth and Hempel on another explosive unit.
“I think we have two lines that can score consistently,” said Miller, who learned last year that even the nation’s elite teams didn’t have more than two lines that could score, and few, if any, could stay with the Bulldog sharpshooters.
The Bulldogs have more depth than a year ago, and while freshman Sheena Podovinnikoff centers Laurie Alexander and Michelle McAteer for now, at least, the coach said she anticipates rotating several other players through on a fourth line.
Defensively, Thulla Puputti will be in goal, while defensive pairs are Brittny Ralph and Navada Russell, Pamela Pachal and freshman Satu Kiipeli from Finland, and Jessica Smith and Jenni Venho make up a third unit, with freshman Tricia Guest rotating in.
Miller said her most pleasant surprises in this, the team’s second training camp, have been the improvement shown by Finnish freshmen Peura and Kiipeli, and the individual effort that has been shown by Hempel and Shannon Mikel.
“The two Finns surprised me, not so much by how good they were, but by how much they’ve improved in the two weeks of camp,” Miller said. “And Hempel has proved that she worked so hard she’s pulled ahead of some of the players that were pretty even with her last year. Shannon, also, has worked hard and you can tell by how much she’s improved.”
The players seem to reflect Miller’s confidence and optimism.
“The new players look good, I think,” said Rooth, who is being counted on to improve on her lofty scoring totals of last year, when she was a freshman from Sweden. “They’re a little nervous right now, about the first game, but that’s how we were last year.”
If the rookies rise up to perform the way Rooth, Holst, Sikio and Puputti did last year in their transitional first season, the Bulldogs could, indeed, live up to their lofty expectations.
BULLDOG NOTES/Miller and her coaching staff, as well as players who started on the UMD club team, were shocked at the death of Julie Enberg last weekend. Enberg, 38, had coached the club team and remained as one of the staunch boosters of the team when it became a varsity squad last year. She was discovered last Saturday, having died in her sleep. The freshmen are forwards Sheena Podovinnikoff from Kamsack, Saskatchewan and Sanna Peura from Jyvaskyla, Finland, defensemen Tricia Guest of Estevan, Saskatchewan, and Satu Kiipeli from Oulu, Finland, and goalie Patricia Sautter from Schaffhausen, Switzerland.
Concordia’s 1-2 punch overruns record-setting Bulldogs, 37-27
UMD’s football team was not erased from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference championship picture by Saturday’s loss to Concordia of St. Paul, and it shouldn’t have even been a big surprise that the Golden Knights pinned a 37-27 setback on the Bulldogs. The surprise was how they did it.
UMD had a lot of big things going on its behalf. Ricky Fritz and Steve Battaglia dazzled a homecoming crowd of 4,632 at Griggs Field with an 85-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the game, and the pair of Bulldog sophomores went on to connect for three touchdowns and set three UMD school records in the game. UMD had the added incentive of trying to expand its own surprising 5-0 record, because the 1980 UMD team, including retired coach Jim Malosky, was introduced on the field at halftime, and that 10-0 team was the last Bulldog outfit to put up a perfect record.
Also, in case more incentive was required, Concordia had entered the Northern Sun last season, and the fledgling program had added some insult to UMD’s rebuilding-season injury with a 35-27 beating last season in St. Paul — an eerily similar score in the only previous meeting between the two.
But don’t blame the Bulldogs for faltering. Instead, give credit to Concordia for being by far the most impressive opponent UMD has faced this season. Quarterback Mike Allen and running back Chris Washington always elusive and almost always unstoppable for the Bulldog defense, but the Golden Knight defense completely stymied UMD running game that had been impressive enough to add balance to Fritz’s passing attack.
Allen, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound senior quarterback from St. Paul Central, and Washington, a 5-foot-9, 198-pound sophomore running back from Minneapolis North supplied the 1-2 punch that put Concordia in command by 30-14 at halftime, and ultimately left both teams tied at 3-1 in conference play and 5-1 overall. Concordia’s only loss came at Northern State, where UMD must go this weekend. Winona State remains unbeaten atop the NSIC.
Allen was 17-for-31 passing for 241 yards and two touchdowns, and he carried the ball 13 times for 114 total yards — including two more touchdowns, one a 56-yard back-breaker that built the Golden Knights lead to 37-14 to open the third quarter. He also was chased and caught enough times to reduce his net yards gained to 86 for the day, which still was impressive because it was second only to Washington’s 125 net yards on 31 rushes, scoring one touchdown and setting the stage for most of the others.
Either one compiled considerably more than UMD’s total team net rushing yardage as Concordia outgained UMD 231-13 on the ground. Erik Conner, who had been dominant for UMD in the past few games, and had credited his offensive lines for carving the generous holes through which he could run, carried only six times, with no holes, gaining two total yards and losing three for a net rushing figure of minus-1. “They were good, solid,” said Conner, who caught two passes for 14 yards while little-used Jared Murray of Hermantown was UMD’s top rusher with 18 net yards on three carries, including the only touchdown Fritz and Steve Battaglia didn’t record.
“We got lucky,” said Battaglia, from Cloquet, who plays one split end while his freshman brother, Tim Battaglia, plays flanker on the other side. “We hit a few big ones early. I was hoping they’d keep calling my nmber. I felt I had to take full advantage of any chances, because we had to have a little spark. We had a chance to come back in the fourth quarter.”
It appears Concordia, a school known for things other than football right up until last year, may be the large beneficiary of being the only college in the Twin Cities that awards scholarships, other than the University of Minnesota. Many of the best high school football players in the Twin Cities aren’t quite big enough or hefty enough to be recruited by the Gophers or other Division I colleges, and while many of them have made the trek to Fargo, as the nucleus of North Dakota State’s perennial Division II powerhouse.
Apparently, there are a few more around who might prefer to stay closer to home and can’t afford the numerous strong but costly Division III college programs from the MIAC, if Allen and Washington are examples.
“They were the toughest two players to contain for us this year, so far,” said UMD coach Bob Nielson. “They’re a good football team. They outplayed us and outcoached us a little today. They returned everybody from last year’s team, and their quarterback both ran and threw the ball well at critical times. We had enough opportunities, but we did a poor job of converting. I take the blame for that.”
Almost all of the opportunities were supplied by Fritz, despite being chased and hurried all day by Concordia’s defense.
“They were good — the best team we’ve played,” said Fritz, who could take no satisfaction from this two new scoring records. “We had to pass too much, and they were good both on offense and defense. They had big tackles, and they’d just anchor themselves and hunker down and we couldn’t run against them.”
Fritz, from Eden Prairie, set two school records — for pass attempts and passing yardage — while going 24-49 for 413 yards. His 49 throws broke Trevor Theelke’s record 42 attempts two years ago against Northern Michigan, and the 413 yards wiped out Theelke’s mark of 312 from that same game. Seven of his passes went to Steve Battaglia, who went the distance for touchdowns on three of them, and accumulated a school record 246 yards for the day. That obliterated the record set just last year b y Jeff Wenngatz, who gained 166 yards against Crookston. Battaglia also scored on a 63-yard pass from Fritz in the third quarter, and caught a 12-yard scoring pass to close the score from 37-14 to the final 37-27.
“In high school, I don’t think I ever broke 200,” said Battaglia. “But it turned out, we had to pass too much because they were so aggressive defensively. They’re underrated. They’re really a good team, the best team we’ve faced.”
While the Bulldogs still had a fleeting chance to continue their comeback on their two final drives in the fourth quarter, one ended when a third-down Fritz pass got away from Chris Walker in the end and a Cash Langeness field goal try was blocked, and the Knights defense ran the ‘Dogs out of downs on their final chance.
The big crowd expected big things, and got them, right at the start. After the opening kickoff, the Bulldogs stunned Concordia on the first play, when Fritz connected with Battaglia for an 85-yard touchdown strike. Just 26 seconds into the game, UMD led 7-0. If that put things in the proper festive atmosphere, it came while several hundred fans were still outside, trying to enter while ticket officials for some reason had closed off all but the one central gate.
By the time they got in, Concordia had started coming back. The UMD defense stiffened and forced the Golden Knights to settle for David Gottschalk’s 29-yard field goal, but the momentum already had switched sides. Concordia next moved in after a punt exchange and scored when Allen looked at a third-and-12 at the 16 and hit Brent Rohne over the middle for a touchdown.
That put Concordia up 10-7, and the Golden Knights were off and running. They stretched the lead to 16-7 on an 80-yard drive in the second quarter, with either Allen or Washington doing the running or passing on all 10 plays, and Washington going the final four yards for the touchdown.
UMD freshman Cash Langeness blasted off for a 62-yard kickoff return, which led to a 6-yard touchdown by Jared Murray, closing the gap to 16-14. But Concordia responded with another quick, 80-yard drive, capped by Allen’s 22-yard pass to Nick Johnson. Andrew Wood recovered the fumble when Fritz lost the ball trying to scramble free of the rush, and Concordia went in for Allen’s sneak from the one to gain the 30-14 halftime bulge.
“Whenever we scored touchdowns, they responded and scored themselves,” said Nielson. “When we get behind early, we are not going to be as effective, because we’re not the type of team that can throw every down. We got three scores down, and we never really got the chance to use the running game. We didn’t have time to hammer it in.”
Instead, they got hammered on.
High-tempo 1st day hockey games open UMD’s Sandelin Era
The Scott Sandelin Era in UMD men’s hockey began Monday, although the coach was as calm and unruffled as he might have been on any sunny day in midsummer. He gave no indication that he felt any apprehension about his first day as head coach, which is more than his players might have said.
To the Bulldog players, the day was more pressure-filled, and they sped through a three-team tripleheader of mini-games at Pioneer Hall, the under-construction rink adjacent to the DECC. The difference is simple. Sandelin has been through a lot of opening-practice days as assistant coach at North Dakota, and he knew exactly what he wanted to see accomplished. His players, however, really weren’t sure what the new coach was looking for, and they were smart enough to set a swift tempo, every shift.
“We’ll have three days of nothing but scrimmages,” said Sandelin, former Hibbing and North Dakota star defenseman. “Then we’re giving ’em Thursday off.”
What goes without saying is that with 38 players in camp, including eight walk-ons, that Thursday “off” will probably become the day the coaching staff cuts down to a workable number, on the way to a final roster of 23.
If the players don’t know the coaches, the extra edge to practice is because the coaches don’t know the players all that well, either, so everybody is pretty much starting equally. Things will start to crystallize the first week, and the first UMD game will be Oct. 15 when the University of Regina comes to the DECC. One weekend later, the Bulldogs are at Minnesota. But that’s a long way off, right now. For now, Sandelin was satisfied with Day 1.
“It is fun to be able to watch ’em legally,” Sandelin said, noting that during on-campus captain’s practices, he could only walk briskly down the corridor, without stopping to view any workouts or no-check scrimmages. “We were in captain’s-practice shape, now we’ve got to get into practice shape, and it will be awhile till we’re in game shape.”
On Day 1, the gold team, identified as “Team 2,” claimed 2-0 victories over both Team 1 and Team 3. Freshman Adam Coole tended goal in the two shutouts, with freshmen Kyle Nosan and Tyler Williamson scoring in the first one, and Mark Pohl and Judd Medak scoring in the second. The third game also wound up 2-0, with Chad Kolar, a freshman from Hibbing, scoring both goals and Rob Anderson getting the shutout.
“The passing and timing isn’t there yet, but that’ll come,” said Sandelin, who joined assistant Steve Rohlik up above to watch the games, while Mark Strobel, the other assistant, ran the games on the ice. “It’s good for them all to scrimmage in practice, because the hitting is for real, and so is the backchecking.”
Coole, the younger brother of senior defenseman Ryan Coole, will compete with returning Rob Anderson, and back-up Jason Gregoire in goal. Other recruited freshmen among 20 forwards and 12 defensemen include Nick Anderson, Junior Lessard, Craig Weller, Dave Shields, Jerrid Reinholz, plus Josh Miskovich from Greenway and Andy Sacchetti from Eveleth. Nosan, Williamson, Kolar and former Duluth East winger Rheese Carlson are among the walkons, all of whom came in from junior hockey.
Overall, the players showed up in excellent shape. Part of that was because of Sandelin’s Team Olympics, in which all the players competed in each of 15 off-ice conditioning regimens, including various runs, exercises and weight-training events, since the beginning of classes. Points were kept and accumulated, and defenseman Jesse Fibiger won, with 1,130 points, with winger Judd Medak second at 1,115, followed by winger Ryan Homstol, defenseman Andy Reierson, and goaltender Gregoire.
Sandelin said that there were some pleasant surprises, and a few disappointments in the first day’s work, but nothing that was worth more than a shrug from the coach. After the third game, however, all three coaches met for an extended discussion, rating all the players behind closed doors, which undoubtedly will be the same drill through the scrimmage phase.
Josh Miskovich and Sacchetti, who committed out of high school and then spent a year playing in the USHL, chose to come to UMD this season. “Could they have developed more if they had stayed and played another season in the USHL? Probably,” said Sandelin. “I made them aware of that option, but I also like their attitude about wanting to come in and play right now.”
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:
Click here for sports