Gophers Return to WCHA Play vs. High-Scoring Bulldogs

Coming off a disappointment split against the Bemidji State Beavers, the Golden Gophers get back into WCHA play this weekend by taking on another in-state rival in the form of the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, who return to the place where their brilliant late-season run from a season ago ended in the NCAA West Regional final against Miami.

Prior to the Sunday night 6-2 meltdown against the Beavers, it appeared as though things were heading in the right direction for Minnesota. They had won four of their previous five games, the right names were showing up on the scoresheet, and the goaltending of junior Alex Kangas was well above average. And though the Gophers outchanced the Beavers on Sunday night, Minnesota was unable to finish, and that’s been a common occurrence for this program for several years now.

Sophomore Jake Hansen scored a meaningless power play goal late in the game on Saturday via a tip-in, but it’s becoming clear that a core group of players on this team that were recruiting to score goals and be offensive threats at the college level aren’t going to be able to fulfill said roles. Hansen is a prime example of a kid that scored all the way up through high school and junior hockey, was highly thought of by NHL teams and drafted accordingly, but then has fallen flat at the U.

Fellow sophomore Nico Sacchetti (10 points in 45 games), junior Patrick White(32 points in 91 games), and senior Mike Carman (50 points in 106 games) are all kids who have the same “pre-Gopher” resume as Hansen but have yet to contribute. Sacchetti has recently found himself playing on a line with Mike Hoeffel and Jordan Schroeder, so hopefully he benefits from playing alongside two of the Gophers better forwards. White, meanwhile, has shown signs of improvement in recent weeks, as he had a four-game point streak snapped as he went pointless against Bemidji State.

On defense, the losses of Nick Leddy to a head injury and Sam Lofquist to the Ontario Hockey League have left the team with just six healthy blueliners for the foreseeable future. Senior David Fischer continues to be a border-line train wreck on a nightly basis. He has just two points in ten games after seeing time on the power play before he was removed from the second unit on Sunday night vs. Bemidji after a horrendous turnover led directly to BSU’s first goal. He’s tied for a team-worst minus four and has zero confidence with or without the puck. Fellow junior Kevin Wehrs play has been better this season, but his seven penalties leave him only behind Carman in that department. Freshman Seth Helgeson leads the team with a plus five rating and hasn’t been noticeable too often, which is what you’d like out of a defense-first player.

For the second year in a row, it appears as though Head Coach Don Lucia is botching the goaltending situation. Prior to the season, Lucia admitted that he should have played Kent Patterson more often during the 2008-09 season when Alex Kangas struggled and was pulled on several occasions in favor of Patterson, who was a fourth round pick by the Avalanche in 2007. So, Lucia said that Patterson would play more this season and started the year off by having Kangas start Friday nights and giving Patterson the nod on Saturday. Kangas, who went 0-2 over that stretch, had slightly better numbers than Patterson, who went 0-1-1, has started the last six games and played reasonably well, with only his hiccup coming in the first game against Wisconsin where he let in a pair of soft goals in the 4-2 loss.

Regardless, Patterson seemingly did nothing to lose his spot in the rotation. Lucia pulled Kangas in the Sunday night loss to BSU after he allowed two goals on four shots, with neither goal being any fault of his. Patterson was put into a game in a though spot and didn’t respond well in allowing four goals before Kangas was put back into the game.

Moving forward, it would appear that Kangas is the clear No. 1 as Patterson must be pretty fried mentally after his experience at the U so far, despite not really being put in a position to succeed.

Now, Minnesota turns their attention to the Bulldogs, who are 4-3-1 in WCHA play and sit in a three-way tie for third place in the league with nine points, two ahead of Minnesota who has also played eight conference games.

UMD is coming off a home split against Michigan Tech where they put an amazing 98 shots on goal in the two games. Michigan Tech freshman goalie Kevin Genoe put on a show on Friday night in making 48 saves in the 3-2 win. The Bulldogs high-powered offense was able to crack Genoe early and often in the Saturday night rematch, as he was chased from the game early in the second period after allowing three goals, and UMD went on to put up a snowman in the 8-1 win.

Prior to their split against MTU, the Bulldogs went out to Colorado Springs and split with the first place Colorado College Tigers. They also have a home sweep of Clarkson, a loss and a tie at St. Cloud State, a home sweep of Minnesota State, and a win and a loss at home against Lake Superior State and Northern Michigan, respectively.

The Bulldogs top four scorers all have more points than Minnesota’s top scorer. Junior Justin Fontaine (11 G, 7 A), sophomore Jack Connolly (7 G, 11 A), junior Rob Bordson (3 G, 14 A) and sophomore Mike Connolly (5 G, 8 A) are four of the highest-scoring forwards in the country and it will be a tough task for Minnesota’s defense to contain that group this weekend. Last week against Tech, the Connolly’s (not related) played on a line with Cody Danberg, while Fontaine and Bordson played the wing on a line centered by Travis Oleksuk.

In WCHA play, UMD is averaging 3.62 goals per game to Minnesota’s 2.38, thanks in large part to its power play, which is clicking at an impressive 32.7 percent of the time compared to Minnesota’s league-worst power play (5.7 percent). Prior to Sunday’s game against Bemidji, the Gophers had killed off 24 of their previous 25 penalties, though the Beavers scored a pair of goals while on the man-advantage on Sunday. Minnesota must stay out of the penalty box this weekend if they hope to emerge from the series with points.

The Bulldogs lost a pair of key players off last year’s team in the form of senior captain MacGregor Sharp, who led them in scoring a year ago, but more importantly than Sharp was the departure of junior Alex Stalock, who was the top goalie in the WCHA a year ago. He was red-shot down the stretch and helped UMD become the only team in history to win the WCHA Final Five after having to play in the Thursday night play-in game, where he made 39 saves in UMD’s 2-1 win over the Gophers.

With Stalock gone, a pair of sophomores has split the goaltending duties for Scott Sandelin’s team. Brady Hjelle, who played two games last season as a freshman, and Pittsburgh native Kenny Reiter taken up the tough task of replacing Stalock, and while they haven’t replaced his stellar numbers yet, both have done an admirable job. Hjelle is 5-2-1 with a .903 save percentage and a goals against average of 2.97, while Reiter is just 2-2 but has a save percentage of .907 and a goals against of 2.33. The last three weeks, Reiter has started on Friday while Hjelle has been the man on Saturday, so look for that to continue this weekend against the Gophers.

Traditionally, Bulldog teams have struggled on Olympic-sized ice sheets since their home rink – the DECC – is smaller than ever the traditionally 200’ x 85’ NHL-sized sheets, so naturally they build their team and gear their style of play to that type of rink. However, this version of the Bulldogs has a lot of speed and skill up front, which are two characteristics that they usually don’t have and also generally bode well for teams playing on a big ice sheet.

If the weekend comes down to a battle of special teams, which it often does, UMD is going to have the edge. Minnesota must play disciplined hockey and stay out of the box and make UMD beat them playing five-on-five hockey. For the Bulldogs, they will likely apply a strong forecheck and look to pressure the Minnesota defensive core to hopefully cause turnovers and penalties. Kangas is going to have to be on top of his game, as on paper, Minnesota should have the edge in net.

Bemidji Blasts Gophers 6-2 In Series Finale

It appears as though the Golden Gophers may have been turning the corner after their 0-3-1 start to the season, as Minnesota had won four of their previous five games heading into Sunday’s series finale against the Bemidji State Beavers. However, the Gophers were unable to build on their Saturday night victory and were embarrassed by the tune of a 6-2 defeat at Mariucci Arena.

The Beavers were able to take a 2-0 lead into the second period thanks to a pair of first period goals, both of which came directly from Minnesota giveaways. Senior defensemen David Fischer’s attempted pass went right to the tape of BSU’s Shea Walters in the neutral zone, and Walters broke in alone on Alex Kangas and beat him clean to make it 1-0. Later in the first period, Gophers forward Jordan Schroeder gained the Beavers zone and pulled up, but was checked off the puck and that resulted in a four-on-two. Both Minnesota defensemen backed far into their own zone, and allowed BSU’s leading scorer, Matt Read, to carry the puck deep into the offensive zone, and he beat Kangas with a high wrist shot.

“We’re not good enough to turn pucks over,” Gophers Head Coach Don Lucia said. “

That would be the end of Kangas’ first stint in net on this night, as sophomore Kent Patterson started the second period in net after Kangas allowed two goals on four shots.

Lucia said he considered starting Patterson, but opted to go with Kangas, who had won four of his past five starts. It’s still a bit unclear as to why Lucia went away from the rotation of Kangas and Patterson, as they had equal numbers after two weeks but Patterson, who Lucia said would play more this season, had rode the pine up until Kangas was yanked tonight.

Minnesota was able to cut BSU’s lead in half early in the second period, when Schroeder one-timed an Aaron Ness pass past BSU freshman goalie Mathieu Dugas. This was Schroeder’s second goal of the season – and the weekend.

However, the game would change later in the second period, as Minnesota freshman Zach Budish was called for a checking from behind penalty, which gave the Beavers a five minute power play and bounced Budish from the game in the process.

Unlike Friday night’s second period, where Bemidji State had an extended power play and failed to score, they capitalized tonight. After Tony Lucia hit a pipe on a short-handed breakaway, BSU gained the Minnesota zone, setup, and the end result was sophomore Jamie MacQueen first of two goals on the night.

At 19:59 of the second period, Schroeder would take a stupid cross-checking penalty to partially negate a UM power play, and that penalty gave the Beavers a power play just seconds into the third period.

“I thought it was a weak call,” Schroeder said. “That’s referees for you these days.”

That ‘weak call’ proved to be costly, as BSU defensemen Brad Hunt scores his second goal of the season to make it 4-1 Beavers. Hunt walked in from the point and went high on the blocker-side to beat Patterson.

Just 14 seconds later, McQueen would beat Patterson on a breakaway to make it 5-1, and then Aaron McLeod would walk in all alone from behind the UM net and beat Patterson on a soft backhand to chase Patterson from the game (Kangas came back in) and send thousands of Gopher fans heading towards the exits.

Sophomore Jake Hansen would add on a power play goal later in the game, but by then it was all but decided.

“We had some guys who had bad weekends,” Lucia said.

BSU Head Coach Tom Serratore had a much happier view on the two games.

“A monumental win,” Settatore said. “It’s an exciting time for us.”

The Gophers are now 4-5-1 heading into next weekend’s series against Minnesota-Duluth. The Bulldogs are 7-4-1 on the season and have some of the best forwards in the WCHA, including Jack and Mike Connolly (no relation) and Justin Fontaine.

It’s a critical series for Minnesota, as they currently sit in a tie for sixth place in the WCHA having played two more games than St. Cloud State, who they are tied with.

Special Teams Key In Gophers 4-1 Win Over Beavers

The Minnesota power play has been anything but an asset this season, but thanks to a pair of timely power play goals and a key second period penalty kill, the Golden Gophers were able to upend the Bemidji State Beavers by a 4-1 score in front of a capacity crowd at Mariucci Arena.

The Beavers got on the board first as freshman Jordan George picked up a loose puck after a Minnesota turnover and broke in alone on Gopher goalie Alex Kangas. George made a nice move and went to the backhand to give Bemidji a 1-0 lead early in the first period.

It wouldn't take long for the Gophers to answer, as Nico Sacchetti would finish a play stared be defensemen Aaron Ness, who threaded a point shot on net, and Sacchetti was able to bang home a loose puck to knot things up at 1-1.

That would be the score early in the second period when the Gophers found themselves with almost a full two minutes of a five-on-three advantage after a pair of BSU penalties. The top power play unit for the Gophers didn't waste any time, as junior Mike Hoeffel parked in the high-slot and tipped in a pass from Farichild to give the Gophers a 2-1 lead. Ness had the other assist.

The game would effectively be decided in the next few minutes, as the Gophers were called for three straight penalties over a 55 second span, giving the Beavers several minutes of a four-on-three and then an extended five-on-three advantage. As is usually needed to kill off those types of situations, a team's goalie needs to be its best penalty killer, as Minnesota's Alex Kangas was stellar during this stretch. He had several key saves as BSU controlled the puck -- mainly because they won almost every draw while on the power play -- and got the puck on net. But Kangas and the Gopher penalty killers were able to keep the Beavers off the board, and in the process brought the Gopher faithful to their feet for a standing ovation.

The game would remain 2-1 until late in the third period, as neither team had many 'grade A' chances, though Hoeffel did hit a pipe late in the second. A BSU penalty with about seven minutes left gave the Gophers a chance to ice the game, and they did just that as a Sacchetti wrap-around attempt landed on Jordan Schroeder's stick, and he had a wide-open net and didn't miss this chance to score his first goal of the season at 13:35 of the third. Sacchetti and Fairchild had the helpers.

Senior Mike Carman would add on an insurance goal a few minutes later to make it 4-1, with freshman Zach Budish getting the lone assist.

Earlier in the game, Minnesota lost senior wing Ryan Flynn to a hamstring injury, leaving the lineup further depleted.

Overall, it was a solid 60 minutes for Minnesota, as their defense did a good job of limiting BSU's chances and the offense took advantage of scoring chances when they were presented. The Gophers have now won four of their last five games after dropping three of their first four games to start the season.

The Gophers will go for the sweep on Sunday at 6 p.m.

GOPHERS SET TO HOST BEMIDJI STATE
Provided by the University of Minnesota

The No. 2/3 University of Minnesota women’s hockey team returns home for the first time since Oct. 24th as the Golden Gophers host Bemidji State, Friday and Saturday evening. Friday’s game is set for a 6:07 p.m. start, while Saturday’s contest is 4:07 p.m. Although Minnesota holds a 41-2-3 all-time record against the Beavers, both losses came at Ridder Arena in 2006 and 2007.

FOLLOWING THE GOPHERS
All of the home games and a majority of the road games will be broadcast live on gophersports.com. This weekend, gophersports.com will have both video/audio of the games against the Beavers. Fans can follow the Gophers through the Gold Zone. For free score updates go to http://twitter.com/gopherscores.

ABOUT THE BEAVERS
Bemidji State enters the Minnesota series with a 4-8-2 overall record and a 3-3-2 mark in the WCHA. The Beavers’ wins came against Wisconsin (10/10), Wayne State (10/30), Minnesota State (11/7) and St. Cloud State (11/13) last weekend. Erin Johnson leads the Beaver scoring drive with 10 points (7-3), while Erin Cody has nine points and Annie Bauerfeld has eight. One of Bemidji State’s most potent players is between the pipes in sophomore Zuzana Tomcikova. In 10 games played, Tomcikova has two shutouts and has started in 10 games, including a 1-0 win over Wisconsin.

SKATE WITH THE GOPHERS SET FOR NOV. 22
This year’s Skate with the Gophers will be held this Sunday, November 22nd, from 1pm-3pm at Ridder Arena. Skate times are available by calling the ticket office at (612) 624-8080. Fans will have a chance to meet the players and coaches, get autographs and play games. For more information, contact the marketing department at 612-625-4879.

WCHA FACEOFF AND FROZEN FOUR TICKETS AVAILABLE
Tickets are now available for the 2010 WCHA FINAL FACEOFF and the 2010 NCAA Frozen Four, both of which can be purchased through the Gopher ticket office. Tickets can be purchased by phone at 612-624-8080 (1-800 UGOPHER) or on the gopher website: gophersports.com or the direct link: https://www.tickets.umn.edu/online/bundles.asp?brand=Athletics

GOPHERS SIGN SIX IN EARLY SIGNING PERIOD
Minnesota women’s hockey head coach Brad Frost has announced that Bethany Brausen (Little Canada, Minn.), Sarah Davis (Paradise, N.L.), Baylee Gillanders (Kyle, Sask.), Amanda Kessel (Madison, Wis.), Kelly Terry (Whitby, Ont.) and Elizabeth Turgeon (Cherry Hills Village, Colo) have signed National Letters of Intent and will join the Gopher program in the fall of 2010. Of the six signees, five have played internationally with either the United States or Canada Under-18 Team.

100 POINT CLUB
Brittany Francis tallied two assists in the 4-1 win over MSU. Her first assist marked her 100th career point. She is the 16th Golden Gopher to earn 100 points. Prior to her accomplishing the feat was Gigi Marvin, who tallied her 100th point as a junior in 2007-08.

Schleper and Räty Lead Gophers to 1-1 Tie and Shootout Win Over MSU
Provided by the University of Minnesota

Anne Schleper and Noora Räty aided the No. 3 University of Minnesota women’s hockey team to a 1-1 come-from-behind tie and a shootout win over Minnesota State University, Mankato, today in Mankato, Minn. With the shootout win, the Gophers earn two points in the conference standings and now have 15 points in Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Minnesota is now 9-2-1 overall and 7-2-1 in the WCHA.

MSU took its first lead of the series when Nina Tikkinen scored on a breakaway at 5:09 in the first. Emily West and an MSU player were batting at the puck, which flew in the air and down in the Minnesota zone, where Tikkinen was there to pick it up and scored on a wrist shot.

Minnesota spent 10 of the 20 minutes in the box when it had four penalties in the first period. However, the Gophers were able to hold off MSU’s power-play opportunities and were only down 1-0 after one. Both teams went scoreless in the second period. Minnesota had 12 shots to MSU’s seven.

Schleper scored a power-play goal at 11:31 for her sixth goal of the season. West started the play as she passed the puck to Schleper in the neutral zone. She took the puck in the zone and carried the puck all the way to the top the circles and fired a wrist shot to score the game-tying goal.

Schleper’s goal forced the overtime period. MSU had one shot in overtime, while Minnesota did not have a shot to lead to the tie. Minnesota chose Sarah Erickson, Emily West and Brittany Francis in the shootout, while MSU chose Emmi Leinonen, Ashley Young and Christina Lee. Alli Altmann and Räty stopped each shooter, forcing a fourth round. Schleper sniped her second goal of the game to give the Gophers a 1-0 lead. MSU’s Holly Synder attempted the Maverick shot, but Räty stacked the pads to stop Synder and earned the shootout win.

The last time the Gophers competed in a shootout dates back to Feb. 8 when Minnesota tied Wisconsin. The Gophers lost the shootout, but with the tie, the Gophers clinched the WCHA regular season championship. Minnesota’s last win in the shootout came on Jan. 24 when the Gophers won over Minnesota Duluth.

Minnesota finished the game with 34 shots on goal and went 1-for-9 on the power play and had 17 shots. MSU went 0-for-7 with nine power play shots. They had a total of 27 shots, Räty making 26 saves. Altmann had 33 saves.

The Gophers return home for the first time since Oct. 24 as they host Bemidji State next Friday (Nov. 20) at 6:07 p.m.