February
3, 2005
Bulldogs
Battle Back
By
Jess Myers
Last Saturday,
deep in the bowels of Mariucci Arena, there was a sight that Minnesota
Duluth fans have seen far too little of since November. Bulldogs
coach Scott Sandelin was recapping the game while surrounded by
reporters. And he was smiling.
The
Bulldog faithful aren’t buying NCAA playoff tickets (or
even WCHA home playoff tickets) just yet. But the team so burdened
by high expectations has shown flashes of a return to respectability
in the past two weeks, after a November and December so disappointing
that some might insist the records be stricken from the team’s
media guide in future years.
While
the low-key Sandelin wasn’t making any bold proclamations
about his team being back in the race for anything after winning
and tying at Colorado College and splitting at Minnesota, his
counterpart in the home locker room sounded more convinced.
“In
the last few weeks, they’ve found their team again,”
said Minnesota coach Don Lucia. “Maybe they’re back
to where everybody thought they’d be.”
The
win at Minnesota moved the Bulldogs into a tie with North Dakota
for fifth place in the WCHA. As Minnesota Duluth was the coaches’
pick to win the league title, they’re still technically
a long way from where “everybody thought they’d be.”
But for one night anyway, the Bulldogs dominated Minnesota in
both ends of the ice to beat their arch-rivals. After winning
five of six meetings with Minnesota last year to advance to the
Frozen Four, the win at Mariucci gave some Bulldogs a happy sense
of déjà vu.
“Today
I thought we played more like we did last year,” said senior
defenseman Tim Hambly. “North Dakota has two games in hand
on us, but to know we’re in the top five, at least for now,
is a big thing mentally.”
Perhaps
the biggest mental boost for the Bulldogs came between the pipes,
where junior Issac Reichmuth, the goaltending architect of that
trip to Boston last April, got his first win in more than a month.
Reichmuth’s struggles had mirrored the team’s slide
from the top ranking in the nation in late October to below .500
in late January, and Sandelin had given Josh Johnson the previous
four starts in goal. But the coach had a hunch that it was time
for Reichmuth to shine.
“I
just felt it was the right time to put him in there, and he responded,”
said Sandelin. “He made the saves he had to make and gave
us a chance to win.”
With
the nightmares of mid-season seemingly over, a month to play in
the regular season, and some help needed if the Bulldogs are going
to have home playoff games for the third playoffs in a row, that’s
all they and their fans seem to be hopeful of – a chance
to win.
SEEN
AND HEARD IN THE WCHA
Celebrating Minnesota’s other 1980 hockey miracle: New
York State seemed to be the place for hockey miracles
in early 1980. Everyone knows about Team USA skating home from
Lake Placid wearing gold medals, but hockey fans in southern Minnesota
fondly recall another example of puck paradise from about that
place and time.
On Saturday
between periods of Minnesota State, Mankato’s game with
Colorado College at the Midwest Wireless Civic Center, the Mavericks
will honor the 25th anniversary of MSU’s 1980 NCAA Division
II title. More than 20 former players and coaches are expected
to be on hand for the event.
In March
of 1980, the Mavs traveled to Elmira, New York, and defeated Elmira
College 5-2 to claim the school’s first and only NCAA hockey
title.
In those,
the early days of ESPN, when the fledgling network was scrambling
for programming, the MSU-Elmira title tilt was even shown on national
TV (tape delayed) as Mavericks coach Don Brose bested Elmira coach
Barry Smith for the win. While Brose stayed in Mankato, guiding
the Mavs into the D-I ranks and the WCHA before retiring in 1999,
Smith went on to NHL success as the top assistant for the Detroit
Red Wings.
MSU
goalie Steve Carroll stopped 44 of 46 shots in the title game,
earning MVP honors one year before he was the school’s first
(and only) Hobey finalist in 1981. Carroll will be on hand Saturday
in more than one capacity, as the former Twin Cities sportscaster
provides color commentary on local TV broadcasts of Mavs’
home games.
|
Great Weekend Getaway |
 |
Minnesota
at Wisconsin (Fri.-Sat.)
Take away the Border Battle hype and the rivalries
between these teams in other sports and the 10 NCAA hockey
titles between them and the natural sports rivalry (Vikings-Packers,
anyone?) between fans in these two states and the fact that
more than 30,000 tickets have been sold for this two-game
set, and you’re left with two teams seemingly headed
in different directions. The Badgers have won six in a row
and are in the thick of the race for the MacNaughton Cup,
while the Gophers are on a 3-6-0 run, and have fallen from
first in the nation to fourth in the conference in nary
a month. Two wins this weekend and Bucky can permanently
put Goldy in the rear-view mirror.
While
You’re There: Stroll the length of State Street from
the Capitol to the UW campus and you may be tempted to visit
a bar or two. Or all of them. That’s just what some
friendly Gopher fans have planned for Saturday, and they’ve
passed along an open-ended invitation for all college hockey
fans (although they admit preferential treatment will be
given to those in maroon and gold) to join in. Our friend
Thomps (look for a friendly round face atop a Gopher throwback
sweater) is rounding up the troops at 1 p.m. at the Great
Dane. From there, the parade will try to visit the Paradise
Lounge, the State Bar and Grill, the Silver Dollar Tavern,
Paul’s Club, the Plaza Tavern & Grill, the Irish
Pub, Gophers, Angelic Brewing Company, Mondays, Buffalo
Wild Wings, The Pub, State Street Brats (ranked by Sports
Illustrated this week as one of the top 25 sports bars
in the nation), City Bar and the Kollege Klub before heading
to the Kohl Center. Good luck to all, and remember, it’s
a marathon, not a sprint. |
|
Stick
Salute |
|
With Denver and Alaska Anchorage
in overtime last Saturday, referee Todd Anderson
used the video replay available at Magness Arena
to review a play from earlier in the extra session to determine
that a Jeff Drummond shot had crossed the goal line and
the Pioneers had won. Yes, it was a lousy way for the Seawolves
to lose, but we’ll never argue against using all available
means to get the call right, and we’ll tip our hat
to a ref with the courage to do so. |
|
Bench
Minor |
| If
you see Minnesota’s even-strength offense
pictured on a milk carton soon, don’t be surprised.
A big part of the Gophers’ recent tumble is due to a
disappearance of offensive consistency. Minnesota managed
just 14 even-strength shots in last Saturday’s 3-2 home
loss to Minnesota Duluth, – the Gophs' fifth home loss
in six games. It just wouldn’t seem right come NCAA
playoff time if Mariucci Arena was the regional every other
team hoped to get sent to. |
PUCKS
TO PICK UP AFTER PRACTICE
• Following on heels of the wildly successful Cold
War game at Spartan Stadium between Michigan and Michigan State
in 2001, the whole “college hockey in football stadiums”
trend my be moving one league west soon. Our friend Charley
Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press recently reported
that officials from the Metrodome are negotiating to host a game
between Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth tentatively scheduled for
February 2007, while the folks at Lambeau Field in Green Bay have
met with University of Wisconsin officials about having the Badgers
play an outdoor game sometime in the future as well.
• We’re
still a few days away from the official start of Michigan Tech’s
famed Winter Carnival (first held in 1922), but MTU students
have been hard at work for weeks on the event’s
renowned snow sculptures. Of course, the REAL fun will take place
at MacInnes Student Ice Arena when the Huskies entertain MSU,
Mankato on Feb. 11 and 12, but the fun for most students comes
in designing, constructing and sculpting the mounds of snow seen
throughout Houghton. The theme for the 2005 carnival is “A
Frozen Commotion from the Depths of the Ocean” and web cams
set up around campus give visitors to the carnival’s official
web site a live look at snow sculpting (and co-rec broomball)
in progress at all hours of day and night. Don’t these kids
ever study anymore?
• Don’t
fault the Colorado College Tigers if they get lost between
the hotel and the rink this weekend prior to their series at MSU,
Mankato. The Tigers, who hold a 5-3-0 all time mark in Mankato,
have not visited the Mavericks rink since December of 2002. Incidentally,
the Tigers were 6-1-1 in December and 6-1-1 again in January,
but will be unable to duplicate the feat in February. The Tigers
only play six games this month.
• The
Gophers’ 1-5-0 streak in recent home games has gotten a
lot of publicity, but they’re not the only team from Minnesota
that’s having trouble while wearing the white sweaters.
St. Cloud State’s sweep of Sacred Heart last weekend
at the National Hockey Center snapped the Huskies seven-game home
losing skid. Craig Dahl’s crew last won a WCHA home game
on Nov. 26, beating Minnesota Duluth 4-2. A home loss by the Huskies
on Feb. 18 vs. MSU, Mankato, and the they can make it a full three
months without showing the home fans what a WCHA win looks like.
• While
there likely weren’t a lot a Fighting Sioux fans feeling
happy on the way out of Ralph Engelstad Arena last Friday, after
the home team rallied for a 3-3 tie with Bemidji State, the come-from-behind
deadlock had a few notable positives for the optimistic
North Dakota fan. The tie snapped a three-game losing
streak (the team’s longest of the season) and when the Sioux
came back after trailing 3-1 at the start of the third, it marked
the first time this season that North Dakota has avoided a loss
when trailing after 40 minutes.
