The Gophers (19-4-4, 11-4-4 WCHA) were nipped by St. Cloud State (17-11-1, 14-6-1 WCHA) tonight 4-3 at the National Hockey Center in front of another standing room only crowd.
Here is what I saw.
* Gophers dug themselves a hole they couldn't get themselves out of, despite a valiant effort in the third period.
* Brady Skjei has gradually been getting better this season. And while I like that he's physical, sometimes he gets caught up in his individual battle, and doesn't keep track of where the puck is.
* The Officials really let them play this weekend for the most part, but really made a mess of tonights game. I saw plenty of obvious penalties in both direction. I think the matching penalties they called on Ben Marshall of the Gophers and Jimmy Murray of SCSU were a joke. They called the penalty on Marshall for Roughing because of his check on Murray, but it was a clean hit. They called Murray for Goaltender Interference, which he certainly wasn't guilty of. I think they realized they screwed it up by penalizing Marshall, and wanted to even it up. The call left both Coaches absolutely ticked. The interference call on Nate Condon near the end of the second period was terrible. It looked like they were trying to even things up again. Then, with thirty five seconds left in the game, the Gophers down by one and Wilcox on the bench, Zach Budish got called for a hook in the offensive end. The official that was standing ten feet away, with a clear view of the play, didn't call it. It was the official on the other side of the ice. In that situation, I don't think that penalty gets called a majority of the time.
* TV/Radio - Does anyone else not enjoy listening to Doug McLeod on the TV broadcast? I think Kevin Gorg is solid, but not such a fan of McLeod. Kind of wish they'd flip-flop TV and radio, and get Frank Mazzocco and Wally Shaver on TV, and have McLeod on the radio.
Don't have much, but here are a couple of comments from Players & Coach Lucia:
Brady Skjei:
Regarding his play… "I'm getting more and more confident every week. It's starting to click for me now"
Minnesota Head Coach Don Lucia:
Regarding Nate Schmidt... "Nate put too much pressure on himself early in the season. Once he didn't try to do too much, the offense came. Nate has been our best defenseman"
(Prior to the game) Regarding Saturday Night's game... "Our best players were our best players last night (Friday). I want to see a continuation of that, and it starts with defense"
The Gophers will take on the Wisconsin Badgers next weekend on the road. Friday nights game will be in Madison at the Kohl Center. Game time is 7:00 PM (Central), with the game being broadcast on Fox Sports North. The two teams will then play on Sunday afternoon at 3:30 PM (Central) as part of the Hockey City Classic double-header at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. Miami (Ohio) will play Notre Dame in the other game. The Gopher/Badger game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
Here is what I saw.
* Gophers dug themselves a hole they couldn't get themselves out of, despite a valiant effort in the third period.
* Brady Skjei has gradually been getting better this season. And while I like that he's physical, sometimes he gets caught up in his individual battle, and doesn't keep track of where the puck is.
* The Officials really let them play this weekend for the most part, but really made a mess of tonights game. I saw plenty of obvious penalties in both direction. I think the matching penalties they called on Ben Marshall of the Gophers and Jimmy Murray of SCSU were a joke. They called the penalty on Marshall for Roughing because of his check on Murray, but it was a clean hit. They called Murray for Goaltender Interference, which he certainly wasn't guilty of. I think they realized they screwed it up by penalizing Marshall, and wanted to even it up. The call left both Coaches absolutely ticked. The interference call on Nate Condon near the end of the second period was terrible. It looked like they were trying to even things up again. Then, with thirty five seconds left in the game, the Gophers down by one and Wilcox on the bench, Zach Budish got called for a hook in the offensive end. The official that was standing ten feet away, with a clear view of the play, didn't call it. It was the official on the other side of the ice. In that situation, I don't think that penalty gets called a majority of the time.
* TV/Radio - Does anyone else not enjoy listening to Doug McLeod on the TV broadcast? I think Kevin Gorg is solid, but not such a fan of McLeod. Kind of wish they'd flip-flop TV and radio, and get Frank Mazzocco and Wally Shaver on TV, and have McLeod on the radio.
Don't have much, but here are a couple of comments from Players & Coach Lucia:
Brady Skjei:
Regarding his play… "I'm getting more and more confident every week. It's starting to click for me now"
Minnesota Head Coach Don Lucia:
Regarding Nate Schmidt... "Nate put too much pressure on himself early in the season. Once he didn't try to do too much, the offense came. Nate has been our best defenseman"
(Prior to the game) Regarding Saturday Night's game... "Our best players were our best players last night (Friday). I want to see a continuation of that, and it starts with defense"
The Gophers will take on the Wisconsin Badgers next weekend on the road. Friday nights game will be in Madison at the Kohl Center. Game time is 7:00 PM (Central), with the game being broadcast on Fox Sports North. The two teams will then play on Sunday afternoon at 3:30 PM (Central) as part of the Hockey City Classic double-header at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. Miami (Ohio) will play Notre Dame in the other game. The Gopher/Badger game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.