Grant_Erickson
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After a 7-3 rout on Saturday evening, the Golden Gophers (27-6-6, 14-3-3-0 B1G) throttled the rival St. Cloud State Huskies (22-11-5, 15-6-3 NCHC) to advance to the Frozen Four. Minnesota will now face the hated University of North Dakota on April 10 for a chance to go to the National Championship.
Here is what I saw:
– What I saw is probably what everyone saw who watched the game; the Gophers were nothing short of dominant. The defense was stifling, Adam Wilcox was superb in net, and Minnesota was able to capitalize when given the opportunity on the offensive end. St. Cloud State is a very good team yet the Gophers made most of the contest look effortless. In the past two games, Minnesota has been playing some of its best hockey of the season which is what is needed this time of year.
– Two stats jumped out at me after the game. First, Minnesota won 43 faceoffs while losing just 27. It seemed like at every important juncture, the Gophers were able to win the draw and clear the zone or set up their own solid chance. The other stat which was amazing to see was that Minnesota did not allow St. Cloud State an opportunity on the powerplay. Right from the start, there was a lot of chirping and physical play after the whistle but the Gophers were able to remain calm and not put themselves at a disadvantage. The Huskies, on the other hand, gave Minnesota three powerplay chances, the last of which allowed Kyle Rau to score the fourth goal of the game, sealing the victory.
– One thing that Don Lucia mentioned in his postgame press conference was the balance that this Minnesota team has this year. There isn’t just one guy who they depend on and anyone, freshmen to seniors, can step up and play a huge role at any time. Sunday’s game was a perfect example. Seniors Nate Condon, Justin Holl and Jake Parenteau combined for four points while freshmen Justin Kloos and Taylor Cammarata added three points of their own. Three different lines tallied goals showing Minnesota’s ability to come at teams in waves, creating chances with all four units.
– Looking ahead; could there be a more interesting Frozen Four opponent than North Dakota? In a year where the teams haven’t met, it will all come down to one game for a chance to go to the National Championship. College hockey simply does not get any better than that.
Notes and Quotes:
Minnesota will make its 21st appearance in the NCAA Frozen Four. The Gophers are tied with Boston University for the third-most appearances. Michigan and Boston College both have 24.
In NCAA tournament games played at the Xcel Energy Center, Minnesota is now 6-0-0 (2-0-0 in 2002 Frozen Four, 4-0-0 in the 2012 and 2014 West Regionals)
Stopping all 24 shots he faced, Minnesota goalie Adam Wilcox claimed his third shutout of the season and seventh of his career, now tied for the third-most career shutouts in Minnesota history. He also notched his 50th career victory donning the Maroon and Gold.
Five Gophers were named to the West Regional All-Tournament Team: Justin Kloos, Nate Condon, Brady Skjei, Mike Reilly, and Adam Wilcox. SCSU captain Nic Dowd was the lone non-Gopher selection. Kloos was also named the Most Outstanding Player after tallying three goals this weekend.
Minnesota head coach Don Lucia:
Opening Statement…“I’m just really proud of this team. We got beat a week ago Friday and they came to the rink really ready to work on Saturday and prepare for the games this weekend. I think they all knew what was at stake and I thought we had a terrific week of practice. Our captains really led the charge with that. The focus this weekend was tremendous and on the bench, I don’t know if I’ve seen it this focused and communicated and dialed in as we were for the game tonight.
“Again, that is a credit to our captains and right on down. It was obvious that it was very, very important for us to play well this weekend and I’m really happy for our guys. Going to the Frozen Four never gets old. It is a thrill. I’ve been to a handful now but for the guys that haven’t been there before to go through the heartache that we did last year with losing in overtime to be able to come back this year and get back to Philadelphia is a real credit to our group of guys.
“I thought that all of our lines did a great job tonight. We don’t really match up line-for-line that often but for the most part we did today and I thought that every line really did a good job and guys were even changing on their own tonight. So it’s just a real credit to our team and Adam gave us his usual strong performance. You just have to enjoy moments like this when you’re a coach.”
Minnesota forward Justin Kloos:
On his first goal and the momentum it created… “The first goal was a good play by [Nate] Condon to get it off the wall and get in to the ‘D’ and then a scrum in front and I was able to pick up a loose puck and throw it at the net. I think that we got some good momentum right away with our first shift getting in deep and then we just kept going. There was no doubt in our minds that we were going to be able to keep the momentum after that first one went in.”
On the success of the freshmen and their contributions to the team… “You can ask all seven of us, we are blessed with a group in front of us with upperclassmen that are great leaders. Coach already mentioned today how well our captains were able to lead us and I think that we have been able to feed off of them all year and we are just happy that we have been able to step in and help the team win.”
Gopher goalie Adam Wilcox:
On the guys in front of him and keeping St. Cloud off the score sheet… “The team was unbelievable tonight from our defense to our forwards and we made sure that they didn’t give them anything. Throughout the whole game we were coming in every period and just saying that they didn’t get much that period. And our guys were selling out blocking shots, our defense [blocked] multiple shots and [Jake] Parenteau almost took one to the face at the end of the game when we were up four goals. That just shows the type of team we have. I know the older guys want it. They made it to the Frozen Four a couple years ago and it didn’t turn out the way they wanted it to, so they are going to do it right this time and give it everything they’ve got.”
Here is what I saw:
– What I saw is probably what everyone saw who watched the game; the Gophers were nothing short of dominant. The defense was stifling, Adam Wilcox was superb in net, and Minnesota was able to capitalize when given the opportunity on the offensive end. St. Cloud State is a very good team yet the Gophers made most of the contest look effortless. In the past two games, Minnesota has been playing some of its best hockey of the season which is what is needed this time of year.
– Two stats jumped out at me after the game. First, Minnesota won 43 faceoffs while losing just 27. It seemed like at every important juncture, the Gophers were able to win the draw and clear the zone or set up their own solid chance. The other stat which was amazing to see was that Minnesota did not allow St. Cloud State an opportunity on the powerplay. Right from the start, there was a lot of chirping and physical play after the whistle but the Gophers were able to remain calm and not put themselves at a disadvantage. The Huskies, on the other hand, gave Minnesota three powerplay chances, the last of which allowed Kyle Rau to score the fourth goal of the game, sealing the victory.
– One thing that Don Lucia mentioned in his postgame press conference was the balance that this Minnesota team has this year. There isn’t just one guy who they depend on and anyone, freshmen to seniors, can step up and play a huge role at any time. Sunday’s game was a perfect example. Seniors Nate Condon, Justin Holl and Jake Parenteau combined for four points while freshmen Justin Kloos and Taylor Cammarata added three points of their own. Three different lines tallied goals showing Minnesota’s ability to come at teams in waves, creating chances with all four units.
– Looking ahead; could there be a more interesting Frozen Four opponent than North Dakota? In a year where the teams haven’t met, it will all come down to one game for a chance to go to the National Championship. College hockey simply does not get any better than that.
Notes and Quotes:
Minnesota will make its 21st appearance in the NCAA Frozen Four. The Gophers are tied with Boston University for the third-most appearances. Michigan and Boston College both have 24.
In NCAA tournament games played at the Xcel Energy Center, Minnesota is now 6-0-0 (2-0-0 in 2002 Frozen Four, 4-0-0 in the 2012 and 2014 West Regionals)
Stopping all 24 shots he faced, Minnesota goalie Adam Wilcox claimed his third shutout of the season and seventh of his career, now tied for the third-most career shutouts in Minnesota history. He also notched his 50th career victory donning the Maroon and Gold.
Five Gophers were named to the West Regional All-Tournament Team: Justin Kloos, Nate Condon, Brady Skjei, Mike Reilly, and Adam Wilcox. SCSU captain Nic Dowd was the lone non-Gopher selection. Kloos was also named the Most Outstanding Player after tallying three goals this weekend.
Minnesota head coach Don Lucia:
Opening Statement…“I’m just really proud of this team. We got beat a week ago Friday and they came to the rink really ready to work on Saturday and prepare for the games this weekend. I think they all knew what was at stake and I thought we had a terrific week of practice. Our captains really led the charge with that. The focus this weekend was tremendous and on the bench, I don’t know if I’ve seen it this focused and communicated and dialed in as we were for the game tonight.
“Again, that is a credit to our captains and right on down. It was obvious that it was very, very important for us to play well this weekend and I’m really happy for our guys. Going to the Frozen Four never gets old. It is a thrill. I’ve been to a handful now but for the guys that haven’t been there before to go through the heartache that we did last year with losing in overtime to be able to come back this year and get back to Philadelphia is a real credit to our group of guys.
“I thought that all of our lines did a great job tonight. We don’t really match up line-for-line that often but for the most part we did today and I thought that every line really did a good job and guys were even changing on their own tonight. So it’s just a real credit to our team and Adam gave us his usual strong performance. You just have to enjoy moments like this when you’re a coach.”
Minnesota forward Justin Kloos:
On his first goal and the momentum it created… “The first goal was a good play by [Nate] Condon to get it off the wall and get in to the ‘D’ and then a scrum in front and I was able to pick up a loose puck and throw it at the net. I think that we got some good momentum right away with our first shift getting in deep and then we just kept going. There was no doubt in our minds that we were going to be able to keep the momentum after that first one went in.”
On the success of the freshmen and their contributions to the team… “You can ask all seven of us, we are blessed with a group in front of us with upperclassmen that are great leaders. Coach already mentioned today how well our captains were able to lead us and I think that we have been able to feed off of them all year and we are just happy that we have been able to step in and help the team win.”
Gopher goalie Adam Wilcox:
On the guys in front of him and keeping St. Cloud off the score sheet… “The team was unbelievable tonight from our defense to our forwards and we made sure that they didn’t give them anything. Throughout the whole game we were coming in every period and just saying that they didn’t get much that period. And our guys were selling out blocking shots, our defense [blocked] multiple shots and [Jake] Parenteau almost took one to the face at the end of the game when we were up four goals. That just shows the type of team we have. I know the older guys want it. They made it to the Frozen Four a couple years ago and it didn’t turn out the way they wanted it to, so they are going to do it right this time and give it everything they’ve got.”
