The #1 Gophers (6-0-1-0 B1G, 16-2-3 Overall) welcomed the Ohio State Buckeyes (1-3-1-0 B1G, 11-7-1 Overall) into TCF Bank Stadium tonight, for the Hockey City Classic. Minnesota won the game 1-0 on a goal by Taylor Cammarata in front of 45,021, the largest crowd to every see a hockey game in Minnesota.
Here is what I saw.
- Gophers looked like they learned their lessons last year, and didn’t try to get too fancy with their moves, passes, etc.
- The crowd was incredible. Being down at ice level was amazing. You can understand why it is such a thrill for these players to play in a game like this. And the fans were having a great time, despite the frigid temperatures. It was even cold in the press box!
Here are the post game comments:
Minnesota Head Coach Don Lucia:
Regarding the game…. “First, I’d like to thank InterSport, and our administration for doing such a terrific job of putting this event on. Obviously, especially when you win, it’s a smashing success. It seemed like everyone was having a good time. The ice condition were very good. I think they had one repair the whole game, so that was a lot different from last years event. I know when I parked across the street at Mariucci, walking over, I stopped at a few of the tailgaters. Took some pictures with them, and they all seemed like they were having a good time. It seemed like a pretty festive environment as far as the stands were concerned. You know, it was the type of game that we expected it to be. It was chip and chase. You’re not going to be able to make a lot of pretty plays. But we did enough to get the one goal, a scrambling play around the net where Cammy (Taylor Camaratta) scored. And then we were able to keep at one to nothing. Real positive, a great event. I’m sure our players will always remember this game. We talked about getting three points in the standings. Went through it last year and lost, and it kind of takes away a little bit when you lose the game. So, very happy to win this game, especially at home in front of our fans that turned out. Going through it last year, sometimes we tried to make too many passes. And they bounced over sticks, and away the other teams gonna go. So I thought we played a more cautious game. And I thought the goaltenders made a couple of good saves too, during the course of the game”
Regarding coming back on a short week…. “I thought the guys handled it really well. I mean, we really didn’t talk about the outdoor game at all until we got back from Penn State. We talked about keeping our focus on Penn State, and then when we come back, we’ll worry about the outdoor game. We purposely practiced inside on Wednesday, because we wanted to make sure we have one good prep day. And not knowing what the ice or weather would be like over the course of the week. And then we went for probably forty five or fifty minutes yesterday, and then did not skate today. With the eight o’clock game, just to warm up and loosen up, rather than put all the gear on to come out here for twenty minutes. I thought the guys handled it really well. And they were focused. And I think the guys that went through this last year understood that they really wanted to win the game this year”
Regarding the weather…. “We went into the game talking about splitting the third period. And there coaches were in agreement too. With the lack of wind, the ice was the same on both sides, so, you can play it regular. When you get into these events most of the time, that’s not going to happen. I think the weather really cooperated. At ice level, it was a lot warmer today than it was yesterday when we were practicing, I’ll tell you that”
Regarding playing the outdoor game again next year…. “I think we’ll wait for a while now. I think this is something that’s special to be a part of, but I think you can do it too much, quite frankly. I think the next team that deserves to play in this game is the Wild. I think that our fans would really embrace that, and hopefully the NHL will come here and see we have a great place to host it. The sight lines are pretty good for a football stadium. The issue we’ll have in the next couple of years, is the Vikings will be playing there for two years for sure. So if you’re going to play it here, you’re probably looking at the end of January or February before you can do it. You know what, it was a success. I think we will probably do it again. I’m not sure we’ll do it in the next couple of years, but, you know, every so often if you do it, it makes it fun. Not only for the players, but most importantly it’s the fans have to want to do it, and be a part of it again”
Adam Wilcox:
Regarding the breakaway save…. “With the outside games, you’ve gotta expect that, even on a power play. He came down the right side, and he had his stick in the position for shooting. So I knew he was going to shoot it. If he was going to pull it across, I was going to throw a stick out, but I saw him go low blocker side, so I just kind of threw my leg and blocker out there and tried to cover that whole corner”
Regarding the weather…. “Yeah, actually it was kind of nice. Sometimes at Mariucci, I feel like I’m going to overheat with all the equipment I wear. It balanced out. There wasn’t any time in the game where I felt like I was cold. My toes a little bit at the end, but other than that, I felt perfect out there. It was kind of nice to have the breeze on ya”
Regarding the ice…. “Last year I didn’t realize how much the puck bounced differently from your equipment. Your equipment gets kind of frozen out there. So in practice the other day, I was tweaking a little bit, and working on it. And then in warmups today, I was really focusing on that. So I think that was the biggest thing. The other thing is the boards were really lively, so I couldn’t go out of the net a lot. That was one thing I talked to the D about before the game. We did a really good job of working behind our net”
Regarding the atmosphere…. “It was pretty special. It felt like the football team out there, when they get the huge crowd. It was unbelievable to have 45,000 fans there, and having them stick it out. You expect that from Minnesota fans, being tough here up north. It was awesome to have that. I know the whole team was really excited to have that many fans here. I was lucky enough to be the goalie, and get to go out first. Pretty lucky for me. That was pretty awesome”
Nate Condon:
Regarding the ice…. “A lot better than last year. Skating around in warm-ups, there was maybe a hole or two, but they did a great job this year. A lot of it had to do with the temperature. It was nice cold weather this year, so they didn’t have to worry about it as much”
Regarding the weather…. “Actually, when we were out there, it was great. When you’re skating around, you felt pretty comfortable. When you got back to the bench, and sat there for a little, you had the nice little heaters on you. So, I think the coaches can’t even complain about the benches, it was great. It was a fun experience. When you have 45,000 people cheering for you, you’re not really going to notice anything else. It was pretty nice once you got out there, moving around, and getting a sweat going. They did a great job with getting heated benches, and really taking care of the players here. So, nothing to complain about from the players standpoint”
Regarding the game…. “You know, it’s something different for us, playing in front of 45,000 people tonight. It was a lot different than last year. Last year there weren’t as many fans, and it was kind of a road game for us. Having that many people cheering for us is something that I’ll always remember. I had talked to my family coming into the game about how cold it was going to be, and how it might be an empty building in the third period. But everyone stuck it out. We had some great fans here tonight, that’s something I’ll take away from it”
The Gophers will take on Ohio State again tomorrow night at Mariucci Arena, as part of Hockey Day Minnesota. Game time is 5:00 PM (Central), an earlier start time to accommodate the Wild vs. Dallas Stars. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports North.
Here is what I saw.
- Gophers looked like they learned their lessons last year, and didn’t try to get too fancy with their moves, passes, etc.
- The crowd was incredible. Being down at ice level was amazing. You can understand why it is such a thrill for these players to play in a game like this. And the fans were having a great time, despite the frigid temperatures. It was even cold in the press box!
Here are the post game comments:
Minnesota Head Coach Don Lucia:
Regarding the game…. “First, I’d like to thank InterSport, and our administration for doing such a terrific job of putting this event on. Obviously, especially when you win, it’s a smashing success. It seemed like everyone was having a good time. The ice condition were very good. I think they had one repair the whole game, so that was a lot different from last years event. I know when I parked across the street at Mariucci, walking over, I stopped at a few of the tailgaters. Took some pictures with them, and they all seemed like they were having a good time. It seemed like a pretty festive environment as far as the stands were concerned. You know, it was the type of game that we expected it to be. It was chip and chase. You’re not going to be able to make a lot of pretty plays. But we did enough to get the one goal, a scrambling play around the net where Cammy (Taylor Camaratta) scored. And then we were able to keep at one to nothing. Real positive, a great event. I’m sure our players will always remember this game. We talked about getting three points in the standings. Went through it last year and lost, and it kind of takes away a little bit when you lose the game. So, very happy to win this game, especially at home in front of our fans that turned out. Going through it last year, sometimes we tried to make too many passes. And they bounced over sticks, and away the other teams gonna go. So I thought we played a more cautious game. And I thought the goaltenders made a couple of good saves too, during the course of the game”
Regarding coming back on a short week…. “I thought the guys handled it really well. I mean, we really didn’t talk about the outdoor game at all until we got back from Penn State. We talked about keeping our focus on Penn State, and then when we come back, we’ll worry about the outdoor game. We purposely practiced inside on Wednesday, because we wanted to make sure we have one good prep day. And not knowing what the ice or weather would be like over the course of the week. And then we went for probably forty five or fifty minutes yesterday, and then did not skate today. With the eight o’clock game, just to warm up and loosen up, rather than put all the gear on to come out here for twenty minutes. I thought the guys handled it really well. And they were focused. And I think the guys that went through this last year understood that they really wanted to win the game this year”
Regarding the weather…. “We went into the game talking about splitting the third period. And there coaches were in agreement too. With the lack of wind, the ice was the same on both sides, so, you can play it regular. When you get into these events most of the time, that’s not going to happen. I think the weather really cooperated. At ice level, it was a lot warmer today than it was yesterday when we were practicing, I’ll tell you that”
Regarding playing the outdoor game again next year…. “I think we’ll wait for a while now. I think this is something that’s special to be a part of, but I think you can do it too much, quite frankly. I think the next team that deserves to play in this game is the Wild. I think that our fans would really embrace that, and hopefully the NHL will come here and see we have a great place to host it. The sight lines are pretty good for a football stadium. The issue we’ll have in the next couple of years, is the Vikings will be playing there for two years for sure. So if you’re going to play it here, you’re probably looking at the end of January or February before you can do it. You know what, it was a success. I think we will probably do it again. I’m not sure we’ll do it in the next couple of years, but, you know, every so often if you do it, it makes it fun. Not only for the players, but most importantly it’s the fans have to want to do it, and be a part of it again”
Adam Wilcox:
Regarding the breakaway save…. “With the outside games, you’ve gotta expect that, even on a power play. He came down the right side, and he had his stick in the position for shooting. So I knew he was going to shoot it. If he was going to pull it across, I was going to throw a stick out, but I saw him go low blocker side, so I just kind of threw my leg and blocker out there and tried to cover that whole corner”
Regarding the weather…. “Yeah, actually it was kind of nice. Sometimes at Mariucci, I feel like I’m going to overheat with all the equipment I wear. It balanced out. There wasn’t any time in the game where I felt like I was cold. My toes a little bit at the end, but other than that, I felt perfect out there. It was kind of nice to have the breeze on ya”
Regarding the ice…. “Last year I didn’t realize how much the puck bounced differently from your equipment. Your equipment gets kind of frozen out there. So in practice the other day, I was tweaking a little bit, and working on it. And then in warmups today, I was really focusing on that. So I think that was the biggest thing. The other thing is the boards were really lively, so I couldn’t go out of the net a lot. That was one thing I talked to the D about before the game. We did a really good job of working behind our net”
Regarding the atmosphere…. “It was pretty special. It felt like the football team out there, when they get the huge crowd. It was unbelievable to have 45,000 fans there, and having them stick it out. You expect that from Minnesota fans, being tough here up north. It was awesome to have that. I know the whole team was really excited to have that many fans here. I was lucky enough to be the goalie, and get to go out first. Pretty lucky for me. That was pretty awesome”
Nate Condon:
Regarding the ice…. “A lot better than last year. Skating around in warm-ups, there was maybe a hole or two, but they did a great job this year. A lot of it had to do with the temperature. It was nice cold weather this year, so they didn’t have to worry about it as much”
Regarding the weather…. “Actually, when we were out there, it was great. When you’re skating around, you felt pretty comfortable. When you got back to the bench, and sat there for a little, you had the nice little heaters on you. So, I think the coaches can’t even complain about the benches, it was great. It was a fun experience. When you have 45,000 people cheering for you, you’re not really going to notice anything else. It was pretty nice once you got out there, moving around, and getting a sweat going. They did a great job with getting heated benches, and really taking care of the players here. So, nothing to complain about from the players standpoint”
Regarding the game…. “You know, it’s something different for us, playing in front of 45,000 people tonight. It was a lot different than last year. Last year there weren’t as many fans, and it was kind of a road game for us. Having that many people cheering for us is something that I’ll always remember. I had talked to my family coming into the game about how cold it was going to be, and how it might be an empty building in the third period. But everyone stuck it out. We had some great fans here tonight, that’s something I’ll take away from it”
The Gophers will take on Ohio State again tomorrow night at Mariucci Arena, as part of Hockey Day Minnesota. Game time is 5:00 PM (Central), an earlier start time to accommodate the Wild vs. Dallas Stars. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports North.