The Gophers (7-0-1 B1G, 18-2-4 Overall) took on UMD (5-6-1 NCHC, 10-9-3 Overall) tonight, in the Championship game of the North Star College Cup at the Xcel Energy Center in front of 14,518. Minnesota, trying to avenge their last loss, came out on top in a shootout (2-0), after tying 4-4 in regulation.
Here is what I saw.
- The goals came so fast and furious in the first period, that I couldn’t keep up. Rau scored, then UMD scored two in a big hurry. Fast paced game with a lot of scoring chances.
- What a difference a year makes, watching the play of Mike Reilly & Brady Skjei. Reilly has become so clearly confident with the puck, and Skjei has been a steady defensive presence, playing more physical. When I see Michael Brodzinski have his struggles on defense at times, I have faith that he will turn that around. If not this year, next year. Kids got talent, just needs confidence, time, and the proven coaching of Mike Guentzel.
- This game had a lot of emotion. It was nice to see that this tournament meant so much to the players. That will make it a better tournament going forward, in my opinion.
- Ben Marshall was given a five minute major for a “hit to the head”. The replay showed that it was clearly shoulder to shoulder. UMD subsequently scored on that power play, changing the course of the game. During the post game press conference, Austin Farley of UMD, who was the beneficiary of Marshall’s crushing check, was asked how he was feeling after the hit. He said “My shoulder is kind of sore, but I’m feeling OK”. That would make sense, since it was a shoulder to shoulder hit!! Of course, I don’t blame Farley at all on the play. People accused him of diving, but I think he was legitimately hurt. It was just poor execution on the part of the Officials.
- Officiating in general was terrible. UMD is clearly practiced in the art of diving. No doubt. When a Gopher player has one hand on their stick near the ankle of a UMD player, it’s not logical that the UMD player would fly six feet in the air. That’s called embellishment. And, I believe, if there is embellishment, there is not a penalty. If anything, give the player a penalty for diving.
Here are the post game comments:
UMD Head Coach Scott Sandelin:
Regarding the game…. “I thought it was a heckuva hockey game. Both teams played hard. Probably deserved to end in a tie. It’s always tough to lose shootouts. Would have been nice to keep playing. We both have shootouts in our league, so it’s probably something we need to get used to. But give them credit, they capitalized on their shootout opportunities. Overall, I think it was a great game. I’m proud of our team. I thought our team played well from the start. Hopefully we can continue that. Their power play was good. They get big body in front, and they got some goals around the net. We didn’t get in the shot lanes. We had six power plays, and only scored one. They had three. We played a strong game. We finished 1-1-1. We’ve had good games with them. Tonight was a pretty even hockey game. We outshot em, and played a strong game. Their power play allowed them to stay in the game, and that’s what you need”
Minnesota Head Coach Don Lucia:
Regarding the game…. “I’m proud of our guys for finding a way this weekend in both games. We played two good teams and both games were a struggle. It was great to see our power play come alive this weekend. It has shown signs here in the last six weeks that it had been improving. To get power play goals each night was huge. And certainly the play of Adam (Wilcox) kept us in there when we needed it, especially early in the game. The guys got a little more vested in the game as it went along. We blocked more shots, and more body contact. It was just a good hard fought game, good hard fought weekend, which was good for our team, we needed it. Games like this, weekends like this make you better. I thought that for the first tournament, it was a great start, and I think it’s only going to grow and get better. We’re appreciative to win the very first one, even though it goes down as a tie, and a shootout win“
Regarding the tournament…. “They were all good games. We anticipated that. You know, overtime, hard fought, close games, and I said that going in. I really felt that any of the four teams were good enough to win it. Who knows what would have happened Friday if Mankato hadn’t been missing a couple of guys because of a fight the previous weekend. Hard fought games. I think you saw that the in-state pride was there, which was good. I do think it’s a little bit different when you’re not playing for points, but all in all, it was a good entertaining weekend of college hockey, like we hoped it would be. It showcased the talented programs in our state”
Adam Wilcox:
Regarding the shootout…. “It’s unbelievable. We lost the first three, so you kind of get a little bit in the back of your head, and it eats away at you, especially when you lose points because of it. But tonight it was a championship on the line, and I knew (Kyle) Rau was going to do his old five-hole move there, and he got that. And Broz (Seth Ambroz) had a good backhand, so I trust our guys are going to score, so I just want to stop the first two for sure, and I knew we’re going to get it done”
Regarding the tournament…. “All four teams are unbelievable, and we don’t get a chance to play them in league play, so it was one of our only chances to win that in-state championship. And even though it came in a shootout, we got the trophy for a year, so I know the guys are excited about that”
Regarding getting so many shots in the game…. “Anytime you get that many shots, especially in a game like this, you kind of get into a rhythm. Especially with penalties, getting that many shots keeps you alive throughout the game. UMD is a good team. They can score at any time. They had those two goals real quick. When you get sixteen or seventeen shots and let in four goals, it’s tough”
Regarding the game…. “Our power play tonight was huge. We had big time goals from Hudson (Fasching) and Boyder (Travis Boyd). When it comes down to it, we’re getting more power play goals from our special teams. If we finish on those opportunities, we don’t need to get forty plus shots. We get those power play opportunities, and capitalize on those, and play defensive from there”
Seth Ambroz:
Regarding the tournament…. “It’s one of the better tournaments I’ve been a part of. Great experience, obviously, being the first one to come on top. It really just showed this weekend how good the teams in Minnesota are. Like Coxy (Adam Wilcox) said, we’ve got the trophy for a year. All the games came down to the wire, and anyone can win on any given day. We were fortunate to have a hot goaltender. This has been a great experience”
Regarding the shootout…. “It was nice to see it go into the net. We were work on the shootouts at least once a week. Coxy usually knows what I’m doing, and it’s tough to get it by him. It’s great to see him come away with his first shootout win here. He deserved it. He was our backbone this whole weekend. We didn’t play the best that we could have. You’re not going to play your best every weekend, but it’s really nice that we had Coxy in the net this weekend. He really bailed us out on kind of a poor weekend. We want to be a good team, and you’ve gotta be able to find a ways to win each and every night, whether it comes down to a shootout, or in regulation. We were able to do that, which is a big step for our team, I think”
Regarding the game…. “It was great. A lot of jaw jacking with both teams. Everyone was into it, the crowd was into it, it moved back and forth. It was a lot of fun for me. Kind of felt like a good playoff atmosphere. That’s what it’s going to be like at the end of the year. You’ve gotta be able to come out on top in these games, and we were fortunate to come out on top tonight. It’s going to be games like this that matter near the end of the year. It was really fun to come out on top in this one. They’ve got a really good team, and they’re in a tough conference. It’s always going to be a battle with the Minnesota rivalry. They give us a tough time. All the respect in the world to them”
The Gophers will take on the Michigan State Spartans next weekend at Mariucci Arena. Game time is 8:00 PM (Central) Friday, and broadcast on the B1G Network. Saturday’s game is at 7:00 PM, and will be broadcast on FSN-Plus.
Here is what I saw.
- The goals came so fast and furious in the first period, that I couldn’t keep up. Rau scored, then UMD scored two in a big hurry. Fast paced game with a lot of scoring chances.
- What a difference a year makes, watching the play of Mike Reilly & Brady Skjei. Reilly has become so clearly confident with the puck, and Skjei has been a steady defensive presence, playing more physical. When I see Michael Brodzinski have his struggles on defense at times, I have faith that he will turn that around. If not this year, next year. Kids got talent, just needs confidence, time, and the proven coaching of Mike Guentzel.
- This game had a lot of emotion. It was nice to see that this tournament meant so much to the players. That will make it a better tournament going forward, in my opinion.
- Ben Marshall was given a five minute major for a “hit to the head”. The replay showed that it was clearly shoulder to shoulder. UMD subsequently scored on that power play, changing the course of the game. During the post game press conference, Austin Farley of UMD, who was the beneficiary of Marshall’s crushing check, was asked how he was feeling after the hit. He said “My shoulder is kind of sore, but I’m feeling OK”. That would make sense, since it was a shoulder to shoulder hit!! Of course, I don’t blame Farley at all on the play. People accused him of diving, but I think he was legitimately hurt. It was just poor execution on the part of the Officials.
- Officiating in general was terrible. UMD is clearly practiced in the art of diving. No doubt. When a Gopher player has one hand on their stick near the ankle of a UMD player, it’s not logical that the UMD player would fly six feet in the air. That’s called embellishment. And, I believe, if there is embellishment, there is not a penalty. If anything, give the player a penalty for diving.
Here are the post game comments:
UMD Head Coach Scott Sandelin:
Regarding the game…. “I thought it was a heckuva hockey game. Both teams played hard. Probably deserved to end in a tie. It’s always tough to lose shootouts. Would have been nice to keep playing. We both have shootouts in our league, so it’s probably something we need to get used to. But give them credit, they capitalized on their shootout opportunities. Overall, I think it was a great game. I’m proud of our team. I thought our team played well from the start. Hopefully we can continue that. Their power play was good. They get big body in front, and they got some goals around the net. We didn’t get in the shot lanes. We had six power plays, and only scored one. They had three. We played a strong game. We finished 1-1-1. We’ve had good games with them. Tonight was a pretty even hockey game. We outshot em, and played a strong game. Their power play allowed them to stay in the game, and that’s what you need”
Minnesota Head Coach Don Lucia:
Regarding the game…. “I’m proud of our guys for finding a way this weekend in both games. We played two good teams and both games were a struggle. It was great to see our power play come alive this weekend. It has shown signs here in the last six weeks that it had been improving. To get power play goals each night was huge. And certainly the play of Adam (Wilcox) kept us in there when we needed it, especially early in the game. The guys got a little more vested in the game as it went along. We blocked more shots, and more body contact. It was just a good hard fought game, good hard fought weekend, which was good for our team, we needed it. Games like this, weekends like this make you better. I thought that for the first tournament, it was a great start, and I think it’s only going to grow and get better. We’re appreciative to win the very first one, even though it goes down as a tie, and a shootout win“
Regarding the tournament…. “They were all good games. We anticipated that. You know, overtime, hard fought, close games, and I said that going in. I really felt that any of the four teams were good enough to win it. Who knows what would have happened Friday if Mankato hadn’t been missing a couple of guys because of a fight the previous weekend. Hard fought games. I think you saw that the in-state pride was there, which was good. I do think it’s a little bit different when you’re not playing for points, but all in all, it was a good entertaining weekend of college hockey, like we hoped it would be. It showcased the talented programs in our state”
Adam Wilcox:
Regarding the shootout…. “It’s unbelievable. We lost the first three, so you kind of get a little bit in the back of your head, and it eats away at you, especially when you lose points because of it. But tonight it was a championship on the line, and I knew (Kyle) Rau was going to do his old five-hole move there, and he got that. And Broz (Seth Ambroz) had a good backhand, so I trust our guys are going to score, so I just want to stop the first two for sure, and I knew we’re going to get it done”
Regarding the tournament…. “All four teams are unbelievable, and we don’t get a chance to play them in league play, so it was one of our only chances to win that in-state championship. And even though it came in a shootout, we got the trophy for a year, so I know the guys are excited about that”
Regarding getting so many shots in the game…. “Anytime you get that many shots, especially in a game like this, you kind of get into a rhythm. Especially with penalties, getting that many shots keeps you alive throughout the game. UMD is a good team. They can score at any time. They had those two goals real quick. When you get sixteen or seventeen shots and let in four goals, it’s tough”
Regarding the game…. “Our power play tonight was huge. We had big time goals from Hudson (Fasching) and Boyder (Travis Boyd). When it comes down to it, we’re getting more power play goals from our special teams. If we finish on those opportunities, we don’t need to get forty plus shots. We get those power play opportunities, and capitalize on those, and play defensive from there”
Seth Ambroz:
Regarding the tournament…. “It’s one of the better tournaments I’ve been a part of. Great experience, obviously, being the first one to come on top. It really just showed this weekend how good the teams in Minnesota are. Like Coxy (Adam Wilcox) said, we’ve got the trophy for a year. All the games came down to the wire, and anyone can win on any given day. We were fortunate to have a hot goaltender. This has been a great experience”
Regarding the shootout…. “It was nice to see it go into the net. We were work on the shootouts at least once a week. Coxy usually knows what I’m doing, and it’s tough to get it by him. It’s great to see him come away with his first shootout win here. He deserved it. He was our backbone this whole weekend. We didn’t play the best that we could have. You’re not going to play your best every weekend, but it’s really nice that we had Coxy in the net this weekend. He really bailed us out on kind of a poor weekend. We want to be a good team, and you’ve gotta be able to find a ways to win each and every night, whether it comes down to a shootout, or in regulation. We were able to do that, which is a big step for our team, I think”
Regarding the game…. “It was great. A lot of jaw jacking with both teams. Everyone was into it, the crowd was into it, it moved back and forth. It was a lot of fun for me. Kind of felt like a good playoff atmosphere. That’s what it’s going to be like at the end of the year. You’ve gotta be able to come out on top in these games, and we were fortunate to come out on top tonight. It’s going to be games like this that matter near the end of the year. It was really fun to come out on top in this one. They’ve got a really good team, and they’re in a tough conference. It’s always going to be a battle with the Minnesota rivalry. They give us a tough time. All the respect in the world to them”
The Gophers will take on the Michigan State Spartans next weekend at Mariucci Arena. Game time is 8:00 PM (Central) Friday, and broadcast on the B1G Network. Saturday’s game is at 7:00 PM, and will be broadcast on FSN-Plus.
