Coach Don Lucia said Wednesday he is not concerned about all the possibilities in the the first round of the WCHA playoffs. His Gophers, with only two games left, can still finish anywhere from a tie for fourth place to ninth.

The U is seventh right now. “We just want to continue playig well,” he said. “We are worried about today and not what is going to happen tomorrow.

“The only thing we can control is trying to get to seventh place, to lock that in, to keep other teams behind us, So we got to win a game this weekend. We want to continue to play well. We played pretty well this whole second half but lately we’ve been rewarded with goals.”

Goals sure do help, no doubt.

He said he can recall such a tightly bunched pack of teams in the WCHA before. “It shows the compression factor in the league,” Lucia said. “Pretty much all season long we have had three teams that have … been more dominant, CC, North Dakota and Denver, and not much difference between the rest of the teams.

“It is more important how we are playing than who we are playing. … It has not been easy for this team. It is not the most talented team we’ve had. We had our share of adversity. But they kind of chugged along, chugged along and we are kind of lurking around at the end of the year. What we do the next couple of weeks is really going to determine if we were able to get it together and had a great finish of the years ends kind of how it began.”

The latter would not be good.

THE GOALIE SITUATION

Lucia said Alex Kangas is the team’s goalie. “He has given usa chance,” Lucia said. “He has been terrific. The guys have a lot of confidence in him.”

OK, where does that leave Jeff Frazee, the forgotten man on this team? “Jeff is like any other player,” Lucia said. “He will be back next year as a senior. Next year will be a new year, a different year. It’s not only goaltenders, it’s any position. What you did this year, the following year you are going to have to be productive to keepy your spot or move up and down in the lineup, no matter who you are.”

Wonder what Jeff Frazee is really thinking about next season? His junior year turned into a disaster.

WHO STOOD OUT? HELP

I received my WCHA all-conference ballot and have to fill it out soon. The team I’ve seen the most is the Gophers, but who played well enough to deserve my vote?

It’s tough this year to figure out. Maybe Alex Kangas the way he played the second half of the season. Maybe Blake Wheeler, the way he played until recently. He has stopped scoring of late. Really, does anyone from the Gophers deserve all-conference consideration? What do you think?

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