Want to know what Gophers coach Don Lucia thinks? So do I. Sometimes he will even tell me. But I stay away from politicial questions.

Lucia at media day last week on power plays: “Last year’s team wasn’t very special, I know that, especially on the power play, and it cost us a lot of games. How many games did we tie or lose by a goal when we didn’t generate anything on the power play.

“Many times last year I really felt the power play was a momentum killer. We’d be playing well five on five and we almost wanted to decline a power play.”

Don, I don’t think you can do that.

This season should be different, though. “We have some guys that can move it,” Lucia said. “I do think guys in the back line — Kevin Wehrs is a much better player than he was a year ago and Cade Fairchild, David Fischer and certainly having Aaron Ness back there. I think we have some guys on the blue line that can make some plays with it.”

The it, of course, is the puck.

“We’ll be better on the power play that what we were a year ago,” Lucia said.

The U was 0 for 5 on power plays in Friday’s 3-1 exhibition win over British Columbia. Lucia tried a lot of different combinations, three forwards with two defensemen, and four forwards with one defensmen.

The power play’s development will be interesting to watch.

“With the new rule changes, especially early, [power plays] will play an important part in the game,” Lucia said. “You’d better have some guys that can play on the power play. You better have some good players that can kill it. Maybe they shouldn’t be the same guys because early on you may see games with 10-12 power plays a side.”

If that is true, expct some wild, crazy games, with leads changing and red lights glowing.

KANGAS MORE COMFORTABLE
“Last year I was kind of like the deer in the headlights right away,” sophomore goalie Alex Kangas said. “I did not come in in the best shape and it was well-documented.

“[But] at the end of last year, I was kind of the go-to guy and it is a confidence-booster going into this year. I worked out a lot more this summer. I came in probably about 10 times in better shape than I did last year, so that was a plus.”

“I’ve been working on my game on the ice as well. And the freshman goalies that are coming in are good goaltenders too. It is not just like I come to the rink every day and think I got it made. I’ve got to come work and give my all every practice. We will be ready to go [against St. Cloud State].”

Both of the freshmen goalies Kent Patterson and Jake Kremer, played junior hockey last season. “They both are good goalies or they wouldn’t be with this program,” Kangas said. “I have to come to the rink every day like i said and just battle.”

Patterson and Kremer seem to be becoming buddies. Both showed up for a photo shoot together recently.

DEFENSE SKILLED

In fronf of Kangas, the team MVP last season, is a pretty solid group of defensemen.

“Our D-corps, based on what I see, is not going to be the biggest group back there or probably the toughest group in the league,” Lucia said, “but what we do possess is pretty good stick skills. They will be in a position to help us get the puck out of our zone and help us get the puck going in transtion.

“Maybe we were worried about protecting the [defensemen] a little bit too much last year and we became a good defensive team but, at the same time, we struggled often to score and that is well-documented. It is hard to win games when you only get one or two goals a night.

“How many times last year we’d score in the first period, we’d get the lead and we just seemed to dry up and not generate any more goals the rest of the game. If we can get more goals, especially on the power play, and score a little bit more we will be able to make a jump.”

As in, a jump in the standings from seventh place to … Well, there are a lot of spots above that.

(Wonder if Kangas listens closely to what Lucia says. Did you notice both used the phrase “well-documented” at media day. It’s not exactly a common expression.)

FLEXIBILITY BACK

“One of the things that has been nice so far is having 27 players,” Lucia said. “We have been so limited in our numbers the last couple years. I think it has limited, in some ways, what we could do in practice.

“We have had good quality scrimmages this year because we have had eight forwards on a side. So you get some work done rather than just having basically two lines and seven defensemen like we have had the last couple years.

“At times, because of injuries, we were down to five defensemen at practice. It’s difficult to have a quality practice with those numbers.”

HOCKEY JOKE OF THE DAY

How can you tell a Gophers hockey player from any other male U student after a game? They are the ones carrying cardboard boxes around with pizza inside. … A nice little perk. … I never promised it would be funny.

SIZE CONSCIOUS

Freshman center Jordan Schroeder somehow noticed on the web, or was tipped off that the sports information folks were going to list him at 5-8, 160.

He called and asked if they still could correct those numbers. When told, that could be done, he sent a text message to Jim Strick, the men’s hockey SID.

It said he was 6-2, 220, then had several ha, ha’s following that obvious fibbing.

 So what does the media guide list him at? 5-9, 180.

CAPTAIN SAYS

Junior captain Ryan Stoa on his team: “Definitely we will be young and we will have to battle for everything we get.”

Assistant captain Justin Bostrom on Stoa: “He was off to a great start last year before his injury.” … Stoa had a goal and an assist in four period before suffering a season-ending knee injury on Oct. 13, 2007.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 11th, 2008 at 10:35 pm and is filed under Gophers men's hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.