Bruce Brothers, the esteemed Gophers hockey writer for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, turned to me early in the Gophers vs. St. Cloud State hockey game at the National Hockey Center and said: “It’s good to be covering a hockey game again.”

I mumbled a short response — do you believe they put me next to him? the enemy reporter? just kiddig – but I should have said an enthusiastic heck, yes.

Especially when you have an interesting game to watch. The Strib paying me is a bonus.

First impressions:

* This Gophers team has a lot more speed than the 2007-08 club. I also like the way they are diving for pucks, either to keep them in the zone, or knock them out depending who has the puck.

* Three veterans scored goals for the U. This is good. One was Tony Lucia, the coach’s kid. When I talked to him late last season, he seemed to have a need to prove himself, to prove he belonged. It’s not easy being a Lucia playing for Lucia.

Ryan Stoa, the captain, got the next goal. He also scored in the season opener last season — a 4-3 comeback victory for RPI — and then suffered a knee injury the next game which ended his season. The goal last night, short-handed no less, has to boost his confidence. It signaled he’s back. Lucia, the coach, was happy for him.

Mike Carman, a junior just as Lucia and Stoa are, got the third goal of the game, the winner. He missed the first half of last season because he was academically ineligible, then came back and didn’t exactly light it up. But with a full season to play, Carman just might make a big jump.

Alex Kangas in goal was tough as usual. He wasn’t tested all that much in the first half of the game, but made some key stops late.

THREE STARS DISECTED

The three stars of the game, as picked by the media and — I’m not sure who else, actually — were Stoa, Carman and Schroeder. I got a slip, but didn’t vote. Had to work just to keep up typing in the penalties, 19 of them.

But my three picks would have been:

 1. The Gophers penalty killers … St. Cloud State was 0 for 11 on the power play

2. Carman … he set up Lucia’s goal and scored the deciding goal

3. Jase Weslosky, St. Cloud State … the Huskies goalie gave his team a chance to win. He had 17 saves in the first period when the puck seemed always in his end.

COMIC MOMENTS

1. About 5:30 into the third period, big defenseman Brian Schack had the puck behind the Gophers’ net and just stood there for what seemed like five, six seconds. The crowd started to boo. He finally moved when a Huskies player started skating toward him. Even though the Gophers had a 3-1 lead, it’s hard to stall for 14-plus minutes.

2. Early in the second period, freshman defenseman Aaron Ness had the puck at the left point. And to try to gain some space, he did a 360 spin with the puck one way, and then a 360 the other way. Nobody on the team last season could do that. … On second though, Blake “Wheels” Wheeler made a couple huge circles skating with the puck against Ohio State. The big difference was, he skated around the net, so his were humongous circles, not tight spins like Ness’

3. Not sure when this happened, but the Gophers sometime during the game tried a four-corners, keep-away strategy. They made several long passes from neutral ice back to their defensive zone, across ice, etc., while Huskies tried unsuccessfully to put pressure on the puck.

4. Sort of bittersweat funny was how long it took the referees to review two non-goals by St. Cloud State. Supposedly they had only view to look at, the overhead view, not 10-12 angles. So what took so long?

THE REVIEWED GOALS 

The referees waved off two possible goals by the Huskies. St. Cloud State coach Bob Motzko was only bothered by one of those calls, the first. A Huskies’ shot went off the glove of a Huskies’ player, then off a Gophers defenseman into the net.

Motzko said he didn’t understand the explanation he received and said he was not sure the referee who talked to him understood it either. The second possible goal which was reviewed, hit the crossbar, Motzko said, so he was fine with that call. 

Where was the tension in the game? Mostly at the end. Hard to beat a 6-on-4 in the closing minute. The Huskies were on a power play, then pulled their goalie with 42 seconds officially.

TONIGHT’S GAME

St. Cloud State coach Bob Motzko said his Huskies were nervous against the Gophers. Minnesota was clearly the better team most of this game. The Gophers worked more plays, put more pressure on, and had a power play and a short-handed goal.

I expect the Huskies to play better tonight. And I expect a few more goals and a few fewer penalties, especially on the Gophers. They can’t expect to keep the SCS power-play dormant another night.

LAST THOUGHTS

The Gophers’ fourth line played pretty well, especially center Taylor Matson. He dove for a puck once to keep it in, had a breakaway chance, with 9:15 left but shot wide. Linemate Justin Bostrom also crashed the net once but was stopped.

 I’m pushing for a nickname for the Minnesota Hockey Showcase on Nov. 1 at the Xcel Energy Center. It’s a bit like the Beanpot in Boston, which as four area teams. The showcase has the four WCHA teams in the state playing.

How does the Hot Dish sound to you? That’s kind of Minnesotan.

Should Alex Kangas have a nickname? A headline, over a story on Kangas, in that east metro daily on Friday said “Rock Solid.” Then after the game that night, Carman called Kangas a rock. … I know there is a wrestler already named “The Rock,” but maybe there is room for another “Rock” in college hockey.

After Saturday’s game, I will comment on what I saw on another post on this site.  

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This entry was posted on Saturday, October 18th, 2008 at 1:23 am 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.