What are the odds of this happening? There are three former Holy Angels players on the Gophers men’s hockey team. And in one game, against Michigan last Friday, all three suffered leg injuries.

Taylor Matson, a freshman center, was the first to get hurt in the third minute of the game, a 6-3 loss to the Wolverines at Mariucci Arena.

“It was definitely weird,” Taylor said, referring to the Holy Angels trifecta of injuries. “I come in here [the Gophers training room] and all of a sudden Jay [Barriball] comes in and then [Mike] Carman comes in. It was weird to see how many people got hurt that game.

“I was sitting in here and they kept coming in and I was thinking, ‘What is going on?’ ”

He was also in a lot of pain. “It hurt pretty bad, really bad,” Matson said, “because my MCL and ACL went. They say your MCL is more painful. So that is the one that was really hurting.”

There was no penalty called on the play in which Matson got hurt. He collided with a Michigan defensman behind the Wolverines’ net.

“It wasn’t dirty at all by their player,” Matson said. “It was just kind of awkward,” he said. “Kind of just twisting and my foot just stuck on the ice.” As he fell backward. 

The next day, a Saturday,  all three ex-Holy Angels players went for MRIs at the same time at a  St. Louis Park location.

“I’m the only one out bad,” said Matson, out for the season with torn ligaments (ACL and MCL) in his left knee. “Now I get to experience how much you have to appreciate every game.”

But the games he played, he will savor.

“I could not have experienced anything better,” Matson said. “The coaching staff and players are awesome. And just to wear the maroon and gold is everything I asked for.” 

 He first played for the Gophers in their 3-1 exhibition victory over the University of British Columbia. He missed a late penalty shot in that game and, of course, was teased a bit by his teammates.

He had played in every Gophers’ game, 13 in all, until he got hurt. He remembers the home opener, against St. Cloud State, well.

“At that St. Cloud game here, our first home game, it was a little nerve-wracking to see all the people, and all your family and friends that you know are close here,” Matson said. “Definitely it was unbelievable and I will [remember] it for the rest of my life.”

In a U of M press release Tuesday, announcing Taylor would have surgery in a couple weeks, Lucia said: “It’s very disappointing for Taylor. He was off to a great start this season and worked hard to earn a place in the lineup, but this also provides an opportunity for someone else to step up and fill his spot.”

The leading candidate for that job probably is Nick Larson, a redshirt freshman who has played sparingly but got his first goal last Saturday. Larson can play center or wing.

Matson was one of the Gophers top penalty killers. “I really liked that job,” he said, “because we had all the high skill guys on the power play. So I knew I had to find my role as being a penalty killer. It was great to be playing with [Justin] Bostrom out there. It was fun. We had a PK chance [to score] every game.”

Taylor said after he has been told that after surgery it will be a month before he can start walking. “And then I will go from there,” he said. “It depends on how fast your knee is going to [heal] and how hard I want to work.”

He said he will definitely be ready for the start of next season.

His injury, Matson said, is the same as captain Ryan Stoa had last season in the second game, also against Michigan. “[Stoa] is like, ‘It just sucks. It’s a pain. But you have to look at the bright side and the positive things and it will be a lot better,’ “ Taylor said.

Stoa received a medical redshirt year for last season, so he remains a junior in terms of eligibility this season and can play next season if he doesn’t turn pro.

Matson, though, won’t be able to petition for a medical redshirt year. He played too many games.

“I think 30 percent of your games is the rule,” Matson said. “If you play 30 percent or more you can’t count it as a redshirt [year]. That’s a little bit disappointing.”  

EX-COACH HAPPY FOR HELGESON

Defenseman Seth Helgeson, a defenseman for the Sioux City Musketeers, is one of the six players who signed a national letter of intent with the Gophers last month.

He is a kid from Faribault, who played for the public high school there, not Shattuck-St. Mary’s. He left the Falcons early, after his sophomore year for the USHL.

But Josh Solem, who coached Helgeson for two seasons remembers him well for his work ethic.

“He has got all the tools, college coaches and pro scouts said,” said Solem, now the boys’ hockey coach at Monticello. “He could be a top [NHL] prospect if he continues to develop. He has great size. He’s 6-3 and well over 200 pounds.”

The Gophers press release on signing day listed Helgeson’s weight at 220.

“He has incredible hands, great vision and a tremendous shot,” Solem said. “He has everything you could want in a hockey player and he’s getting better every year.

“He’s got a great work ehtic. He pushes himself. He’s got the internal drive it takes.”

Helgeson’s father, Mark, is an administrator at Faribault Middle School.

Despite all the talent he has, Helgeson has stayed humble, Solem said, and he is happy living his dream of becoming a Gopher.

LONG WAIT FOR OT GOAL

It has been more than two years since the Gophers scored an overtime goal in a regular-season game.

Tyler Hirsch had the last one on Nov. 4, 2006. He scored  49 seconds into the five-minute overtime to give the Gophers a 3-2 victory over Minnesota Duluth. Kyle Okposo had the one assist. Both those two are long gone from the U.

Since then the Gophers have gone 0-3-18 in regular-season overtime games. After that UMD game, they went 0-0-4  in the 2006-07 regular season in overtime games, 0-3-9 in 2007-08 and 0-0-5 in 2008-09 so far.

In minutes, that’s:

* 20 scoreless OT minutes in 2006-07.

* another 76:19 scoreless minutes in 2007-08 when the U was 0-3-9 in 12 regular-season OT games. (Alex Kangas was in the nets for the final 15 of 16 OT games, Jeff Frazee played in the first OT, a 2-1 loss at Colorado College in which CC scored at 2:42.)

* And 25 more scoreless minutes in 2008-09 so far in a 0-0-5 start in OT games.

The grand total for the scoreless streak, which has reached 21 games, is 96 minutes and 19 seconds without an OT goal. That’s almost five periods of hockey. 

I figured I better do the math on this because this obscure streak can’t continue forever and I wanted to be ready when it ends to write about it.

THE BIG FOUR 

Don Lucia of the Gophers is the coaches’ representative on the four-person WCHA executive committee. But who serves with him? Good question.

Steve Cobb of Alaska Anchorage represents athletic directors. The other two committee members are faculty representatives. One is Sue Jeno, an assistant professor of physical therapy at North Dakota. The other is Nancy Sampson, a sports management professor with the Daniels College of Business at Denver University.

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