Gophers Open at Mariucci

Sooo this weekend was pretty good. Passing still sucked but that will come (hopefully) It was great to finally see Alex Kangas in net and Brent Solei for the first time this season. Alex Kangas played a hell of a game. He was outstanding. By far the best goalie we have. Jeff's good but lets be honest... some of those would have gone in. I'm not sure if anyone else is wondering about this but can the Gophers ever play three periods of hockey? I mean honestly. If they wouldn't have had early goals then they would have lost to OSU both nights. It was horrible. You play hockey for 60 minutes not 40. alright lets break it down by game. First game First period what the heck was up with all the whistles. How do you get anything going with 5 wistles per minute. It was lame and boring to watch. second period we got better. I honestly don't remember anything about the game but we won and thats all that matters. Friday night second game. Alex Kangas absolutly phenominal. I was so happy to see that he could preform like that. The Gophers broke down in the third period and he kept us in the game. Great game Alex. Saturday night I had a chance to be at the game and obviously we weren't physical but a lot of those ND kids were small. Didn't look anything like hockey players. More like Soccer players. I was walking about Mariucci during the 2nd and 3rd period intermission and I saw Ryan Stoa and Mike Carmen on the way up to the Suites. Couldn't tell if Stoa was on crutches (a girl was in the way) but i'm sure he was. I can't wait for Carmen to come back. We miss his intensity. Anyways back to the game. The Gophers toward over them and dominated play but just couldn't seem to get anything going on the power play. It has nothing to do with shots on net. We were getting plenty of them they just weren't going in. The goalie was good yes but he wasn't THAT good. Next weekend the Gophers open WCHa play at Mariucci against the Denver Pioneers. We will see how that goes. Until then Go Gophers.

Thursday Ohio State VS Minnesota *3-1 Minnesota*
First Period Scoring:
MINN: Ben Gordon Blake Wheeler/ Stu Bickel
Justin Bostrom -

First Period Penalties:
NONE

Second Period Scoring
MINN: Mike Howe David Fischer/ Derek Peltier

Second Period Penalties
OSU: Johann Kroll Tipping
MINN: Justin Bostrom Cross-Checking

Third Period Scoring:
OSU: Peter Boyd Kyle Reed

Third Period Penalties:
MINN: Blake Wheeler Hooking
Jay Barriball Hooking
OSU Tom Fritsche Tripping

Jeff Frazee 21 saves
Joesph Palmer 30 saves

Three Stars
1. Justin Bostrom
2.Blake Wheeler
3. Jeff Frazee

Friday OSU VS Minnesota *2-1 Minnesota*
First Period Scoring:
MINN Justin Bostrom Mike Howe

First Period Penalties:
MINN: Ryan Flynn Roughing
OSU: Tom Fritsche Interference

Second Period Scoring:
MINN Jay Barriball -

Second Period Penalties:
MINN Stu Bickel Boarding
David Fischer Contact to the Head (WTF)
OSU: Erick Belanger Holdind
Patrick Schafer Slashing

Third Period Scoring:
OSU Kyle Hood Tommy Goebel

Third Period Penalties:
MINN: R.J. Anderson Roughing
Kevin Wehrs Roughing
Mike Howe Slashing
OSU Peter Boyd Roughing
Sergio Somma Roughing

Alex Kangas 32 saves
Joesph Palmer 18 saves

Three Stars
1. Alex Kangas
2. Jay Barriball
3. Justin Bostrom

Saturday USND *3-1 Minnesota* (Exhibition)
First Period Scoring
MINN Jay Barriball Blake Wheeler
Cade Fairchild Blake Wheeler/ David Fischer

First Period Penalties
MINN Too Man on Ice (Patirck White)
USND Grant Scott Boarding

Second Period Scoring
Patrick White Kevin Wehrs/Stu bickel

Second Period Penalties
USND:Sam Lofquist 5 min major Kneeing
Colin Reddin Cross-Checking
Ryan Grimshaw Tripping
MINN Kevin Wehrs Hooking

Third Period Scoring
Sam Lofquist Ryan Hegarty/Danny Kristo

Third Period Penalties:
USND: Vinny Saponati Roughing
MINN:Ryan Flynn Tipping
Tony Lucia Rouging

Joe Cannata 31 Saves
Brent Solei 16 saves

Gophers VS Colorado College

Ah what a great weekend for hockey... If only the Gophers could have won that would have been way better. Firday night was horrible as far as passing, playing as a team, and everything else. But honestly I can't be mad and complain about it. After all it is only the 3rd and 4th game of the season and the Gophs are still building chemistry. i'd rather have them have a choppy start than have a 20-1 start like they did last year. Every year that we have had a terrific run like that we always burned out when it was important. Although it would be great to be 20-0 we need to have momentum going into the play-offs. Back to CC. Like I said Friday night was horrible. I was extremly dissapointed with the way we played. There weere multiple penalties in the second period and we spent more than half of the period in the penalty box. Not a good thing boys. I will say one thing iw as not impressed with Andersons calls. I'm not just saying that because it didn't go in the Gophers favor im saying it because it was true. Not only did he screw us he screwed CC too. Also the linesmen missed countless off-sides on both teams. off-sides is one of the easiest calls in hockey and if you miss that then i suggest you take a 2-week vacation and retire in the words of Herb Brooks. Saturday night the Gophers stepped it up attacking CC from the drop of the puck. Their passing was a little sketchy but it got better as the game went on. They did pass a lot which i liked. I dont care what the reporters on FSN say i like when the gophers pass. Although we lost last night that was by far the best game we have played all season. We actully played 2 periods of a game!!!! They players who stood out the most to me this weekend were Tony Lucia and Jeff Frazee. Jeff Frazee saved the Gophers a lot. He made som huge saves like last night when the gophers were on a power play and CC came down like a breakaway and a 2 on 0. Very impressed with his play. Also Tony Lucia was being his usual self by hustling all over the ice. He made some really great passes and tried to make things happen. I really likes when Coach Lucia moved him up to left wing on Okposo and Barriball's line. They mesh well together. David Fischer played A LOT better this weekend then last weekend. he got burned so many times in the Michigan game. It was unbelievable. CAde Fairchild stepped it up i was impressed with him as well. Some news out of St.Louis is former Gopher defenseman Erik Johnson has a hairline fracture on his right foot. Sad news for him. Overall the weekend was an okay weekend. I will expect better on thursday, friday, and saturday when the Gophers take on Ohio State and the U.S U18 National Development Team.

FRIDAY NIGHT:
First Period Scoring:
CC: Bill Sweatt Andreas Vlassopoulos/ Jack Hillen
MINN: Cade Fairchild Blake Wheeler/ Ben Gordon

First Period Penalties:
MINN: Derek Peltier Interference
Ben Gordon Hooking
Stu Bickel Obstruction-Holding
CC: Brian Connelly Obstruction-Holding

Second Period Scoring:
CC: Eric Walsky Scott Thauwald

Second Period Penalties:
MINN: Ben Gordon Roughing
Kevin Wehrs Roughing
Kevin Wehrs High Sticking
CC: Brett Wysopal Roughing
Andreas Vlassopoulos Holding
Tyler Johnson Roughing

Third Period Scoring
CC: Derek Patrosso Andreas Vlassopoulos/ Bill Sweatt

Third Period Penalites:
CC: Addison DeBoer Interference
Scott McCulloch Interference
MINN Cade Fairchild Tripping

Saves
Jeff Frazee Minnesota: 21
Richard Bachman CC: 23

Three Stars
CC:
1. Richard Bachman
2. Bill Sweatt
3. Jake Gannon

SATURDAY NIGHT:
First Period Scoring:
NONE

First Period Penalties:
CC: Derek Patrosso Tripping
Scoot Thauwald Interference
MINN: Brian Schack Holding
Blake Wheeler Slashing

Second Period Scoring:
MINN: Blake Wheeler Ben Gordon/ Ryan Flynn
CC: Chad Rau Scott McCulloch

Second Period Penatlies:
CC: Brett Wysopal Tripping
Scott McCulloch Holding
Jack Hillen Cross-Checking
Chad Rau Tripping
MINN: Brian Schack Holding
Brian Schack High Sticking (LAME!!!)

Third Period Scoring:
NONE

Thir Period Penalties:
MINN: Jay Barriball Slashing
Stu Bickel Unsportsmanlike Conduct
Ryan Flynn Roughing
CC: Mike Testwuide Unsportsmanlike Conduct
Jack Hillen Tripping
Nate Prosser Roughing
Kris Fredheim Interference

Saves
Jeff Frazee: 25
Richard Bachman: 38

three Stars
CC
1.Chad Rau
2.Richard Bachman
3.Jack Hillen

Gophers open season 2-0

The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers opened their 2007-08 season last weekend in the IceBreaker Invitational at the Xcel Energy Center against RPI. The Gophers got a quick wake-up call falling behind in the first period 1-0 and then in the 2nd period 3-0. The 1st and 2nd periods are probably the ones the Gophers would like to forget about but ing the 3rd period the Gophers came and rallied to win 4-3 with Kyle Okposo scoring with a minute left in the game. Jeff Frazee led the Gophers to victory with 25 saves. The Gophers looked sluggish all game with just bearly breezing past RPI. The Gophers knew they would have to play better against Michigan the following night. The Gophers came out in the 1st period and put up goals by R.J. Anderson, his first as a Gopher, and Blake Wheeler, his second of the season. Michigan refused to give up coming back and scoring once in the 2nd and twice in the 3rd. The Gophers held on with a stop by Jeff Frazee late in the game. Allong with that stop Frazee stopped 44 shots. I would like to say that the Gophers played better on Saturday against Michigan but they really didn’t. They looked great in the 1st period but something fell out of place with the Gophers looking sluggish the rest of the game. The Gophers took a blow when Ryan Stoa left the game with a knee injury. The Gophers found out on Monday that Stoa would not be back this season as hes having surgery on his knee. Stoa is expected to return next year for his senior year.


RPI VS #6 Minnesota

First Period Scoring:
RPI: Matt Angers-Goulet Tyler Helfrich/ Andrei Uryadov

First Period Penalties:
RPI: Dan Peace- Slashing
Andrei Uryadov- Tripping
Bryan Brutlag- Cross-Checking
Andrei Uryadov- Charging

Minnesota: Ryan Stoa- Interference
R.J. Anderson- Interference

Second Period Scoring:
RPI: Chase Polacek Bryan Brutlag/ Andrew Lord
Andrew Lord -
Minnesota: Ryan Stoa Kyle Okposo/ Jay Barriball

Second Period Penalties:
RPI: Peter Merth- Tripping
MINN: Jay Barriball- Hooking
Mike Hoeffel- Interferenece

Third Period:
Minnesota: Blake Wheeler Derek Peltier
Evan Kaufmann Kyle Okposo/ Derek Peltier
Kyle Okposo Jay Barriball/ Ryan Stoa


Third Period Penalties

RPI: Erik Burgdoerfer- Hooking

Andrew Lord- Hooking

Andrei Uryadov- Too Many Men
Matt Anders-Goulet- High Sticking
Andrew Lord- Checking from Behind
Andrew Lord- 10 Game Miscounduct

Goalie Saves
Jeff Frazee Minnesota: 25
Mathias Lange RPI: 24

Three Stars
1. Kyle Okposo
2. Jay Barriball
3. Derek Peltier

#6 MINNESOTA VS MICHIGAN
First Period Scoring:
MINN: R.J. Anderson Cade Fairchild/ Jay Barriball
Blake Wheeler Mike Hoeffel/ Ryan Flynn

First Period Penalties:
MICH: Chad Langlais- Tripping
Mark Mitera-Interference

Second Period Scoring
MICH: Matt Rust Tim Miller/ Ben Winnett

Second Period Penalties:
MINN: Justin Bostrom- Interference
Justin Bostrom- Obstruction Hooking
Stu Bickel- Holding
MICH: Chris Summers- Holding

Third Period Scoring:
MINN: Ryna Flynn -
Patrick White Tony Lucia/ Justin Bostrom
MICH: Steve Kampfer Kevin Porter
Matt Rust Tim Miller

Third Period Penalties:
MINN: Tony Lucia- Holding
MICH: Matt Rust- Holding

Goalie Saves:
Jeff Frazee Minnesota: 44
Billy Sauer: 18
WE WERE REALLY REALLY OUTSHOT SATURDAY NIGHT!

Three Stars
1. Jeff Frazee
2. Patrick White
3. Matt Rust (Michigan)

Over all we need to play better against C.C. this weekend… until then… GO GOPHERS!