The Gophers played their first and only exhibition game on Friday and beat BC 3-1. Unfortunately, they did not play Boston College, the defending NCAA champions.

They edged the University of British Columbia in an exhibition game before an announced crowd of 9,320. That may have been the number of ducats sold, but the actual number of bodies was closer to 6,000.

The game was not on TV or radio, like all 34 regular-season tilts will be. So, if you were not there, I want to fill you in. Let’s start with a staple of Sid Hartman columns in the past. They say: … (I quote three players and the coach.)

* Junior defenseman Brian Schack of the Gophers: “It was a good start. It’s going to be a lot faster in the WCHA.” … Schack was listed as an extra player on the team line chart, but jumped in and played with sophomore Kevin Wehrs on the third pair of D. He filled in for freshman Sam Lofquist, a late scratch because of an injury.

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Are you ready? Or, more importantly, are the Gophers ready to play some hockey?

At 7 p.m. tonight — less than three hours away — they will face the University of British Columbia. BC has played three exhibition games already against WCHA teams, losing twice to Alaska Anchorage and 3-0 to St. Cloud State on Wednesday.

The U should be them. But the score is actually kind of irrevelant tonight. More important is how the freshmen look, how Ryan Stoa looks after a year off, and how Alex Kangas looks in goal.

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Blake Wheeler, a 6-4 center for the Gophers last season, had landed a spot on the Boston Bruins roster. He worked out all summer at the U, preparing for training camp.

The Bruins play the Wild on Saturday.

Eight other former Gophers also made NHL rosters, including forward Kyle Okposo, who left the team midway through last season to sign with the New York Islanders. He played in the Islanders’ last nine games last season and had two goals.

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St. Cloud State, the team the Gophers play next weekend, faced the University of British Columbia, the team the U plays Friday, in an exhibition game on Wednesday at the National Hockey Center.

The home team, rated No. 15 nationally, won 3-0 even without its top returning player. Junior Ryan Lasch, a Hobey Baker finalist last season, missed the game because he had a class presentation.

A good source told me he appeared on the TV broadcast of the game, but that was late in the game when he gave an interview.

It’s rather refreshing to hear school came before athletics at least this one time.

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Wednesday was media day for Gophers’ hockey. Coach Don Lucia, his captain Ryan Stoa, the two newly named assistant captains Ryan Flynn and Justin Bostrom and goalie Alex Kangas, the team MVP last season, sat behind a long table and talked about the season.

In his opening remarks, Lucia said his team was real young, but real talented.

“We have a lot of new players this year with a dozen freshmen and Ryan Stoa returning off of his injury last year,” Lucia said. “In reality, basically half our team is new this year. So it is going to take some time to develop the chemistry and figure out who should be playing with who.”

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Denver coach George Gwozdecky recently suspended four of his players for violating team rules. He did not provide specifics.

Three received one-game suspensions which they served Saturday when the Pioneers beat the University of Alberta 5-4 at Magness Arena in an exhibition game.

Out that game were senior defenseman J.P. Testwuide, the team captain; sophomore defenseman Jon Cook and sophomore forward Dustin Jackson. They will play when DU opens its season against Notre Dame, the NCAA runner-up, on Saturday in the U.S. College Hall of Fame game.

Junior defenseman Cody Brookwell was suspended for four games.

Tyler Ruegsegger, a junior center, scored two goals against Alberta while senior defenseman Patrick Mullen and freshman defenseman Patrick Wiercioch had one apiece. 

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Late Tuesday morning, the 10 coaches in the WCHA spoke back-to-back-to-back on a 1-1/2 hour teleconference call about their teams, the league, officials, shootouts, etc.

The best two one-liners came from Denver coach George Gwozdecky and Alaska Anchorage coach Dave Shyiak.

GG was the ninth coach to talk. Thanks for putting me near the end, GG said to Doug Spencer, the league’s associate commissioner for public relations. I think you and I are the only two left on this phone line.

Come on George, you are not part of the NFL, which attacts media hordes at every turn. This is the WCHA.  I stayed with you buddy. But GG was right, nobody was asking questions by then.

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There are two major polls in college hockey. The second one, by USCHO.com/CSTV came out on Monday.

It has the Gophers rated No. 10, which is the same spot the U occupied in the second USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine ratings this week. Somehow, without anybody playing, the U dropped a spot from USA Today’s first preseason poll.

But back to the USCHO.com/CSTV poll. It has defending NCAA champion Boston College, which slayed the Gophers in the Northeast Regional, at No. 1. Michigan is second and Colorado College third.

Also in the top 10 from the WCHA are North Dakota at No. 5 and Denver at No. 6.

Defending MacNaughton Cup champion Colorado College played an exhibition game Monday at World Arena, its home rink in Colorado Springs and started slowly.

The University of Alberta, Canada’s defending national champion, led 2-0 before CC rallied for a 5-2 victory.

Senior center Chad Rau, from Eden Prairie, had two goals and two assists for CC. One of his goals was shorthanded. For those who forgot, the media picked Rau as its preseason MVP in the WCHA. He seems ready for the season.

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The reports kept coming in last Friday from my tormentors at work: The Gophers women’s hockey team, the team you wrote about, the team you jinxed that morning, was trailing Robert Morris 1-0, then 2-0, then 3-0.

I had not planned to go to the game, figuring blowout. The Gophers were No. 3 in the country, playing at home at Ridder … Robert Morris was a 12-win team the year before.

I went over for the third period to see what would happen. Bobby Morris, as one of my colleagues in the newsroom called them, hung on to win 3-2 despite being outshot 65-10. Unbelieveable. Not a good way for the Gophers’ weekend to start. Next night, it was 7-1 Gophers, a truer indication of the strength of both teams.

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