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Roman Augustoviz spends Minnesota's winters covering college hockey, specifically the Gophers, and other University of Minnesota sports. During the summer, he writes about the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx, with a dose of U sports sprinkled in. Follow him on Twitter @RomanStrib.
Posts about Gophers post season
Single-session tickets for regional released, new UND jersey in program
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: March 23, 2012 - 11:32 AM
With ticket sales for the West Regional being a little sluggish, the organizing committee for the West Regional decided on Friday to start selling single-session tickets on Friday. Seats available are at the club level in the end zones. The price is $57 for both games on Saturday or for championship game on Sunday.
Here are the full details on the University of Minnesota web site.
Two-day ticket packages remain available, too, at $94.
UND JERSEYS UNVEILED
The North Dakota hockey team wanted to keep what its new jerseys would look like a secret until the players came on the ice on Saturday for their 12:30 p.m. game against Western Michigan.
But that plan went kaput once the first media member got a hold of the NCAA tournament program. It has a team photo of the team in its new jerseys. The story in the Grand Forks Herald is here.
The jerseys have an old school look. On the front of the jersey is each player's number in the middle, with the word North on top of the number and the word Dakota below it. The jersey is mostly white with green shoulders.
The NCAA told UND it could not use its nickname or American Indian-related logos in the national tournament.
EX-GOPHER TURNS PRO
Bemidji State forward Drew Fisher of International Falls has signed with the Tulsa Oilers of the CHL. He had three goals and one assist in 38 games with the Beavers this season. Fisher played for the Gophers for two seasons before he transferred to BSU.
ONE-LINERS
UMD coach Scott Sandelin on 100.3-FM this morning:
* "The first two series this season we were 1-3 and people were wondering what was going on." The Bulldogs split with Notre Dame and were swept by the Gophers in their first four games.
* On two-OT loss to Denver in the Final Five semifinals: "We started slowly and dug ourselves a hole." UMD fell behind 3-0 before tying game 3-3 to send it into overtime.
* On DU's Jason Zucker, a Wild forward prospect: "I would be fine if they signed him and got him out of there early."
Nate Schmidt on five topics
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: March 23, 2012 - 10:21 AMNate Schmidt, a sophomore defenseman, is the fourth-leading scorer on the Gophers with three goals and 35 assists for 38 points. He was asked his ideas on five topics this Wednesday.
1. Would you like to play North Dakota again? "Absolutely. You are focusing on the game on Saturday, but obviously it is in the back of your mind a little bit. It would be great to have another shot in the same building with the stakes a little higher."
(UND beat the Gophers 6-3 in the Final Five semifinals last week.)
2. What does making NCAA tournament mean for the seven seniors on the team? "It is a little bit excitement, a little bit tense, anxiety. We are ready to go for this weekend. And one of the things that is tough for us is this waiting game. Waiting for this weekend to come. We are just ready to go for a great weekend, hopefully. The seniors, they are taking control almost as if ... we have been here before."
(None of the Gophers have played in an NCAA tournament game.)
3. Thoughts on coach Don Lucia: "He is much more focused. I don’t think he has so much burden on his shoulders trying to deal with a lot of different things, which is one thing coach [Mike] Guentzel brought. He was able to take some of the pressure and tension off coach Lucia. ... It’s let him be a lot more relaxed. In the locker room, he is joking around with the guys.
"Winning cures a lot of things. I am sure coach will tell you the same thing, that he feels much better. It is coming back year by year. He looks great. He has a lot more confidence in himself and our team as well.
"[Success] all starts with a great coach and you can’t get anywhere without guys who have experience and guys who have been there before and know what it takes to win. We have a coaching staff that brings all types of unique experiences to the table. ... They all know what it takes. They all bring a unique dynamic to the team that is vital to our success."
Schmidt said there was a lot of uncertainty last spring about Lucia, who hadn't signed a contract extension, and perhaps about changes on his staff.
"It was a tough situation to be in all spring. And once coach found [everything] out, we all kind of buckled in. He kind of buckled down, too: 'OK, guys, we have to change a little bit. I know i have to change a little bit.' ... He seemed like a new, revamped guy after that. It really helped him as a person and it helped us as a team."
4. Thoughts on whether the Gophers can win four games in a row and become national champions? "If we play our best hockey, it is evident we can play with a lot of teams. We can play a lot of different styles in order to beat different teams."
5. Thoughts on how important the mental part of hockey is? "There is a guy last year that i am still in contact, Shawn Goodsell of Mental Edge. He is one of our sports psychologists guys that comes in. We go through a series of tests and he kind of breaks down our personalities through these tests.
"He just tries to say where we are at in the mental part of the game. ... What he told a lot of us was [about the importance of] being able to have short memory. ... This is definitely a good week for us to have a short memory."
The mental part of hockey, Schmidt said, " is the most important part. If you are not mentally dialed in. your body might be doing one thing, but your mind might be doing another thing. If you are not mentally focused on the game, you are not at your best."
Bonus question: What is the key to winning? "Coach has given us sheets, stat sheets the whole year. In the games we had less turnovers and more blocked shots, the games we were more dialed in, you see our record go up in the win column."
See the coaches are tryingt to support their words with statistics. Whatever works.
Nick Bjugstad on five topics
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: March 22, 2012 - 10:56 PMSophomore center Nick Bjugstad was quizzed on everything Wednesday at the weekly media day the Gophers hold. Here are some of his answers.
1. Thoughts on Gophers coach Don Lucia: "He has got a great history, two national championships back to back. I watched coach Lucia coach both those teams. i always looked up to him. He is a Minnesota icon in my eyes.
"He is a big reason I am here. He is a great coach. And [there’s] great tradition within the program.
"We are just applying more of the stuff he is telling us this year as opposed to last year. The coaching staff has done a really good job with us this year."
2. Thoughts on being in an NCAA regional for the first time in four years? "Playing at the Xcel will be awesome, playing in front of our home crowd. We can’t be just happy to be there. We have not made it the last couple of years, the last three years. Our goal is to make it to the Frozen Four. That is the main goal, so we want to make sure we bring it every game.
"We haven’t seen BU this year. They haven’t see us either, so we are boat in the same boat. We will watch video. We will see their tendencies and their better players. We will be prepared for what they have. I know they are a hard-working team, they are very physical and we will be on a smaller ice sheet. At the Xcel, it will be a gritty game. and i think it will be exciting for everyone.
"I am super excited to play in the NCAA tournament. It will be awesome but, like i said, we don’t want to stop there. We want to keep going from there."
3. Thoughts on the loss to North Dakota last week: “We have had a little chip on our shoulder the past couple of weeks [days of waiting seemed a lot longer for Bjugey] just because of that loss. We had them and we just kind of, for the lack of a better term, we kind of choked. We learned from that. And I think it will be a good learning experience down the road. We will deal with some adversity. I’m sure in the next couple of games, there is going to be some good teams."
The Gophers were back practicing the next day, Saturday, after losing to UND. " It was tough. Obviously, we knew we could have been playing on Saturday if we put the third period together. We had to move on. we all knew we were going to be in the [NCAA] tournament. We were guaranteed a spot. ... We had a pretty good practice. Everybody was working hard, and we had a good attitude."
4. Thoughts on maybe playing UND again: "You can’t really look ahead to it. They are in the same bracket as us. They are really hot right now. If it does end up that way I am sure it will be a great game.
"We proved we could basically play with anyone. [To] take a lead like that early in the game, it was good. But we kind of sat back on our heals and it was tough experience, especially in front of our home crowd. We learned from that, which is going to be big going down the stretch."
5. Thoughts on goalie Kent Patterson, who gave up five goals in under 10 minutes in the third period against UND: "He is a great goaltender. Everyone is going to have a hiccup here and there. We rely on him heavily, but we have to do a better job in front of the net, get sticks, which we didn’t do against North Dakota this past game. I am sure he is going to have a little chip on his shoulder as well and he is going to take that to heart and play really well this Saturday.
Bonus topic. Thoughts on Gophers women's team winning NCAA title on Sunday: "We see a lot of those girls [weight]-lifting and we skate with them sometimes. So it is a great honor for them and we are proud of them."
FYI: Since missing the first Wisconsin game on March 2, Bjugstad has one goal and one assist in four games. He was injured Feb. 25 in the second game of a series at Nebraska Omaha. The Gophers' one game-and-out in the Final Five enabled him to get a little extra rest for this weekend.
The lowdown on tickets for West Regional
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: March 22, 2012 - 7:47 PMAs of Wednesday, there were about 8,500 two-day packages sold for the West Regional on Saturday and Sunday, according to Garry Bowman, director of communications for the University of Minnesota and one of three media coordinators for this event.
"It [ticket sales] are going OK, but with Minnesota and North Dakota in it, we were hoping we'd be a little better at this point," he said.
Bowman said he still expects more than 10,000 ticket packages to be sold, which are good for all three games. The price is $94, or just over $30 per game.
What about single-day tickets? Bowman said the decision whether to sell them or not is up to the local organizing committee. The Xcel Energy Center and the University of Minnesota are the regional's co-hosts.
In 2010, when the X had a regional and St. Cloud State was the only in-state team in the field along with Wisconsin, Northern Michigan and Vermont, a decision was made mid-week to sell single-session tickets, one for the first day, one for the second.
In 2011 when the Frozen Four was at the X, single-session tickets were not sold.
Presumably, the local organizing committee could decide either Friday or Saturday to sell single-session tickets. But the cost per game of those tickets would be higher than it is with a two-day package, Bowman said. Which makes sense, otherwise those who bought their $94 two-day packages would be unhappy.
If single-day tickets do become available, Saturday's ticket would include both games because there is only an hour break between them. Not enough time to clear the building and bring in another crowd.
RIVALRY BUILT IN PLAYOFFS
Since Don Lucia became the Gophers' coach in 1999-2000, his teams have met North Dakota in the WCHA or NCAA playoffs seven times in 13 years.
Here are the details.
2002: Gophers beat UND 7-2 and 4-3 in OT at Mariucci in first round of WCHA playoffs. ... UND's season over
2004: Gophers beat North Dakota 5-4 in Final Five championship game ... both advanced to NCAAs
2005: North Dakota beats Gophers 4-2 in Final Five championship game and 4-2 in Frozen Four semifinals in Columbus, Ohio ... Gophers' season over
2007 Gophers beat North Dakota 3-2 in overtime in Final Five championship game, but lose 2-3 in overtime in West Regional final in Denver ... Gophers' season over
2010: North Dakota beats Gophers 6-0, 2-4, 4-1 in first round of the WCHA playoffs ... Gophers' season over
2011: Are they on a collision course in the West Regional?
To sum up, the Gophers and UND are 5-5 in the playoffs since Lucia became the U's coach. Three times UND ended the Gophers' season; the Gophers did the same once to the Fighting Sioux.
Boston U typically tough, skilled, Lucia says
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz Updated: March 22, 2012 - 9:16 AMGophers coach Don Lucia said he has watched Boston University play games -- on TV or tape -- against Maine and Boston College this season.
"Typical BU team," Lucia said Monday on his radio show on 1500-AM. "They can skate. They are tough. They have skill. They have a real good back line with their defensemen. Their goaltender won a national title as a freshmen as did all these seniors."
BU has five seniors. The two key ones are goalie Kieran Millan and forward Chris Connolly, the team captain.
As a freshman in 2008-09, Millan was the Hockey Commissioners' Association national rookie of the year and made the 2009 Frozen Four all-tournament team. He had a 28-2-3 record his first college season.
Connolly, of Duluth, Minn., made the all-Hockey East rookie team and scored the first goal in BU's win over Miami in the NCAA title game and had an assist on the game-winner in overtime. He had 30 points his first season with the Terriers.
The other three seniors did not play at all -- defenseman Ryan Ruikka -- or pretty little. Forward Kevin Gilroy had two goals in 12 goals while Grant Rollheiser, a 6-foot-4 backup goalie, started 10 games and had a 6-4-1 record.
The Terriers' season hit a few bumps recently. They are 2-3 in their last five games. They have played a lot of close game, going 5-4-2 in 11 overtime games.
"I'm impressed" with BU, Lucia said on the radio. "Their power play is good. They've got good skill in their top couple lines. Those Boston kids, they are tough kids. They are strong physically. They are good skating. We have as difficult a first-round matchup as we could have."
DIRTY AREAS A FOCUS
Lucia said the Gophers on Saturday and Monday worked on battling around the blue paint, on offense and defense.
"The guys got a little bit tentative in that third period," Lucia said, referring to the Gophers 6-3 loss to North Dakota last Friday in the Final Five semifinals, "and all of a sudden we gave up that area of the rink [on defense] when we hadn't most of the year. We hadn't the first two periods of that game.
"From the offensive standpoint, you have to get there. It doesn't hurt to shoot from bad angles, It doesn't hurt to shoot from behind the net at a goaltender's pad just trying to create offense any way you possibly can."
WCHA TEAMS IN THE NCAA
Lucia said the two WCHA teams in other regionals both have a chance to advance to the Frozen Four.
"UMD is a darn good team," he said. "UMD can beat anybody. So it will be interesting to see what happens if they play BC in the finals."
Boston College is the top seed in the regional at Worcester, Mass. The Bulldogs, who are the defending NCAA champions, play Maine first but could meet BC if they win their first-round game.
Lucia said he is worried about Denver in the Midwest Regional in Green Bay, Wis., because the Pioneers played six games in nine days in the WCHA playoffs -- three games in three days in the first round before outlasting Wisconsin and three games in three days in the Final Five. Three of DU's games went into overtime.
"They [the Pioneers] will have a chance to come out of that region," Lucia said, "but Michigan is probably the favorite."
What about the Gophers in the West Regional, in which conference rival North Dakota is the top seed, this weekend? "I just hope our guys play their best game of the year this weekend," he said, "and then you can live with the results."
LIVE CHAT
Stop by startribune.com/sports for a live chat on the Gophers and the West Regional at noon today [Thursday].
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