YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES
gophers
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.
Gophers ready for stretch drive, Denver up first
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz under Gophers, Men's hockey Updated: February 9, 2012 - 1:11 PM
Gophers coach Don Lucia is happy where his team is. And he should be.
The Gophers, picked to finish sixth in the WCHA by the coaches and media in preseason polls, are in first place with only four conference series left.
"We are exactly where we want to be at this point in the season," Lucia said. "We have four weeks to go, but we certainly don't want to look further ahead than what we have coming up."
That would be the Denver Pioneers. On Friday and Saturday at Magness Arena in the Mile High City.
"They are a team that was picked to win the league," Lucia said. "They are very talented. They have had some injuries during the course of the season, but now, this is the time of the year they are starting to get most of their guys back. They are one of the most talented teams we have in our league."
DU is 8-2-0 in the last 10 games with the Gophers.
"We have struggled out there," Lucia said. "The biggest thing is our inability to score much."
In those eight losses to DU in recent years, the Gophers have scored only five goals. "Not more than one a night," Lucia said. "And you are not going to win many games like that."
The biggest thing the Gophers need to do to win this weekend, Lucia said, is to take care of the puck: "They are a great transition team. The more we can make sure to get pucks behind their D, and not turn pucks over in the neutral zone or at their offensive blue line, I think the better chance we will have."
PENTICTON TOO GOOD?
On Tuesday, the Penticton Vees beat Chilliwack 7-0 on the road for their record 30th BCHL win in a row. Mario Lucia, Don's younger son, had two goals and one assist and was named the No. 1 star. The three Reilly brothers of Chanhassen -- twins Connor and Ryan, two forwards, and defenseman Mike -- had five assists between them. The Reilly boys will all be Gophers next season.
"They have a very good team," Don Lucia said. "Almost their whole team is going on to play college somewhere. Obviously, there head coach and general manager Fred [Harbinson] did a great job of putting the team together. They are having a real quality, great experience out there. It has worked out really well for everybody."
But, coach, is playing on such a dominant team good for the Reilly's development?
"Learning how to win is something," Lucia said. "That is important. Continuing to score at young levels is important. There is a young man from Denver that played on that team [last season].
"[Pioneers defenseman Joey] LaLeggia is having a pretty darn good first year in the WCHA and may end up being rookie of the year. That tells you how good a group they come out of."
LaLeggia is third in scoring on DU, with 10 goals and 19 assists for an NCAA-high 29 points among freshman.
THE DON SAYS
* On captain Taylor Matson: "He has been a heart and soul player. He competes so hard. He sets the bar high for everybody to try to get over that bar in order to continue to compete and play at his level. [He] has been great, now we are keeping our fingers crossed that he can stay healthy for the first year of his career as a senior. Because he plays in every situation and is fearless the way he plays."
* On the Gophers off week: "Last week we practiced Monday. We took Tuesday completely off. Went Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. And gave them Saturday and Sunday off. We have had a good week of practice [this week]. They seem fresh. And hopefully the off week won't catch up to us that first period on Friday night."
* On goalie Kent Patterson: "Kent looks back on top of his game. He went through a stretch there where maybe he wasn't quite as sharp, which is going to happen during a long season. But he is standing up, he is challenging. He is making that first save.
On the Gophers' D-men: "Our group of six defenseman have done a really nice job of shot blocking, defending and getting the puck out of our zone. We haven't had to rely on two guys or four guys. All six have done a pretty good job."
RAU RAVES ABOUT DEFENSE
Gophers left winger Kyle Rau said the team's defense is a real strength.
"We have a real good goaltender back there," Rau said. "Pretty much every game we go into, we know we are going to have a chance to win because of him. And then we know we have a good D-corps. That's huge for us."
Rau, a freshman, has played on the Gophers' top line since the start of the season.
"Strengthwise I feel like a first-year player, unfortunately," said Rau, who has 13 goals and 28 points -- one behind LaLeggia. "But I am getting more and more confidence and I think I am past being a first-year [player]."
* Gophers center Nick Bjugstad on DU's Jason Zucker, a teammate of his on two World Junior teams: "I have gotten to see Jason Zucker the past couple of years, playing with him a little bit. He is an exciting player to watch, he is a fast player. He can score goals, so we have to make sure we contain him. And there are some other players on that team. Depthwise, they are pretty deep."
Gophers' Amanda Kessel earns WCHA weekly award
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz under Gophers awards and honors Updated: February 8, 2012 - 4:06 PMRight winger Amanda Kessel of the Gophers is the WCHA offensive player of the week.
She had three goals and five assists as the Gophers swept St. Cloud State 8-1 and 7-0 last weekend. She had two goals and four assists in the first game, and had one goal and one assist the second game.
Kessel has 24 goals and 34 assists this season for 58 points in 30 games. Her 58 points are the fourth most in the WCHA.
TWO UND PLAYERS HONORED
Junior defenseman Monique Lamoureux-Kolls is the defensive player of the week. She had two assists, including one on the game-winner, as the Fighting Sioux beat Bemidji State 5-2 in the first game, and then had two goals, including the winning goal, as UND edged the Beavers 3-1 in the second game.
She helped hold BSU to zero-for-18 on the power play.
Lamoureux-Kolls has 24 goals, 39 assists for 63 points, which ranks third in the conference.
Michelle Karvinen, her teammate, was the rookie of the week. Karvinen, a sophomore from Rodovoe, Denmark in her first season at UND, had a hat trick and an assist last Friday, and two assists the next night.
She has 21 goals and 29 assists for 50 points, sixth in the league.
Two Gophers also were nominated for these two awards. Goalie Noora Raty's name was submitted for defensive player of the week and forward Rachael Bona's for rookie of the week.
Lucia, Benik lead Penticton to record 30th BCHL win in row
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz under Sports Updated: February 7, 2012 - 11:58 PMMario Lucia, Don's younger son, and Joey Benik each had three-point games as visiting Penticton overwhelmed Chilliwack 7-0 on Tuesday to break a 22-year-old British Columbia Hockey League record for most wins in a row.
The victory is the 30th consecutive for the Vees, now 41-3-0-2. (The 2 in the fourth column stands for two overtime losses.)
Lucia had two goals and one assist and was named the No. 1 star of the game. He has signed with Notre Dame.
Benik, of St. Francis, had one goal and two assists. He is a St. Cloud State recruit.
The three Reilly brothers from Chanhassen, who will all play for the Gophers next season, didn't score a goal but combined for five assists. Mike, a defenseman, and Ryan, a forward, both had two assists. Connor, a forward, had one assist.
Steve Fogarty, a former Edina player, also had an assist. So six of the eight Minnesotans on the Vees roster had at least one point.
The Vees lost two of their first three games in September, had another loss in October and two in early November. Their last loss was to Merritt 3-2 in overtime on Nov. 5.
The record the Vees broke was set by the New Westminster Royals in 1989-90.
Special teams is among Penticton's strengths. The Vees have killed off 38 power-play chances in a row in their past 10 games. They scored two power-play goals against the Chiefs.
INCREDIBLE NUMBERS
The Vees from Minnesota are putting up amazing numbers. Three have over 70 points, three over 60.
Connor Reilly 33-44-77 ... one point off team scoring leader
Mario Lucia 32-45-77 ... caught Connor Tuesday night
Joey Benik 22-52-74 ... he is a second-year Vee
Mike Reilly 19-45-64 ... he has a 16-game points streak
Steve Fogarty 24-38-62 ... going with Mario to Notre Dame
Ryan Reilly 26-34-60 ... ninth on team in scoring -- with 60 points!
Minnesotans sweep three WCHA weekly awards
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz under WCHA news Updated: February 7, 2012 - 9:46 PMThree Minnesota-grown players are the WCHA's players of the week.
J.T. Brown of Minnesota Duluth was named the offensive player of the week. Brown, a sophomore winger from Burnsville, had five goals for the Bulldogs in a split with Alaska Anchorage. He had all four goals as UMD won 4-1 on Friday. He scored another goal in the Bulldogs' 3-2 loss to UAA on Saturday.
In the two games, Brown had nine shots and was a plus-4. Brown has 16 goals and 37 points. He is first in the country with a plus-27 overall rating.
Junior goalie Mike Lee of St. Cloud State was the defensive player for the week. Lee, of Roseau, Minn., stopped 72 of 74 shots as the Huskies swept Wisconsin in Madison, 5-1 and 5-1. He had 41 stops in the second game.
Lee is 4-3-1 with a 2.60 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage. He missed 20 games this season because of hip surgery before making a start against the Gophers two weekends ago.
Defenseman Zach Palmquist of Minnesota State is the rookie of the week. He had two goals and two assists as the Mavericks split with Michigan Tech, winning 5-3, then losing 7-3.
Palmquist, of South St. Paul, has six goals and nine assists for 15 points.
Improvements needed at Mariucci, Lucia says
Posted by: Roman Augustoviz under College hockey, Denver Updated: February 7, 2012 - 4:11 PMGophers coach Don Lucia said facilities are just as important in hockey as they are in other sports, citing Denver and Boston University as proof. Both schools won national titles, he said on his weekly radio show on Monday, after new arenas were built.
"The Kohl Center certainly helped Wisconsin's program," Lucia said. "Now they are building a new practice facility and women's hockey arena that is attached to the Kohl Center. They are going to have that to be able to practice in when the basketball teams play.
"Kids want to see what you have. And they are going to compare it from one school to the next. You want to be able to have kids come in and look through your arena and have a little bit of that of that 'wow' factor.
"Mariucci was built in 1993, it was probably the top facility in college hockey [then]."
About 12 new facilities or more have been build since that time, Lucia said, suggesting Mariucci, approaching its 20th birthday, isn't the best arena anymore. Just last Saturday, Lucia went to a game at Notre Dame's new arena.
"Kids go on a recruiting visit, and you know what, facilities are extremely important," Lucia said. "Let's face it, for a lot of the kids, [the facility] is probably more important than anything you will see academically on the visit. The sport they play in, for them at that age, is the biggest reason why they are going to go to a school."
Asked about his wish list for Mariucci, Lucia suggested these improvements:
* renovate the downstairs for the players
* upgrade the weightroom
* modernize the coaches' offices ... "I think we have the same carpet in our offices from 1993 when Mariucci opened"
* replace the scoreboard with "an HD scoreboard that we can do so many things in-game to make it better for our fans, to show replays and hype up the crowd a little bit. That is a really must thing"
* improve the sound system ... "so you can hear a little bit better"
"So there is definitely things we can use, like every sport could use," Lucia said. "Hopefully, we can reinvest especially with the upcoming time when we are going do priority seating within the arena to make more money.
"I think the fans would have less complaints about [priority seating] if they know it [the additional money] was being re-invested in the hockey program."
DU MAYBE WCHA'S BEST TEAM
Lucia said the Denver Pioneers, the team his Gophers play this weekend, may have the most talent in the league.
"[But] they have been hit by a lot of injuries this year," Lucia said. "Their goaltender [Sam] Brittain got hurt in the last game last year. [He] had an absolutely phenomenal freshman season, had knee surgery, now he is back playing.
"He has played the previous two weekends, the front game of the series. At some point, he is going to take over and be playing every night, whether that is this weekend or another week or two down the line, remains to be seen."
Brittain is 1-1-0 with a 2.02 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage.
"They have had some other players out with injuries," Lucia said. "They are getting as healthy as they have been in a while.
"I am not sure of Beau Bennett's status, if he is back. Makowski, one of their defensemen, he has been hurt, he is close to getting back. They got Ryder back last weekend for the first time."
Bennett, a sophomore forward who was a first-round draft pick of Pittsburgh in 2010, had wrist surgery on Dec. 9 and was supposed to be out six to eight weeks. It will be nine weeks since his surgery this Friday.
Makowski is one of DU's top blue line players. Ryder, another defenseman, was out with a knee injury.
"But I like their team," Lucia said. "They are deep, they are talented, they can skate, they are very good in their own arena. And so it will be a great test for us to see if we can continue to have success on the road and get points on the road because that is going to be critical."
Denver is 9-4-2 at home this season, 6-5-2 away.
"We are up by six" points over fourth-place Denver in the WCHA race, Lucia said. "If we can get some points this weekend and keep that distance that would be great for us."
Lucia said Denver's program has been strong the last decade or so partly because of Magness Arena, which opened for the 1999-2000 season.
"Coincided with that new facility, they won a couple of national titles," Lucia said. "And they have great history, great tradition at Denver University. It is a nice, small school sitting in Denver, Colorado. They have had a great pipeline over the years to western Canada and some non-traditional areas as well.
"They have been able to tap the California market, the St. Louis market. They get the odd Minnesota kid here and there. They do a good job of recruiting and they have been very stable with their staff over a number of years. But that new facility, more than anything else really jump-started them over the past 10 years."
DU is 15-9-4 overall this season, 10-6-4 in the WCHA. The Pioneers were on a five-game winning streak until a loss and a tie with archrival Colorado College last weekend. They are 8-2 in their past 10 games with the Gophers.
* On Denver defenseman Joey LaLeggia, who has 10 goals and 19 assists for 29 points to lead all NCAA freshman in scoring: "He had a great year last year out at Penticton [of the BCHL]. He had about 80 points last year. He is very good on the power play. He is a very offensive defenseman.
"[Gophers recruit] Michael Reilly is playing at Penticton and putting up the same numbers. So I think you will see him come in and be a similar-type player for us" next season.
Reilly is also a defenseman for Penticton, a team with eight Minnesotans including his two older brothers, forwards Connor and Ryan, also Gophers recruits coming in next season. The Reillys have helped the Vees have an incredible season so far. They will try to win their 30th consecutive game -- which would break a BCHL record -- on Tuesday at Chilliwack.
* On DU forward Jason Zucker, the Wild prospect: "He is the type of kid that draws fans out of their seats. Because of his speed, No. 1. He can really go. He is probably as fast a player as there is in college hockey. He can shoot it. He has a very hard shot. He is very competitive. He has played three years on the [U.S.] World Junior team. He made it as a 17-year-old, that shows his talent level. He is a very dynamic player."
* On Denver's power play: "[It] leads our league and they put their top-end guys out there."
ADVERTISEMENT
recent posts
- Gophers hockey ready for stretch drive, Denver up first
- Gophers' Amanda Kessel earns WCHA weekly award
- Lucia, Benik lead Penticton to record 30th BCHL win in row
- Minnesotans sweep three WCHA weekly awards
- Improvements needed at Mariucci, Lucia says
- Lucia excited about Minnesota's 'Beanpot' at X in 2014
- Big Ten hockey tournament going to be at neutral site
- U hockey still No. 1 or 2 in two national polls
- WCHA: Gophers' two closest pursuers have rough weekend
- Minnesota-fueled Penticton ties BCHL record with 29th win in a row
- Augustoviz: Hockey rankings and polls, both have their place
- Rau falling behind in rookie of year battle in WCHA to DU's LaLeggia
- Lucia hopes next AD appreciates hockey like Maturi did
- Lynx re-sign and trade Hornbuckle to Phoenix for draft pick
- WCHA breakdown: Gold Pan at stake in Colorado as CC, DU meet
- UND hockey players -- 23 men and 23 women -- honored for classwork
- Wiggins, 2 other Lynx are restricted free agents
- Gopher West named WCHA women's offensive player of week
Post By Category
ADVERTISEMENT
inside the StarTribune
-
425 Portland Av. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55488
(612) 673-4000
- Company
- Subscriber Services
- Website
- Buy Ads
- Store
- Connect with Us
© 2012 StarTribune. All rights reserved.
StarTribune.com is powered by Limelight Networks
Newspaper Subscriptions
eEdition
RSS
Newsletters