Gophers' White finishing his career fast

Patrick White seemed to have everything going for him coming out of high school.

The Vancouver Canucks took him in the first round of the 2007 NHL draft, 25th overall. He was named the Associated Press player of the year as a senior after leading Grand Rapids to a second consecutive appearance in the Class 2A state hockey tournament. His college choice was easy: the Gophers. He could play where his heroes once skated.

Four years later, White will be among the seven seniors honored Saturday before the Gophers play Michigan Tech in their last regular-season home game. And White is just happy to be playing regularly and chipping in with the scoring.

So what happened?

The 6-1, 190-pound forward was a healthy scratch in seven of the Gophers' first 22 games and missed two others because of illness. Two-thirds into his fourth season as a Gopher, he had one goal and no assists.

But White resurfaced for the Alaska-Anchorage series on Jan. 28-29 and, since then, has two goals and three assists in eight games. Coach Don Lucia has moved White from right wing back to center, his natural spot.

"He is more involved now," Lucia said. "For whatever reason, it was a struggle for him early. But, all of a sudden, he is certainly a different player. Maybe we are giving him more of an opportunity and he is seizing it. And then there is that level of urgency."

"I definitely have my confidence back right now," White said. "When you are a goal scorer and you are not scoring goals, you feel even when you are getting chances, it's not going in."

He said playing sporadically was frustrating, but he tried hard to regain his spot.

"Patrick has always been a guy who could shoot, and he is smart," Lucia said. "But when he gets involved physically into the game and wins one-on-one battles, he becomes a much more effective and better player."

The coaches wanted him to be more intense and play with an edge, White said. He has tried.

"From this point on, I hope I can continue to produce a little bit," White said, "because any time you get scoring from somewhere you hadn't had it before, it is obviously really beneficial. I want to have success at the end of the year as an individual and, even more than that, I want us to be in [the NCAA] tournament."

"I am happy with my career," White said. "I have had a great time here. Obviously, you would like to have a couple 25-goal seasons, who wouldn't? I feel fortunate to have played in the same building as all the great Gopher hockey players before me."

White's lofty draft status led many to believe he would be a college star.

"There is a lot of expectations that come with that," said White. "Sometimes players are ready for that and sometimes they are not."

But even through his hard times as a Gopher, White, whose draft rights were traded to San Jose, never contemplated leaving. "I loved it here," he said. "I have never been one to run away from something if things are not going right."

Bruce LaRoque, his high school coach, expected no less from him.