Lucia praises Schack for his commitment to program -- on day another player quits

On his weekly radio show, Gophers coach Don Lucia was asked about the value of practice players by an e-mailer.

He didn't say it, but there are really not many of those players in college hockey. Maybe the only one that fits that category is Jake Kremer, the third goalie.

But Lucia mentioned someone else, Brian Schack. "And he got to play this weekend," Lucia said. "Brian Schack is a senior, basically came as a walk-on. We recruited him to be a walk-on. Kind of told him you are going to be our eighth defenseman. You might get a chance to play with some injuries.

"And you know, he has got to play quite a bit, all things considering. And Brian is a type of guy where the coaches, the players, everybody around the program loves him. He is a big team guy, he is a Gopher guy. He is very supportive whether he is playing or not.

"And if he is dressed for a game, whether he plays 12 minutes or 3 minutes, it doesn't matter. He is encouraging the guys and he is going to be very, very successful in life."

Schack has played in 55 games over four seasons. He scored the second goal of his career on Saturday when the Gophers beat Wisconsin 5-2. It was a big goal, the fourth of the game.

His other goal also came at Wisconsin his freshman year.

"[Schack] is not the best player, but he is one of our best people," Lucia said. "That's why the whole team was so happy for him Saturday. He got hurt. early in the year [back]. And he got a chance to play for the first game other than in our exhibition. And he comes in and scores a goal and gets an assist.

"He says the Kohl Center is his place. He has two career goals and both are at the Kohl Center. And he is going to get a chance to play more now with Nick out. Like I told him today, 'Schacker, we came within a breath of the Frozen Four your freshman year when we lost to North Dakota in that regional final. And you were in our lineup playing every night when we won the Final Five and everything else.' "

Schack played 28 games as a freshman when he had one goal and seven assists for a career-high eight points.

"He knows what he is," Lucia said. "He is a defender, He is a big body [6-2, 218]. He is physical and he brings that element to the team, And he certainly did a great job Saturday. That's the guy, you really look at and say, 'What a great team guy he is." It's great to see a guy who is in that position. It's not a me-me guy and there are a lot more of those today."

Lucia said with his club shorthanded on the blue line there are certain drills the team can not do. "We can't grind them into the ground so they have nothing left on the weekend," he said. "That's something we have to monitor on a daily basis."