Wehrs says Gophers' defensemen will limit rebound shots, score a bit

Senior defenseman Kevin Wehrs of the Gophers like to fly. He's not as fond of opponents flying at him.

But that is what happened in the Gophers' final game last season. North Dakota forward Matt Frattin rushed at him, jumped up and flattened him against the endboards behind the Gophers net at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

The Sioux won the game 4-1 to win the first round WCHA playoff series two games to one. Frattin scored one of the Sioux goals and also received a five-minute major for charging and contact to the head on his big hit.

Wehrs had to be helped off the ice and didn't return. At the time, his injury was called a minor concussion. Gophers coach Don Lucia said it was a vicious hit and deserved a harsher penalty.

The next day the WCHA suspended Frattin for one game, the first game of the Final Five.

It changed Wehrs' life a bit more than that.

Wehrs, who has a pilot's license, hasn't flown for about six months. He couldn't right after the concussion and later lost his flight currency, which he needs to legally flight. To stay current, Wehrs said, he had to fly every certain amount of days.

It was another couple weeks before he starting working out again.

"I had minor concussions," said Wehrs, who at 5-9, 182 is a small defenseman. "But that was the first time I have been knocked out.

"Just getting on the bike, I got excited to that," Wehrs said. "I got excited to start lifting weights again."

His last game was pretty exciting, too. Wehrs had his first goal and his second assist in the Gophers' 4-2 loss to Nebraska-Omaha on Saturday at Mariucci.

It was the third goal of his career. His first did not come until his 79th game in his junior season. He scored against Aslaska Anchorage on Oct. 30. About a month later, he got his second on a power play against UMD on Nov. 21.

"This year I have been lucky enough for coach to give me the opportunity to help offensively a litlte bit more."

Don Lucia said Wehrs deserves and has earned more ice time on the Gophers' second power play.

"He made a big mistake on Friday night [a 5-4 loss to UNO], but overall Kevin has played well," Lucia said. "He has been steady. The big thing with him is to continue to learn when to go and when not to. Usually if he gets in trouble, is is because he steps up in the neutral zone."

On Saturday, the Gophers were trailing 3-0 when Wehrs scored on unassisted goal from the left point at 6 minutes, 30 seconds of the third period. "[It] was a chip off the boards that they had from across the ice," Wehrs said. "[The puck] just laid there for me. I remember looking, there were two of their guys coming to try to block the shot. Luckily both had their angles off.

"So i just slapped [the puck] on the net as hard as I could and ended finding the perfect spot."

Ten minutes later, Wehrs shot from almost the same spot, on another one-timer. Freshman Erik Haula, maybe 10 feet from the net, deflected the puck into the net.

"That definitely would not not gone in [without Haula]," Wehrs said. "That was a heck of a tip he had. And Jay [Barriball] made a nice play back to me. I saw Haula out of the corner of my eye going to the net and I just wanted to shoot it toward him and get a bounce."

Haula kept the puck after his first college goal as a souvenir.

The center from Pori, Finland, is just beginning his college career, Wehrs knows his is nearing an end.

"I have enjoyed it," said Wehrs, who played high school hockey at Wayzata and then played two seasons for Cedar Rapids in the USHL. "Personally it has been frustrating at times. You come in and expect more of yourself and the team. You look at the past couple years and it hasn't been the best Gophers hockey.

Minnesota did not advance to the NCAA tournament in either 2009 or 2010,

"We realize these last three years went by really quick," said Wehrs, one of six seniors. "And here we are, our senior year, and none of us are happy with the way the last three years have went. We haven't played to our potential as a team. This year is our last go at it."

The defensemen, in particular, had problems last Saturday, as UNO won 4-2, scoring its first three goals on rebounds. Its fourth was an empty-netter.

'We are fine back there," Wehrs said. "You look at those goals and they are just missed coverages and early-in-the-year type mistakes. It is something that is an easy fix. We have been working on it in practice.

"It is not ability, it is just being in the right place and doing the right thing. We have a solid D-corps and we will get better as the year goes on."

Minnesota's defensemen also have been chipping in with goals. Seth Helgeson, Justin Holl and Wehrs all have one goal. That's almost a goal per game for the D-men so far.

"Here and there the defenseman will contribute goals," Wehrs said, "and more importantly get [the puck] up to our forwards in transition, on good breakouts and get pucks to the net. [The forwards] can put the puck in the net."