Gopher Hockey has reached the end of an era! Tonight will be the last regular season game for the Minnesota Gophers as part of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. How will they end the season with another game against the Bemidji State Beavers after the Beavers gave the Gophers everything they could handle last night.
Line Chart – Minnesota Golden Gophers
Left Wing – Center – Right Wing
Kyle Rau-7 – Nick Bjugstad-27 – Nate Condon-16
Sam Warning-11 – Erik Haula-19 – Zach Budish-24
AJ Michaelson-15 – Travis Boyd-22 – Seth Ambroz-17
Tom Serratore-14 – Christian Isackson-26 – Justin Holl-12
Left Defenseman – Right Defenseman
Brady Skjei-2 – Nate Schmidt-29
Seth Helgeson-4 – Ben Marshall-10
Jake Parenteau-6 – Mark Alt-20
Goalie
Adam Wilcox-32
Mike Shibrowski-1
Scratches: G-Matt LaPrade-30, D-Mike Reilly-5, F-Ryan Reilly-9, F-Christian Horn-18, F-Jared Larson-23
Injured: F-Connor Reilly-21, G-Ryan Coyne-31
Line Chart – Bemidji State Beavers
Left Wing – Center – Right Wing
Jordan George-28 – Aaron McLeod-14 – Ben Kinne-9
Brance Orban-7 – Jeff Jubinville-12 – Phil Brewer-29
Radoslav Illo-18 – Cory Ward-13 – Danny Mattson-16
Markus Gerbrandt-23 – Mitch Cain-27 – Tyler Tosunian-19
Left Defenseman – Right Defenseman
Jake Areshenko-8 – Brady Wacker-25
Matt Prapavessis-22 – Graeme McCormack-11
Sam Rendle-20 – Sam Windle-15
Goalie
Mathieu Dugas-35
Andrew Walsh-30
Scratches/Injured: G-Reid Mimmack-1, D-James Hansen-3, D-Matt Carlson-5, D-Kyle Brodie-26, F-David Boehm-4, F-Brad Robbins-17, F-Matt Hartmann-21
Only one change for team as Jake Parenteau comes in for Mike Reilly on defense for the Gophers and Tyler Tosunian replaces Brad Robbins as the 4th line right wing for the Beavers.
Let’s DROP THE CLUTTERPUCK!!!
1st Period
* I like those Bemidji State jerseys! The alternates always go over big with the fan base! A nice shield on the front like the New York Rangers have with a beige/off-white primary color with white, green, white stripe on the bottom and on the sleeves.
* The Gophers need to come out fast and keep the Beavers from believing they can stay in the game.
* GOAL! – Erik Haula from Kyle Rau & Ben Marshall at 4:03 of the 1st period – A Zach Budish shot/dump goes wide left around the left corner from the right point to the left half-wall where Seth Helgeson dumps it back into the left corner. Sam Warning peels off for a change while Erik Haula keeps possession of the puck as he skates around the left corner to the left half-wall and passes it down to Zach Budish along the boards in the left corner. Budish sees Kyle Rau coming into the zone off a line change and passes it to him at the top of the left face-off circle for a wide open shot that hits hard off the inside of the left goal post and rebounds to the right below the right face-off dot. Ben Marshall had moved in from the right point to be an option on offense so he quickly gets to the puck for a quick shot on goal that Mathieu Dugas saves off his left shoulder. The puck goes behind the goal line to Kyle Rau and he sees Erik Haula open in the slot for a one-time shot that goes low left past the outstretched pad of Dugas! GOPHERS 1-0!!!
* Mathieu Dugas didn’t have much chance on that and he almost made the save.
* The Beavers were watching and reacting instead of reading and reacting.
* Read the play! Don’t watch it!
* You will not be able to react quick enough to what happens. You have to read the play and anticipate where the puck will go.
* When Haula & Budish had the puck on the left boards, there were 4 Bemidji State players at the wall within like 20 feet of each other. 4 players covering 3 players! That can’t happen on defense!
* GREAT SAVE! – Adam Wilcox on Radoslav Illo at 11:40 of the 1st period – Kyle Rau gets stripped of the puck as he tries to go around Radoslav Illo at the red line. A nifty poke check creates a loose puck that Ben Marshall comes up to get at the blue line but Illo pokes it past him as well and he gets a breakaway coming in the left of the zone. He shoots low glove side just above the leg pad of Adam Wilcox but he still stops it with his glove than freezes it quickly to keep the game 1-0!
* Ben Marshall thinks he’s going to get to the puck quicker than Illo but he probably should be taking the body there.
* Illo had nobody else with him so take the body and one of your teammates will get the puck.
* GOAL! – Nick Bjugstad from Christian Isackson & Kyle Rau at 14:42 of the 1st period – Aaron McLeod dumps the puck around the right boards and Adam Wilcox goes behind the net to stop the puck for his defense. A miscommunication between Wilcox and Nate Schmidt creates a loose puck and Jordan George sees an opportunity but Brady Skjei quickly picks up the loose puck and throws it around the corner to Nick Bjugstad. Aaron McLeod goes in to make a play on the puck on Bjugstad at the boards but Bjugstad passes it to Kyle Rau breaking out through the middle of the Gopher zone. Rau almost runs into Christian Isackson, loses control of the puck. Jake Areshenko tries to poke check the puck away and takes Rau out of the play but the puck gets past him leaving a 2-on-1 with Isackson coming up the right side with Bjugstad on his left coming in on Brady Wacker. Wacker tries to take away the pass but Christian gets the puck over his stick to Bjugstad. Bjugstad sets up for a one-timer but has to catch the pass and then shoot it upper left over Mathieu Dugas glove. GOPHERS 2-0!!!
* If Aaron McLeod takes the body on Bjugstad, a 3-on-2 doesn’t happen.
* If Jake Areshenko doesn’t take the body on Kyle Rau, a 2-on-1 doesn’t happen.
* You have to know when to take the body!
* Brady Wacker tried to take the shot and the pass away from Christian Isackson but he took the shot away more by forcing a bad angle.
* I think you’d rather Christian Isackson shoot then Nick Bjugstad but maybe that’s just me!
* The back checkers stop skating and watch as Bjugstad takes the shot! Why?
* If you want to watch the game, you can sit in the stands!
* That’s Nick Bjugstad’s 20th goal of the season!
2nd Period
* GOAL! – Matt Prapavessi from Jordan George & Matt Carlson/Ben Kinne at 1:55 of the 2nd period – A breakaway by Nick Bjugstad is saved by Mathieu Dugas and turns into a 3-on-3 after Matt Carlson & Ben Kinne get the puck away from Bjugstad on the left boards (the goalie’s right). Jordan George comes up the right side, Ben Kinne drives the middle & Aaron McLeod in on the left. Matt Prapavessis is trailing the play and receives a pass from Jordan George for a one-timer that he blasts past Adam Wilcox. BEAVERS 1-2!!!
* Adam Wilcox was screened on the play by Aaron McLeod and Seth Ambroz.
* Not much the defense or the goalie can do about that.
* Forwards need to back check and pick up the trailer on the play!
* PENALTY – Tom Serratore for High-Sticking on Brady Wacker at 6:37 of the 2nd period – Tom Serratore on the forecheck reacts to gets poke checked by Brady Wacker and tries to clear the stick but swings a little high and hits Wacker in the head! TWOOOOO MINUTES!!!
* His name is Wacker so….
* Sam Windle has a twin brother who plays baseball for the Minnesota Gophers. Tom Windle threw a 9-inning no-hitter last night. It was the first 9-inning no-hitter in Minnesota Gopher history!
* GOAL! – Zach Budish from Erik Haula & Jake Parenteau at 14:26 of the 2nd period – A face-off to Mathieu Dugas’ right is won by Erik Haula back to Jake Parenteau at the left point. Parenteau skates walks the blue line a little before he goes D-to-D to the Mark Alt. Alt has trouble controlling the pass but he quickly corrals the puck and passes it back to Parenteau. Parenteau moves to his left to get some space and shoots a high shot that hits Dugas high in the chest and drops down to the ice. Sam Rendle attempts to clear the puck but it hits Erik Haula and comes down in his feet. He’s able to get it to his stick so he moves it to his backhand going towards the right corner (Dugas’ left) and takes a shot on the net. The puck goes off Mathieu Dugas’ right pad and rebounds behind Budish but he’s able to get to it quickly on his backhand and put it in the open net. GOPHERS 3-1!!!
* Great job by Jake Parenteau to get the puck on net and great job by Zach Budish, Erik Haula and Sam Warning by creating havoc in front of the net.
* That cause Mathieu Dugas to not see the puck as well as he would’ve liked so he wasn’t able to catch Parenteau’s shot giving up a juicy rebound in front of the net.
* Unfortunately for Sam Rendle, he misses on his attempt to clear the rebound.
* Maybe not the best way to clear it by just trying to take a wicked swing at the puck though.
* First, he didn’t know where anyone was and he tried the turnaround swing at the puck so he only gets a piece of it and it hits Haula.
* A turnaround swing is an element of panic. Slow down and try to make the right play.
* He had a little more time than he thought and a teammate near him so they should’ve been able to control the puck and get it out of the zone.
* Gotta know where everyone is!
* You have to make sure you defend the man and more importantly, make sure you defend his stick so he can’t get to the puck with it.
* This can be tricky because you can get a penalty for holding or interference if you’re not paying attention (or at least facing) to the play and the location of the puck.
* PENALTIES – Seth Helgeson for Interference on Aaron McLeod & Ben Kinne for Tripping on Justin Holl at 16:01 of the 2nd period – Seth Helgeson gets a little too rough trying to keep Aaron McLeod from getting to the front of the net and knocks him down. Then as the puck is going to be touched (and the play whistled down) by Justin Holl, Ben Kinne goes for the poke check and ends up hitting Holl’s skate, tripping him and evening up the call! 4-on-4 hockey!!!
* Very rare to see two penalties called on the same play, especially involving 4 different players. That was a crazy play!
3rd Period
* A misguided pass from Christian Isackson from the corner of his own zone right in front of his own net quickly turns into a scoring chance for the Beavers but Adam Wilcox makes the save and keeps the game at 3-1!
* GOAL! – Jake Parenteau from Erik Haula & Sam Warning at 14:03 of the 3rd period – Jake Parenteau is comes out to the right of his own net (to Wilcox’ right) and makes a backhand pass back against the boards behind the net to Mark Alt but Alt either wasn’t ready for it or had yet to get in position for it and it was a bad pass. So Alt doesn’t get to it right away and the loose puck goes around the left corner to the half-wall. Alt tries to push it along the boards and falls down. Radoslav Illo comes into the play trying to play the puck towards the net but instead the puck hits Erik Haula and he tries to quickly play it up to Sam Warning up the left boards but it hits another Beaver player and bounces towards the center of the blue line. Zach Budish gets to the puck and passes it to Sam Warning who is now heading up the left boards and with his speed he gets alongside Sam Rendle and tries to make a pass to Erik Haula who’s driving the net. The pass hits Rendle in the skates and goes back towards the boards and Warning had turned to avoid the hit by Rendle and gets the puck on his backhand and tries to make the pass to the front of the net. Haula had seen the puck hit Rendle’s skates so he took a sharp left turn towards the boards and still catches the pass from Warning. Now Haula is skating back towards the left point and he sees Jake Parenteau at the right point so he hits him with a backhand sauce pass. Parenteau has the time and space to take the puck to just outside the face-off dot and, with Zach Budish planted in front of the net screening Mathieu Dugas, has the chance to pick a spot where to shoot the puck. He choose the upper right corner and hits it, popping the water bottle up off the top of the net and its GOPHERS 4-1!!!
* Loose pucks are what you want when you’re on the forecheck but the Beavers just aren’t getting the bounces tonight!
* The puck hits Haula, then Haula’s pass hits a Cory Ward and bounces to where two Gopher players are basically waiting for the puck.
* That being said, you still have to play good transition hockey and that all starts with picking up a man when you are back checking.
* * So many goals happen off of bad coverage off a turnover and the team that lost the puck panics and doesn’t find a man and just end up watching the puck while the offense roams free getting open for a play.
* * That’s a lot for a goalie to deal with! HELP HIM OUT!!!
* All five Beaver players are watching the puck while Jake Parenteau gets open and is able to skate in and take a shot.
* Nobody picks up Budish so he can plant himself in front of Mathieu Dugas keeping him from seeing the puck and the shot. Extremely difficult to make a save when you can’t see the shot!
* * Move Budish out of your goalies line of sight! Move him towards the corners of the net so he blocks that shot from hitting the near corners!
* When Haula turns back towards the blue line, there’s four Beaver players on the right side of the Beaver zone and there’s only Haula and Warning there so two Gopher players have the puck with four Beaver players defending them or at least in the area since they weren’t really doing a lot of defending.
* * That’s a dream for any offense! “Hey, leave our guys open, will ya? Thanks!”
* Your defenseman made the offense turn back to the blue line and they still got a scoring chance and a goal out of it because nobody picked up the trailer on the play.
* * Get your head on a swivel! Find a player and cover them!
* That’s infuriating! WOW!
* GOAL! – Christian Isackson from Nick Bjugstad & Mark Alt at 19:59 of the 3rd period – Mark Alt plays the puck off the left boards from behind his own goal line to Christian Isackson (or near him) at the left boards just inside the blue line. Isackson is facing his own zone so he just tries to play it to the boards and maybe get it out of the zone. Alt kept skating, picks up the loose puck and sees Nick Bjugstad at the center of the neutral zone (or hears him as he slapped his stick on the ice (Beaver Tail?)) and gets him the puck. Bjugstad has the speed to get past Matt Carlson but Carlson gets enough of the puck to make it roll up on edge and mess up Bjugstad a little bit. He tried to go backhand but Mathieu Dugas was there to make the save. Dugas slid out to the right of the crease to make the save but he doesn’t know where the puck is so it trickles out of his equipment right to Bjugstad, who turned after he went past the net. He quickly threw the puck in front of the net. Dugas got a piece of the centering pass and slowed it down so the puck is just laying in the slot. Isackson was trailing the play and he picks up the puck moving to the right, waits to get clear of Jeff Jubinville, who’s trying to block the net, and shoots the puck into the empty as time expires! GOPHERS 5-1!!!
* WOW! What a crazy way to finish the game!
* More of the same for the Beavers in transition!
* Three guys watching the puck so when it comes through Dugas’ pads on the centering pass and they miss it, they turn not knowing where to be to stop the goal!
* Christian Isackson will now be the answer to the question, “Who scored the last regular season goal for the Gophers when they were in the WCHA?”
* You can add, “What was special or strange about the goal?” and talk about the time the goal was scored – 19:59 of the 3rd period!
* How many people told Christian not to wait to the last second to score a goal?
* That’s it! This Gopher hockey regular season is over! On to the Playoffs!!!
FINAL SCORE
Minnesota Gophers 5, Bemidji State Beavers 1
That’s a little more of what you expect from a top-rated Gopher hockey team taking on a struggling Beaver hockey team. It took the Gophers a while to take the game over but they eventually did take over the game and head into the playoffs with some momentum and hopefully realize they can’t take any team lightly from here on out playing their game and taking it to their opponents! We’ll see you next weekend at the Same Gopher Time, Same Gopher Channel! That’s FSN at 7pm on Friday night if you didn’t know! Bring the Clutter!
Gopher Hockey Recap from GopherSports.com – Gophers Earn Share of MacNaughton Cup with 5-1 Win
Gopher Hockey Box Score from GopherSports.com – Minnesota-BSU Stats
Gopher Hockey Recap from .com – BSUBeavers.com – Minnesota outlasts Bemidji State in 2012-13 season finale
In other WCHA College Hockey action tonight and Sunday,
Home=”vs”, Away=”@”
Minnesota State won vs North Dakota 2-1 in OT,
Colorado College won @ Michigan Tech 4-3,
Minnesota-Duluth won vs Nebraska-Omaha 6-0
Wisconsin won vs St. Cloud State 3-2
and
Denver won vs Alaska-Anchorage 6-1
With St. Cloud State losing and the Gophers winning, that means there’s a tie for the MacNaughton Cup! CONGRATS to the Huskies & the Gophers on great seasons! St. Cloud does have the tiebreakers to have the #1 seed in the playoffs though.
Here’s the WCHA playoff match ups for next weekend:
#1 St. Cloud State vs #12 Alaska-Anchorage
#2 Minnesota vs #11 Bemidji State
#3 North Dakota vs #10 Michigan Tech
#4 Wisconsin vs #9 Minnesota-Duluth
#5 Denver vs #8 Colorado College
#6 Minnesota-State vs #7 Nebraska-Omaha
Note: Teams are reseeded after the first round.
Good luck to all the teams in the playoffs!
Bring The CLUTTER in the comments, on Google+ on Twitter and on Facebook.
You’ve Been ClutterPUCKED!!!
