ClutterPuck

The Gopher Hockey team will finish up the 1st half of the season tonight with a rematch with the Tigers of Colorado College after winning last night 4-2! There will surely be some adjustments on both sides with line-ups, lines and schemes. The 2nd game is usually a tougher match-up especially after a win as the Tigers will probably come out with a ton of energy. Should be interesting as most WCHA conference games are!

Line Chart – Minnesota Golden Gophers

Left Wing – Center – Right Wing

Kyle Rau-7 – Nick Bjugstad-27 – Christian Isackson-26

F-Sam Warning-11 – Erik Haula-19 – Zach Budish-24

Tom Serratore-14 – Nate Condon-16 – Seth Ambroz-17

Mike Reilly-5 – Travis Boyd-22 – Justin Holl-12

Left Defenseman – Right Defenseman

Jake Parenteau-6 – Nate Schmidt-29

Ben Marshall-10 – Mark Alt-20

Seth Helgeson-4 – Brady Skjei-2

Goalie

Adam Wilcox-32

Ryan Coyne-31

Scratches: G-Matt LaPrade-30, D-Blake Thompson-3, F-Ryan Reilly-9, F-AJ Michaelson-15, F-Christian Horn-18, F-Jared Larson-23
Injured: F-Connor Reilly-21, G-Mike Shibrowski-1

Line Chart – Colorado College Tigers

Left Wing – Center – Right Wing

Archie Skalbeck-12 – Rylan Schwartz-13 – William Rapuzzi-27

Alexander Krushelnyski-16 – Scott Winkler-25 – Charlie Taft-17

Scott Wamsganz-18 – Cody Bradley-10 – Andrew Hamburg-15

Michael Morin-19 – Jeff Collett-21 – Jared Hanson-24

Left Defenseman – Right Defenseman

Peter Stoykewych-6 – Mike Boivin-28

Joe Marciano-4 – Eamonn McDermott-7

Ian Young-20 – Micheal King-3

Goalie

Josh Thorimbert-39

Joe Howe-31

Scratches/Injured: G-Courtney Lockwood-29, D-Russell Finch-2, D-Aaron Harstad-5, F-Jordan Digiando, F-Hunter Fejes-11, F-Peter Maric-22

One line-up change but more changes to lines and defensive pairings. Brady Skjei is back in the line-up after being scratched last night and he will be paired with Seth Helgeson. Travis Boyd gets the unenviable spot as the 4th line center between two (yes…TWO) defenseman although I will say Justin Holl has played well at forward when he’s been asked to do so. Mike Reilly at forward is somewhat of a surprise but maybe AJ Michaelson got hurt and The Don isn’t comfortable putting someone in the line-up that hasn’t played in awhile. Other than that, Christian Isackson moves back up to the 1st line with Kyle Rau & Nick Bjugstad and Nate Condon goes back to the 3rd line centering the Serratore and Seth Ambroz!

For the Tigers, they are making the switch to Josh Thorimbert in goal and also are inserting #18 Scott Wamsganz into the lineup as the Left Wing on line #3 in place of #11 Hunter Fejes and defenseman #3 Michael King onto the last defensive pairing with Ian Young. That moves Joe Marciano up to the 2nd pairing with Eamonn McDermott so a couple of changes for the Tigers to see if they can improve on last night’s effort.

Let’s DROP THE CLUTTERPUCK!!!

1st Period
* GOAL! – Tom Serratore from Nate Condon & Seth Ambroz at 4:39 of the 1st period – A face-off in the Tigers zone is actually won to the right corner by the Tigers. Joe Marciano gets to the puck first, closely followed by a forechecking Tom Serratore, so he turns up the right boards and tries to play it up to Rylan Schwartz. Nate Condon intercepts the pass or loose puck and plays it back into the right corner to Serratore. The Gophers get a cycle going below the Tigers goal line, losing the puck a few times but keeping the forecheck active to get the puck right back. Ian Young tries to wrap the puck around the right boards from behind the net but Nate Condon gets there before Schwartz, takes the puck back below the goal line in the right corner, makes a move around Marciano, is stick checked by Schwartz but gets the puck past Alexander Krushelnyski and makes a backhand pass to Tom Serratore just inside the right face-off circle for a one-time snap shot that goes to Josh Thorimbert’s right side off his blocker, up & over his head and slowly trickles into the right side of the net for the goal! GOPHERS 1-0!!!
* Crazy play but it all happened because of the aggressive forecheck and the cycling of the puck.
* After looking at the replay, Serratore had the shot go off the toe of his stick blade and the puck hits Ian Young in front of the goal then goes up and over Thorimbert, lands in the blue paint and slowly goes across the goal line.
* Yet again, the defense is puck-watching and not finding a man to cover so they don’t get a good shot.
* There has to be a way to practice that! Can you practice not panicking and having the calmness to realize who you’re supposed to cover during a broken play?
* When Nate Condon gets past Krushelnyski, they both swiped at the puck and missed allowing Condon to get the puck and make the pass to Serratore, who nobody was watching.
* You can’t just be watching your man either! Get your stick under his stick so he can’t get the shot off.
* This also means cross-checking them isn’t a good idea because the man can still get his stick on the puck to put it in the net.
* There’s really never a good time to cross-check a guy. That’s probably why it’s a penalty!
* PENALTY – Michael King for Tripping on Justin Holl at of the 1st period – Justin Holl was going to the net from the left corner and was hauled down (or is that Holled down?) by Michael King drawing the penalty call from the official.
* GOAL! (POWER PLAY) – Kyle Rau from Nate Schmidt & Zach Budish Erik Haula from Kyle Rau & Nate Schmidt at 5:14 of the 1st period – Six seconds into the power play and Kyle Rau scores! A face-off to Josh Thorimbert’s right is won by Erik Haula over to Zach Budish at the left half-wall. Budish fights off a stick check and passes the puck to Nate Schmidt at the center of the blue line. Schmidt fakes a slap shot getting Jeff Collett to go down for the block and then he passes to Kyle Rau, who’s skating back towards the right face-off dot. Rau waits for Mike Boivin to get in front of him and for Erik Haula to get close to Thorimbert and shoots the puck to the low left corner that Thorimbert might not have seen. GOPHERS 2-0!!!
* UPDATE – The ‘Puck (ClutterPUCK?) must’ve tipped off of Erik Haula as they announced a change to the goal at the beginning of the 3rd period!
* Schmidt having a great slap shot and faking that shot gets Collett to go down for the block which opens up Rau and takes Collett out of the play.
* Rau waited for Haula to get to the net probably more for a tip than for the screen because, since the shot went in front of Haula and to the left of the goalie, there’s no way Haula had a screen on the goalie, even if Kevin Gorg says he waited for the screen!
* Mike Boivin may have screened his goaltender when he comes out to defend Rau but doesn’t block the shot from going through.
* Rau waited for an opportunity to shoot the puck and surprise the goalie early in the power play!
* Mike Reilly fakes a shot at the blue line then attempts a move around the oncoming forward that doesn’t work giving Michael Morin a partial breakaway that Reilly gets back on to disrupt Morin’s chance.
* You have to be Mr. NoDangles at the offensive blue line or you’ll give up a lot of breakaways and start to see less ice time!
* PENALTIES – Seth Helgeson & ? for Roughing at 12:21 of the 1st period – Some after the whistle pushing gets the gate for one on each side and some 4-on-4 hockey!
* GOAL! – Seth Ambroz from Nate Schmidt & Travis Boyd at 14:33 of the 1st period – The Gophers set up a play off the face-off and it worked to perfection! The face-off is at the right face-off dot (Josh Thorimbert’s left) with Travis Boyd at center, Tom Serratore at right wing, Seth Ambroz at left wing, Nate Schmidt at right defense and Jake Parenteau at left defense. Travis Boyd wins the face-off clean back to Nate Schmidt. He immediately skates the puck to the right half-wall, Seth Ambroz moves from his left wing position back to right defense. Tom Serratore and Travis Boyd drive to the net, taking the guys covering them with them causing a screen of Josh Thorimbert with about 5 players between Seth Ambroz and the goaltender! Michael Morin followed Ambroz but had to skate to Schmidt on the half-wall since Joe Marciano stayed with Tom Serratore as he went to the net. As soon as Nate Schmidt gets to the right half-wall, he passes the puck back to a now wide open Seth Ambroz for a one-timed low snap shot that goes to the right of the outstretched right pad of Thorimbert! GOPHERS 3-0!!!
* Amazing how the puck finds its way through all of those bodies and sticks and skates but that’s why you shoot it low from the point.
* Its incredibly hard to save the puck if you can’t see it!
* PENALTY – William Rapuzzi for Roughing on Seth Ambroz at 19:23 of the 1st period – Rapuzzi was taken down by Seth Ambroz and retaliated with a shove to the face and the official gets him for roughing!

2nd Period
* BIG SAVE! – Adam Wilcox on Jeff Collett at :14 of the 2nd period – Nate Schmidt tries to make a move around Jeff Collett at his own blue line and Jeff Collett steals the puck from him, goes in all alone on Adam Wilcox but Wilcox waits him out and makes the save on the move to the forehand.
* PENALTY – Seth Ambroz for Holding on Eamonn McDermott at 1:33 of the 2nd period – Right after the Gopher power play ends Seth Ambroz is forechecking and grabs a hold of Eamonn McDermott and takes him down and gets 2 minutes for it!
* Not a good penalty in the offensive zone!
* PENALTY – Rylan Schwartz for Slashing on Adam Wilcox/Nate Schmidt at 5:59 of the 2nd period – Some after the whistle activity results in a power play for the Gophers!
* PENALTY – Erik Haula for Tripping on Archie Skalbeck at 8:09 of the 2nd period – Erik Haula is defending Archie Skalbeck in the right corner and keeps chopping at the puck even though Skalbeck’s feet are between his stick and the puck so he ends up tripping him and getting some time in the penalty box to think about it.
* Don’t slash at the puck and the player’s feet! Keep skating and get better position! Especially when the player is in the corner beneath the goal line!
* GOAL! (POWER PLAY) – Rylan Schwartz from Eamonn McDermott & Scott Winkler at 8:30 of the 2nd period – It took all of 21 seconds  for the Tigers to score on the power play. William Rapuzzi wins a battle for the puck over Nate Schmidt in the left corner, passes it to Scott Winkler on the left boards and heads to the front of the net. Winkler passes the puck to Rylan Schwartz as he’s skating back towards the right of the zone. Schwartz makes a short pass to Eamonn McDermott at the center of the blue line and gets over to the right slot. McDermott fakes a slap shot getting Tom Serratore to go down for the block allowing Schwartz to skate to the right face-off dot with nobody on him. McDermott gets him the puck and Rylan Schwartz has the time to pick his spot with a snap shot that goes upper right corner over the glove of Adam Wilcox. TIGERS 1-3!!!
* I know Tom Serratore doesn’t want to let the shot from the point get off but I’m sure Adam Wilcox would rather try to stop a shot from the point than a shot from a goal-scorer like Rylan Schwartz.
* You have to know the personnel on the ice and make sure the opponent’s best player isn’t allowed to get that shot off!
* PENALTY – Jeff Collett for Tripping on Sam Warning at 10:59 of the 2nd period – Jeff Collett is forechecking hard and tries lifting the stick of Sam Warning and ends up taking his feet out from underneath him. TWOOO MINUTES!
* Brady Skjei, going back to get the puck in his own zone, goes behind his own net and tries to skate it up the right side but lost track of the forechecking forward who didn’t follow him behind the net but instead cut in front of Adam Wilcox and caused a turnover that gave the Tigers a good scoring chance.
* Brady looks like he’s trying to do too much every time he gets the puck.
* Just make the simple pass and the simple play! THAT will get you on the ice more!
* GOAL! – Mike Reilly from Travis Boyd at 15:41 of the 2nd period – Michael King tries to make something out of nothing by skating the puck into the Gopher zone but he turns the puck over when Travis Boyd catches him from behind and backhands the puck back up the left side of the ice giving Mike Reilly and Justin Holl a 2-on-1 break. Justin Holl drives the net like he should and Mike Reilly keeps skating the puck in until he has no choice but to shoot and he snaps a shot to the upper right corner over Josh Thorimbert’s glove. GOPHERS 4-1!!!
* Mike Boivin actually played the 2-on-1 pretty well by taking away the pass and at the last second coming over to try to block the shot.
* Thorimbert appears to go down early and the Gophers may have had a scouting report on him for that because Mike Reilly went upper right over his glove.
* Two defenseman playing forward end up getting a 2-on-1 and make it work! You won’t see that very often…unless, of course, they happen to be playing forward a lot!
* Reilly knows how to shoot! There’s no doubt about that!
* Michael King needs to send that puck in deep instead of trying to make something happen there!
* Not sure if he’s trying to prove something to his teammates and his coaches by trying to make a play but he did prove something by making the wrong play and he might be sitting for the next game!
* After he turned the puck over he makes a line change which is another bad decision.
* Not good to change on the back check!
* PENALTY – Christian Isackson for Hooking on William Rapuzzi at 15:53 of the 2nd period – Off a face-off in the Tiger zone won by the Gophers, William Rapuzzi is getting out to the point and Christian Isackson gets his stick in to hold him up and get two minutes in the box!
* PENALTY – Mike Boivin for Roughing on Kyle Rau at 16:16 of the 2nd period – Kyle Rau got under the skin of Mike Boivin and Boivin saw a chance to hit him and took it. Unfortunately, he was a little excessive getting his gloves up high on Rau when making the hit!
* Michael King is showing why he was scratched for last night’s game. A bouncing puck is coming towards him at the Gopher blue line and he makes a lazy kicking attempt to keep it in the zone and he misses it completely sending  Nick Bjugstad and Nate Condon on a 2-on-1 that probably should’ve scored but Nick Bjugstad ended up hitting METALLURGY on the quick return pass from Condon!

3rd Period
* Up 4-1, how hard is it to keep playing hard when you’re up by 3 goals?
* It shouldn’t even be a question but teams always let up a bit when they get up big and that’s what always gets the other team back in the game!
* They concentrate on getting it deep and playing the right way but isn’t it better to keep playing the way that got you the 3-goal lead to begin with?
* PENALTY – Cody Bradley for High-Sticking on Justin Holl at 2:32 of the 3rd period – Justin Holl gets the puck and Cody Bradley was just turning the way the puck went and ended up getting his stick up high on Holl and gets two minutes for it!
* Someone tell Doug McLeod that its the NATIONAL Collegiate Hockey Conference NOT the NORTHERN Collegiate Hockey Conference!!! Lord, is that really that difficult to figure out?
* Or Just MUTE HIM!!!
* GOAL! (SHORT-HANDED) – Alexander Krushelnyski from Rylan Schwartz at 4:17 of the 3rd period – A rare mistake by Gopher defenseman Ben Marshall gives the Tigers a 2-on-1 while short-handed! Ben Marshall doesn’t get all of a one-timer and instead of playing defense he aggressively pursues the puck and Alexander Krushelnyski just tips it past him to Rylan Schwartz and Schwartz tips it right back up to him and goes for a line change while Krushelnyski takes it up the left side with Mike Boivin coming up the right. Mike Reilly takes the pass away leaving Adam Wilcox to take the shooter. Krushelnyski takes a snap shot that beats Wilcox over his glove to the upper right corner! TIGERS 2-4!!!
* That’s a huge goal while killing a penalty!
* I always say take the pass away on the 2-on-1 and Mike Reilly did that but he kind of took himself out of the play making it a breakaway for Krushelnyski!
* He could go down and swing his stick at the puck to at least make the shooter adjust before he shoots.
* You could say that with a defenseman as the other man on the 2-on-1, force the puck holder to do something with it before he gets that close but its easy to second guess that.
* Rylan Schwartz wasn’t even on the ice when the goal was scored as he went for a change while on the penalty kill! he did get an assist though!
* GOAL! – Alexander Krushelnyski from Mike Boivin & William Rapuzzi at 6:05 of the 3rd period – The Gophers clear their zone but a loose puck gets them thinking offensively and out of position when the puck goes the other way at the Tigers blue line. When Zach Budish reaches for the puck instead of taking the extra stride, he allows William Rapuzzi to win the puck and turn up the right boards and give a pass to Mike Boivin coming up the center of the neutral zone. Boivin goes around a reaching Erik Haula, who went for the puck instead of the man and missed, and skates the puck into the left of the Gopher zone. Seth Helgeson was mirroring Alexander Krushelnyski but Krushelnyski turned at the blue line to stay onside putting Helgeson on defending the puck carrier and Brady Skjei on the two oncoming forwards but giving too much gap to the offense. Boivin has the time to shoot the puck low to get a rebound off Adam Wilcox that bounces back up the middle to Krushelnyski for a quick shot into the upper left corner and all of a sudden its a one-goal game! TIGERS 3-4!!!
* Both Gopher defenseman needed to gap up on that play! Gap up meaning close the gap between you and the offensive player giving them less time and space.
* Brady Skjei doesn’t know where the puck is and is trying to cover two guys as they come in for the rebound! He got neither!
* Is their a better way to play that?
* Know where the puck is and once you see the offensive player shoot, turn, find the puck and clear the front of the net!
* You can’t cover two guys so choose one and make sure he doesn’t get to the puck!
* Up the middle is the more dangerous spot for the rebound so that would be the better place to cover but its more difficult when you’re skating backwards!
* Adam Wilcox needs to control that shot and not give up a rebound there!
* People say how can a team play so good for two periods and then play so bad!
* A couple mistakes can turn into goals really quick! The Gophers had a chance to go up 4 goals on a shot that hits the post and got a power play so they were playing good and just made a couple bad decisions that the Tigers capitalized on.
* I’m not sure why Helgeson is skating with Krushelnyski in the neutral zone meaning he probably doesn’t need to mirror the way he’s skating. Skate with him and keep an eye on him.
* PENALTY – Christian Isackson for Boarding on Eamonn McDermott at 9:00 of the 3rd period – Christian Isackson on the forecheck makes a body check on Eamonn McDermott and he goes into the boards awkwardly looking like a boarding penalty but he hits him from the side so its a somewhat questionable call.
* Isackson was probably a little over physical and at that point, he could’ve taken the puck instead of the man.
* A penalty in the offensive zone is a bad penalty 99.9% of the time!
* BIG SAVE! – Adam Wilcox at 18:37 of the 3rd period – A crazy play where Adam Wilcox lost his stick and the puck was bouncing around in the crease ends up under Ben Marshall.
* GOAL! (EXTRA MAN) – Rylan Schwartz from Alexander Krushelnyski at 19:36 of the 3rd period – Alexander Krushelnyski is on the left half-wall and wraps the puck around the back of the net. Rylan Schwartz gets to the puck and wraps it right back around the left corner then goes to the backdoor spot at the right of the net (Adam Wilcox’ left). When Krushelnyski gets the puck on the left half-wall he makes a pass to Schwartz for the backdoor one-timer into a mostly empty net for a TIE GAME AT 4!!!
* How can the backdoor man not be covered especially when that man is RYLAN SCHWARTZ?
* Your Schwartz is bigger than mine!
* What a pass by Krushelnyski! That has to be something they’ve worked on or set up during the timeout!

Overtime
* FREE HOCKEY!!!
* So far, this overtime period is being played like neither team wants to lose rather than trying to win!
* Crazy end to the overtime as Jake Parenteau got a shot from the left point and missed the net!

FINAL SCORE
Minnesota 4, Colorado College 4

Some fans might say the Gophers didn’t play that well after they got a 3-goal lead at either 3-0 or 4-1 but Colorado College capitalized on a couple of mistakes by the Gophers including a rare mistake by Ben Marshall to get within a goal and then got a clutch goal from Rylan Schwartz to tie the game with under 30 seconds left. Not a great way to go into the holiday break as they don’t get the chance to get out and play again until December 29th when the Gopher Hockey team hosts the Air Force Academy in the first game of the Mariucci Classic!

Maybe it’s a good thing for them to go into the Holiday break knowing they let one slip away! That gives them a chance to work hard to fix some of the problems they’ve had on defense so far this season and for a couple guys to get a shot at playing for their country in the 2013 World Junior Championship that start on December 26th in Russia! All USA Hockey games will be broadcast on NHL Network including a couple pre-tournament games on Thursday, December 20th at 11:30pm against Sweden and on Saturday, December 22nd at 5am against Finland!

Gopher Hockey Recap from GopherSports.com – Gophers Take Three WCHA Points From Tigers, Tie 4-4 in Overtime
Gopher Hockey Box Score from GopherSports.com – Minnesota-CC Stats
Gopher Hockey Recap from CCTigers.com – CC battles back for a 4-4 tie

In other WCHA College Hockey action tonight,
Home=”vs”, Away=”@”
Minnesota State won vs Alaska-Anchorage 3-0
St. Cloud State won vs Nebraska-Omaha 2-1
Bemidji State won @ Minnesota-Duluth 2-1
North Dakota won vs Denver 6-3
and
Michigan Tech tied @ Wisconsin 3-3 in OT

In other College Hockey action,
Home=”vs”, Away=”@”
Notre Dame won vs Michigan State 5-1 – Mario Lucia had one assist

Bring The CLUTTER in the comments, on Google+ on Twitter and on Facebook.

You’ve Been ClutterPUCKED!!!

Gopher Hockey heads to Colorado College for the 1st time since October of 2010 and hit up Don Lucia’s (“The Don”) old stomping grounds as he coached there from 1993 to 1999. The Colorado College Tigers split a home series with North Dakota last weekend, winning 5-3 on Friday and losing 3-2 in OVERTIME on Saturday! The Tigers have scored more goals (59) than any other WCHA team but they’ve also allowed more goals than any other WCHA team (54) and are 1-4-1 in their last six. They gave up 28 goals in their last six games. It’s still a battle when its two teams from the WCHA! It doesn’t matter who the teams are!

Line Chart – Minnesota Golden Gophers

Left Wing – Center – Right Wing
Kyle Rau-7 – Nick Bjugstad-27 – Travis Boyd-22
F-Sam Warning-11 – Erik Haula-19 – Zach Budish-24
Tom Serratore-14 – Nate Condon-16 – Seth Ambroz-17
AJ Michaelson-15 – Christian Isackson-26 – Mike Reilly-5
Left Defenseman – Right Defenseman
Ben Marshall-10 – Mark Alt-20
Jake Parenteau-6 – Nate Schmidt-29
Seth Helgeson-4 – Justin Holl-12
Goalie
Adam Wilcox-32
Ryan Coyne-31

Scratches: G-Matt LaPrade-30, D-Blake Thompson-3, D-Brady Skjei-2, F-Ryan Reilly-9, F-Christian Horn-18, F-Jared Larson-23
Injured: F-Connor Reilly-21, G-Mike Shibrowski-1

Line Chart – Colorado College Tigers

Left Wing – Center – Right Wing
Archie Skalbeck-12 – Rylan Schwartz-13 – William Rapuzzi-27
Alexander Krushelnyski-16 – Scott Winkler-25 – Charlie Taft-17
Hunter Fejes-11 – Cody Bradley-10 – Andrew Hamburg-15
Michael Morin-19 – Jeff Collett-21 – Jared Hanson-24
Left Defenseman – Right Defenseman
Peter Stoykewych-6 – Mike Boivin-28
Aaron Harstad-5 – Eamonn McDermott-7
Ian Young-20 – Joe Marciano-4
Goalie
Joe Howe-31
G-Josh Thorimbert-39

Scratches/Injured: G-Courtney Lockwood-29, D-Russell Finch-2, D-Micheal King-3, F-Jordan Digiando, F-Scott Wamsganz, F-Peter Maric-22

Mark Alt gets back in the lineup after being scratched in last Saturday’s rematch with Omaha and Brady Skjei is scratched. Not a huge surprise there. Brady has struggled defensively to start the season. Surprisingly, Mike Reilly is among the players being rotated to play the 4th line wing or at least that’s how its listed on FSN. Not sure what that means other than moving a freshman off defense and letting him work as a forward.

All notes are from an offensive point of view unless otherwise noted!

Let’s DROP THE CLUTTERPUCK!!!

1st Period
* Gophers have a little struggle in their own zone giving up some scoring chances to the Tigers.
* BIG HIT! – Travis Boyd on Mike Boivin at 3:42 of the 1st period – Mike Boivin gets a pass at the right boards in the neutral zone and Travis Boyd just timed it perfectly and threw Boivin into the boards and to the ice! TAKE A SEAT!
* A turnover just over 5 minutes into the game in the neutral zone by Christian Isackson turns into a 3-on-2 for the Tigers but Ben Marshall gets down on a knee and takes away the pass attempt by Andrew Hamburg.
* Good job by Ben Marshall to get down and make the pass as difficult as possible to get through.
* PENALTY – Andrew Hamburg for Hooking on AJ Michaelson at 5:33 of the 1st period – A breakout of the Gopher zone gets Justin Holl the puck coming up the left center into the Tiger zone. AJ Michaelson has a step on Andrew Hamburg and gets good position as he goes to the net forcing Hamburg to use his stick to slow down AJ Michaelson and he gets two minutes for it.
* GOAL! – Sam Warning from Ben Marshall & Mike Reilly at 7:35 of the 1st period – A clear of the zone at the end of the penalty kill is picked up by Mike Reilly behind his own net. He comes up the right side, has to make a move around Hunter Fejes and loses the puck right at his blue line but Ben Marshall is at the boards near the bench to get the loose puck and makes a cross ice pass to Sam Warning that Cody Bradley stepped up on but missed causing a 4-on-2. Warning skates it in and takes a snap shot at the left face-off dot that goes in the upper left corner over Joe Howe’s blocker and actually hits the water bottle as the power play ends. GOPHERS 1-0!!!
* Cody Bradley steps up in the neutral zone on a penalty kill but doesn’t get the puck or the man and takes himself out of the play.
* A loose puck probably helped make that decision for him but on a penalty kill, there’s no need to make that play. Keep playing it safe.
* Travis Boyd drove to the net forcing the D to cover him and giving Sam Warning more time and space to get a good shot on goal.
* Mike Reilly made it a 4-on-2 and, even though Hunter Fejes came back to cover him, gave Warning another option and Joe Howe another guy to think about as Warning comes in with the puck.
* BIG HIT! – Tom Serratore on Peter Stoykewych at 10:14 of the 1st period – A face-off to Joe Howe’s left is won by Scott Winkler back towards the right corner. Mike Boivin is closest to the puck but Tom Serratore pushes him forcing him to make a quick play and throw the puck off the glass. It gets past Peter Stoykewych behind the net and goes to the left corner. Jared Hanson gets there first but Seth Ambroz forces him to play the puck back around the corner. Peter Stoykewych has to get the puck off the rail so he has his head down and doesn’t see Serratore coming and he ends up on his butt.
* Would you call that a De-Tuuker? Like a de-cleater in football?
* Physical players love to see guys with their heads down. That’s an invitation to throw a big hit!
* You can count on a couple of big hits from Tom Serratore every game! He BRINGS THE CLUTTER!!!
* Serratore forces a quick play by Mike Boivin because he makes a physical play on him right off the face-off!
* PENALTY – Christian Isackson for Boarding on Charlie Taft at 12:52 of the 1st period – On the forecheck, Charlie Taft is heading towards the puck in his own zone at the right half-wall and he curls around like he’s going to skate it forward but he sees Christian Isackson coming so he turns to protect the puck and Isackson body checks him and Taft goes down like he’s in a lot of pain and the official decides to call Isackson for boarding.
* If Taft doesn’t fall to the ice, there probably isn’t a penalty called. The official thought about it and once it looked like Taft may be hurt, he makes the call!
* Tough call but that’s one of those plays where the player turns right before the check but Isackson has to play that better knowing that could happen and adjust his angle or go for the puck instead of the body check.
* The Don doesn’t like that call but it probably needs to be called to keep players from making that check!
* BIG HIT! – Aaron Harstad on Erik Haula at 16:10 of the 1st period – Erik Haula is reaching for the puck near the right boards at his own blue line and Aaron Harstad steps up on him and throws a good body check sending Haula to the ice.
* One could make an argument for an elbow on that play because Harstad follows through by bringing up the chicken wing but he hit him with his shoulder first.
* Haula got right back up and into the play.
* Its hard but skate to the puck, don’t reach for it and keep your head up!
* You see players reach all the time and if they’d just take that extra stride they’d be there.
* It takes the same amount of time to take another stride as it does to reach for the puck.
* We all do it so it is a really hard habit to break.
* The Tigers have annoying jerseys that make it hard to read the numbers! It’s a design similar to what the Montreal Canadiens use. I actually like the look but why is the number the same color as the horizontal bar that goes across the numbers? If it was a different color, the numbers would be easy to read. There’s an outline on the number but unless you’re close to the play you can’t see it.

2nd Period
* It looks like the Gophers are alternating Mike Reilly and Justin Holl from defense to forward.
* How difficult is it to adjust from defense to forward from shift to shift?
* PENALTY – Mike Reilly for Interference on Cody Bradley at 3:30 of the 2nd period – Mike Reilly is just putting a body on Cody Bradley and ends up knocking him down and the official calls interference on him.
* Bradley goes down pretty easy there. Maybe he’s off balance but that’s a pretty weak call.
* Sam Warning clearing the front of his own net after Jared Hanson takes an extra whack at Adam Wilcox!
* NEVER TOUCH MY GOALIE!!!
* It results in some 4-on-4 hockey!
* PENALTIES – Sam Warning & Jared Hanson for Roughing Unsportsmanlike Conduct at 6:33 of the 2nd period – Results of some after the whistle action between Sam Warning and Jared Hanson!
* PENALTY – Tom Serratore for Charging on Peter Stoykewych at 10:13 of the 2nd period – That’s the 2nd big hit delivered by Tom Serratore on Peter Stoykewych but this time he went in with too much speed.
* Not a good penalty in the offensive zone but Stoykewych will be hearing footsteps for the rest of the game because of Tom Serratore’s physical play!
* The name Serratore doesn’t lend well to coming up with a good saying when he delivers a big hit!
* He was Serratore’d? He Serratore him up?
* How ’bout Tom?
* Tom THUMP! He got Tom THUMPED? (like Tom Thumb)
* Air Force? (because his dad is the Air Force Academy Head Coach)
* He doesn’t know where he is even though he got Tom Tommed! Doesn’t Tom Tom make GPS devices?
* Thump Serratore?
* How ’bout “He ordered the Serratore tonight and it hasn’t worked out very well!”
* I use Bring the CLUTTER when referring to Cal Clutterbuck and his physical play so how ’bout Bring the SERRATORE?
* Who’s bringing the Serratore tonight? It could be anyone. It doesn’t have to just be Tom!
* GOAL! – Sam Warning from Nate Schmidt at 13:11 of the 2nd period – A cleared puck ends up on Nate Schmidt’s stick at the middle of the Gopher zone and he has plenty of time to look for an open man and finds Sam Warning just off the bench on a line change at the red line. The pass bounces off Warning’s stick. Ian Young sees the loose puck and makes a play for it but Warning tips it by him with a little backhand tip and skates the puck in the left center of the zone with nobody between him and goalie Joe Howe and Warning snaps another shot over the blocker for his 2nd goal of the night! GOPHERS 2-0!!!
* Peter Stoykewych needs to come over and get in front of Sam Warning quickly as AJ Michaelson is covered by a back checking forward.
* I know you want to take away the pass but if someone is back checking and can cover the pass, as a defenseman, you need to get over there and deflect the shot or at least make the offensive player adjust before he shoots.
* Sam Warning has Joe Howe right where he wants him now.
* Howe won’t know what to do if he sees Warning coming in on him again. Will he cheat the short side now that he’s been beat twice or will he think Warning will try to beat him on his glove side now?
* That’s TWO WARNINGS!!! The Tigers are on ALERT now!!!
* GOAL! – Archie Skalbeck from Rylan Schwartz & William Rapuzzi at 14:57 of the 2nd period – Ben Marshall pinched and the puck bounced over his stick just in front of the left blue line allowing William Rapuzzi to send a pass down the boards so Rylan Schwartz can skate into a 2-on-1 with Archie Skalbeck coming in to his left. Mark Alt is skating back so Archie Skalbeck slows down to get some space between him and Alt, giving Schwartz a passing lane. Schwartz can shoot or pass and takes the puck in deep and lays a pass back for a quick one-timer into an open net! TIGERS 1-2!!!
* Bad pinch by Ben Marshall! I was just thinking that he doesn’t make many mistakes and has probably been the best Gophers defenseman this season. He usually makes the right play but that was a little too aggressive.
* Mark Alt played that 2-on-1 horribly! This is why he was scratched in the last game!
* He gives too much space to Skalbeck and almost backs into his goalie maybe effecting his lateral movement.
* Take away the pass! That means take away the passing lane!
* If you aren’t going to do that, then take the puck carrier but don’t just keep skating back until you’ve taken yourself out of the play!
* At some point you have to stop skating backwards and close the gap between you and the offensive player.
* Give your goalie a chance to make a save by letting him concentrate on the puck carrier and not worry about the pass!
* That was basically a 2-on-0 the way Alt played it!
* Mark Alt will be working during the break! Get him in the film room and show him what he’s doing wrong. That might take awhile but he needs to understand how to play defense or there’s no point having him out there!
* I don’t like being critical but that’s what you need to do when dealing with players as a coach! You can’t pull punches and say they’re doing ok! Now, you don’t have to be negative when delivering the message! Tell them they are better than they’ve been playing and they have the skills to figure it out and become better players as long as they work at it and work hard!
* The message of being scratched in a big game against a good opponent should be enough!
* Then to see your team win without you is another awakening to make a player work even harder to get back on the ice!
* GOAL! – WIlliam Rapuzzi from Archie Skalbeck & Rylan Schwartz at 16:38 of the 2nd period – A shot from the right boards from Ian Young/Mike Boivin (stupid jerseys) hits the right bottom of the outside of the net and goes into the right corner. Seth Helgeson goes to defend Mike Boivin, poke checks the puck off his stick but it goes off the glass and behind Boivin and he turns around and makes a backhand centering pass to a wide open Archie Skalbeck. Skalbeck attempts a pass to William Rapuzzi that is blocked by Mike Reilly. The puck goes into the right corner and Mike Reilly takes it back behind the goal line and throws it behind his net to the right corner. Helgeson tries to get to it, ends up in a puck battle and loses that battle to Rylan Schwartz (your Schwartz is bigger than mine!) Schwartz sees Skalbeck open at the top of the right circle, gets him the puck, Skalbeck handles it, sees Rapuzzi open going to the net from the right corner, gets him the puck and Rapuzzi has all the time in the world to make a move to his backhand around Adam Wilcox and his poke check attempt and backhand the puck into the open net. TIED AT 2-2!!!
      * WOW! Horrible defensive sequence by the Gophers that included too much puck watching, bad coverage, bad plays with the puck, bad reads and on and on!
* Use that film to show how NOT to play defense!
* At one point, all five Gopher players were in the right corner and watching the puck!
* Know where the puck is but know who your man is, where he is and COVER him!
* Defense doesn’t just mean defending the puck! It means covering passing lanes and the offensive player and reading the play.
* Icing the puck is a good play when you’re scrambling in your own zone! Mike Reilly had a chance to ice the puck or at least clear the zone but he threw it into the right corner to nobody which gives the offensive team more time to keep the forecheck alive!
* Much rather have a face-off in your own zone where you can set up your defense and have the chance to win the puck on the face-off! Every coach will tell you that!
* You are better off eating the puck in that situation than throwing it to the corner to nobody!
* It’s obviously easy to second guess a play but players need to have these concepts ingrained in their minds so they know their options in their own zone.
* Nobody likes to ice the puck but it’s sometimes the best play just like a quarterback throwing the ball away to avoid a sack or instead of forcing a bad throw that could turn into an interception.
* The Goalie loves an icing in that situation and probably should be talking to his teammates and telling them to GET IT OUT!!!
* Adam Wilcox goes for the poke check and basically takes his opportunity to make the save away because he misses.
* The poke is only a great play if you succeed on it. If you miss, it’s over! Not the best odds.
* Travis Boyd catches an edge and accidentally takes out goalie Joe Howe and that results in…
* PENALTIES – Kyle Rau & Jared Hanson for Unsportsmanlike Conduct at 17:10 of the 2nd period
* Sam Warning is hit from behind at 18:30 but there’s no call. That one looked worse than the one that was called for boarding on Christian Isackson. The Don is livid!

3rd Period
* Nate Condon gets a breakaway at 5:00 of the 3rd period off an intercepted pass of an Ian Young attempted cross ice pass but Joe Howe makes the save.
* Condon tried to go blocker side just like Nick Bjugstad a few moments earlier so the Gophers must think that’s a weakness!
* Two Warning goals might make that more obvious!
* PENALTY – Justin Holl for Tripping on Alexander Krushelnyski at 6:54 of the 3rd period – Alexander Krushelnyski is driving the net and Justin Holl is watching him. As the pass comes in from the right, Krushelnyski makes a diving effort to get to the pass and the official calls tripping on Justin Holl! An obvious bad call.
* “The Don” is shown saying “That’s an F@*#ING DIVE!” from the bench!
* The Don knows people so be careful if you make a bad call as an official! Haha!
* Don’t PISS OFF The DON!!!
* The Tigers get a chance right off the bat (or should that be off the stick?) on the power play but the pass doesn’t get to through to its desired destination!
* GOAL! – Tom Serratore from Zach Budish & Erik Haula at 13:23 of the 3rd period – The Gophers had to survive a sequence in their own zone and end up getting the puck in the Tigers zone for almost a full minute before they finally get the puck in the net! Zach Budish has the puck behind the net, skates towards the left corner and passes it to Mike Reilly at the left point, but its in his feet so he just dumps the puck back in deep around the left corner. William Rapuzzi gets the puck on the back wall, tries to make a move but Budish steals the puck from him, protects the puck, skates around the left corner and makes a pass to Erik Haula at the top of the left circle. Haula sees Mike Boivin coming so he makes a behind the back backhand pass to Nate Schmidt at the right point. Schmidt has to catch the pass on his backhand, fakes a move to his forehand, goes around oncoming Archie Skalbeck, skates to the net and attempts a centering pass that’s deflected towards the blue line. Mike Reilly, coming from the left point has to hustle to keep the puck in the zone then skates down to the right corner with speed and passes it to Haula behind the net. Haula passes it to Schmidt at the top of the left circle for a one-time blast that Joe Howe saves. The puck rebounds to the right half-wall where Reilly picks up the puck again and tries a pass to Tom Serratore, now on the ice because Sam Warning made a line change. The puck bounces over Serratore’s stick to Haula behind the net again. Serratore skates around the net and plants himself in front trying to get position. Budish moves to just in front of the left face-off dot, Haula sees him, passes the puck for the one-timer that Budish only gets a piece and the puck deflects to Serratore in the slot and he quickly takes a shot that goes off Joe Howe’s left pad and into the net for the goal! WOW! GOPHERS 3-2!!!
* Long description (sorry!) but there was actually more to the beginning of the play and a lot of times, the reason for a goal starts well before the goal is actually scored.
* Just a crazy sequence there. The puck barely stays in the zone. Gophers keep beating the Tigers to loose pucks to keep the rally alive then the goal is scored off a deflected one-timer leaving Howe no chance as he didn’t know where the puck went.
* Like always, there was a lot of puck-watching on the defense. I keep harping on this but how many goals are scored off situations like this. If a team can stay calm in these situations, keep their cool and stay with a man, they could defend better and not give up so many goals! It’s hard to do but it can make such a huge difference in every game!
* Sam Warning brought the puck into the zone and ended up going off for a line change that brought Tom Serratore onto the ice so should he get an assist for that? How ’bout a plus one? half a plus? a pat on the back, at least?
* How often can you change a man while keeping the puck in the offensive zone?
* AND they had the long change from the offensive zone!
* A Nate Schmidt/Mike Reilly combination on defense is fun to watch!
* Might be scary too!
* Hometown boy makes good!!! Tommy’s feeling good after hosting a team dinner at the Serratore home Thursday night! Hey, who brought the SERRATORE? Tom DID!
* Adam Wilcox almost gets bit by making a bad play with the puck behind his own net blindly throwing it behind him to the left corner (to the left of the goal) where Alexander Krushelnyski was waiting for it. Krushelnyski makes a quick pass Scott Winkler for a one-time try at the open net but Wilcox is able to get there to make the save with his left pad!
* Ahhh…goalies handling the puck, a coaches nightmare! Add another gray hair to The Don’s head!
* Sorry, coach!
* BIG HIT!? – Archie Skalbeck on Justin Holl at 17:17 of the 3rd period – The glass breaking is always a big hit, right? If the plexiglass doesn’t break, it’s not that big of a hit.
* Weird for the glass to break there. Must’ve just hit it in the right spot!
* Almost a 10-minute delay to replace the glass! That goes by real quick when you’re watching a recording! BOOM!
* GOAL! (EMPTY NET) – Zach Budish from Nate Condon & Erik Haula at 19:51 of the 3rd period – A blocked shot by Erik Haula bounces out to Nate Condon, who looks to have a shot at the empty net but he makes the right play by getting past the red line and getting the puck to Zach Budish for the empty-netter to seal the win for the Gophers! GOPHERS 4-2!!!
* PENALTY – Charlie Taft for Hooking Holding & Rought on Seth Helgeson – Seth Helgeson for Roughing at 19:52 of the 3rd period – A battle in front of the Gopher net evolves into Seth Helgeson going after a loose puck with Charlie Taft hooking him, dropping his stick then trying to start something with Helgeson to try to get some momentum for the rematch tomorrow night!

FINAL SCORE
Minnesota 4, Colorado College 2

The Gopher hockey team came out with an energized effort and even though they allowed the Tigers to tie up the game and get some chances, they come out the victors on the road. Will “The Don” make some defensive adjustments for tomorrow night’s game? Will CC make any adjustments? in goal? offense? defense? Find out tomorrow night at 8pm on FSN!

Gopher Hockey Recap from GopherSports.com – Gophers Kick Off Weekend with 4-2 Win Over No. 19 Tigers
Gopher Hockey Box Score from GopherSports.com – Minnesota-CC Stats
Gopher Hockey Recap from CCTigers.com – Close But No Cigar Again for CC

In other WCHA College Hockey action tonight,
Home=”vs”, Away=”@”
Minnesota State won vs Alaska-Anchorage 3-1
Nebraska-Omaha won @ St. Cloud State 6-5
Minnesota-Duluth won vs Bemidji State 4-2
and
Michigan Tech tied @ Wisconsin 1-1 in OT

In other College Hockey action,
Home=”vs”, Away=”@”

Update coming on the Michigan State/Notre Dame game!!!

Bring The CLUTTER in the comments, on Google+ on Twitter and on Facebook.

You’ve Been ClutterPUCKED!!!

How will the Minnesota Gopher Hockey team respond to their first loss at home this season in the rematch with the Omaha Mavericks? Will there be lineup adjustments on either side?

Line Chart – Minnesota Golden Gophers

Left Wing – Center – Right Wing
Kyle Rau-7 – Nick Bjugstad-27 – Nate Condon-16
F-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
Jake Parenteau-6 – Ben Marshall-10
Seth Helgeson-4 – Mike Reilly-5
Goalie
Adam Wilcox-32
Ryan Coyne-31

Scratches: G-Matt LaPrade-30, D-Blake Thompson-3, D-Mark Alt-20, F-Ryan Reilly-9, F-Christian Horn-18, F-Jared Larson-23
Injured: F-Connor Reilly-21, G-Mike Shibrowski-1

Line Chart – Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks

Left Wing – Center – Right Wing
Matt White-21 – Brock Montpetit-12 – Zahn Raubenheimer-13
Ryan Walters-17 – Domonic Zombo-14 – Josh Archibald-15
Brent Gwidt-25 – Johnnie Searfoss-23 – Andrew Schmit-22
James Polk-9 – Aaron Pearce-27 – Tanner Lane-19
Left Defenseman – Right Defenseman
Jaycob Megna-8 – Andrej Sustr-3
Tony Turgeon-4 – Bryce Aneloski-24
Michael Young-7 – Brian O’Rourke-28
Goalie
John Faulkner-30
Anthony Stolarz-33

Scratches/Injured: G-Dayn Belfour, D-Brian Cooper-2, Nick Seeler-11, F-Charlie Adams-18, F-Joe Krause-15, F-Alex Simonson-10

A bunch of changes to the Gopher Hockey lineup including line changes, defensive pairings changing and one substitutions. Mark Alt gets his first healthy scratch of the season and his collegiate hockey career (92 games) and hopefully he can gain something from seeing the game from a different point of view. Nate Condon moves up to the first line with Nick Bjugstad and Kyle Rau while Christian Isackson moves down to center the 4th line with Tom Serratore and Justin Holl, who gets back in the lineup and has looked good when he’s gotten playing time. AJ Michaelson moves up to a wing on the third line with Travis Boyd and Seth Ambroz. With Mark Alt scratched, Jake Parenteau moves back to D and is partnered with Ben Marshall. Seth Helgeson now partners with Mike Reilly. Skjei & Schmidt are the only pair that stays the same as last night. Looks like the Don is trying to shake things up and see what happens with some new lines and pairings. That means players have to be more aware of what’s going on since they haven’t played with each other as often. Less comfortable means more attention to your job and better decisions or, at least, that’s the goal!!!

Let’s DROP THE CLUTTERPUCK!!!

1st Period
* Kyle Rau sets up Brady Skjei for a great chance and the shot goes wide.
* Kyle Rau gets the puck in the slot and with some patience, passes up the shot to get the puck to Brady Skjei for a good shot.
* I, for one, would rather see Kyle Rau take the shot he had then get the pass to a defenseman. Kyle Rau is a goal-scorer! We’re not sure what Brady Skjei is yet.
* PENALTY – Andrej Sustr for Slashing on Erik Haula at 1:05 of the 1st period – Nate Schmidt makes a pass from the right point to Erik Haula coming down the left-center to the net but Haula can’t handle it and the puck goes behind the net. As Haula goes to retrieve the puck, Andrej Sustr tries to cross-check him but kind of misses and hits his legs causing Haula to go down to the ice and he ends up getting a slashing penalty for it.
* GOAL! (POWER PLAY) – Erik Haula from Mike Reilly & Kyle Rau at 2:09 of the 1st period – Ben Marshall passes the puck from the right point to Kyle Rau at the right half-wall. Rau takes it to the net but thinks better of it, backs out and passes it to Mike Reilly, who switched with Ben Marshall, at the right point. Marshall made a line change with Erik Haula and now Haula’s at the left point. Reilly skates backwards toward the right half-wall and passes it to Erik Haula at the top of the left circle. Haula takes it towards the net, cuts to the right to his backhand and makes a low backhand shot that goes in the low left corner of the net. John Faulkner was screened and doesn’t appear to have seen the puck at all! GOPHERS 1-0!!!
* That’s a backhand finish AND a Finnish Backhand!
* You don’t ever want to receive a backhand from a Finn!!!
* Great move just to get a shot on net by Haula.
* Great use of the screen from Seth Ambroz taking away the goalie’s eyes!
* Hard to make a save when you can’t see the puck!
* Off a face-off to Adam Wilcox’ right, Sam Warning gets a loose puck at the blue line to get a breakaway and John Faulkner gets the low shot in his glove to make the save!
* PENALTY – Tony Turgeon for Interference on Tom Serratore at 4:58 of the 1st period – Tom Serratore is taken down trying to get position in front of the net by Tony Turgeon. TWOOOO MINUTES!
* Mr. Turgeon seems to enjoy the confines of the penalty box!
* If you’re looking for Turgeon, the first place you should look is the penalty box!
* I wonder if thats where he gets mentally ready for the game?
* The Gophers are pumped up tonight! They have bounce in their step and energy in all aspects of their game, drawing penalties and getting chances at the net.
* Brady Skjei misses a check but gets in the way enough to make it tough to get a good scoring chance.
* Sometimes that’s all you want as a defenseman is to make the ability to score or shoot more difficult or from a bad angle.
* PENALTIES – Seth Helgeson & Tony Turgeon – Both for High-Sticking & Roughing – Tony Turgeon gets his hands high on a hit on Kyle Rau and follows through with his elbow but there’s no call from the officials so Seth Helgeson gets on the ice and takes matters into his own hands (or gloves) and they both end up getting double-minors for high-stickng and roughing!
* PENALTY – AJ Michaelson for Interference on Brock Montpetit at 15:17 of the 1st period – Brock Montpetit is driving the net with AJ Michaelson covering him and AJ gets a little too much of Montpetit pushing him into the net.
* PENALTY – Gopher Bench for Too Many Men On the Ice at 17:02 of the 1st period – OOPS! Sometimes its hard to keep track of those quick, little Gophers on the ice but not this time. That’s one too many Gophs on the frozen water!!!
* PENALTY – Johnnie Searfoss for Tripping on Nick Bjugstad at 19:00 of the 1st period – Johnnie Searfoss (or Seafrost if you’re GORG!) gets his stick in the feet of Nick Bjugstad tripping him up in the neutral zone and its to the box of shame for the Frost of the Sea!
* Gorg having some trouble reading the lineups apparently! Oops!
* Good period for the Gophers from an energy standpoint but too many penalties!
* Good period for the Mavericks since they are only down by one goal and knew the Gophers would come out on fire to begin the game.
* Too many penalties too!

2nd Period
* GOAL! (POWER PLAY) – Nick Bjugstad from Nate Schmidt & Erik Haula at :58 of the 2nd period – Erik Haula gets the puck off an unsuccessful pass by Zach Budish to Kyle Rau on the back door and makes a backhand pass to Nate Schmidt at the center of the blue line. Schmidt passes it to Nick Bjugstad at the left of the net. Bjugstad receives the pass, takes a look and shoots it into the right corner of the net! GOPHERS 2-0!!!
* GOAL! – Tom Serratore from Nate Condon & Christian Isackson at 2:22 of the 2nd period – A forecheck forces some quick passes and some good bounces. A pass goes off Christian Isackson’s skate and deflects to Nate Condon in the slot. Condon sees Tom Serratore going to the net from the right corner and lays a backhand pass to him so he can skate into it and shoot the puck in the left of the net past John Faulkner! GOPHERS 3-0!!!
* PENALTY – Andrej Sustr for Interference on Tom Serratore at 4:25 of the 2nd period – Tom Serratore is driving to the net and Andrej Sustr takes him down when he never had the puck.
* PENALTY – Brady Skjei for Tripping on Alex Simonson at 8:37 of the 2nd period – Brady Skjei being aggressive at the offensive blue line gets his stick in the feet of Alex Simonson and takes him down! TWOOO MINUTES!!!
* PENALTY – Zahn Raubenheimer for Checking From Behind on Nick Bjugstad at 9:14 of the 2nd period – 5:00 Major & a Game! – Nick Bjugstad is going to get the puck in the right corner and Zahn Raubenheimer throws a body check hitting Bjugstad from behind. Bjugstad never turned and Rauberheimer saw his numbers the whole way so it should’ve been an easy hit to avoid and it was quickly turned into five and a game misconduct!
* PENALTY – Kyle Rau for Interference on Johnnie Searfoss at 11:32 of the 2nd period – A loose puck comes out from a battle in front of the Mavericks net and they get a break. Kyle Rau starts back checking and is a little behind Johnnie Searfoss so he taps him with his stick a little bit and Searfoss goes down way too easily and the official falls for it and Kyle Rau will spend two minutes in the box!
* Gorg calls it a well-timed dive because the Gophers are on a 5-minute power play and that diving is part of the game.
* Find a way to get diving out of the game! It’s a dumb play!
* If Searfoss battles to get into the rush on the break, maybe he gets a chance to score that the Mavericks probably won’t get in a 4-on-4 situation!
* How does the thought of diving even enter your mind? “Hey…I could just fall down here and we’d draw a penalty!”
* The thought should be, “Hey, if I battle through this hacking, I might get a chance to score and make a big play for my team!”
* ALSO, now the NCAA has a rule where you still get a power play if you score on a delayed penalty so that’s even more of a reason to battle to get a scoring chance because the official might make the call anyways!
* GOAL – Andrej Sustr from Matt White & Ryan Walters at 17:48 of the 2nd period – Matt White gets the puck from Ryan Walters at the right of the Gopher blue line and he cuts toward the center of the zone and makes a back pass to Andrej Sustr (Shooster) as Sustr goes up the right boards. Sustr tees up a slapper and scores just over Adam Wilcox’ glove to the upper right corner!
* That seemed to fool Adam Wilcox by the way he reacted to the shot. MAVERICKS 1-3!!!
* That goal has definitely given the Mavericks some momentum as they’ve gotten a few good chances since then!
* Jake Parenteau is pushed into the boards as he’s falling down and he hits the boards pretty hard. He looks like he’s ok!

3rd Period
* Northern Collegiate Hockey Association? Doug McLeod keeps saying the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association. Is that different than the National Collegiate Hockey Conference? or is he saying it wrong?
* The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association is a Division III hockey-only conference that consists of teams in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
* Mr. McLeod is losing his mind while I type, people! What is he talking about?
* PENALTIES – James Polk Andrej Sustr, Jaycob Megna, Tom Serratore & Seth Ambroz at 6:54 of the 3rd period – WOW! A possible checking from behind/boarding on James Polk off a body check on Justin Holl. Then Tom Serratore throws a body check after the whistle and a scrum ensues!
* Tom Serratore – Hit After the Whistle – 2:00
* Andrej Sustr – Roughing – 2:00
* Jaycob Megna – Boarding – 2:00
* “Liquid Hot Megna!”

* Seth Ambroz – Roughing – 2:00
* PENALTY – Nick Bjugstad for Tripping on Josh Archibald at 13:41 of the 3rd period – Travis Boyd tries to start a breakout off a loose puck in front of the Gopher net by making a little backhand pass to Nick Bjugstad but he doesn’t see Josh Archibald coming to the same spot from the other side and Bjugstad ends up tripping Archibald accidentally but will get to watch from the penalty box for a couple minutes.
* PENALTY – Jaycob Megna for Hooking on Kyle Rau at 15:05 of the 3rd period – Dean Blais pulls his goalie around the 5-minute mark but a turnover goes to Kyle Rau and he’s hauled down by Jaycob Megna for a 2-minute minor!
* Liquid Hot Magma is now Jaycob “Hook” Megna! HA!
* GOAL! (EXTRA MAN-6-on-5) – Johnnie Searfoss from Matt White & Ryan Walters at 17:58 of the 3rd period – Bang Bang play from behind the net to the front in quick fashion makes it a one-goal game with 2 minutes left!

FINAL SCORE – Minnesota 3, Omaha 2

The Gophers travel to Colorado to play Colorado College next Friday & Saturday night! Both games will be televised – Friday’s game is on FSN+ at 8:30pm and Saturday night’s game will be on FSN at 8pm!

Also, Notre Dame and Minnesota Wild 2nd round pick Mario Lucia will be on NBCSports Network at 6pm on Friday night in there weekly Friday Night Ice game against Michigan State so tune in and have a great Friday night of hockey!

Gopher Hockey Recap from GopherSports.com – Minnesota Tops Omaha 3-2 in Series Finale
Gopher Hockey Box Score from GopherSports.com – Minnesota-Omaha Stats
Gopher Hockey Recap from OMavs.com – Mavs Comeback at Minnesota Falls Short

In other WCHA College Hockey action tonight,
Home=”vs”, Away=”@”
North Dakota won @ Colorado College 3-2 in OT
Wisconsin won @ Denver 3-1
Minnesota State won vs Bemidji State 6-1
Minnesota-Duluth tied @ Michigan Tech 4-4 in OT
and
Alaska-Anchorage won vs St. Cloud State 3-1

In other College Hockey action,
Home=”vs”, Away=”@”
Notre Dame won vs Lake Superior State 6-1 – Mario Lucia scored 2 goals so he now has 4 goals & 1 assist in 6 games played!

Mario Lucia was also named to the preliminary roster for USA Hockey and the 2013 World Junior Championships! Three Gopher Hockey players were also named to the roster, Mike Reilly, Brady Skjei and Travis Boyd!

Bring The CLUTTER in the comments, on Google+ on Twitter and on Facebook.

You’ve Been ClutterPUCKED!!!

Gopher Hockey takes on maybe their toughest opponent so far this season in the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks. These look like two very evenly matched teams with their Goals For (UNO-45, UM-44), Goals Against (UNO-25, UM-23), Power Play % (UNO-22.0, UM-23.0) and Penalty Kill % (UNO-86.8, UM-90.5) almost identical! Both teams are also on 6-game undefeated streaks! That makes for a great 2-game series!

The head coach of the now Omaha Mavericks is Dean Blais. Most Gopher Hockey fans are familiar with Dean Blais from  the 10 years he spent coaching the North Dakota Fighting Sioux from 1994-2004. He spent a couple years as an assistant coach in the NHL with the Columbus Blue Jackets, went to the USHL for a couple years, led USA to a Gold Medal in the 2010 World Junior Championships and finally found his way back to college hockey with Nebraska-Omaha. and is turning that program into a contender. The Mavericks are currently ranked #14 in college hockey!

Line Chart – Minnesota Golden Gophers

Left Wing – Center – Right Wing
Kyle Rau-7 – Nick Bjugstad-27 – Christian Isackson-26
F-Sam Warning-11 – Erik Haula-19 – Zach Budish-24
Nate Condon-16 – Travis Boyd-22 – Seth Ambroz-17
AJ Michaelson-15 – Tom Serratore-14 – Jake Parenteau-6
Left Defenseman – Right Defenseman
Brady Skjei-2 – Nate Schmidt-29
Mike Reilly-5 – Mark Alt-20
Seth Helgeson-4 – Ben Marshall-10
Goalie
Adam Wilcox-32
Ryan Coyne-31

Scratches: G-Matt LaPrade-30, D-Blake Thompson-3, D-Justin Holl-12, F-Ryan Reilly-9, F-Christian Horn-18, F-Jared Larson-23
Injured: F-Connor Reilly-21, G-Mike Shibrowski-1

Line Chart – Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks

Left Wing – Center – Right Wing
Matt White-21 – Brock Montpetit-12 – Zahn Raubenheimer-13
Ryan Walters-17 – Domonic Zombo-14 – Josh Archibald-15
Brent Gwidt-25 – Johnnie Searfoss-23 – Andrew Schmit-22
James Polk-9 – Aaron Pearce-27 – Tanner Lane-19
Left Defenseman – Right Defenseman
Jaycob Megna-8 – Andrej Sustr-3
Tony Turgeon-4 – Bryce Aneloski-24
Michael Young-7 – Brian O’Rourke-28
Goalie
John Faulkner-30
Anthony Stolarz-33

Scratches/Injured: G-Dayn Belfour, D-Brian Cooper-2, Nick Seeler-11, F-Charlie Adams-18, F-Joe Krause-15, F-Alex Simonson-10

Sam Warning is BACK!!! That’s good for Gopher Hockey but not good for someone who has been in the lineup as it will push them back out of the lineup. Tonight, that someone is Justin Holl, who’s been playing well in that rotating forward 4th line role. I’m sure he’ll get back in the lineup soon and maybe even back on defense.

For the Mavericks, a lineup change of note to Minnesota hockey fans would be Nick Seeler not playing because of an injury he sustained last weekend. Nick is from Eden Prairie and was selected in the 5th round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota Wild so it would’ve been nice to see how the freshman is playing but we’ll have to wait for that.

Let’s DROP THE CLUTTERPUCK!!!

1st Period
* GOAL! – Domonic Zombo from Josh Archibald at 4:17 of the 1st period – A forecheck gets Christian Isackson the puck behind the Mavericks net. Isackson skates towards the right corner and tries to make a pass to Nick Bjugstad that hits Domonic Zombo’s stick and deflects into the right corner. Zombo lifts Isackson’s stick and quickly turns up ice coming up the left side. He makes a pass to Josh Archibald coming up the center and breaking out of the zone. Archibald is able to freely skate the puck through the neutral zone into the right of the Gopher zone. Brady Skjei is about 5 feet back but not close enough to force a play or make any kind of a check on Archibald, thus letting him survey the ice until he sees Zombo breaking to the goal. Archibald makes a pass from the right half-wall to just in front of the goal crease that goes through Nate Schmidt tp Zombo for the tip into the low left corner of the net. Adam Wilcox didn’t have much of a chance to get to that one. MAVERICKS 1-0!!!
* A relatively innocent looking play turns into a goal for a variety of reasons.
* Brady Skjei has to step up and make a play on Josn Archibald in the neutral zone.
* That could be as easy as getting closer to him to force a dump-in or throwing a body check or forcing him to make a move at the blue line but you can’t just let him skate the puck into your zone and have time and space to look for a pass.
* Nate Schmidt had good position but he didn’t do a good job taking the pass away. He was right there to make the play but the puck snuck through behind his stick.
* Get down and make sure you don’t let that pass get through.
* Nate did tell Isackson to cover Zombo but probably should’ve covered him himself and had Isackson get a trailer especially since there was nobody else to pass the puck to.
* Kyle Rau had the trailer covered.
* Christian Isackson was back checking but didn’t get back completely to cover Zombo.
* Take the pass away on defense so the goalie can focus on the shooter! This goes for all situations, not just 2-on-1s!
* GOAL! – Zach Budish from Sam Warning & Erik Haula at 5:40 of the 1st period – An attempted shot by ? goes wide left and wraps around the left boards. Erik Haula has position on the wall to get to the puck and dump it back down the left boards. The dump goes through defenseman Brian O’Rourke’s skates to Sam Warning coming around the net at the left half-wall and he makes a pass through Michael Young’s legs to Zach Budish breaking to the goal and he has a 1-0n-1 with the goalie, John Faulkner. Budish shoots the puck to the low right corner over Faulkner’s left pad and under his glove and we have a GAME TIED AT 1!!!
* Too much puck-watching for the Mavericks defense and not enough having their sticks ready for the puck and active feet  pursuing the offense.
* We miss 24 seconds of live action because Fox Sports North is introducing new sideline reporter Ben Clymer so they feel they have to show some highlights and come out of highlights to a shot of Ben between the benches and while he’s talking, the Gophers score! THAT IS RIDICULOUS!!! FIGURE IT THE HELL OUT, FSN!!!
* Does FSN have the technology to come out of a highlight into live action? out of a commercial? Is that possible?
* Probably! Do they know how to use it? THAT’S DEBATABLE!!!
* One of the good things that might come out of the new Big Ten Hockey Conference….No More FSN Coverage!!!
* Gopher Hockey coverage should move to the Big 10 Network, right? Tell me that’s right! No more Gorg!
* NO MORE GORG! NO MORE GORG! EVERYONE!!! NO MORE GORG!!! Nevermind!
* For what its worth, I’m not fond of Doug McLeod and whatever color hair that is! Find the real, man! Embrace your age…don’t try to hide it! We know you’re old!
* How many people have told him that his hair looks good? Huh? HOW MANY? LIARS!!!
* Sorry…went on a rant there. I’ll be ok! Haha!
* PENALTY – Jaycob Megna for Hooking on Seth Ambroz at 6:55 of the 1st period – Nate Schmidt has the puck at the center of the Gopher zone and he sees Seth Ambroz breaking to the center of the Maverick blue line and he gets him the puck in stride to get him a mini-breakaway in on John Faulkner and Jaycob Megna gets his stick in the midsection of Ambroz to disrupt his scoring chance and getting a hooking penalty for his efforts!
* PENALTY – James Polk for Boarding on Travis Boyd at 10:17 of the 1st period – A loose puck in the neutral zone is retrieved by Travis Boyd near the benches at the red line and he turns towards the boards to dump it back in and gets checked by James Polk and hits the boards awkwardly drawing a boarding penalty.
* GOAL! – Christian Isackson from Nick Bjugstad & Nate Schmidt at 15:12 of the 1st period – A nice breakout gets Seth Helgeson a slap shot from the top of the left face-off circle that is tipped wide over the net & wraps around the right boards for Christian Isackson to dump the puck back around the right corner of the Maverick zone. Andrej Sustr is the first to get to the puck but is closely pursued by Nick Bjugstad so he backhands the puck back into the right corner where Kyle Rau has the time to check the point then look back and see Bjugstad coming back behind the net towards him so he wraps the puck back around the right corner again. Bjugstad stops just short of the right corner to catch the puck, facing the boards. Rau followed the puck and passed Bjugstad on the boards going around the back of the net. Rau tried to take the puck with him but missed it and the puck went between Bjugstad’s legs but he’s able to turn around and  keep possession of the puck because both defenseman followed Rau. Now Bjugstad is coming off the back boards with the puck and passes it off the boards to Nate Schmidt at the right point. Schmidt skates toward the center of the blue line and passes it back to Bjugstad, now coming off the right half-wall, and he passes it to Isackson in the slot for the one-timer that goes through John Faulkner’s 5-hole for a 2-1 GOPHER LEAD!!!
* More puck-watching for the Mavericks so nobody sees Isackson backing into the slot for the one-timer.
* I wish I could hear if the defense is talking to each other when a turnover happens.
* They need to be talking to each other and telling each other who they are covering and to go get the player with the puck!
* “I got #7!…I got #27!….You take the puck holder!” or something like that!
* PENALTY – Mark Alt for Tripping on Johnnie Searfoss at 19:53 of the 1st period – A battle for a loose puck results in Mark Alt getting his stick between Johnnie Searfoss’ legs and tripping him. OOPS!

2nd Period
* PENALTIES – Nick Bjugstad for Cross-checking & Tony Turgeon for Roughing at 8:11 of the 2nd period – A scoring chance for the Gophers results in a save by John Faulkner and some after the whistle activity getting Nick Bjugstad and Tony Turgeon two minutes to think about what they’ve done! 4-on-4 hockey!!!
* PENALTY – Travis Boyd for Interference on Josh Archibad at 9:51 of the 2nd period – Josh Archibald and Travis Boyd are both going to the half-wall to get the puck with Archibald high and Boyd low. Archibald leans into Boyd initiating a battle for position. Boyd tries to jump around Archibald but gets his stick around Archibald’s neck and Archibald goes down easier than a division I college hockey player should but the official only gives Boyd a penalty for interference and nothing to Archibald.
* The official must not see Archibald initiate the battle for position and/or he doesn’t see the embellishment from Archibald because of his viewing angle.
* That’s a problem as now Nebraska-Omaha gets an advantage off the missed embellishment call. We’ll see if it matters.
* GOAL! (POWER PLAY)- Jaycob Megna from Ryan Walters & Josh Archibald at 11:51 of the 2nd period – A shot that goes wide wraps around the right corner to Andrej Sustr at the right half-wall. Sustr skates the puck down towards the right corner looking to get the puck to Ryan Walters in the corner but Jake Parenteau is denying that pass so Sustr passes it to Josh Archibald just to the right of the goal and Archibald makes a quick one-time pass to Archibald at the back boards. Parenteau body checks Archibald but Walters is able to keep possession and come out from the back boards to the right half-wall. Nate Condon is at the top of the right face-off circle and he and Parenteau back off of Walters on the penalty kill. Walters sees Jaycob Megna coming in from the left point and gets him the puck at the top of the left circle. Megna catches the pass, takes one stride and roofs a shot into the right corner over Mark Alt, who’d come out to attempt a shot block and Adam Wilcox’ glove hand (or arm just over his elbow.) TIE GAME AT 2!!!
* The Gophers are killing a penalty but they still can’t just watch the puck.
* Mark Alt gets out to block the shot but blocks the short side instead of the long side.
* He needs to know what angle to come out on the shooter from while making sure not to screen his goaltender.
* That can be difficult but they should be clear on how and where to block a shot when coming out on a shooter.
* You can always count on Tom Serratore to make his presence known on the forecheck with a few hits on the opposing defenseman!
* PENALTY – Ryan Walters for Tripping Hooking on Kyle Rau at 18:04 of the 2nd period – Kyle Rau is coming down the right half-wall of the Maverick zone being chased by Tony Turgeon and Ryan Walters joins the battle but gets his stick in Rau’s legs tripping him up at the blue line, causing Rau to fall and the official to call! TWOOOOO MINUTES!!!
* Mr. Rau may have trapped Walters stick against his leg to draw that penalty – veteran move!

3rd Period
* PENALTY – Tony Turgeon for Interference on Kyle Rau at :56 of the 3rd period – Mike Reilly brings the puck up the left-center of the neutral zone on a 2-on-2 break with Kyle Rau to his right. Rau drives the net and tries to get around Tony Turgeon but Turgeon takes him down and gets the call for interference.
* GOAL! – Josh Archibald from Ryan Walters at 4:43 of the 3rd period – A loose puck at the right half-wall of the Gopher zone is retrieved by Zach Budish but instead of making the easy play and getting the puck out of the zone, Zach tries to make a turnaround pass to Nate Schmidt but its off the mark and Ryan Walters intercepts the puck on his forehand (he’s a left-handed shooter), moves it to his backhand while going to the right of the net. Instead of shooting the backhand shot, Walters sees Josh Archibald coming out from the right half-wall wide open and passes him the puck for a point blank shot that goes top shelf over Adam Wilcox glove hand! MAVERICKS 3-2!!!
* The replay shows that Josh Archibald got a stick check on Zach Budish’s pass to Nate Schmidt which very well may have caused the bad pass.
* GREAT VISION by Ryan Walters to see Archibald coming free off the wall.
* I’m sure Archibald called for the pass.
* Mark Alt got caught on a long shift and he probably took too long messing with Josh Archibald once the puck was gone.
* It hasn’t been a good season for Mark Alt so far. Let’s hope he can improve or the playing time will diminish big time.
* The Gophers just don’t have the energy needed in a game like this with a team on a roll like the Mavericks are.
* PENALTY – Nate Schmidt for Tripping on Brock Montpetit at 16:52 of the 3rd period – Brock Montpetit gets the puck and drives up the middle of the ice all alone. Brady Skjei tries to take him with a body check but misses half of him and Nate Schmidt has to try to dive to keep Montpetit from a good scoring chance and takes his feet out from underneath him and gets a tripping penalty for it.
* Tough penalty with only 3:08 left in the game and the Gophers down by a goal.
* Brady Skjei could have taken more time to defend in a better position than he did but that’s an easy thing to say when second guessing.
* It looked like an innocent play and Brock Montpetit made something out of nothing for the most part.
* It was Skjei’s pass/shot that was intercepted in the Maverick zone that started the transition. He probably should’ve just dumped it down the wall.
* Brady Skjei seems at a loss for what to do when playing defense!
* He gives way too much space sometimes and other times he’s way too aggressive.
* Giving too much space gives the offense options and time to make a play!
* Being too aggressive would be fine if you are winning those battles but if you get beat and leave your partner or goalie out to dry, then you need to pick your spots better.
* The Gophers are getting some decent chances with the goalie pulled but can’t get it past John Faulkner!

FINAL SCORE
Minnesota Gophers 2, Omaha Mavericks 3

The Gophers played a great first period and came out with the lead but didn’t play with the same energy until the waining moments of the game. That may be partly due to adjustments made by the Mavericks defensively but the Mavericks kept working and ended up getting the job done. Defensive errors by the Gophers have usually been their downfall in their losses this season.

Will the Don make some lineup adjustments for tomorrow night’s rematch?

Gopher Hockey Recap from GopherSports.com – Mavericks Outlast Gophers in Series Opener
Gopher Hockey Box Score from GopherSports.com – Minnesota-Omaha Stats
Gopher Hockey Recap from OMavs.com – Archibald’s Goal Gives Mavs Win at UM
Gopher Hockey Recap from Russo’s Rants at StarTribune.com – Gophers asleep at the switch in the final 40 minutes

In other WCHA College Hockey action tonight,
Home=”vs”, Away=”@”
Colorado College won vs North Dakota 5-3
Wisconsin tied @ Denver 1-1
Minnesota State won vs Bemidji State 3-0
Minnesota-Duluth won @ Michigan Tech 7-3
and
St. Cloud State won @ Alaska-Anchorage 4-3 in OT

In other College Hockey action,
Home=”vs”, Away=”@”
Boston University won vs Boston College 4-2
and
Penn State won vs Arizona State 8-3 – Arizona State? Really? The Hockey Hotbed…Literally!

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You’ve Been ClutterPUCKED!!!