ClutterPuck

Click HERE for more Gopher Hockey highlights!

The Minnesota Gopher Hockey team has played well on Saturday nights so far this season only losing one game (@ Minnesota State) & tying another (@ Alaska-Anchorage.) Let’s see if the the Gophers can keep the unbeaten streak alive!!!

Line Chart – Minnesota Golden Gophers

Left Wing – Center – Right Wing
Kyle Rau-7 – Nick Bjugstad-27 – Christian Isackson-26
Nate Condon-16 – Erik Haula-19 – Zach Budish-24
AJ Michaelson-15 – Travis Boyd-22 – Seth Ambroz-17
Justin Holl-12 – 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, F-Ryan Reilly-9, F-Chirstian Horn-18, F-Jared Larson-23
Injured: F-Connor Reilly-21, F-Sam Warning-11, G-Mike Shibrowski-1

Line Chart – Vermont Catamounts

Left Wing – Center – Right Wing
Chris McCarthy-3 – Jacob Fallon-17 – Pete Massar-16
Jonathan Turk-8 – Robert Polesello-29 – Kyle Reynolds-9
Brett Bruneteau-13 – Matt White-19 – H.T. Lenz-11
Ben Albertson-18 – Mike Montagna-7 – F-Anthony DeCenzo-14
Left Defenseman – Right Defenseman
Nick Bruneteau-4 – Nick Luukko-25
Caylen Walls-26 – D-Blake Doerring-22
Anders Franzon-27 – Yvan Pattyn-15
Goalie
Brody Hoffman-37
John Vezzano-1

Scratches/Injured: G-Billy Faust-32, D-Michael Paliotta-2, F-Colin Markison-6, F-Kyle Mountain-10, F-Ryan Rosenthal-12, F-Connor Brickley-23, F-Tobias Nilsson-Roos-24

A few changes to each team’s lineup for the rematch tonight. For the Gopher hockey lineup, Justin Holl is in and Jared Larson is out (hopefully not because of injury.) AJ Michaelson moves up to the 3rd line playing a wing. Tom Serratore moves to center for the 2nd consecutive Saturday with defenseman playing on his wings. That worked last week when he had the game-winning goal against Wisconsin so what will happen tonight?

The Catamounts made changes to their 4th line, putting in Ben Albertson & Mike Montagna and scratching Kyle Mountain and Tobias Nilsson-Roos. Blake Doerring is also in for Michael Paliotta.

Let’s DROP the CLUTTERPUCK!!!

All comments are from the point of view of the puck carrier or the offense unless otherwise noted.

1st Period

• Hey, FSN went through lineups! Imagine that!
  • Of course, they do it while the game is going on so if you’re watching the lineups, you miss the game. BRILLIANT!
  • Why, as a station broadcasting sports, would you want to take the viewer away from watching the game?
  • Who watches the game for the graphics? If you are watching the game, you are watching THE GAME!
• PENALTY – Tom Serratore for Hooking on Mike Montagna at 3:12 of the 1st period –A tip dump-in by Seth Ambroz hits the linesman causing a quicker transition so a pass up the middle of the neutral zone gets Mike Montagna a step on Tom Serratore so he tries to lift Montagna’s stick then gets his stick up underneath his arm and the official calls him for hooking.
  • I don’t see a hook there. I see a player trying to check/defend the other player but once Montagna has to adjust to the check, the official sees that as a reason to call a penalty.
  • Isn’t that the whole point of playing defense? Forcing a player to adjust their hands or their angle making offense more difficult.
  • What does it say when the official puts the wrong player in the box?
    • Ben Marshall is put in the box for the penalty instead of Tom Serratore.
    • The players crossed each other’s path and the official is watching the puck at that point so I’ll give him a very small piece of slack on that.
    • Should he know the personnel and who plays where for each team?
• PENALTY – Nick Bruneteau for Hooking on Zach Budish at 7:28 of the 1st period – An aggressive forecheck has the puck in right corner of the Catamount zone with Erik Haula and Nate Condon and the puck comes out of the corner behind the net. Zach Budish was playing low around the face-off dots, sees the puck go behind the net and lifts the stick of Nick Bruneteau, steals the puck and takes the puck to the net around the right side (to Brody Hoffman’s left) but he’s slowed down by the stick of Nick Bruneteau and the official calls hooking on the play.
• PENALTY – H.T. Lenz for Slashing on Erik Haula at 8:23 of the 1st period –Erik Haula is bringing the puck up the middle of the neutral zone and H.T. Lenz is coming forward to defend him. Haula makes a move to the left and Lenz hits him in the midsection tripping him up and the official calls slashing on the play.
  • Pretty obvious call for the official on that one.
  • 1:07 of 5-on-3 for the Gophers Power Play!
• Vermont kills off the penalties with most of the shots coming from the point and/or the perimeter. Good Kill!
• Mike Reilly has a bomb for a slapper from the point and some sick mitts! He’s going to turn into a heck of a player!
  • He still needs improvement defensively though.
  • I’m sure it takes some time to adapt to the speed of the game of college hockey and the talent that you have to play against.
• PENALTY – Seth Helgeson for Interference on Kyle Reynolds at 11:05 of the 1st period –Seth Helgeson and Kyle Reynolds are battling for the puck in the right corner of the Gopher zone with Kyle Reynolds getting a good hit on Helgeson to start the battle and Helgeson finishes it but goes a little too far with his hit and the official calls….?
  • The announcers say interference but who knows?
  • Not a very good angle to see the play.
  • Helgeson is known for being an emotional player but he tends to take those emotions too far in the thick of battle and takes stupid penalties.
• PENALTY – Blake Doerring for Tripping on Travis Boyd at 15:30 of the 1st period – Travis Boyd skates the puck into the left of the Catamount zone around the back of the net to the right corner. Blake Doerring is covering him and gets his stick in Boyd’s feet tripping him up and getting the tripping call from the official.

2nd Period

• GOAL – Tom Serratore from Ben Marshall & Kyle Rau at 2:49 of the 2nd period –The Gophers get a good forecheck going getting the puck deep and just getting relentless pressure on the Catamount defenseman behind the goal line. Jake Parenteau takes the puck into the left of the Catamount zone and dumps it behind the net. Kyle Rau, just off a line change, has a lot of energy and uses it to pursue the puck and Anders Franzon as they go around the net into the right corner. Rau makes a stick check and causes Franzon to lose the puck. Jonathan Turk picks it up but is forced to take it back behind the goal line and make a pass to Caylen Walls but the pass gets away from Walls and goes into the left corner. Justin Holl is able to get to Walls and force a D-to-D pass behind the net to Blake Doerring. Rau has turned and is right on Doerring and takes the puck from him, comes around the right corner and passes the puck to Ben Marshall coming down the right side at the top of the circle. Marshall, with the speed he had coming in, takes the puck just shy of the goal line and makes a pass to Tom Serratore at the front of the net for an easy tap-in for a an easy goal! GOPHERS 1-0!!!
  • Is there anything more beautiful than a relentless forecheck?
    • where the forecheckers are reading where the play is going and forcing the defenseman to make quick plays and eventually force a bad pass or a mistake.
  • The eventual turnover puts the defense in panic mode which more often than not means someone wide open near the net.
  • Tom Serratore was the high man for that whole forecheck and forced the play to be turned back behind the goal line because of his position near the half-wall.
  • As soon as Marshall gets the puck, you see everyone watching the puck and Serratore goes to the net to be available for the tap-in. Just tap it in – Happy Gilmore!!!
  • Just awesome to see players skating hard on the forecheck trying to get the puck and forcing quick plays.
  • Bad plays come from having no time or space to prepare to make a play!
  • A loose puck is a reason to pounce!
  • It all started with a simple dump-in that was immediately cleared but that allowed the Gophers to set up their forecheck!
• GOAL – AJ Michaelson from Travis Boyd at 3:59 of the 2nd period – A face-off to the left of Adam Wilcox is lost by Travis Boyd behind the net but Seth Helgeson gets to the puck first and wraps it around the left corner to the half-wall past Mark Alt, Matt White and AJ Michaelson. AJ has position on Matt White and shields him away from the puck while he gains speed. Michaelson passes the puck (or tips it) to Travis Boyd and he takes it up the left side through the neutral zone and to the left half-wall of the Catamount zone. Seth Ambroz drove to the net and Mark Alt pinched up the right side keeping the defense honest and allowing Michaelson to trail the play and set up for a one-timer near the top of the left circle for a slapper that beats Brody Hoffman low glove side into the low right corner. GOPHERS 2-0!!!
  • Just driving the net with speed by Seth Ambroz and Mark Alt opened that play up for Michaelson.
  • Learn to play without the puck!
  • Not sure if Hoffman saw that puck as it appeared like he reacted late on it.
  • Good low shot too!!!
• BIG HIT! – Justin Holl on Kyle Reynolds at 9:00 of the 2nd period –Justin Holl comes off the bench on a line change right onto the forecheck and sees Nick Luukko in the left corner is going to turn around and play the puck up the boards so he turns and says HELLO to Kyle Reynolds who was looking down to control the puck. BOOM! “I’m Wide Awake!”
  • Throw the body to get the other team making quicker decisions which leads to mistakes.
• PENALTY – Erik Haula for Roughing on H.T. Lenz at 16:31 of the 2nd period –A battle between H.T. Lenz and Erik Haula has Haula knocking Lenz down then Lenz taking Haula’s feet out from underneath him and that doesn’t sit well with Haula so he gets up and jumps on Lenz and gets the 2-minute minor for Roughing.
  • Retaliation always seems to get you in the box!

3rd Period

• PENALTY – Caylen Walls for Checking From Behind on Justin Holl at 3:13 of the 3rd period –Justin Holl gets the puck at the left half-wall of the Catamount zone, turns to protect the puck and gets hit from behind and the far official makes the call.
  • Tough play for Walls as Holl is turning but checking from behind is going to be called more often than not so he gets to rest in the penalty box.
• PENALTY – Kyle Rau for ? on Chris McCarthy at 3:56 of the 3rd period – A turnover in the neutral zone gets the Catamounts a chance in transition. Chris McCarthy is driving the net looking for a pass and Kyle Rau is back checking. The pass comes but I’m not sure if McCarthy ever gets his stick on it and Kyle Rau knocks McCarthy down to the ice and gets called for something – Interference, Roughing, Hooking, Tripping, Illegal Use of the Stick to Knock an Opponent Down…
• GOAL (4-on-4) – Jacob Fallon from Yvan Pattyn & Chris McCarthy at 4:15 of the 3rd period – Anders Franzon takes a shot from the left point that Adam Wilcox saves but the puck trickles out behind the net. Chris McCarthy picks up the puck and skates around the left boards, comes out to the top of the slot and shoots a high shot that goes off of Wilcox’ blocker, bounces up, hits Ben Marshall’s helmet, then goes off Adam Wilcox’ blocker again and lands in front of Adam Wilcox in Yvan Pattyn’s skates. Pattyn gets a piece of it but Jacob Fallon whacks at the puck and gets it to go through Wilcox’ legs and it slowly goes into the net. CATAMOUNTS 1-2!!!
  • Amazing how the puck finds its way through the leg pads like it did!
  • 7 players in front of the net makes it hard for Adam Wilcox to have any chance to freeze the puck.
  • Huge GOAL for the Catamounts making this a game now!
• GOAL (Empty Net) – Nate Condon from Nate Schmidt & Erik Haula at 19:06 of the 3rd period – With the puck behind the Gopher net, both teams are battling for possession and the puck goes into the right corner. Nate Schmidt wins a battle for the puck at the right half-wall and gets the puck up to Nate Condon who has a relatively clear path to the open net for the clincher! GOPHERS 3-1!!!
• PENALTY – Brett Bruneteau for Slashing on Nate Condon at 19:06 of the 3rd period – Brett Bruneteau made a diving slash attempt on Nate Condon to try to keep him from scoring the empty-net goal!
• PENALTY – Seth Ambroz for Roughing Hitting After Whistle at 19:56 of the 3rd period – With little time left in the game after a shot on Brody Hoffman is saved, Seth Ambroz tries to get some last licks in on the Catamounts and gets 2-minutes for it.

Minnesota Gophers 3 Vermont Catamounts 1 is the final score!

Gopher hockey picks up their first road sweep of the season and move their road record to 4-2-1 and their overall record to 9-2-2. The Minnesota Gophers next game is on Friday, November 30th when they open up a 2-game series with Nebraska-Omaha. Both games begin at 7pm CST and are televised with Friday night’s game on FSN and Saturday night’s game on FSN+. Check here to find out where to watch Gopher Hockey in your area!

Gopher Hockey Recap from GopherSports.com – Gophers Pick Up Sweep of Catamounts with 3-1 Win
Gopher Hockey Box Score from GopherSports.com –
Minnesota-Vermont Stats
Gopher Hockey Recap from UVMAthletics.com – #4 Minnesota Holds Off Vermont Comeback Effort for 3-1 Win

In other WCHA College Hockey action,
“Home=”vs”, Away=”@””
Bemidji State won vs Alaska-Anchorage 5-4
St. Cloud State won @ Minnesota-Duluth 5-1
Minnesota State won @ Wisconsin 4-2

Non-conference College Hockey action,
Yale won @ Colorado College 6-5 in OT
New Hampshire won @ Denver 6-4
Notre Dame won vs North Dakota 5-2
and
Alabama-Huntsville lost @ Nebraska-Omaha 8-0

If you missed it like I did, Minnesota Wild 2012 2nd round draft pick, Mario Lucia, scored his 1st collegiate goal a week ago against Michigan.

Here’s the video highlights of the Notre Dame/Michigan game with Mario Lucia’s goal at the 1:11 mark of the video.

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

You’ve Been ClutterPUCKED!!!

The Gopher Hockey team makes its first ever appearance at the Vermont Catamounts and the Gutterson Fieldhouse after playing them for the first time last season. The alma mater of great players like Martin St. Louis and Tim Thomas. Those are the only two names I know from Vermont but those are some pretty nice names! Both have won the Stanley Cup and have been major parts of their NHL teams for a long time!

Line Chart – Minnesota Golden Gophers

Left Wing – Center – Right Wing
Kyle Rau-7 – Nick Bjugstad-27 – Christian Isackson-26
Nate Condon-16 – Erik Haula-19 – Zach Budish-24
Jared Larson-23 – Travis Boyd-22 – Seth Ambroz-17
Tom Serratore-14 – AJ Michaelson-15 – 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-Chirstian Horn-18
Injured: F-Connor Reilly-21, G-Mike Shibrowski-1, F-Sam Warning-11

Line Chart – Vermont Catamounts

Left Wing – Center – Right Wing
H.T. Lenz-11 – Brett Bruneteau-13 – Matt White-19
Pete Massar-16 – Jacob Fallon-17 – Chris McCarthy-3
Jonathan Turk-8 – Robert Polesello-29 – Kyle Reynolds-9
Anthony DeCenzo-14 – Kyle Mountain-10 – Tobias Nilsson-Roos-24
Left Defenseman – Right Defenseman
Nick Bruneteau-4 – Nick Luukko-25
Michael Paliotta-2 – Caylen Walls-26
Yvan Pattyn-15 – Anders Franzon-27
Goalie
Brody Hoffman-37

What is a Catamount? Is it a little saddle you would use to ride a cat? Noooo…that would be a cat-a-mount! A catamount is a medium sized or large cat, esp. a cougar. Sooooo…never tried to mount a catamount! I’ll leave the cougar comments to someone else! Umm…yeah.

For some reason, FSN doesn’t show lines for either team or let us know who’s in and out of the lineup. Do we need to watch pre-game for that?

Erik Haula is now an alternate captain for the Minnesota Gopher Hockey team!

All comments are from the point of view of the puck carrier or the offense unless otherwise noted.

DROP THE CLUTTERPUCK!!!

1st Period

• WOW! This camera is close compared to most Gopher hockey telecasts. You can’t even see the boards on the near side very often.
• PENALTY – Nick Bjugstad for Holding on Pete Massar at 4:03 of the 1st period – Vermont gets some sustained pressure in the Gopher zone and gets a couple chances in front of the net forcing Nick Bjugstad to commit a holding penalty to keep Pete Massar from getting at a rebound.
• PING! POST SHOT! – AJ Michaelson hits the post with a wrist shot at 7:32 of the 1st period –Nick Luukko skates the puck out of the Vermont zone up the left boards and he tries to bank it off the left boards to get the puck around Travis Boyd but Travis gets his stick on it and waits for AJ Michaelson to enter the zone through the middle and passes him the puck. Michaelson skates to the front of the net and takes a snap shot that rings off the right post (to Brody Hoffman’s left) and you hear the crowd with the exciting “OH!”
  • Who doesn’t get excited at the sound of vulcanized rubber hitting Metallurgy? Huh? WHO? Nobody!
• GOAL! – Seth Ambroz from Travis Boyd & AJ Michaelson at 7:52 of the 1st period – After Michaelson hit the post, the puck is cleared and dumped in to the Gopher zone. Jake Parenteau picks up the puck while going around his own net and makes a pass to AJ Michaelson at the left half-wall for quick one-time pass to Travis Boyd breaking out of the middle of the Gopher zone with Seth Ambroz coming up the right boards. As Boyd gets to the red line, he makes a pass to Ambroz and Vermont defenseman, Nick Bruneteau, tries to intercept the pass which creates a quick little 2-on-1 with Boyd coming in on Michael Paliotta. Paliotta takes away the pass and Ambroz goes in on Hoffman, looks like he’s going to shoot but he makes a move to his backhand, loses the puck but is fortuitous as the puck deflects off of Paliotta’s right skate and slowly goes over the goal line. GOPHERS 1-0!!!
  • Paliotta did the right thing in taking away the pass but he gave too much space to Ambroz to come in all alone without anyone checking him.
  • Jonathan Turk was back checking and then started to coast and never took anyone. If he skates hard the whole way, he can get back to cover either Travis Boyd or Seth Ambroz and disrupt the play.
    • Turk could tell him to take Boyd so he can move over and defend Ambroz.
  • Talking to your teammates is a huge part of the game and will help throughout the game and the whole season.
• PENALTY – Yvan Pattyn for Interference on Tom Serratore at 8:11 of the 1st period –The Gophers are entering the Catamount zone on the left side and the puck is dumped in. Yvan Pattyn throws a body check on Tom Serratore and it doesn’t look like he ever had the puck. TWOOOOO MINUTES!
  • No replay of the play.
    • Is that FSN?
    • They have to have a replay of that, don’t they? What are they doing?
  • Then to compound that, they don’t even tell us what the penalty is for! WOW! I don’t like FSN coverage!
    • Go watch a broadcast on TSN and learn something about sports coverage.
• NO GOAL! – Brady Skjei scores at 10:18 of the 1st period but the goal is called off right away –A good forechecking job in the right corner from Tom Serratore throwing a body check on Anders Franzon creates time for AJ Michaelson to get the puck back to Brady Skjei at the right point. Skjei skates in, makes a move to get around Tobias Nilsson-Roos and takes a wrist shot that might’ve been tipped by Tom Serratore. The official is calling goalie interference as the reason for no goal because Tom Serratore and Jared Larson were in the crease and interfered with the goalie’s ability to make the save.
  • Here’s the rule from the NCAA 2012-13 Rulebook
    • Rule 73 – Interference on the Goalkeeper
    • 73.1 Interference on the Goalkeeper – A player of the attacking team may stand on the goal crease line or in the goal crease, or skate through the goal crease, unless, in the opinion of the official, the player is physically or visually preventing the goalkeeper from defending the goal.
    • PENALTY—If a goal is scored, it shall be disallowed. Faceoff at the nearest neutral zone faceoff spot.
  • The key phrase would be “in the opinion of the official.”
  • Kevin Gorg says “the goalie is clearly impeded” – he was barely touched and had the opportunity to play the puck but that’s the rule and since both Serratore & Larson had their skates in the crease, the goal is called off!
  • Good job to get to the net and create some havoc but Serratore has to know where he is and not get in the crease. If he’s 6 inches forward, he’s fine and the goal counts.
  • Jared Larson is fine and wouldn’t have impeded the goalie in that instance even if Kevin Gorg never mentions that.
    • Is it hard to figure out that I’m not real fond of Kevin Gorg or FSN for the matter?
  • Good idea and keep getting in the goalie’s face to disrupt his ability to make the save.
    • Just don’t be in the crease while you do that!
  • It’s weird to not get a penalty for that but the rule reads “if a goal is scored, it shall be disallowed” so the “penalty” is having the goal taken away.
  • Does anyone else think that’s strange? If it’s a penalty, shouldn’t Vermont get a power play out of it?
• GOAL! – Brett Bruneteau from Matt White & H.T. Lenz at 15:26 of the 1st period – Mark Alt wraps the puck around the left boards of the Gopher zone (to Adam Wilcox’ right) to Zach Budish but a good forecheck by H.T. Lenz forces a turnover that Brett Bruneteau eventually corrals and he takes a bad angle shot from the left of the face-off dot that is deflected by Brady Skjei’s stick and hits the back of the net. Skjei loses his stick on the deflection so he can’t check or keep Matt White from getting the puck behind the net. White skates the puck into the right corner, sees Brett Bruneteau in front of the net, and passes the puck in front for a quick one-timer into the net. GAME TIED AT 1!!!
  • As we see so often on a turnover, too much puck-watching by the defensive team and in this case, the Gophers.
  • Brady Skjei, Mark Alt & Erik Haula were all watching the puck while Bruneteau is finding a passing lane for Matt White.
    • None of them think to get down to try to block a pass to the front of the net either.
  • Brady Skjei was already behind the net and chasing White so he isn’t as much to blame on that breakdown.
  • When in doubt, cover a body/find a man! Don’t watch or chase the puck!
  • How do you train your team to not watch the puck in the defensive zone and especially after a turnover? That has to drive coaches crazy!
• GOAL! – Kyle Rau from Zach Budish & Erik Haula at 18:39 of the 1st period – Jake Parenteau dumps the puck around the right boards and Erik Haula gets to the puck first behind the net. He wins the battle and skates the puck to the left of the net (Brody Hoffman’s right) and tries a backhand centering pass that is deflected onto the back of the Catamount net. Nick Bruneteau hits the netting with his stick to get the puck off the net and the puck bounces to the left in his skates. Zach Budish is there to make a quick pass to Kyle Rau at the right side of the net for a quick shot into the relatively open net. GOPHERS 2-1!!!
  • Tough play for Nick Bruneteau but it’s probably always a better play to wait for the whistle when the puck’s on the back of your own net!
  • Brody Hoffman doesn’t have much of a chance on that one as he’s not even sure where the puck is.
  • Kyle Rau knows where to be to score goals. He just finds open ice and will get to the tough areas as well!
  • Good forecheck by Erik Haula to get to the puck first and good awareness by Zach Budish to get the puck to Rau quickly when it comes off the back of the net!

2nd Period

• What kind of adjustments will be made for both teams for the 2nd?
• PENALTY – Matt White for Hooking on Nick Bjugstad at 0:42 of the 2nd period –A bad pass by Matt White to the skates of H.T. Lenz creates a turnover in the neutral zone. Nate Schmidt picks up the loose puck and passes to Nick Bjugstad at the center of the blue line for a mini-breakaway on the goaltender but he’s hooked from behind by Matt White.
  • I recently purchased an HT Lens for my camera! Haha! HEY! They can’t all be gems!
• GOAL (POWER PLAY) – Zach Budish from Kyle Rau & Nick Bjugstad at 2:26 of the 2nd period – Erik Haula has the puck at the right half-wall, skates it in towards the slot and makes a pass to Kyle Rau at the right of the net. Rau takes the puck to the front of the net and tries to stuff it through Brody Hoffman. The save is made but the puck is still loose and goes to the left of the net where Nick Bjugstad shoots it back towards the goal and it goes off Hoffman to Kyle Rau who tries a backhand shot that goes off Hoffman’s toe and back out front to Zach Budish who shoots it right away and it goes over Brody Hoffman and through Michael Paliotta, who had gotten behind his goalie to try to stop the puck. GOPHERS 3-1!!!
  • Good power play time with great puck movement and the Gophers finally get it to go in on a rebound in front of the net.
  • Sometimes you just have to take the puck to the net and make things happen.
• PENALTY – Nick Bjugstad for Interference on Michael Paliotta at 10:25 of the 2nd period –Nick Bjugstad is trying to create some havoc in front of the net and he pushes Michael Paliotta into Brody Hoffman with the puck nowhere to be seen for an easy interference call for the official.
  • Probably a retaliation for a good hit that Nick Bjugstad took shortly before he took the penalty.
• GOAL! – Nick Bjugstad from Nate Schmidt at 12:30 of the 2nd period – A shot from Nick Bruneteau from the right point is saved off of Adam Wilcox’s left pad to the right corner where Nate Schmidt quickly shoots it high off the glass where Nick Bjugstad is coming out of the penalty box and he gets a breakaway on Brody Hoffman. Coming in from the left, Bjugstad takes a snapper that goes in just over Brody Hoffman’s glove to the upper right corner of the net. GOPHERS 4-1!!!
  • Adam Wilcox may get an assist on that goal!
  • I’m not sure Nate Schmidt made that play to get the puck out of the zone or if he knew Bjugstad was coming out of the box.
    • That’s an awesome play if he made that play as a pass!
    • It’s possible one of his teammates is telling him to send it deep right away!
• GOAL! – Mike Reilly from Jake Parenteau at 14:56 of the 2nd period – Michael Paliotta tries a long pass from deep in his own zone that’s intercepted by Jake Parenteau at the center of the neutral zone. Parenteau skates the puck through the center and to the right of the Catamount zone. Caylen Walls poke checks the puck off Parenteau’s stick but Jake is able to retrieve the puck at the right half-wall and makes a cross-ice pass to Mike Reilly at the left point. Reilly takes the puck in, fakes a slap shot, makes a move to the left of Michael Paliotta and shoots a low wrist shot that sneaks under Brody Hoffman’s blocker arm into the left part of the net. GOPHERS 5-1!!!
  • That’s the 1st collegiate goal for freshman #5 Mike Reilly!!!
  • Seth Ambroz was in front creating a screen of the goaltender.
  • Great play by Jake Parenteau creating that scoring chance

3rd Period

• PENALTY – Nick Bjugstad for Checking From Behind on Jacob Fallon at 3:52 of the 3rd period –Nick Bjugstad comes in on the forecheck and basically runs into Jacob Fallon from behind knocking him over and the official calls him for checking from behind.
  • That’s an iffy call there but with checking from behind, they probably would rather call them than not call them to show that you better control your body when hitting or running into an opposing player.
• Injury? – Jared Larson at 7:55 of the 3rd period –Jared Larson is skating into the left corner of the Catamount zone on the forecheck, racing Nick Bruneteau to the puck. Larson wins the race, bends down to get the puck and gets hit up in the shoulders by Bruneteau and it looks like his head hits the glass. Larson reacts like he’s hurt but continues his shift.
  • Let’s hope that doesn’t turn into anything bad for Jared Larson
• PENALTY – Caylen Walls for Roughing on Seth Ambroz at 12:33 of the 3rd period –Both Seth Ambroz and Caylen Walls are battling on the right boards but the official obviously thinks Walls was a little too rough on the play.
  • Probably should’ve just sent them both on that play although Seth Ambroz was more just defending himself when seeing the replay.
• PENALTY – Zach Budish for Roughing at 14:43 of the 3rd period – Zach Budish with a little too much action after Brody Hoffman makes a save and he gets the 2-minute minor for roughing because of it!
• Starting to get a little rough with the body checks in the waining minutes
  • Seth Helgeson looks like he’s trying to pick a fight.
• TIMEOUT! – Gophers! –Kevin Gorg – “Why is the clock running?” – Sorry, I couldn’t help but laugh at that quote! He said it like he had no idea what was going on.
  • I don’t know if they set the clock for the timeout and started it or what but Mr. Gorg was lost at that moment.
• PENALTY – Nick Luukko for Hooking on Seth Ambroz at 19:18 of the 3rd period – Nick Luukko takes a dumb penalty probably just to get at Seth Ambroz but who knows. There was no reason for it or at least no good reason.

Minnesota Gophers 5 Vermont Catamounts 1 is the final score!

The Gophers basically dominated this game as they should because they have more talent than Vermont. That’s not taking anything away from the Catamounts because they battled until the final buzzer and will come out tomorrow night with a lot of energy to see if they can come out of the weekend with a split of this non-conference matchup.

Gopher Hockey Recap from GopherSports.com – Gophers Take Down Catamounts 5-1 in Series Opener
Gopher Hockey Box Score from GopherSports.com –
Minnesota-Vermont Stats
Gopher Hockey Recap from UVMAthletics.com – Men’s Hockey Drops Opening Game of Series With #4 Minnesota

In other WCHA College Hockey Action,
“Home=”vs”, Away=”@””
Alaska-Anchorage tied @ Bemidji State 2-2
Minnesota-Duluth won vs St. Cloud State 2-1
Minnesota State won @ Wisconsin 4-2

Non-conference College Hockey action,
New Hampshire tied @ Colorado College 4-4
Yale won @ Denver 2-1 in OT
North Dakota won @ Notre Dame 2-1
and
Alabama-Huntsville lost @ Nebraska-Omaha 3-2

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

You’ve Been ClutterPUCKED!!!

The Gopher Hockey team will need to make some adjustments on defense to get a win over conference rival Wisconsin tonight! Some defensive lapses cost them last night and they only came out with a tie. Expect a quick start once the puck is dropped at Mariucci Arena. The Badgers played a good, tough game last night and battled until the final buzzer. Expect the same kind of game tonight in Battle of the Border – Round 2!!!

Line Chart – Minnesota Golden Gophers

Left Wing – Center – Right Wing
Kyle Rau-7 – Nick Bjugstad-27 – Christian Isackson-26
Nate Condon-16 – Erik Haula-19 – Zach Budish-24
Jared Larson-23 – Travis Boyd-22 – Seth Ambroz-17
Jake Parenteau-6 – Tom Serratore-14 – Justin Holl-12

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, F-Ryan Reilly, F-AJ Michaelson, F-Christian Horn-18
Injured: F-Connor Reilly-21, G-Mike Shibrowski-1, F-Sam Warning-11

Line Chart – Wisconsin Badgers

Left Wing – Center – Right Wing
Joseph Labate-16 – Jefferson Dahl-14 – Tyler Barnes-7
Morgan Zulinick-15 – Derek Lee-23 – Michael Mersch-25
Ryan Little-20 – Brendan Woods-21 – Keegan Meuer-12
Brad Navin-26 – Matt Paape-8 – Sean Little-18

Left Defenseman – Right Defenseman
Kevin Schulze-28 – John Ramage-55
Chase Drake-5 – Joe Faust-24
Jake McCabe-19 – Frankie Simonelli-27

Goalie
Joel Rumpel-
Landon Peterson-30

Injured: Mark Zengerle-

Not much for changes to the Gopher Hockey lineup other than Tom Serratore moving to center in between two defenseman playing forward. Good luck scoring when you’re on the ice with 4 DEFENSEman! Haha! Watch him score the game-winner now! The Badgers only change is in net with Joel Rumpel replacing Landon Peterson who did a good job last night stopping 41 of 43 shots on goal.

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

Drop the ClutterPUCK!!!

1st Period

• The Gopher hockey team has come out with a ton of energy tonight!
• Joel Rumpel is not controlling his rebounds very well. That could come back to haunt him.
• Gophers are shooting the puck like they did last night (43 shots on goal) and trying to get some rebounds to pounce on!
• PENALTIES – Coincidental Minors at 9:00 of the 1st period – Some after the whistle rough stuff gets one Gopher and one Badger in the box and we will have some 4-on-4 hockey for a couple minutes
• * More room to skate on the big rink!
• BIG HIT! Sean Little on Seth Helgeson at 11:49 of the 1st period – Seth Helgeson gets the puck behind his goal line and Sean Little throws a body check that Seth doesn’t look like he expected or at least expected it to be that rough and Seth hits the boards, loses his balance and then hits the ice.
• SCRUM! – The gophers get a shot on goal that Joel Rumpel saves but leaves a rebound to his right at the left of the goal but the official whistled the play dead thinking the goalie had the puck.
• * Kyle Rau takes the puck in the left of the Badger zone with Nick Bjugstad to his left and Christian Isackson a little behind him and to his right. At the top of the circle, he passes it to Bjugstad and he takes a hard wrist shot that Joel Rumpel saves up high and he thinks he’s trapped the puck in his chest but the puck drops down. The whistle blows but Kyle Rau still tries to play the puck by taking a whack at it which sets off the Badger defenseman Frankie Simonelli & Jake McCabe along with Tyler Barnes. McCabe is trying to grab Rau and Isackson is grabbing McCabe and Jefferson Dahl is grabbing Isackson They all start grabbling pesky Gophers and we almost have a full on brouhaha between Christian Isackson and Jefferson Dahl with Isackson’s helmet coming off.
• * It ends up with Nick Bjugstad and Christian Isackson in the box for the Gophers and Jefferson Dahl and Jake McCabe in the box for the Badgers for 5-on-5 hockey!
• * An active Kyle Rau is a good thing for the Gopher hockey team as they are 6-0 when he scores a point this season!
• * What’s a rivalry without some scrums after the whistle? Boring, that’s what!
• The Big Ten network might have the same problem as FSN with showing the teams get ready for the face-off, then go to a shot of the bench and miss the face-off before the go back to the game! Ughh!!!
• PENALTY – Chase Drake for Interference on Justin Holl at 14:42 of the 1st period – Justin Holl is waiting to get the puck just above the right half-wall in his own zone and before it gets to him, Chase Drake throws a body check on him, knocking him down for a pretty easy call for the official.
• Scoring Chance! – Kyle Rau gets chance at a rebound off the glass behind the goal for an open net but the puck bounces over his stick!
• GOAL! (SHORT-HANDED) – Ryan Little from Keegan Meuer at 16:24 of the 1st period – A shot from the middle of the blue line by Mike Reilly is blocked by Jake McCabe and then swatted at by Frankie Simonelli and Nate Condon and the puck bounces to Keegan Meuer for a 2-on-1 with Ryan Little coming in on Mike Reilly. Meuer is coming in on the right with Little on the left. Meuer handles, pulls the puck back and passes it over to Ryan Little for a quick off-hand one-timer for the goal over Adam Wilcox’ blocker in the upper left of the goal. BADGERS 1-0!!!
• * Mike Reilly never committed to either man. You have to take away the shot or the pass preferably taking away the pass and leaving the shooter for the goalie.
• * Most goalies would rather face the shooter than try to move laterally across the crease for a quick shot one-timer.
• * They won’t know where the one-time shot is going and they don’t have time to prepare for it.
• * At least with the shooter they see the puck and can see the player’s stick which helps them predict where they will shoot.
• * A case of a young defenseman learning on the fly. Believe it or not, this will make Mr. Reilly a better player in the future. Mistakes are opportunities to get better and improve our game.
• Gophers showing good response after giving up the 1st goal and the lead.

2nd Period

• Always interesting to see how the teams adjust out of the intermission.
• PENALTY – John Ramage for Elbowing on Erik Haula at 0:20 of the 2nd period – A pass from Mike Reilly to Erik Haula at the red line for a tip-in dump sees John Ramage come in for a body check on Haula. Ramage jumps into the hit and hits Haula high for an elbowing call.
• * Probably could’ve been called contact to the head too and might’ve been an ejection but the official leaves it as a 2-minute minor.
• * Is that a result of ejections called during last night’s game? and not wanting to eject a Badger player in tonight’s game?
• * Food for thought but probably a good non-ejection on that play even though Ramage jumped into the hit and even if Don Lucia doesn’t agree.
• * Not a good play in the neutral zone to put the Gophers Power Play on the ice.
• PENALTY – Justin Holl for Checking From Behind on John Ramage at 3:01 of the 2nd period – The puck coming around the right corner of the Badger zone to John Ramage waiting for the puck behind the net leaves him open for a body check from Justin Holl. Ramage turns ever so slightly as Holl is coming in for the check and it turns into a checking from behind penalty.
• * Should that be 5 and a game?
• * So hard to judge these plays but it wasn’t too bad so a 2-minute minor should be and was the call on the ice.
• * An announcer that actually says its wrong to embellish to get a penalty in that situation is refreshing.
• * This comes from one announcer asking if John Ramage helped himself by turning on that hit knowing pressure was coming.
• * It’s just not right for players to put themselves in a position that could end up in a serious head injury that could affect their career and their life.
• PENALTY – Nate Schmidt for Tripping on Derek Lee at 4:28 of the 2nd period – Derek Lee is coming out of the right corner of the Gopher zone after winning a battle for the puck. Nate Schmidt is falling down and his stick gets in Derek Lee’s skates tripping him as he goes to the net.
• * The official has to make that call as it took away a scoring chance.
• * Tough play for Nate Schmidt. He didn’t mean to do that.
• * It doesn’t matter that it was an accident. You have to control your stick at all times.
• BIG SAVE! – Adam Wilcox on Michael Mersch at 5:20 of the 2nd period – The Gophers can’t clear the puck and Michael Mersch gets it coming off the right half-wall with only Justin Holl between him and the goal. Justin Holl plays the pass giving Mersch the shot. Mersch snaps a shot to the upper right corner but Adam Wilcox gets his glove on it for a game-changing save!
• * Are we seeing a legend in the making in Adam Wilcox? He’s taking the goalie position and running away with it.
• * I’m not sure if it matters that Mike Shibrowski is hurt and Wilcox is the #1 by default.
• * Competition makes players better so knowing he’s the man in net for the Gophers could have a different effect on him but he’s showing he’s ready to be that guy for the Gophers and answering the questions of what many people thought could be a weakness for the Gophers this season.
• * That’s no slouch shooting the puck either. Michael Mersch knows how to put the puck in the net. He has 6 goals and no assists on the season so far and …
• GOAL! – Nick Bjugstad from Christian Isackson at 7:14 of the 2nd period – The Gophers wrap the puck around the right side to Christian Isackson. He fans on the puck but it gets out of the zone and Jake McCabe stumbles on the point falling down giving Isackson a chance to get past him. McCabe gets in the way of Isackson but Nick Bjugstad sees the loose puck, gets to it and comes in on Frankie Simonelli and goalie Joel Rumpel. Simonelli is defending the 2-on-2 like a 2-on-1 so Bjugstad takes a slap shot that beats Rumpel to his right and goes to the left of the net for a TIE GAME AT 1!!!
• * Did Isackson missing the puck cause McCabe to stumble because he didn’t expect to have a chance to get the puck?
• * Frankie Simonelli could’ve played Bjugstad more straight up on that play as Brendan Woods had Jared Larson covered on the back check.
• * Never let a player shoot if you don’t have to. Get in front of it, deflect it with your stick or block it with your body or at the very least, force the player to alter the shot and move to a worse angle.
• * Especially on a slap shot!
• * You have more time to get in front of a slap shot with the wind up.
• * On second look on a replay, it looks like the shot beat Joel Rumpel under his catcher glove to the right part of the net.
• * That’s how much of a blast it was. I couldn’t tell where it went after looking at it multiple times on a replay. WOW!
• PENALTY – Seth Ambroz for Roughing on Jake McCabe at 16:03 of the 2nd period – Seth Ambroz throws a late body check on Jake McCabe sends him to the sin bin for 2 minutes!
• * Dumb penalty with the puck gone already.
• * Don’t put your team in that position of killing off a penalty because you wanted to get back at an opponent!

3rd Period

• Nice to see some guys shooting backhand shots!
• * Players should shoot the backhand more often but they love going to their forehand even if it means turning to get to their forehand.
• * A backhand shot would be quicker than turning to your forehand and by the time you have turned, the goalie is more ready for the shot than if you’d have shot the backhand!
• * A strong backhand will help your forehand because now you can go either way when coming in on an offensive rush and the defense can’t just defend one side. They have to defend straight up and not lean towards defending to your forehand. The same goes for a goalie.
• GOAL! – Tom Serratore from Erik Haula and Zach Budish at 5:59 of the 3rd period – Zach Budish passes the puck to Erik Haula after blocking a shot from Kevin Schulze. Haula evades a hip check by John Ramage at the blue line and waits for Tom Serratore to come off the bench and gives him a pass as he enters the zone. Serratore has Schulze between him and the goal so he fakes a move to his backhand and quickly pulls the puck back to his forehand and takes a low snap shot that beats Joel Rumpel over his stretched out right pad for a 2-1 GOPHER LEAD!!!
• * Shoot low! Low shots are harder to get to for the goalie especially if they are high enough to get over their stretched out leg pads!
• * The quick shot caught the goalie by surprise too.
• * Could the d-man have played that better?
• * The play happened pretty quick but it was the only play Tom Serratore had and the Schulze should read that and take the shot away.
• * Erik Haula creates the scoring opportunity by avoiding the body check by John Ramage creating time and space to make the right play.
• * PENALTY – Joe Faust for Roughing on Jared Larsen/Seth Ambroz at 7:56 of the 3rd period – Jared Larson was in front of the net and Joe Faush came in and got a shove in with his glove at the head of Larson.
• BIG SAVE! – Adam Wilcox on Sean Little at 9:48 of the 3rd period – A pass from Mike Reilly is just out of the reach of Nate Condon and  the Badgers get a 2-on-1 with Sean Little and Keegan Meuer. Little gets the puck off the Gopher turnover and heads up the left side. He comes in on Adam Wilcox and tries to go glove side but Wilcox gets his glove to the puck and makes the save.
• * Ben Marshall played that well by taking away the pass.
• * He also knew he had a couple back checkers that would get to Little.
• * Little was coming from far left so he didn’t have a great angle on Wilcox and the goal.
• PENALTY – Jake McCabe for Kneeing on Brady Skjei at 10:30 of the 3rd period – More like attempted kneeing or….nothing. Brady Skjei is skating the puck around the net (playing forward?) and Jake McCabe sees him coming and tries to make a body check on him that Skjei evades. McCabe may have stuck his knee out a little but that’s a basic reaction when a player tries to dodge the check.
• * Bad call from the official in a 2-1 hockey game!
• * Get out of the game, ref!!!
• SAVE! – Adam Wilcox (or his stick) on Tyler Barnes at 13:51 of the 3rd period – A nice passing play between Derek Lee, Michael Mersch and Tyler Barnes gets Tyler Barnes a point blank shot on Adam Wilcox. Tyler Barnes gets the puck at the left of the zone and dumps it in towards the left corner. Derek Lee skates to it and makes a backhand pass to Michael Mersch in front of the net but the pass is a little behind Mersch so he makes a little backhand pass to Tyler Barnes, who’s following the play and going to the net. Barnes fires a quick shot that goes off of Adam Wilcox’ goalie stick out of play!
• * That’s a great save and a game-saving play too!
• * Does Barnes shoot blocker side because Wilcox has shown how good his glove side is?
• PENALTY – Joseph LaBate for Interference on Erik Haula at 14:23 of the 3rd period – Erik Haula got the puck in the neutral zone and got rid of it. Joseph LaBate throws a late body check on Haula getting an interference penalty in the process. Oops!
• * Obviously a bad penalty in the neutral zone in a 2-1 game.
• PENALTY – Nate Schmidt for Boarding on Brendon Woods at 18:32 of the 3rd period – Nate Schmidt is coming to defend the play behind his goal line and and is hooked up with Joseph LaBate and he runs into Brendon Woods and the official calls boarding.
• * Not sure what the official saw there. Almost as if he’s looking for something to call there.
• PENALTY – Frankie Simonelli for Kneeing on Travis Boyd at 18:47 of the 3rd period – Travis Boyd won the face-off and Wisconsin never got complete control of the puck so a loose puck at the left-half wall gets Boyd to go for it and Frankie Simonelli tries to stop him from getting past him and sticks his knee out to stop him and gets called for kneeing 15 seconds after they went on the power play.
• GOAL! (EMPTY NET) – Kyle Rau from Nick Bjugstad and Seth Helgeson at 19:37 of the 3rd period – Seth Helgeson wins the puck and brings it up the right half-wall then loses it. Nick Bjugstad comes in and just flips it up and over everybody leaving Kyle Rau to skate in on an empty net and seal the victory for the Gopher hockey team!

Good response by Gopher hockey after coming out with a tie last night. Tom Serratore DID score the game-winning goal and the Gopher hockey team is still undefeated when Kyle Rau scores a point! The Gophers make their first trip to play Vermont in school history next weekend on Friday at 6pm and Saturday at 6pm!

Gopher Hockey Recap from GopherSports.com – Gophers Close Out Border Battle with 3-1 Win
Gopher Hockey Box Score from GopherSports.com – Minnesota-Wisconsin Stats
Gopher Hockey Recap from UWBadgers.com – Minnesota Scores Twice in 3rd Period for 3-1 Win
Gophers Drop to 4 but Russo Doesn’t Care – Russo’s Rants – Minneapolis Star Tribune

In other WCHA College Hockey action,
“Home=vs, Away=@”
Michigan Tech won @ Bemidji State 2-1 in OT
Denver won vs Colorado College 6-2
and
North Dakota won vs Minnesota-Duluth 4-3 in OT

Bring the CLUTTER in the comments, on Twitter and/or on Facebook

You’ve Been CLUTTERPUCKED AGAIN!!!