March 30, 2008
Gophers' Roller Coaster Ride Comes to and End
by Mike McMahon/Staff Writer
WORCESTER, Mass. — Saturday's 5-1 loss to Boston College in the first-round of the NCAA tournament was the final bitter pill that Minnesota was forced to swallow, ending an up and down roller-coaster ride that was their 2007-08 season.
The Gophers endured star forward Kyle Okposo leaving school at the Christmas break, and the ensuing verbal thrashing their program took from New York Islanders general manager Garth Snow. There was junior goaltender Jeff Frazee struggling from the start of the season. There was Ryan Stoa's season-ending injury early on.
Then, there was Tom Pohl's horrific injury at the end of the season.
It was a season of ups and downs, well, mostly downs for the Gophers.
"I'm proud of the way our guys responded to the battles we faced this year," said head coach Don Lucia. "Our guys really had a lot thrown at them this year, and I'm proud of the way we persevered."
For the seniors, who played their last game for the Gophers, the game left an unshakeable sting.
"There are a lot of emotions right now," said Mike Howe. "My whole life, I wanted to play for this University. It still hasn't sunk in that it's over. I'm just so fortunate to play here, and to play at this school."
Ben Gordon agreed.
"It was a crazy year," he said. "But I'm so proud that I went out with these seniors."
HEY TIMEKEEPER, HOW MUCH TIME IS LEFT???
That was the question buzzing around the DCU Center late in the third period. Trailing 4-1 and going on the power play, Lucia pulled goaltender Alex Kangas for the 6-on-4 advantage. Early on the power play, the Gophers appeared to have scored to make it 4-2, but it was waived off by the official.
Play continued until Boston College added an empty netter to make it 5-1 with 45 seconds left. But, the Minnesota no-goal was then under review.
After clearly seeing the puck cross the goal line on replay, Minnesota was awarded a goal to make it 4-2, and the faceoff was brought to center ice and the clock was reset to 3:27. All stats (mainly shots on goal) during the time between the waive off and the BC goal then had to be eliminated.
After a delay of about eight minutes, play continued. Minnesota almost pulled with a goal on a couple of changes, but Nathan Gerbe iced the game for BC as time was winding down.
"We all knew it was in," said forward Ben Gordon. "After that, it was really about getting a whistle and letting them look at it."
no gopher fans running there mouth today thank god!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mar 30 2008, 8:00 pm by
Hey Donnie boy, keep up the great recruiting. There is nothing better than watching my home team lose. What a classless organization.
Mar 30 2008, 8:10 pm by Sid, Minneapolis
As a Sioux fan there is only one player on that team that i would love to have at UND and that is the coaches son. All hockey players could learn alot from watching him and his non stop effort.
Mar 30 2008, 9:46 pm by
Gophers are #1! Let's see another team take these hits and come back like the Gophers did. Next season's going to be great, with everyone healthy and the #1 recruiting class in the nation coming in. Should be good.
Mar 31 2008, 12:34 am by Goldy, Minneapolis
If the same result happens next season for the Gophers, I will begin to question the coaching and recruiting ability of Don Lucia.
Mar 31 2008, 3:14 am by jbuss, seattle
Hey sid from minneapolis, shut up or move out of the state. He is the best coach out there and if anyone else had to deal with what he did this season they would not have been to the final five or the ncaa's. I thought he did a great job for what he had to deal with. So shut up!!
Mar 31 2008, 5:59 am by
It's a bit odd that after so many successful seasons and two national championships, Lucia's coaching gets questioned. Everybody has a down season; that's all this was for him and his team. Don Lucia is undoubtedly one of the best coaches in college hockey, having had excellent improvement and final results in three D-I programs. I'm not worried about him.
Mar 31 2008, 3:44 pm by Chris H, Grand Forks ND
Hey Chris from Grand Forks-Thank you for your comment. It is nice to know that there are other people who are not Gopher fans, that think that Coach Lucia is a good coach that had a bad year. Thank you. Also alot of good coaches have off years. I remember Dean Blais had a couple before Zach Parise came in as a freshman. He is a great coach. I hope I see him back in college hockey someday. Thanks Chris!
Mar 31 2008, 4:19 pm by Mike-Sauk Rapids
I echo Chris H's comments. As a Sioux fan and CC alum, I witnessed first-hand how Don Lucia not only saved the CC program but took it from perennial cellar-dwellers to contenders. CC went from worst to first in Lucia's first season, national runner-up his second season, and when he left for the UofM, he had firmly planted the seeds for Scott Owens and all of the success he has had (2 Hobey Baker winners, numerous WCHA titles, and participants in the NCAA tournament on a consistent basis). As for Lucia's resume at Minnesota, I think it speaks for itself-2 titles, numerous WCHA regular season and playoff championships, and on and on. Any Gopher fan questioning Lucia's coaching abilities better think long and hard because his proven record speaks for itself. Any college program would jump at the chance to have Don Lucia as their coach.
Mar 31 2008, 5:58 pm by Dan M, Parker Colorado
Oh yah, the year before Lucia's arrival at CC, the school was seriously considering folding the hockey team. The small-but vocal-anti-hockey crowd within the CC community used the NCAA recruiting violations that occurred under Brad Buetow's watch on top of his single-digit win season during his last year as reasons to dis-band the hockey program. Fortunately, Lucia came in and saved the day.
Lucia took a program that was on life-support and not only brought instant success, but he did something much more important-he saved the CC Tiger hockey program and turned it into a winner. As a hockey fan, I am grateful to Lucia for that.
Mar 31 2008, 6:12 pm by Dan M, Parker Colorado
Ahem...just a slight correction, Mike: Blaise only had one losing season.;-)
Apr 1 2008, 9:43 am by Chris H, Grand Forks ND
no gopher fans running there mouth today thank god!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! & Hey Donnie boy,
Looks like the gopher & sioux fans picked up a couple short bus riders. Go back to home room kids.
Great comments Chris H. It's tough to see the WCHA go down as it did. I thought we would have at least 2 teams in the FF. Good luck against BC, that's a very deep and physical team. Haven't heard anyone talk about it yet but Serratore at AF has done an outstanding job, very solid team.
Apr 1 2008, 12:44 pm by Joe, Mpls., MN
Joe, I agree with your comments about the FF and Air Force. If Air Force could recruite the way other university programs can, Serratore would definitely have more wins under his belt. He and his brother are very good coaches who are elevating their respective programs.
Apr 1 2008, 1:04 pm by Chris H, Grand Forks ND
Chris-Thank you for that. I wasn't sure about that. I thought it was one or two, so thank you for correcting me. I was just saying that even great coaches have a bad season.
Apr 2 2008, 5:09 am by Mike Sauk Rapids
They made the National tounament and the WCHA championship on a rebuilding year and people still doubt Lucia.
May 10 2008, 4:10 pm by
