Scott BrownOn Friday night, Wisconsin turned adversity into advantage, scoring a shorthanded goal during a five-minute penalty kill in the first period to seize the momentum en route to a key victory over Minnesota at Mariucci Arena. Saturday called for another show of the Badgers’ mettle, though the script was different. After UW gave up a … Read more
In a penalty-filled contest Friday night, Minnesota State rode breakaway goals and one outstanding period of play to a win over Minnesota. In the series finale Saturday at Mariucci Arena, the blueprint was slightly different but the result was the same: a Maverick victory, this time by the score of 3-1. Senior netminder Mike Zacharias … Read more
A couple of days ago, I reviewed some well-known PairWise Rankings weirdness, and promised a new entry for the list. Here it is. Coming into last weekend, Vermont was second in the PWR and Northeastern fourth. The teams were scheduled to play a Friday-Saturday series at Northeastern, which ended up a split with Northeastern winning … Read more
The quirks of the PairWise Rankings are well-documented. Seemingly-irrelevant games turn out to matter, and wins aren’t always all they’re cracked up to be. Because some explaining will help make the point, this blog entry will be in two parts. Part I presents a little historical perspective, in the form of two well-known PWR head-scratchers. … Read more
By now, you’ve seen either the latest PairWise Rankings or Jayson’s latest blog post chronicling the effect of Boston University’s loss to Providence Tuesday. Not only did BU fall out of the top spot in the PWR, the Terriers fell out of a No. 1 seed completely. (The PairWise doesn’t know that Providence suddenly looks … Read more
Minnesota head coach Don Lucia, who missed the Gophers’ game Friday due to an undetermined illness, addressed the issue of his health Saturday evening. Speaking during the Dodge Holiday Classic championship game at Mariucci Arena, Lucia said that the results of further tests were needed and that he expected to miss the Gophers’ games in … Read more
A much-anticipated battle of top-10 opponents turned into an overtime thriller as fourth-ranked Minnesota edged No. 6 Northeastern 3-2 to win the Dodge Holiday Classic tournament title. Patrick White scored the game winner for Minnesota at 1:38 of the extra session, just seven seconds after Northeastern goaltender Brad Thiessen was whistled for delay of game … Read more
In a game that had the makings of a laugher at the second intermission, No. 4 Minnesota scored the first four goals before Brown temporarily narrowed the gap in the third period of an eventual 6-2 Gopher win Friday night at Mariucci Arena. Six different Gophers scored goals and 14 had at least one point … Read more
Before a sparse Friday-afternoon crowd at Mariucci Arena, sixth-ranked Northeastern kicked off the Dodge Holiday Classic with a 3-1 win over Western Michigan. Junior Chris Donovan scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal late in the second period and netminder Brad Thiessen was the glue for Northeastern, making 23 saves in a game … Read more
Both teams came in seeking a reversal of fortune. Neither quite got it, but neither could be terribly unhappy with the outcome as Minnesota and Michigan State battled to a 4-4 tie Saturday night at Mariucci Arena. For the Spartans, their four-goal output was a welcome change from their seven-game losing streak, during which MSU … Read more
In a rare Saturday matinee, Minnesota started fast but Michigan Tech closed the gap late in a 2-2 draw. Defenseman Geoff Kinrade netted the tying goal for the Huskies, who overcame a two-goal deficit with a pair of third-period scores to claim the point. The Golden Gophers (5-0-4, 4-0-3 WCHA) got first-period goals from captain … Read more
One night after a thriller of a draw against fifth-ranked New Hampshire, the No. 4 Minnesota Golden Gophers decided that they had seen enough ties for now. Minnesota had already played three no-decisions this season, as had UNH. And coming into the third period Saturday, another one appeared to be in the cards. But the … Read more
In a season whose first few weeks have been littered with penalties, Friday’s matchup at Mariucci Arena was a welcome reminder of the game that college hockey can be. Fifth-ranked New Hampshire and No. 4 Minnesota weren’t quite picture-perfect, but they were never dull, and the result was a fitting 2-2 tie powered by sterling … Read more
There’s a first time for everything, but that doesn’t mean that there will be a next time. Scott Brown examines the future of the fledgling State of Minnesota Hockey Showcase.
One night after Minnesota and Minnesota State combined for 19 power plays but only one man-advantage goal, the Gophers turned on the power en route to a 6-3 win at the inaugural State of Minnesota Hockey Showcase. Fifth-ranked Minnesota scored four power-play goals, including Jordan Schroeder’s first two collegiate tallies, and broke the game open … Read more
You’ve heard of deja vu — the sense of having experienced an event before. Friday night at Mariucci Arena, Minnesota and Minnesota State delivered deja vu-vu-vu. For the fourth straight game between the two teams, the fifth-ranked Gophers (3-0-2, 3-0-2 WCHA) and the No. 12 Mavericks (3-1-1, 1-1-1 WCHA) went into overtime. MSU goaltender Mike … Read more
Saturday’s contest between St. Cloud State and Minnesota looked a lot like Friday’s series opener: a lot of penalties, some entertaining open-ice skating, passing and hitting, and not a lot of scoring. In the end, the result, too, was similar; as they did Friday, the Golden Gophers opened a two-goal lead late in the game, … Read more
In the first game of the Midwest Regional Saturday afternoon, No. 1 seed North Dakota cruised to a 5-1 win over Princeton behind starring performances by Jean-Philippe Lamoureux and Ryan Duncan. The heavily-favored Fighting Sioux got 38 saves from Lamoureux — permitting UND (27-10-4) to overcome a striking 39-18 advantage for Princeton (21-14-0) in shots … Read more
Heavy favorite North Dakota could have overlooked Princeton in the opening game of the Midwest Regional. Didn’t happen, says Scott Brown.
The Denver Pioneers are steeped in tradition, but this title-winning edition has built its own legacy. Scott Brown reports.