# 1 Dartmouth @ #2 Minnesota

[brookyone]

Hey Dart fans, it's official according to the latest poll. number 1 vs. number 2 this weekend. I'm interested in thoughts from ECAC knowledgeable regarding Dartmouth. How are they playing of late ? Is Cherie Piper healthy ? I understand she's been in / out of the lineup some this season...concussion was it ? Team strengths / weakness' if any. Any thoughts appreciated.

[dave1381]

Piper's pretty healthy as far as I know. She's been at the Canadian camp for the past week. More interesting question is whether Walton and Weatherston will be available for either of the games due to the Air Canada Cup. I don't know the answer.

[brookyone]

http://www.hockeycanada.ca/e/teams/womens/u22/2003-04/rosters/can_acc.html

According to this link I lifted from another thread, the two you mention will indeed be missing for Dartmouth this weekend. What kind of an effect would you expect that to have ? I assume since they're U22 national team players it's not a positive for Dartmouth to be without them...stating the obvious I guess.

[dartfan]

If Walton and Weatherston are indeed away, their loss will surely be felt by the big green. They're two offensive stars. Weatherston is also one of the best puckhandlers I've seen in years. Dartmouth has been playing well but not great (in my opinion) as of late. There are brief moments of brilliance but other times they're disorganized (ie. recent late game defensive lapses against Brown and Providence). Goaltending has been here and there. I'd guess Capuano will get at least one start. With Walton and Weatherston out they'll have to once again shuffle the lines...

For those Minnesota fans who will be watching Dartmouth for the first time, key defensive players to watch are Pietrangelo (who I believe also was on the Under 22 (or 19?) team in the past) and Nerland. Offensively, Piper and Apps (of course) plus Hagge (2nd on the team in points this year), Clark, and Grundy. As has been said in the past, when Dartmouth is 'on' they have three great scoring lines. Their typical second line (Walton, Weatherston, and Clark) is better than most team's first lines.

I haven't seen Minnesota this year but I can only guess that it'll be a tight series. I'm assuming that Minnesota will have an internet radio feed?

[brookyone]

dartfan, Thanks much for the info. I have been looking forward to this series since the beginning of the season. The current circumstances might not be ideal for either team with key personnel missing from their respective rosters but it still promises to be an exciting series. As a fan I always hope for each team to have everybody healthy & available for a matchup like this. I imagine that local girl Tiff Hagge will have her very own personal cheering section present at Ridder. I'm not sure but she may even end up playing against former teammates as the Gophers have a couple girls from her old high school on their roster.

[dave1381]

The Air Canada tournament ends of the 7th, and the games are on the 7th and 8th, so there's a chance they could be back Sunday? Maybe they'd be allowed to return Saturday? I was certain they were competing. These are the questions I was raising.

Dartmouth right now clearly has the best "second line" in the country (It was this line that was clearly the diffence in their win over Harvard). This was somewhat debatable before Darwitz got hurt and Wendell was moved to the first line, but now I don't think there's any question. Of course, they lose that big advantage two of the three players from that line aren't there.

[brookyone]

It appears there will be a webcast available from the womens hockey home page at gophersports.com

[MNHockeyfan]

Do you think that there is any chance of this series selling out Ridder? I would think/hope that a large crowd would come out to see #1 vs #2, but have I haven't seen much press or publicity about it around the Twin Cities as of yet.

Also, I wonder if the NHL All-star game being in town will help or hurt the women's attendance.

[ARM]

No way that either game sells out. I'd like to see a crowd of at least 2,000 for one of the games, but we'll see. The local press has no clue. They couldn't tell you the first thing about Dartmouth or who is ranked #1. My guess is that the Wisconsin series the following weekend is likely to draw better. I don't see the NHL All-star game as having much of an impact.

[brookyone]

http://www.gophersports.com/sportsNews/press_release.asp?news_id=8510&sport_id=whock

Preview from the Gopher website. Read at your leisure. Oddly enough, I hadn't considered the implications of a Wisconsin sweep combined with this non conference series. Dare I say, GO MAVS !!!:)

[ARM]

I don't think a Wisconsin sweep is that big a deal, because the Gophers would still have two games in hand. The big series as far as the conference race is concerned is when the Badgers come to Ridder the following week.

[brookyone]

ARM, you're right of course...gonna be settled head to head. A little cushion would be okay with me though. All told, I'm fairly confident the Gophers can prevail against the Badgers. The thing is, I think if they come in tied It would definetely fire up bucky...but that'll likely be the case, regardless.

[ARM]

brookyone, So what do you think we'll see this weekend? Even without Weatherston and Walton, I think Dartmouth can get scoring from more sources. I'd have said that a tightly called game would help the Gophers, but since their PP has been mostly AWOL without #20, I'm not sure that is still as true. I'd like to see the same referee that worked the MSU-M/UM series. He at least didn't seem to be using some quota system for making calls. We are probably due to get Shepherd in one of the next two weekends, and you know he won't call much.

Minnesota typically doesn't start very fast in these kind of games. After two of their poorer performances of the year against Dartmouth last season, I hope they feel they have something to prove. Still, I look for the Big Green to get the jump on them on Saturday and win about 5-1. I'll give Minnesota the rematch, 3-2 in OT. How's that for two wild guesses?

[brookyone]

WOW !!! 5-1 ? That is pretty wild. I just can't see them getting thrashed like that. I'd certainly agree with you on Dartmouth's scoring capabilities even without Weatherston & Walton. Also agree with the typical Minnesota slow start we've seen this season. I can agree with Dartmouth winning Saturday but if I was guessing, I'd say 4-2 with an empty netter & the Gophers winning a close one Sunday.

The officials did do a good job in the MSU series. The power play, ya know Sutton was just a lucky bounce away from burying two nice feeds from Wendell in the third against MSU Sunday in the loss. A little work on timing, a puck that isn't bouncing, just a little good fortune & the PP could start to work...what can I say, I remain optimistic on the offensive front.

I'm still intrigued by last Sunday's defensive performance with just 10 SOG allowed. Granted, Bemidji isn't an offensive powerhouse, but were they exceptionally ineffective ? Or was it that strong an effort by the D ? I think we'd both agree the Goph's need to tighten things up in their own end.

Lastly, I've gathered from other posts throughout the season that Dartmouth has had ocassional lapses in intensity & proficiency from time to time as well...so you just never know.

[ARM]

They did lose to UMD 4-1, Dartmouth should be better than UMD, and we had all our troops in those days. Having seen them on Saturday in Bemidji, I was ready to guess about 8-1. They were kind of dismal. They showed signs of being on the road to recovery on Sunday, so I expect them to improve as the series progresses. A great week of practice, and maybe the timetable gets moved up. Another setback, and who knows.

As for the caliber of the D against Bemidji on Sunday, it is hard to say. Most of the game was played in the offensive end and at neutral ice. Much of their trouble has resulted from turnovers in their own end and odd-man rushes. In this game, they didn't really have the turnovers and the team speed negated most of the odd-man breaks before they materialized. One of the defenders who has been struggling played IMO her best game since before the break. The team can obviously play D when they decide to focus on it, thus the penalty kill success. But in transition and after giveaways, they need to recognize who they are supposed to cover and get on her. They tend to stay with a "let's get the puck and go" mentality too long.

As for the PP, they ran everything through Darwitz. I think they now need to reverse things and run the offense through Wendell's side and let Sutton be the sniper on the backside. They looked a little better in the final PP on Sunday, but a lot of their pressure came from the second unit. Unfortunately, they didn't get many chances on the weekend to work on something that needs work if it is going to be a strength once more.

One irony is if Wacker keeps improving at her current rate, it may get her back on the second line. I'd guess part of the reason Clarke was on the second was to try to balance the scoring. But Clarke/Sutton/Coulombe didn't click (no goals as a unit), so I don't see them staying together if that continues. All else being equal, it would be nice if La Toya could end her Gopher career on the top line. Still, Wendel and Wacker are starting to get their timing down, so maybe breaking them up isn't a good idea.

We talked about players needing to step up, and Wendell clearly has. Since Darwitz went out, her points vs. her teams goals reads as follows: 4/5, 2/3, 2/3, 2/2, 3/4, 4/4. If she can keep that up, I'd say she is looking good for a final 3 in the Kazmeier and a 1st team All American selection.

[dave1381]

This one's pretty tough to predict since both teams are without two of their top players from the first half of the season... Dartmouth is going through a phase of welcoming back Apps/Piper and sending away Weatherston/Walton. It'll be interesting to see how the two teams respond.

It'll be really tough for Wendell to be final three, simply because sophomores don't exactly have the best history there (as in none). It's also typical been 2 East, 1 West every year, simply because of the way the teams (and therefore voters are distributed), so it'll be tough. First Team All-American is pretty much a certainty though.

[ARM]

If it is one from the west, I'd say her competition is limited to Ouellette and Potter. Ouellette is basically a second year player as well, but neither she nor Wendell is a typical sophomore, because they were known quantities before they arrived on the college scene. Ouellette and Potter may split votes to a certain extent; plus, their numbers get inflated by playing on the same line. The harder part wil be continueing to figure in 17 out of every 21 goals her team scores, I think that is the unlikely part. If she did contribute in over 80% of her team's offense without Olympic teammates, I don't see how you could vote against her.

[brookyone]

ARM, No question Wendell has stepped up as needed but knowing Krissy's capabilities I don't think anyone would ever doubt she's always going to contribute her share...more than her share actually & I think the team just expects that of her. Thats a little bit of pressure but I don't expect she minds & she seems up to it. Krissy's solid play & production each game is about as close as you can get to a given I'd say. Hopefully they can get some scoring from sources other than Clarke, Stephens, Wendell & Wacker.

I wonder if we're both thinking of the same player on D who has IMO been struggling a little in the second half. I've seen opposing forwards get behind her a few times & seen a few bad passes get picked off at the blueline on breakout attempts. Your point regarding the need for better defensive coverage, quickly after turnovers is valid. I can't say this is the reason but I thought as I watched that being on offense for virtually the entire first half this season could come back to bite em on the rear a little when the schedule got tougher.

[ARM]

Nichols has looked better of late. Perhaps a little more comfortable at center, plus getting a feel for the speed of the college game. Her goal on Saturday was all her, and she showed good patience.

I think what you say about not good at playing defense because they haven't had to is valid. A lot of the goals that they gave up early were at garbage time. One thing that they have done better this year as opposed to last is that they don't slump after giving up a goal. Last season, it seemed like if they were scored upon, they'd immediately allow one or two more. The only time this year where I remember them giving up two quick goals was in the second period of the first UMD game.

[ARM]

Link to the Minnesota Daily article:

http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2004/02/06/8178

The article makes reference to Dartmouth scoring over 6 gpg, while collegehockeystats has them at just under 5. I either case, I hope they are held below their average.