DU vs UM 2/12-2/13 at Magness

[DenverGoldJersey]

Re: DU vs UM 2/12-2/13 at Magness

Murray "hat smuggler" Armstrong
best nickname ever

[Old Pio]

Re: DU vs UM 2/12-2/13 at Magness

Murray wasn't only a hockey coach. He was the Western Distributor for The Biltmore Stetson Hat Company. He used to have one of his players bring down a shipment each season.

IIRC he also had exclusive North American rights to Jet-ex, that device you screwed onto a hose for washing and waxing your car. Like Herbie said, Murray always wanted to talk business first, then hockey.

edit: BTW that Beers annecdote is one of the best ever!

[Slap Shot]

I'm sorry I asked.

[Driftryder]

Re: DU vs UM 2/12-2/13 at Magness

I'm sorry I asked.

Oh well at least the thread is lively today.

[state of hockey]

Re: DU vs UM 2/12-2/13 at Magness

I'm sorry I asked.

I hope you learned your lesson.

[Puck Swami]

Re: DU vs UM 2/12-2/13 at Magness

Murray didn't recruit just Canadians.

He had recruited a number of high level Americans over the years including (off the top of my head) Craig Patrick, Tom Peluso, Ron Naslund, and Rob Palmer, all of whom were either all-WCHA or went on to the Olympics or NHL.

I am sure Old Pio and du78 might be able to tick off a few more, but I am not as old as they are.

[Old Pio]

Re: DU vs UM 2/12-2/13 at Magness

Murray didn't recruit just Canadians.

He had recruited a number of high level Americans over the years including (off the top of my head) Craig Patrick, Tom Peluso, Ron Naslund, and Rob Palmer, all of whom were either all-WCHA or went on to the Olympics or NHL.

I am sure Old Pio and du78 might be able to tick off a few more, but I am not as old as they are.

To my knowledge, the first was Tim Sheehy, who decided to play for Snooks Kelly at BC. We caught up with Tim at the FF and he wasn't happy with his choice, saying he wanted a coach, not a priest.

edit: you do pretty well, considering how wet behind the ears you are.

[skiumah2]

Re: DU vs UM 2/12-2/13 at Magness

I'm sorry I asked.

And I'm sorry for hamming it up with Puck Swami when I chided him on his phishing expedition. If I knew Old Pio was going to go off the deep end and provide us with 7 pages of irrelevant references, sarcastic pot shots, and childish name calling, I would have let Swami's comment slide. Oh well...I guess hindsight is 20/20.

[Old Pio]

Re: DU vs UM 2/12-2/13 at Magness

And I'm sorry for hamming it up with Puck Swami when I chided him on his phishing expedition. If I knew Old Pio was going to go off the deep end and provide us with 7 pages of irrelevant references, sarcastic pot shots, and childish name calling, I would have let Swami's comment slide. Oh well...I guess hindsight is 20/20.

Did you remember to wash your hands?

[skiumah2]

Re: DU vs UM 2/12-2/13 at Magness

Blah blah blah blah blah blah?

FYP

[Old Pio]

Re: DU vs UM 2/12-2/13 at Magness

FYP

"Wow, now there's a cogent and well presented position."--Goldy.
Surely even a UMTC graduate can do better than that.

[Dmann]

Re: DU vs UM 2/12-2/13 at Magness

Are you guys finished? Can we talk present day hockey? Here's a change of topic, have you all seen the US olympic roster? Wow!!! I guess (dare I mention them), the Canadian roster is even scarier and the Russian is just plain not fair. Should be fun!!!

USA, USA, USA!! Here's where maybe we can all get along

Whoops, sorry canadian brethren!!

[Puck Swami]

Re: DU vs UM 2/12-2/13 at Magness

Swami - while I can see your view from the Denver perspective, do you hold as jaded of a view of the Minnesota perspective as Old Pio?

Old Pio was a student at Denver during the heart of the Mariucci Boycott, so the scars run somewhat deeper with him and it's more personal. Imagine how badly Denver wanted to play Minnesota, and Mariucci would not let it happen. Accordingly, if he sounds acerbic on the subject, it's because he was on the front lines of it, and not looking at it separated by distance as many of us do.

I didn't come to DU until the 80s as a student, so I missed Murray altogther. I only know how badly our program wanted to play Minnesota, and how hurtful the boycott was to our program from what others tell me.

As for my own take on Minnesota, I knew I wanted a WCHA school and came very close to being a Gopher as a student. As an East Coast kid, I went for a campus visit and with all the gorgeous blond women around, decided that if I went there, I would never graduate. This disturbed my Grandmother, who, along with my Grandfather, were both Minnesota grads (and my Grandfather was once a faculty member there).

I took a hard look at Wisconsin, and while they admitted me, I wasn't able to get freshman housing in Madison, so that was out. That left Denver, where a dorm room awaited and where the women finally allowed me to graduate in a full five years.

I have a deep and abiding respect for Minnesota the flagbearer for American hockey. My former jobs in hockey have connected me with many of the important Minnesota hockey legends over the years and I have quaffed beers at Stub and Herb's,walked the treacherous stairway at old Williams Arena, and watched many high school games from Edina to Warroad. I think I have a good feel for why hockey is so intrinsic to the culture of Minnesota, and why Mariucci did what he did. I also respect the size of the Gopher fan base and their spending power that keeps the WCHA afloat, and I find my self humming the Rouser from time to time.

So my long winded answer is that I wish things would have been different between Denver and Minnesota. I wish that Mariucci would have played us, and while I hold an intellectual grudge, I don't have a personal experience that makes it stick in the craw.

[Driftryder]

Re: DU vs UM 2/12-2/13 at Magness

Gopher game notes.

Minnesota (13-13-2, 8-10-2) at Denver (18-6-4, 12-4-4)
Date: Friday-Saturday, Feb. 12-13
Time: 8:30 p.m. (Fri.) / 8 p.m. (Sat.) - (Central time)
Location: Magness Arena (6,026)
Series History: Minnesota leads 91-68-12
Radio: KNOF 95.3 FM (Fri.) / WCCO 830 AM (Sat.) - Wally Shaver and Glen Sonmor
Television: Fox Sports Net North - Frank Mazzocco and Doug Woog

A stretch of eight straight games against top 10 teams starts this weekend when Minnesota visits Denver in a two-game series. The Gophers had last weekend off after a series split at Alaska Anchorage the previous weekend. Denver has shutout Minnesota in each of the past three meetings, including a pair of 3-0 wins on Oct. 23-24 of this season.

Last Time Out
Minnesota split a two-game series at Alaska Anchorage with a 7-4 win on Jan. 29 and a 2-1 loss on Jan. 30. The Gophers got two goals each from Mike Carman and Jordan Schroeder in Friday's victory. Zach Budish had a five-point weekend with a goal and three assists on Friday and the team's lone goal on Saturday. Schroeder had four points in the series with an assist in each game.

Series History
Minnesota leads the all-time series 91-68-12, though Denver has enjoyed a successful recent run with a 7-1-1 mark over the last nine meetings. The Gophers' lone victory during that span was a 5-2 win last year at Denver, forcing Pioneers' goaltender Marc Cheverie out of the game. However, Cheverie has bounced back with three straight shutouts, including two 3-0 wins earlier this year. The 5-2 win was the only game during the recent nine-game span in which Minnesota has scored more than one goal as the Gophers have been outscored 28-10.

About the Pioneers
Denver has been on a roll since the holiday break with a 7-1-2 record, suffering its only loss and one of its ties in a series at Wisconsin Jan. 22-23. The second-ranked Pioneers have won four straight games and feature one of the nation's top goaltenders in Marc Cheverie. The junior ranks second in the country with both a 1.96 goals against average and a .935 save percentage with six shutouts in 22 starts. Cheverie is coming off a career-high 45 saves performance in a 2-1 overtime win at Air Force on Saturday. Denver also posted a 4-1 win over Mercyhurst last Friday and swept a pair of road games from North Dakota the previous weekend. Cheverie keys the nation's third-ranked penalty kill at 88.1 percent, while a pair of senior forwards lead the Pioneers offensively. Rhett Rakhshani ranks third in the WCHA in both goals and points with 17 goals and 18 assists for 35 points. Tyler Ruegsegger has 13 goals and 16 assists for 29 points.

Wacky Weekend
Minnesota had an unusual weekend with a high-scoring win and a low-scoring loss at Alaska Anchorage. The Gophers won for the first time this year when allowing three goals or more and lost for the first time when giving up two or fewer goals. They are now 12-1-0 this season when holding opponents to two goals or fewer and 1-12-2 when opponents score three goals or more.

Getting Goals
Minnesota's seven-goal output on Jan. 29 was the Gophers' highest-scoring game of the season and most goals since last year's 8-6 win on Jan. 17, 2009 over St. Cloud State. They also had three power play goals in a game for the first time since Dec. 13, 2008 against Colorado College.

Cepis Sizzling
Junior forward Jacob Cepis continues to be red-hot for the Gophers since joining the team at mid-season. The Bowling Green transfer has scored points in nine straight games and has five goals and six assists for 11 points in his 10 games with the Gophers.

Scoring in Streaks
Cepis is only the second Minnesota player in the past five seasons to have a scoring streak of nine games or more, joining Ryan Stoa, who scored in the first 11 games of last season. Stoa's streak ended in the 12th game of the year at Denver. Tyler Hirsch, Danny Irmen and Ryan Potulny all had streaks of nine or more games during the 2004-05 season.

Coming Back Strong
Sophomore forward Jordan Schroeder has posted three goals and eight assists for 11 points in his eight games since returning from the World Junior Championships. His recent surge has put him in the team scoring lead with 23 points for the season. Schroeder has points in nine of his last 10 games played and seven of his eight games since returning from the World Juniors.

Career Year
Senior forward Tony Lucia has already totaled a career-high scoring output with seven goals and 13 assists for 20 points in just 28 games. His previous high was 19 points in 43 games during his freshman year in 2006-07. Lucia had 17 points as a junior and 18 as a sophomore.

Hoeffel Hopeful
The Gophers are expecting to have leading goal-scorer Mike Hoeffel back in the lineup this weekend after his missed the last four games with mononucleosis. Hoeffel was diagnosed on Jan. 19 and resumed working out last week. He leads the team with 11 goals for the season and also has seven assists for 18 points.

Tough Stretch
Minnesota closes the regular season with eight games against teams all ranked in the top nine of the national poll. The Gophers play two games each against second-ranked Denver, ninth-ranked Colorado College, eighth-ranked Minnesota Duluth and third-ranked Wisconsin over the next four weeks.

Budish Budding
Freshman forward Zach Budish had a goal and three assists in the recent win over Alaska Anchorage, marking the first four-point game and first three-assist game by any Minnesota player this season. The performance earned him WCHA Rookie of the Week honors for the second time in three weeks, having also gained the honor after the North Dakota series Jan. 15-16. Budish has four goals and six assists with a plus-five rating over the past 10 games. He shares the team lead with a plus-seven rating for the season.

Power Surge
Minnesota is 12-for-46 (26.1 percent) on the power play over the last 12 games. The Gophers were 8-for-66 (12.1 percent) over the first 16 games of the season. Minnesota has scored power play goals in 10 of the last 12 games, but was held to 0-for-4 in its most recent outing against Alaska Anchorage on Jan. 30. During the stretch Minnesota scored power play goals in nine straight games for its longest such streak since Jan. 21-Feb. 25, 2005. The streak was especially impressive considering they had five or more power plays only twice during the nine-game span.
 
Keeping It Clean
The Gophers have committed a total of 51 penalties over their past 12 games for an average of 4.25 penalties per game. Minnesota leads the WCHA in fewest penalty minutes with 12.6 per game. The Gophers have had five penalties or fewer in 18 of their last 23 games. Denver has the second-fewest penalties in the WCHA at 13.9 minutes per game.

Killing Late
Minnesota has not allowed a power play goal in the third period in its last 18 games as the Gophers have killed 24 straight third-period power plays. Bemidji State was the last team to score a third-period power play against the Gophers on Nov. 15. For the season, Minnesota's opponents are 3-for-38 (7.9 percent) on the power play in the third period.

[Cross-Czech]

Re: DU vs UM 2/12-2/13 at Magness

This all happened way before my time so I have to rely on you guys for my information.

Did Minn./Mariucci refuse to play anyone else besides DU during this controversial time period?