{"id":26149,"date":"2003-12-31T20:43:35","date_gmt":"2004-01-01T02:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2003\/12\/31\/turning-point\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:55:34","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:55:34","slug":"turning-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2003\/12\/31\/turning-point\/","title":{"rendered":"Turning Point"},"content":{"rendered":"

No one saw it coming.<\/p>\n

On Nov. 15, Minnesota, the two-time defending NCAA champion, blew a two-goal lead at Wisconsin. The loss dropped the Golden Gophers to 2-7-1 overall, and a dismal 1-6-1 in league play.<\/p>\n

A month into the season, and already hope of a WCHA regular-season championship seemed lost. The Minnesota coaching staff scrambled for answers.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
The returning Thomas Vanek leads the Gophers in goals and points (photos: Jason Waldowski).<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

No one saw it coming. Sure, the somewhat-unexpected loss of All-America defenseman Paul Martin was a blow, but it was counterbalanced by the somewhat-expected return of phenom Thomas Vanek, the Frozen Four MVP who propelled Minnesota over New Hampshire back in April.<\/p>\n

When number-one goaltender Travis Weber, citing personal reasons, left the team just before the start of the season — “out of the blue,” assistant coach Mike Guentzel said — the storm clouds gathered. But didn’t Minnesota have an experienced goalie in Justin Johnson, who’d seen plenty of action last season?<\/p>\n

Besides, wasn’t this the same team that won the 2002 NCAA title with Adam Hauser — a capable player, but not a star — in net? Hey, the Gophers are all about skating, about passing, about power-play goals and solid blueline play. Don’t worry: everything’s fine.<\/p>\n

Opening the season against Maine at the Maverick Stampede, the Gophers seemed flat. The rematch of the 2002 title game was one-sided, though no debacle. Maine’s 4-0 victory was almost welcomed to shake the Gophers out of post-championship complacency. Minnesota scored seven unanswered goals to run away from host Nebraska-Omaha the next night, and everything was fine.<\/p>\n

Except it wasn’t. Minnesota was swept at home by Minnesota-Duluth two weeks later, and worse yet, lost defenseman Keith Ballard to a leg injury, then fellow blueliner Chris Harrington.<\/p>\n

The Gophers beat Denver, then went 0-4-1 in their next five WCHA games against the Pioneers, North Dakota and resurgent Wisconsin. In Madison, Minnesota twice lost 3-1 leads, salvaging a 3-3 tie Friday before the stunning 4-3 loss on Adam Burish’s shorthanded winner.<\/p>\n

2-7-1, the overall record said. And ninth place in the WCHA.<\/p>\n

Two wins at home against Michigan Tech were welcome, but still expected. The returning Ballard had a goal and two assists on the weekend, and Harrington added a goal and an assist. Suddenly the defensive corps looked OK.<\/p>\n

The offense followed suit a week later. Vanek scored 1-2–3 against Michigan State at the College Hockey Showcase, and the next night the Gophers rallied for three unanswered goals to beat Michigan as well. A tough road trip to Alaska-Anchorage netted a split, leaving Minnesota two wins shy of a once-trivial goal: to be above .500 at the holiday break.<\/p>\n

That meant the Gophers would need to win their own Dodge Holiday Classic, the weekend before Christmas. A 9-0 thrashing of Princeton only set the table for the biggest game of Minnesota’s season. New Hampshire, in a rematch of April’s NCAA championship, with … well, everything at stake.<\/p>\n

Win they did, in a thriller that head coach Don Lucia called “the best game of the year.” Minnesota built a 3-0 lead on goals by Jon Waibel, tournament MVP Matt Koalska, and captain Grant Potulny, then hung on for dear life as UNH’s Preston Callander made a singlehanded attempt to ruin the Gophers’ holiday with two goals.<\/p>\n

\"Captain<\/p>\n
Captain Grant Potulny has been Mr. Clutch in seasons past.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

But with the oft-reserved Mariucci Arena crowd roaring its approval, Vanek iced the game with an empty netter in the last second, and that<\/i> was the proverbial that. A shockingly rough start was hardly forgotten, but it seemed a lot farther away.<\/p>\n

The Gopher players and coaches were of one mind on the subject.<\/p>\n

“I think the break comes at a great time for us right now,” said Lucia. “Now we can recharge and get ready for the second half.”<\/p>\n

“I think this two-week break will be good for us,” agreed Waibel, who grinned and added, “You hang around the guys so much, you start to get sick of them.”<\/p>\n

Clearly, the sense of humor hadn’t departed despite a stretch of lost leads, underperformances and tough losses — some deserved, some not.<\/p>\n

“It was a long struggle,” Lucia said. “We didn’t start out where we left off.”<\/p>\n

There was no doubt, however, that the New Hampshire game was the key. Despite having won six of seven coming into the evening, a loss to UNH would have undone the Gophers’ efforts, and possibly dealt a crippling blow to the team’s confidence.<\/p>\n

“We knew to solidify going in the right direction, we were going to have to beat New Hampshire,” Harrington acknowledged.<\/p>\n

So don’t worry: everything’s fine — right?<\/p>\n

As the adage goes, “Problems which go away by themselves, come back by themselves.” And the Gophers had plenty of problems early on, from marginal goaltending and spotty scoring, to a failure to put opponents away when they were down.<\/p>\n

On a team of stars, something was missing. Koalska knew what it was.<\/p>\n

“We need that chemistry,” he said, “for guys to know their roles.”<\/p>\n

Freshman goalie Kellen Briggs, pressed into service this season by Weber’s loss, stopped 27 of 29 shots against the Wildcats. His growth will be crucial down the stretch for a team whose head coach has never been reluctant to rotate goaltenders, but who still likes to see one guy emerge at crunch time.<\/p>\n

“Some things weren’t clicking for us at the beginning of the year, but knew we had all the elements,” Briggs said.<\/p>\n

Like chemicals in a beaker, those elements are congealing before our eyes. Will the simmer become an explosion?<\/p>\n

Find out in the second half.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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