University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Hosts Wayne State in Weekend Series
1/2/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Minnesota and Wayne State will meet for the second straight year, but for the final time this weekend as the Warriors are dropping their program following the season. Minnesota swept Wayne State in the only previous meetings last season and placed third at last week’s Dodge Holiday Classic. Friday’s game will be televised live by Fox Sports Net North and Saturday’s contest will feature a live webcast on gophersports.com. Friday’s game will be broadcast on WCCO 830 AM and Saturday’s game can be heard on KTNF 950 AM and KUOM 100.7 FM and 106.5 FM.
About Wayne State
The Warriors are playing their first games since Dec. 15 and bring a six-game losing streak into the weekend. They have struggled offensively with 32 goals in 18 games to rank 58th of 59 Division I teams at 1.78 goals per game. Wayne State lost seven of its top eight scorers from last year and its leading scorer Jeff Caister has one goal and 11 assists for 12 points. Jon Grabarek has a team-high six goals. The Warriors have scored more than two goals in a game twice in their 18 games this season. Kyle Funkenhauser has been the team’s top goaltender with a 2.87 goals against average and .895 save percentage.
Last Time Out
The Gophers placed third in the Dodge Holiday Classic, winning a shootout over Air Force after tying the consolation game 2-2 with the Falcons. Minnesota lost the opening game 4-3 to RIT, snapping a 16-game winning streak in the tournament. Blake Wheeler, R.J. Anderson and Jay Barriball all recorded goals for Minnesota against RIT. With 6:23 remaining, Minnesota had a five-on-three power play for one minute, 36 seconds, but failed to score. Ben Gordon and Tom Pohl each scored goals in Sunday’s game with Air Force, but the Falcons scored with 1:02 remaining to send the game to overtime. The Gophers won a shootout 2-0 in four rounds.
Final Encounter
Minnesota and Wayne State are meeting for the final time this weekend as Wayne State University announced on Sept. 26 that it will be dropping men’s hockey. The program is in its ninth year as a varsity team and qualified for the NCAA tournament in 2003. Since that appearance, the Warriors own a 44-98-17 record. Head coach Bill Wilkinson is the only head coach in school history.
Good Behavior
Minnesota had just one penalty in Saturday’s game, marking the fewest penalties the Gophers have committed in a game since having one infraction in a 2-1 loss to Boston University on Jan. 3, 2005. Minnesota also only had two penalties on Sunday and, along with Air Force’s two penalties, it was the fewest combined penalties in a game since that matchup with Boston University when the Terriers had three penalties. For the season, the Gophers have committed more than 10 penalties in a game just once, coming when they had 17 in a 5-1 loss to Denver on Nov. 2.
Odd Opening
Air Force’s goal 4:19 into the game on Sunday was the earliest Minnesota has given up a goal this season. In fact, the Gophers had not allowed any previous opponent to score in the first eight minutes of a game. Minnesota has scored first 14 times this year, including 10 of the past 13 games.
Shootout History
It was originally reported that Sunday’s shootout against Air Force was the first in school history, but Minnesota did participate in a shootout in the consolation game of the Alaska Anchorage tournament on Dec. 18, 1988. After tying Michigan Tech 2-2, the Huskies prevailed 2-0 in a shootout. It was the fourth shootout in the 17-year history of the Dodge Holiday Classic, but none of the previous three involved Minnesota.
Tale of Two Periods
Minnesota has been a remarkably different team in the first and third periods this season. The Gophers have outshot teams 212-146 and outscored foes 18-12 in the first period, while having been outshot 203-196 and outscored 26-13 in the third period of games. In their five home losses this season, the Gophers have been outscored 9-1 in the final period.
Playing Short
Minnesota is without three of its top players this weekend as they competing in the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championships in Pardubice and Liberec, Czech Republic. Mike Carman, Cade Fairchild and Ryan Flynn are all taking part in the event Dec. 26-Jan. 5. The United States team won its first four games to receive a bye into Friday’s semifinals. Carman has two goals, while Fairchild has one assist in four games. Carman is on the team for the second straight year along with former Gopher Kyle Okposo.
Power Outage
The Gophers’ penalty kill has been on a roll, having not allowed a power play goal in the past six games. Minnesota has killed off 19 straight penalties since allowing two power play goals in the loss at Michigan. In fact, those are the only power play goals the Gophers have surrendered in the last 10 games as Minnesota has killed off 36 of the opponents’ last 38 power play chances. The Gophers’ opponents scored on nine of their first 38 chances this season.
Unlikely Sources
Minnesota found some unusual offensive sources during the weekend as senior Tom Pohl scored his first goal of the season on Sunday and junior R.J. Anderson scored his third of the year on Saturday. Pohl scored with 14:55 left in the third period for a 2-1 lead and his fourth career goal, while Anderson scored a second period goal to tie the game at 2-2 for his third career score. Also, freshman Drew Fisher assisted each goal for his first career points after being held scoreless in his first 10 games.
Never Before
Saturday’s loss to RIT marked the first time Minnesota has lost a game in the past four seasons when Ben Gordon scores multiple points. The senior had two assists on Saturday and the Gophers are now 17-1-1 when he records at least two points. Adding to the irregularity is the fact that Blake Wheeler also had two points and the Gophers are now 18-2-1 when he scores multiple points.
Best of the Backstops
Minnesota’s offense has been held to an average of 2.6 goals per game, but the Gophers have also faced several of the top goaltenders in the country. Through its first 20 games, Minnesota played nine games against goalies who rank among the top 11 nationally and currently have a goals against average under 2.00. The Gophers faced Michael-Lee Teslak of Michigan Tech (1.72), Peter Mannino of Denver (1.77), Richard Bachman of Colorado College (1.79) and Jean-Phillipe Lamoureux of North Dakota (1.88) twice each. The Gophers also saw Mike Zacharias of Minnesota State (1.83) once.
Solei Gets Start
Minnesota coach Don Lucia has announced that senior goaltender Brent Solei will start one of the games against Wayne State. Solei has not played a regular season game in his three-plus years with the Gophers. He has made three exhibition appearances, posting a 3-0 record with a 1.29 goals against average and .932 save percentage on 41 saves. Solei made 16 saves in a 3-1 win over the U.S. Under-18 team on Oct. 27 of this season.
