University of Minnesota Athletics
Weekend Preview: Michigan Tech
11/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Last Time Out: Minnesota went 0-1-1 against Wisconsin on Nov. 5-6 at Mariucci Arena. On Friday, the Gophers killed three first-period power plays and were about to escape the opening frame unscathed until Wisconsin's Michael Mersch scored an unassisted goal with 53 seconds left in the period. The Badgers would add four goals in the second period and one in the third to win 6-0.
On Saturday, Taylor Matson and Jacob Cepis scored first-period goals and the Gophers led 2-1 after the first period. Jay Barriball tallied his ninth goal of the year in the second period and Minnesota took a 3-2 lead into the final frame. Wisconsin's Jordy Murray scored his second goal of the game with less than three minutes remaining to force the game to overtime. Both teams took three shots each in the five-minute extra session. Kent Patterson made 23 saves to preserve the tie.
Series History: Minnesota leads the all-time series with Michigan Tech 167-76-15 and twice defeated the Huskies (1974 and 1976) to win a national championship. The Gophers own a 6-3-1 record against Michigan Tech in their last 10 games and have won the last three meetings, all in Houghton, Mich. This weekend will be the fifth and sixth consecutive meetings (March 6, 2009 - Nov. 20, 2010) between the teams in Michigan. The previous six games between the teams (March 3, 2007 - Nov. 16, 2008) were all at Mariucci Arena. Tech heads to the Twin Cities for a pair of games later this season on Feb. 25-26.
About The Huskies: Michigan Tech is 3-4-2 on the year and 1-4-1 in the WCHA after going 2-3-0 in an August 13-18 exhibition tour of Germany and Austria this summer. They have played only three homes games this season (last being Oct. 16) and are undefeated on home ice with a 1-0-2 record. The Huskies began the year with a 3-0-1 record but are 0-4-1 in their last five games. Four Huskies - Steven Seigo, Eric Kattelus, Milos Gordic and Deron Cousens - lead the team with eight points. Gordic is tied for the team lead in goals (4) with Brett Olson, Alex MacLeod and Bennett Royer. Seigo has three goals and five assists, while Kattelus has one goal and seven assists. Cousens, who does not have a goal this year, leads the team with eight assists. Like Minnesota, the Huskies have used two goaltenders this year. Kevin Genoe is 2-3-1 and sports a .910 save percentage, while Josh Robinson has a 1-1-1 record.
Is the Game On?: Thirty-one of Minnesota's 34 regular-season games have been or will be televised this year, but there is no television coverage for either game this weekend at Michigan Tech. However, GopherSports.com will be live blogging both games, providing up to the second information.
Technically Speaking: Michigan Tech leads the WCHA with an average of 21.3 penalty minutes per game. They have racked up 128 minutes in only six games. Denver is second with an average of 18.0 minutes per games (144 PIM in eight games). Minnesota's power play ranks tied for eighth in the league (five for 29) at 17.2 percent.
Road Success: The Gophers play four of their next six games on the road. Minnesota is 2-0-0 away from Mariucci Arena this year, with both wins coming at Colorado College. The Gophers have scored 13 goals on the road and have had recent success at Michigan Tech. Minnesota has won its last three games in Houghton, taking a pair of 3-2 games last year and earning a 2-0 win on March 7, 2009, thanks to 21 saves from Alex Kangas.
Kangas vs. Tech: Alex Kangas has four career shutouts and two of them have come against Michigan Tech. Kangas stopped 38 shots in a 3-0 Nov. 16, 2008, home win and earned a 2-0 road win on March 7, 2009, stopping 21 shots. In seven career games against the Huskies, Kangas is 4-1-1 with a 1.85 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage.
More Kangas: Alex Kangas entered his senior season fourth all-time in program history with 2,571 saves. The 23-year-old has played in five games this year and has stopped 153 shots. He now has 2,724 career saves, which ranks third all-time in school history behind Adam Hauser (3,777 saves) and Kellen Briggs (2,968 saves). Kangas (105 games) is also third in program history for games played by a goalie. Kellen Briggs is second with 132 career games played and Adam Houser owns the record with 151 games played.
Follow the Pattern: Junior goaltender Kent Patterson has already played in six games this year after playing in eight and seven games the past two seasons, respectively. Patterson is 4-0-1 on the season and is one of only three goaltenders (Minnesota-Duluth's Kenny Reiter 5-0-2 and Boston University's Kieran Millan 4-0-4) in the nation who has played in six games this year and does not have a loss.
Pat Trick: Senior Pat White is the Gopher with the most career success against Michigan Tech. White has six career points (2g-4a) in seven games against the Huskies for a .857 points-per-game average. Jay Barriball actually has more points against Michigan Tech than White, but he has also played in more games. Barriball has seven points (1g-6a) in 10 career games for a .700 points-per-game average. Mike Hoeffel is third on the list with a .750 points-per-game average (2g-4a in eight games).
Hoeffel in Houghton: Senior Mike Hoeffel enjoys playing in Houghton, Mich. The big winger scored two goals on Dec. 11 last year to help the Gophers climb out of a 2-0 hole at Michigan Tech. Pat White scored the game-winning goal. The next night, Hoeffel had the single assist on Mike Carman's game-winning goal.
Captain Jay: Senior captain Jay Barriball is tied for third in the nation (Niagara's Paul Zanette and Colorado College's Jaden Schwartz) with nine goals and is tied for first in the nation (Colorado College's Jaden Schwartz, Colorado College's Tyler Johnson and North Dakota's Matt Frattin) with five power-play goals. Barriball has at least a goal in seven of 10 games this year. He also recorded a hat trick on Oct. 9 in a 5-4 win against Massachusetts. It was the first hat trick for a Gopher since Blake Wheeler had one in a 4-2 win against Wisconsin on March 16, 2007.
Matson Matters: Junior Taylor Matson entered the season with three career goals in 32 games. He has five goals in 10 games this year to place second on the team behind Jay Barriball's nine goals. Matson was -3 with zero points in the first four games of the year, but has since found his scoring touch. In the previous six games he has five goals and one assist. Matson also leads the team in faceoffs for anybody who has taken more than 10 on the year. He has won 66 of 123 faceoffs for a 53.7 percent success rate. Matson now has more career goals (8) than career penalties (6) and has the same number of career points (12) as he does penalty minutes.
We're Honored: Jay Barriball, Taylor Matson and Nate Condon have all been recognized by the WCHA for their play this year. Barriball was named WCHA Offensive Player of the Week for Oct. 12 after his four goal, one assist performance in two home games against Massachusetts. Matson was the WCHA Offensive Player of the Week and Condon was named WCHA Rookie of the Week for Nov. 2. Matson had three even-strength goals and blocked three shots in two games at Colorado College and Condon had two goals and three assists against the Tigers.
Fresh Import: Freshman Erik Haula, who hails from Pori, Finland, became the first European-born player to pull on the M sweater for the Gophers since Thomas Vanek (Graz, Austria) in 2003-2004. Haula and Vanek are the only Europeans to play for Minnesota. Haula, who was drafted by the Minnesota Wild in the seventh round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, is tied for second on the team in points (11) and first on the team in assists (9).
Just A Minute: The Gophers have scored three goals in the first minute of a period this year and four goals in the final minute of a period. Those seven goals represent 19.4 percent of the 36 goals Minnesota has scored this year.
Going Deep: Every Gopher has dressed at least once in the team's first 10 games and only 11 of 24 skaters have played in all 10 games. Twenty-one players (including goalie Kent Patterson) have at least one point this year.
Stopping And Scoring: Goaltender Kent Patterson recorded his first career assist against Wisconsin on Nov. 6, 2010. He had the secondary assist on Jay Barriball's power-play goal at the 18:47 mark of the second period. Goaltender Alex Kangas also has an assist on his career resume. Kangas picked up a helper in a 4-2 win last season on March 13, 2010 at North Dakota.
Almost Identical: Minnesota has scored 36 goals this year and allowed 36 goals. In addition, the Gophers have taken 323 shots to their opponents 332. Minnesota has recorded 297 saves, while their opponents have saved 287 shots.
First Period Goals: Minnesota is 5-0-1 when scoring a goal in the first period this year and 0-4-0 when failing to score in the first period. The Gophers are 4-0-1 when scoring the first goal of the game.
Shoot, Don't Shoot: Minnesota is 2-1-1 when taking less than 30 shots a game and 4-2-1 when taking less than 40 shots a game. However, the Gophers are 1-2-0 when launching 40 or more shots this year.
Man Down: The Gophers have scored two shorthanded goals this year, both at Colorado College. Erik Haula and Cade Fairchild both scored shorthanded goals against the Tigers. Prior to the two goals last weekend the last shorthanded goal for the Gophers was scored by Ryan Flynn on March 5, 2010 against Wisconsin.
Good Point: Jay Barriball, Erik Haula and Jacob Cepis all average at least a point per game. Barriball (12 points in 10 games) averages 1.2 points per game. Haula and Cepis (11 points in 10 games) both average 1.1 points per game.
Busting Out: Minnesota's offense was clicking on all cylinders on Oct. 30 at Colorado College. The Gophers set or tied their high marks of the year for goals in each period. They scored three goals in the first period, four in the second and two in the third. That was the first time that Minnesota scored four goals in a period this year.
Block Party: Six Gophers, five of whom are defensemen, have recorded 10 or more blocked shots this year. Senior Cade Fairchild leads the group with 23. He is followed by Aaron Ness (19), Mart Alt (16 in nine games), Seth Helgeson (11), Kevin Wehrs (10) and forward Jake Hansen (10). The six players are responsible for 58.1 percent of the team's blocked shots this year (89 of 153).
Fresh Idea: There are 10 freshmen on the Minnesota roster this year and all 10 have played in at least two games. Seven of them have at least one point and Erik Haula leads the group with 11 (2g-9a). He is followed by Nate Condon (3g-3a), Tom Serratore (1g-1a), Mark Alt (2a), Justin Holl (1g), Nick Bjugstad (1a) and Max Gardiner (1a).
Budish Injured: Sophomore right wing Zach Budish was injured in a moped accident on Nov. 1 and will miss the rest of the season.
Transfer Agreement: Senior Jacob Cepis, a transfer from Bowling Green, is playing in his first full season with Minnesota this year. He missed the first half of the season a year ago because of NCAA transfer regulations. He joined the lineup at mid-season a year ago and has averaged nearly a point a game since. He had 19 points (7g-12a) in 21 games a year ago en route to receiving the team's Unsung Hero award and has picked up this year where he left off last year. Cepis has four goals and seven assists in 10 games this year and now has 30 points (12g-18a) in 31 career games.
Can Do Condon: Freshman Nate Condon had a night to remember on Oct. 30 at Colorado College. Condon scored twice, had three assists, recorded a plus-five rating and was named first star in Minnesota's 9-4 romp of the Tigers. Condon was the first Gopher to record five points in a game since Ryan Potulny (4g-1a) against St. Cloud State on March 17, 2006 in the WCHA Final Five and the first freshman since Phil Kessel (1g-4a) on Nov. 11, 2006, in a 9-0 rout of Alaska Anchorage. Condon was named the WCHA Rookie of the Week for Nov. 2.
Preseason Picks And Rankings: Minnesota was picked to finish fifth in the WCHA by the coaches and sixth by the media. The Gophers began the year ranked No. 15 in both the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine and the USCHO/CBS Sports Rankings polls. The No. 15 ranking ended a 10-year streak of the Gophers being ranked in the top 10 to begin the season.
Growing Up: The Gophers began their 90th season of play on Oct. 8 with 20 players on the roster who are 20 or older. The Gophers may have ten freshmen, but that does not mean they are not an experienced team-over half of the players on the roster are 21 or older and the team's average age is 20.6. The oldest player on the team is 23-year-old Jay Barriball, who is one day older than netminder Alex Kangas. The youngest player on the team is freshman Nick Bjugstad, who was only 17 when he graduated from high school in the spring and turned 18 in July.
Noticeable Draft: Nineteen Gophers have been drafted by NHL teams. The junior and freshman class each have six draftees, the senior class has five and both of the team's sophomores have been drafted. Incoming freshmen Nick Bjugstad, Mark Alt, Justin Holl and Max Gardiner were selected in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, with each of them going in the first three rounds (and top 74 overall). Other than Bjugstad, senior Patrick White (No. 22 in 2007) is the only other first-round pick.
Excuse Me Mr.: The highest distinction a high school hockey player in Minnesota can receive is being named Mr. Hockey. This year's team has two players - junior Aaron Ness and freshman Nick Bjugstad - who received that honor. Additionally eight players (Jay Barriball, Nick Larson, Taylor Matson, Joe Miller, Patrick White, Justin Holl, Max Gardiner and Mark Alt) were named finalists for the award.
You're Not From Around Here: With the additions of freshmen Nate Condon (Wausau, Wis.), Tom Serratore (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Erik Haula (Pori, Finland), the Gophers now have four players (joining Jacob Cepis who is from Parma, Ohio) from outside of Minnesota. The last time Minnesota's roster featured at least four players from outside the state was during the 2005-06 season when there were six non-Minnesotans.
Minnesota Nice: The Gophers play 26 of their 34 regular-season games in Minnesota. They do not have consecutive road trips this year and do not travel to Alaska. The Gophers leave the state only four times all season to play WCHA road contests at Colorado College, Michigan Tech, North Dakota and Wisconsin.
Gracious Hosts: Minnesota hosts the 2011 NCAA Men's Frozen Four from April 7-9 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. The last time the Frozen Four was held in Minnesota was 2002, when current Gopher assistant coach Grant Potulny scored the overtime game-winning goal against Maine to give Minnesota its first national championship since 1979. Minnesota also hosts the 2012 West Regional at Xcel Energy Center.
