April 5, 2005

"There's a difference between /wanting /to play well and /having/ to play well." So said University of Minnesota hockey coach Don Lucia, after he had properly assessed that losing twice in the WCHA Final Five wouldn't prevent the Golden Gophers from advancing to the NCAA tournament with a favorable seed.

After the Final Five, but before the NCAA seedings were calculated, Lucia said: "These losses didn't matter. They have no bearing on where we end up. I know we'll either be the last No. 1 seed or the highest No. 2."

Right on. The Golden Gophers were ranked in a tie for fourth and fifth overall with Cornell, and by virtue of having beaten Michigan, which in turn beat Cornell, the Gophers got the fourth and final No. 1 seed as host of the West Regional. Two overtime victories later, and Minnesota is off to the Frozen Four, as a legitimate longshot.

Will the REAL Minnesota Golden Gophers please stand up? Nobody knows. Will the Gophers who face North Dakota in Thursday's NCAA semifinals in Columbus, Ohio, be the one that soared through the first half of the season, or the one that sputtered through the second half? Will it be the team that went 8-0 to end the regular season and start league playoffs, or the one that fell twice in the WCHA Final Five, or maybe the one that scratched and clawed to two narrow victories in the NCAA West Regional? Who will start in goal? Who will score? Will leading scorer Tyler Hirsch play? Will freshman defenseman Alex Goligoski play? Questions, always questions. Goligoski will probably play with a light cast on his wrist, but we may have to wait until the puck drops at 6 p.m. Thursday to find out. Same with the goaltender question, and the others.

If the two West Regional victories mean the urgency is back, credit ­ and a dose of relief ­ should go to Lucia. An Iron Ranger by birth, the Grand Rapids native could be known as "The Professor" for the way he calculates the computerized information that goes into the NCAA tournament seedings all season. He is a master at satisfying the criteria, and he knew there was no back-to-the-wall feeling during those WCHA playoffs. It's time now.

When they wanted to play well in the WCHA Final Five, it wasn't enough, and the Gophers lost 3-0 to Colorado College and 4-2 in the third-place game to North Dakota. When they had to play well, in the NCAA West Regional, the Gophers were Golden, beating Maine 1-0 and Cornell 2-1 in a couple of overtime classics. Lucia's ability to come up with answers is one reason the Golden Gophers have reached Thursday's Frozen Four at Columbus, Ohio, where they will face North Dakota in the 6 p.m. semifinal.

Lucia, recalling Johnson had a tough time with Maine a year earlier, went with Kellen Briggs in goal. Minnesota won 1-0 in overtime. He stuck with Briggs, and the Gophers also beat Cornell, 2-1 in overtime. Against Maine, freshman center Evan Kaufmann came through with an enormous goal to beat the Black Bears. Kaufmann, whose age and the maturity he gained in the USHL belie his freshman status, had several good scoring chances against Maine ace Jimmy Howard, who gloved everything close.

"We'd been shooting glove all day," said Kaufmann, after the Maine game. "Justin (Johnson) told me on the bench during a TV timeout, OeIf we're going to score on this guy, it's got to be somewhere other than his glove.' "

So Kaufmann won the corner faceoff ­ he was 9-2 on faceoffs in the game ­ and got the puck back to Judd Smith at the blue line. He shoveled it into the corner, and Garrett Smaagaard and Sertich scrapped to keep possession by cycling the puck on the end boards. One defenseman was back there, and the second went back after Smaagaard, so Kaufmann yelled, Smaagaard fed him. Kaufmann shot -- away from Howard's glove, just inside the left pipe ­ and the Gophers were on their way.

It had to be the perfect game for Briggs, winning a 1-0 overtime shutout. "No, I'd rather we win 9-0," said Briggs. Against Cornell, the Golden Gophers also failed to score nine, but Andy Sertich got the goal that helped get the game into overtime, and Barry Tallackson knocked in his own rebound to beat the Big Red 2-1.

So now it's the Frozen Four, where Colorado College and Denver might reside as the two best teams in the country, and North Dakota is probably playing the best hockey of its season, and the Golden GophersŠa re still facing unanswered questions.

The questions started at midseason, after a rebuilding Golden Gopher team earned the No. 1 rank in the country for five weeks, behind the explosive scoring of a line with Ryan Potulny centering Danny Irmen and Kris Chucko, and the goaltending of Kellen Briggs, who led all WCHA goalies in both goals-against and save percentage at midseason. The "Border Line," so named because all three players were not from Minnesota, had accounted for half the team's scoring, and Briggs led the league in overall games at Christmastime with a 1.88 goals-against and .931 save percentage.

January arrived, and the big line abruptly stopped clicking. Irmen dropped from being first or second in league scoring to finish in a tie for sixth in league games at 17-15<32, while Potulny dropped to 15th at 15-11<26, and Chucko finished 7-6<13. Pucks started getting past Briggs, too, and through the second half, he dropped until he finished seventh in goals-against average at 2.97, and 11th in save percentage at .900 in league play.

Justin Johnson emerged from backup duty to win six straight games for the Gophers when Briggs was injured at the end of the season, and Johnson got the start against Colorado College in the Final Five. Minnesota lost 3-0, and Briggs returned to the nets against North Dakota, but the Gophers lost again, 4-2.

The goaltending question, however, was somewhat obscured by another question at the end of the CC playoff game. Tyler Hirsch, an intense and highly skilled junior winger, had risen from third-line status when the Border Line's scoring turned borderline, to lead the Golden Gophers in scoring. As of the end of the regular season, Potulny had 24-15<39 in all games and Irmen 20-18<38, but Hirsch had 11-31<42 to finish fifth among all WCHA players in overall points. As the fans filed out after the game, Hirsh went out to center ice alone, raced in, fired the puck into the net, and followed it by crashing his body into the net, knocking it over on its backside.

Hirsch went home afterward, and didn't play against North Dakota, or in the NCAA West Regional. He returned to the team, and spoke cheerfully to the media ­ but not about this question. He may play in Columbus.

It was suggested to Lucia that his well-calculated projections might work against his fire for getting his team emotionally charged for a game he knows is comparatively unimportant. When the coach knows that the team is cinched for an NCAA berth, and the team plays without any urgency through the second half, and into league playoffs, is there a link? Can the players, whether by their own calculations or by reading their coach's relaxed demeanor, play without desperation because they know they don't have to go all out in order to advance?

At Christmastime, Lucia knew that the Gophers, barring a complete collapse in the second half, were going to be assured of an NCAA berth, and one of the better seeds. The Gophers were 11-3 in WCHA play through the 2004 half of the schedule and deserved the No. 1 rank in the nation for five weeks. In January, though, they suddenly absorbed a 1-5 month on home ice, at Mariucci Arena, losing twice at home to Colorado College, twice more to Michigan Tech and splitting with Minnesota Duluth. The only other Minnesota victories in the 4-6 month were a split of 2-1 games at Boston University, and a sweep at Minnesota State.

Minnesota opened February by splitting sets with Wisconsin and Alaska Anchorage, which meant the struggle reached 6-8 for 2005 ­ hardly befitting a prospective Frozen Four team. Then the Golden Gophers seemed to right themselves in the last three weeks of the regular season with a 6-0 record against St. Cloud State, Michigan Tech and Minnesota State. Beating Minnesota State twice more in the first league playoff round gave the Gophers an eight-game winning streak, but answered none of the questions.

Frozen Four time means desperation and urgency are the order of the day. Will the same pairings as the third-place and title games of the WCHA Final Five cause a flashback to the Minnesota? Will Minnesota go back to Josh Johnson in goal? Will Hirsch and his team-high points be back in the lineup? Colorado College and Denver are the constants, and North Dakota is the hottest, and which Golden Gopher team will show up?

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