It has been a maddenly frustrating season for the University of Minnesota Men’s Hockey team, as their inconsistent offense and goaltending has combined to leave its talent-loaded squad just around .500 going into its two-game matchup against rival #11 ranked University of Minnesota-Duluth. Last week the Gophers surprised a few by sweeping Colorado College, as they seemed to find a simplified attack where they focused on bringing the puck to the crease and banging home goals. They would use a similar strategy against the Bulldogs in what was an exciting back and forth game. Minnesota was also showing good aggressiveness to transform turnovers into quick offense in transition and this is precisely how the Gophers got on the scoreboard first. A neutral zone turnover by Nick Larson would have him turn towards the UMD zone and race up the ice where he threaded a pass to Jake Hansen who showed good strength on the puck as he drew Bulldogs defenders towards him before saucering a perfect pass back to a streaking Larson who beat Brady Hjelle with a terrific shot underneath the crossbar. In the 2nd period the Bulldogs really started to pour on the pressure and it was hard work down near the Gophers crease that allowed them to tie the game as Alex Kangas felt UMD close in around him before White Bear Lake’s David Grun tapped home the tying goal. The Gophers would regroup in the 3rd period as they’d get the go-ahead goal on a point blast from Duluth-native Cade Fairchild. UMD would waste little time answering back as Travis Oleksuk made up for a botched chance he had in the 2nd by lighting the lamp by shoveling home a shot near the crease on a Bulldogs power play. The Gophers stayed calm and it was former Wild draft pick Nick Leddy ripping a shot from the point that was stopped by Hjelle who gave up a rebound that Bowling Green transfer Jacob Cepis pounced upon for the game winner.
The game was a refreshing change of pace for “Minnesota’s Pride on Ice” as they appear to have embraced a simpler form of hockey where its not built on fancy tic-tac-toe passing but a style that emphasizes speed and taking shots on goal when they present themselves. Too many times the Gophers had tried to rely on the pretty goals and the result has been its inconsistent attack. Minnesota still has a long way to go and it still may not be able to sneak its way into the NCAA tournament but at least it seems to have made an adjustment to focus on playing good fundamental hockey instead of continuing to make the game more complicated than it needs to be.
U.S. and Canada adavance to the Gold Medal game on Sunday
It was a tale of two distinct contrasts in the Semi-final round of the Men’s Olympic Ice Hockey Tournament as the United States had little trouble dispatching Finland 6-1 while Team Canada just barely held on to defeat Slovakia 3-2. In the U.S. / Finland matchup, the Americans took full advantage of a nightmarish day for Miikka Kiprusoff as they chased him from the crease scoring 4 quick goals in a span of about 6 minutes. Minnesota Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom did not fare any better as he gave up a goal on the first two shots he faced as Team USA powered their way to 6-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game. The Americans would ease up and just coast to a 6-1 victory, even giving their stalwart goaltender Ryan Miller a break through the last 10 minutes while Tim Thomas took over duties between the pipes. Patrick Kane had two goals in one of the more decisive rout’s of the tournament.
It was a very different game between Slovakia and Canada. Slovakia was playing very conservatively, hoping to keep the game close and keep the fantatic sellout crowd at ‘Canada Hockey Place’ from playing a factor. The Slovaks, had used this style to great success against Sweden in a surprising upset and it again proved to be surprisingly effective. Canada would struggle to find time and space but eventually they would wear the Slovakian defense down and carry a 3-0 lead going into the 3rd. From here, Canada seemed content to just coast into the gold medal game as the crowd started to cheer “We Want USA” and this complacent attitude would quickly evaporate. It seemed as if it was meant to be Canada’s game as even Slovakia’s key sniper and former Wild winger Marian Gaborik had left the game due to an injury (a groin injury perhaps). It got started with a big point shot by Edmonton Oilers’ Lubomir Visnovsky, who found a little space and blistered a shot that eluded Roberto Luongo. The second goal for Slovakia came off some terrific work down low near the crease by Michal Handzus to lift a puck underneath the crossbar and by Luongo cutting the Canadian lead to one. You could really start to feel the anxiety in the home crowd as Slovakia threw all it had at Canada, as Marian Hossa, Michal Handzus and Richard Zednik were controlling the play down low and making it appear as if the Slovaks were on the power play. At this critical moment, it was former Wild winger Pavol Demitra who would have two ‘golden’ opportunities to tie the game. The first of which was off a fairly harmless looking wrist shot that was stopped by Luongo and the rebound went right out to Demitra who inexplicably didn’t shoot and instead tried to set someone else up for a pass. The last opportunity came in the waning seconds of regulation as Slovakia mounted one final furious assault Demitra again found himself on a perfect rebound chance and his shot would be pushed just wide of the mark. He had Luongo beat and as the horn sounded the game’s conclusion he would bring his arms to his face in frustration.
This sets up what should be an absolute thriller of a gold medal game, which really was the dream matchup both for the host nation as well as NBC (set to be shown around 2PM Central Standard Time) which will mean it will likely get huge ratings. Hopefully NBC doesn’t squander it and bury it on MSNBC or CNBC like it has most of the hockey games in this tournament.
Wild raise season ticket prices for 2010-11
The Minnesota Wild have been an organization that loves to laud about its fans, or at least that is the image it wishes to portray. From calling its fans “the team of 18,000” to the obligatory announcement of the nightly attendance and then telling them they are “the Greatest hockey fans in the World!” you would think the Minnesota Wild would have little difficulty showing its fans respect. This is where the organization’s image departs from its practices. Minneapolis Star Tribune‘s Michael Russo recently posted on Twitter of the organization’s plan to raise season ticket prices by $5 or more per ticket depending on where your seats are located. I have many friends who are season ticket holders, and more than few of them have already been splitting their tickets with as many as 2, 3 or more other groups of fans due to the great expense. The economic outlook as everyone knows is hardly ideal for a price increase and this would mark the conclusion of a price freeze that was instituted about 2 seasons ago. Shortly after purchasing the team, new majority owner Craig Leipold made a statement to Wild fans saying he was going to freeze ticket prices in the wake of the tough economic times but apparently he must feel a time for a freeze is over with. This season there have been signs that the NHL’s longest consecutive sellout streak which is very near 400 games is perhaps close to coming to an end. Many of my friends fear that they may finally drop their tickets and not because their interest in the team has faded, but because they’re being priced out. I highly doubt that the organization is unaware of just how tough it has been for the fans to continue to renew their season ticket packages, since they have at times called individuals on the coveted “Warming House” waiting list for season ticket packages and attempted to pair them up with other season ticket holder hopefuls and struggled to find takers. A long while ago, the “Warming House” was another sign of the long-term strength of the organization but you don’t hear about it much more which probably means the organization has tapped that well dry. This just makes the decision to raise ticket prices seem that much more dubious. The only reason I can think the organization is doing this is to perhaps make up the difference of starting the season in Finland which means the Wild will be without one home game of its normal alotment of 41 on its regular season schedule.
Yet there is an interesting side story to all of this, while the die hard hockey fans in the upper deck recieved their modest increase, those who have season tickets on club level recieved a $10 reduction per ticket. For whatever reason, those in club level have beeb blessed with some rather convenient circumstances as they were given their own special freeze making them immune to the increases that the other ticket levels faced after the lockout. Then when the club level’s exclusive price freeze ended, that was when Leipold put a price increase freeze on all Wild tickets. That probably was more coincidental than anything, but the $10 reduction in club level either means the team is not doing so well in renewals or feels they need to add yet another perk for the fans that lift their nose up at you while riding their own escalator while you make your way on up to the nose bleeds. It would be terrible if these people didn’t get a break in all this wouldn’t it?
Tonight, I am going to go to an American Hockey League game between the Milwaukee Admirals and the Chicago Wolves, and afterwards there is a free concert by the Dropkick Murphys who were featured at this year’s NHL Winter Classic at historic Fenway Park. The Admirals always go to great lengths to show their fans they are greatly appreciated, and they provide terrific hockey at an affordable price, just $6 a ticket!!! The result is they have decent attendance, it would be nice to see the Wild also show that same level of respect. Considering the fact the loyalty of Wild fans to sellout every single home game in the team’s existance including exhibition and playoff games would mean the organization has made lots of bonus money most other organizations cannot claim but they still felt entitled to a few more fan dollars out of the fans they call the ‘greatest hockey fans in the World!” That’s gratitude for you!
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