So is this the week? Roman told us back in April that Gopher sophomore center Nick Bjugstad would make his decision to turn pro in mid May after the semester was finished:

A source close to Bjugstad said he remains undecided on what he will do, leaning one way one day, the other way the next day, so he is giving himself more time to be sure.

The Florida Panthers, who took him in the first round of the 2010 NHL draft, have told him the decision is his. He could have already signed with them and been playing for the Panther's AHL affiliate, San Antonio...

...It seems like it is 50-50 whether Bjugstad will return or sign with the Panthers. I thought it was 60-40 that he would stay from talking to him and those close to him during the season, but now I think the odds are not that good of him coming back.

Well the semester is finished, and it's now late May, but nothing yet from Bjugstad, the U, or the Panthers. I don't believe there's any real deadline approaching, as rookie camp won't be until August, yet you would think all parties involved would want to know how they're moving forward, right?

I have no idea what Nick is thinking, but as a Gopher fan I hope he comes back and leads them on a national title run in their last season in the WCHA. With Bjugstad they likely start the year no worse than the preseason #2 or #3- not in the WCHA, in the country. BC lost some key pieces (have you see what Chris Kreider is doing with the Rangers?) but because they were SO dominant last year they likely start the season at #1, but after that Minnesota with Bjugy has as good an argument as anybody for being #2.

Losing goalie Kent Patterson obviously hurts, as he was not only otherworldly in his two seasons in which he started every game, but their goaltending without him is entirely unproven and could go to a freshman (hello Adam Wilcox!). However, when you not only return your ENTIRE defense, but also add a couple of really good recruits that could jump into your top 4 right away, well, it softens the blow. And while the leadership of departing captain Taylor Mattson and wingers Jake Hansen and Nick Larson will be missed, if Bjugstad returns that means so does six of their top seven scoring forwards from last year. Basically their top two lines would return pretty much intact, and then you'd be adding more skilled freshman to the group (including, to Don Lucia's credit, the kind of "freshman" they need to add. Like, say, a 20 year old named Connor Reilly who has destroyed a very good junior league up in BC last season? That'll help. Oh and not to worry all of you who insist on an all-Minnesota roster- he's from Minnesota)

So Bjugstad would be returning to an absolutely loaded squad. Obviously he knows this, knows he'd be a pre-season favorite for the Hobey Baker, and I would imagine the leading candidate to take the "C" from Mattson (while the player named captain is often a senior, keep in mind the Gophs will have a whopping one senior next year, defensemen Seth Helgeson. And no offense to Helgeson, but he'll be lucky to play in the team's top 2 pairings). Again, I have no idea what he's thinking or feeling, yet you have to believe an unexpected run to the Frozen Four bonded him with his teammates and with just about everybody coming back, you know they've been talking about getting revenge on BC and finishing the job. And that has to matter to a kid who's not only as competitive as Bjugy, but someone who seems to love the school and his teammates as much as he does.

The fact he's waited this long to make up his mind makes me believe- makes me WANT to believe- that he's staying. After all, the kids who leave school early, like Denver's Jason Zucker or Drew Shore or the aforementioned BC's Kreider, leave immediately following the season. Like, I'm not sure Zucker and Shore even had their skates off yet after their season-ending loss to Ferris State before they were signing their pro contracts. And yet here's Bjugstad two weeks after school's out still trying to make up his mind?

Seems like a no-brainer then right? If you're a Gopher fan sure. If you're not, well...

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Well that sucked.

I guess BC really IS that good. The outcome was indeed inevitable, and the Gophers might as well have not shown up after all. Wait, did they show up?

Anyway, best of luck to the Eagles against Ferris State Saturday. Not that you'll need it. Congrats on being the 2012 National Champions.

It’s been a long two-week wait, but puck drop is just about here. The top ranked Boston College Eagles face off against your University of Minnesota Golden Gophers in the Frozen Four, the winner advancing to the national championship game. And by winner, I mean BC. The Eagles are favored- like really, REALLY favored. They come marching into Tampa having won 17 straight games, are the undisputed #1 team in the country and had back-to-back shutouts in the Regionals, including a 4-0 pasting of UMD. If you haven't heard, Duluth had the #2 offense in the country and not only couldn't score, I don't even think they registered a shot. Jack Connolly may have wept openly just at the sight of BC's awesome awesomeness. JT Brown apparently wouldn't come out of the dressing room for 15 minutes before the game because he was worried his stick would burst into flames if he even looked at goalie Parker Milner, let alone took a shot at his goal. The Bulldogs had no chance, just like everyone else in college hockey, and hell, probably the NHL and the entire world.

That's how good (BC fans think) the Eagles are.

So it'll be interesting to see if Minnesota even bothers showing up. Maybe they'll just hang out in St Pete, play some shuffle board, drink margaritas, and not go to a Rays game but still tell everyone Tampa is a GREAT baseball town if only the stadium wasn't so hard to get to. Or maybe, just maybe, they'll show up and take on the mighty BC Eagles. Even though Minnesota obviously has no chance whatsoever to beat Boston College tonight, could it be possible the Gophers are actually a pretty good team? Oh that's right they lost to Vermont in October, so that's impossible. My bad.

Which IS too bad because Minnesota does have the top offense in the country, as well as the stingiest defense in the WCHA. They also have a great goalie, and a coach who has won two national titles and knows a little bit about coaching on the big stage, having taken two different programs to the Frozen Four.

So while BC is busy planning their championship parade (What color balloons do we get? Streamers right? We should get streamers? Parade planning is so hard!) let’s just pretend for a brief moment the outcome isn't already a foregone conclusion and preview tonight's game, brought to you live on E!SPN2 at 7pm CST- well that is if men's lacrosse or bull-riding doesn't run long.

We’ll start up front…

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In case you haven't heard, the Minnesota Gophers and Boston College Eagles face off Thursday night in Tampa in the semis of the Frozen Four. Boston College is the top ranked team in the country, and one of the top defensive teams in the nation against the Gopher's top ranked offense. For such a monumental occasion we thought we'd talk to the opposition and get some background and perspective on the Eagles.

(They also asked us a few questions and we answered over at BC Interruption in a post they like to call Five Good Minutes: Minnesota Hockey preview with The Daily Gopher)

Grant Salzano is one of the editors of SB Nation Boston College blog BC Interruption and was kind enough to answer some questions about the big Frozen Four tilt between our Gophers and their Eagles...

The Daily Gopher: This is Minnesota's first Frozen Four since 2005, so fans are excited just to be here again. Jerry York has you here almost every year, and you're the definitive favorites. How are BC fans feeling about another Frozen Four?

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Sure, this would make a better final than a semi, but it's two of the most successful programs in college hockey squaring off. They've played 27 times, with Minnesota currently holding a 14-11-2 advantage, but as you may remember the last time these two played was the last time Minnesota had been to the NCAA tourney all the way back in 2007-08, when BC thumped them 5-2. Both teams are maroon and goldish, both have great high school hockey, and both would enjoy going up to a Hahvahd bahr to beat up some smahrt kids (sorry I couldn't resist).

But when you consider recent history, that's about where the favorable comparisons end. Boston College isn't just the best team in college hockey this season, they're the best program of the past decade, and with apologies to Michigan and no apologies whatsoever to North Dakota, it's not that close. If the Gophers are supposed to be the Yankees of college hockey (The U has really failed to live up to this one the past few year but you know), does that make BC the Red Sox?

When you look at the success the Eagles have had recently, even comparing them to the Red Sox doesn't quite do them justice, and when you compare them to the Gophers, well, the "Yankees of College Hockey" tag looks laughable at best. Don't get me wrong, Minnesota has arguably the richest history of any college hockey program, but things have fallen off since 2007, and while things have turned around beautifully this season, we've still got a long way to go to get back to the top. A more apt comparison may be the Dodgers, a team like the Gophers with every conceivable advantage who have been down awhile but are hopefully on the upswing. Boston College is the school who are capitalizing on every conceivable advantage, and writing the definitive story on how to succeed in the new world of college hockey where the top American-born players either leave early or don't show up at all.

Onto the comparison...

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First, just let me say it- it felt GREAT to see the Gophers beat UND. I mean sure, it's always great to beat your arch-rival, but in a game that sends you to the Frozen Four? A game that avenges last week's loss to the same team that was like a train wreck, car crash and horror show all rolled into one (ok, ok a little dark and over-the-top but you get the idea)? Any time the Gophers beat the Sioux -whoops, I mean, the "hey what do you know, our new jerseys suddenly showed up just in time for the playoffs so we'd be eligible to play! What a coincidence!" guys in green and black it's great, but yesterday's win felt so much better.

Second, I know Gopher hockey fans are supposed to expect to win the WCHA and get to the Frozen Four, but is it wrong that I just have that "happy to be here" feeling? Seriously. Minnesota hadn't played in a Frozen Four since 2005, the NCAA tournament since 2008 (when they lost to, guess who? BC), and hadn't won the MacNaughton Cup as the WCHA regular season champs since 2007. So a lot happened this season. A lot of good things. And sprinkled in were enough, um, Friday nights to make us wonder if the Gophers would get to the Frozen Four this year.

And here they are. In Tampa, of all places, which obviously just screams college hockey (kind of like E!SPN screams college hockey. Fans at BC were thrilled a regular season lacrosse match preempted the start of their regional semi-final against Air Force. You know, kind of like Gopher fans were probably equally thrilled their game against BU was on FSN+ instead of E!SPNU at all. Again, because of a regular season lacrosse game. Thanks E!SPN for supporting college hockey), but it's great to see them back in the Frozen Four. And while I obviously want them to win two more games, I'm just excited they made it here.

Then I found out they were playing BC. Crap. Crap, crap, CRAP! As CHN points out, the four teams at the Frozen Four are Minnesota and BC, who have nine natty titles between them, and Union and Ferris State (I am the type of person who can't help but call them Ferris Bueller State even though it's probably not funny. I still giggle and quote Ferris Bueller lines anytime I see them. Yep, I am that guy) who have won a grand total of one NCAA tournament game before this season. Their new combined total? Five! So that's fun. How do two of the most successful programs in college hockey end up playing each other in the semis while Union and Abe Frohman play in the other? I know, I know, I know BC was the top seed and the Gophers the lowest of the four, so I get it makes SENSE to pair them this way. It just would have been cool to have Minnesota and BC in opposite semis and see what happens.

But it is what it is, and again, I'm just happy they're here. BC is the prohibitive favorite, and the best team in the country, and maybe that's a good thing. The Gophers haven't been underdogs since...since...checking schedule...probably since the second week of the season when Minnesota was ranked 14th and UMD was 9th and the Gophers won on back-to-back nights in Duluth. But really, that was the last time and only time this season, as even Sunday I certainly wouldn't have said they were underdogs against UND. But even that probably doesn't matter.

The Gophers are back in the Frozen Four, and they have proven that when they play well, be it last weekend, or way back in October in Duluth, they can beat anybody. So whether they're playing Boston College, Union, or the Sausage King of Chicago, if the Gophers come to play, I like their chances, and I'm just excited to see if they can win one or two more games this weekend. Minnesota is back in the Frozen Four, and that's what matters most.

Now THAT was the effort we've been waiting for! Probably because it was a Saturday instead of a Friday, right? Whatever it was, the Minnesota Gopher hockey team beat a very good Boston University team to advance to a rematch with North Dakota Sunday afternoon in the West Regional Final. The winner goes to the Frozen Four, a place the Gophers haven't been since 2005.

Last week against UND in the Final Five semis the Gophs jumped out to a 3-0 lead before completely falling apart, losing 6-3. Against BU Minnesota scored 7 times, but it was much closer than the score indicates. Each team took nine penalties, each team's dynamic power play scored twice, and both sides registered at least 34 shots, with the Gophs piling up a whopping 42. BU played them tough the entire way, but when the Terriers pushed the Gophers pushed back and then some. BU trailed by two goals after two but scored quickly in the third on a power play to make the score 4-3. They kept coming, but unlike last week, when the Gophers folded, they rallied with an answer from Nico Sacchettito make it 5-3, then held on the rest of the way, scoring two late empty-netters to seal the victory.

It's the kind of effort and resiliency the Gophers are capable of, and they showed up at the absolute best time. And now they need to do it again against a team that flat-out embarrassed them a week ago in this exact same rink. Last week's game was to go to the Final Five championship game. Sunday's game is so much bigger, with a berth in the Frozen Four on the line between two of the oldest and most hated rivals in hockey.

If the Gophers win, last week's debacle would make it all the more sweeter to get revenge against North Dakota on the same rink but a much bigger stage with much more on the line. Once again the Gophers have the opportunity in front of them, and if the win over BU is any indication, they not only have the talent, but the effort and tenacity to do it again.

Next stop Tampa? We'll find out Sunday at 430 on E!SPNU.

Usually at this time of year, the weather is freezing and it doesn't feel anything close to spring, or time for spring ball. But with summer showing up 4 months ahead of schedule spring football seems like it's a couple of months behind. Whatever the case, I'm always glad spring practice is starting as it does this Thursday for the Gophers. Jerry Kill's second season begins, and he and his staff have a lot of work to do with a very young roster, but one that gained plenty of experience in a three-win 2011 season. To improve upon that in 2012, some more young guys will have to step into some very big roles.

Nowhere is that more true than at three different positions; Kim Royston's starting safety spot, and two we'll look at today, starting running back and wide receiver. Neither tailback Duane Bennett or wideout Da'Jon McKnight had spectacular senior seasons in 2011, but they were dependable and very capable. Losing those kinds of players always stings, but it's magnified this season just because there's so many question marks about who takes their place.

Running back seems to be the most cut-and-dried situation, so let's begin there...

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After their embarrassing performance in a 6-3 loss to North Dakota on Friday night, you wondered if Minnesota Gopher hockey should ever be allowed to play organized hockey of any kind again. But not only will they continue playing, but they're keeping their 2 seed in the West regional. Do the fine folks on the selection committee have televisions? The internet? Probably not smart phones. Because there's no way the Gophers should get rewarded for that effort, right?

Oh but they did. Minnesota only dropped one spot to eighth in the final Pairwise rankings after Duluth lost Friday night too, taking them out of the top four and down to seventh. Replacing the Bulldogs as a #1 seed are the Sioux, who scored 10 goals in their past five periods as they rallied against Minnesota for a 6-3 win then crushed Denver 4-0 in the WCHA Final Five title game last night. I hate UND with every fiber of my being, but they're the hottest team in college hockey by a country mile with a 13-2-1 record in their past 16 games, and look primed for a Frozen Four spot in Tampa.

They play the CCHA champs Western Michigan in their first game, and assuming they win that one, it's the winner of Minnesota and Boston U. And by winner, I mean BU. Honestly, would you even make a gentleman's bet the Gophers can win a game right now? They've struggled to put together a solid 60 minutes in a weekend-opening game this season, capped by the worst third period performance in the history of humanity last Friday when North Dakota threw the kitchen sink at Minnesota, and their response was to lay down and let UND roll over them. Remember two weeks ago when the Gophers rallied against UAA? Remember when we hoped that would be a spring-board to success and a point that proved they could rally when need be? Guess not. Granted, UND is a much better team than the Seawolves, but there was zero fight or resolve in Minnesota once North Dakota fought back.

The biggest difference between the UND and Minnesota programs right now are UND gets better as the season goes on, and plays their best hockey in the playoffs. Minnesota? Not so much. They were the #1 team in the country in early November after sweeping the Sioux at Mariucci boosting their record to 9-1 to start the season. The two losses for North Dakota dropped them to 3-6-1 to start the year, but since that point North Dakota is 22-6-2 while the Gophers are 17-12-1.

The Gophers still have the talent of a Frozen Four contender, but right now seem to lack the poise, effort and intensity for a full game needed to win four straight games against the best teams in college hockey. Still, stranger things have happened, and it'd be great if the Gophers use the UND loss as a rallying point and they actually play like they give a s**t against BU for three full periods, something we've been waiting for them to do consistently for the better part of four seasons now. Better late than never, right?

The Regionals are as follows (Final Pairwise Ranking):

EAST- Bridgeport
March 23-24
1. Union (3) vs. 4. Michigan State (15)
2. Miami (5) vs. 3. Lowell (12)

MIDWEST- Green Bay
March 23-24
1. Michigan (2) vs. 4. Cornell (13)
2. Ferris State (6) vs. 3. Denver (11)

NORTHEAST- Worcester
March 24-25
1. Boston College (1) vs. 4. Air Force (16)
2. Minnesota-Duluth (7) vs. 3. Maine (10)

WEST- St. Paul
March 24-25
1. North Dakota (4) vs. 4. Western Michigan (14)
2. Minnesota (8) vs. 3. Boston University (9)

We talked last week about how Gopher Hockey has set themselves up for a run to Tampa for the Frozen Four without having to leave the Twin Cities, and it was up to them to take care of business. Well mission accomplished in round 1. It certainly wasn't their best series of the season, but a sweep's a sweep, and their next date is a Friday night semi-final in the Final Five at The X. Opponent TBA, as there were some interesting developments in the conference playoffs, including a lone game three today between Denver and Wisconsin (which I fully expect to DU to win, but we shall see).

But first the sweep. Friday night's 2-1 win was, well, a Friday night win. We don't get many of those so I'm thankful they got it done, but it was a lot closer than it should have been. The first period was exactly what UAA wanted- slow and ugly, like they were trying to play pond hockey in July. Each team had nine shots and zero goals, and thankfully the Gophs' PK came to play as UAA had three power plays but couldn't score.

The U finally got on the board early in the second with an Erik Haula snipe, and he followed that up a few minutes later with his second. Haula had some assistance from Jake Hansen on the eventual gamewinner, who may have interfered with goalie Chris Kamal (wink-wink). Despite UAA's protests, the goal stood, but the game was far from over. Despite outshooting the Seawolves 16-4 in the second, the Gophers couldn't add to their lead, and instead it was UAA with a late power play goal to pull within one. But Minnesota would hold in the third, and escape with an all-important series opening win.

The Gophers have played much better on Saturday nights, and while the 7-3 final score may seem like they must have dominated from start to finish, that wasn't the case at all...

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Here we go again.

It's the heavily favored Minnesota Gophers hosting the Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves in a first round WCHA playoff series. Last year it was a 5 vs 8 seed matchup, this year it's a 1 vs 12. Last year the Gophers were shocked on home ice as they were swept right out of the playoffs. This year? I'd be shocked if it happens again, but all it takes is one bad Friday night in the opener, and who knows what could happen.

These are definitely different teams from the ones that met a year ago, and perhaps a bit different from their lone series earlier this season when the Gophs throttled UAA in 2 games up in Anchorage by a combined score of 8-1. Way back then, the Gophers started the season a surprising 7-1, were one of the highest scoring teams in the nation, with the top scorer in the country too- not Nick Bjugstad, but Erik Haula.

The U won 5-zip in the first game with just 21 shots on goal, getting two goals from Super Erik Haula (it was right around then he was leading the entire nation in scoring), one from Nick Bjugstad, and one each from...defensemen Mark Alt and Justin Holl? Yep, the Gophers were also 2-3 on the power play, right about the time they had the nation's #1 power play too. The Saturday night game was somewhat closer, a 3-1 win with the Gophers outshooting the Seawolves 31-27.

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Per the U's sports information department, spring practices will be open to the public once again. The tentative schedule, subject to change, is as follows:

March 22, 3:30 p.m. – Practice #1, Gibson-Nagurski Complex

March 23, 3:30 p.m. – Practice #2, Gibson-Nagurski Complex

March 24, 10:30 a.m. – Practice #3, Location TBA

March 27, 3:30 p.m. – Practice #4, Gibson-Nagurski Complex

March 29, 3:30 p.m. – Practice #5, Gibson-Nagurski Complex

March 31, Time TBA – Practice #6, TCF Bank Stadium

April 3, 3:30 p.m. – Practice #7, Gibson-Nagurski Complex

April 5, 3:30 p.m. – Practice #8, Gibson-Nagurski Complex

April 7, 10:30 a.m. – Practice #9, TCF Bank Stadium

April 10, 3:30 p.m. – Practice #10, Gibson-Nagurski Complex

April 12, 3:30 p.m. – Practice #11, Gibson-Nagurski Complex

April 13, 7:15 p.m. – Practice #12, TCF Bank Stadium

April 17, 3:30 p.m. – Practice #13, Gibson-Nagurski Complex

April 19, 3:30 p.m. – Practice #14, Gibson-Nagurski Complex

April 21, 11:00 a.m. – Practice #15 (Spring Game), TCF Bank Stadium

If you didn't get a chance to attend practice last spring, I can't recommend it enough. It's an up-close look at the players and coaches, and you can get some good insight into what the coaching staff is trying to accomplish. It's also a really good opportunity to over-analyze every little thing because, after all, it's spring football, and it's all we have to talk about until fall practice starts in August.

Seriously though, it's a great opportunity to get to know the football team a little better, and I'm thankful Coach Kill is allowing public access once again. We'll have position battles and previews and all of that good stuff leading up to it, but this is a sign we're getting closer. Just 16 more sleeps until spring ball!

The Minnesota Gopher hockey program clinched their first MacNaughton Cup, given to the regular season champion of the WCHA, since 2006-07, and in the process claimed the #1 seed in the upcoming conference playoffs. They also finished tied for 6th in the all-important Pairwise Rankings, securing a #2 seed in the NCAA tourney that is almost guaranteed to put them in St Paul at the X. The #1 seed could quite possibly go to UMD, who despite a one point weekend in St Cloud still finished in a 3-way tie for second in the Pairwise. As you may remember, the Gophers swept UMD up in Duluth earlier in the year. They could possibly play them for a spot in the Frozen Four in what would essentially be a home game for the Gophers, although it's possible half the city of Duluth shows up to even balance the crowd out a bit.

That's what the Gophers set up for themselves with a weekend split against Wisconsin. The way they did it was both concerning and encouraging all at the same time- which is par for the course this season. The Gophers continue to be, um, let's call it "inconsistent at best" on Friday nights, but Friday's 4-1 loss to the Badgers took it to a new level- or a new low. Ryan Cardinal of GPL sums it up:

Also, the Gophers lost 4-1 to an average-at-best Wisconsin team and looked as bad and lifeless as they have all year.

One game does not make a season, but Friday’s effort – or lack thereof – in a game against one of the team’s top rivals with a chance to outright clinch the regular season title is a little disconcerting.

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Well? We hoped for a strong showing this weekend at the always tough CenturyLink Center in Omaha against Dean Blais' UNO squad, and boy did we get it. It wasn't always pretty, but it was definitely exciting as the Gophers pulled off a sweep of the Mavericks. The Gophers played well on a Friday night for the third time in four tries, which is a lot better than they had been doing in conference play the past few months- and years. They scored early Friday night thanks to Sam Warning, and held a 1-zip lead after one. The Mavs rallied with two in the second, including a rare shorty that the Gophs' just don't usually give up.

That set us up for the usual Friday let down in the third right? Nope, they got the tying goal from-who else?- Nick Bjugstad, and then saved the heroics for overtime. Barely two minutes into the extra period, defenseman Jake Parenteau got a shot off from the left point that missed wide, but Nate Condon got it back to him and he fired again on a shot that looked like it was fired out of a cannon! BOOM! He wired it top-shelf and sent the Gophers into pandamonium. Aside from allowing the shorthanded goal, the Gophs played pretty well, outshooting UNO 32-24 in the contest.

Saturday night we finally had a Kyle Rau goal sighting not once but twice! Rau had struggled a bit putting the puck in the net since his return from the World Juniors, but he scored two beauties on the power play- both on feeds from Erik Haula-, including what would eventually be the game winner. Despite being outshot 29-19, AND giving up their second short-handed goal of the series that cut their lead in the third period to 3-2, Minnesota hung on for a YUGE sweep of UNO.

The win kept them two points ahead of UMD for first place in the WCHA with just two games to play. Because of their sweep of Duluth back in October, Minnesota holds the tie-breaker. Per Roman, that means with just one win this weekend against Bucky the Gophers are guaranteed at least a share of the regular season crown, and would receive the #1 seed in the conference tournament. A three-point weekend, or just one Gopher win against Sconnie and one Bulldog loss to St Cloud, means the Gophers would claim the MacNaughton Cup for the first time in what seems like an eternity. Their opponent would be Alaska-Anchorage, the same school that shocked them on home ice a year ago. Remember that? Yeah I try not to either.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The rivalry with the Badgers is always fierce and despite their poor record this season (currently sitting 9th in the WCHA) they always play well against Minnesota, and you know they'd love nothing more than to ruin Minnesota's shot a regular season conference crown. But the Badgers have to come to Mariucci, and UMD has to travel to St Cloud (which is another tough place to play) so it shapes up about as well as you could hope for the Gophers. Now all they have to do is go out and take care of business. Cheer hard for the Gopehrs, and, just this once, St Cloud, and let's hope this time next we're talking about the Gophers as conference champs, and preparations for payback against UAA. All it'll take is just one win against Bucky this weekend. Go Gophers!

You've heard it by now, but here it is again- playing DU, especially in Denver, has been a gong show for Gopher hockey the past few years. We had hoped this year would be different, that a Gopher team ranked in the top 3 in the country, 7th in the Pairwise, and with a three point lead for first place in the WCHA would be able to at least get a split against the Pioneers last weekend. Didn't happen. They got skated off the rink in a 5-3 loss Friday night, and looked, well for the most part they looked like they have in most of their Friday night efforts this season. Just simply not good enough. The Friday night swoon continues, and has for almost FIVE STRAIGHT SEASONS, and yet we remain without an explanation as to why.

Saturday night's loss was a tough one. Both teams were without one of their top scorers (Kyle Rau for Minnesota, Jason Zucker for Denver) and the Gophs' scored first and held a late 3-2 lead. But then the Gophs' penchant for penalties finally got them, as Nick Shore scored on the ensuing PP with less than two minutes left to tie it, then he scored again in OT for the 4-3 win. A crusher, but had the Gophers played better and won Friday night, the loss Saturday wouldn't have hurt quite so bad.

As it stands, it was a craptastic weekend, but all is not lost for Minnesota. Far from it, actually...

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"The sunshine state! Denver. Gorgeous!"

"I thought the Rocky Mountains would be a little rockier than this. That John Denver's full of ****, man."

Whenever I think of Denver, these three quotes are the first thing that comes to mind. When Gopher hockey fans think of Denver, the probably think of struggling and frustration, as the Gophs' have struggled to beat the Pioneers in the past few years. Per Dane Mizutani of the MN Daily:

The Gophers have struggled immensely against Denver in the past and are 2-8-0 in their last 10 meetings, a fact Lucia attributed to inability to score.

Minnesota has scored a total of five goals in those eight losses.

That stretch of losses happened during Minnesota's roughest years under Don Lucia (or just about anyone else, for that matter), while DU has maintained themselves as a top-shelf program during that time. The Gophers are a much better team this season, but they haven't been lighting the lamp with much frequency lately either, as they've only scored more than 3 goals in a game once in their past seven outings (the 6-2 thumping of UND). Minnesota's defense continues to be rock-soiid though, and that will help against a formidable offensive group led by Jason Zucker and Drew Shore. I'd love it if Denver wants to open it up the way UMD did, but I'm expecting another low scoring weekend.

Speaking of UMD, the Gophers lead the Bulldogs by 3 points for 1st in the WCHA, and looking at the standings, those two are the favorites in the race for the regular season crown, but a lot can happen in these last eight games. The top 7 teams have all played 20 conference games, so there's nothing to factor in as far as "games in hand" go. The top 4 are clear cut at the moment with Minnesota atop with 30 points, UMD (27), CC (25), and Denver (24). There's a 3-way battle for 5th, meaning one of Tech, UNO or UND are going to be going on the road in the first round of the WCHA playoffs. My money is on Tech falling to seventh, but then again, I thought they'd get swept by Duluth last week and didn't. I also thought they'd get swept by the Gophers and, of course, didn't. So perhaps I shouldn't underestimate the Huskies.

Denver could climb back into the race in a huge way with a sweep this weekend, or the Gophers could put them out of the title chase with a sweep of their own. I'd count on a split with the usual Friday lethargy followed by the Saturday rebound (also factor in that good ol' Mile High air could be an adjustment), but hey, the Gophs have won three in a row right now including-yes- a Friday night victory over St Cloud. So we'll see. With 8 left to play, all the games are big, and with Minnesota's remaining schedule, they need as much as they can get to keep their cushion on Duluth. After this weekend Minnesota hosts Bemidji, travels to Omaha, then finishes up with Sconnie at home to close the regular season. UMD gets North Dakota at home this weekend, then @ Mankato, home to arch-rival CC, then finish up at St Could State. Although the remaining schedules look pretty even on paper, I'd say the Gophers have a tougher remaining slate than the Bulldogs, as the two series against teams in the bottom half of the standings are Bemidji and Wisconsin, two teams that will have zero trouble being motivated to beat Minnesota.

So it's a big weekend for the Gophers in the sunshine state of Denver, as they need at least a split. A sweep? Now that would be gorgeous!

So Joel Maturi is "retiring" as the athletic director at the University of Minnesota. Interesting, as we guessed that Maturi's ideals of a balanced athletic department where every sport is treated equally would differ from new president Eric Kaler's ideals of an athletic department where the revenue-generating sports produce, you know, revenue.

Also interesting because while Maturi won't be the school's athletic director after June, he'll sure still be getting paid like it. Some folks at in the Minnesota legislature are a wee bit puzzled why Maturi will still get his full athletic director's salary AND full benefits to be a special assistant to Kaler. It means that the University of Minnesota will be paying TWO people to do the job of athletic director, and you can bet whomever they hire isn't going to take less to do the job than what they'll be paying Maturi to NOT do the job.

Should that matter to Gopher fans? We're not the one's paying his salary, except that we kind of are with ticket sales and all the rest. And isn't the full AD's salary he'll be getting next year money that could be going to help fund Maturi's beloved NR's? Maybe there's a precedent here that I'm not aware of. Maybe there's plenty of other BCS schools who give their ousted AD's golden parachutes despite the athletic department needing revenue in a down economy. Maybe, but I'd feel better if Maturi were a special assistant on an assistant's salary, or, maybe he could just actually retire and live off what I'm sure is a hefty pension.

Gopher Hockey moves up in the rankings

As weekend's off go, the one the Minnesota Gopher hockey team just enjoyed was about as good as it gets. The boys got some time to rest up and prepare for the rest of the season while everybody else played some games, and the results for Minnesota were mostly good. Or about as good as expected. The Gophs started the weekend tied for 8th in the Pairwise Standings with a 5 point lead over UMD for first in the WCHA, with the Bulldogs holding two games in hand. UMD played those two games against UAA, and after the Seawolves and Bulldogs split, Duluth was able to only pick up two points on the Gophs. So not only is Minnesota still three points up in the WCHA, but they moved up one spot in the Pairwise too, now sitting tied for 7th with Merrimack.

Now down to fifth? That'd be UMD, and while the national polls don't mean much, it still looks good for the Gophers to be ranked second and UMD third. Or maybe it just feels good. Of course, we don't want our dear rival Bulldogs to fall TOO far, since they're still by far Minnesota's best pair of wins this year, and will be for the rest of the regular season. To keep moving up the Pairwise, Minnesota needs to keep winning, but really, so does Duluth- just not too much. Minnesota gets a chance to help themselves on the ice this weekend when they travel to Denver to play the #17 Pioneers, who are 4th in the WCHA and 14th right now in the Pairwise.

Big Ten's College Football Playoff Plan

How quickly things change; it wasn't long ago- like less than 2 months ago- when B1G commish Jim Delaney was squarely against the idea of a college football playoff. Yet according to the Chicago Tribune's Teddy Greenstein, Delaney is not only now willing to listen to proposals for a playoff, he now has one of his own. Delaney wants a 4 team playoff where the top two seeds host, and the championship game site goes to the highest bidder, much like how the Super Bowl site is selected now. On the surface this seems like a relatively modest proposal, which is fine by me. I think anything more than 4 waters down the best regular season in sports, and this idea would also keep more of the big bowl games on or around January 1 where they belong.

But of course, this is a plan that benefits the B1G too. If the Big Ten gets a team in the top 2, it means someone from the SEC, Big 12 or Pac 12 is coming north in December to play in cold weather in a hostile environment. And if they get the third or fourth best team, well, then they'll just head down to a sunny, warm destination to play the semi-final game- you know, like they already do for bowl games. Sure, Death Valley or Bryant-Denny Stadium or Autzen or Oklahoma Memorial would be a lot tougher to play in than a neutral site like the Rose, Gator or Outback, but it's less of a disadvantage for the cold weather Big Ten teams to have to go south than the possibility of a southern school coming north- in December.

Not only that, but you can be guaranteed that if/when the B1G would place a team in the top 4 of the rankings and out of the regular bowl lineup, the Big Ten is NOT about to lose their Rose Bowl berth. The second best B1G squad would go to the Rose Bowl as I'm sure the second best Pac 12 school would take the place of Oregon or SC or Stanford if they made the top 4. So in Delaney's plan, the B1G gains a possible advantage by hosting a cold weather semi-final game AND still keeps its coveted tie-in with the Rose Bowl.

Now that's what I call a win-win.

A quick hockey-centric Nugz before we go all Gopher football recruiting crazy tomorrow (I'm 99.9% sure Andre McDonald keeps his commitment this time but that .1% still scares the bejeezus out of me). Actually two quick football links. FIrst, per Sid, Moses Alipate is moving to TE. And he's apparently down to 250 pounds. He has to be the first QB ever to lose weight by moving to TE. With Tom Parish transferring and Alipate switching positions, the Gophers are suddenly VERY young at QB behind MarQueis Gray.

Good story in Sunday's Strib about Minnesota football recruits and how many the U grabbed in this year's class. Specifically the bond that's developed between Isaac Hayes and Jonah Persig since they committed to the Gophers. The two even went to see Philip Nelson play at State to show their support for their soon-to-be teammate. I know this class isn't rated highly at all by the experts, but I'm really excited for this group. So much potential, so much underrated talent, and so many Minnesota kids. We'll have more on the 2012 class starting tomorrow, but I'm excited already.

Also from that same piece is news that Hayes is going to play center instead of guard. GN had mentioned recently that center is the one position on the line he's a little worried about, and perhaps the coaches felt the same way? Or they just see Hayes' best position in college being center and that's where they want to play him. I really doubt we see either Hayes or Persig in 2012, but the position switch for Shaft is intriguing to say the least.

Ted Glover of OTE looks at Big Ten recruiting and what it all means- or doesn't mean.

The Gophers pulled off a much needed sweep of the St Cloud State Huskies over the weekend, and another pack of Huskies, these from Michigan Tech, gave Minnesota some help too by shocking UMD not once but twice in Duluth.The results of a most glorious weekend came out today as, per Roman, Minnesota moved up to second in the USCHO.com poll (Duluth received 28 of 60 first place votes, Minnesota grabbed 21 and the other one went to...6th ranked Ferris Bueller? My mistake, it's Ferris State. Still, even Ferris Bueller doesn't deserve a first place vote. Everyone knows that. Put down the Molson there Ferris State voter guy...and pick up some Kill-Aid!!) and in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll the Gophers leapt over the Bulldogs for the top spot, picking up 18 of 34 first place votes (UMD got the other 16. And Ferris State got zero. So there).

Of course, in the one poll that actually matters for making the NCAA tourney, the Gophs still have some work to do, as they're 9th this week in the Pairwise Rankings. The Gophers sit just ahead of Maine and Miami and just behind future B1G hockey conference mates Michigan and Ohio State, but still a ways to go to move into the top four with the likes of Duluth, BC, something called Mass-Lowell and... FERRIS?!?!?

Minnesota still has plenty of time, and plenty of opportunities to keep movin' on up in the Pairwise, starting with Denver (The sunshine state! Denver. GORGEOUS! Gorgeous) in two weeks. They'll get this weekend to rest up, and hopefully remember just how the hell they won a Friday night game for once, bottle it, rinse, repeat. Or whatever they did Friday night when they beat SCSU 2-1, just keeping doing that. Believe it or not- and I'm guessing you can- that was their first Friday night victory in a WCHA series since beating Minnesota State on December 2nd. Yep, almost two solid months without a WCHA Friday night victory (well ok not really. Probably a good time to point out they had almost a month off from the WCHA schedule with Christmas, Hanukkah, Fesitvus-for the rest of us- and New Years, and the Hall of Fame game debacle). And just when I thought they might trade their Friday night letdowns for Saturday, the Gophs beat St Cloud again (called, I believe, a "winning streak"), running their Saturday night record in WCHA games this season to 10-0. It's Minnesota's first three-game win streak since winning four in a row against UAA and UND back in early November. So yeah, this was definitely a much needed sweep.

Hopefully they can carry this momentum through the week off and into Denver next weekend. A couple of wins in the "I thought the Rockies would be a little rockier than this. That John Denver's full of..." would be huge for their Pairwise rankings, and we'll see what happens in the WCHA this weekend while the Gophs are idle.

Lost a bit amongst all the hoopla with the new jerseys was news that sophomore QB Tom Parish has decided to transfer. Parish was a three star recruit from the heart of Badger country, as he starred at Wisconsin high school power Arrowhead. At 6'3 with an accurate arm and good athleticism, he looked a perfect fit to run Jerry Kill's offense, but got lost in the shuffle as he dropped to third on the depth chart in 2012.

While it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that Parish could have fought his way to be MarQueis Gray's backup this year, he would have started the spring as the #3, and with a certain super-duper freshman already on campus, could have potentially slipped further behind. No word on where Parish will transfer to but we wish him the best (as long as it's not the QB needy Badgers, of course).

So with the loss of Parish, what does this do to the Gophers' QB depth chart? No change at the top obviously (or the bottom, for that matter) but there's some battles to be had for the 2-4 spots...

Starter: MarQueis Gray, senior (eligibility as of fall 2012)
Q is the unquestioned leader of the team, and the offense, for the upcoming season. He was far and away the team's most effective and dangerous runner, and that's not likely to change in 2012. Although having someone-or even several someones- step up as a viable option at running back to replace departed senior Duane Bennett is a must for this offense to make some progress. Where Gray needs to show improvement is in the passing game, as he completed only 50.6% of his passes in 2011. Performances like the Michigan State loss, where he completed 19 of 32 passes for 295 yards and 3 TD's, showed the potential is there to be a capable passer, and hopefully another full offseason will help him get there. Q showed last offseason that work ethic won't be an issue, so if the guys around him can put in the same kind of effort, we'll hopefully see the kind of jump in offensive production Jerry Kill's teams usually show from year 1 to year 2. If that happens, Q could be an all-conference quarterback.

Primary Backup: Max Shortell, true sophomore vs. Philip Nelson, true freshman
And here's where things get REALLY interesting...

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Just another wild weekend in the Gophers/Sioux rivalry; UND wins a low-scoring, hard fought battle 2-1 Friday night (I know, I know, I was as shocked as you that Minnesota lost a Friday game. When was the last time that happened? Oh right- it happens EVERY Friday! Or so it seems), only for the Gophers to rally with a fast and aggressive style Saturday night that overwhelmed North Dakota for a 6-2 victory. Minnesota jumped out to a 4-zip lead, and UND responded in their usual classy fashion by starting fights and taking cheap shots. Of course they did. If only to defend their honor and manhood, the Gophers responded with some bad penalties and fights of their own. But again, all entirely in self-defense (wink-wink-nudge-nudge).

The topper was the end-of-game handshake where 6'4, 226 pound senior UND defenseman Ben Blood tried to make himself feel like less of loser by taking a shot at 5'8 173 pound freshman Kyle Rau. You stay classy, Ben Blood! That moment pretty much epitomizes the Sioux and their fan base for me: sore losers. UND played well in their win Friday night (and played very well in both close losses at Mariucci before Christmas), but when Minnesota started romping on Saturday, that's when UND lost their cool and showed their true colors.

Another sign of their sore-loser ways? Before Friday night's game Gopher radio play-by-play man Wally Shaver and analyst Glen Sonmor both made light of the fact that UND is no longer allowed to use the Fighting Sioux nickname or logo, but you sure couldn't tell being at The Ralph. The giant logo and words "Home of the Fighting Sioux" is still at center ice, and it's also still prominently displayed on their jerseys. They fought long and hard to keep their name and logo and lost, but instead of taking it like a man and taking the logo and nickname off the ice surface and jerseys (which be VERY easy to do), they basically responded like this. Not that I'm surprised.

UND used some excuse saying their new jerseys were on "back order". Apparently in Grand Forks, "back order" either means "sitting in boxes unopened at the back of a storage room in the bowels of the Ralph" or "being used for kindling to stay warm on those long North Dakota winter nights when you have nothing else to do but obsess over the fact your team is 7th in the WCHA and the Gophers are better than you".

Come to think of it, maybe we've found UND's new nickname to replace the Sioux? The University of North Dakota Fighting "Sore Losers". Or, as they'd spell it in Grand Forks, the Sore Lioux-sers. Just a thought.

Back to the games on the ice, Rau and Bjugstad were once again the stars of the weekend for Minnesota with three points each. The third line also chipped in nicely in Saturday's win with three assists for captain Taylor Matson, two goals and an assist for Nate Condon, and we had a Seth Ambroz sighting with a goal and an assist. Maybe they should become the new second line as Erik Haula and his linemates struggled again, with a combined one assist the entire weekend. Kent Patterson continued to be his brilliant, wonderful self in net stopping 48 of 52 shots in the series, and the penalty kill looked like its league leading best allowing just one UND goal in nine tries.

In my never-ending quest to figure out why Minnesota continues to struggle in Friday night games, my new theory is aggression- or a lack there of. They took less penalties but also didn't seem as aggressive Friday night and lost, while Saturday night they were flying and aggressive. It led to more penalties (a whopping 10, but a lot of that was after they took the four goal lead and UND started acting like, well, UND) but also a win. Handing the opposition power play opportunities might not be the best strategy, but with a PK as good as the Gophs, I'll take the trade off of living on the edge a bit if more aggression means more penalties but more physical and more offensive opportunities.

All gloating aside, here's hoping these teams meet again at the Final Five in March at The X. The best rivalry in college hockey needs as many new chapters as we can get before 2013 when the schools will go their separate ways and the uncertainty of playing annually begins. Here's also hoping the Gophers come to their senses and don't abide by the ridiculous rule that Minnesota can't play "out of conference opponents with offensive nicknames" so that the Gophs and Sioux can keep playing at least a regular season series per year.

The split over the weekend keeps the Gophers tied atop the WCHA with Duluth, who split with UNO in Omaha. Both schools have 24 points, four up on third place CC, and five points ahead of Denver and UNO. UND? They currently sit in 7th with 16 points. If the playoffs started today they would travel to the UP to play Michigan Tech in the 6 v 7 matchup. I can't wait to see what the Sore Lioux-sers reaction would be if that scenario plays out.

Gopher football received some monstrously good news late yesterday, as the Big Ten has granted corner/kick returner Troy Stoudermire a medical hardship waiver, meaning the senior will return for the 2012 season. Stoudermire broke his forearm in the third game of the year against Miami of Ohio, and tried to play a week later against the NATIONAL CHAMPION NDSU Bison (sorry I thought I'd feel better about the Gophs losing to NDSU if I wrote in really big letters that the Bison won the national championship, but it didn't help), but barely made it through one quarter. He missed the rest of the year, and while in his career he never used a redshirt season, there was still concern that Troy had played in too many games in 2011 to be eligible for the medical hardship. Thankfully the Big Ten made the right call, and the Gopher's top corner will be back next season.

The impact of his return simply cannot be overstated. No really, go ahead and try- you simply cannot make a big enough deal of how good this is for the team and the secondary in 2012. It was easily the weakest area of the team last season, and with the loss of leading tackler Kim Royston, could have potentially been even worse in 2012. Stoudermire is the team's best corner, and with Royston moving on, now their best defensive back, and it's not even close. It's not to put down the team's other corners, but yeah, Stoudermire's injury left a pretty gaping hole in the secondary and opposing quarterbacks filled it with completions all season long.

#11's return won't suddenly make the team's secondary a strength, but having him at the #1 corner spot means there's one less position to worry about. The Gophers bring back some experience to compete for the other starting spot and nickel corner, but we'll see how much talent is truly there. The coaching staff has been working hard to bring in some JUCO-transfer DB's that can play right away.

Still, this is great news for the 2012 team. Anytime you get your top defensive back, who oh by the way is also the Big Ten's all-time leader in kick return yardage, it's nothing but a good thing.

If you follow the Gophers, you know by now how things went against the Irish last Saturday: thoroughly outplayed for the better part of two periods putting them in a 4-1 hole with 5 minutes left. As the fans start heading for the exits, Nick Bjugstad and Zach Budish score 31 second apart to make it 4-3 with about 3 minutes to go. Time would run out on a furious Gopher rally, which had to leave folks wondering- where was that effort for the first 55 minutes?

Good question, and one of a few this loss raises as we head into the second half of the WCHA schedule this weekend on the road...in Grand Forks. Don't look now (and I tend to look or think or speak of the Sioux as little as possible) but since being swept by the Gophers and then splitting with Bemidji State in early November, UND is 7-1-1, with the loss in OT to Nebraska-Omaha, and the tie against Harvard. Two months ago they were struggling, but they've started looking very much like the Sioux clubs we always hate. But more on them later in the week.

For today, a few questions surrounding your varsity hockey club from Dinkytown. I wrote a pretty glowing review of the first half of the season, so I'm not about to say a one goal loss to one of the top teams in hockey (that would be Notre Dame) means it's time to panic or that the sky is falling or that the second half it going to be a slide back down the slippery slope to mediocrity. But it does raise a few issues to ponder (and I don't mean Christian Ponder)...

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Ok so full disclosure: I meant to get this posted last Thursday or Friday. You know, before New Year's Day and the big bowls when the Big Ten fell flat on its face. But because of family commitments, work, and holiday laziness, it didn't happen. Still, a few days after the BCS bowls are done, and we await the national championship Monday, Big Ten fans are licking their wound after their schools got beat on the big stage. As Gopher fans we didn't have a team to root for, but our pride is a bit wounded as OUR conference got its ass kicked. Again. As members of the Big 10, we're inclined to root for our conference brethren this time of year, in a one-for-all and all-for-one mentality where B1G teams winning bowl games is somehow good for Minnesota.

I get that, I really do. I understand why you'd want to cheer for your conference and how it's great when they win and hurts a bit when we lose. But one thing I'll never understand is how Gopher fans can cheer for Wisconsin and Iowa in bowl games...

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Merry Christmas- and Happy Boxing Day! Let's talk some Gopher puck with a look at the positives, and a very few negatives, from the first semester. When the expectations were as low as they were to start the season, and the Gophers currently sit in first place in the WCHA and second in the national rankings, there's not going to be much to complain about in the mid-season review. In fact, let's just get the few negatives/disappointments/need work on I can find out of the way first...

Friday Curse continues

After a stellar first month and a bit when the Gophs won 10 of their first 11 games, their Friday Night Funk returned, as they've lost four of their past five Friday night games. I wrote an entire post on how the past five seasons Minnesota have played worse on Fridays than on Saturday or Sunday, so I'm not going into it all again. The Friday Funk still makes me nervous, but people much smarter than me have assured me it's nothing to worry about, so I will try not to.

Penalties

For the glass half full people, Minnesota has the second best penalty-kill in the WCHA (83.7%) and arguably the best goalie in the land. For the glass half empty people (...raises hand...) those elements are being tested far too often, as Minnesota has been a man short 92 times this year, second only to Minnesota State's whopping 105. The Gophs are committing too many penalties right now, at an average of 15.8 PIM per game. They've gotten away with it thus far, but I'd love to see less penalties and more disciplined play. I feel like too many of these are because they get out-hustled and reach or clutch or grab.

Nick Bjugstad

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Gopher basketball will head into Big Ten conference play at 12-1, as they held off North Dakota State last night- barely. The Bison gave Tubby's team all they could handle as the Gophers survived 63-59. Listening to play-by-play man Mike Grimm in a KFAN interview early yesterday, Grimm said he was nervous about this one and worried it'd be a trap game, and we found out why. The Bison have built a solid program up in Fargo, and they'll have a solid chance to go dancing again come March. Like with football, this game means more to NDSU than Minnesota right now, and you could see it with how hard they fought.

But hey, 12-1 is 12-1 and after losing Mbakwe for the year, I don't know how many folks thought the Gophers would have this strong a start without him. As Grimm said yesterday, one of the reasons is Rodney Williams' play of late, as without Mbakwe, he's been able to play around the rim like he did back in high school. Last night was another good performance for him with 14 points and eight boards.

Down With Goldy reviews the win and has some hard truths about Gopher basketball.

Off Tackle Empire has an entertaining B1G holiday letter.

Gopher hockey is off until their annual holiday tourney late next week, but two Gopher players will get a much different experience, as Nick Bjugstad and Kyle Rau both made Team USA's world juniors squad. Bjugstad, who's been a bit banged up with a shoulder injury, was a lock and will likely center the team's top line. Rau wasn't even invited to the team's summer evaluation camp, but after such a strong first semester with the Gophers, got invited to try-out, and impressed the hell out of head coach Dean Blais. No surprise to Gopher fans who have watched Rau all season. He's not the biggest, not the fastest, but just finds ways to score and make good plays. He should be great for Team USA.

Good news for Wild fans, bad news for college hockey, as Wild prospect Charlie Coyle is leaving BU to play major junior hockey in Canada, where he'll play out this season. Coyle joins fells Wild prospect with the Saint Johns Seadogs, and apparently left school because of academic issues. Coyle will likely be one of Bjugstad's wings on the top line for Team USA.

If you're a fan of hockey, or are looking to become one, I'd highly recommend watching the World Junior tournament. It's a religion in Canada, and is finally starting to gain traction with fans here in the US. TSN of Canada covers just about every game, and NHL Network will pick up their feeds for the US audience. It's a fantastic tournament of the best 20-and-under players in the world, and Team USA is full of college hockey's best. It's very fast, and for the players, these games are the biggest of their lives, so you can see the passion in every goal.

The tournament features 10 teams split into two pools, with four games of round robin play, followed by single elimination quarters, semis, gold and bronze medal games. The tourney starts every year Dec 26 and runs through early January. A full schedule is here. Team USA's first game is Monday against Denmark, and is in a pool with the Danes, Czech Republic, Finland, and Canada. If you're looking for something to watch early on New Year's Eve, tune into NHL network at 7pm for USA vs Canada. It might be the best rivalry in hockey right now, and displays absolutely everything that's great about this tournament.

By far the best blog covering Team USA is United States of Hockey. He's rolling out a ton of content right now, including previews of Team USA's forwards, and defensemen and goalies.

The Hockey Writers have a full tournament preview.

Merry Christmas, everybody. Enjoy the holiday and we'll talk to you next week.

Friday is one of those days that's hard not to love: last day of the work week (for most people), the beginning of the weekend, and during the school year it means Gopher sports are happening or about to happen. Friday is a great day, don't get me wrong, but I've found two things I don't like about it: one, obviously, is this Rebecca Black video. It's horrible (I also had to click on it to link to it and now have that stupid song stuck in my head. So whatever you do, don't click that link! Don't do it!).

The other would be Minnesota Golden Gopher hockey, or at least the way they play on Fridays. The Gophs lost last Friday in OT to Michigan Tech, which was their fourth loss in their past five Friday games. Tech's a solid club, especially defensively, but this is not a team Minnesota should lose to at home. They scored the first goal before giving up the next two, having to rally late to tie and then lose in OT. Saturday night? They blew the Huskies right out of the building, which has actually been a typical weekend series for Minnesota not just this season, but the past five. Struggle in the opener (almost always on a Friday) and then settle the score in the second game (almost always on Saturday).

Yeah the Gophers started this season hot winning 10 of their first 11, including 5 straight Friday night victories. Then things turned, as Minnesota is just 5-4-1, including the aforementioned 1-4 Friday skid. And while I'm not here to say the sky is falling or the season is in serious trouble, I would just like to point out that this has become a trend under coach Don Lucia the past five seasons (including this one). Just look at these numbers which compare Friday games vs Saturday/Sunday games going back to the 2007/08 season...

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This weekend the second ranked Gophers play one last series before the Christmas break as they host Michigan Tech. Tech's had a Jeckyl-and-Hyde first semester with two wins over Wisconsin (both in OT) and a win and tie vs #13 Denver. However, since the shocking result with Denver they're just 2-5 with splits against Mankato, UAA and something called St Lawrence, and last weekend they were swept by UMD 5-3 both nights (There's no shame in losing to UMD, I just mentioned it so I could point out that in the latest USCHO rankings has Duluth as the new #1 team in college hockey while the Gophers are second- which makes sense because Minnesota swept UMD in Duluth. Of course, this is not college football so these teams will get a chance to settle things on the ice both in the WCHA tourney and the NCAA's. Look at that- mentioned playoff hockey for the Gophers without even thinking about it. Such a nice change from the past three or four seasons).

So in comes Tech looking to upset the Gophers, and they'll try to do it using some ugly defensive hockey that'll make the Jacque Lemaire Wild clubs look downright offensive- ok maybe not that bad, but after an ugly series last weekend vs the Mavs we could be in for another one this weekend. There's few teams in the conference or the country who can skate with Minnesota, and Tech certainly isn't one of them. They're struggling a bit offensively this season at 3 goals per game, but have ramped up their defense, allowing just a shade under 3 per game at 2.92, which is third best in the WCHA. The Huskies will try and clog the lanes and neutral zone as much as possible, hoping to limit the Gophers chance to skate with the puck and force them to play a dump and chase game. Keep them and their shots to the outside, limit their own mistakes, and try to capitalize on the power play when it comes- and considering Minnesota has taken the second most penalties in the conference, those opportunities for Tech WILL come.

For Minnesota the key is to not get frustrated and stay patient. With this much speed and ability, the opportunities will come, and they need to capitalize when they do. Forecheck like crazy, pounce on mistakes, and staying out of the box would be nice. Nick Bjugstad hasn't score for- gasp!- three whole games so he's due, and scoring early would help negate the, um, "strategery" of the defensive-minded Huskies.

Minnesota eeked out a 4-2 win last Friday, and before that dropped their past three Friday games. It'd be great to see the Gophers come out firing in their last series before the Christmas break, and pick up four points this weekend to stay ahead of UMD, who travel to the Kohl Center to play the not-so-Bucky-Badgers. Tonight's game is at 7 on FSN, while Saturday the puck drops at 8 and is available on FSN's alternate feed.