A Redwing77 Gopher Series Wrap-Up

The Game

This game couldn't have been more up and down. The Sioux dominate the first period yet I felt like the Gophers were the ones who left the period with the momentum. Lo and behold, the second period was just dominant by the Gophers on 5 on 5. It was not good for them on the Powerplay (more on that in the next section). I thought it was going to be just another close loss by the Sioux at one point, but luckily enough, we kill off Frattin's second penalty of the period (more on that in the next section) and Frattin makes amends by scoring in the third.

The big man of the evening is Jason Gregoire. He ends tonight with 1 goal and 2 assists. He was just obscene with the puck tonight and should've scored more than he did. He also was very selfless in giving the puck to Hextall, who should've scored last night.

My UND 3 Stars:

First Star: Jason Gregoire
Second Star: Ben Blood
Third Star: Brad Eidsness

I chose Blood because he was all over the ice and scored. Had he not scored, Trupp gets the nod at 3rd Star and Eids goes up to second. I did not give Frattin a Star (again, explanation upcoming).

My UMN 3 Stars:

First Star: Alex Kangas (yes, Alex Kangas)
Second Star: Nick Leddy
Third Star: Jake Larson

I chose Kangas because he really didn't play poorly at all. He got hung out to dry a lot. This brings me to the operative question: If the Gopher D left Kangas out to drive so much, why have a Dman as the second star? Because one player isn't the whole corps. I think Leddy played pretty well all things considered. Helgeson was outmatched.

The Hit

Ok, my take on the Frattin hit. Simply stated, the hit was illegal, but only for one reason and one reason alone: Frattin left his skates to make the hit. Sweeney stated that it was contact to the head and maybe it was. I thought I heard Looker call it a Charging Major. This Charging major is more to my line of thought. This was a stupid and dangerous hit that was the big note in what has to be the worst period for Matt Frattin since he returned. It was quite possibly the worst period of hockey for him in his entire Sioux career. He was a liability. Yes, you heard it. A liability. Over aggressive, reckless, and payed the price. He spent almost half of the second period (including the last minute 55 of the second) in the penalty box. He hit Wehrs hard and injured him, true enough.

Was it a cheap shot. NO. Frattin didn't come from behind or from the blind side. He came face to face with Wehrs. Wehrs saw it coming. He actually did the right thing, which was put his head up. Unfortunately, Frattin jumped and well... read the first part of this section.

Should he have been ejected. Wooo... I'm actually on the fence on this one, though my reason on the side of giving him an ejection is more of the fan perspective than the rule book. The reason why I would have been "ok" with a 5 minute and a game is because of how Wehrs left the ice. It was OBVIOUS he was injured. He wasn't Robbie Earl-like (he got checked from the behind, laid on the ice so long the trainer came out, he skated back to the bench asking the trainer if they called a major on the Sioux player, and then started out on the ice for the Powerplay). So, since injury occurred, Frattin could have gotten a game and I would have been "ok" with it. But he didn't... because I believe the rulebook gives that decision to the officials and the officials, who enjoy situational officiating, are very reluctant to eject a player when they are not absolutely forced to.

So I'm ok with him staying because now the Gopher fans see the officials through Green colored glasses. The Gophers didn't lose the game because of Frattin's lack of an ejection. Frankly, I was surprised they gave him a major. That was surprisingly what the rulebook said, something the officials only occasionally cite.

But anyways, if Frattin did the same thing but this time didn't leave his skates, at worst it would have been a 2 minute minor, at best, just a really hard hit.

Minnesota

They played better than Game 1 but not as good as Game 2. I'm stunned to say this but... Cepis actually played 90% of the game by the rule book. There were no overt dives I saw unlike in Game 2.

Alex Kangas wasn't the reason the Gophers lost. I think Game 2 and 3 was why Lucia started Kangas over Patterson. What I don't think was good was the fact that Lucia waited until the 3rd period to replace Kangas in Game 1.

The problem with Minnesota isn't Lucia folks. It's John Hill's incompetence and Grant Potulny's inexperience. This year was huge for Grant. If Lucia was serious about his job, this year should be Hill's last with Minnesota. I really think the "whiny" stance the Gopher players take is more Hill's influence than Lucia's. Lucia may say some stuff in the media. He may have hair that reminds some of a 1980's style plant toy. But he's won EVERYWHERE he's gone. You can't get that anywhere.

The Outlook

WCHA Conspiracy Theorists can relax now. McLeod will be in a panic as the superficial sports media morons in MSP will look to an overrated Gopher basketball team or perhaps the Minnesota Mild to occupy their time rather than some good hockey played by good teams.

I don't expect UND to win it all. I have them entering the NCAAs as a #2 seed. And that means that it is very likely we'll get BC in the regional. Yuck.

Update

I fixed a few errors I had in my original post and I'd like to add my 3 Stars of the Series:

First Star: Matt Frattin
Second Star: Jason Gregoire
Third Star: Brad Eidsness

Honorable Mention: Derrick LaPoint, Evan Trupp, Jake Marto, Danny Kristo