Gopher Hockey Team Disappoints Fans

The Gopher hockey team lost in the first round of the Dodge Holiday Classic tournament and disappointed Gopher fans everywhere. The boys were pretty upset as well and didn’t emerge out of the Gopher locker room for over 45 minutes and some of them hadn’t even changed yet. There were some serious long faces on fans, players and coaches alike. The Gophers have won the tournament the last 9 years and were expected to at least advance past the first round vs. Rochester Institute of Technology. The Gophers did manage to win the consolation title, beating the Air Force Falcons in an overtime shootout.

What is going on with the Gophers hockey team? Their play is sloppy and the defense is weak. The Gopher seniors need to step up and take charge of this team before it’s too late to salvage the season.

Gopher Hockey Tournament

The Air force, Boston College and RIT are at Mariucci Arena this weekend to take on the Golden Gophers for the Dodge Holiday Classic tournament. The action starts on Saturday Dec 29th at 4pm with the Air Force vs Boston College game and then the Gophers take the ice at 7pm vs. RIT. One ticket gets you into both games!

Be sure to come back to Mariucci Arena on Sunday for a losers game and an evening winners game. This Gopher hockey fan hopes to see her favorite maroon and gold team in the winners game Sunday night. A Golden Gopher tournament win would be a perfect way to ring in the New Year. Let’s go Gophers! Buy Gopher hockey tickets from http://www.gophershockeytickets.com/ Gopher Tournament tickets start out at $49 each!

Gopher Basketball in Vegas

The Gopher Basketball team traveled to Las Vegas today to compete in the Duel of the Desert college basketball tournament. Read about the tournament on http://www.gopherbasketballtickets.com/ Go Gophers!

Gopher Basketball is Hot

The Golden Gopher mens basketball team beat the Santa Clara Broncos at Williams Arena Saturday night 68-50. Way to go Gophers! Gopher Gal missed the game, but one of my friends went and had a great time. He said the "Barn" was on fire and although he called the Gophers a little show boaty with so many steals followed with dramatic slam dunks, he said it was fun to cheer and be excited about Gopher basketball again. He said it was clear that Tubby Smith is a passionate coach and that the players enjoy playing under his direction. I added that it is enjoyable to win as well, especially on your home Williams Arena court. The Gophers are undefeated at Williams Arena this year, let’s hope they are fired up for conference play in 2008.

Gophers Basketball this weekend

The Golden Gophers mens basketball team will take on Santa Clara at Williams Arena on Saturday December 22nd at 6:00pm. Santa Clara travels from sunny California to snowy cold Minnesota with a 7-3 record. The Gophers have been working on bringing down rebounds at practice this week and should be ready to take on the small school Broncos.

A Gopher basketball game at Williams Arena is a great experience and if you have relatives in town this weekend, buy Gopher Basketball tickets and head out to the University for a good time! Gooooo Gophers!

Kyle Okposo leaving Gopher Hockey

I was just reading an article in the Pioneer Press that 19 year old Gopher hockey player Kyle Okposo loves being a college sophomore and playing Guitar Hero with his buddies and getting a good education. He doesn’t love the pressure that has been put on him this Gopher hockey season, but he has been producing more goals lately and has relaxed on the ice.

However, it was just announced that Kyle Okposo will forgo the remainder of the 2007-08 season and his career with the Golden Gophers to sign a contract with the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League. He is the eighth Minnesota player to leave college early for the professional ranks since the end of the 2005-06 season and it shows in the Golden Gophers hockey record this season. Don Lucia will need to amp up the recruiting to keep his Golden Gophers in top shape!

Gopher Gal visits the Barn and not for basketball

I was at Williams Arena this weekend and it wasn’t to watch the Golden Gophers mens basketball team either, it was to watch an upper Midwest cheerleading tournament. If anyone knows Gopher Gal, then they know Gopher Gal was born to cheer! I love this stuff! Go Gophers!

Gophers Hockey Tournament

The Gophers hockey team has this weekend and next weekend off as they prepare for the Dodge Holiday Classic tournament at Mariucci Arena. The legendary tournament begins on Saturday December 29th. Here is the Dodge Holiday Classic Tournament schedule:

Sat. Dec 29 Air Force vs. Boston College 4:07 PM
Gophers vs. RIT 7:07 PM

Sun, Dec 30 RIT vs. Air Force/Boston College 4:07 PM
Gophers vs. Air Force/Boston College 7:07 PM

There are still tickets available from local brokers like Ticket King. One Dodge Holiday Classic ticket gets you into both games for the day at Mariucci. Go Gophers!

Gopher Football Banquet Awards

The Gopher Football team held it’s annual end of the year awards banquet on Sunday. I am wondering if Tim Brewster got the worst season ever award? He should have. Or how about biggest dreamer award? For sure that goes to Tim Brewster. Anyway, Senior safety Dominique Barber was honored as the Gophers' most valuable player. Read about more awards here.

Gopher Hockey Splits North Dakota

The mens gopher hockey team split the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux series in Grand Forks, losing Friday night 2-4 and then winning 4-3 on Saturday night. At one time the Sioux were picked #1 in the WCHA so to come out of the series with a split is a good thing for the ailing gopher hockey program.

This Golden Gopher Hockey fan thought the Gophs were going to lose Saturday night as the Sioux put up a flurry of shots in the last minute. North Dakota pulled the goalie and put on quite a rally in front of their hometown fans at Ralph Engelstad arena. In fact they rallied all third period! Minnesota led 4-1 with four minutes to go, but the Sioux refused to go down without a fight. Thankfully, the Minnesota Golden Gophers hung on for the much needed road victory.

Mike Hoeffel, a freshman Gopher forward, scored two goals for the maroon and gold and Blake Wheeler and Ben Gordon each put one between the pipes for the Gopher victory.

Gopher Basketball is Hot

The Gopher mens basketball team steamrolled the Colorado State Rams last night at Williams Arena. Dan Coleman and Blake Hoffarber combined to score 43 points to lead the Golden Gophers to a 91-74 victory over Colorado. The Gophers played stellar defense and shot 54 percent from the floor on offense. The Golden Gophers mens basketball team is now 6-1 for the first since 2002-03.

Dan Coleman had an outstanding overall game, scoring 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting to go with 11 rebounds to rack up his sixth career double-double. Coleman also scored his 1,000th career point in the second half, becoming the 34th player in the University of Minnesota school history to achieve the milestone. Congrats Dan!

Tubby at Xcel Energy Center

Gophers men's basketball coach Tubby Smith made the "Let's Play Hockey" call before the Minnesota Wild game against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Xcel Energy Center on Wednesday December 5th. The Wild lost to the Flyers 1-3…Perhaps Tubby should have went down to the locker room to talk some defense before the game because if any one knows defense, it’s Tubby and not the Minnesota Wild Wednesday night.

Gophers hockey takes on Fighting Sioux

Next up for the Gophers hockey team is a tough road series against arch rival University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux. The maroon and goal will take on the Fighting Sioux at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota tomorrow night and again on Saturday. Both games will be televised live by Fox Sports Net North so I will be glued to my TV both nights and with a Vikings game on Sunday, it is going to be a sports weekend at Gopher Gals house. Good thing I can wrap my Christmas presents while I’m yelling at the TV! The Gophers North Dakota rivalry is my favorite so this is a big weekend for me! Go Gophers!

Gopher Basketball Schedule

The Gophers mens basketball team is all the buzz on the University of Minnesota Campus and the buzz won’t be dying down any time soon. The Gophers have three more home games the month of December and I expect the "Barn" will continue to fill up with golden gopher fans. Buy your Gopher Basketball tickets early or be left out in the cold.

Upcoming Gopher Basketball Schedule . . .
- Sat. Dec. 8 vs. Colorado State @ Williams Arena 7:00 PM
- Wed. Dec. 12 vs. South Dakota State @ Williams Arena 8:00 PM
- Sat. Dec. 22 vs. Santa Clara @ Williams Arena 6:00 PM

Gophers split the tough Michigan Tech series

Well, the Michigan Tech series shouldn’t be labeled as tough, but let’s face it the Gophers aren’t playing stellar hockey and Michigan Tech is a tough team. The Gophers lost the Friday night match-up 2-3 in overtime at Mariucci Arena, but managed to break their four game losing streak by winning 3-1 on Saturday night on their home pond. Mike Howe scored two goals and Kyle Okposo got his sixth goal of the season as the Gophers skated past the Michigan Tech Huskies. The Saturday gopher hockey game reminded me of the Gopher hockey team I so love, great shooting and fast skating. Now let’s keep it up!

Gophers Basketball is Hot!

Gopher Basketball fans, if you have been sleeping under rock and haven’t heard how great the Gopher mens basketball team is, it’s time to wake-up! The Gophers are 5-1 on the season under the direction of new head coach Tubby Smith. Here’s a snapshot of the Gopher basketball season so far:

Nov 10 vs . Army @ Williams Arena…84 - 52 (WIN!)
Nov 20 vs. Iowa State @ Ames, Iowa…68 - 58 (WIN!)
Nov 24 vs. Central Michigan @ Williams Arena …77 - 59 (WIN!)
Nov 27 vs. Florida State @ Tallahassee…61 - 75 (loss)
Dec 1 vs. UC-Riverside @ Williams Arena…75 - 38 (BIG WIN!)
Dec 3 vs. North Dakota State @ Williams Arena… 88 - 56 (WIN!)