Gopher Hockey Laces Up for Home Games

Minnesota Gophers play their first home games this weekend with three games, hosting Ohio State on Thursday and Friday before taking on the U.S. Under-18 team in an exhibition game on Saturday. Both games against the Buckeyes will be televised regionally on FSN North (although I can't find it on their website). I won’t be able to make it out to Mariucci Arena this week so I will have to rely on the local sports coverage to keep me filled in (that’s always a little disappointing for this Gopher fan)

Fun series facts from the Gopher website:

The Series vs. Ohio State
The Golden Gophers hold a 10-1 all-time record against the Buckeyes in a series dating back to 1968. Minnesota swept Ohio State 7-2 and 6-3 last season in its first-ever visit to Columbus. The Gophers are 5-1 against the Buckeyes at home and have won all three meetings on neutral ice. This weekend’s games mark the first time Ohio State has played a two-game series at Mariucci Arena since Minnesota posted a sweep on Jan. 2-3, 1981. The Gophers have outscored the Buckeyes 68-27 in their 10 meetings. Minnesota’s only loss in the series came in the third-place game of the Dodge Holiday Classic on Dec. 28, 1998 as the Buckeyes scored with seven seconds left in regulation for a 6-5 victory.

Gopher Hockey loses two in a row

I guess Gopher Gal shouldn’t have been so excited for the Gopher hockey season to start because it sure didn’t start that well. The Gophers got swept on the road by Colorado College dropping Friday nights game 3-1 and then losing Saturday night 2-1 in overtime. It was the first time since 2004 that Minnesota was swept in a road series and opened the Western Collegiate Hockey Association season with two losses. It was the first time since 1999 that the Gophers were swept by Colorado.

Saturday night was a tough match for the Gophers. Minnesota fired 21 shots on goal in the third period and had the Tigers on their heels, but Colorado College finally broke through against Gophers’ goaltender Jeff Frazee when Chad Rau (from Eden Prairie - Donny Lu should have recruited him!) launched a shot from the slot over Frazee for the game-winner 2:42 into the extra period. The goal came after a short flurry where Frazee made three solid saves. The junior was strong in net all night long with 25 saves, including several outstanding first period stops.

The losses were tough for sure, but let’s hope the Gopher hockey team can bounce back and not take any lessons from the habitual losing Gopher football team.

Gopher Football Team Loses . . . Again

The Golden Gopher Football team lost to the North Dakota State Bison on Saturday 27-21. It was a disappointing show for Gopher fans for sure. The HHH Metrodome was packed with 63,088 screaming football fans that saw the maroon and gold fall to 1-7 on the season. North Dakota State continued its unbeaten season, improving to 7-0.

Minnesota collected 307 yards of total offense to North Dakota State’s 585. Bison junior running Tyler Roehl was the star of the game, running for a school-record 263 yards on 22 carries. Adam Weber led the Gophers with 162 yards passing and one touchdown. The Golden Gopher defense was basically non existent and is definitely the worst in the league, perhaps the worst in Gopher history.

KEY POINT OF THE SEASON: Tim Brewster has his work cut out for him recruiting next year if he wants to live up to any of his promises that he made to the state of Minnesota and Gopher Nation.

Gopher Hockey Team Starts Season With Victory

The Gopher hockey team ruled the Ice Breaker Invitational and came away with the trophy, but just barely. Gopher Goalie Jeff Frazee was the star of the tourney and made a career-high 44 saves as the Michigan Wolverines outshot Minnesota 47-22 in front of 14,868 at the Xcel Energy Center during Saturday’s championship game. The Gophers squeezed the win out of Michigan with a 4-3 victory. The Gophers seized a 2-0 lead in the first period before weathering a withering Michigan attack that put 38 shots on net over the final 40 minutes.

"A day in the life of a goalie," Frazee said with a smile.

"I think Jeff Frazee earned his scholarship this weekend," Gophers coach Don
Lucia said.

"No doubt, Frazee won the tournament for us," said freshman Gophers forward
Patrick White, who scored the winning goal at 5:27 of the third period.

It's early, of course, but Frazee's play is just one of the good signs for the Gophers. They still have several other issues to work out like building a better defensive line. All in all, the Gopher hockey team looked good back on the ice and I am ready for the season to get rolling! Let’s go Gophers!

Gopher Football Team Loses . . . Again

The Gopher football team had another disappointing loss last weekend vs. Northwestern. This may be the worst loss of the season, at least it is the worst loss emotionally for Gopher Gal because the Gophers had the win in the bag and managed to let it out with just minutes to go. At one point, the Gophers had a 21 point lead - 21 points! The final score was 49-48 after a double overtime.

The Gophers' defense gave up 589 yards, including 470 passing yards and four touchdowns – ouch! Coach Tim Brewster has some definite work ahead of him and he better step up the recruiting. Next up is NDSU at the Metrdome. The North Dakota State Bison are 6-0 and are looking forward to taking on the Gophers. The Bison will draw at least 20,000 of their own fans into the Dome. Last years match-up was a hard fought game that ended with a win for the Gophers, but just barely. This Gopher Gal hates to say it, but I am no longer sure that the Gophers can beat the Bison . . . I will see you at the Gopher game!

Gopher Football Schedule has Win Possibilities

Gopher Gal is rather tired of pondering Minnesota football losses. With the Vikings 1-3 and now the Gopher Football team 1-5 what is happening to our once hearty Minnesota football teams? I still have faith that the Golden Gopher Football Team will win at least two more games. The remaining Gopher Football Schedule looks like this:

Sat. Oct 13 Northwestern - at Evanston, Illinois
Sat. Oct 20 North Dakota State - Metrodome 11:00 AM
Sat. Oct 27 Michigan - at Ann Arbor, Michigan
Sat. Nov 03 Illinois (Homecoming) - Metrodome 7:00 PM
Sat. Nov 10 Iowa - at Iowa City, Iowa
Sat. Nov 17 Wisconsin - Metrodome

I think the Gophers can pull a victory off in the Gophers vs. North Dakota State game at the Metrodome and tickets for this match-up are pretty expensive starting off at $99 per ticket on a Gopher Football Tickets web site. I know a lot of NDSU fans make the trip to the Dome and it should be an exciting game. Let’s hope the Gophers fare better in their border battle than the Vikings did against the Packers two weeks ago.

The second win I think will come in the Gophers vs. Illinois game on Saturday November 3rd. It’s Gopher homecoming and coach Tim Brewster will do whatever is necessary to bring home the victory for his University of Minnesota students and fans. Anyone care to challenge my predictions?

Let’s hear your Gopher Football Comments!

Gopher Hockey Ranked #2

With the Minnesota Wild Preseason off to a rolling start, it is never too early to talk about Gopher Hockey (besides Gopher Hockey Tickets were mailed out last week). I see the forces that be are naming the Golden Gopher Hockey team as the number 2 team this year in the WCHA. Well, we will just have to see about that. I am not debating the fact that North Dakota will be tough, but the Gophers will be equally competitive and listed as number two their Fighting Sioux rivals will only make the Gopher Hockey team want “it” more. Here are the results:

2007-08 Preseason WCHA Coaches' Poll
School (1st Place Votes), Points
1. North Dakota (7), 79
2. Minnesota (3), 74
3. Colorado College, 55
4. Denver, 53
5. Wisconsin, 52
6. St. Cloud State, 43
7. Michigan Tech, 41
8. Minnesota Duluth, 23
9. Minnesota State, Mankato, 19
10. Alaska Anchorage, 11

Gopher Lose Big Ten Opener, Hope to Rebound

Once again the Minnesota Gopher football team played stellar in the second half, but just couldn’t recover from their first half fallout. Minnesota spotted Purdue a 21-point halftime lead and lost the Big Ten season opener by a 45-31 count at the HHH Metrodome in Minneapolis last Saturday.

I was proud to see my Gophers score on four consecutive possessions after halftime and I kept asking myself where was that team at the beginning of the game? I am sounding like a broken record because that is what I said last week! Clearly, Tim Brewster didn’t read my recommendation that he start the Gophers off earlier in the evening to fool their minds into thinking that the first half is really the second half. Brewster even said in a post game quote:

“Our coaching staff needs to figure out a way for us to start better. We are
going to continue to put our guys in positions to make plays. Sooner or later
those breaks are going to fall our way.”

My challenge to Brewster is how many games do you need to figure this out? I think by the fourth game of the season you should have it figured out. Next up for the Gopher football squad: Ohio State at the Dome this Saturday 7pm. Lots of Gopher Football Tickets for sale , $40 (below face) to get you in the door.

Gophers Lose on the Road

As a huge gopher football fan, I still believe in this team. It’s tough to look at last weeks loss and not want to throw up, but the Gopher Football team will take on Purdue Boilermakers this Saturday in it’s first Big 10 game and I still have high hopes for the outcome.

Last Saturday, the Gophers lost to Florida Atlantic Owls 42-39 in Florida. Gopher quarterback Adam Weber passed for 335 yards and four touchdowns and receiver Eric Decker hauled in a career-high 12 passes for 165 yards, but Minnesota couldn’t overcome seven turnovers. The defense didn’t exactly look top notch either allowing 42 points to a non-conference team?!? That’s lunacy.

The one thing I have consistently noticed about the Gophers football team this year? They always play better in the second half. Why is that? Does the pep talk in the locker room fire them up? Are they just slow starters? Maybe the Gophers should spend more time warming up before the Purdue game so they take the field with the same energy they do in the third quarter of football games.

Gopher Football Fans don’t give up! Support your team and head out to the Metrodome Saturday night. There are still good Gopher Football Tickets left and the game should be interesting to say the least. I doubt Tim Brewster will want to be embarrassed on national TV.

Buy Gopher vs. Purdue Tickets!

Gopher Football Team Wins!

Gopher Gal went to the Gophers football game last Saturday and I have to say that it was one of the most on the edge of your seat games I have ever been to. The Gophers played Miami (Ohio) at the Metrodome and managed to pull off an emotional 41-35 victory after three overtime periods.

I was only one of over 45,000 screaming maroon and gold fans that held their breath at the Dome on Saturday as the Gophers’ offense took to the field first in the second overtime and moved the ball to the Miami 2-yard line. The drive lost steam and Minnesota was forced to attempt a 26-yard field goal which Jason Giannini pushed wide left. I heard several Gopher fans say, “well our kicker missed, but theirs won’t so lets just leave.” This Gopher Gal is glad she stuck it out because the Miami Redhawks rushed four consecutive plays, needing only to score to capture the win, but they went no further than the Gophers’ 10-yard line. The Miami kicker then lined up for a 33-yard potential game winning goal which sailed wide right.

In the third overtime, Senior cornerback Jamal Harris made his second interception of the game, ending the RedHawks’ drive in the final overtime period. Amir Pinnix made the final touchdown to win the game for the Golden Gopher football team. Pinnix finished with 126 yards on 28 carries, his fifth consecutive game with over 100 yards. Gopher Gal thought Adam Weber and Ernie Wheelwright looked solid for the Gophers, but I think Wheelwright is more successful when he catches and runs on the side of the field vs. the center. I hope Brewster sees that in the tapes and adjusts some of the Wheelwright play options to the right side. Tim Brewster announced that Gopher kicker Jason Giannini lost his role on the Gopher football team and this Gopher fan is happy. The Gopher offense needs a lineup of strong players and that includes the kicker.

Next up is a trip to Florida to take on Florida Atlantic on noon on Saturday. The Gopher team departs Thursday night and let’s hope Tim Brewster can add to his first victory with a road win. Gopher Nation is alive and well!