Kevin Kurtt

Gopher hockey is back

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Last Updated on Wednesday, 11 July 2012 20:12

By Kevin Kurtt
Let’s Play Hockey Editor

Excuse me while I play the role of University of Minnesota apologist.

Golden Gopher hockey is back. Yes, I know Minnesota lost 6-1 to Boston College in the NCAA Frozen Four in Tampa, Fla., last week. And, yes, I know the Gophers didn’t exactly have their ‘A’ game in the loss to the eventual national champions.

No matter.

After a hiatus as one of college hockey’s premier programs, Minnesota’s Pride on Ice is once again finally that – a source of pride for a state that bills itself as the State of Hockey.

The Gophers posted 28 wins, their most since 2006-07. They won the regular season WCHA title, also their first since 2006-07. They advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008 and the Frozen Four for the first time since 2005.

Those accomplishment are nothing to sniff at. Not when fans were calling for head coach Don Lucia’s job a mere 11 months ago after the Gophers were swept at home by Alaska Anchorage in the first round of the WCHA Playoffs, thereby missing the WCHA Final Five and the NCAA Tournament.

The men’s hockey program at the University of Minnesota should never miss the WCHA Final Five, nor the NCAA Tournament. The Golden Gophers had failed to do exactly that for three straight seasons. That’s unacceptable. That three-year drought makes this season’s turnaround all the more impressive.

What the Gophers accomplished in the 2011-12 campaign was both expected and unexpected. Minnesota is expected to be in the upper echelon of teams in NCAA men’s college hockey, but the 2011-12 edition of Gopher hockey wasn’t expected to be soaking up the Florida sun this April.

This was a team picked to finish sixth in the WCHA by the league’s media. This was a team with 18 freshmen and sophomores on its roster. This was a team with a head coach on the hot seat and an altered coaching staff with the departure of John Hill and the return of Mike Guentzel.

There are always high expectations for Minnesota, but most Gopher followers expected merely a return to respectability, not an immediate return to greatness. But the Gophers provided a lightning quick turnaround to the delight of the hordes of fans in maroon and gold.

How did they do it? Credit goes to both the players and the coaches, but there are a few specific reasons why Minnesota turned its program around so quickly.

First, the coaching job done by Lucia and assistant coaches Mike Guentzel and Grant Potulny cannot be understated. A national coach of the year award finalist this season, Lucia took a young team sprinkled with some quality veterans into a cohesive roster that could both light the lamp and shut down opponent offenses.

Lucia’s improved health also likely played a significant factor after a prolonged battle with sarcoidosis, a rare autoimmune disease that caused numbness and headaches. Though he tried not to let his health affect his coaching, it undoubtedly had an impact on his teams the past several seasons.

One of Lucia’s most important decisions for this year’s Gophers happened in the offseason when he replaced good friend John Hill with long-time Gopher assistant Mike Guentzel. Changing assistant coaches is rarely a recipe for a quick turnaround, but it appears that Guentzel return to Minnesota after a three-year absence was an important ingredient for the Gophers’ success this season.

Guentzel immediately went to work on the Minnesota blue line, transforming a much-maligned unit into a defensive corps that helped Minnesota rank ninth in the nation in scoring defense entering the Frozen Four. Guentzel has also had a significant impact on recruiting, further solidifying his status as one of the most popular personalities in hockey in the state of Minnesota and beyond.

Perhaps no player is a better example of the Gophers’ turnaround than sophomore defenseman Nate Schmidt. The native of St. Cloud had an inauspicious freshman season at Minnesota a year ago, notching just one assist in 13 games. After an offseason of hard work, Schmidt turned in a stellar 2011-12 campaign, compiling totals of 3-38—41 to rank fourth on the team in scoring and third in the nation in assists. For his efforts, Schmidt was named Second Team All-WCHA.

Of course, the Gophers would not have posted this turnaround without the job done by senior goaltender Kent Patterson. An ironman between the pipes, Patterson started every game for Minnesota, earning Second Team All-America honors after posting a 28-14-1 record with a 2.32 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage.

Offensively, Minnesota used its considerable depth to wear down opposing teams more often than not. The Gophers routinely rolled four lines and got scoring from throughout the lineup.

The top line of sophomores Nick Bjugstad and Zach Budish, and freshman Kyle Rau accounted for 29 percent of Minnesota’s points on the year, but the second line of senior Jake Hansen, sophomore Erik Haula and freshman Sam Warning was responsible for 25 percent of the points. Meanwhile, the third line of senior Taylor Matson, sophomore Nate Condon and freshman Travis Boyd regularly killed penalties and provided timely goals throughout the season.

Speaking of Matson, the senior captain brought tremendous leadership to a team sorely in need of a return to elite status. Shortly after the 2010-11 season ended in disappointing fashion, the newly-elected captain led the Golden Gophers through grueling workouts designed to build team unity and endurance for what would be Minnesota’s turnaround season.

The reasons for Minnesota’s banner season don’t end there as it seemed nearly every player on the roster contributed to a win throughout the year. It truly was a team effort for the Golden Gophers in 2011-12. Twenty years from now, those same players will be able to look to the rafters in Mariucci Arena, see their WCHA Champions banner and know that they were the team the brought Golden Gopher hockey back.