The Gophers and Bemidji State are at it again, this time on the big ice sheet at Mariucci Arena, for the best-of-three WCHA first round playoffs this weekend. Minnesota, of course, swept the Beavers in Bemidji last weekend.
Minnesota enters the weekend on a three-game winning streak and unbeaten in five of its last six games. Bemidji State is winless in its last five outings and in 17 of its last 18 games. The Beavers’ only win in recent memory: February 15 against Minnesota-Duluth.
Rare extended series: The Gophers will play the Beavers at least twice this weekend, possibly three times. It’s the first time they’ve faced the same opponent three or more times since they did so under similar circumstances in the spring of 2004. Then, Minnesota swept St. Cloud State in the regular-season finale then knocked the Huskies out of the first round of the conference playoffs the following weekend.
Keeping the Cup: Minnesota won a share of the McNaughton Cup, the trophy presented to the WCHA regular-season champ, last Saturday in Bemidji. St. Cloud State has a share, too, for the first time in school history. Head coach Don Lucia, as reported here earlier, brought the hardware along on the bus to Bemidji just in case and broke it out to a raucous locker room reception following the win.
And thanks, Coach Lucia, for opening the room to us so we could witness the fun!
Scouting the Beavers: No secrets between these two teams after last weekend and not much new from Paul Bunyanland. The big issue this weekend will be the move to Minnesota’s Olympic-sized ice sheet, which doesn’t bode well for Bemidji State’s control game and strong neutral ice approach.
Every Gopher player I’ve spoken with this week is anxious to get the Beavers on the big pond at Mariucci Arena and see how their approach works in all that wide open space.
In Beaver country, hope lives but reality is the order of the day. Bemidji State, which finished the regular season 6-20-8 overall and 5-16-7 in WCHA play, received the 11th seed pitting it against the second seed, Minnesota, which is 24-7-5 overall and captured its share of the McNaughton with a 16-7-5 mark in league action.
One facet on which every coach and player is looking is how Bemidji State’s penalty kill works against the Gophers’ best-in-the-nation power play. With the extra ice, look for the Beavers to be forced to take some obstruction-type penalties in order to try to rein in Minnesota’s man-advantage unit.
The Gophers also surprised by using a trap last week. Will they do that on the big sheet and, if so, how?
Mind-set matters: Beavers head coach Frank Serratore knows there’s a lot to prepare for in this series. A key component of that prep is between the ears of his players. “The biggest thing,” Serratore said, “is creating the mind-set on how to play Minnesota and have a playoff mind-set. You’ve got to manage the puck well and play smart tactical hockey.”
Very true. But I suspect how these teams play away from the puck will go a long way toward deciding this series.
Likely result? A Minnesota sweep. Unless the Beavers pull off a stunner Friday night, which would not be a total surprise and would force the series to a deciding third game on Sunday.
Meanwhile, over at Ridder: An NCAA rematch
While the Gopher men’s team gears up for this weekend’s WCHA first round playoff series with Bemidji State, the Minnesota women hope to continue their incredible, perfect season in the NCAA quarterfinals. And like the number two-rated men’s team, the top-ranked (38-0-0) women will host a team they just beat: number 6/7 North Dakota (26-11-1) Saturday at 4:00 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. It’s a rematch of last weekend’s WCHA Final Faceoff championship game, won by the Gophers.
It’s also a rematch of last year’s NCAA quarterfinal game. Minnesota won that one, too, on it way to a national championship.
No strangers here: This is even crazier than the men’s team’s playing a minimum of four straight against Bemidji State, which the Gophers beat in the season finale series in the North Country last weekend. The Gopher and North Dakota women have already played each other five times this season. In fact, according to WCHA stats, the teams have met ten times in their last 45 games.
The most recent was that WCHA playoff victory last Saturday. Finnish goalie Noora Raty shut out The Team Formerly Known As the Fighting Sioux 2-0 to push the Gophers’ NCAA record winning streak to 45.
Saturday’s tilt will be Minnesota’s 11th appearance and sixth straight in the 13-year-old NCAA Women’s hockey championships.
Nary a road trip this spring: Not only did the Gopher women get to host the WCHA championships and earn home ice for the NCAA regional – they’re also on home ice, providing they advance (seriously?)—for the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four. That tournament will be held at Ridder March 22-24.
Join Tom Chorske, Ben Clymer and me for complete play-by-play coverage of the Gophers-Bemidji State first round tournament action Friday and Saturday on Fox Sports North!
