University of Minnesota Athletics
Looking Back
3/8/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Junior year arrives and you begin to step up and speak up. Team goals become more important, and as your class battles for accomplishments as a unit, you realize the game is about glory for your team, not for yourself. The third year passes faster than the first two and you realize there is only one more season to reach team goals and make an impact.
Senior year arrives. You are now the leader. You and your classmates are the ones all the younger players are looking to for advice and guidance. You set the tone, in the locker room and on the ice. By the final year, time is flying, and before you know it, you're looking back to that first day of practice, remembering the way you looked at the seniors with awe, thinking that they had been on the team for so long. Only now do you realize how much you have grown, as a person and as a player and you are wishing that you would have listened to those guys when they said, "Enjoy every moment. Before you know it, it'll be coming to an end."
This is what six seniors that will take the Mariucci Arena ice for the final time this weekend, are saying to themselves right now.
What has being a Golden Gopher meant to you?
Johnny Pohl: "It has been everything I hoped it could be. On the ice, off the ice, in the classroom.the friendships I've made. It's been everything I thought it would be and more."
Nick Angell: "I played against most of these guys growing up, and then we all came here and we get to know each other as individuals."
Jordan Leopold: "Becoming friends along the way."
Pat O'Leary: "Playing against players you see in the NHL now."
Adam Hauser: "After these four years, you leave the `U' as who you are as a person. How you've grown and developed over this time, the decisions you make and choices you make as an athlete and person shape who you are now."
What will you miss most about University of Minnesota hockey?
NA: [Laughing] "Early morning bike workouts."
JP: "Playing at home and winning at home. Walking into the locker room after winning."
NA: "Feeling you're part of a team. There's not going to be that big `family' feeling after this."
JL: "The Rouser."
PO: "I'll miss the road trips. That's where you get to know each other and hang out as a team."
Erik Wendell: "I think it's one of those situations where you don't know what you're going to miss most until you're out. My family seeing me play, having my family in the crowd. I'm going to miss that."
What will you miss the least?
NA: "Early morning bike workouts."
PO: "Those red-eye flights."
JL: "Ugh. Those trips to Alaska."
NA: "People asking `do you actually play, or do you just wear the sweatpants?'"
PO: "Mandatory study hours."
What are your proudest accomplishments?
NA: "We came from a 15-19 team our freshman year. We stuck with it and played a big part in bringing up the team."
JL: "We got better and better."
PO: "[Hockey media relations director John] Romo told me the other day that we are only one of three teams in Gopher history that has gotten progressively better over our time here. That's really impressive."
JL: "Our class started with more than just us six, but we stuck it out for four years."
EW: "And we're all graduating."
PO: "Yeah, we're all good students. That's something to be proud of."
What is your most memorable game?
PO: "Beating Colorado College in overtime [March 11, 2000 - MN 3, CC 2]. That gave us the sweep and we got to go the Final Five."
JL: "Yeah, that's mine. And the celebration after."
AH: "Yep."
JP: "I think you can put that one down for all of us." [Angell and Wendell nodding].
Coming in as a freshman, what is something you wish you would have known then?
NA: "I wish someone would have told me what classes to take. I started taking anything, you don't know how it works."
EW: "I wish someone would have told me to appreciate everything. You don't know how fast everything is going to go."
PO:"I agree."
NA: "I agree."
JL: "To know that we have a chance to make the NCAA Frozen Four. It's been a goal of all of ours, and the first three years here we didn't have a crack at it. But we stuck it out and this year we have a chance."
JP: "I wish I would have been prepped better for college. I stunk."
Anonymous teammate: [Laughing] "Yeah you did."
EW: "I wish I would have known Johnny's classes, they have no work."
AH: "I wish I would have started playing guitar then."
What piece of advice would you give underclassmen or the incoming freshmen?
PO: "Do well your first year of school. If you do that, then you'll have an easier time over your career with classes. It's just kind of a matter of fact that your grades start going down during your career, so it's best to start with a high GPA."
NA: "Remember that people are watching you all the time, whether on the ice or not. Watch yourself and keep up a good reputation for the team."
AH: "Meet people. Get to know your classmates and people around you, and not just because you're a hockey player."
EW: "Really work hard everyday - your time here goes fast."
JP: "It's a lot harder than you think. Get after it right away. Work out over the summer - don't slack. Cherish every win."
NA: "Start working hard from the first day of practice."
JL: "I thought we were going to be going to the [NCAA] tournament more than we did. We have a chance to go again this year, but the first two years - nothing. It takes work. I guess I'm trying to say don't take anything for granted, it may not come again."
NA: "Keep the mullet in fashion."
JL: "We're the last class of the Wooger [former Head Coach Doug Woog]. We're survivors."
What is your favorite Mariucci memory or favorite moment?
NA: "I had never seen a Gopher game until I visited as a recruit. I had no idea of the tradition until I was actually in here. The first game I played, I remember I saw my parents and I thought, `Wow! I can do this!'"
PO: "Coming up from the elevator after games, there are fans still there waiting to see you. Win or lose, and it was mostly lose during the first two years here. Half of them were Jordan's family. But seriously, the support was great."
EW: "The stick salute. I'm going to miss that after sweeping at home."
JP: "Sweeping - there's nothing better."
JL: "Sweeping - nothing's better."
How do you deal with being a role model for so many kids?
AH: "Say you go up to a singer or Wayne Gretzky or anyone else you admire, you get a charge out of it. We know how it feels to go up to someone and ask for an autograph or something. To know that someone is feeling that talking to you - it's really cool."
PO: "You'll sign something for a kid and their cousin or brother or friend will come up to you two weeks later talking about it. You might barely remember, but it's a life-event for this kid and they go and tell everyone about it."
AH: "For as long a day as Skate with the Gophers is, it's totally worth it. The only thing that sucks you can't remember everyone."
EW: "Except for Johnny, he remembers everyone."
JL: "The cool thing is growing up I went to Skate with the Gophers. It's a funny situation to be in now. It's surreal, like living in a dream. It's always been a dream and I wish it could last forever, but as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end."
How do you guys as a class want to be remembered?
AH: "We stuck it out."
PO: "As good students."
EW: "A successful class."
NA: "Good players and good people."
EW: "I want people years from now to say `remember that class.' and think of us and our time here, the impact we made at the U."
If you could say something to the fans, what would that be?
NA: "Thank you. It's easy to be a `fair-weather' fan. There's deep tradition in this program, and even if the team's not winning, they are still there cheering."
EW: "Thanks for the support."
PO: "Thank you."
JP: "Thanks."
AH: "Thanks."
JL: "Thank you."
Written by Men's Athletics Media Relations Student Assistant Courtney Walerius
Somehow, between walking into Mariucci Arena during freshman year and playing in the last game as a Golden Gopher senior year, time plays a trick. In the beginning, time could not go by fast enough. First workout, first collegiate semester, first season - everything ticks by so slowly. Soon summer workouts begin, and you've done it all before. Sophomore year rolls around and you laugh at the new freshman making the same mistakes you were kicking yourself about just a year ago. Second season comes and goes; you begin to understand your role and work on tailoring your body and mind for it.
Junior year arrives and you begin to step up and speak up. Team goals become more important, and as your class battles for accomplishments as a unit, you realize the game is about glory for your team, not for yourself. The third year passes faster than the first two and you realize there is only one more season to reach team goals and make an impact.
Senior year arrives. You are now the leader. You and your classmates are the ones all the younger players are looking to for advice and guidance. You set the tone, in the locker room and on the ice. By the final year, time is flying, and before you know it, you're looking back to that first day of practice, remembering the way you looked at the seniors with awe, thinking that they had been on the team for so long. Only now do you realize how much you have grown, as a person and as a player and you are wishing that you would have listened to those guys when they said, "Enjoy every moment. Before you know it, it'll be coming to an end."
This is what six seniors that will take the Mariucci Arena ice for the final time this weekend, are saying to themselves right now.
What has being a Golden Gopher meant to you?
Johnny Pohl: "It has been everything I hoped it could be. On the ice, off the ice, in the classroom.the friendships I've made. It's been everything I thought it would be and more."
Nick Angell: "I played against most of these guys growing up, and then we all came here and we get to know each other as individuals."
Jordan Leopold: "Becoming friends along the way."
Pat O'Leary: "Playing against players you see in the NHL now."
Adam Hauser: "After these four years, you leave the `U' as who you are as a person. How you've grown and developed over this time, the decisions you make and choices you make as an athlete and person shape who you are now."
What will you miss most about University of Minnesota hockey?
NA: [Laughing] "Early morning bike workouts."
JP: "Playing at home and winning at home. Walking into the locker room after winning."
NA: "Feeling you're part of a team. There's not going to be that big `family' feeling after this."
JL: "The Rouser."
PO: "I'll miss the road trips. That's where you get to know each other and hang out as a team."
Erik Wendell: "I think it's one of those situations where you don't know what you're going to miss most until you're out. My family seeing me play, having my family in the crowd. I'm going to miss that."
What will you miss the least?
NA: "Early morning bike workouts."
PO: "Those red-eye flights."
JL: "Ugh. Those trips to Alaska."
NA: "People asking `do you actually play, or do you just wear the sweatpants?'"
PO: "Mandatory study hours."
What are your proudest accomplishments?
NA: "We came from a 15-19 team our freshman year. We stuck with it and played a big part in bringing up the team."
JL: "We got better and better."
PO: "[Hockey media relations director John] Romo told me the other day that we are only one of three teams in Gopher history that has gotten progressively better over our time here. That's really impressive."
JL: "Our class started with more than just us six, but we stuck it out for four years."
EW: "And we're all graduating."
PO: "Yeah, we're all good students. That's something to be proud of."
What is your most memorable game?
PO: "Beating Colorado College in overtime [March 11, 2000 - MN 3, CC 2]. That gave us the sweep and we got to go the Final Five."
JL: "Yeah, that's mine. And the celebration after."
AH: "Yep."
JP: "I think you can put that one down for all of us." [Angell and Wendell nodding].
Coming in as a freshman, what is something you wish you would have known then?
NA: "I wish someone would have told me what classes to take. I started taking anything, you don't know how it works."
EW: "I wish someone would have told me to appreciate everything. You don't know how fast everything is going to go."
PO:"I agree."
NA: "I agree."
JL: "To know that we have a chance to make the NCAA Frozen Four. It's been a goal of all of ours, and the first three years here we didn't have a crack at it. But we stuck it out and this year we have a chance."
JP: "I wish I would have been prepped better for college. I stunk."
Anonymous teammate: [Laughing] "Yeah you did."
EW: "I wish I would have known Johnny's classes, they have no work."
AH: "I wish I would have started playing guitar then."
What piece of advice would you give underclassmen or the incoming freshmen?
PO: "Do well your first year of school. If you do that, then you'll have an easier time over your career with classes. It's just kind of a matter of fact that your grades start going down during your career, so it's best to start with a high GPA."
NA: "Remember that people are watching you all the time, whether on the ice or not. Watch yourself and keep up a good reputation for the team."
AH: "Meet people. Get to know your classmates and people around you, and not just because you're a hockey player."
EW: "Really work hard everyday - your time here goes fast."
JP: "It's a lot harder than you think. Get after it right away. Work out over the summer - don't slack. Cherish every win."
NA: "Start working hard from the first day of practice."
JL: "I thought we were going to be going to the [NCAA] tournament more than we did. We have a chance to go again this year, but the first two years - nothing. It takes work. I guess I'm trying to say don't take anything for granted, it may not come again."
NA: "Keep the mullet in fashion."
JL: "We're the last class of the Wooger [former Head Coach Doug Woog]. We're survivors."
What is your favorite Mariucci memory or favorite moment?
NA: "I had never seen a Gopher game until I visited as a recruit. I had no idea of the tradition until I was actually in here. The first game I played, I remember I saw my parents and I thought, `Wow! I can do this!'"
PO: "Coming up from the elevator after games, there are fans still there waiting to see you. Win or lose, and it was mostly lose during the first two years here. Half of them were Jordan's family. But seriously, the support was great."
EW: "The stick salute. I'm going to miss that after sweeping at home."
JP: "Sweeping - there's nothing better."
JL: "Sweeping - nothing's better."
How do you deal with being a role model for so many kids?
AH: "Say you go up to a singer or Wayne Gretzky or anyone else you admire, you get a charge out of it. We know how it feels to go up to someone and ask for an autograph or something. To know that someone is feeling that talking to you - it's really cool."
PO: "You'll sign something for a kid and their cousin or brother or friend will come up to you two weeks later talking about it. You might barely remember, but it's a life-event for this kid and they go and tell everyone about it."
AH: "For as long a day as Skate with the Gophers is, it's totally worth it. The only thing that sucks you can't remember everyone."
EW: "Except for Johnny, he remembers everyone."
JL: "The cool thing is growing up I went to Skate with the Gophers. It's a funny situation to be in now. It's surreal, like living in a dream. It's always been a dream and I wish it could last forever, but as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end."
How do you guys as a class want to be remembered?
AH: "We stuck it out."
PO: "As good students."
EW: "A successful class."
NA: "Good players and good people."
EW: "I want people years from now to say `remember that class.' and think of us and our time here, the impact we made at the U."
If you could say something to the fans, what would that be?
NA: "Thank you. It's easy to be a `fair-weather' fan. There's deep tradition in this program, and even if the team's not winning, they are still there cheering."
EW: "Thanks for the support."
PO: "Thank you."
JP: "Thanks."
AH: "Thanks."
JL: "Thank you."
Written by Men's Athletics Media Relations Student Assistant Courtney Walerius
