University of Minnesota Athletics
No. 1 Gophers Put Streak on the Line at Denver
11/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
The nation’s new top-ranked team puts its 10-game season-opening unbeaten streak on the line this weekend with a two-game series at Denver. The series is a rematch of last season’s WCHA Final Five championship game won 2-1 by the Pioneers. Denver was the only WCHA team Minnesota didn’t beat last year as the Pioneers were 4-0-1 in the five meetings.
Last Time Out
For the fourth straight weekend, Minnesota tied its opening game and won the second game of the series. The Gophers tied Michigan Tech 2-2 on Saturday and posted a 3-0 win on Sunday. Ryan Stoa and Mike Hoeffel scored goals and Jordan Schroeder collected two assists on Saturday, while Stoa, Schroeder and Tony Lucia all scored on Sunday. Alex Kangas stopped 62 of 64 shots in the series, including all 38 shots on Sunday for his first career shutout.
Series History
Minnesota leads the all-time series 90-63-12, though went 0-4-1 against Denver in 2007-08. In fact, last season the Gophers only lost five games by three goals or more and three of those came against the Pioneers. Denver defeated Minnesota 2-1 in the WCHA Final Five title game at the Xcel Energy Center.
About the Pioneers
Denver had been ranked in the top five of the national polls all season until being swept last weekend at St. Cloud State 4-2 and 2-1 to fall to 10th in this week’s rankings. Denver ranks seventh nationally in scoring offense, but tallied 24 of its 38 goals in the first five games of the season. The Pioneers have been especially tough at home with a 6-1-1 record at Magness Arena and an 0-3 record away from home. Sophomore forward Tyler Bozak leads the Pioneers in scoring for the second straight year with five goals and eight assists for 13 points. Bozak was among the Gophers’ biggest troublemakers last season with seven goals, including three shorthanded, and two assists in the five meetings between the two teams. Freshman Luke Salazar has seven goals and five assists for 12 points. The Pioneers also feature two of the nation’s top-scoring defensemen as senior Patrick Mullen has 12 points on 12 assists and Patrick Wiercioch has five goals and five assists for 10 points. Sophomore Mark Cheverie has played every minute in goal and has a 2.63 goals against average with a .914 save percentage.
Top of the Heap
Minnesota took over as the nation’s top-ranked team this week for the first time since Jan. 22, 2007. It’s nothing new for the Gophers, who have been ranked No. 1 at some point of the season eight of the last nine years. Last season was the only exception when they reached as high as No. 3.
Bulls-Eye
Having the target of being the nation’s top-ranked squad hasn’t affected the Gophers much in recent years. Minnesota has a 32-14-7 combined record in its last seven stints as the nation’s No. 1. The last two times have been especially successful as Minnesota was ranked No. 1 for nine straight weeks in 2006-07 and held the top post for six straight weeks in 2005-06.
Out of the Gates
Minnesota’s 6-0-4 start marks just the second time since 1940 that the Gophers have been undefeated through their first 10 games. The only better start during that span was in 2001-02 when they opened 11-0-2. Prior to 1940, Minnesota opened 11-0-0 in 1923-24 and posted an 18-0-0 season record in 1939-40.
Streak Speak
Minnesota’s 10-game unbeaten streak is its longest since its school-record 23-game streak early in the 2006-07 season. The Gophers’ longest streak since that historic run had been five games. The current unbeaten streak is tied with Air Force for the longest in the country. There are three remaining undefeated teams in Division I hockey. Along with Minnesota, Air Force is 10-0-0 and Cornell is 2-0-2.
At the Top
Through eight league games, Minnesota sits in first place in the WCHA with a 5-0-3 record and 13 points to hold a two-point lead over Colorado College. In 2007-08, the Gophers picked up their 13th point of the season on Jan. 19 in the 16th game of the year when they beat Minnesota Duluth to improve to 6-8-2.
Stopping Them All
Alex Kangas’ 38 saves in Sunday’s shutout marked the most saves by a Gophers’ goaltender in a shutout since Robb Stauber stopped all 40 shots in a 5-0 win over Colorado College on Feb. 27, 1988. It was the third-highest save total in a Gophers’ shutout since 1984 as Stauber also made 44 saves against Michigan Tech on Feb. 19, 1988.
Absolute Zero
Remarkably, Kangas’ shutout against Michigan Tech was the first of his Gophers’ career despite setting single-season school records for goals against average and save percentage in 2007-08. It was Kangas’ 41st career start and he had allowed one goal in a game 11 times. One of those came when he held Minnesota State without a goal for over 96 minutes in a WCHA playoff game last season, but the Gophers lost 1-0 in double overtime.  He stopped 62 of 64 shots last weekend to earn WCHA Defensive Player of the Week honors for the second time this season. Kangas has started 31 straight games and owns a 1.78 goals against average and .937 save percentage with a 14-7-10 record during the streak.
Offensive Outburst
Minnesota ranks 10th in the country in scoring offense at 3.40 goals per game after averaging 2.45 goals per game in 2007-08. The Gophers have scored six goals in two of their last three games after not reaching that mark in any game all of last season. Minnesota has scored at least two goals in every game this year and not allowed more than three in any game.
Power Surge
Power plays have been one of the Gophers’ biggest strengths this season as Minnesota ranks seventh in the country at 20.8 percent. The Gophers have already scored 15 power play goals after totaling 25 all of last season. Minnesota has scored on the power play in nine of its 10 games, including seven straight. They ranked 50th in the country last season at 13.0 percent on the man-advantage.
Killer Instinct
Minnesota ranks fourth nationally and leads the WCHA in penalty killing at 93.8 percent (4-for-65) after holding Michigan Tech to 0-for-13 in last weekend’s series. The Gophers had allowed just one power play goal in each of its first four weekend series as St. Cloud State was 1-for-16, Wisconsin was 1-for-14, Minnesota State was 1-for-15 and New Hampshire was 1-for-7. Only two of the goals have come in five-on-four situations.
Streaking Stoa
Gophers’ forward Ryan Stoa missed the last 43 games of the 2007-08 season with a knee injury, but has made up for lost time already this year with nine goals and seven assists for 16 points to rank seventh in the country in scoring. He has points in all 10 games and has scored goals in eight different games. Stoa scored the first goal in each of the Gophers’ games against Michigan Tech last weekend.
