University of Minnesota Athletics
Sunday Preview: Michigan
11/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
Last Time Out: Michigan State jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first nine minutes of the game and never looked back. The Gophers would trim the deficit to one on second period goals by Cade Fairchild and Taylor Matson to gain the momentum and climb back into the game. However, the Spartans added their fourth goal with less than two minutes left in the second period when Dustin Gazley's two-on-one pass deflected off of defensemen Seth Helgeson's stick and in. Michigan State scored the lone goal of the third period. Kent Patterson started the game for Minnesota, but was replaced by Alex Kangas at the 8:48 mark of the first period. Kangas made 21 saves in relief, while Patterson was handed his first loss of the season and is now 6-1-1.
Series History: Minnesota leads the all-time series with Michigan 127-117-14. The Gophers are 6-4-0 in their last 10 games against Michigan, but the Wolverines have had recent success against Minnesota. Michigan has won the last three meetings between the two teams, outscoring Minnesota 17-4 in the process. Last year, Michigan shutout the Gophers 6-0 on Friday, Nov. 27, in Ann Arbor, Mich. The last time Minnesota defeated Michigan was in a 4-3 triumph on Oct. 13, 2007, at Xcel Energy Center. Current Gophers Jay Barriball, Cade Fairchild, Mike Hoeffel and Kevin Wehrs played in that game and Barriball, Fairchild and Hoeffel all had an assist in the win. Michigan holds a slim 9-8-0 advantage in games between the two schools in the College Hockey Showcase and is 4-2-0 against the Gophers at Mariucci Arena.
About The Wolverines: No. 8/8 Michigan is coached by Red Berenson, who owns a 708-331-73 record in 27 seasons in Ann Arbor. In 2007-08 he was honored with the Spencer Penrose Award as college hockey's top coach. On the ice, the Wolverines are led by senior forwards Carl Hagelin and Louie Caporusso. Hagelin, has seven goals and nine assists and brings a six-game point streak into today's contest. He has four goals and four assists in his last six game and he has at least a point in 12 of 15 games this year. Caporusso has five goals and nine assists this season and is on a three-game point streak. Senior goaltenders Shawn Hunwick and Bryan Hogan have split time for Michigan this season. Hunwick (2-2-4) has .903 save percentage and 2.77 GAA, while Hogan (6-1-0) has a .924 save percentage and a 2.14 GAA.
Minnesota vs. Michigan: Today marks the fourth straight game that Minnesota will face a school from Michigan. Conversely, Minnesota has played only two games against a school from Minnesota (St. Cloud State) so far. The Gophers took to the road last weekend and earned a pair of wins at Michigan Tech. On Friday, Michigan State defeated Minnesota and the Gophers host Michigan today. Minnesota is 2-1-0 against schools from Michigan so far this year. After today the Gophers have three more games against a school from Michigan. Minnesota hosts Ferris State (Grand Rapids, Mich.) in the Mariucci Classic on Jan. 1 and then plays host to Michigan Tech on Feb. 25-26. Minnesota will play seven of 34 regular-season games this season against schools from Michigan, which is easily the second most against any state. The Gophers play 10 games against schools from Minnesota.
Scorers Wanted: No member of this year's Gopher hockey team has scored a goal against Michigan while wearing the maroon and gold. However, that does not mean that zero current Gophers have ever scored against the Wolverines. Senior Jacob Cepis has two career goals against Michigan. He lit the lamp twice at Michigan on Dec. 8, 2007, while he was attending Bowling Green.
Home Work: The Gophers won their first two home games of the year, but are 3-5-1 at home this year and have been outscored 36-25 at Mariucci Arena in nine games. Minnesota's last home win was a 2-1 victory on Oct. 24 against St. Cloud State. Since then the Gophers are 0-2-1.
Minnesota Nice: The Gophers have 21 regular-season games left on their schedule and they will play 17 of them (11 at home) in the state of Minnesota. The Gophers will not leave Minnesota until mid-January when they travel to face North Dakota (Jan. 14-15). Minnesota's final out-of-state road trip is Feb. 18-19 at the Wisconsin Badgers.
Pretty Offensive: Minnesota is seventh in the country in scoring offense with a 3.69 goals-per-game average. Yale, who has played only nine games, leads the country with a 5.22 average. Nebraska-Omaha (4.17), Minnesota-Duluth (4.07), Union (3.92), Miami (3.75) and Wisconsin (3.75) round out the top six. Minnesota has already played Nebraska-Omaha and Wisconsin (play the Badgers again on Feb. 18-19). The Gophers will play Minnesota-Duluth (Dec. 10-11 and Feb. 4-5) and Union (Dec. 31) later this year.
Going Deep: Every Gopher (except goaltender Jake Kremer) has played in at least three games this year and only nine of 24 skaters have played in all 12 games. Twenty-one players (including goalie Kent Patterson) have at least one point this year and 17 players have scored at least one goal.
Good Point: Jay Barriball, Erik Haula, Jacob Cepis and Mike Hoeffel all average at least a point per game. Barriball (17 points in 13 games) leads the group with a 1.30 points-per-game average. He is followed by Haula (1.07), Cepis (1.00) and Hoeffel (1.00).
Getting Healthy: The Gophers were without five players against Wisconsin on Nov. 5-6, but four of those players returned for last weekend's series at Michigan Tech. Pat White returned after battling the flu, while Nick Bjugstad and Jake Parenteau were cleared to play after overcoming mononucleosis. Nick Larson also returned from injury. White, Bjugstad and Larson all played against the Huskies, but Parenteau, who accompanied the team on the trip, did not. However, Parenteau did see action on Friday against Michigan State.
Budish Update: The one player who was not back from injury for the Michigan Tech series was right wing Zach Budish. The sophomore was injured in a moped accident on Nov. 1 and will miss the rest of the season. He underwent successful surgery on his right knee on Nov. 22.
Road Success: Minnesota is 4-0-0 on the road this year with two wins each at Colorado College and Michigan Tech. The Gophers have scored 23 goals on the road (only two on the power play) and are averaging 5.75 goals per game. On the flipside, Minnesota has allowed only 10 goals in road games this year for an average of 2.5 goals per game.
First Period Goals: Good things continue to happen to the Gophers when they score a first-period goal. Minnesota is 7-0-1 this year when scoring in the first period and 6-0-1 when scoring the first goal of the game. The Gophers are 0-5-0 this year when not scoring a first period goal.
He Passes Too: Coach Don Lucia called Jay Barriball "a pure gold scorer" earlier this year and while that is true, Barriball has been displaying his passing skills in recent games. Barriball, who leads the Gophers with nine goals this year, has not scored in his last three games. Instead, he has five assists during that time. He had a career-high three helpers on Nov. 19 at Michigan Tech and picked up an assist on both Minnesota goals on Friday against Michigan State. Barriball is now tied for second on the team with Jacob Cepis with eight assists. Freshman Erik Haula leads the group with 12.
Be Like Mike: Senior Mike Hoeffel had three goals and three assists in his first five games of the year. In the next five he recorded a single assist. Hoeffel broke out in a big way last weekend at Michigan Tech. The right wing scored twice in each game and added the game-winning assist on Friday. He added an assist on Friday against Michigan State and now has six points (4g-2a) in his last three games.
More Hoeffel: Hoeffel also leads the Gophers with a +9 rating on the season. He has been a plus player in nine of 13 games this year and began the year with a five-game streak of being +1 or better. He did not have his first minus game until Nov. 5 against Wisconsin (ninth game of the season). Hoeffel was a combined -2 in two games against the Badgers, but is a combined +4 in his last three games.
Even More Hoeffel: After the Gophers were shutout 6-0 by Wisconsin on Nov. 5, Mike Hoeffel has at least one point in Minnesota's last four games. He is the only Gopher with a current four-game point streak. Minnesota has scored a combined 15 goals in its last four games and Hoeffel (4g-3a) has had a hand in seven of them.
Doubling Up: Mike Hoeffel and Jake Hansen became the latest Gophers to join the multiple-goal club when they both scored twice on at Michigan Tech on Nov. 19. It was Hoeffel's eighth multiple-goal game of his career, while it was the first for Hansen. They join Jay Barriball, Nate Condon and Taylor Matson as players who have multiple-goal games this year.
First Time For Everything: On Friday, the Gophers held Michigan State to 29 shots. It was the sixth time this season that Minnesota had held an opponent under 30 shots in a game. However, it was the first time that Minnesota lost while doing so. The Gophers are now 4-1-1 when holding an opponent to less than 30 shots in a game this year. Minnesota began the year allowing its opponents to take more than 30 shots in five straight games. Since then the Gophers have allowed more than 30 shots in only two of eight games. The opportunistic Spartans scored five goals on their 29 shots, which is the most an opponent has scored against Minnesota this season while taking less than 30 shots.
Shooting Gallery: Minnesota took a season-high 50 shots on Nov. 19 at Michigan Tech. It was the first time the Gophers took 50 shots since Jan. 3, 2010, in a 4-2 loss to Northern Michigan. Twenty-one of Minnesota's shots came in the first period, which tied the most they had taken in a period this year (second period against Nebraska Omaha on Oct. 15).
Fairly Positive: Cade Fairchild was -7 after the team's first six games of the season. However, in the last seven games he is +7 and has gotten back to even on the season.
Fresh Import: Freshman Erik Haula, who hails from Pori, Finland, became the first European-born player to pull on the M sweater for the Gophers since Thomas Vanek (Graz, Austria) in 2003-2004. Haula and Vanek are the only Europeans to play for Minnesota. Haula, who was drafted by the Minnesota Wild in the seventh round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, is one of two Gophers (Jay Barriball) to score in 10 of 13 games this year. He leads the team with 12 assists (four more than Barriball and Jacob Cepis) and is second on the team with 14 points.
Kangas in the Record Books: Alex Kangas entered his senior season fourth all-time in program history with 2,571 saves. The 23-year-old has played in six games this year and has stopped 174 shots. He now has 2,745 career saves, which ranks third all-time in school history behind Adam Hauser (3,777 saves) and Kellen Briggs (2,968 saves). Kangas (106 games) is also third in program history for games played by a goalie. Kellen Briggs is second with 132 career games played and Adam Houser owns the record with 151 games played.
Captain Jay: Senior captain Jay Barriball is tied for eighth in the nation with nine goals and is tied for fourth in the nation with five power-play goals. Barriball has at least one goal in seven of 13 games this year. He also recorded a hat trick on Oct. 9 in a 5-4 win against Massachusetts. It was the first hat trick for a Gopher since Blake Wheeler had one in a 4-2 win against Wisconsin on March 16, 2007.
Matson Matters: Junior Taylor Matson entered the season with three career goals in 32 games. He has six goals (third on the team) in 13 games. Matson had zero points in the first four games of the year, but has since found his scoring touch. In the previous nine games he has six goals and two assists. Matson also leads the team in faceoffs for anybody who has taken a significant number of draws. He has won 56.1 percent (92 of 164) of his draws. Matson now has more career goals (9) than career penalties (7) and the same number of career points and career penalty minutes (14).
Fresh Idea: There are 10 freshmen on the Minnesota roster this year and all 10 have played in at least three games. Seven of them have at least one point and Erik Haula leads the group with 14 (2g-12a). He is followed by Nate Condon (4g-3a), Nick Bjugstad (1g-1a), Max Gardiner (1g-1a), Justin Holl (1g-1a), Tom Serratore (1g-1a) and Mark Alt (2a). Friday's game against Michigan State marked the first time all season (not including shutout to Wisconsin on Nov. 5) that a freshman was held off the scoresheet.
Transfer Agreement: Senior Jacob Cepis, a transfer from Bowling Green, is playing in his first full season with Minnesota this year. He missed the first half of the season a year ago because of NCAA transfer regulations. He joined the lineup at mid-season a year ago and has averaged nearly a point a game since. He had 19 points (7g-12a) in 21 games en route to receiving the team's Unsung Hero award and has picked up this year where he left off last year. Cepis has five goals and eight assists in 13 games this year and now has 32 points (13g-19a) in 34 career games.
Can Do Condon: Freshman Nate Condon had a night to remember on Oct. 30 at Colorado College. Condon scored twice, had three assists, recorded a plus-five rating and was named first star in Minnesota's 9-4 romp. Condon was the first Gopher to record five points in a game since Ryan Potulny (4g-1a) against St. Cloud State on March 17, 2006 in the WCHA Final Five and the first freshman since Phil Kessel (1g-4a) on Nov. 11, 2006, in a 9-0 rout of Alaska Anchorage.
Preseason Picks And Rankings: Minnesota began the year ranked No. 15 in both the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine and the USCHO polls. That ended a 10-year streak of being ranked in the top 10 to begin the season.
Noticeable Draft: Nineteen Gophers have been drafted by NHL teams. The junior and freshman class each have six draftees, the senior class has five and both of the team's sophomores have been drafted. Freshmen Nick Bjugstad, Mark Alt, Justin Holl and Max Gardiner were selected in the 2010 NHL Draft, with each of them going in the first three rounds (top 74 overall). Other than Bjugstad, senior Patrick White (No. 22 in 2007) is the only other first-round pick.
Excuse Me Mr.: The highest distinction a high school hockey player in Minnesota can receive is being named Mr. Hockey. This year's team has two players - junior Aaron Ness and freshman Nick Bjugstad - who received that honor. Additionally eight players (Jay Barriball, Nick Larson, Taylor Matson, Joe Miller, Patrick White, Justin Holl, Max Gardiner and Mark Alt) were finalists for the award.
You're Not From Around Here: With the additions of freshmen Nate Condon (Wausau, Wis.), Tom Serratore (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Erik Haula (Pori, Finland), the Gophers now have four players (joining Jacob Cepis who is from Parma, Ohio) from outside of Minnesota. The last time Minnesota's roster featured at least four players from outside the state was during the 2005-06 season when there were six non-Minnesotans.
Gracious Hosts: Minnesota hosts the 2011 NCAA Men's Frozen Four from April 7-9 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. The last time the Frozen Four was held in Minnesota was 2002, when current Gopher assistant coach Grant Potulny scored the overtime game-winning goal against Maine to give Minnesota its first national championship since 1979. Minnesota also hosts the 2012 West Regional at Xcel Energy Center.
