Today marked opening day to the 2009-10 Gopher hockey season at Mariucci Arena. For the second year in a row, the Gophs took on British Columbia and it proved to the Gophers that they can win in any game situation. They ended up winning 6-1, and showing the WCHA that they have resolve hardly seen in the latter half of 2008.
The first period started off with a flourish of action and two Gopher goals. The first came at 7:19 as Jay Barriball scored with helpers from Cade Fairchild and Jordan Schroeder. It was the first powerplay goal of the season after a UBC penalty for elbowing at 6:43. The final tally of the period came in the final minute, more precisely at 19:15 as Jay Barriball and Jordan Schroeder assisted Mike Hoeffel in scoring the second Gopher goal. This one was even strength, but the Gophers would not complain as they took a 2-0 lead to the locker room. Shots in the first period were overwhelmingly Minnesota's at 13-5. British Columbia went 0-1 on the powerplay in period number one while Minnesota went 1-1.
The second period saw yet another flurry of action. Cade Fairchild got his first goal of the season and second point of the game at 7:42 as he scored an even strength goal with help from Tony Lucia and Nico Sacchetti. Max Grassi opened the scoring for the Thunderbirds at 10:59. It was an even strength tally helped with assists by Brandon Campos and Bill Smith. Minnesota closed the scoring in the second period with a goal by Tony Lucia at 12:03, with the lone assist going to Josh Birkholz. Through two periods, the Gophers proved that they are pretty strong entering 2009, outshooting UBC 7-4 in the second period for a two period total of 20-9. Powerplays in the second had UBC going 0-1 once again and the Gophers not even seeing any powerplay time. Another stat that I found telling in between periods was the faceoff stat. Through 2, only 21 faceoffs were conducted with Minnesota winning 12 of those.
To start the third period, we saw a change in net that was mentioned during the press conference on Thursday. Don Lucia mentioned that Kent Patterson would log more ice time, and so he started the first two periods of play for the Gophers. Sophomore Jake Kremer saw playing time as well. Offensively, Nico Sacchetti lit the lamp at 12:20 for his second point of the game with an assist coming from Cade Fairchild. Nick Leddy scored the 6th Gopher goal, which was his first of the season and the second Gopher powerplay success of the afternoon with assists from Jay Barriball and Nico Sacchetti. The time of this goal was 14:35. There were 2 penalties in a frame of 1:07 for British Columbia. One was holding to Jason Lynch, while the other had Ryan Kakoske going in for a hook. Towards the end of the game at 19:02, a big scrum broke out of frustration for UBC which resulted in four roughing penalties and two for holding the stick. John Flatters (UBC), Brian Schack (UM), Jake Hansen (UM, and Bill Smith (UBC) were presented with the tickets to the sin bin. Shots in the third period had Minnesota routing UBC 24-2 for a game total of 44-11, or a 4-1 ratio. Powerplay numbers had UBC going 0-1 for a total of 0-3 and the Gophers going 1-2 for a total of 2-3. For the record, the faceoff total that I tracked after two periods ended up going to the Gophers at 44-19 which by all indications will lead to a win on any given night.
The Gophers are in action next when they open WCHA league play with a critical season opening series in North Dakota on October 16-17. Friday's game will take the air at 7:30 pm while Saturday's tilt airs at 7pm. Both games will be shown live of Fox Sports North. Frank Mazzocco and Doug Woog will have the call. I'll have postgame coverage of both games shortly after the final horn sounds, and I hope to see you then!
Any Gopher related article ideas can be directed to Disch61@hotmail.com and you can also become a fan of the Gopher Hockey Examiner by searching "Minnesota Golden Gophers Hockey Examiner" on Facebook. Comments may be directed to my email, but they can also be made on the fan page or by using the form below. If I don't hear from you in any way, shape, or form, I'll likely see you at the rink!
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