By Brian Deutsch on March 25, 2013 11:26 AM
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The Don Lucia Radio Show continues tonight at the Beacon Public House on campus. If you haven't checked out the new restaurant yet, catch tonight's show live starting at 6 p.m. as Coach Lucia and Wally Shaver discuss all things surrounding Gopher hockey. Tonight's show also airs live on 1500 ESPN.
Tonight, Lucia and Shaver break down Minnesota's NCAA West Regional opponent Yale from the ECAC. The two teams meet for the first time ever in the NCAA tournament this Friday at 2 p.m. ET at Van Andel Arena with North Dakota and Niagara also in the regional. The Bulldogs enter the week with an 18-12-3 overall record and finished third in the ECAC regular season with a 12-9-1 mark in league play. Yale, who will take on the Gophers for the first time since 2002, is led by seventh year head coach Keith Allain. Tonight's show will also examine last weekend's WCHA Final Five at Xcel Energy Center as well as several other topics regarding the Gopher hockey program.
The Beacon Public House offers great deals each week for the Don Lucia Radio Show including half price entrees and a happy hour special. The Beacon Public House is located in the new Commons Hotel on campus (615 Washington Avenue SE).
By Sarah Turcotte on March 25, 2013 10:47 AM
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The
Minnesota women's basketball team filmed numerous videos during the 2012-13 season
that were used during home games, on Gophersports.com and on
Twitter and Facebook. The end products used the best shots and were always
professionally produced, but the Gophers had a lot more fun with the
videos than their fans were able to see.
With 2012-13 coming to a close, Gophersports.com gives fans an inside look at
some of the best bloopers from the year. Check out all of the fun that
the team experiences behind the scenes!
By Justine Buerkle on March 23, 2013 7:30 PM
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On
Sunday, March 24, in Austin, Texas, the Gophers will
continue their quest to make a deep NCAA Tournament run
a Third Round matchup against No. 3 seed Florida in the South Regional. GopherSports.com's Jeff Fett took a peek at what the Gators have accomplished so far this season, and how the Gophers will match up with them.
Florida Preview Head Coach: Billy Donovan Overall Record: 27-7 SEC Conference Record: 14-4
Top 5 Leading Scorers: Erik Murphy-12.8 ppg; Kenny
Boynton-12.3 ppg; Mike Rosario-12.2 ppg; Patric Young-10.5 ppg; Scottie
Wilbekin-9.1 ppg.
Top 5 Leading Rebounders: Patric Young-6.3 rpg; Will Yeguete-5.9
rpg; Erik Murphy-5.5 rpg; Casey Prather-3.8 rpg; Michael Frazier II-3.3 rpg.
Notable wins: Wisconsin, Middle Tennessee State,
Marquette, Florida State, Air Force Academy, Missouri, Mississippi, Kentucky,
Alabama
Florida is a
team that is a serious contender for the Final Four if they are hitting on all
cylinders.
Senior
forward Erik Murphy and senior point guard Kenny Boynton lead the Gators. The
two led the team in scoring and on the defensive side of the ball. Sophomore guard Scottie Wilbekin's defense has also been important to Florida's success.
The Gators
average 71.9 points per game and allow just 53.5 points per game, which is
third in the nation. In fact, Florida's defense has been so stout that it has
allowed more than 70 points just once (80 points in a loss to Arkansas) and
allowed 50 points or fewer 13 times this season.
In their Second Round game, the Gators held the highest scoring team in the nation in
Northwestern State to 34 points below its season average.
However,
Florida is not without its weaknesses. The Gators are 0-6 in games decided by
six points or fewer this season. They have also let three double-digit leads
slip away.
If the
Gophers can get up and down the court and take the Gators out of their element
and turn this into a high scoring game, there is a good chance they could make
it into the Sweet 16.
By Brian Deutsch on March 22, 2013 9:47 PM
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Minnesota fell 2-0 to Colorado College at the WCHA Final
Five tonight.
Tigers Top Minnesota
Minnesota dropped a 2-0 contest to Colorado College in the
semifinals of the WCHA Final Five. The Tigers will meet the University of Wisconsin
in tomorrow's championship game. Despite outshooting the Tigers in ever period,
the Gophers never solved Colorado College goalie Joe Howe, who made 35 saves to
earn the shutout. Minnesota's final game at the WCHA Final Five will go down as
a disappointment.
Gophers Play From
Behind... Can Not Catch Up
After a scoreless first period, Colorado College took a 2-0 lead
with two goals in the second period. Rylan Schwartz gave the Tigers a lead 59
seconds into the period when he let a strong wrist shot go after a fancy toe
drag. Schwartz was able to use the Gophers defenseman as a screen for Minnesota
goalie Adam Wilcox on the play. Charlie Taft doubled Colorado College's lead
with his seventh goal of the season just over three minutes later. The two
goals would be all that The Tigers needed to earn a birth in the title game.
Minnesota is now 1-4-1 when trailing after two periods.
Up Next
The Gophers now turn their attention to the NCAA tournament.
The regionals are take place next weekend. Minnesota will find out their
opponent at 8 p.m. Sunday night when the NCAA releases the tournament bracket. Signs
point to the Gophers being the number one seed in Grand Rapids, Michigan, home
of this year's west regional. The other three regional host sites and potential
destinations for Minnesota are Toledo, Ohio, Providence, Rhode Island, and
Manchester, New Hampshire. The selection show will be broadcasted on ESPNU.
Written by University of Minnesota intern Josh Brennock
By Brian Deutsch on March 21, 2013 6:44 PM
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The 2013 WCHA Final Five is officially underway at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, and even with the Gophers off until tomorrow's semifinal against either Colorado College or North Dakota, Thursday was a full day for most of the team.
With the rest of campus on Spring Break, the Gophers woke up early for morning practice at Xcel Energy Center after breakfast at the team hotel. The Gophers prepped for practice in an auxiliary room at the X with all of the arena's locker rooms spoken for on Thursday (Minnesota staff will move the team into a locker room following Thursday's quarterfinal action). The dressing area was completely adequate for the Gophers with some members of the team remembering a similar situation at the Hockey City Classic with the Chicago Blackhawks using Minnesota's locker room at Soldier Field.
Thursday's skate was a typical practice for the Gophers including ending the skate with a team shootout. Your winner? Junior Nick Bjugstad who started the shootout off with two-straight goals and was not challenged for the lead...even when associate head coach Mike Guentzel stepped in as Minnesota's last hope to unseat the team's leading goal scorer this season.
"It's great to have a little fun at the end of practice," Bjugstad said. "Most of our practice is spent focused on the task at hand, it's nice to have that last 10 minutes to blow off a little steam...you never know who is going to make it interesting."
For some members of the squad, playing at Xcel Energy Center is nothing new. For others, this weekend marks the first time playing at the venue. For all, it's no doubt another special occasion -- perhaps even more so with this year marking Minnesota's final campaign in the WCHA.
"This is such a great venue and a great event. You can't help but smile when you're out there on the ice," junior Jake Parenteau said. "We're looking forward to Friday night no matter who we play. Hopefully we take care of business and get the chance to close out the WCHA season on Saturday."
Thursday afternoon was a fun experience for the Gophers. With fans from around the WCHA showing up for the start of this year's tournament, most of the team stuck around downtown St. Paul to get lunch and watch as crowds grew around Xcel Energy Center (Chipotle lunch seemed to be the favorite for most of the team and staff).
Lunch was followed with a return to the hotel for some while others took in the first quarterfinal game between Wisconsin and Minnesota State (the Badgers picked up a 7-2 win in that one).
The Gophers players will not attend Thursday's second quarterfinal. Instead the team will remain at the hotel, either watching the action on TV or resting up for another full day tomorrow.
Since winning the national title last season, our sights have been set on
returning to the Frozen Four, especially with it being hosted at Ridder Arena.
And after a long, exciting and history 2012-13 season, we have finally achieved
one of our goals.
With the rest of Minnesota on Spring Break, our schedule has been very
flexible. We had a team breakfast this morning at Egg & I, and then we had
our team practice around lunchtime.
The practice was business as usual, and we fine-tuned some things for tomorrow's
game versus Boston College. At the end of practice, we did our ritual "Hair-Down
Showdown", which is done the last practice before the weekend begins. Coach
Frost was the surprise winner today as he somehow slipped the puck by Noora.
After practice, Noora, Amanda and Coach Frost addressed the media one last time
before the weekend.
We are now getting ready to head to the NCAA Frozen Four Banquet, which will be
held at TCF Bank Stadium. It will be a good chance for all the players, coaches
and staff to mingle with one another and really take in the whole Frozen Four
experience. I've heard the meal is the same as what we had at the Senior
Banquet back in February, so we all are pretty excited about dinner tonight!
The banquet will wrap up our final prep day for the Frozen Four, and then it is
business tomorrow morning! Everyone is pumped and excited to defend our
national title this weekend!
Friday, March 22, in Austin, Texas the Gophers will begin their quest to make
it to their second Final Four in school history in a second round matchup against
No. 6 seed UCLA in the South Regional. Here is a preview of what the Bruins
have accomplished so far this season.
NCAA Tournament Preview: UCLA
Head Coach: Ben Howland
Overall Record: 25-9
Pac-12 Conference Record: 13-5
Top 5
Leading Scorers: Shabazz Muhammad-17.8 ppg; Jordan Adams-15.3 ppg; Travis Wear-11.2 ppg;
Kyle Anderson-9.8 ppg; Larry Drew II-7.6 ppg.
Top 5 Leading Rebounders: Kyle Anderson-8.6 rpg;
Shabazz Muhammad-5.3 rpg; Travis Wear-5.2 rpg; David Wear-5.0 rpg; Joshua
Smith-4.2 rpg.
Austin Hollins and the Gophers are making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2010.
Notable losses: Georgetown, Cal Poly, San
Diego State, Oregon, Washington State
Outlook
The
Gophers second round matchup against UCLA is a tough one to predict. UCLA won
the regular season Pac-12 title this season, but also went through some rough
stretches as well.
The
Bruins are led by freshman guard/forward combo Shabazz Muhammad, who leads the
team in scoring and is likely to be a top 10 pick in the NBA draft this season
should he choose to exit early.
UCLA
can get up and down the court, averaging 74.7 points per game, which is 28th
in the nation. The team also is averaging 16.1 assists per game, which is 11th
in the country. However, the Bruins also give up a lot of points as well. In
the Bruins' 34 games, they have given up at least 60 points or more 26 times.
Just
before the NCAA tournament, UCLA suffered a big hit. The Bruins will be without
freshman guard Jordan Adams after he broke his foot in their Pac-12 Conference
tournament semifinal victory over Arizona on Friday. Adams is the team's second
scorer and led the Pac-12 in steals with 73 this season. Sophomore Norman
Powell will take his place in the starting lineup.
What
could work in the Gophers favor is UCLA's depth. With the loss of Adams, the
Bruins will likely stick to a seven-man rotation. If the Gophers can make this
game into a track meet, there is a good chance they could move on.
Yesterday, the Gophers had one final practice before taking on UCLA. Other than that, the team had all day to relax before playing the very last game of the NCAA Second Round.
The band and spirit squads (including national champion mascot Goldy, of course) have done a phenomenal job this weekend. They were at the 'Sota Social at the Tavern before the game, along with a lot of family and fans who had an opportunity to chat and have snacks before taking a shuttle to the arena.
Our game ended up starting even later than planned when the Florida-Northwestern State game ran longer than expected. After getting to Austin on Wednesday afternoon, late Friday was a long time to wait to play. It was great to finally tip off at 9:22 p.m.
It was also great to see the Gophers take an early lead. Things got a little tense (for me, anyway) when UCLA chipped away at that lead at the beginning of the second half. And then it was hard not to start cheering on the sidelines when the Gophers pulled away again. After the 83-63 score went final, Tubby Smith and Dre Hollins did some on-court interviews. Smiley Dre got a lot of cheers going back to the locker room.
After media obligations, we finally got back to the hotel around 12:30. The spirit squads and band again were very supportive, forming a tunnel for the team to go through as they went inside for the postgame meal.
The team had press conferences this afternoon, and will be finishing up their closed practice soon. A false fire alarm during Miami's practice earlier today pushed back the schedule for the rest of the practices. I used practice time to explore the surrounding part of campus. At Texas Memorial Stadium, a gate was ajar, so I walked through without asking, just to snap a couple pictures.
Wearing my Minnesota shirt for the walk appears to have paid off. A nice man at the stadium told me he only let me in because he liked Tubby. On my way back to the Frank Erwin Center, someone said, "Go, Gophs!" to me out of a car window.
It's fitting that I mentioned the bat bridge earlier today,
because we ended up having a close encounter with a bat tonight. A few
different times during the Gophers' open practice, everyone stopped for a
moment while a bat flew around in the court area at the Frank Erwin Center. (See the video above for some bat footage.) The
bat even went at Julian Welch. I don't think Dre Hollins was a big fan--he kept running away. I guess
Barnyard animals follow the Gophers around even when they're not playing in
Williams Arena.
Before practice, the media had access to the team. The
locker room was open to media for half an hour. Coach Tubby Smith and the two
captains, Austin Hollins and Rodney Williams, fielded questions in the press
conference area during part of that time. As most of the media cleared out of
the locker room, we started watching the Michigan-South Dakota State game
before heading out to the court for practice.
A few tidbits from the locker room:
Rodney Williams, on the city of Austin:
"It's a pretty nice city, from what we've seen. I'm most happy about getting
out of the cold weather, just being somewhere warm."
Williams, on being back in the Tournament as a senior:
"It's definitely nice. To come in my freshman year and get to the Tournament
and then not go for a couple years, that was tough. To go out with an NCAA
Tournament, I think that's the best way to go out."
Andre Hollins, on his first NCAA Tournament experience:
"It's very exciting. As a kid, you grow up watching college basketball with a
sense of excitement. You're on the couch watching these games back to back with
the players playing their hearts out. You just hope that one day that's you.
Now that I have the opportunity to be here, it's crazy. It's exciting."
The Gophers will have one last practice tomorrow before
playing in the very last game of the 2013 Second Round (formerly known as the
First Round) at about 9:00 p.m. For information about the viewing party in
Roseville, the 'Sota Social in Austin and home viewing options, scroll down to
the bottom of this article.
March 21 - 3:00 p.m.
Thursday has a day of practice and meetings so far. Some of
the staff attended morning meetings to go over tournament procedures so that
everything would run smoothly later in the day and on game day. The coaches'
meeting starts pretty soon, as well.
Pictured above: Frank Erwin Center
At noon, the Gophers practiced at St. Edward's University in
Austin. Several of us watched basketball on our phones on the way there. (Check out the NCAA March Madness Live app if you have a smart phone or tablet--but be prepared to charge your device soon if you do. The app is free and allows you to track scores and watch games live.) At
practice, we could see passers-by stopping at the windows to take a peek at the
Division I team using the Division II Hilltoppers' gym.
Our bus driver gave us a nice tour of the University of
Texas campus and other parts of Austin before bringing us back to the hotel.
The Longhorns have some incredible facilities, and their campus is spread out
like the University of Minnesota. Places we saw included the state capitol
building, the Longhorns' football and baseball stadiums, the Lyndon Baines
Johnson Library and a bridge under which a lot of bats live (kind of creepy). There would be pictures of some of this if we had gotten off the bus--maybe I will add some tomorrow if I have a chance to walk around in the morning.
It has been kind of fun just walking or driving around
Austin and seeing some of the quirky things in this city. It seems like there
are food trucks just about everywhere. There are a handful of them right
outside our hotel, and there are some streets with a whole bunch them lined up
in a row. On one street not far from our hotel, people have converted most of
the houses into bars/restaurants.
The Gophers will be going back to the Frank Erwin Center for
media availability and open practice tonight. Practice is open to the public
and runs from 6:40 to 7:20.
March 20 - 7:30 p.m.
March Madness has officially begun for the Golden Gopher basketball
team. The team, band, cheerleaders, staff and others involved with the program
flew to Austin, Texas, this afternoon to get ready for Minnesota's game against
UCLA on Friday night.
We left Williams Arena and well-below-average "spring"
temperatures late in the morning and arrived in balmy Texas this afternoon. The
Minnesota Rouser played in the airport as we were boarding. When we got off the
plane at the airport, it was nice not to need a winter coat. A local news crew was at the hotel when we arrived to greet our buses and interview Tubby Smith.
The Gophers had lunch at the hotel, and went to practice
later in the evening, where they had a chance to meet Texas Longhorns football
coach Mack Brown and listen to a little talk from him. The Gophers will have
their first look at the Frank Erwin Center court tomorrow during open practice.
Anyone in Austin who wishes may come to watch on Thursday. Minnesota's open
practice runs from 6:40 to 7:20 p.m.
"Had a chance to visit with my friend Tubby Smith. Great coach and class act! Enjoyed catching up. twitter.com/UT_MackBrown/s..."
Info for Friday The No. 11 Gophers will play No. 6 UCLA in the second game of the Friday
night session. The first game will start at 6:27 p.m. CT, and the Gophers will
start 30 minutes after the conclusion of that game between Florida and Northwestern
State. Find both teams' game notes and all the other information you need on
our preview page.
For Gopher Fans in Minnesota There will be a viewing party at Joe Senser's in Roseville. If you would
like, come early for the Gopher men's hockey game at 7 p.m. and stay for the basketball
game at 9 p.m. There will be food and beverage specials and chances to win
prizes.
If you're watching on TV at home, try these channels:
Comcast 51, DirecTV 246, Dish 204. Or look for your provider with the TruTV channel
finder. Games are also available online at ncaa.com.
For Gopher Fans in Austin
The NCAA Tournament edition of the 'Sota Social runs from 5-7 p.m. at the
Tavern (922 West 12th Street, Austin, Texas, 78703). The event will feature
snacks, a cash bar, prizes and entertainment. Starting at 6:30, fans can take a
shuttle from the social to the arena for the game.
By Brian Deutsch on March 20, 2013 4:02 PM
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Members of the Minnesota men's hockey team met with the
media ahead of this weekend's WCHA Final Five at the Xcel Energy Center in St.
Paul, Minn. Based on earning a share of the MacNaughton Cup and the tournament's
No. 2-seed, the Gophers receive a bye and will first play in Friday night's
semifinal against either North Dakota or Colorado College.
The players are looking forward to participating in the
program's last WCHA Final Five before leaving to join the new Big Ten Hockey
Conference next season. "It is one of the more fun tournaments of the year. We
know that our fan base will be behind us and whoever we play will have a lot of
fans there as well," forward Erik Haula said.
The Gophers opponent on Friday night will be determined by
Thursday night's quarterfinal between North Dakota and Colorado College. Regardless
of the opponent, head coach Don Lucia believes a quick start will be key, "I
think the first period is very important. I think the team who played the day
before has an advantage early in the game. Hopefully, we have an advantage as
the game goes on because we are rested."
Minnesota is very familiar with both North Dakota and
Colorado College. Erik Haula thinks the semifinal game will come down to intangibles.
"Whoever we play, I do not think it will be about systems. It will be who works
harder, and who wants it more."
Minnesota will need to win two games this weekend in order
to hoist the Broadmoor Trophy for the fist time since 2007. "Our goal, like
every team here, is to be playing on Saturday night," Lucia said. "I think our
guys are real excited to head down (to the Xcel Energy Center) this weekend."
Players and coaches were cautious not to put too much
emphasis on the results this weekend, with an eye towards the NCAA tournament.
Coach Lucia mentioned he might use the games in St. Paul to tweak lines in
order to find the best combinations for national postseason. Minnesota hopes to
use the WCHA Final Five as a springboard the NCAA tournament. "Whoever wins the
(WCHA Final Five) will have great confidence going towards the NCAAs and that
is what you are looking for at this time," forward Kyle Rau said.
It will certainly be an exciting weekend for the fans. The
Gophers play in the semifinals Friday night a 7:00 p.m. at the Xcel Energy
Center in St. Paul, Minn. The game can be seen on FOX Sports North, and it can
be heard on 1500 ESPN.
-Story By Minnesota Communications Intern Josh Brennock
By Brian Deutsch on March 18, 2013 6:16 PM
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Former Gopher Jeff Taffe factored into four of Hershey's five goals on Sunday in a 5-2 win over Adirondack, scoring twice including the eventual game winner and setting up two more goals. The forward now ranks third in the AHL with 58 points (18 goals, 40 assists) in 59 games this season.
The Hershey Bears, the AHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals, feature four former Gophers on this year's roster with Ryan Potulny, Ryan Stoa and Mike Carman joining Taffe on the roster (Potulny also scored in Hershey's win on Sunday). Combined, the Minnesota contingency brings two First Team All-America honors and a a total of four All-WCHA accolades to the Bears' roster.
