Gophers and Bulldogs...It Wasn't Pretty

Oh those lowly Bulldogs. After the Gophers handed them their fifth straight loss tonight with a 7-0 romp, they tucked their tales and headed for the locker room. The Gophers dominated this game allowing only 1 shot on goal in the first period, 10 in the second and 10 in the third. One positive for the Bulldogs was the fact they outshot the Gophers in the 3rd period 10-7. That is definitely the only positive though.

The Gophers scored the first goal on a Ryan Potulny feed to Ryan Stoa at 9:31 of the first. This was the game winner. The second period had goals from Evan Kaufmann (2), Mike Vanelli and Ben Gordon. The third period brought another goal from Ryan Stoa and the final goal of the evening was scored by Danny Irmen. Overall, 11 Gophers had points on the night.

My lucky, unlucky, lucky and unlucky streak at this game. I was lucky enough to enjoy this evening with my wife and some of our friends. My wife and I were in the third row while our friends were another section over and up a few more rows. I was unlucky because the Gophers spent almost the entire 1st period shooting on the Bulldog goal on the other side of the rink from me. I was lucky when, in the 1st period, a puck came hauling over the glass and I actually caught it. My first official WCHA Golden Gopher puck! I was so excited! I was unlucky in the fact that I did not notice it bounced off the 20 year old girls melon in front of me. Once she was done wiping the tears, I handed her the puck. She was very thankful. I would not feel right keeping it. Heck, I only caught it because her head added some backspin to the puck, slowing it down and allowing me to hang on to it. It was the noble thing to do (damn it).

When it was all said and done, it was a fun evening. The Gophers won the game, a fight broke out at the end of the game, the MacNaughton Trophey was handed out, we sat in traffic, picked up the boy and went home. What more could you ask for?
Ladies and germs, this Gopher Hockey Team is the real deal. I honestly think this is a better team by far than the 2002 and 2003 NCAA champion teams. All I can say is...WOW. It is all theirs to win!

Go Gophers and good night from The Crustacean Nation!