Minnesota V North Dakota in Review

The biggest series of the weekend on the hype-meter was Minnesota at North Dakota. The Gophers were lifeless Friday night and stuck in exhibition mode whereas North Dakota knew how precious each time on the ice against each other is. The Sioux played fast and physical and the Gophers looked like a bunch of blue chip recruits who never knew what it was like to have to hustle.

Thankfully a better Gophers team showed up on Saturday night as they tried to match UND's intensity. It made for a much better hockey game and they skated away with a 3-3 tie after losing 4-0 the first night.

Quickies:

• North Dakota has a great combination of skilled and physical defensemen making them a team that is hard for the Gophers to match up with. If they were to play a 5 or 7 game series there is no way I would take Minnesota, at least not yet.
• When watching Aaron Ness in high school I was suprised how he made everything look so easy. He seems to still try to make things look easy. Time to change and work harder. He needs more weight to get pushed around less and should style his game after UND's Chay Genoway.
  
• I think this will happen eventually, but it should happen immediately...Lucia needs to play Taylor Matson on one of the top three lines.
  
• Mike Carman played very inspired hockey Saturday night and was amazing defensively.
  
• Mike Hoeffel gets way too many shots blocked. He has one of the leagues best snap shots. Now he needs to find a way to get it off quicker and create better angles.
  
• Jordan Schroeder and Jay Barriball are nice to have together on a line when the Gophers have puck possession. It's getting that possession that can be a problem. After getting pounded early and often this weekend neither one used their speed to win races to the puck in the offensive zone. They should play on different lines.
  
• Gophers freshmen Seth Helgeson, Nick Leddy and Zach Budish started the weekend slow and tentative due most likely to nerves. They will all be fine. Josh Birkholz only played Friday night and had two third period shots. He deserved to be in the lineup Saturday, but was not. He was one of the few good Gopher players Friday night.
  
• Vancouver has two first round picks on the Gophers roster Pat White and Schroeder. White can be a lot better than he is and Schroeder seems to get picked on by teams like UND, and he hasn't found a way to play trough it. Concerned Canucks? ****Reader pointed out that Pat White's rights were traded to San Jose*** Link to Article on Trade in August
  
• When Montreal drafted David Fischer in the first round before his freshman year, Fischer was amazing with the puck on his stick. If he can find that confidence and combine it with his ever-improving defensive ability, that draft pick could some day pay off.
  
• Cade Fairchild had a good weekend for the Gophers and was in my mind the best defenseman. He is picking his spots to jump into the offense very nicely and I expect him to blow up this year statistically.