Enter The Condor

Sixteen college hockey teams entered the weekend hoping to win a place in the Frozen Four in Columbus on April 7th and 9th. Five teams from the WCHA (Western Collegiate Hockey Association) qualified for the NCAA playoffs. It was my opinion that they were the best teams in the country and that the WCHA was easily the best conference in college hockey.

But in my wildest dreams I would not have imagined it possible that we'd see an all-WCHA Frozen Four. I did predict that Denver, Colorado College, and North Dakota would win their regionals, and despite some rough spots, they did just that. All in all I was ten up and two down on my regional picks, missing the Cornell/Ohio State game (a game that OSU probably deserved to win) and the Minnesota Gophers earning a trip to Columbus.

Despite that fact that they would be playing on home ice, I had my doubts about the Gophers. One of my main concerns was their ability to put the bisket in the basket, which turned out to be a well founded worry as the Gophers scored all of three goals over the weekend. They faced tough goalies in both games and needed overtime to best Maine 1-0 on Saturday and Cornell 2-1 on Sunday.

I attended Saturday's game against Maine, but was not able to make use of my tickets on Sunday (it was Easter after all). Fortunately my in-laws have a big screen television and, despite the fact they are not hockey fans, they didn't mind me watching the game (except perhaps after my joyous screaming after the first Gopher goal rudely roused my father-in-law from his nap).

Cornell employed a rope and dope style of hockey, playing a conservative, defensive game and relying on their excellent goalkeeper, David McKee. McKee turned away the Gophers time after time and late in the second period the Big Red took advantage of a Gopher breakdown to score a short handed goal, which briefly gave them a 1-0 lead. The Gophers tied it less than two minutes later when Andy Sertich swept a backhander past McKee. That was the end of the scoring in regulation.

Overtime hockey is the best and worst of times for a fan. The tension is incredible and the fact that at any moment you could experience the highest of highs or the lowest of lows is gut wrenching. Gopher fans were lucky in this regard in the games this weekend as the both contests ended early in the extra session.

Evan Kaufman was the hero on Saturday. Today it was Barry Tallackson's turn for glory. The big winger has been something of a disappointment for Gopher fans over the years. He seems to have the talent to be a star, but only shows it in frustratingly irregular spurts. Fortunately most of those spurts take place in the post-season and once again Tallackson came through today when he banged a rebound past McKee less than five minutes into overtime.

An all-WCHA Frozen Four that includes the Gophers? It doesn't get much better than that. The Gophers will be hard pressed to continue their success in Columbus, especially since they face North Dakota in the semifinals and the Sioux might be playing the best hockey in the country right now. But for now Gopher fans can certainly savor a very special weekend of hockey. No one more so than the President of the Barry Tallackson Fan Club. Cheers Sisyphus!