MHM 2018 Oct-digital

TALKING NORTHERN HOCKEY
JOHN GILBERT:
STATE SHOWDOWN
UMD-GOPHERS MEN’S AND WOMEN’S DOUBLEHEADER COULD BE ANNUAL HIGHLIGHT
Top: Minnesota Duluth coach Scott Sandelin talks to his team during their opening weekend series with the University of Minnesota;
Bottom: Grace Zumwinkle (12) of the Unviersity of Minnesota looks for a pass.
Photos by Jim Rosvold, Gopher Athletics(women) and Terry Cartie Norton (men)
By John Gilbert
One of the neatest stories during
the transition year from the
United States women’s hockey
gold medal in South Korea was that
center Kelly Pannek and goaltender
Maddie Rooney became close friends
as roommates on Team USA. Both were
outstanding as Team USA beat Canada in the gold
medal final, thanks to Rooney’s dramatic saves in
the shootout after the teams tied.
The games are now history, and the players
have returned to their teams — including Pannek,
back as top-line or senior center for Minnesota
and Rooney as junior goaltender for UMD. The fact
that they’ve continued to heckle each other about
whether Pannek could score on Rooney, or Rooney
could stop Pannek’s best shot, continued in a goodnatured
vein when their teams met for a WCHA
season-opening series at Duluth’s AMSOIL Arena.
Favored Minnesota beat UMD 5-2 in the first
game, spotting the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead when
freshman Gabbie Hughes scored after only 1:07,
then the Gophers scored four straight goals in a
4-2 first period en route to a 5-2 victory. Rooney
said later she was a bit off her game, and while all
five goals came on rebounds, at least Pannek didn’t
score any of them.
“She’s such a great goaltender that our strategy
was to shoot low, through congestion, hoping to
take her eyes away, and leave us some chances on
rebounds,” said Gophers coach Brad Frost. “If you
noticed she didn’t make many glove saves because
we didn’t shoot high enough for her to catch any.
She’s so good that if she can see it, she’ll stop it.”
The next day was Saturday, October 6, and if you
love hockey, AMSOIL Arena was the place to be,
because the Gophers and Bulldogs would stage
their rematch at 3 p.m., followed by the seasonopening
battle between the Minnesota men and
defending NCAA champion UMD.
After about six hours of hockey, both teams
in both games played tenacious, tense hockey,
and both games wound up in ties. Therein lies an
interesting difference, because the women’s 2-2
tie had as dramatic a conclusion after an overtime
as any storybook writer could concoct, while the
men’s 1-1 tie left an announced 7,382 fans silently
waiting for something more in an anticlimactic
ending.
“After about
six hours of
hockey, both
teams in both
games played
tenacious,
tense hockey,
and both
games wound
up in ties.”
— John Gilbert
More on that later. First, we all know that the
women play at a high level these days, but they’ve
never generated the strong fan support of the men.
Maybe now with a new women’s pro hockey team,
the Minnesota Whitecaps, playing their first season,
Continued on next page
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