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2010-11 Minnesota Gophers -- May, West Pursue Erie March

Re: 2010-11 Minnesota Gophers -- May, West Pursue Erie March

Pleased with the outcome of course...but that sure was a dismal turnout for a playoff game.
 
Re: 2010-11 Minnesota Gophers -- May, West Pursue Erie March

ManBehindTheCurtain said:
Dismal?

At least that. The word I was tempted to use . . .

OK, I am going to use it.

Disgraceful.
Click to expand...

It was hard to figure why the crowd was only about 50% of an average regular season game. Only thing I can think of is that it's girls high school tournament weekend?

Came across this article - which is part of a longer blog about the high school tourney - that I enjoyed reading between Gopher-OSU playoff games. Former Gophers Krissy Wendell and Natalie Darwitz reminisce about their younger days as high school opponents and how they still treasure those early experiences.

http://www.mshsl.org/mshsl/johnsjournal.asp

Girls Hockey: Two Former Stars Look Back
Posted by John Millea (jmillea@mshsl.org) - Updated 2/22/2011 9:53:27 PM

More than a decade has passed since what might have been the greatest single night in Minnesota girls’ high school hockey history. The 1999-2000 season opened in mid-November with a showcase game at Eagan Civic Arena. The two stars from that game – and that era – look back now and remember it as if it had happened yesterday.

Scenes like that one, with an overflow crowd, tons of pregame talk and an historical sense of anticipation, don’t come around often.

The singular sensations, the players everybody came to see, were Eagan sophomore Natalie Darwitz and Park Center senior Krissy Wendell. Darwitz had been named the Metro Player of the Year by the Minneapolis Star Tribune two years earlier as an eighth-grader and Wendell had won the honor as a junior. At the end of the 1999-2000 season Wendell would be named Minnesota’s Ms. Hockey, and the duo would soon become teammates on U.S. national and Olympic teams as well as at the University of Minnesota. On this November night, however, they were opponents.

“I remember the hype leading up to that game,” Darwitz said. “We had good visibility in the media, and it was the north suburban phenom vs. the south suburban phenom. The stands were jammed and there was a lot of buzz, a lot of good energy for that game. The fun part of it was it wasn’t for a girls’ game, it was for a hockey game.”

The game lived up to expectations. Wendell scored seven goals as Park Center recorded a 10-4 victory and Darwitz, playing with an injured hip, scored twice for Eagan. The pair raced up and down the ice all evening, played physically against each other and put on a show that people still talk about today.

Darwitz is now 27 years old and Wendell is 29. Their hockey careers include national championships at the University of Minnesota – where they hold or share most of the scoring records -- and Olympic medals. Some of their favorite hockey memories, however, go all the way back to their high school days.

“Oh, that was a lot of fun,” said Wendell, who is married to former University of Minnesota men’s hockey star Johnny Pohl and is the mother of two young daughters. “Obviously when you’re on a winning team everything seems to be more fun. There were a lot of good friendships, and I still keep in touch with some of the girls on our team. High school goes by so fast.”

Darwitz said, “There’s nothing like playing for your community, playing with your friends and growing up together. When I look back, I have a smile on my face. At times I wish I could snap my fingers and be back in high school and to have that opportunity again.”

Darwitz played in state tournaments as a seventh-grader, eighth-grader and sophomore, with Eagan’s best finish coming in 1997 when the Wildcats were runners-up to Hibbing/Chisholm. After her sophomore year, Darwitz skipped high school hockey while training with the U.S. national team and completing her high school education via distance learning.

Wendell (pictured at left) was a member of the Park Center girls’ hockey team as a junior and senior and played in the state tournament both years. The Pirates were one-class state champs in 2000, defeating Anoka 6-0 in the title game.

Their names are peppered throughout the state tournament record book, with scoring marks that may never be eclipsed. Wendell, for example, scored six goals in one game during the 1999 tournament and Darwitz recorded seven points in a single period during the 2000 tourney.

The girls’ state hockey tournament was only in its sixth year when the high school careers of Darwitz and Wendell ended in 2000. The early tournaments were held at the State Fair Coliseum, and both players remember the energy inside the small arena.

“There were great crowds, lots of high-caliber girls and a great atmosphere,” Wendell said.
“Playing at the Fairgrounds was fun,” Darwirz said. “It was such a great atmosphere, with the bands and the student sections and kids painting their faces.”

Both Wendell and Darwitz grew up playing hockey with boys; Wendell also played in the 1994 Little League World Series as the only female on the Brooklyn Center team and the first female starting catcher in Little League World Series history. Wendell played with the Park Center boys’ hockey team through her sophomore year.

“Honestly, I think it was such a great advantage because boys are naturally more intense and that elevated my game,” Wendell said. “There weren’t any other options at the time. I played with good guys, too, and the same group all the way up. I was really lucky in that aspect. And when you start so young, they don’t even think of you as the girl on the team. It was normal for them.”

Both players have travelled the world as hockey players, and Wendell has done the same as a hockey spouse. Pohl spent several years in the NHL before playing in Switzerland and Sweden. Wendell ended her playing career at the world championships in April 2007, she and Pohl were married later that year and their first child, Emily, was born in June 2008. The family expanded when Anna was born in 2010. They live in Woodbury and Pohl is a teacher and coach at Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul.

Wendell does some teaching at clinics and camps, and Darwitz (above) remains heavily involved in hockey, as well. They know that in addition to being historical figures in the hockey world, they also are seen as role models. And that’s a role they are happy to accept.

“I would hope that Krissy and I have some responsibility,” Darwitz said. “We like to be in the community and be good role models and to show kids how we got to where we are, and to teach them and guide them along. And also to show them that we’re stand-up people and have our morals and passions in life that are good ones. You don’t ask for that, but I think with talent comes responsibility and you’re held to a higher standard.”

Wendell said. “I think Natalie and I are probably names that people remember because we played beyond high school and college. And obviously with the Olympics, that’s kind of a big deal. Before us there were Amber Fryklund, the Curtins, Winny Brodt, lots of pioneers. John (Pohl) has said how it’s kind of cool now, ‘You paved the way and it’s come full circle,’ with two daughters and one of them is starting to skate.

“To see how far the game has come is pretty cool.”

John Millea is the media specialist for the Minnesota State High School League.
 
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Re: 2010-11 Minnesota Gophers -- May, West Pursue Erie March

I would only add a small correction to the statement that the early tournaments were held at the Fair Grounds. The first one (maybe the first two?) was at Aldrich Arena.
 
Re: 2010-11 Minnesota Gophers -- May, West Pursue Erie March

LET'S GO GOPHERS!

Make Sunday a day of rest!
 
Re: 2010-11 Minnesota Gophers -- May, West Pursue Erie March

ManBehindTheCurtain said:
Dismal?

At least that. The word I was tempted to use . . .

OK, I am going to use it.

Disgraceful.
Click to expand...
Same description fits the turnout tonight...a couple dozen more than Friday I guess.

Tense night for Gopher fans...that's alright now...got the two wins. WHEW!

WCHA ROTY comes through in the clutch!
 
Re: 2010-11 Minnesota Gophers -- May, West Pursue Erie March

Habs said:
ARM - Tuominen not Touminen.
Click to expand...
My apologies to Minttu. Tuominen is a name that I knew growing up, but so is the word "tomorrow", and I still struggle to spell it correctly. I'm already dreading next year when we'll have a "Rachael" and a "Rachel", plus "Megan" and "Meghan". At least both players with the name Kelly and Sarah use the same spelling.
 
Re: 2010-11 Minnesota Gophers -- May, West Pursue Erie March

Thanks to all for OSU/MN links. Sounds and looks like it was a fine series. Good luck the rest of the way.

D2D said:
It was hard to figure why the crowd was only about 50% of an average regular season game. Only thing I can think of is that it's girls high school tournament weekend?
Click to expand...
Early round playoff crowds have long been a problem for college hockey, for both Women and Men. It certainly isn't limited to one school. This is just such a busy time for winter sports at every age and ability level; the conflicts are countless. In other cases, fans are saving time, energy and dollars for travel to upcoming tournaments. Overall, my observation is that many season ticket holders and other regulars take a breather at certain stages of the post-season, and there's simply no one available to replace them.

Came across this article - which is part of a longer blog about the high school tourney - that I enjoyed reading between Gopher-OSU playoff games. Former Gophers Krissy Wendell and Natalie Darwitz reminisce about their younger days as high school opponents and how they still treasure those early experiences.
Click to expand...
Great read; thanks for posting.

As for the Wendell/Pohl daughters, just what is the minimum age for scholarship offers?:D;)
 
Re: 2010-11 Minnesota Gophers -- May, West Pursue Erie March

I have been looking at the critical pairwise between Us (MN) and Minnesota Duluth.

Please check my analysis. By my calculations we lose it unless we win both games this weekend. Obviously we lose it if we lose. If we win and lose to Wisconsin, we still win the RPI but I think we lose both TUCs and COps. TUCs is now 4-5-1 vs. 3-4-1 so we get the point. By losing to WI it becomes 4-6-1 vs. 3-4-1 and Duluth gets the point. COps is now 19-6-1 vs. 18-6-2 thus we get the point. A loss to WI makes it 19-7-1 vs. 18-6-2 and Duluth gets the point by a whisker. With head-to-head now 2-2, the final count is 3 for Minnesota and 4 for Minnesota Duluth.

I am hoping ARM or someone else finds a flaw in my analysis.
 
Re: 2010-11 Minnesota Gophers -- May, West Pursue Erie March

http://board.uscho.com/showthread.p...ns-shake-out&p=5055661&viewfull=1#post5055661

I like Dave's analysis where it's narrowed down to which option / result (strictly from the fans point of view) would be preferred between playing a team like Mercyhurst at home or traveling East to BU (examples). I'd imagine Gopher fans would nearly all prefer a q'final at home. I just think it's a little difficult to discern if one possibility is clearly more advantageous than the other.

Me...I'd take the home game given a choice.
 
Re: 2010-11 Minnesota Gophers -- May, West Pursue Erie March

PPC Fan said:
I have been looking at the critical pairwise between Us (MN) and Minnesota Duluth.

Please check my analysis. By my calculations we lose it unless we win both games this weekend. Obviously we lose it if we lose. If we win and lose to Wisconsin, we still win the RPI but I think we lose both TUCs and COps. TUCs is now 4-5-1 vs. 3-4-1 so we get the point. By losing to WI it becomes 4-6-1 vs. 3-4-1 and Duluth gets the point. COps is now 19-6-1 vs. 18-6-2 thus we get the point. A loss to WI makes it 19-7-1 vs. 18-6-2 and Duluth gets the point by a whisker. With head-to-head now 2-2, the final count is 3 for Minnesota and 4 for Minnesota Duluth.
Click to expand...
Your analysis is likely correct (beyond making the assumption that a Saturday opponent would be UW ;)). But the committee could look at it like this. As of today, Minnesota wins the comparison. If after theoretically defeating UMD and losing to Wisconsin they lose ground to a team that lost to Minnesota, they may say the most recent H2H result carried more weight than a .0085 difference in COP. Plus, the lead in RPI would grow. When things get really tight, it seems that they trust H2H and RPI more than TUC and COP.
 
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