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Congrats '12-'13 National Champions Undefeated Minnesota Gophers

Re: Congrats '12-'13 National Champions Undefeated Minnesota Gophers

ARM said:
It's already remarkable, because nobody has every defeated 49 straight D-I opponents previously, and thus, we are remarking on it. ;)
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ARM's point is exactly right. Every new program takes whatever games they can get, including club teams, D3 teams, and non NCAA (Canadian) teams. NH did it and didn't lose any of those games. Minnesota did it in 1997 and 1998 and lost some of the D1 games (but I don't remember them losing a club or D3 game). The startup NH program did way better than the startup MN program, no question. NH started without the influx of talent caused by Title IX. Minnesota started with the first Title IX players just showing up. NH deserves credit for blazing the trail, and my hat is off to them.

Also, my sister-in-law, who predated Title IX (and may have my head for dating her like that), played hockey for Bowdoin at the same time as NH was putting together their streak. Even she will admit the the level of play has definitely improved since then. You have to start somewhere, though.
 
Re: Congrats '12-'13 National Champions Undefeated Minnesota Gophers

OldDave said:
ARM's point is exactly right. Every new program takes whatever games they can get, including club teams, D3 teams, and non NCAA (Canadian) teams. NH did it and didn't lose any of those games. Minnesota did it in 1997 and 1998 and lost some of the D1 games (but I don't remember them losing a club or D3 game). The startup NH program did way better than the startup MN program, no question. NH started without the influx of talent caused by Title IX. Minnesota started with the first Title IX players just showing up. NH deserves credit for blazing the trail, and my hat is off to them.

Also, my sister-in-law, who predated Title IX (and may have my head for dating her like that), played hockey for Bowdoin at the same time as NH was putting together their streak. Even she will admit the the level of play has definitely improved since then. You have to start somewhere, though.
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Not sure how each team was defined back in those days in terms of Club vs D1 vs D3. The real/initial trail blazing was done at Brown and soon after Cornell. Brown starting in '64, and Cornell circa '70. First real games being played in 70/71. Colby was another place with a good team in the early days. When UNH came on board, they just pushed it to another level. Similarly when the West got involved, and the game became an NCAA championship sport, the game was pushed to a new level by the big Scholarship schools.
 
Re: Congrats '12-'13 National Champions Undefeated Minnesota Gophers

D2D said:
You know you've arrived when you get a mention in the Wall Street Journal (link may require a subscription):

The Valedictorians of College Sports

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323419104578374762388460212.html?mod=djemLifeStyle_h
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In 2010 Cornell, UMD and their epic Frozen Four Championship Game battle that lasted 34.6 seconds shy of two full games, and also played at Ridder, garnered mention in the New York Times, Denver Post and the San Francisco Chronicle. (I recall reading that it was also televised in some areas of the US).

But a financial publication?...that's interesting.

All good for the women's game.
 
Re: Congrats '12-'13 National Champions Undefeated Minnesota Gophers

The Gophers' title was mentioned in the WSJ last year, too (at least online, not sure about in print), but it was primarily so that the writer could take a shot at the Gopher football and basketball programs for never winning.
 
Re: Congrats '12-'13 National Champions Undefeated Minnesota Gophers

Congratulations to the young ladies who went undefeated.
I did not have the ability to watch the games but kept up on the game through the U of M website.
Enjoy your undefeated season and keep at it next year.
 
Re: Congrats '12-'13 National Champions Undefeated Minnesota Gophers

Since when is Ridder, according to the video announcer, in "downtown Minneapolis?"
 
Re: Congrats '12-'13 National Champions Undefeated Minnesota Gophers

Hux said:
Since when is Ridder, according to the video announcer, in "downtown Minneapolis?"
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That probably doesn't rank in the top 20 for inaccuracies in the video. The "Hannah Kessel" reference was likely a bigger goof, but overall, I didn't think he was the problem. A.J. is probably a really nice person, but she just doesn't improve at all from year to year. I'd recommend that she do two things: 1) go back and listen to herself, note the problems, and take steps to correct them; 2) slow down and finish each thought.
 
Re: Congrats '12-'13 National Champions Undefeated Minnesota Gophers

As DC and I were tooling down 494 to the Mall of America yesterday we listened to 100.3 "The Fan" and Paul Allen and Tom Chorske talking about the Gophers win. The conversation about the undefeated season had Allen questioning if "it ranked as an all-time Minnesota athletic achievement" since the Gophers were heavily favored all season. Allen expressed his lack of knowledge of the level of competition the Gophers faced outside of Wisco, UMD, and NoDak. Chorske countered with commentary on the Gophers being stacked, so regardless of the scores giving the appearance of weak competition, their romp was worthy of consideration.

They both chided the lack of TV coverage, with Allen wondering how a sold out event could not have ended up on TV, like the Big 10 Network, and Chorske explaining the contract and money issues being "in the tens of thousands." (I believe the actual figure is more in the hundreds of thousands). Chorske, whose daughter plays, watched the games with her online. Allen noted that some TV stations did a better job of covering the Gophers' run than others, and felt that if more attention were paid to the players themselves, casual fans would have more interest and the game would end up on TV. He called Bozek, "Pronger with a ponytail" and then dubbed the nickname one of his top four all-time nics.

Given the Gophers' run, the fact that they were playing at home and all, it is too bad that someone didn't think to extend media credentials/tickets to Allen and Chorske and get them in the building this weekend. If they weren't at games during the season, it might not be a bad idea to get them in for some next season and keep the Gophers and women's hockey part of the conversation during next season.
 
Re: Congrats '12-'13 National Champions Undefeated Minnesota Gophers

Hux said:
As DC and I were tooling down 494 to the Mall of America yesterday we listened to 100.3 "The Fan" and Paul Allen and Tom Chorske talking about the Gophers win. The conversation about the undefeated season had Allen questioning if "it ranked as an all-time Minnesota athletic achievement" since the Gophers were heavily favored all season. Allen expressed his lack of knowledge of the level of competition the Gophers faced outside of Wisco, UMD, and NoDak. Chorske countered with commentary on the Gophers being stacked, so regardless of the scores giving the appearance of weak competition, their romp was worthy of consideration.

They both chided the lack of TV coverage, with Allen wondering how a sold out event could not have ended up on TV, like the Big 10 Network, and Chorske explaining the contract and money issues being "in the tens of thousands." (I believe the actual figure is more in the hundreds of thousands). Chorske, whose daughter plays, watched the games with her online. Allen noted that some TV stations did a better job of covering the Gophers' run than others, and felt that if more attention were paid to the players themselves, casual fans would have more interest and the game would end up on TV. He called Bozek, "Pronger with a ponytail" and then dubbed the nickname one of his top four all-time nics.

Given the Gophers' run, the fact that they were playing at home and all, it is too bad that someone didn't think to extend media credentials/tickets to Allen and Chorske and get them in the building this weekend. If they weren't at games during the season, it might not be a bad idea to get them in for some next season and keep the Gophers and women's hockey part of the conversation during next season.
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KFAN is the leading sports radio station in the Twin Cities - they broadcast the Vikings, Wild and Gopher Football games. Allen or PA is Play by Play voice of the Vikings and a big race horsing fan/announcer. KFAN has a Saturday morning show just devoted to hockey and did talk about Women's Hockey a lot this year. Minnesota loves a winner and coverage picks up in every sport where there is winning season (we have to many areas not winning).

I do think the tremendous season will help fuel girls hockey and future coverage. I can remember going to the first Gopher game and it helped many young girls pick up the game including my daughter. That was one of the exciting things going on at Ridder lots of young players watching. Perhaps the greatest thing that comes out of the "Perfect Season" is more young girls taking up the game.

Last night I heard from a HS senior that is a pretty good player is going to Iowa. They are on a push to upgrade their men's club program and may within 3 years join the Big Ten Hockey League and that they also are planning to upgrade women's program - first I had heard of this. Five years from now the The Big Ten Hockey League will likely greatly change the landscape of hockey on the men's and women's side.
 
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Re: Congrats '12-'13 National Champions Undefeated Minnesota Gophers

Hux said:
Allen noted that some TV stations did a better job of covering the Gophers' run than others, and felt that if more attention were paid to the players themselves, casual fans would have more interest and the game would end up on TV. He called Bozek, "Pronger with a ponytail" and then dubbed the nickname one of his top four all-time nics.
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I thought "Pronger with a ponytail" was Rachel Ramsey. Either way, still a great nickname.

Given the Gophers' run, the fact that they were playing at home and all, it is too bad that someone didn't think to extend media credentials/tickets to Allen and Chorske and get them in the building this weekend. If they weren't at games during the season, it might not be a bad idea to get them in for some next season and keep the Gophers and women's hockey part of the conversation during next season.
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Agreed.
 
Re: Congrats '12-'13 National Champions Undefeated Minnesota Gophers

The irony is that Chorske was on Rosen Sports Sunday, or whatever it is called these days, on WCCO after the late news. Rosen said he'd invited the Gophers back as he'd had Ramsey, Terry, and Räty on the week before to talk about the UND win, but they had declined because they were celebrating. I feel that WCCO is one of the stations that was weak on coverage this season, KSTP being the other. KARE11 and FOX9 had cameras there far more often. Sunday wasn't really the day to try to recruit new local media people, as it was hard enough to fit everybody upstairs as it was. Chorske is somebody that definitely knows how to find Ridder and shouldn't have to be hunted down to show up if he is going to be considered an all-around hockey expert.

Also, although props to BTN for making an effort at the end to get Sunday's game on TV, they were pretty lame all season in covering. They had the second UMD game on live and rebroadcast the Senior Day game with BSU. Last season, they had at least four tape-delayed games in addition to the one live game. Two bad this season wasn't documented better on video, because it would have been nice to preserve more of it, such as either of the last two UND games or the Wisconsin series in December.

Props to all of the Gopher alums who showed up to support the program during the postseason.
 
Re: Congrats '12-'13 National Champions Undefeated Minnesota Gophers

Like you said not that it matters much but Ramsey makes more sense in a comparison to Pronger. Bozek? She has skating and offensive ability that reminds me of Paul Coffey.
 
Re: Congrats '12-'13 National Champions Undefeated Minnesota Gophers

FiveHoleFrenzy said:
Like you said not that it matters much but Ramsey makes more sense in a comparison to Pronger. Bozek? She has skating and offensive ability that reminds me of Paul Coffey.
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Well, Bozek is also known for banging bodies around.

ARM said:
The irony is that Chorske was on Rosen Sports Sunday, or whatever it is called these days, on WCCO after the late news. Rosen said he'd invited the Gophers back as he'd had Ramsey, Terry, and Räty on the week before to talk about the UND win, but they had declined because they were celebrating. I feel that WCCO is one of the stations that was weak on coverage this season, KSTP being the other. KARE11 and FOX9 had cameras there far more often. Sunday wasn't really the day to try to recruit new local media people, as it was hard enough to fit everybody upstairs as it was. Chorske is somebody that definitely knows how to find Ridder and shouldn't have to be hunted down to show up if he is going to be considered an all-around hockey expert.

Also, although props to BTN for making an effort at the end to get Sunday's game on TV, they were pretty lame all season in covering. They had the second UMD game on live and rebroadcast the Senior Day game with BSU. Last season, they had at least four tape-delayed games in addition to the one live game. Two bad this season wasn't documented better on video, because it would have been nice to preserve more of it, such as either of the last two UND games or the Wisconsin series in December.

Props to all of the Gopher alums who showed up to support the program during the postseason.
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Well, the WCHA should have done a better job of negotiating its television rights and insisted on more coverage, especially the league final. Part of Hockey East's deal with NESN is coverage of the women's championship final. While tape delayed, it aired immediately after the game, and in HI-Def.
 
Re: Congrats '12-'13 National Champions Undefeated Minnesota Gophers

D2D said:
You know you've arrived when you get a mention in the Wall Street Journal (link may require a subscription):

The Valedictorians of College Sports

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323419104578374762388460212.html?mod=djemLifeStyle_h
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Are people here actually content with this article? This is what I just wrote the author.

----

Women's college hockey has decades of varsity history prior to NCAA sponsorship. The sport has gone three decades without an undefeated team, not "just 13." And so what if undefeated seasons are easy in other college sports like women's basketball? They're not easy in college hockey. And what's the basis for saying it was "just” 13 seasons? Did other sports have undefeated teams sooner after NCAA sponsorship? You provide no such information. Did you really have to make such an effort to downplay this achievement?
 
Re: Congrats '12-'13 National Champions Undefeated Minnesota Gophers

D2D said:
Who all did UNH play during their old winning streaks? I would guess there were many club-level teams on their schedule, probably D3 also and maybe the Little Sisters? Are those wins included? Did the girls wear hockey skates back then? ;)
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We played any team that wanted to play us, and if the score was lopsided, we didn't tend to play them again until their programs got stronger, and if we were way ahead, we passed the puck and played our third and fourth lines a lot.

We did not refuse anyone who wanted to play us. In those days, with no Division separations, we had to figure it out as we went. I assure you that every year our schedule got tougher, and yes, that first tie was against the Waltham Wings,( http://www.wickedlocal.com/waltham/...ockey-teams-1985-national-title#axzz2Os1AQZ6M ) a club out of a very strong league in Mass that played out of valley Sports in Concord, and included the Massport Jets, the phenom women's team of the time, who we also played and beat. The Jets (Google them! ) produced Colby College star Lee Johnson, who led Colby to an undefeated season the year before UNH came into existance (and beat them every time for years afterward). We went to Minny my Junior year and played in a tournament hosted by the U of MN Women's Club, and won that tourney. We played in a tourney at Concordia, (CA) every year, and won that.

I wouldn't dismiss our records as illegitimate just because the hockey has gotten better, and the seasons longer. That's how progress is supposed to be made. We don't do that, and the girls who aspired to the Olympics don't know the college opportunity exists, and then maybe the Olympics don't happen (or at least not then. Ask Laura Haldorson how the competition back then was. We played against her team, Digit's team, and many other well known and respected women's hockey players and beat them all. Just sayin'
 
DC78-82 said:
We played any team that wanted to play us, and if the score was lopsided, we didn't tend to play them again until their programs got stronger, and if we were way ahead, we passed the puck and played our third and fourth lines a lot.

We did not refuse anyone who wanted to play us. In those days, with no Division separations, we had to figure it out as we went. I assure you that every year our schedule got tougher, and yes, that first tie was against the Waltham Wings,( http://www.wickedlocal.com/waltham/...ockey-teams-1985-national-title#axzz2Os1AQZ6M ) a club out of a very strong league in Mass that played out of valley Sports in Concord, and included the Massport Jets, the phenom women's team of the time, who we also played and beat. The Jets (Google them! ) produced Colby College star Lee Johnson, who led Colby to an undefeated season the year before UNH came into existance (and beat them every time for years afterward). We went to Minny my Junior year and played in a tournament hosted by the U of MN Women's Club, and won that tourney. We played in a tourney at Concordia, (CA) every year, and won that.

I wouldn't dismiss our records as illegitimate just because the hockey has gotten better, and the seasons longer. That's how progress is supposed to be made. We don't do that, and the girls who aspired to the Olympics don't know the college opportunity exists, and then maybe the Olympics don't happen (or at least not then. Ask Laura Haldorson how the competition back then was. We played against her team, Digit's team, and many other well known and respected women's hockey players and beat them all. Just sayin'
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Outstanding it will be great to hear this Gopher Team look back in a similar way +30 years from now! It is great to see the huge strides forward - teams like UNH then or UM now redefine the game for young girls and expand it forward! They say girls hockey has been driven by if their Dad played hockey - think about the future!
 
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