Gopher Hockey Noobery

What I know about Gopher hockey could fit on the back of a postcard to Bison Dele, but I feel like we need to take notice here.  I know literally zero, so let's see what I can learn in one evening of internet study.  Obviously I'll form opinions with no real knowledge behind them like usual.

Minnesota is the #2 team in the country behind something called Quinnipiac.  A little research shows that Quinnipiac is in Connecticut and only has an 8,400 student enrollment.  They recently did the switch from the Braves to the Bobcats (way to be original) and now have a super lame logo.

Rawr!

Anyway, those losers are going to back to looking up the Gophers' tailpipe in short order which will leave Quinnipiac alum and black licorice lover Turk Wendell in tears.  The Gophers are 22-7-5 overall and in second place in the WCHA two points behind St. Cloud State.  They're coming off a weekend split against #12 Denver; losing on Friday 2-0 and winning on Saturday 5-1.  This weekend they head to Bemidji State for their last games in the WCHA as next year they move on to the Big Ten Hockey Conference next year.  There's only six teams in the conference so far, so I'm not sure what's up with that; but I can't learn everything in one night.

Leading scorer Erik Haula is a junior for the Gophers and has 42 points in 31 games.  He is a Wild seventh round draft pick from 2009.  Here he is scoring a kick-ass goal against Devil Wisconsin in November.  The Fin is second on the team in goals with 15.

Fellow junior and leading goal scorer (17) Nick Bjugstad is a 2010 first round pick (19) of the Florida Panthers.  The 6'6" center netted 25 goals last year and his uncle Scott was a North Star.  Here's a sweet goal against Bahstun Cahlledge.

Sophomore Kyle Rau is on a bit of a cold streak with just one goal in the past 12 games, but is still second on the team in points with 33. Get to know him here!

Freshman goalie Adam Wilcox is 3-3-1 in his last 7, but it appears he's done a pretty good job despite the recent record.  In 32 starts he's only allowed 4 goals on 4 occasions and 3 goals on another 4.  He also has two assists and that's pretty sweet.  Here he is doing a cool drill where he basically just slides around on his knees.

The WCHA Final Five is March 21-23 at the Excel Energy Center and is sponsored by Red Baron Pizza, which is delicious.  I'm looking for OUR Gophers to get there and kick some major ass. Shit, I don't know...I tried.