Gophers hockey picks up first win of the season, 4-0 over Northeastern – Minneapolis Star Tribune
The optimistic fans at Mariucci Arena had something to cheer about on Friday night. The Gophers ended the three-game losing streak that spoiled the first two weekends of the season. They also quadrupled their offensive output from the first three games.
A year ago, a 4-0 shutout victory over unranked Northeastern would have been a no-brainer. That automatic thinking has stalled for the moment after the worrisome 0-3 start in which the Gophers scored just one goal.
The last time a Don Lucia-led Gophers hockey team started so poorly was in 2009-2010. They started 0-3-1, were eventually ousted in the first round of the WCHA playoffs and failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament.
If history repeats itself, this could be a down year for the Gophers hockey program, its first since the downturn from 2008-2011. Since then they’ve won four consecutive conference championships and appeared in two Frozen Fours.
This week they fell 10 spots from their No. 9 preseason ranking and are holding onto some hope at No. 19. The last time the Gophers fell out of the polls was at the midway point of last season and from the outside perspective the sky was falling.
There was much of the same after the Gophers were swept by in-state rival Minnesota Duluth last weekend. Questions began to swirl about why the experienced junior class was struggling to lead and why a highly touted freshmen class was underachieving.
The easy answer is they’ve only played two weeks of the season and had 180 minutes to get comfortable in their new roles.
The freshmen looked more comfortable in Game 4. Rookie goaltender Eric Schierhorn recorded his first career shutout with 23 saves, Tommy Novak had two points with a goal and assist, Tyler Sheehy scored his first goal and Jack Sadek had an assist.
Each player in the Gophers’ lineup has new responsibility this year, from Schierhorn to junior forward Hudson Fasching, who spent the first two seasons of his college career under the guidance of first-line standouts including Kyle Rau.
The junior class needs better production from captain Justin Kloos and Fasching. Their support system in Taylor Cammarata, Vinni Lettieri and Connor Reilly are also expected to play big roles up front. Each of these forwards had an impact on the Gophers’ run to the Frozen Four during their freshman seasons.
Like that 2013-2014 campaign, the biggest question that could determine this season’s outcome is how will the freshmen mature into impacting roles?
They began to answer some of those questions on Friday night by jumpstarting the offense, but Lucia still has some concerns.
“This is probably the least comfortable I’ve been with a group as far as what they can and can’t do and who should be where in the lineup,” Lucia said last week.
“We just have to keep teaching and be patient and show the areas where we can grow. There are obviously a lot of areas with this group where we can grow.”
They showed growth from Week 2 to Week 3 and that’s all the coaching staff can ask of the group at this point in the season. Without a preseason or a handful of exhibition games, the first month or two of the season is where they work out the kinks.
Freshmen forwards Novak, Sheehy, Brent Gates Jr., Jack Ramsey and Darian Romanko will likely maintain prominent roles in the lineup throughout the season and all need produce. Schierhorn has already showed promise through three starts and Lucia called him one of the few bright spots of bumpy start.
Now the rest of the young team needs to step into the spotlight.
Leading up to Friday’s series opener, Kloos reminded the media that it’s a long season so they’re keeping their confidence high. They also plan to play a little bit looser, he said. There’s no reason to put so much pressure on themselves after three games of a six-month season.
Junior defenseman Nick Seeler said “Our heads are good. We’re fine. We had some growing pains, obviously, but we’re ready to play Northeastern. … We’re not thinking too much about the past.”
Rebuilding years don’t come as often for historically power programs, but when they do it hurts even worse for the fan base. Friday was a start at the Gophers calming any of Lucia’s or their fans’ fears that this season is the dreaded rebuilding season.
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