ST. PAUL, Minn.—During the regular season Minnesota couldn’t buy an overtime win. Now it seems no one can stop the Gophers when the game goes into an extra session.
Mike Hoeffel’s shot from a deep angle deflected off a defenseman and past Colorado College goaltender Richard Bachman to give Minnesota a 2-1 WCHA Final Five semifinal win on Friday. Hoeffel’s second goal of the game sent most of the 16,967 fans at the Xcel Energy Center into a frenzy, and virtually assures the Gophers a berth in the NCAA tournament.
It was the fourth time in five games that the Gophers have gone into overtime. They’ve won three of them in a row, including two last weekend in their first-round playoff series at Minnesota State, Mankato.
“Last weekend was definitely just a confidence builder,” said Hoeffel. “Now we go into any overtime with that confidence and knowing we can make the play to win it.”
Playing with seemingly limitless energy, Minnesota goes into the Final Five championship Saturday against Denver, which beat North Dakota 3-1 in the other semifinal.
Alex Kangas continued his brilliant play with 37 saves, including 20 in the first period.
“We thought they’d be a little more tired than they were,” said Andreas Vlassopoulos, who scored the Tigers’ only goal on a second-period power play. That was followed 59 seconds later by Hoeffel’s first goal, a one-timer that nearly ripped through the net.
“This team kind of never ceases to amaze me right now, what they’ve been able to do and overcome,” coach Don Lucia said.
In addition to grinding out overtime playoff wins against higher-seeded teams, the Gophers had to deal with a season-ending knee injury to Ryan Stoa and the mid-year defection of Kyle Okposo to professional hockey. Then on Sunday, Tom Pohl suffered a skull fracture in the playoff game at Mankato and needed emergency surgery. Before Friday’s game, the Gophers found out Pohl went home from the hospital.
“The best news of the day,” said Lucia.
The loss was another disappointment in the WCHA Final Five for Colorado College, which has never won the tournament and has only two appearances in the final. They came into this year’s event as the number one seed after easily winning the WCHA regular season championship, only to run into the Gophers and their tireless run.
“Everybody keeps waiting for them to run out of gas,” Tigers coach Scott Owens said. “They’re doing it on fumes, they’ve got a little magic going. How else would that winning goal go in?”
The Gophers’ postseason play has the attention of their next opponent.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a Minnesota team play with as much heart and desire and will as that team is playing right now,” said Denver coach George Gwozdecky. “Considering all the things they’ve gone through, the loss of players, the injuries. It’s inspiring watching them play.”
Colorado College broke out early in the second period on a power-play goal by Vlassopoulos, who slapped the puck past Kangas during a scrum in front of the crease. Hoeffel then one-timed a pass from Jay Barriball and went top shelf on Bachman.
Minnesota managed to escape the first period unscathed despite allowing 20 shots by Colorado College, which also had three power-play opportunities.
“I don’t know how you get in a zone, to be honest,” said Kangas. “I just had to make the first save and my defense cleared everything out of the way.”
Bachman made 33 saves for the WCHA regular season champion Tigers, who swept Minnesota in late October in Colorado Springs in the teams’ only meetings of the season.
Including Friday’s semifinal, the Gophers have played in 21 periods of hockey in five games over eight days.
After beating St. Cloud State 3-2 on Thursday, Minnesota is the fourth team to go from the Final Five’s play-in game all the way to the final, joining Northern Michigan in 1993, Michigan Tech in 1996 and St. Cloud State in 2006. All three of those teams lost in the championship game.
The Gophers won last year’s WCHA tournament title, beating North Dakota 3-2 on Blake Wheeler’s overtime goal.
