GOPHERS – 6, Princeton – 0

Posted on December 5, 2013 by tomobert63

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Spoiler alert:  After having had their all-time record 62-game winning streak finally come to an end, the Gophers with last weekend’s sweep of the Tigers have now won 66 of their last 67 games.  It would seem the only somewhat comparable team in the state would be the Lynx.  The program featured senior Kelly Terry (10) from Whitby, Ontario.  If her last year’s teammate and this year’s Olympian, Amanda Kessel (who will be eligible to come back for her senior year next year), is the fastest woman on skates, Kelly would be a very close second.

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[You will note Kelly too loves the Minneapolis skyline (OK, you have to enlarge it a bit).  🙂  ]

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[Player introductions:  Milica McMillen (13), sophomore defenseman.  I know I’ve mentioned it before, but if you look to the left margin, that’s Milica in her Breck uniform when she was an 8th-grader.]

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[Paige Haley (15), freshman forward from Red Wing.  The program says she’s a defenseman, and that’s what she played last year in high school.  You may remember the Cards played against her in the state tournament last year.  Speaking of Red Wing, Rose Alleva (25) for the Tigers is a senior defenseman from there; I don’t recall this, but she was runner-up for Ms. Hockey Minnesota in high school.]

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[And we have Meghan Lorence (20), junior forward from Irondale (where Cam and Karen’s kids went); and Amanda Leveille (29), sophomore goalie from Kingston, Ontario.]

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[Kate Schipper (6), freshman forward from Breck.]

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[And Hannah Brandt (22), sophomore forward from Hill-Murray, and 2nd leading scorer in the country last year.]

The video is from the start of the game.  I should have waited a while, as the early period of the game is a feeling out period.  But you’ll get an idea of the Gophers’ overall team speed, and why they are favorites for their 3rd straight national championship.  You can see a burst from Ms. Terry about 2/3’s of the way through the video – her basic attack mode of just skating as fast as she can down the boards.  Works too, ’cause she just blows by people:

Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEd9dqoZUCs

To all my close personal troglodyte friends and relatives – and they know who they are: While we were watching Kelly Terry tear up and down the ice at a very high rate of speed, we thought of you, sitting home in your Barcaloungers, eating Doritos and belching, while large mesomorph men on TV lumber to the line of scrimmage with dreams of post-game buffet tables dancing in their heads, forgetting the snap count, and tumbling forward in a hypoglycemic stupor creating a rules infraction of such a nature it has to be referred back to the studio where six previously mesomorph men discuss what happened through various angles of replay and, deciding further review is necessary, break for a 5-minute Viagra commercial . . . Meanwhile, back at Ridder, the supervisor is asking whether or not the game has gone into running time because play never stops.  That’s because the student-athletes at the ‘U’ and Princeton both understand the rules of their game and do not violate them.  Thus, there were a prodigious number of shift changes on the fly by both teams – as shifts usually average 30-45 seconds – for what seemed like 10 minutes without a whistle.  If our large mesomorph men ever had to change shifts on the fly, they would mostly certainly fall down and hurt themselves.  Granted, I must not condemn your activities knowing that I would most certainly loll in my Barcalounger and gobble Doritos if the idiots who schedule TV programming would ever air women’s hockey!  But I digress.

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[This is a face-off.  Ms. Terry (10) is taking it, with Megan Wolfe (12), freshman defenseman from Eagan.  You want to win face-offs in your own zone to prevent being scored upon; and you want to win face-offs in your opponents zone so you can score.  Thems the basics!]

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[Go!]

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[Ooops, let’s do that again.  For leverage, you will note Kelly gets as low as she can get.]

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[Go!]

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[Dani Cameranesi (21), freshman forward from Blake.  We saw her play in the high school state tournament last year.  I believe she was considered the catch of the state.]

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[Kelly and Dani, two pretty darn quick snipers.]

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[Meghan, or as Brother Cam would say, “Go, Knightette!”]

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[Following the Irondale flash for a bit . . .]

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[Ooops, how’d Kate get in here?  😉  ]

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[Then Meghan almost takes out the goal!]

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[Dani]

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[Found Meghan again.  The biggest difference between high school and Division 1 hockey is the ability to receive a pass.  The second biggest difference I really noticed with the Gophers is that there always seems to be a player positioned on the weak, or back door, side – such as this instance – where you can score on rebounds or diagonal passes before the goalie can react.]

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[Meghan]

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[Baylee Gallanders (27), senior defenseman from Kyle, Saskatchewan.  Last year’s Gophers had five 6-footers on defense (OK, McMillen is listed as just 5’10” and Gillanders at 5’11”).  This year they only have three, with Rachel Ramsey, a true 6-footer, joining the previously listed two.]

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[Rachel Bona (7), junior forward from Coon Rapids, a real scooter like Kelly.]

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[Megan with Sarah Davis (9), senior forward from Paradise, N.L., another speedster who always seems to get the big goal.]

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[Sarah with Maryanne Menefee (14), sophomore forward from Lansing, Michigan.  With this group there is very little difference between the 1st and 2nd lines.]

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[Milica, when you make all-state as an 8th-grader, chances are pretty good you’ll be pretty good.]

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[Amanda]

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[Dani will crawl over ice to achieve her “goal.”]

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[Hannah feeds Milica for a one-timer.]

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[. . . and done!]

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[Take that, you Tigers!]

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[It’s a FUUUUMMMBBBBLLLLEEE!]

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[GOOOOAAAAALLLLLLLL!  Dani!]

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[Coach Brad Frost is honored for his 200th coaching victory.]

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[The Gophers begin recruiting early with a Zamboni ride!  🙂  ]

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[It also doesn’t hurt to recruit young girl teams to come to your games!  🙂  ]

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[Gotta be some potential stars here.]

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[Celebrate!  Bethany Brausen (16), captain senior forward from Little Canada.]

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[Oy!  What are we gonna do?]

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[Then Sarah (9) scored . . .]

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[Yeah, we’re happy.]

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[Then Kelly scored.]

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[Kate]

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[Kate passes to . . .]

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[Rachel Ramsey (5)]

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[One would never want to be in the path of a Rachel slap shot!]

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[Another flurry around the beleaguered Tiger goalie.]

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[4 – 0 after two.]

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[‘Nuff said.]

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[More future Gophers?]

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[Now on the U.S. Olympic team.  Hope to have her back next year!]

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[An obvious error.  Shouldn’t it end in a ‘t,’ not a ‘g’?]

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[Bring ’em out, bring ’em out, bring ’em out . . .]

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[Hannah, not a surprise she’s such a point machine.  Great hands and sense of where she and her teammates are on the ice.]

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[And here she comes . . .]

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[A shot . . .]

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[Continues in . . .]

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[And she scores!!]

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[Yay, Hannah!]

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[A final rush by the Tigers.]

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[Dani wrapped up the scoring with her 2nd goal of the game for the 6 – 0 win.]

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[Celebrate!]

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[And we’ll see you again tomorrow!]

About tomobert63

The Journey Begins Thanks for joining me! This is the follow-up to the original, “alexandriacardinals.wordpress.com,” which overwhelmed the system’s ability to handle it any more. Thus, this is “Part 2.” As the original was initially described: 10-26-07-4 “It all began in a 5,000 watt radio station in Fresno, California” . . . wait a minute, that was Ted Baxter on the Mary Tyler Moore Show! Let’s see . . . oh yeah, it all began in 2003 when retirees, i.e., old people, in Alexandria, Minnesota, who had no desire to become snow birds, went looking for mid-winter entertainment here in the frozen tundra of West Central Minnesota. We discovered girls’ high school hockey, fell in love immediately, and it remains our favorite spectator sport to this day. Initially, and for several years, reports on these games were e-mailed to those who were actually snowbirds but wanted to keep abreast of things “back home.” It was ultimately decided a blog would be more efficient, and it evolved into a personal diary of many things that attracts tens of readers on occasion. It remains a source of personal mental therapy and has yet to elicit any lawsuits. ~ The Editor, May 9, 2014 p.s. The photo border around the blog is the Cardinal girls’ hockey team after just beating Breck for the state championship in 2008. It’s of the all-tournament team. The visible Breck player on the left is Milica McMillen, then an 8th-grader – she is now an All-American for the Gophers. The Roseau player in the stocking cap I believe is Mary Loken, who went on to play for UND; and the Cardinal player on the right, No. 3, is Abby Williams, the player we blame most for making us girls’ hockey fans who went on to play for Bemidji State. *********************************************************************************** Photos contained herein are available for personal use. All you have to do is double click on any of the photos and they will become full screen size. You can then save them into your personal “My Pictures” file. They make lovely parting or hostess gifts, or holiday gifts for such as Uncle Ernie who wants to see how his grand niece is doing on the hockey team. If any are sold for personal profit, however, to, for example, the Audubon Society, National Geographic, Sven’s Home Workshop Monthly, Curling By The Numbers, or the World Wrestling Federation, I only request that you make a donation to the charitable organization of your choice. You have two hours and fifteen minutes. Pencils ready? Begin! **********************************************************************************
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