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UMD sophomore goaltender Hunter Shepard was razor sharp in shutting out Western Michigan 3-0 Friday. Photo credit: John Gilbert

Western Michigan sophomore goalie Ben Blacker turned gymnast but UMD's shot from the right hit the left post and ricocheted right back out. Photo credit: John Gilbert

UMD freshman defenseman Scott Perunovich rushed in to make a pass and went hurtling after it before an unscheduled landing. Photo credit: John Gilbert

In Saturday's reversal, the Broncos stormed Hunter Shepard's goal, and after a review, a goal was awarded to Paul Washe (23) who was on hands and knees in the crease, giving Western a 3-0 lead in the second period. Photo credit: John Gilbert

Western Michigan's Jade McMullen (14) smacked a loose puck into the UMD goal to complete a 5-0 victory. Photo credit: John Gilbert

The last two weekends have shown exactly how difficult it is to win in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. To say nothing of winning the NCHC championship.

 It would be hard to create a more perfect turnabout than UMD’s split with Western Michigan  at AMSOIL Arena, with the Bulldogs forcing their will on Western for a 3-0 victory in the first game, then Western Michigan reversing things in Game 2 and stuffing UMD 5-0, fracturing a scoreless tie with three goals in the second period and two more in the third.

It was an impressive performance both nights by Western Michigan, as coach Andy Murray brought in a Broncos team that forechecked with alert precision and discipline both nights, and it took a great performance by the Bulldogs to escape from their own end and generate the substantial offense it took to win the game.

But we shouldn’t have been surprised. True, Western Michigan was never mentioned in any preseason picks by the alleged experts in the media, who unanimously picked defending league, league playoff, and NCAA champion Denver to repeat in all categories, and St. Cloud State, North Dakota, and UMD were picked as the other top four teams.

So with Denver rated No. 1 in the country two weeks ago, the Pioneers went to Western Michigan and the Broncos came from behind both nights, 6-5 and 7-4, while UMD went to St. Cloud and lost 5-3 on an open-net goal, then lost 5-0 on a power outage. Those two series meant Denver had to yield the No. 1 rank, and St. Cloud State was more than willing to take it on - undefeated and all. 

The new national rank last week showed St. Cloud State No. 1, North Dakota No. 2 and Denver No. 3. UMD was No. 12, and Western Michigan overcame the still-reluctant voters to rank 18th.

The plot thickened last weekend, as Western came to Duluth, and St. Cloud State went to Denver, where the Pioneers rebounded for a sweep, issuing the first two losses of the season to the Huskies, and also revising the ratings for this week: Denver reclaimed No. 1, St. Cloud State dropped to No. 2, and North Dakota is No. 3.  UMD dropped to 14th, and Western Michigan rises, slightly, to No. 15.

The UMD series was a puzzle. UMD sophomore goaltender Hunter Shepard was flawless in the nets, and his old Grand Rapids teammate, Avery Peterson, came back from an injury to rejoin the lineup and score the second and third goals in the third period for the 3-0 conquest. UMD overcame that impressive forecheck and outshot the Broncos 38-22 in that first game, but it almost seemed as though in the second game, Western Michigan kept up the fierce forecheck, and the Bulldogs sagged a bit. 

Even though UMD outshot Western 31-20 in the second game, it stayed scoreless until the second period. Then it was role reversal time for Shepard, and Western goaltender Ben Blacker. Luke Bafia put the Broncos ahead 1-0 at 1:09 of the second, and just 58 seconds later, Austin Rueschhoff moved in uncovered from the left corner, and sniped the upper far corner for a 2-0 count.

Late in the second period, Western stormed the net, crashing in hard. As the Broncos celebrated, the officials reviewed the action and declared a goal for Paul Washe and a 3-0 bulge. That gap only got worse when Josh Passolt put in a rebound at the left post midway through the period, and Jake McMullen poked another in from the edge of the crease in the final minute of the game.

As the teams return to the NCHC battles this weekend, UMD goes to Miami of Ohio for a series. Nobody will be taking anyone lightly on either side, but the Bulldogs have a more impressive look now that Avery Peterson is back. The Bulldogs have great balance and perseverence, but Peterson adds a scoring touch that you can neither practice nor teach. When the Bulldogs were clinging to a 1-0 lead on the opening shift of the second period in Game 1, freshman Scott Perunovich bolted up the middle, passing to his left to Peterson. Instead of heading for the net, or shooting from the left circle, Peterson did a neat little mini-toe-drag to cut to the slot and pull the puck along with him. Then he displayed his quick release and rifled a shot into the Broncos net.

Trying to give him the chance to explain how goal-scorers operate, I asked Avery if he spotted an opening and sniped it, and he grinned, shook his head, and said, “No, I just threw it on net and was lucky that it went in.”

So that’s how goal-scorers do it. It doesn’t have to be pretty, it doesn’t even have to be by design, but a lot of shooters would have plunked the goaltender’s pads on that chance. Avery Peterson, a goal-scorer all his life, has the capability to pick a corner and score, or just throw it on net and score.

Curt Giles, right, was escorted for his jersey-retirement ceremony by Keith (Huffer) Christiansen. Photo credit: John Gilbert

Giles Jersey Retired

It was good to have a chance to talk to Curt Giles and his wife, Mary Pat, last weekend. Then the thought occurred to me that a lot of UMD students probably never heard of Curt Giles. Even some of the Bulldog players might be too young to know about him. After all, Giles has been the coach at Edina for 18 years, so it was 20 years before that when Curt played at UMD, then went on for a fantastic career as the Minnesota North Stars best defenseman.

“Computer Curt” I called him, because he played with computer-like precision. No mistakes, heady puck-movement, and the ability to dish out the best old-style hip checks ever seen in Duluth. My most indelible memory of Giles playing at UMD was when I was writing for the Minneapolis Tribune, covering college hockey with a focus on the Gophers, naturally. The season was 1978-79, and I believe that was the best season in college hockey history.

UMD had a great team, with just a few of its stars including Giles, Mark Pavelich and John Harrington. Minnesota had the most talented team Herb Brooks ever recruited, with Neal Broten and Mike Ramsey as freshmen, and the likes of Rob McClanahan, Steve Christoff, Eric Strobel, Tim Harrer, Billy Baker, Phil Verchota, and Steve Janaszak in goal. The Gophers won the NCAA title, but only by beating North Dakota, after the Fighting Sioux, led by David Christian and a whole herd of NHL draftees, had beaten the Gophers at the old Mariucci Arena in the final game of the regular season to snatch the MacNaughton Cup. After the NCAA title, Brooks took the nucleus of his Gopher team, plus Pavelich and Harrington, and went off to Lake Placid to register the Miracle on Ice gold medal.

But back to the Duluth Arena, and a huge match between Herbie’s Gophers and Gus Hendrickson’s Bulldogs. Eric Strobel, one of the most beautiful skaters ever to play the game, came flying down the ice with those long, fluid strides, and Curt Giles, all 5-foot-6 of him, cruised across and caught him with the hip check of the decade. Strobel went airborne for what seemed like a minute. His body was head high, and horizontal, and he rotated fully as though impersonating a helicopter.

Strobel recovered to play for Team USA, while Curt Giles went off to sign with the North Stars and break into the lineup to stay. He also played briefly with St. Louis and the New York Rangers, but we remembeer him best with the North Stars. Or, for those lucky enough to be old enough to recall him patrolling the blue line for UMD, he will be a Bulldog forever.

When Curt’s No. 4 was retired officially in an on-ice ceremony at AMSOIL Arena, he was greeted by Keith (Huffer) Christiansen - maybe to prove to Curt that he was not the only 5-foot-6 superstar with his number in the rafters.

Wild Time For Wild

Those cynics who thought the Minnesota Wild were already out of contention, former Denver star Jason Zucker and goaltender Devan Dubnyk stepped up to lead the Wild to possibly their most memorable week in a decade or so. They finished a road trip with Dubnyk shutting out Philadelphia 1-0 as Zucker got the goal, then Dubnyk shut out Montreal 3-0 in Montreal, as Zucker scored all three. That gave Dubnyk two shutouts in a row, and Zucker the record-tying feat of scoring the only six goals the Wild recorded over three games.

Home at last on Tuesday night, the Wild got a first-minute goal from Nino Niederreiter, went on to make it 2-0, and Dubnyk was brilliant in blanking the Flyers again, 3-0. The third goal? Zucker hit an empty net, making it seven goals in a four-game scoring streak.