Gophers visit Grand Forks for WCHA tourney

Whenever the most-played rivalry in men’s college hockey occurs, it’s bound to be hard hitting and intense.
North Dakota and Minnesota meet this weekend for the chance to play in St. Paul for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Final Five. It’s the first time they are playing a WCHA playoff series in Grand Forks since 1987, and the Gophers men’s hockey team knows what’s in store this weekend.
“It’s going to be a no-holds-barred weekend,” Minnesota winger Jacob Cepis said. “It’s a hate game, that’s what it is this weekend. It’s going to be who wants it more, that’s what it comes down to.”
Cepis missed the regular season opener in Grand Forks due to transfer rules, but has been told by teammates to expect a relentless and unforgiving crowd at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
“It’s not fun up there, that’s for sure,” Cepis said. “It’s not too nice of an environment; everyone hates you up there.”
Minnesota will be under significantly more pressure to take the weekend series, as they likely have to win the WCHA Final Five to advance to the NCAA Tournament, whereas the Sioux likely have an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament regardless of their finish in the WCHA Tournament.
“This is it,” goalie Alex Kangas said. “We feel like we’ve got to win out; we’ve got to lay it all on the line. We know it’s going to be a war.”
The Gophers are facing a North Dakota team that has won seven straight contests and is one of the hottest teams in the nation. During that stretch, the Sioux have outscored opponents 32-11, not allowing more than two goals in any of those games. Minnesota head coach Don Lucia knows his team will have to take advantage of any scoring opportunities they get.
“It’s not like we’re going to go up there and get 35, 40 shots a night,” Lucia said. “We might [only] get 25 to 30, and we’ve got to find a way to score some goals on those shots.”
Frequently a feast or famine type team on offense, the Gophers experienced the latter last Sunday on special teams, scoring five power play goals in the 6-1 win against Wisconsin.
While that production is not expected this weekend, Lucia does expect a similar effort on special teams.
“We’ve generated opportunities, and I think that’s the most important thing,” Lucia said. “You start generating opportunities, and then you hope some of those are going to go in.”
The Gophers aren’t riding a seven-game win streak, but they do head into the weekend playing some of their best hockey of the season as winners of four of their final six regular season games.
“I think we feel good the way we’ve been playing, whether home or on the road, as of late,” Lucia said. “The big thing for us is generating offense. If we can generate some offense in the games this weekend, then we feel good about our chances.”
Lucia was hoping to receive extra help on offense last weekend from injured forward Taylor Matson, but the forward’s ankle injury had not healed enough to allow him to play in the series against Wisconsin. Lucia said a decision on Matson’s status likely won’t be made until Thursday, when the team boards the bus for Grand Forks.
While the atmosphere at Engelstad Arena will undoubtedly be fierce, controlling emotions and keeping North Dakota from having multiple power play opportunities will be one of the foremost issues, Lucia said.
“You get to this time of the year, discipline becomes very important because you don’t want to give somebody opportunities on the power play,” Lucia said. “They’re going to play hard. We’re going to have to match that intensity, especially on the road because their crowd’s going to get into the game, and they’ll feed off their crowd.”
Friday’s game will be at 7:30 p.m., with Saturday’s game slated to start at 7:07 p.m. If a third game is necessary, it will be played Sunday at 7:07 p.m.