Weekly Wrap-Up Minnesota Showcases It's Talent

The Minnesota Golden Gophers proved that they are still the number one team in the country with a sweep in the College Hockey Showcase.

A thrilling 5-4 victory over Michigan State helped kick off this weekends showcase which also featured Michigan (more on the Minnesota Michigan game later) and Wisconsin. Gopher Defensemen Alex Goligoski scored the game winner against the Spartans on the power play with 8:40 left in the game. Goligoski also added two assists in the victory. Michigan State only had 17 shots on goal but beat Goaltender Jeff Frazee four times, including two goals from Tim Kennedy. But it was Minnesota who had 33 shots on goal and the better scoring oppurtunities throughout the game.

The other game on Friday night was in Madison where the Wisconsin Badgers fell to Michigan in a third period collapse by the Badgers. Wisconsin had a 2-0 lead going into the second and a 3-2 lead going into the third. However, two goals in a span of 27 seconds helped the Wolverines get the victory on the road. Goaltender Billy Sauer of Michigan stopped all 15 Wisconsin shots on goal in the third period.

Saturday Wisconsin ended their six game losing streak with a victory over Michigan State 2-0. Goals were scored by Andrew Joudrey and Ben Street. And in goal was Shane Connelly, who made only his second start on the season, but nevertheless was solid stopping all 19 shots on goal by the Spartans in route to his second career shutout.

But the night, and the Showcase belonged to the Golden Gophers of Minnesota who put on a shooting clinic against Michigan with 52 shots on net. But it was the score that surprised everyone as the Gophers Offense scored five goals in the third period in the 8-2 victory of the Wolverines. Jim O'Brien and Mike Carmen led the way with two goals each. Kellen Briggs had a solid night in goal as he stopped 22 of 24 Michigan shots on goal.

So now you know the results, here is the hockeynuts all Showcase team:

G- Kellen Briggs, Minnesota
D- Alex Goligoski, Minnesota
D- Kyle Klubertanz, Wisconsin
F- Blake Wheeler, Minnesota
F- Andrew Cogliano, Michigan
F- T.J. Hensick, Michigan

In other college hockey action from this past week:

New Hampshire kept its first place standing in Hockey East defeating Boston College and Northeastern by a combined score of 9-4.

Notre Dame and Nebraska-Omaha split their series in the CCHA.

Boston University escaped with two wins in their two games against Harvard and Yale

Maine continues to struggle as they lost their third game in a row as the Black Bears fell to Vermont.

And Clarkson defeated Miami in non-conference play.

This weeks top five games include:

Boston College and Boston University in a home and home series
Denver and Colorado College in a home and home series
Notre Dame and Alaksa in South Bend
Cornell and Rensselaer
Michigan Tech and St. Cloud State in a key WCHA series in Houghton, Michigan.

So this is the 200th blog in its second year of existince. And more to come this week including players of the month, the Hobey Watch, and the weekly preview. For those of you who have commented or put in a good word about this blog, I would like to say thanks for your support and to keep checking as more updates will be on the way.