December 11-12 St. Paul Pioneer Press game recaps

Last weekend I covered Minnesota's split with Michigan in Ann Arbor for the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

The story of the weekend was the Gophers, in their words, beating themselves in an 8-3 loss Friday before coming back to win 3-2 Saturday.

You can read both recaps above. Going out to Ann Arbor and seeing Yost Arena in person was on my college hockey bucket list and the building, a structure seemingly stuck in time, met every expectation.

November and December SB Nation College Hockey Features

Some recent features on the Minnesota men's and women's hockey teams that I wrote over at SB Nation College Hockey. These are highlights. There are several more that are over on the site that were not used.

Before heading to his second WJC camp, Ryan Collins had another reunion

http://www.sbncollegehockey.com/big-ten/2015/12/18/10589556/gophers-hockey-ryan-collins-billet-family-world-juniors-2016

December is a busy time of the year for Minnesota men's hockey defenseman Ryan Collins.

The sophomore has finals, his second straight World Juniors camp, the tournament itself if he makes Team USA, and is trying to help lead the Gophers to a fast start in the Big Ten conference standings. Collins also was able to meet with his billet family who housed him in Ann Arbor for two seasons, a moment that was very important to him.

This was a fun story to write because it came naturally and was able show the importance billet families play and the person behind the equipment.

High school linemates Kelly Pannek, Caitlin Reilly showcase Minnesota's offensive depth

http://www.sbncollegehockey.com/womens-hockey/2015/12/4/9849226/gophers-hockey-kelly-pannek-caitlin-reilly-offensive-depth

One aspect of the Minnesota women's hockey team that has led the Gophers well in recent years has been its offensive depth. Behind the team's top line, which features three of the top-five scorers in college hockey this season, are two talented ones beneath it.

I spoke with high school linemates and sophomores Kelly Pannek, who was riding an 18 game point streak at the time (it ended that weekend as the Gophers got swept by #1 Wisconsin), and Caitlin Reilly, about the importance of the team's depth, Reilly joining Minnesota after transferring, and more. Pannek centers the team's second line while Reilly, who gave up special teams play and playing time at Penn State to return home, is on Minnesota's third line.

Also this might be the first-ever interview with one of the Reilly siblings - of which there have been 4 at Minnesota in the past 4 years - to not ask a question about the others.

Michigan native Brent Gates Jr. returns home this weekend

http://www.sbncollegehockey.com/big-ten/2015/12/11/9893204/gophers-hockey-michigan-native-brent-gates-jr-returns-home-minnesota-anaheim-ducks

Michigan native Brent Gates Jr. returned to his home state in December when the Gopher freshman faced the Wolverines. Gates is the first Michigander to ever play for Minnesota in its 95 year history. The Grand Rapids, MI native regularly spent his development going from the western side of the state to the eastern side (Detroit area) of the mitten.

It's not a short stretch either, as I learned doing the drive from Ann Arbor to Grand Rapids and back to Detroit last weekend. Gained a ton of respect for Gates' dedication after the fact.

A secret college hockey doubleheader

http://www.sbncollegehockey.com/big-ten/2015/11/25/9801390/a-secret-college-hockey-doubleheader

College hockey struggles for TV attention. The sport doesn't help itself when five of the six games in my market one weekend were unable to be found on a TV listing.


Game recaps:

And lastly, here is a pair of different game recaps. The first comes from Minnesota's 3-2 overtime win over Ohio State on December 4th where the Early November references run high. The second is more of a column, as the Gophers fell 3-2 in overtime to Minnesota State on November 14th when leading 2-0 with 4 minutes remaining.

http://www.sbncollegehockey.com/big-ten/2015/12/4/9852910/big-ten-hockey-minnesota-ohio-state-final-score-3-2-hudson-fasching

http://www.sbncollegehockey.com/big-ten/2015/11/14/9737354/gophers-hockey-on-losing-nonconference-momentum-and-a-two-goal-lead

On Minnesota sports and the rough week, Parts I-IV

Good grief Charlie Brown, this was a rough week for Minnesota sports.

Emotions were put through the ringer. There were victories on the court, gridiron and rink. There were losses, both real and imaginary. There were tears shed for the fallen and lost.

Over the past seven days, the Minnesota sports landscape has seen its most successful NBA coach in Timberwolves head coach/GM Flip Saunders succumb to cancer and its lone Division 1 football coach step away from the game he loves less than a year after leading Minnesota to its first New Year’s Day bowl in over 50 years for health reasons. 

Hannah Brandt and Lee Stecklein Feature

Hannah Brandt and Lee Stecklein are the captains of the top-ranked and undefeated (as of this writing) University of Minnesota women's hockey team. Both have been successful on the ice, winning two national championships and representing the United States in several competitions. Stecklein was one of the youngest players to play in the 2014 Olympics.

This season the two captains are taking their on ice and off season experiences and turning them into leadership, which I wrote about last week for SB Nation.

http://www.sbncollegehockey.com/womens-hockey/2015/10/16/9544905/gopher-hockey-lee-stecklein-hannah-brandt-minnesota-captains

(SB Nation College Hockey)

October 18, 2015 Star Tribune Article

Last weekend I went to Duluth as part of a separate feature and ended up also covering the Gophers' 3-0 loss Saturday for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. You can check out the story below.

http://www.startribune.com/change-of-venue-no-help-as-gophers-swept-by-umd-for-0-3-start/333718321/

Traveling, and writing about my travels, is something I hope to do more this year.