1978–79 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey season
NCAA tournament , champion | |
---|---|
Conference | 2nd WCHA 1st Big Ten |
Home ice | Williams Arena |
Record | |
Overall | 32–11–1 |
Conference | 20–11–1 / 10–2 |
Home | 20–4–1 |
Road | 9–7–0 |
Neutral | 3–0–0 |
Coaches and captains | |
Head coach | Herb Brooks |
Assistant coaches | Brad Buetow John Perpich Mike Foley |
Captain(s) | Bill Baker |
Alternate captain(s) | Phil Verchota Steve Christoff |
Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey seasons « 1977–78 1979–80 » |
The 1978–79 to win their third national championship.
Season
Early lead
Minnesota began the 1978–79 season well, winning two games before each of their losses through mid-November.
The Gophers played host to three
Trouble on the road
After the failed homestand Minnesota spent the following two weekends outside of Minnesota. The first series against Wisconsin began well but the Badgers salvaged a split in the second game. The Gophers then headed southwest to play Denver and lost both games to a middling Pioneer squad. With their conference record dented, Minnesota returned to the Williams Arena and hosted two weak teams over two weeks, easily winning four games, before ending up in Notre Dame where they lost two close affairs. The pair of losses were at an inopportune time because it allowed North Dakota to build a 5-point lead in the WCHA race.[1]
While the two teams would play to end the season Minnesota needed help from a bad Michigan State team who were fighting just to make the conference tournament. Before they could worry about that, however, they had to take care of business at home against Michigan Tech. The Gophers won both of their games and watched as the Fighting Sioux lost on Saturday to give Minnesota a chance at the conference title. The next weekend Minnesota opened with a 5–2 win over North Dakota but could not keep the momentum going and failed to win the crown after losing the second game.
WCHA tournament
With their second-place finish Minnesota was guaranteed home ice for the conference playoffs. After breezing through the first round against Michigan Tech, Minnesota hosted Minnesota–Duluth, one of only two team to have a winning record against the Golden Gophers in the regular season. Minnesota fought valiantly in the first game with Janaszak turning aside all but one shot from a potent Bulldog attack. Minnesota pulled away in the second game, scoring six times, and captured their sixth WCHA tournament title.
NCAA tournament
While the Gophers earned one of the two WCHA bids, the other went to North Dakota and because the Fighting Sioux had finished the regular season with a better conference record, Minnesota was slotted into the second western seed. Because of this Minnesota was forced to begin the tournament against
In the semifinals Minnesota met New Hampshire, the top offence team in the east, and the two battled a close contest for 60 minutes with the Gophers ending up as the victors. In the championship game Minnesota faced UND for the seventh time that season. The Fighting Sioux elected to start senior Bill Stankoven over freshman Bob Iwabuchi despite the underclassmen's superior numbers. That choice did not pan out as the Gophers scored three times in the first period and took a 2-goal lead into the second. Iwabuchi found himself in goal from the remainder of the contest but the Fighting Sioux had a tough hill to climb. Janaszak played strong throughout the game but couldn't stop North Dakota from cutting into the lead with a late second period goal. Neal Broten restored the two goal advantage less than three minutes into the third but UND narrowed the gap back to 1 with just over ten minutes to play. The two teams fought desperately in the final half-period but neither side was able to score and Minnesota earned their third national title in only 6 years.
Awards and honors
For his superlative play in the three games,
The 1978–79 Minnesota team joined the
Head Coach Herb Brooks would leave Minnesota that summer when he signed on to serve as the bench boss for the US National Team at the 1980 Winter Olympics. Unsurprisingly, Brooks drew heavily from the program he ran for seven season with 8 of 20 players coming from the 1979 championship team: Bill Baker, Neal Broten, Steve Christoff, Steve Janaszak, Rob McClanahan, Mike Ramsey, Eric Strobel and Phil Verchota.
Standings
Conference | Overall | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | ||
North Dakota †* |
32 | 22 | 10 | 0 | 44 | 168 | 110 | 42 | 30 | 11 | 1 | 245 | 144 | |
Minnesota* | 32 | 20 | 11 | 1 | 41 | 177 | 116 | 44 | 32 | 11 | 1 | 239 | 147 | |
Minnesota-Duluth |
32 | 18 | 10 | 4 | 40 | 176 | 141 | 40 | 22 | 14 | 4 | 213 | 170 | |
Wisconsin | 32 | 19 | 11 | 2 | 40 | 164 | 138 | 41 | 25 | 13 | 3 | 215 | 172 | |
Notre Dame | 32 | 17 | 14 | 1 | 35 | 161 | 153 | 38 | 18 | 19 | 1 | 184 | 196 | |
Denver | 32 | 14 | 16 | 2 | 30 | 147 | 174 | 43 | 20 | 20 | 3 | 188 | 217 | |
Michigan Tech | 32 | 13 | 16 | 3 | 29 | 152 | 141 | 38 | 17 | 18 | 3 | 182 | 165 | |
Colorado College | 32 | 11 | 19 | 2 | 24 | 144 | 185 | 38 | 12 | 24 | 2 | 165 | 218 | |
Michigan State | 32 | 12 | 20 | 0 | 24 | 122 | 180 | 36 | 15 | 21 | 0 | 140 | 192 | |
Michigan | 32 | 6 | 25 | 1 | 13 | 117 | 190 | 36 | 8 | 27 | 1 | 132 | 210 | |
Championship : Minnesota, North Dakota† indicates conference regular season champion * indicates conference tournament champion |
Conference | Overall | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | W | L | T | PTS | GF | GA | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | ||
Minnesota† | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 80 | 43 | 44 | 32 | 11 | 1 | 239 | 147 | |
Wisconsin | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 73 | 50 | 41 | 25 | 13 | 3 | 215 | 172 | |
Michigan | 12 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 43 | 75 | 36 | 8 | 27 | 1 | 132 | 210 | |
Michigan State | 12 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 46 | 77 | 36 | 15 | 21 | 0 | 140 | 192 | |
† indicates conference regular season champion |
Schedule
Date | Opponent# | Rank# | Site | Result | Record | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Exhibition | |||||||||||
October 20 | vs. North Dakota *
|
Minot, North Dakota (Exhibition) | W 6–5 | ||||||||
Regular Season | |||||||||||
October 21 | vs. North Dakota *
|
Eveleth Hippodrome • Eveleth, Minnesota (Hall of Fame Game) | W 5–3 | 1–0 | |||||||
October 28 | vs. Wisconsin | Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota | W 8–4 | 2–0 (1–0 / 1–0) | |||||||
October 29 | vs. Wisconsin | Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota | L 5–9 | 3–0 (1–1 / 1–1) | |||||||
November 3 | at Michigan State | Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan | W 6–4 | 3–1 (2–1 / 2–1) | |||||||
November 4 | at Michigan State | Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan | W 6–5 OT | 4–1 (3–1 / 3–1) | |||||||
November 10 | vs. Notre Dame | Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota | L 2–3 | 4–2 (3–2 / 3–1) | |||||||
November 11 | vs. Notre Dame | Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota | W 4–1 | 5–2 (4–2 / 3–1) | |||||||
November 17 | at Minnesota–Duluth
|
Duluth Arena Auditorium • Duluth, Minnesota | W 5–4 OT | 6–2 (5–2 / 3–1) | |||||||
November 18 | at Minnesota–Duluth
|
Duluth Arena Auditorium • Duluth, Minnesota | L 4–5 | 6–3 (5–3 / 3–1) | |||||||
November 24 | at Colorado College | Broadmoor World Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | W 8–3 | 7–3 (6–3 / 3–1) | |||||||
November 25 | at Colorado College | Broadmoor World Arena • Colorado Springs, Colorado | W 8–3 | 8–3 (7–3 / 3–1) | |||||||
December 2 | vs. Michigan | Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota | W 8–2 | 9–3 (8–3 / 4–1) | |||||||
December 3 | vs. Michigan | Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota | W 10–5 | 10–3 (9–3 / 5–1) | |||||||
December 15 | at North Dakota
|
Winter Sports Center • Grand Forks, North Dakota | L 1–4 | 10–4 (9–4 / 5–1) | |||||||
December 16 | at North Dakota
|
Winter Sports Center • Grand Forks, North Dakota | W 6–3 | 11–4 (10–4 / 5–1) | |||||||
December 22 | vs. Princeton* | Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota | W 6–2 | 12–4 (10–4 / 5–1) | |||||||
December 23 | vs. Princeton* | Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota | W 6–2 | 13–4 (10–4 / 5–1) | |||||||
December 27 | vs. Harvard* | Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota | W 5–4 | 14–4 (10–4 / 5–1) | |||||||
December 28 | vs. Yale* | Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota | W 7–3 | 15–4 (10–4 / 5–1) | |||||||
January 5 | at Michigan | Yost Ice Arena • Ann Arbor, Michigan | W 10–1 | 16–4 (11–4 / 6–1) | |||||||
January 6 | at Michigan | Yost Ice Arena • Ann Arbor, Michigan | W 3–0 | 17–4 (12–4 / 7–1) | |||||||
January 12 | vs. Minnesota–Duluth
|
Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota | T 6–6 OT | 17–4–1 (12–4–1 / 7–1) | |||||||
January 13 | vs. Minnesota–Duluth
|
Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota | L 1–6 | 17–5–1 (12–5–1 / 7–1) | |||||||
January 19 | at Wisconsin | Dane County Coliseum • Madison, Wisconsin | W 3–2 | 18–5–1 (13–5–1 / 8–1) | |||||||
January 20 | at Wisconsin | Dane County Coliseum • Madison, Wisconsin | L 3–4 | 18–6–1 (13–6–1 / 8–2) | |||||||
January 26 | at Denver | DU Arena • Denver, Colorado | L 4–5 | 18–7–1 (13–7–1 / 8–2) | |||||||
January 27 | at Denver | DU Arena • Denver, Colorado | L 2–4 | 18–8–1 (13–8–1 / 8–2) | |||||||
February 2 | vs. Michigan State | Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota | W 7–4 | 19–8–1 (14–8–1 / 9–2) | |||||||
February 3 | vs. Michigan State | Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota | W 11–3 | 20–8–1 (15–8–1 / 10–2) | |||||||
February 10 | vs. Colorado College | Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota | W 8–5 | 21–8–1 (16–8–1 / 10–2) | |||||||
February 11 | vs. Colorado College | Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota | W 9–2 | 22–8–1 (17–8–1 / 10–2) | |||||||
February 16 | at Notre Dame | Athletic & Convocation Center • Notre Dame, Indiana
|
L 2–3 | 22–9–1 (17–9–1 / 10–2) | |||||||
February 17 | at Notre Dame | Athletic & Convocation Center • Notre Dame, Indiana
|
L 7–8 | 22–10–1 (17–10–1 / 10–2) | |||||||
February 23 | vs. Michigan Tech | Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota | W 6–2 | 23–10–1 (18–10–1 / 10–2) | |||||||
February 24 | vs. Michigan Tech | Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota | W 7–3 | 24–10–1 (19–10–1 / 10–2) | |||||||
March 2 | vs. North Dakota
|
Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota | W 5–2 | 25–10–1 (20–10–1 / 10–2) | |||||||
March 3 | vs. North Dakota
|
Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota | L 2–4 | 25–11–1 (20–11–1 / 10–2) | |||||||
WCHA tournament
| |||||||||||
March 6 | vs. Michigan Tech* | Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota (WCHA First Round Game 1) | W 5–3 | 26–11–1 (20–11–1 / 10–2) | |||||||
March 7 | vs. Michigan Tech* | Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota (WCHA First Round Game 2) | W 6–1 | 27–11–1 (20–11–1 / 10–2) | |||||||
Minnesota Wins Series 11-4 | |||||||||||
March 10 | at Minnesota–Duluth *
|
Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota (WCHA Second Round Game 1) | W 2–1 | 28–11–1 (20–11–1 / 10–2) | |||||||
March 11 | at Minnesota–Duluth *
|
Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota (WCHA Second Round Game 2) | W 6–3 | 29–11–1 (20–11–1 / 10–2) | |||||||
Minnesota Wins Series 8-4 | |||||||||||
NCAA tournament
| |||||||||||
March 18 | vs. Bowling Green* | Williams Arena • Minneapolis, Minnesota (First Round) | W 6–3 | 30–11–1 (20–11–1 / 10–2) | |||||||
March 22 | vs. New Hampshire* | Olympia Stadium • Detroit, Michigan (National Semifinal) | W 4–3 | 31–11–1 (20–11–1 / 10–2) | |||||||
March 23 | vs. North Dakota *
|
Olympia Stadium • Detroit, Michigan (National championship) | W 4–3 | 32–11–1 (20–11–1 / 10–2) | |||||||
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. Source: |
Roster and scoring statistics
No. | Player | Year | Position | Hometown | S/P/C | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
11 | Steve Christoff | Junior | C | Richfield, MN | 43 | 38 | 39 | 77 | 50 | |
17 | Don Micheletti | Junior | LW | Hibbing, MN | 41 | 36 | 36 | 72 | 112 | |
14 | Neal Broten | Freshman | C | Roseau, MN | 40 | 21 | 50 | 71 | 18 | |
6 | Bill Baker | Senior | D |
Grand Rapids, MN | 44 | 12 | 42 | 54 | 38 | |
9 | Tim Harrer | Junior | RW | Bloomington, MN | 43 | 28 | 25 | 53 | 38 | |
10 | Eric Strobel | Junior | RW | Rochester, MN | 44 | 30 | 22 | 52 | 34 | |
7 | Rob McClanahan | Junior | LW | Saint Paul, MN | 43 | 17 | 32 | 49 | 34 | |
12 | Phil Verchota | Senior | LW | Duluth, MN | 44 | 18 | 24 | 42 | 52 | |
21 | Bart Larson | Freshman | D / LW |
Bloomington, MN | 44 | 9 | 33 | 42 | 4 | |
18 | Steve Ulseth | Sophomore | LW | Roseville, MN | 37 | 8 | 18 | 26 | 12 | |
4 | Mike Ramsey | Freshman | D |
Minneapolis, MN | 34 | 7 | 17 | 24 | 38 | |
28 | Mike Greeder | Sophomore | D |
Mahtomedi, MN | 40 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 60 | |
24 | Bob Bergloff | Sophomore | D |
Bloomington, MN | 37 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 48 | |
5 | Joe Baker | Senior | D |
White Bear Lake, MN | 22 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 40 | |
23 | John Meredith | Junior | RW | Minneapolis, MN | 32 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 9 | |
3 | Steve Pepper | Sophomore | D |
Edina, MN | 34 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 18 | |
20 | Jeff Teal | Freshman | LW | Rochester, MN | 39 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 12 | |
15 | Dave Terwilliger | Sophomore | D |
Edina, MN | 37 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 18 | |
19 | Kevin Hartzell | Freshman | F | Saint Paul, MN | 20 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | |
22 | Bradley Doshan | Sophomore | D |
Hastings, MN | 25 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 12 | |
29 | Jay Larson | Freshman | D |
Minneapolis, MN | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
2 | Peter Hayek | Junior | D / LW |
Robbinsdale, MN | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | |
25 | Brian Zins | Freshman | D |
Hoyt Lakes, MN | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
26 | Wayne Larson | Sophomore | C | Minneapolis, MN | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
30 | Jim Jetland | Freshman | G | Grand Rapids, MN | 4 | - | - | - | - | |
1 | Steve Janaszak | Senior | G | Saint Paul, MN | 40 | - | - | - | - | |
Total |
Goaltending statistics
No. | Player | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals Against | Saves | Shut Outs | SV % | GAA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Steve Janaszak | 41 | 2428 | 29 | 10 | 1 | 131 | 1116 | 1 | .895 | 3.23 |
35 | Jim Jetland | 4 | 230 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 111 | 0 | .888 | 3.68 |
Total | 44 | 32 | 11 | 1 | 145 | 1 |
1979 championship game
(W1) North Dakota vs. (W2) Minnesota
March 24[7] | North Dakota | 3 – 4 | Minnesota | Olympia Stadium |
Scoring summary | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Period | Team | Goal | Assist(s) | Time | Score |
1st | MIN | Steve Christoff | Verchota | 4:11 | 1–0 MIN |
MIN | John Meredith | Strobel and Ulseth | 8:05 | 2–0 MIN | |
UND | Bill Himmelright – PP | Taylor and Maxwell | 17:10 | 2–1 MIN | |
MIN | Joe Baker | Micheletti and Broten | 19:22 | 3–1 MIN | |
2nd | UND | Kevin Maxwell | Eades and Taylor | 38:02 | 3–2 MIN |
3rd | MIN | Neal Broten – GW | Christoff and Larson | 42:48 | 4–2 MIN |
UND | Marc Chorney | Burggraf and Taylor | 49:56 | 4–3 MIN |
|
|
Players drafted into the NHL
1979 NHL Entry Draft
= NHL All-Star team | = NHL All-Star[8] |
= NHL All-Star[8] and NHL All-Star team
|
= Did not play in the NHL |
Round | Pick | Player | NHL team |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 11 | Mike Ramsey | Buffalo Sabres |
3 | 42 | Neal Broten | Minnesota North Stars |
References
- ^ "North Dakota men's hockey 2018-19 Media Guide" (PDF). North Dakota Fighting Hawks. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
- ^ "NCAA Frozen Four Records" (PDF). NCAA.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 17, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
- ^ "Men's Ice Hockey Award Winners" (PDF). NCAA.org. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
- ^ "WCHA All-Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
- ^ a b "Minnesota men's hockey 2018-19 Media Guide" (PDF). Minnesota Golden Gophers. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
- ^ "Minnesota Golden Gophers 1978-79 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
- ^ "2008-09 Media Guide" (PDF). Minnesota Golden Gophers. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 6, 2015. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
- ^ a b Players are identified as an All-Star if they were selected for the All-Star game at any time in their career.