Gopher Gold

U hockey: Alumni game planned in New Prague

Roman Augustoviz — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:38:02 +0000

Former Gophers hockey player Danny Woog is organizing an alumni hockey game on Sept. 27 in New Prague.

He hopes to sign up about 17 players at least. Among those he expects to be there are Brian Bonin, Mike Crowley, Scott Bell and Steve DeBus.

Woog, the son of former Gophers coach Doug Woog, said the alumni will skate with local kids from 3:30 to 5 p.m. before the game.

“A lot of them probably won’t know us,” he said, “but maybe a few will.”

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U men’s hockey: Guentzel worried about son before saying yes to CC

Roman Augustoviz — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:13:41 +0000

Before taking an assistant coaching job with Colorado College, Mike Guentzel talked with his son, Gabe, about his decision.

Gabe, a freshman defenseman, had accepted a scholarship from CC in the offseason.

“Gabe went to CC because he wanted to be independent, he wanted to do his own thing,” said Mike Guentzel, a Gophers assistant for 14 years before he resigned in April.

“We had to talk it through. He wanted a normal college experience. … But he realized this was too good for me to turn down.”

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U women’s basketball: Gophers hold first workout

Roman Augustoviz — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 20:47:02 +0000

The Gophers women’s basketball team, fresh off a 3-0 trip to Italty where the competition was very weak, got together on Wednesday morning for their first workout of the school year.

“They looked great,” Pam Borton said.

This was not an official practice. Those start in mid-October.

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U wrestling: Waiting to replace Morgan

Roman Augustoviz — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 02:40:16 +0000

Gophers wrestling coach J Robinson said he is going to wait a while before filling the sudden opening on his staff.

Marty Morgan, the associate head coach who was with the program for 20 years, resigned this week.

“We’re going to take a little bit of time,” Robinson said. “I am not in any rush to do anything right now. I got an idea of what we want to do. But right now I am just going to sit back and look at the program and what our needs are and we will kind of go from there.

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U athletics: Maturi’s world

Roman Augustoviz — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 02:17:31 +0000

Now that Joel Maturi will be around a little longer — he just received a two-year extenstion through 2011-12, let’s probe his brain a little.

Some people who post comments were upset Tuesday when Pam Borton, the women’s basketball coach, received a six-year contract extension for $2.67 million. (She will earn more than Joel Maturi this year, next year, etc.)

Should rising coaching salaries concern U fans? “You know what, I think people understand the business of big-time college athletics and understand how this process works,” Maturi said. “Hopefully each of them are concerened about their own welfare and who they are and what they can and cannot accomplish and what we can do together to make this a better place.”

Go Gopher Nation.

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U athletics: Brewster big Maturi fan

Roman Augustoviz — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:22:41 +0000

Gophers football coach Tim Brewster was glad to hear on Wednesday that athletic director Joel Maturi, who hired him, had his contract extended for another two seasons through 2011-2012.

“[Maturi] is the hardest working athletic director in America,” Brewster said. “I think it’s well-deserved. Very well-deserved. You got to appreciate a guy who works this hard. His heart is in the right place. He loves kids. I just think it’s just, very just.”

But why does Maturi, who is 63, want to keep working after the on-campus stadium opens? ”I’m healthy, and I think there are a lot more things to do,” Maturi said when Gophers football writer Kent Youngblood approached him.

”I think we’re going in the right direction, but there are a lot of things that are unaccomplished. We need to improve our graduation rates, we need to help some other sports with their facilities, and I think we need to build on the successes that we’ve had.”