Gophers coach Don Lucia said Tuesday that his program is much better prepared this year for the surprise loss of players like Stu Bickel than in other recent seasons.

Bickel, who would have been a sophomore defenseman, signed with the Anaheim Ducks this week.

“We’ve recruited enough guys,” Lucia said. “We still have 27 players.”

Indeed, the Gophers are bringing in 12 freshmen, including three defensmen. That has to be one of the U’s largest recruiting classes. At least two are walk-ons. Read the rest of this entry »

Defenseman Stu Bickel of the Gophers signed with the Anaheim Ducks of the NHL on Tuesday.

“I thought about it long and hard,” said the 6-3, 210-pound Bickel who had one goal and six assists last season as a freshman. “In the end, I thought it was the best decision [to sign]. I thought it was the right decision.

“I really enjoyed my time [at the University of Minnesota]. I liked the coaching staff. Obviously, the hardest part for me, by far, was leaving the guys on that team because of the relationships I had developed with those guys.”

He signed a three-year, two-way free agent contract with the Ducks and will probably be assigned to Des Moines of the AHL.

“It’s a big blow,” Gophers coach Don Lucia said.

As a college football fan, I always felt that I had the best beat at this paper. That didn’t change in my five seasons of covering the Gophers, Big Ten and college football.

But in saying that, I’m excited about a new challenge that awaits. I’m moving to the Vikings beat after five memorable seasons of covering the Gophers.

To say my time with the Gophers was often crazy would be an understatement. Five seasons is not terribly long, but I chronicled arguably the top rushing offense in NCAA history and one of the worst defenses in NCAA history.

I got to write about the Gophers winning in the Big House and blowing the largest lead in bowl game history. I covered the Michigan meltdown in ‘03 and the Wisconsin collapse in ‘05. I covered a 10-3 season and a 1-11 season.

I covered every one of Laurence Maroney’s college games, saw Greg Eslinger go from unknown recruit to Outland Trophy winner and watched Bryan Cupito develop into a fine college quarterback and even better person. There are too many other examples to list.

I also met many good people who love college football as much as I do and made new friends along the way. 

The thing I found hard about covering college football is that I didn’t get to watch it as much as I would like. Too busy writing about a game.

Hopefully that will change now. Maybe I’ll even see you at a game. Cheers.

Chip

I just finished up my work for the daily paper and wanted to check in here with some observations from the news regarding Sam Maresh.

I was surprised at how well Sam and his family handled the entire announcement today. I was so struck by Sam’s calmness that I asked him if he’s scared because you couldn’t sense it. He said yeah and kind of laughed.

I’ve gotten to know Sam fairly well through the recruiting process and I can tell you he’s a great kid. I’ve always walked away from our conversations thinking he has it all together.

This is obviously a tough deal for him and his family but Sam is hopeful and even confident that he will be able to play football again. He has a long road ahead of him, but I have no doubt that he will do everything that is necessary.

I’ll have a full report in tomorrow’s paper, but there are a few notes I didn’t get in. Sam obviously will remain on scholarship. That’s a given. If in the future his heart condition is deemed career ending, the school can petition to get a non-counting waiver from the NCAA, meaning he will stay on scholarship but will not count toward the 85 limit. I’m pretty sure this is what happend with Brandon Owens.

Kent Youngblood of our staff talked to Fred Hoiberg today. Hoiberg said he would be happy to talk to Sam about the situation and give him any advice or insight as to what to expect.

Hoiberg’s NBA career was cut short because of a heart defect. His surgeon — Dr. Hartzell Schaff at Mayo — will also perform Sam’s surgery on June 26.

Gophers head coach Don Lucia, with help from assistants John Hill and probably Mike Hastings, will run his Model hockey camp next week. Hastings was recently hired and starts work June 9.

Enough players for 12 18-player teams have signed up to practice and play games from Monday thru Saturday at Mariucci and Ridder arenas. Many of the state’s best will be there. Some are committed to colleges, but it gives Lucia a good look at those who are not while he tries to give them tips to be better players.

Here is a look at the teams, named after colors, and some comments:

Red team: Has future Gophers Nick Leddy, a defenseman from Eden Prairie, and Zach Budish, a forward from Edina. Both have committed to the U and are expected to sign for the 2009-10 season. Budish at 6-2, 211 is hard to miss. Also on the team is forward Nick Oliver of Roseau, whose father coaches the Rams, and Roseau goalie Mike Lee.

Gold team: Has forward Ben Arnt who played for Omaha of the USHL this past season and forward Ben Hanowski who played on a high-scoring line at Little Falls.

White team: Has forward Josh Birkholz of Blake, another player who will join the U for the 2009-10 season.

Black team: Has defenseman Jake Gardiner of Minnetonka who has signed with Wisconsin.

Maroon team: has three other ‘09 Gopher recruits, 6-3 1/2, 200-pound Seth Helgeson, a defenseman from Faribault;  forward Jake Youso of Int’l Falls, and forward Nate Condon of Wausau (Wis.) West.

Blue team: Has Roseau defenseman Aaron Ness, probably the top prospect joining the Gophers for the ‘08-09 season and foru player from Edina, including goalie Derrick Caschetta.

Red team: Has forward Nick Nagel of Totino-Grace, one of the biggest player in camp. He is 6-2 1/2, 207.

Gold team: Has defenseman Grant Fahnhorst of Wayzata. He is 6-4, 208. Also on the team is his Trojans teammate, goalie Joe Howe.

White team: Has two forwards from Class 2A state champion Hill-Murray, Tyler Zepeda and Dan Cecka.

Black team: This team also has two Pioneers, goalie Joe Phillippi and defenseman Dan Sova, 6-2 1/2, 207.

Maroon team: Has three forward from Burnsville, Tyler Barnes, Jake Hendrickson and Adam Perisic.

Blue team: Has four players from St. Thomas Academy, including forward Ryan Walters who has committed to the U for 2010-11. 

I had a chance to visit the stadium site today for the press conference for the 87-county tribute. I hadn’t been by there in a few weeks and it’s amazing how much it changes and comes into shape in such a short time.

Adam Weber and a handful of players were also there. I talked to Adam after the ceremony and he said almost every time he goes home he drives slowly by the stadium just to see the progress. He said a lot of players do that.

He also said players often look out the window of their players lounge in the football complex and can see the stadium going up.

One of my favorite things about covering college football is visiting the different stadiums on fall Saturdays. I’ve covered Big Ten, SEC, ACC and Big 12 football for various newspapers, and I love going to all the different venues and seeing the fans tailgate and come together.

 I really think the “experience” factor for Gophers fans will be incredibly different once the team leaves the Dome and moves into the new stadium. You certainly could hear Weber’s excitement as he talked about it today.

Just got an email from the U stating that sophomore return man Harold Howell has been dismissed from the team for “violations of academic and team guidelines.”

Gophers coach Tim Brewster hyped Howell on signing day in 2007 but Howell struggled as a returner as a true freshman and had a critical fumble in the Wisconsin game.

Howell’s academic and attitude problems have been talked about quietly around the program for some time. Can’t say I’m too surprised by this development.

-Minnesota’s outdated facilities may have contributed to the loss of former recruits Krys Faber and Verdell Jones III, according to one Gophers insider. Williams Arena is one of the oldest venues in the country and every basketball program in the Big Ten seems to have some plan to build new facilities except the Gophers. Jones, a guard from Champaign, Ill., signed with Indiana, where a brand new practice facility is in the works, while Faber, a center from L.A., signed with DePaul, where the Blue Demons play in an arena that recently underwent a $20 million renovation.

-Former Iowa State guard Wesley Johnson, who recently decided to transfer, wants to know if the Gophers are interested in his services. Johnson was a member of the Big 12 All-Rookie squad that featured Kevin Durant and D.J. Augustin. But injuries hurt the talented sophomore last season. It’s an intriguing idea for the Gophers to grab a player like Johnson. Prior to last season’s Iowa State contest, Tubby Smith spent some time talking to reporters about Johnson’s talent. But Smith doesn’t like to bring in transfers. Johnson wouldn’t be allowed to play until the 2009-10 season. And that’s the year that Royce White arrives to play the 2/3 spot that Johnson would want to play.

Gophers officials are going to meet with the media this Friday to explain in detail the Gophers priority point system for seating in the new football stadium. The school will send out info to fans next week.

I’m going to be out of pocket Friday but we expect to have a story in Saturday’s paper explaining how the school arrived at this system and how it works. I know there have been a lot of questions about seating in the new stadium so hopefully we’ll be able to provide some answers.

– As many expected, Breck wide receiver Bryce McNeal committed to Michigan after visiting there this weekend. The Gophers will continue to recruit him this season, much like they did with Michael Floyd and Willie Mobley last year.

– I talked to incoming prep school recruit Vinnie Hill (he asked that we call him Vinnie) and he said he’s awaiting a SAT score to know if he will be able to enroll next month. If he gets in, Hill said he doesn’t care if he plays D-back or WR, but he said he definitely wants to play both ways.

– Incoming freshman defensive tackle Jewhan Edwards on his mindset coming to school: “I’m coming there to start.”

– Congrats to former QB Bryan Cupito, who got engaged last week.

– Head equipment manager Darin Kerns has resigned to take a similar job at Florida State.

– I’ll return from vacation officially next week. Talk to you then.

Gophers senior forward Jamal Abu-Shamala will try out for the Jordanian national team next month, according to Gophers spokesman Matt Slieter.

Abu-Shamala’s father, Subhy Abu-Shamala, is a native of the country, which makes him eligible to play for Jordan this summer, as the team seeks an Olympic bid.

According this site, Abu-Shamala is one of only two Jordanians playing for an American college.