2001–02 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey season

The 2001–02 Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey season was the 81st season of play for the program. They represent the University of Minnesota in the 2001–02 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season and for the 43rd season in Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). The Golden Gophers were coached by Don Lucia, in his 3rd season, and played their home games at the Mariucci Arena.
==Season==
===Fast start===
Minnesota entered the season with the highest expectations since the mid-90s, being ranked in the top-5 in both preseason polls. The team lived up to its billing and then some from the start when they downed defending finalist and #2 North Dakota and then went on a long unbeaten streak. In the game starting goaltender Adam Hauser faltered in the first and was replaced by freshman Travis Weber. Houser regained the starting role after a strong performance the following week and cemented his position when he relieved Weber after the young netminder allowed 4 goals in the first period against Michigan Tech. While the goalies were sorting themselves out, the Golden Gophers' offense was overpowering in their first 13 games. Minnesota scored no fewer than 4 goals a night and averaging 6 goals a game. The scoring was led by Jeff Taffe and Jordan Leopold but was spread across the lineup with all four lines contributing to the team's success.
===Hiccup===
Minnesota rode its stellar record to the #1 seed and held it until early December. The offense cooled off a bit against St. Cloud State and the Gophers lost their top ranking as a result. The team split a road series at Denver to head into then holiday break but recovered a bit by winning the Mariucci Classic. Despite winning the tournament, Minnesota dropped another spot in the rankings and slowly slipped down to #5 by failing to sweep any of the succeeding 5 weekends. During this time, the team began rotating the starting job in goal between Hauser and Weber with mixed results.
===Returning to form===
The Gopher offense finally regained its footing in early February and remained consistent for most of the rest of the season. The result was Minnesota going 7–1 down the stretch to finish strong. Unfortunately, the mid-season stumble cost the team a chance at a regular season title and the Golden Gophers finished 3rd in the WCHA. In the final month of the season, Hauser regain the starting role with a string of solid performances and led the team into the postseason as the #3 team.
===WCHA Tournament===
In spite of a scare in the second game against North Dakota, Minnesota continued their hot streak. They overpowered St. Cloud State in the semifinal to reach their first championship game since 1997. While the Gophers outshout Denver 40–27, they were stymied by a masterful performance by Wade Dubielewicz and fell 2–5.
===NCAA tournament===
Though disappointed at the runner-up finish, Minnesota did receive the second western seed for the NCAA Tournament and were advanced into the second round. Their first game came against conference-rival Colorado College. The Tigers got on the board first, but the Gophers got the next three goals. CC closed the gap just after the mid-point of the game but the defense closed ranks and limited the opportunities on their goal for the remainder of the match. Early in the 3rd, Barry Tallackson took a hooking call, giving Colorado College a man-advantage, but it was Minnesota's John Pohl who scored during the ensuing power play. Several more penalties were called before the end of the match, but a pair of cross-checking infractions from Alex Kim put CC at a disadvantage for most of the final four minutes and helped usher the Gophers to their first postseason victory in 5 years.
The national semifinal against Michigan wasn't any more sedate and Minnesota had to kill off six separate penalties during the game. They managed to do so and progressively built a 3–0 lead early in the third. The Wolverines would not quit, however, and scored twice to pull within a goal with 90 seconds remaining. With Minnesota playing a defensive shell, they managed to hold off Michigan and still had the lead when the buzzer sounded.
====National championship====
In Minnesota's first championship appearance in over a decade, they met Maine and the two fought a back-and-forth battle for the title. Minnesota got on the board in the first period on the strength of the power play goal from Keith Ballard. They held the lead for a time but couldn't extend their advantage despite three succeeding penalties by Maine. Instead, it was the Black bears who netted a power play marker early in the second frame. John Pohl wasted no time and scored to give Minnesota the lead just 51 seconds later. The Gophers continued to hold a 1-goal advantage for the rest of the period on the strength of Hauser's play. Maine tied the game a second time, just 77 seconds into the third, and continued to fire the puck on goal until a they got their first lead of the game with under 5 minutes to play. Minnesota tried to tie the game for a fourth time but the clock was quickly counting down. After an icing, head coach Don Lucia called a timeout with 58 seconds remaining and drew up a play for the team. The ensuing drew turned to a melee but the puck found its way to Matt Koalska, who shot it between Matthew Yeats' legs to the delight of the partisan crowd. Both teams had several opportunities to score in the ensuing overtime, but Minnesota got the biggest break when Maine took a tripping penalty with just over 4 minutes remaining. A minute later, Grant Potulny collected the second rebound after shots by Leopold and Pohl and fired the puck into the cage, winning the 4th national title for the program.
This was the 4th national championship team consisted entirely of American players (1949 Boston College, 1976 Minnesota, 1979 Minnesota).
==Departures==
Player 	Position 	Nationality	Cause
Matt Leimbek 	Forward 	 	Graduation (retired)
Dylan Mills 	Defenseman	 	Graduation (signed with Quad City Mallards)
Aaron Miskovich	Forward 	 	Graduation (signed with Hershey Bears)
Pete Samargia 	Goaltender	 	Transferred to Augsburg
Stuart Senden 	Forward 	 	Graduation (retired)
Ben Tharp 	Forward 	 	Returned to juniors (Chicago Steel)
Erik Westrum 	Forward 	 	Graduation (signed with Phoenix Coyotes)
Erik Young 	Goaltender	 	Returned to juniors (Tri-City Storm)
==Recruiting==
Player 	Position 	Nationality	Age	Notes
Dan Welch 	Forward 	 	20 	Hastings, MN; joined mid-season; returned from juniors
Keith Ballard 	Defenseman	 	18 	Baudette, MN
Mike Erickson 	Forward 	 	18 	Elk River, MN
Jake Fleming 	Forward 	 	19 	Osseo, MN
Justin Johnson 	Goaltender	 	21 	Ham Lake, MN
Brett MacKinnon 	Forward 	 	20 	Wayzata, MN
Jerrid Reinholz 	Forward 	 	22 	Ramsey, MN; transfer from Minnesota–Duluth; redshirt
Garrett Smaagaard	Forward 	 	19 	Eden Prairie, MN
Judd Stevens 	Defenseman	 	18 	Wayzata, MN
Barry Tallackson 	Forward 	 	18 	Grafton, ND
Travis Weber 	Goaltender	 	18 	Hibbing, MN
==Roster==
==Standings==
==Schedule and results==
|-
!colspan=12 style="color:white; background:#862334; " | Regular season
|-
!colspan=12 style="color:white; background:#862334; " | 
|-
!colspan=12 style="color:white; background:#862334; " | 
|-
!colspan=12 style="color:white; background:#862334; " | 
|- align="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"
|colspan=11|Minnesota Won Series 2-0
|-
!colspan=12 style="color:white; background:#862334; " | 
==2002 national championship==
Scoring summary	Scoring summary	Scoring summary 	Scoring summary 	Scoring summary	Scoring summary
Period 	Team 	Goal 	Assist(s) 	Time 	Score
1st 	MIN 	Keith Ballard (10) – PP 	Riddle and Angell 	7:18 	1–0 MIN
2nd 	Maine 	Michael Schutte (12) – PP 	Metcalf and Dimitrakos 	24:47 	1–1
2nd 	MIN 	John Pohl (27) 	Anthony and Angell 	25:38 	2–1 MIN
3rd 	Maine 	Michael Schutte (13) 	Ryan and Jackson 	46:18 	2–2
3rd 	Maine 	Róbert Liščák (17) 	Dimitrakos 	55:27 	3–2 Maine
3rd 	MIN 	Matt Koalska (10) – EA 	Riddle and Pohl 	59:07 	3–3
1st Overtime 	MIN 	Grant Potulny (15) – GW PP	Pohl and Leopold 	76:58 	4–3 MIN
Penalty summary	Penalty summary	Penalty summary 	Penalty summary 	Penalty summary	Penalty summary
Period 	Team 	Player 	Penalty 	Time 	PIM
1st 	Maine 	Cliff Loya 	Holding 	5:40 	2:00
1st 	Maine 	Ben Murphy 	Goaltender Interference 	9:20 	2:00
1st 	Maine 	Cliff Loya 	Cross-Checking 	10:08 	2:00
1st 	MIN 	Grant Potulny 	Holding the Stick 	13:18 	2:00
1st 	Maine 	Ben Murphy 	High-Sticking 	16:34 	2:00
2nd 	MIN 	Grant Potulny 	Interference 	23:47 	2:00
2nd 	MIN 	Keith Ballard 	Obstruction Holding 	29:37 	2:00
2nd 	Maine 	Gray Shaneberger 	Tripping 	33:02 	2:00
3rd 	MIN 	Jeff Taffe 	Boarding 	49:15 	2:00
3rd 	Maine 	Lucas Lawson 	Hitting after the Whistle	59:19 	2:00
3rd 	MIN 	Matt DeMarchi 	Hitting after the Whistle	59:19 	2:00
1st Overtime 	Maine 	Michael Schutte 	Tripping 	75:58 	2:00
Shots by period	Shots by period	Shots by period	Shots by period	Shots by period	Shots by period
Team 	1 	2 	3 	OT 	T
Maine 	11 	13 	16 	5 	45
Minnesota 	11 	8 	9 	7 	35
Goaltenders	Goaltenders 	Goaltenders	Goaltenders 	Goaltenders
Team 	Name 	Saves 	Goals against	Time on ice
Maine 	Matthew Yeats	31 	4 	76:58
MIN 	Adam Hauser 	42 	3 	76:52
==Scoring statistics==
Name 	Position	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	
 	C 	44 	27 	52 	79 	26
 	C 	43 	34 	24 	58 	86
 	D 	44 	20 	28 	48 	28
 	C 	44 	16 	31 	47 	46
 	D 	44 	8 	30 	38 	22
 	C 	43 	15 	19 	34 	38
 	C 	44 	10 	23 	33 	34
 	RW 	44 	13 	10 	23 	44
 	D 	41 	10 	13 	23 	42
 	C 	25 	9 	9 	18 	8
 	LW/RW 	44 	8 	9 	17 	42
 	D 	41 	1 	15 	16 	14
 	D 	44 	4 	11 	15 	61
 	F 	43 	3 	9 	12 	6
 	LW/RW 	19 	4 	7 	11 	12
 	D 	36 	3 	8 	11 	112
 	F 	44 	5 	4 	9 	38
 	C 	40 	4 	2 	6 	18
 	F 	20 	1 	3 	4 	0
 	D 	11 	0 	4 	4 	14
 	RW 	9 	1 	2 	3 	2
 	F 	18 	1 	2 	3 	2
 	G 	35 	0 	2 	2 	8
 	D 	5 	0 	1 	1 	4
 	F 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	6 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	10 	0 	0 	0 	0
Bench	- 	- 	- 	- 	- 	10
Total	 	 	197 	318 	515 	717
==Goaltending statistics==
Name 	Games	Minutes	Wins	Losses	Ties	Goals Against	Saves	Shut Outs	 	
 	35 	2002 	23 	6 	4 	80 	842 	1 	.913	2.40
 	6 	233 	3 	0 	0 	12 	99 	1 	.892	3.08
 	10 	456 	6 	2 	0 	25 	167 	0 	.870	3.29
Empty Net	- 	5 	- 	- 	- 	2 	- 	- 	- 	-
Total 	44 	2697 	32 	8 	4 	119 	1108 	2 	.903	2.65
==Rankings==
Poll 	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week	Week 	Week	Week	Week	Week
Poll 	Pre 	1 	2 	3 	4 	5 	6 	7 	8 	9 	10 	11 	12 	13 	14 	15 	16 	17 	18 	19 	20 	21 	22 	23 	24 	25 (Final)	 	 	 	
USCHO.com	4 	N/A 	3 	2 	1 	2 	1 	1 	1 	2 	2 	2 	3 	4 	5 	4 	3 	5 	4 	4 	4 	3 	3 	3 	N/A 	N/A 	 	 	 	
USA Today	3 	2 	2 	2 	1 	2 	1 	1 	1 	2 	2 	2 	3 	4 	5 	4 	3 	5 	4 	6 	6 	3 	3 	3 	2 	1 	 	 	 	
USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 24 and 25.
==Awards and honors==
Honor 	Player 	Ref
Thomas Vanek 	NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player	
Jordan Leopold	AHCA West Second Team All-American 	
John Pohl 	AHCA West Second Team All-American 	
Adam Hauser 	NCAA All-Tournament Team 	
John Pohl 	NCAA All-Tournament Team 	
Grant Potulny 	NCAA All-Tournament Team 	
Jordan Leopold	WCHA Defensive Player of the Year 	
Jordan Leopold	All-WCHA First Team 	
John Pohl 	All-WCHA First Team 	
Paul Martin 	All-WCHA Second Team 	
Jeff Taffe 	All-WCHA Third Team 	
Keith Ballard 	WCHA All-Rookie Team 	
Troy Riddle 	WCHA All-Tournament Team 	
Jordan Leopold	WCHA All-Tournament Team 	
==Players drafted into the NHL==
===2002 NHL Entry Draft===
	= NHL All-Star Team		= NHL All-StarPlayers are identified as an All-Star if they were selected for the All-Star game at any time in their career.			= NHL All-Star and NHL All-Star Team		= Did not play in the NHL
Round	Pick	Player 	NHL Team
1 	11 	Keith Ballard 	Buffalo Sabres
2 	53 	Barry Tallackson	New Jersey Devils
5 	136 	Andy Sertich † 	Pittsburgh Penguins
6 	170 	P. J. Atherton †	Tampa Bay Lightning
6 	177 	Jake Taylor † 	New York Rangers
† incoming freshman
==References==
Category:Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey seasons
Category:NCAA men's ice hockey Frozen Four seasons
Category:NCAA men's ice hockey championship seasons
Minnesota Golden Gophers 
Minnesota Golden Gophers 
Minnesota Golden Gophers