With the season starting up in a month, The Gopher Hockey Blog is back running full steam. I decided to take off July and August to spend time working on other projects, do some travel and plan next season. It's the first break from writing about hockey I've taken in several years, but I'm glad I did even if it was difficult at times. Honestly, forcing myself to get away felt weird.
Before turning the page to 2017-18, however, and kicking off some new things, I wanted to showcase one last time some of the great features from last year.
The blog itself started up in January as a way to have all my freelance coverage - newspaper (Pioneer Press, Star Tribune), digital (SB Nation College Hockey), radio (WCCO appearances) and podcast (Puck Dynasty) - in one place. As someone who relies on Twitter too much to share, I'd like to think this made things easier for you, the reader (or listener).
Below are five articles from the season before I started the blog that you may have missed, along with five articles that show up on the blog. Together they help paint a picture of what I'm capable.
Five 2016-17 articles pre-blog
-College Hockey Road Trip (Minnesota Hockey Journal) Getting to write about some of my travels through the Midwest covering the sport was a blast. Each rink has its own charms. Each city contains hidden gems. (Note: Flip to page 20. Unfortunately, I can't take credit for the great layout and graphics.)
-"Special goaltender Mat Robson will be Gophers' first Canadian in 10 years" (St. Paul Pioneer Press) This one made the list because it's a unique story along with the fact college hockey recruiting news normally doesn't get a feature.
-St. Cloud State rallies for OT hockey victory over Gophers (Minneapolis Star Tribune) When thinking back to early season game recaps, the Gophers blowing a 5-2 lead midway through the third period and losing to St. Cloud State is the first one to come to mind.
-"Nothing compares" Minnesota and North Dakota set to resume rivalry feature (St. Paul Pioneer Press) It seemed like everyone - players, coaches, and fans alike - were excited for Minnesota and North Dakota to resume an often bitter rivalry between two schools that represent two sides of the sport.
-Top 11 2016-17 College Hockey Preseason Team Storylines (SB Nation College Hockey) Weird writing masquerading in a preseason post answering the simple question: "Which school would I want to be featured in 'Hard Knocks' series?"
Five 2016-17 articles from the blog
-Minnesota edges Penn State in wild finish (St. Paul Pioneer Press) One of the craziest regular season games I've covered.The Gophers bounced back from a last minute penalty shot by the home team, scoring with 3.5 seconds remaining before going on to win in overtime. Meanwhile, my computer has 4 different deleted drafts.
GOAL PENN STATE: Denis Smirnov converts the penalty shot. Video: pic.twitter.com/gENLifOx6C— Nate Wells (@gopherstate) February 19, 2017
-Puck Dynasty Episode 10 (1500 ESPN/Podcast One) Recorded after Minnesota lost to Wisconsin on Hockey Day Minnesota, I included this episode because I was joined in Madison by Drew Cove and Declan Goff. Having an "on the road" edition of the show was a fun memory.
-Hard work puts Emma May in net (St. Paul Pioneer Press) One of my goals with Gopher hockey feature stories is giving the reader a look into who is the person on the ice, their story, their motivation and a glimpse into their personality. That said, profiling a hockey goalie like Emma May personality might be cheating. There's a ton, beginning with the story's opening paragraph.
Same thing goes with the entire Minnesota women's hockey team, which was on display for wins, losses and fighting injuries to get through to a sixth consecutive Frozen Four berth.
-Gophers hockey lands in #1 seed range for NCAA Tournament (Minneapolis Star Tribune) I never had gotten a chance to write a non-game story for the Star Tribune. It also came the day following Minnesota losing in double OT to Penn State, where the author jinxed himself by saying it wouldn't happen twice in two days. Thanks for nothing, Nittany Lions.
Thank you for continuing to visit the site during the hiatus. I'm amazed the number of hits this site has gotten over the past month in spite of no new posts or commentary on news.
(And there was some Minnesota news in the downtime, some of which I'll get to soon. Mariucci Arena is officially known as 3M Arena at Mariucci. Former Minnesota defender Milicia McMillen is now an assistant coach at Ohio State. Connor Reilly signed an ECHL deal with the Indy Fuel. Ben Gordon left the men's program to become associate head coach of the Chicago Steel. Minnesota officially announced its freshman class, but if you follow the site you already knew who was coming in this year. The US U-17 Select 5 Nations tourney finished Sunday in the Czech Republic with 2 Gopher commits - defensemen Jake Boltmann and Mike Koster - winning gold.)
My goal this season is to bring dedicated coverage worthy of Minnesota and college hockey fans.
With summer coming to a close, there are countless great stories to be told. I hope you come along for the ride.
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