Gophers vs. Sioux, Part Three: Final Five Edition

Well, the North Dakota Fighting Sioux topped the St. Cloud State Huskies in the Thursday night play-in game at the Final Five, so that means that the Sioux will face the Gophers in the Final Five nightcap.

North Dakota, of course, has won the past two Final Five tournaments. The last time the Gophers won it was in 2007. Below, a reminiscence:



Go Gophers!

In Honor of Gophers-Spartans This Weekend...

Check out this great old video of Gopher Hockey versus Michigan State. Enjoy!

Great Moments in the Gopher-Sioux Rivalry #1

Finally at #1 in our countdown of great moments in the Gopher-Sioux Rivalry... it's a tie! I could not pick between these two moments, so feast your eyes on both of them!

#1A) Neal Broten scoring the game winning goal in the 1979 National Championship game:



#1B) Blake Wheeler scoring the game winning goal in overtime to defeat the Sioux in the WCHA Final Five championship game in 2007:



I get goosebumps just watching these videos!

Great Moments in the Gopher-Sioux Rivalry #2

Coming in at #2 in the Greatest Moments series is a game that actually ended in a tie. It's what happened after the horn sounded that counts, though. Don't think the festivities are over once the players start shaking hands, either... watch the lower right of your screen at :08 into the video to see what started it - you guessed it, another Sioux cheap shot.



I love this rivalry :)

Great Moments in the Gopher-Sioux Rivalry #3

Coming in at #3 in my Great Moments series is two games - one from the 2010 WCHA Playoffs and one from the 2010-2011 season.

Dateline: March 15th, 2010. Game 3 of the first round WCHA playoffs. The score is tied at 1-1 in the second period when this happens:



Somehow, Sioux fans then and now maintain that this is a clean hit. The Gophers were down to just four defensemen after the Wehrs injury, and Matt Frattin (the guy who delivered the vicious hit) came back later in the game to score the separation goal to give the Sioux the victory.

Flash forward 10 months to January 14th, 2011. As the second period is winding down, THIS happens:



Same player (Wehrs), same corner, same dangerous type of hit. This time, the Gophers responded. This series of events occurred only one year ago, and I would expect that players on both benches this weekend are aware of the recent history between the two schools.

THIS is the reason why the Gophers/Sioux rivalry is as intense as it is. The fans hate each other. The players hate each other. And it is awesome.

Great Moments in the Gopher-Sioux Rivalry #4

In this special edition of the Pride on Ice Blog in honor of it being Gophers/Sioux week, I'm going to count down what I think are some of the great moments in the rivalry. At number four, in a moment that is a painful memory for many Gopher fans, is a great game that went the way of the Sioux. The West Regional Final in 2007:



Coming up tomorrow - Great Moment #3!

EDIT: Big thanks to Dan Greene over at ECAC Hockey Blog for help with embedding the video!