It was everything hockey fans could hope for on friday night at the Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota.  The Gophers opening night game, and the University of St. Thomas who wanted nothing more than to upset the #1 ranked team in the nation.  We loaded up the car and took the kids down to watch and arrived about 6:30 and already the X was filling up.  The upper deck was not open but the bottom and club level were both pretty full, it reminded me of the Minnesota High School Hockey state tournament with the St. Thomas fan section really showing up.  The Gophers would jump out to a 2-0 lead with goals by Aaron Huglen and Jaxon Nelson.  St. Thomas would rebound in the 2nd period when Mack Byers, Liam Malmquist and Luke Manning would score 3 straight goals for the Tommies making it a 3-2 St. Thomas lead after 2.  Lucas Wahlin of ST. Thomas would score :27 seconds into the 3rd period giving them a 4-2 lead.  Jimmy Snuggerud would score for the Gophers followed by Brody Lambs 2 quick goals for the Gophers and they would take a 5-4 lead until late in the 3rd period when Lucas Wahlin would score his 2nd goal of the game and send it to overtime, much to the Gophers fans dismay.  In the OT session it was the weekend #1 star Jimmy Snuggerud ending it for the gophers on this game winning beauty.

After all was said and done this was a fun game for the kids to go to, they got to experience a college hockey atmosphere for the first time, plenty of goals were scored and although there was not an upset the St. Thomas crowd was doing everything in their power to will there boys to win.  I really like what Coach Blasi is building here and they play extremely well as a team, they may be the best team in the CCHA this season, it will be fun to watch what happens with them.