Rivals.com reports that outstanding California junior college wide receivers Hayo Carpenter of Santa Clarita College of the Canyons and Jamar Howard of Visalia College of the Sequoias, and running back Giavanni Ruffin, also from College of the Sequoias, have Minnesota on their list of possible college choices.
CollegeFootballNews.com has the Gophers ranked No. 23 in the country. The Gophers next game is at Purdue on October 25.
Steve and Dorothy Erban’s Creative Charters is offering a choice between airplane and motor coach to the Purdue game. More at www.creativecharter.com
Former Gopher coach Doug Woog told Sports Headliners he’s picking Colorado College to win the WCHA title if CC’s important players stay healthy. He includes the Gophers in a second grouping with Denver, North Dakota, St. Cloud and Wisconsin.
Woog describes the Gophers as “skilled but young and small.” He said Minnesota has a “horrendous challenge” to get off to a good start because of the outstanding teams on the early schedule such as New Hampshire, Michigan State and Michigan. The Gophers open the regular season tonight (Friday) at St. Cloud State.
Woog also said there’s an “evolution” going on in the WCHA toward “smaller and quicker players.” The result, he predicted, is more players will remain with their WCHA teams for three or four years instead of leaving early for the pros. He said two years ago 16 underclassmen left WCHA teams early, last season 11 but he expects fewer in 2008-09.
Wild forward Craig Weller’s favorite magazine is “Traditional Bowhunter.” The Calgary native’s preferred sport is fishing.
Wild forward Nick Schultz’s cousin, Jesse, is a forward playing for Minnesota’s AHL affiliate the Houston Aeros.
Forward James Sheppard and goalie Josh Harding are roommates while Sheppard finds a full-time place to live. Sheppard, 20, lived with former Wild player and now TV studio analyst Darby Hendrickson and his family last season.
Gopher forward Monique Lamoureux has been named the WCHA Rookie of the Week for her performance against Minnesota Duluth last weekend. Lamoureux, a freshman from Grand Forks, scored two goals and added one assist in the visiting Gophers’ sweep over No. 1-ranked UMD. Producing a team-high 15 shots, Lamoureux scored in each game against UMD.
Concordia soccer forward Justin Foss scored three goals last week and helped the Cobbers to a 1-1 record in conference play. Foss, who leads the MIAC in goals per game (0.88), is the MIAC Men’s Soccer Athlete of the Week. The Women’s Soccer Athlete of the Week is Gustavus junior forward Chelsea Craven who scored all three goals to lead the Gusties to a 3-1 win over Bethel in St. Peter last Saturday.