This was one of those weekends that Beaver fans may never forget. The headlines in the Minneapolis area read "Are The Gophers Really The Underdogs?" and "Beavers For Real". Don Lucia sang the praises of the Beavers on Sports in the Round. The FSN crew kept calling the Beavers the "Bulldogs" all weekend. And, the Beavers lost their first game of the season.

I spent a couple seasons as the producer for the Gopher Radio broadcasts in the early 2000's...and I've NEVER seen people leaving a Gopher Hockey game early. I did this weekend. BSU came back to win the second game of the series...and BSU got their first win over Minnesota.

All that is great...but this summer blog is all about what happened off the ice. I'll never forget this trip for another reason.

With the BREC construction still on-going, most road trips the past two seasons have included the staff (coaches, trainers, equipment guys) walking around the various buildings and seeing what they like...and what they don't like.

On this particular trip, I couldn't find Tom prior to the second game. I needed to record his pregame interview, and he wasn't in the locker room...wasn't in the coaches office...wasn't chatting with the TV guys...there was no sight of him.

I finally found Tom in the tunnel between Ridder Arena and Mariucci. He had the Mariucci building manager up on a ladder with a tape measure...so that he could get the dimensions of the banners that hang from the rafters! They have some old banners hanging in the tunnel, so Tom saw an opportunity...and took it.

Be it behind the bench, or planning for the BREC, moral of the story is...Tom never quits working!

Tom came into the studio yesterday morning to talk about the BREC and the upcoming season.

Here's the audio

Derek Schooley is one of the guys that I'll miss interviewing leading up to games. The RMU coach is always good for a few one-liners about the Northern Minnesota weather.

Being in November, the weather for this series wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. The results, though, were for RMU. BSU won both games to stretch their unbeaten streak to eight...but more importantly, their CHA record to 4-0. When you only play 18 league games...against three other schools...all the games are important.

If BSU doesn't win these two games, who knows where the season may have gone. Who knows if BSU is able to get an at-large bid to the NCAA's if they don't beat RMU?

On any trip to Huntsville, there's one thing guaranteed to be on the top of the travel itinerary...."EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED!"

On previous trips to Huntsville, half the team's bags haven't shown up...the arena has hosted a monster truck show (and EVERYTHING was covered in dirt)...a circus has been held at the VBC (and the in-zone circles were off center...in fact, the one ran into the wall)...and the Zamboni has run over the puck.

On this particular trip to "The Hunt" there was a rather big storm from Memphis to Huntsville. Because of the storm, we were late leaving Minneapolis...which meant we were late getting to Memphis. So late, in fact, that the plane left without us. It's a 50 passenger plane...and 26 passengers (the BSU travel party) weren't on the flight. Why would they leave without half the passengers? I don't have a clue.

So, Delta Airlines decides to get us a bus. They didn't realize how many people there were...nor did they realize that a hockey team travels with that much stuff.

This is the size bus they got us...

Does that thing look like it will fit 26 people and 50 bags?

Nope...it didnt'! So, Delta got us a 15 passenger van too. All the bags went on that...and the players went on the little bus.

Now, don't forget that it's raining...HARD! The 2 hour drive turned into almost a five hour drive. By the time we got to Huntsville, it was nearly 10pm...and we were STARVING!

Dreamland BBQ never tasted so good!

All I can say is, it's a good thing that this trip was in October. I never like going to the U.P. because of the weather. Thankfully, the weather held for us. There was a chance of several inches of snow while we were there, but most of it missed Marquette.

I've never seen a group of fans so ready to give up on the season in week two as on this trip. Northern fans HATED Walt Kyle. After BSU shut them out on Saturday, the Wildcat fans were livid that Kyle needed to be fired. Little did they know at the time, but Northern was in the mix for the National Tournament most of the season.

I've never seen a team dismantle another quite like what BSU did to Northern in game two. Prior to that game, I was in my hotel room listening to Brian Bissonette call the BSU football game with Duluth. That was the craziest thing I've ever listened to.

It was on this trip that Ryan Marvin (graduate assistant coach) learned a lesson from Tom. How many times do you go out to eat and you ask the waitress if a certain menu item is good? Quite often. How many times have they ever said that something is terrible? Probably never.

Tom doesn't ask that question for just that reason. Tom ordered a sandwich on Friday afternoon...and it wasn't that good. On Saturday, Ryan asked the waitress if that same sandwich was good. Of course she responded that it was one of their specialties. Ryan ordered it. The rest of the table looked at Ryan and started laughing.

That was a recurring joke the rest of the season.

As promised, here is the first recap from last season.

One of the things that always gets talked about whenever Air Force plays BSU is the "Battle of the Serratore's"...it never fails. Frank and Tom are two of the most charismatic coaches in college hockey. Maybe it's because they're Italians from the Range. Maybe it's because they've had to work hard for what they've achieved.

Frank has taken a situation that hasn't been very good for many coaches...and made it a great program. It's not easy to recruit great players to the Academy. Look at the number of pro signings that BSU has had in the past few seasons. NONE of those players would be able to play at Air Force. If you have aspirations of playing pro hockey, you don't sign at Air Force. For those that don't know, once your days are done at the Academy, you then need to fulfill a five-year commitment to the Air Force.

Don't get me wrong, after those five years, you can write your ticket to life. Employers like the fact that an Air Force grad is committed, works hard, and has a solid work ethic. Chances are, if you hire an Air Force grad, they won't be calling in sick all the time!

But, how many 18 year olds want to make that commitment? Not many. That's what makes watching Air Force play hockey so much fun. Are they the best hockey players around...no. Do they work hard...you bet! Add to that the story of Jacques Lamoureux and you have an enjoyable weekend of hockey!

For the Jacques Lamoureux story, click here.