[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 30, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5502-S5503]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   RECOGNITION OF THE GOLDEN GOPHERS

  Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, I am proud to stand here with my 
distinguished colleague, the senior Senator from Minnesota, Mark 
Dayton, to offer congratulations to a group of young men of great 
accomplishment. In these difficult and troubled times, it is wonderful 
to recognize the accomplishment of young people. This accomplishment is 
something that is very close to the hearts of Minnesotans and folks in 
other parts of the country. It is about hockey.
  Hockey is a sport in which it is not about individual team stars. It 
is about folks working as a team and toughing it out and showing 
courage and determination. Hockey is a family sport. Moms and dads, 
hockey moms and dads are folks who get up at 4, 5 o'clock in the 
morning to find ice time for their kids. And if it is not in the formal 
rink, it is a little rink outside where you kind of dust away the snow 
so your kids can skate. It represents so much of the best of America.
  I am proud to announce I will be introducing, with my colleague 
Senator Dayton, a resolution later today commending the University of 
Minnesota Golden Gophers men's hockey team for winning the NCAA 
Division I National Championship. And again, I am pleased to be joined 
by my colleague.
  Hockey is not a partisan sport. I don't know whether hockey players 
are Democrats or Republicans. They are good Americans, and they are 
good young people.
  I understand that upon this resolution's introduction, the Senate 
will take up and pass this fitting tribute to the Golden Gophers.
  During their championship game against New Hampshire, a Gophers fan 
in attendance held up a sign that said, ``The Dynasty Begins.'' With 
this as their second straight championship, the first team to 
accomplish this in 31 years, I would have to agree. At last year's 
Frozen Four, they defeated Maine in overtime 4 to 3, and this year's 
championship win came by a score of 5 to 1. Their first and second 
round games were also big wins, leading them to face Michigan in the 
semifinals, where they defeated the Wolverines in overtime.
  With their achievements on the ice, it is clear this hockey team has 
exceptional athletic abilities. But they should also be recognized for 
their academic excellence; they maintained a grade point average above 
the university-wide average.
  On a side note, allow me the opportunity to mention that the 
Minnesota-New Hampshire match in the final led to a similar competition 
here in the Senate between my good friend and colleague, Senator Gregg. 
As to that outcome, let me just say I am looking forward to my lobster 
and maple syrup. I will be presenting this very stylish Minnesota 
necktie with the Golden Gopher colors to my good friend, the senior 
Senator from New Hampshire, for him to wear proudly as a sign of the 
great triumph for the people of Minnesota over the folks from New 
Hampshire. On behalf of all Minnesotans, I am pleased to make this 
addition to his wardrobe and, again, I look forward to his wearing this 
good-looking gopher tie on one of his many high profile days in the 
Senate.
  I am proud to stand today to commend the Golden Gophers hockey team 
for winning the national championship and to recognize the outstanding 
achievements of all the team players, their coach Don Lucia and his 
staff.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Minnesota.
  Mr. DAYTON. I rise with my colleague on the morning after a difficult 
night for Minnesota sports fans with both of our teams, the 
Timberwolves and the Wild, losing playoff games at home. This is a way 
to remind ourselves of days of former glory, and certainly with my 
distinguished colleague, Senator Coleman, who was instrumental and 
probably deserves more credit than any other person in Minnesota for 
bringing professional hockey back to St. Paul and Minnesota. The 
Minnesota Wild, which is now in its third year, is performing so well, 
it is fitting that we can rise together here for the second time this 
year to pay tribute to a Minnesota team, its collegiate hockey team; in 
this case, the Golden Gophers of the University of Minnesota, who have 
repeated now as national champions for the second time, the first time 
in 31 years that a college team has repeated for the men's 
championship.
  They join the University of Minnesota women's team, the Duluth 
Bulldogs women's team, who earlier this year won their third 
consecutive national collegiate hockey championship.
  As they were playing the Golden Gophers for the national title, I 
happened to be flying across the Pacific Ocean on a codel headed by 
Majority Leader Bill Frist, and it turns out that his press secretary 
was a graduate of the University of New Hampshire. So we had a friendly 
wager on the outcome. I am delighted to soon be the recipient of a 
quart of maple syrup, which makes it as sweet a victory for me as for 
the team, and certainly for all the hockey fans throughout Minnesota.
  This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for this team. Nobody 
thought they would make the playoffs, much less win the national 
championship. They had a new goalie and were the defending national 
champions. That made them everyone's target. They kept getting better 
and better as the year went on. When they reached the playoffs, they 
were unbeatable. They won four straight victories to win the WCHA 
championship and then four straight victories, over stiff competition--
the best in the Nation--in order to win the national championship for 
the second straight year. Once again, they accomplished this with 
almost entirely Minnesota talent.
  Some people ask why it took 23 years--from 1979 to 1992--for 
Minnesota, which is the hockey capital of the Nation, to repeat as the 
national collegiate champion. In 1979, when they won, there were only 
two Division I college teams in Minnesota. Presently there are five. 
There is that increase in competition among the Minnesota colleges 
themselves and for our Minnesota hockey talent. In addition, the other 
programs--in the West, WCHA, and in the east, the CCHA--recruited 
extensively in Minnesota, and even eastern hockey spent heavily on 
Canadian talent. In my days of playing, in the 1960s, for example, in 
Division I hockey, it used to be said that Canadian boys dreamed of 
playing in the National Hockey League, and if those hopes and dreams 
were dashed, they went on to college in the United States.
  Despite all that fierce competition for the talent and the pressures 
on that team, Coach Don Lucia has built, in just 5 years, an 
extraordinary program, a world class program in Minnesota that has 
restored collegiate hockey to its rightful place, at the very top in 
Minnesota. It is a real tribute to Coach Lucia and his entire team, all 
the players who performed extraordinarily well under the circumstances, 
and who are now, once again, the national collegiate champions.
  It is Senator Coleman's and my hope that the President will be 
gracious enough to invite our two teams, the University of Minnesota 
Golden Gophers men's team and the University of Minnesota Duluth 
women's team, to the White House for recognition, as he had in the 
previous year with both teams, and before that with the women's team.
  I went to college with the President. He was a year ahead of me, and 
he was not a hockey player. He was a rugby player. He was a sports fan. 
He roomed in college with a college All-American from Minnesota, Jack 
Morrison. He was a frequent attendee at our hockey games at Yale 
University. Two years ago, when the UMD women won the first 
championship, the President was gracious and responded instantaneously 
and invited the women's team, as he had previously invited the men's 
championship team from Boston College, to be feted at the White House. 
It could not have been a more exciting moment for the players, their 
families, friends, and the coaches at the University of Minnesota 
Duluth. Last year, we had the good fortune of having both championship 
teams, and the President was gracious enough to invite them both, along 
with the families, friends, and coaches, to the White House.

[[Page S5503]]

  Senator Coleman and I have put in our request and soon expect that 
the President will be gracious enough to once again invite the teams 
and commend all those who play sports throughout the Nation, such as 
hockey, as they should be played--with all the enthusiasm and the best 
of their talent and ability, learning the values of sportsmanship, 
teamwork, competition. Sometimes they don't come out as well as they 
would like, but every once in a while they may reach the pinnacle of 
success of a national championship. I am sure the President would 
concur with that.
  Again, I salute my favorite teams in Minnesota.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Wyoming is 
recognized.
  (The remarks of Mr. Enzi, Mr. Baucus, and Mr. Dorgan pertaining to 
the introduction of S. 950 are printed in today's Record under 
``Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')

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