Gophers freshmen defensemen Leo Gruba and John Whipple are forced to grow up fast

Gophers men’s hockey coach Bob Motzko thought his team needed what he called a “grow-up” game after it outscored opponents 33-12 in the first six games.

The Gophers got that and more. Their two-game sweep of Penn State was a grow-up weekend, out of necessity.

Freshmen defensemen Leo Gruba and John Whipple assumed bigger roles — more ice time and power-play duty — both nights after steadying junior Cal Thomas went out injured during the opening shifts Friday.

Gruba picked up his first collegiate career point, getting the secondary assist on Jimmy Clark’s winning goal with 26 seconds left in Saturday’s 1-0 victory. Whipple blocked three shots in the series, giving him eight this season.

All of it contributed to a team that did grow up a little bit all weekend in a physical series to open Big Ten Conference play, or what that Motzko calls “rock-fight” games.

Both Gruba and Whipple are rangy defensemen, each 6-2 with long reach. Gruba is from Lake Elmo, by way of Fargo in the USHL. Whipple is from Minnetonka, by way of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program.

“They’ve been good all year, but they went extra duty now,” Motzko said. “ “… We didn’t limit their ice time. We kept pouring their ice time in there. What a great time of the year to keep playing them. Practice is one thing when you see good things, but when you’re doing it in a game, that’s another. It’s baptism under fire for those guys.”

Thomas was injured early in last Friday’s game and did not return. He didn’t play Saturday, either, and Motzko said he won’t play for the third-ranked Gophers this week at Wisconsin, which is presumably much better than its 2-6 start under former longtime Minnesota State Mankato coach Mike Hastings. The Badgers lost to Lindenwood and have been swept by Ohio State and top-ranked Denver.

“They’re way better than their record shows,” Motzko said, “and they’re smart enough to know it. So don’t anybody feel sorry for Mike Hastings right now. He’s got enough wins in his life. That ship is going in the right direction.”

Gophers freshman forward August Falloon was injured in the Penn State series and won’t play at Wisconsin, as well, Motzko said.

“It’s an inevitable part of hockey, injuries,” Gruba said. “… You never want anyone to go out injured. But we’re happy to jump out and play a few more minutes on the [penalty kill] and stuff like that.”

Even if they’re only freshmen on a team filled with upperclassmen and veteran depth.

“You don’t want to expect anything, I guess,” Gruba said. “You also want to be confident. I don’t think either John or I had any worries about it. We knew that Cal is a phenomenal player, but if we had the opportunity, which we did, we’d be able to step up and be a big part of a defensive win for us. We’re happy.”

Both Gruba and Whipple have impressed their coach and their older teammates such as senior defenseman Mike Koster, who calls injured Thomas a “big-time player for us.”

“It’s not easy to fill those minutes, but they’ve been great,” Koster said. “Those two are big-time players and everyone wants more minutes, right? They’ve been so good in the minutes they’ve gotten. They’ve been so good in practice, too. They’re ready for it. It’s going to benefit us throughout the year year. Once we get in the playoffs, we’ll be ready for it.”

Motzko said it’s “absolutely” the kind of adversity that will pay off near season’s end. He said he hates the old adage that lessons are learned in losses.

“I’d rather learn a lesson in a win,” Motzko said. “All the adversity a team is going to face, how do you handle it? Sometimes you get beat down and then you learn how to pick up the pieces. Sometimes you sneak through it, which we did.

“… We learned a lesson and we got a shot-deflected goal to give us a three-point night. No question it was a grow-up weekend.”

7 p.m. Friday

6 p.m. Saturday

No TV. Both games streamed on B1G+ and on radio 1130-AM and 103.5-FM.