Under normal circumstances, this would be a fabulous weekend for UMD’s hockey teams, both men’s and women’s, at AMSOIL Arena. 

After all, the men face Nebraska-Omaha, a potent outfit that comes to Duluth smarting from being swept by St. Cloud State, knocking the Mavericks out of a three-way tie for first place in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. UMD needs a victory -- or two -- to retain its hopes to reach the top of the league.

And the UMD women, having swept two games from Ohio State last weekend to reach 19-10-5 for the season and secure home ice for the first round of WCHA playoffs, are also at home for a best-of-three series against fifth-place Bemidji State. A victory in that series would send UMD on to the WCHA final foursome, and a shot at reaching the NCAA tournament for a remarkable 12th time.

But nothing regarding the women’s team is normal anymore, and the season is hurtling to a conclusion with none of us able to visualize what in the world can be happening to the UMD women’s program. Of course, unless you’ve been on Jupiter the last couple of months, you’re aware that UMD athletic director Josh Berlo informed coach Shannon Miller that her contract would not be renewed after this season. Berlo announced -- to the public as well as to me on my live radio show on KDAL 610 am radio -- that the only reason for the dismissal was that Miller was being paid too much, that UMD could no longer afford her $207,000 salary. Oh, and by the way, her two assistant coaches and her part time administrative assistant would not be renewed either.

Chancellor Lendley Black backed his AD and reiterated publicly that budget shortfalls were the only reason for the dismissal of Miller and her staff. The answers to why the decision was made at Christmastime, when UMD had gone on break with 11 victories in its last 12 games and ranked No. 5 in the country, the UMD administration said contractual stipulations meant it had to be then, and also that they prevented the school from renegotiating with Miller.

Things have only gotten murkier. An official at the University of Minnesota said that obviously there was more than just financial concerns involved. Black immediately backpedaled, agreeing that there was more to it, apparently not realizing that by such an acknowledgement was confessing that both he and Berlo had been lying by their previous statements. Berlo went silent.

Miller has hired some attorneys who apparently are eager to take on this case. Everyone knows that Miller is an outstanding coach, bold and aggressive and with all the characteristics that would only draw praise, if Miller were a man. But she is a women, and a lot of men seem to get uneasy in the presence of bold, aggressive females.

The elephant in the room -- to use a phrase I never thought I would write -- is hardly mentioned. Miller is gay, and she’s never hidden it. As it turns out, her staff members haves evolved in recent years, but all four of the women involved are gay. Someone asked if I knew that, since I’ve covered the UMD women’s team and its incredible successes every year of its existence, and through all five of its NCAA record five national championships. I said I did not, and I guess that’s significant, because to me, it doesn’t matter what their private sexual orientation happens to be.

But if you run an operation that is held in high esteem nationwide -- worldwide -- and puts UMD and the city of Duluth on a sports pedestal, then you might not want the NCAA, Title IX, Gender Equity folks, and the LGBT forces coming after you from every direction. In addition, you might not want the state legislature coming after you, but that’s exactly what UMD has now inspired, with 13 state senators sending a document to UMD demanding an explanation for why Miller and her staff were dismissed. A day after hearing about it, Governor Mark Dayton asked to be signed on as well.

On Tuesday, Black responded, claiming that all is well at UMD, and that the other reasons for Miller’s dismissal was performance, because UMD’s women have not done as well as they used to. They hadn’t been as successful against league and national powers Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota, for instance. Interesting, that when Miller tried to improve the funding for her program, by getting payment for summer school or a fifth year of schooling, as all the biggest programs have, she says she was informed that UMD is not Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota or Ohio State and should be on a parallel with St. Cloud State, MSU-Mankato and Bemidji State. Now, however, the chancellor is publicly rebuking Miller for not keeping up with the nation’s top powers.

Black also said the Bulldogs hadn’t been to the NCAA tournament since 2011. Three years! Imagine what those colleges that have never been to the NCAA in women’s hockey must feel? And also, has anyone noted that if performance was truly an issue, UMD chose to notify Miller and her staff that they were being let go right when the Bulldogs had won 11 out of 12 games, and were ranked No. 5 in the country.

There are those who hold out hope that Miller might get her job back, after all the murkiness of controversy -- and the certain lawsuits -- get settled. Miller doesn’t think so. “I’m not trying to get my job back right now,” she said. “According to my attorneys, that train has left the station.”

Meanwhile, the Bulldog Express meets Bemidji State at 2 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday, and, if necessary, 2 p.m. Sunday in the women’s WCHA playoff.

That leaves room for the UMD men and their showdown series against Nebraska-Omaha for 7 p.m. both Friday and Saturday. While UMD was splitting at Miami, North Dakota swept two from Western Michigan to reach 41 points. Miami dropped out of the first-place tie to second, with 38, and St. Cloud State ambushed UNO twice, dropping the Mavericks into a tie for third and fourth with Denver, which vaulted ahead of UMD to 35 points. 

UMD is in fifth in the NCHC, with 34 points, underlining the importance of racking up as many points as possible to secure home ice for the playoffs. Winning 3-1 Friday, UMD led Saturday by the same 3-1, but Miami rallied, caught the Bulldogs, and beat them in overtime. A victory would have lifted UMD into second place, but the loss dropped them to fifth. What a race. 

Getting to 7A, 7AA Finals Worth the Ride

The championship games in both Section 7AA and 7A might well be completed before you get to this, but in both cases, getting there was more than half the fun.

   In 7A, top-ranked Hermantown had to take on arch-rival Marshall in a Wednesday night showdown at AMSOIL Arena, while in 7AA, late-developing Duluth East takes on top-seeded Elk River in a Thursday night final.

All four of the finalists in the two sections had to survive Super Saturday, when they lined up for what seemed certain to be a dayful of high entertainment at AMSOIL.

In an interesting twist, the bigger schools played first, with Elk River taking on Cloquet-Esko-Carlton, followed by the East-Grand Rapids squabble. Saturday night, Hermantown played hopeful Hibbing-Chisholm, followed by Marshall against Denfeld.

Unfortunately, for those of us settled in for four great games, we got to see one great game, and three others that were at best anticlimactic. Not that the losing teams folded or gave up, they just picked the wrong day to have less than their best performances.

Only the Duluth East-Grand Rapids battle lived up to expectations. Or above them, actually. Grand Rapids had stung East 5-1 a month earlier, but the schedule-hardened Greyhounds came out ready to play, and got the first-period lead when Shay Donovan moved in and rifled a shot off goaltender Sam Gerth and in. The ‘Hounds widened the lead and seemed solidly entrenched when Ash Altmann and brother Nick Altmann sandwiched goals around one by Alex Adams for Grand Rapids.

A 3-1 lead, while outshooting the Thunderhawks 19-17, made East look like a cinch to return to state. But suddenly, Grand Rapids coach John Rothstein got his lads settled down, and they took the game over in the third period. East goaltender Gunnar Howg, who had been inconsistent enough that coach Mike Randolph tried a rotation that included three goalies earlier in the season, had never, frankly, played as though he could be dominant enough to steal a key victory for East. But he did exactly that.

Grand Rapids has some kids who can really shoot, and they did. All of them. They came at East in swarms of line rushes, firing shots from every angle. Howg blocked shots from every angle, and he snatched amazingly hard and accurate missiles with his glove, which has never been quicker. He stopped Mitchell Mattson, who got in alone behind the East defense; he stopped Alex Adams, another junior, who got loose on a 2-on-1.

At 8:48, almost the exact midpoint of the period, Jonah Bischoff, yet another junior, got in front and deflected Daulton Anderson’s point shot past Howg to cut the deficit to 3-2.

The Greyhounds were running on fumes. Howg went back to work, using his glove to rob Bischoff on a blast from the left circle. He somehow tracked a point shot that was tipped up and directly at the upper right extremity of the net by Adams, and Howg snared it with the big glove. With 3:11 remaining in the third period, an East skater fired a shot from a stride outside the blue line. It was easily turned away by goaltender Sam Gerth, but the significant thing is that it was East’s second shot on goal of the third period, at a point when Grand Rapids, after getting 17 shots through two periods, already had 17 in the third.

Rothstein pulled Gerth at the end and the Thunderhawks finished with amazing intensity, but Howg held on. Outshot 23-2 in the period, and 40-21 for the game, Howg was clearly the man of the hour for the Greyhounds. “I don’t know how I made some of those,” Howg said afterward. “Mostly, I was in the right place and the shots hit me.”

Wrong, Gunnar! When you’re standing there, poised, and your left hand snakes out to snatch the shot, or deflection, out of the air, that’s more than being lucky.

 That game followed the opener, where Cloquet needed everything to work out just right against Elk River. It worked that way for about seven minutes, then an interference penalty put the Elks on a power play. Dylan Bouten scored at 7:05, and 19 seconds later, Reggie Lutz scored from inside center point. The Elks had a 12-2 edge in shots and a 2-0 lead. Peter Jones made it 3-0 before the period ended, with Elk River outshooting the Lumberjacks 15-3. But it was about to get worse. The Elks poured six more unanswered goals into the Cloquet net, and it was 9-0 after two.

 Gordie Roberts pulled his troops back in the third period, and a deflected point shot on a power play gave Cloquet the only goal of the final 17 minutes. “Elk River is the best team we’ve faced all year,” said Cloquet coach Dave Esse, who would have loved one more shot at East in the final.

The night session figured to be dramatic, but it only was for one period, when Hibbing gained a 1-0 lead on Parker Osborne’s breakaway goal. That aroused the Hawks from Hermantown, who blitzed goalie Isiah Dilley for 25 shots and four goals in the second period and cruised to a 6-1 victory. Kyile Amundson, Nate Pionk, Wyatt Aamodt, and Ryan Kero got the goals, and Cole Koepke and Kero scored in the third to finish it.

Marshall, which has an impressive gang in its defensive zone, stifled Denfeld’s attempts at putting on anything resembling pressure in the final game. The Hilltoppers didn’t break through River Alander’s netminding until John McKenna scored in the last minute of the first period, then the teams battled scorelessly through the second period. It appeared we were in for a tense third period, but Jon Hansen converted Nate Sepp’s goal-mouth pass at 2:58, and Sepp scored himself on a break-in at 12:47. Derek Farrell hit the empty net with 3:55 to go, and it ended 4-0.

The celebration was undoubtedly subdued, however, because Hermantown represented a giant roadblock to the state tournament.

John Gilbert has been writing sports for over 30 years. Formerly with the Star Tribune and WCCO. He currently hosts a daily radio show on KDAL AM.