U captain: Just ignore those prognosticators; Jay Barriball has high hopes for his hockey team, which opens the season tonight against UMass.(SPORTS) - Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

Byline: ROMAN AUGUSTOVIZ; STAFF WRITER

Jay Barriball is irritated with WCHA coaches.

'We should never be ranked No. 5 in the preseason poll,' the Gophers captain said. 'It makes me a little upset. It should make all the guys a little upset.'

Now in defense of the coaches, the Gophers have finished seventh, fifth and seventh in the past three seasons. In 2009, they did not qualify for the NCAA tournament, breaking a string of eight consecutive trips. Last March, the Gophers did not advance to the WCHA Final Five, which has happened only once in the previous 17 years.

Still, Barriball, from Prior Lake, has high hopes as the Gophers prepare to open the season Friday night at Mariucci Arena against Massachusetts.

'If everything goes as planned,' Barriball said, 'this year could be a really special year for us.'

He knows the best-laid plans sometimes go awry. He came to the Gophers one season ahead of schedule and has stayed one year longer than expected.

The senior winger was supposed to play one season at Sioux Falls, S.D., of the USHL after graduation from Holy Angels in 2006. Instead, he joined the Gophers when Phil Kessel turned pro after being named the WCHA Rookie of the Year. Barriball took Kessel's roster spot and jersey number (26), and surprised even himself by leading the team in goals (20) and points (43) as a freshman.

This is now Barriball's fifth year at Minnesota. He played only five games last season before suffering a serious knee injury and was granted an extra season because of medical hardship.

'I wanted to finish out my time here at the U,' Barriball said. 'It's been my dream my entire life to play at Minnesota.'

Barriball, a 5-9 darter when at his best, had two assists as the Gophers beat British Columbia 6-0 Sunday in an exhibition game.

'He looks like he hasn't lost a step,' Gophers coach Don Lucia. 'He looked like his old self darting around the rink. His skill was obviously evident. [Barriball] is somebody who will be able to put the puck in the net for us, and that has been our biggest issue the last couple of years, the inability to score timely goals.'

Senior Mike Hoeffel plays on Barriball's line. 'Jay is a smaller guy, so he is shifty and kind of sly,' said Hoeffel. 'He is a proven scorer and a good playmaker.'

Barriball's first senior season came to an abrupt halt last Nov. 3 during practice. He tore the lateral collateral ligament and the meniscus cartilage in his right knee in a freak collision; rehabilitation after surgery was tedious.

'The progression was so slow, it kind of stunk,' Barriball said. 'Luckily my knee is back to 100 percent.'

He is the final link to the last Gophers team with postseason success. He had an assist on Blake Wheeler's overtime goal in the championship game of the 2007 Final Five. The Broadmoor Trophy came with the Gophers' 3-2 victory over North Dakota. A week later, the Sioux beat Minnesota in overtime by the same score in an NCAA regional final.

'I figured we were going to get back, but we never have,' Barriball said. The Gophers lost 5-2 to eventual champion Boston College in a first-round NCAA game in 2008.

The NCAA Frozen Four next April will be in St. Paul. The last time it was at the Xcel Energy Center, in 2002, the Gophers won the national championship.

Barriball said he is well aware of the site. And, though he won't make any predictions, he likes the talent and character of the players on this team and having a healthy head coach again. Lucia was diagnosed with sarcoidosis in January 2009. For 18 months, Lucia took steroids to treat the inflammation that affected a facial nerve. He was often fatigued, but not anymore.

''Your old coach is back,'' Barriball said Lucia told his players. 'He is more excited than ever to get back at it, and that makes us excited, too.'

The captain knows what he has to do. 'It is my job to get the guys going,' Barriball said, 'and bring back the winning tradition of this program. You want to go out with a bang -- to do something special that people are going to remember 10, 20 years down the road.'

ABOUT JAY BARRIBALL

Age: 23, oldest Gopher (born one day before Alex Kangas)

Classroom: Graduate student in School of Kinesiology, emphasis on sports management

Career statistics: 39 goals, 63 assists, 102 points; as freshman led team with 43 points

Family legend: First time on skates at age 5, Jay skated without assistance, just couldn't stop

Sports highlight: Winning Class 2A title in 2005 as a junior at Holy Angels

Pro prospects: Seventh-round pick of San Jose in 2006 NHL entry draft; Sharks traded his draft rights to St. Louis in 2007.