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Ryan Walters had it all worked out.

"Growing up in Minnesota, every kid's dream is to play for the Gophers one day," Walters said. "After my freshman year of high school, when I committed, it was a dream come true."

Walters spent 2½ seasons playing with the USHL's Des Moines Buccaneers and was ready to head to Minnesota for 2010-11. But he wasn't willing to have his dream deferred when the Gophers asked him to spend yet another season in juniors.

He decommitted and quickly wound up at UNO.

"It just didn't work out, and I'm glad I'm here with the coaches and players here," said Walters, the hero of UNO's come-from-behind 5-3 win last Saturday at Colorado College. "It worked out for the best."

Walters frequently attended Gophers games while growing up. Now the sophomore gets another chance to skate against them in this weekend's huge series at the CenturyLink Center.

The fourth- and fifth-ranked Gophers have a chance to wrap up the WCHA's regular-season championship, while UNO is fighting for home ice in the first round of the league playoffs. The puck drops at 7:37 p.m. Friday and 7:07 Saturday.

"Walt can't get caught up in trying to do too much because we're playing Minnesota," UNO coach Dean Blais said. "He can't get too emotional. He can't get too down if something doesn't go right. He's got to stay focused on what he's been doing well."

Walters, a 6-foot, 196-pound left wing from Rosemount, Minn., just south of the Twin Cities, has already played against the Gophers — last season. But those games at Minnesota were just his second and third in a UNO sweater. Now he's a fixture, an established producer on a young team.

And he vows to play at an even keel in the series.

"After the whole de-commitment thing, and being from Minnesota, it's a personal weekend for me. But the most important thing is for our team to come out and get a couple of wins," he said. "You can't get overly excited, because then you start forcing things and making bad plays. You've just got to make the smart plays, make the plays that are there, and things will happen for you."

Walters made the plays that helped UNO salvage two points Saturday night at Colorado College, a weekend that the Mavs nearly went home from empty-handed when they felt like they played well enough to earn three, if not four, points.

Trailing 3-2 early in the third period and playing short-handed, Walters stole the puck and raced in on a breakaway, beating top CC goalie Josh Thorimbert with a backhand.

"You've got to play smart, but at the same time when you're losing, you've got to take some chances, otherwise they're just going to run the clock out," Walters said. "Brock (Montpetit) put some pressure on them down on the wall and caused the guy to get nervous and fumble the puck, and it was just an easy poke-check for me and away I went."

Blais said the big goal, similar to Walters' overtime game-winner Dec. 9 at North Dakota, was a result of good anticipation and hard work.

"He's really done a good job on the penalty kill," Blais said. "He and Montpetit are playing more of an honest game. They're not looking for offense, they're working for it. We still have some who are looking for it. Usually it takes hard work."

After tying the game Saturday, Walters scored the game-winner 4:31 later. It was his 10th goal of the season and his fourth game-winner.

"Two goals in a game, that's the kind of thing we're looking for from Walt," Blais said. "We expect him to put the puck in the net."

Walters had 11 goals and 12 assists in 38 games last year. He has 10 goals and 14 assists through 32 games this season. All 10 goals and 10 of his assists have come after he went without a goal the first eight games.

"I'm a little behind the ball," Walters said. "I had a slow start. Going eight games without a goal, that's just not acceptable for the kind of role the coaches have put me in. But I've started to pick it back up a little bit, my linemates (Montpetit and freshman Josh Archibald) have picked me up, and the coaches have been putting me on the ice."

Said Blais: "He's been pretty consistent. Everyone's made mistakes, but Walt's done a lot more positive than negative.

"It's been a fair season for him. I don't think it's the season he thought he would have, but still there's enough season left for him to get to 14 or 15 goals, and that's a pretty good season."

Part of the reason Minnesota wanted to have Walters wait another year was to make room for what is now a talented class of sophomores. Walters said he understands why, even if he didn't agree with the decision.

"I still respect the program, and the coaches are great," Walters said. "They did what they thought they had to do, and they thought they brought in the right guys. I respect that, but at the same time I was a little bummed out with that decision."

UNO managed a sweep last season at Minnesota in its initial series as a WCHA team. But this is a vintage Gophers team coming to the CenturyLink Center.

"Those were my first (WCHA) games, and I didn't really know what to expect," Walters said. "The pace was a lot faster. This year I feel like I can bring a little more to the table and can be a little more of an impact guy. It'd be nice to be able to do that against Minnesota."

Contact the writer:

402-444-1027, rob.white@owh.com

twitter.com/RWhiteOWH

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