Ok folks…College hockey officially rocks my socks!! :)
My thoughts on this weekend’s festivities…
I’ve said it all year long, but I’m going to say it again…rankings mean NOTHING! You go through the regular season just to earn the right to play in the post-season. Once you get there…anything can happen! That’s why you play the games. :)
The West – Colorado Springs, CO
First Round
Notre Dame 7 New Hampshire 3
New Hampshire dominated Hockey East securing the regular season title back in the beginning of February, but faltered in triple OT against Boston College in the HE semis. Time to get their swagger back and what better team to do it against than Notre Dame on their own skid of 4-6-3 heading into the tournament, right? Wrong. The Wildcats came out firing, as they scored in the first 90 seconds of the game, but the Irish showed just how much fight they had in them and fired right back scoring two of their own in the next five minutes. On the olympic-sized sheet of ice, UNH lacked energy, wasn’t chasing down the loose pucks and didn’t play the body leaving Notre Dame to work their magic in all the open space. Only down by one after two, UNH came out ready to go only to be deflated by Notre Dame’s fifth goal of the night less than a minute in the period. Tack on a few penalties to kill including a 5-3 and you’ve got few opportunites to generate scoring chances. In favor of the extra attacker, HE Player of the year Kevin Regan sat on the bench with a little more than three minutes to go, but to no avail as the Irish added two empty-net goals to finish the scoring.
Michigan State 3 Colorado College 1
The Spartans lost a lot of key games in the regular season to ranked opponents. Heading into this tournament, I wondered if they would be able to find that extra gear they seemed to be missing during those key games and pull out a win. Well I was dumb and forgot that these were defending National Champs…of course they knew how to find that extra gear!! This game proved it. The Tigers of Colorado College, on home ice, literally cracked under pressure. Given their regular season, most people didn’t expect much from Michigan State and they played like a team with nothing to lose – banging bodies, making plays and shooting everything they could. Where as Colorado College looked to put on a show for their home crowd and seemed to be trying too hard to make the pretty plays and forgot that all goals count no matter how they go in and didn’t get the job done.
Second Round
Notre Dame 3 Michigan State 1
Both teams on an emotional high from their respective upsets, the first period was played very safe as the conference foes felt each other out almost waiting to see who would make the first mistake to capitalize on. The Irish got tired of waiting and decided to make their own opportunities by crashing the net. It worked as they got two late third period goals to punch their ticket to their first trip to the Frozen Four in school history. The Spartans put up a good fight, but couldn’t overcome Notre Dame’s positive energy. Seriously, these guys have the best goal celebrations…it’s like a mini mosh pit! Look for it in Denver as they continue their Cinderella run as the first #4 seed to advance to the Frozen Four in Tournament history.
The East – Albany, NY
First Round
Michigan 5 Niagara 1
The Michigan Wolverines play my kind of hockey :) They’ve got size, speed and skill…a deadly combination, one the Purple Eagles from Niagara didn’t have an antidote for. Quite simply, Niagara was out played. Wolverine captain Kevin Porter netted four goals including an empty-netter displaying why he’s the heavy favorite to win the Hobey Baker while his team peppered Niagara’s net with 39 shots maintaining puck possession and smothering any Niagara scoring chances. Their top line of Porter, Chad Kolarik (0g, 5a) and Max Pacioretty (1g, 1a) got the job done.
Clarkson 2 St. Cloud State 1
This was the first televised game of the Tournament and it was entirely unmemorable – The Clarkson Golden Knights basically took it to St. Cloud Huskies all game long. The score was close, but Clarkson dominated every aspect of this game. The only time St. Cloud could get anything going offensively was on the man advantage, but even then they couldn’t cash in…a rarity for this team known for its lethal PP. It was a very poor showing by SCSU as Clarkson smothered their snipers Andreas Nodl and Ryan Lasch with goaltender David Leggio standing tall between the pipes.
Second Round
Clarkson 0 Michigan 2
The Wolverines controlled the play from the drop of the puck…and smothered the Golden Knights with their lethal combination of size, speed and skill backstopped by Billy Sauer in net. I kid you not when I say this team is unreal. Clarkson was able to hang with the big boys until about half way thorough the second at which point they lost their discipline and focus and Michigan walked all over them and never looked back as they handed Clarkson their first shutout of the season.
The Northeast – Worcester, MA
First Round
Air Force 2 Miami 3 OT
I’m surprised Air Force didn’t need to map out a flight plan because they came out flying, but the Miami RedHawks were up to the challenge as they hit everything that moved led by their captain and the nation’s leading scorer, Ryan Jones. The Falcons can thank their goalie, Andrew Volkening, for keeping them in the game as they led 2-1 until the last few minutes of the third period when Carter Camper tied it up and forced OT. In the extra period, Volkening and Miami netminder Jeff Zatkoff traded highlight reel saves until Miami’s Justin Mercier beat Volkening with a top shelf snipe to send the RedHawks to the Regional Finals.
Minnesota 2 Boston College 5
This game cracked me up because I kept thinking of that exchange between Jimmy Craig and Jack O’Callahan in “Miracle” just outside the locker room before tryouts…’Just a bunch of guys from Minnesota and Boston’…’Yeah…that’s gonna work’ I know…I’m a nerd! But I’m a hockey-loving nerd, so it’s all good :)
Now to the game – Started out fast and furious as Minnesota’s Blake Wheeler and Boston College’s Nathan Gerbe exchanged more than a few scoring opportunities in the first five minutes. Immediate observations…Wheeler is huge and I mean HUGE! In fact, the entire team of Golden Gophers with six players over 6’6” absolutely dwarfed the Eagles with seven players under 5’9” led by Gerbe who only stands 5’5”. It looked like NHLers taking on high schoolers! But what BC lacked in size, they made up for in speed and skill…and grit! This game was full of end –to-end rushes and battles along the boards…BC might be small but they have no problem using the body. Minnesota has lost several skilled players earlier than expected to the NHL the past few years and have changed to a grinding style that suits their size, but BC beat them at their own game and came out victorious.
Second Round
Boston College 4 Miami 3 OT
These two teams have paired up in the NCAA’s the previous two seasons with the Eagles coming out on top shutting out the RedHawks both times. This time there wasn’t a shut out…in fact, Miami scored just 90 seconds into the game, but the result was the same – BC heads to the Frozen Four. This game was intense…there was no room for mistakes. Nick Petrecki, a stud on the blueline, tied things up with a blast from the point as four – yes I said FOUR – RedHawks were caught behind the goal line. Gerbe put the Eagles up just 14 seconds later on a backdoor play. Jones stepped up late in the game for Miami to send the game into OT. The momentum carried over into the extra session as Miami dominated the first ten minutes, but then head coach Jerry York called a timeout to get the Eagles refocused and on the attack…Joe Whitney scored two minutes later sending the Eagles to Denver.
The Midwest – Madison, WI
First Round
Princeton 1 North Dakota 5
TJ Oshie, 2007 Hobey Baker Winner Ryan Duncan, Taylor Chorney and Joe Finley - otherwise known as the team leaders of the Fighting Sioux - decided not to follow former teammate Jonathan Towes to the NHL figuring if enough of them decided to stay, this year could be special. ECAC Champions, the Princeton Tigers sounded like Academy Award nominees – we’re just happy to be here, blah, blah, blah. North Dakota in a roll right? Well yes, but not really…They might have won by four goals, but don’t let that lopsided score fool you – two of them were empty netters and the other three were on the man advantage. Princeton took it to the Fighting Sioux going step for step, playing physical and getting offensive opportunities the entire game, they just couldn’t solve NoDak’s goalie Jean-Phillippe Lamoureux.
Sidenote – Duncan , who scored his first career hat trick during this game, is an undrafted free-agent, but did participate in the Blues Prospect camp this past summer…will he jump to the NHL after this season?
Sidenote #2 – Ivy League athletes literally blow my mind…Princeton’s captain, Landis Stankievech,
studies mechanical and areospace engineering and was named ECAC Student Athlete of the Year. I dated an engineer once and he practically lived at the lab…this guy’s ability to play D-I hockey and study what he does – at Princeton, no less – and be good at both, shows his commitment to success. He’s a rockstar in my book!
Wisconsin 6 Denver 2
This game…was intense! The Pioneers from Denver, winners of the WCHA Tournament who barely missed out on a #1 seed, drew a struggling Wisconsin team whom many believed shouldn’t even be in the tournament much less a #3 seed. On paper, this was no contest…but, that’s why they play the games. The Badgers, in road reds while on home ice, were backstopped by Shane Connelly and his 30 saves on the night. Denver had plenty of chances, but couldn’t get any past Connelly and when they did they heard the not-so-friendly clang of the post. It was a tight game until half way through the third when the Badgers went up 3-1 and then 4-1 in a matter of seconds and the Badgers didn’t give up control. Interesting to note - Wisconsin’s defensive core tallied a collective six points in the game. The ability of their defensemen to jump up into the play and generate offensive opportunities has become a Badger staple this season.
Second Round
Wisconsin 2 North Dakota 3 OT
This was the last game of the weekend and what a game it was! The Badgers fed of their home crowd and absolutely dominated the first period peppering Lamoureux with 17 shots after one and 30 after two. It was fast paced and physical and the larger ice surface allowed the guys to use the open spaces and get the transition game going creating end to end rushes. Wisconsin led after two with North Dakota holding a 1-24-0 record in such situations, but North Dakota’s leaders stepped up as Kaip, their captain scores from the slot on a hard fought goal and Duncan ties it up from a ridiculous drop pass from Oshie a minute later. The highlight reel move completely sucked the energy out of the building and silenced the sea of red 18,000 strong who stood for most of the game in anxious anticipation. The Badgers nearly pulled off the upset, but Andrew Kozek scored as he was knocked off his skates less than two minutes into the extra session to send the Fighting Sioux to the Frozen Four for the fourth straight year.
The Frozen Four gets underway in Denver, CO on Thursday April 10th with the championship game coming on Friday, April 12th. Semi-finals televised on ESPN2 with Saturday’s game on ESPN. You know I’ll be highlighting these matchups before then so stay tuned! :)
Till then…
Jules
[email protected]
p.s. Most of not all of these games will be replayed on ESPN U over the next two weeks...If you missed them the first go around, I highly suggest you check them out...
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