Schmidt’s OT goal gives UMD NCAA title
Kyle Schmidt scored the overtime game-winner for UMD's 3-2 victory over Michigan, and immediately skated the length of the ice to celebrate.
By John Gilbert
Kyle Schmidt found the perfect ending to his Minnesota-Duluth hockey career, scoring at 3:22 of sudden-death overtime Saturday night to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 victory over Michigan. It was Schmidt’s 11th goal of the season, the biggest goal of his life, and the biggest goal in the 50-year history of UMD hockey, because it came in front of 19,222 fans at Xcel Energy Center and gave the Bulldogs the first NCAA Division I men’s hockey championship in program history.
Schmidt, a senior from the Duluth suburb of Hermantown, has not always had great timing this season. He broke his hand in practice the day before UMD played its ceremonial first game at its new AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, and he was later injured during the East Regional. But he overcame all the adversity and played well enough to regain his spot on the second line and be presented with the National Unsung Hero award, given each year to a good player and dedicated worker, but also someone who has not been a heavily publicized star.
Schmidt fouled that up, pretty thoroughly when he skated in from the right side to score with a pass from Travis Oleksuk behind the net. As heroes go, Schmidt instantly went from unsung to “sung.”
It was a night for unsung heroes, as UMD’s high-powered first line was held off the scoresheet by Michigan’s hustling and persistent Wolverines. Oleksuk and Schmidt picked up the slack with goals for the second line, and lightly used freshman fourth-line center Max Tardy scored his first collegiate goal on the backup power-play unit. Michigan got into the spirit of the night too, taking a 1-0 lead on Ben Winnette’s first-period goal, and tying the game 2-2 when fourth-line center Jeff Rohrkemper scored late in the second period for the 2-2 deadlock.
“That’s what often happens in a game like this,” said Michigan coach Red Berenson. “The top players just about neutralize each other, and usually an unsung guy gets the big goal.”
Michigan (29-11-4) was making a bid for its 10th NCAA championship and third in Berenson’s 27-year coaching career. His two titles were both won by 3-2, for good measure. But the CCHA champions didn’t intimidate the Bulldogs (26-10-6), who played with the confidence they have maintained while establishing a remarkable 7-2-6 record in overtime games this season.
“I’m so extremely proud of this team,” said UMD coach Scott Sandelin. “Not just for the players, but for the alumni, the city. I’m just excited for these players to have this experience.”
There also was some further kharma going for Schmidt, was the only player who didn’t dye his hair the outrageous bleach-blond his teammates decided to use for team playoff unity. His teammates didn’t seem to mind, and they definitely didn’t mind after Schmidt ended Saturday night’s game. At the post game press conference, someone asked if leaving his hair its natural color was responsible for scoring his game-winner. Schmidt paused and then deadpanned: “Yes.”
Schmidt is getting married in a few weeks and his fiance didn’t want him fouling up any wedding pictures by looking like a latter-day beach boy.
The Bulldogs outshot Michigan 38-24, but never had the upper hand against the tenacious Wolverines, who are almost an annual fixture in NCAA tournament time. “Good for Minnesota-Duluth,” said Berenson. “They were a better team than we thought during the season. They were kind of under the radar. I thought our penalty-killers were dialed in, and they have they have a terrific power play — the best we’ve seen all year.”
Berenson was not impressed with the officiating of Eastern referees Tim Benedetto and Jeff Bunyon, who gave Michigan nine penalties to four for UMD. “Every time somebody falls down there doesn’t have to be a penalty,” Berenson said.
UMD freshman Max Tardy smacked in his only collegiate goal for a 2-1 lead in the title game.
As higher seed, Berenson had last change and started his veteran defensive line, with Matt Rust centering fellow senior Ben Winnett and junior Luke Glendening. Even counting Winett’s fourth goal of the season, the game-winner in the 2-0 semifinal shutout over North Dakota, the three linemates came into the final with a total of 17 goals — fewer than any of the players on UMD’s top line — Jack Connolly with 18 goals, Mike Connolly with 28 and Justin Fontaine with 22. But with Winett scoring his fifth goal in the final, the checkers outscored the checkees.
The closest UMD’s top unit came to scoring was a power-play blast from the right side by Jack Connolly that rang the short-side right post. Shortly after that, Michigan appeared to score, when Carl Hagelin poked a rebound from under goaltender Kenny Reiter, who had been sitting on it for a couple of seconds, but the ECAC referees waved it off for coming after the whistle.
At 14:42 of the opening period, the Wolverine succeeded in their role-swapping, when Rust won a left-corner faceoff back to Winnett, who skated to the slot and shot off defenseman Justin Faulk’s skate and into the left edge of the net for a 1-0 lead.
It wasn’t until the second period that UMD’s second line proved it was possible to get a puck past Michigan goaltender Shawn Hunwick, whose semifinal shutout had subdued North Dakota. T.J. Brown slid the puck out to the right point, where Brady Lamb faked a shot, stepped in and shot, with Oleksuk knocking in the rebound from the right edge to tie the game 1-1 at 1:39 of the second period.
The Bulldogs finally clicked on their fourth power play to gain a 2-1 lead, but it was after the first unit had gone to the bench. Tardy, recently plugged into the lineup because of his puck-handling prowess, was in the left corner for a pass from Lamb, who assisted on all three UMD goals. Tardy stepped out and tried to pass across the goal-mouth, but Hunwick blocked the pass right back to Tardy, who deposited it into the net at 9:31.
“I just tried to stay calm, like we were playing shinny hockey, and it worked out,” said Tardy. “It’s a tremendous feeling to be part of the first UMD team to bring home the championship.”
A flurry of penalties had been settled up later in the second period, and just after a power play ended, the Wolverines got the 2-2 tie. Greg Pateryn’s hard shot from the left point hit Jack Connolly squarely in the foot, dropping him to the ice. In the ensuing scramble, Rohrkemper got the loose puck and snapped a backhander into the left edge of the net with 2:14 remaining in the second period.
Kenny Reiter got a leg up on Michigan's Louie Caporuzzo's shot.
Both sides had their chances in the scoreless third period, highlighted by J.T. Brown making a couple of rink-length rushes that showed he still had some energy flowing while everybody else seemed to be wearing down from the high-speed pace. One of those dashes came after the faceoff following a penalty to Lamb, and when Brown sped around the Michigan defense, Jon Merrill had to tackle Brown to prevent a shorthanded goal, earning a penalty that negated the power play after only eight seconds. For his high-intensity game, Brown was named the outstanding player of the Frozen Four, and joined Schmidt and defenseman Faulk on the all-tournament team, along with Winett, Merrill, and goaltender Hunwick.
UMD outshot the Wolverines 9-6 in the third period, and 38-24 for the game. But this was a game that deserved to be settled in overtime, and both Hunwick and Reiter made sure it got there. Then, as Berenson mentioned, it came down to a one-shot game, and the shot heard ’round the hockey world was taken by Kyle Schmidt.
UMD rink-rats rise to NCAA final
Jack Connolly (12) and Mike Connolly set up goal by Justin Fontaine.
By John Gilbert
Most college hockey players who leave early to sign professional contracts don’t go directly to the NHL, and leave frustrated coaches behind while serving minor league apprenticeships somewhere such as the American Hockey League (AHL). At Minnesota-Duluth, where the Bulldogs will try for their first-ever NCAA championship Saturday night, the AHL is greatly responsible for the team’s success — but it’s a different AHL.
“It’s the Afternoon Hockey League,” said Bulldog coach Scott Sandelin, whose team takes on Michigan at 6 p.m. Saturday in the Frozen Four final at Saint Paul’s Xcel Energy Center.
UMD (25-10-6) is in its fourth NCAA Frozen Four, and has only reached the championship game one other time, in 1984, where the Bulldogs suffered an excruciating 5-4 loss in four overtimes to Bowling Green. Michigan (29-10-4) is chasing its 10th NCAA crown. But the last Wolverine titles came in 1998, and 1996, so none of the current Wolverines has any memory of them. But this group is working on its own platform.
Michigan won the CCHA season title by a point on the final day of the season, then was upset 5-2 by Western Michigan in the CCHA playoffs. Since the NCAA started, the Wolverines have embarked on what looks like a mission to knock off all the WCHA teams it can find in NCAA tournament play. The Wolverines beat Nebraska-Omaha 3-2 in overtime and Colorado College 2-1 to win the West Regional, then stunned North Dakota 2-0 with an empty-net clincher in Thursday’s Frozen Four semifinals. UMD, which beat Notre Dame 4-3 in the first semifinal, is the fourth straight WCHA team to try to prevent the Wolverines from raising their record supply of NCAA trophies.
To win its first NCAA title, UMD will have to rely on its “Gold” line, the unit with Jack Connolly centering Mike Connolly and Justin Fontaine. It is that unit that supplies the weaponry for UMD’s slick power play, which has carried the Bulldogs to an NCAA tournament run that shows East Regional victories of 2-0 over Union and 5-3 over Yale, before squeaking past Notre Dame 4-3. The Bulldog power play got both goals against Union, three of the five against Yale, and three of the four against Notre Dame. That means 8 of the 11 goals UMD has scored in the NCAA tournament so far have come with the man-advantage, and their 8-of-23 efficiency is 34.8 percent since the NCAAs began.
Jack Connolly looks for assists more than goals.
The outburst also has boosted the “Gold” linemates closer to the top of WCHA all-game scoring. North Dakota’s Matt Frattin leads with 36-24–60, but he was shut out against Michigan. Jack Connolly, who got a goal against Notre Dame, is now 18-41–59, Fontaine, who had 3 assists against the Irish, is 22-36–58, and Mike Connolly, who had a goal against the Irish, is 28-26–54.
“One thing we didn’t plan on against North Dakota was to take so many penalties, against that power play,” said Michigan coach Red Berenson. “And now we play Duluth, which has an even better power play.”
There are several reasons for the line’s great success. One is that they are familiar with each other and seem to think on the same wave-length, and all three are quick to share the puck as much as shoot it. The fact that they seem smoother and quicker than ever since the tournament started has nothing to do with extra practice, Sandelin said. But it might have a lot to do with UMD’s own version of the AHL.
“Nothing much that they do can surprise me now, because I’ve seen them so much,” said Sandelin. “I worry that when you see them every day, you might not appreciate them as much, but our power play is effective because we have different options, and the players we have on the power play like to create from within the group.
When it was suggested that the way they interact is less by design than it is improvisation, much like pond-hockey, or just being rink-rats, Sandelin quickly agreed.
“That’s basically what it is — rink-rat hockey, and the AHL. After practice every day, we have the AHL. We get our assistant coaches out there to play against our top players. Derek Plante, Brett Larson and Bill Watson are just like kids, just like the players. I used to go out there with them, and with , too. When we first added Derek, Billy’s first line was ‘Good, now our AHL team will have someone else who can get me the puck.’ ”
Watson was a Hobey Baker winner as a star winger on the UMD league championship teams of 1984 and ’85. Plante played later, and was a stickhandling and puck-moving wizard at center who went on to play in the NHL. Larson was a smart, quick defenseman, as was Sandelin. So when they go out as a penalty-killing unit, with Larson and Sandelin on defense, and Plante and Watson up front, it is formidible opposition. The free-spirited rink-rat game has carried over to the Frozen Four, and followed the team’s final practice of the season Friday at Xcel Center.
“Today we had Watson, Larson and Plante against the Gold line,” said Sandelin. “The Gold line won. They had lost to them the last time, so they owed them one.”
Justin Fontaine pulls up to pass.
Another key to their success is that they’re in UMD’s own AHL, instead of possibly the American Hockey League. Because the unrelated Connollys are both 5-foot-8 juniors, and Fontaine a 5-foot-10 senior, none of the three has been pursued by the pros, the way they might be if they were less skilled but 6-foot-2. In fact, all three remain undrafted, and will be free to pursue free-agent deals with any NHL team. “It’s true,” said Sandelin. “If Mike Connolly, or Jack Connolly, were 6-feet, they wouldn’t be juniors at UMD.”
Their presence is required for such a strong power play, but it also requires two more ingredients for the five-man unit. One of the others is freshman defenseman Justin Faulk, who has been brilliant as a puck-mover or shooter from center-point on the blue line. In recent weeks, Sandelin moved freshman winger J.T. Brown onto that power-play unit, shifting Fontaine back to play the other point. Fontaine, who is called “Fonzie” throughout the team, moves up to the left circle while Faulk mans center-point, and as the Connollys maneuver around, either cycling the puck to each other in the right corner to get free in the right circle, or one of them moving to the slot, Brown works the end boards and and is dangerous passing or shooting for back-door plays.
Mike Connolly finds best position to score.
Against Notre Dame, Brown scored from the left circle after a pass in by Faulk for the first UMD goal, and when it was 2-2, Faulk fed in from center point to Fontaine at the left circle, and he quickly relayed one of his trademark Fonzie passes, which is precisely placed in shooting position — this time to Mike Connolly in the slot for a goal. In the second period, the unit passed with dizzying precision until Fontaine circled out near the blue line, then passed deep on the left to Brown, who passed quickly through a defenseman’s legs and past goaltender Mike Johnson to the right circle, where Jack Connolly one-timed his shot so quickly that the ESPN cameras couldn’t catch him. The puck was in the net before Jack came into focus.
As for the match up with Michigan’s big, aggressive and creative team, it is comparatively unique. In all the years of having Division I hockey, UMD has played the Wolverines only one time. That was in 2001, at the Maverick Stampede. “I remember it,” said Sandelin, who was in his novice coaching time back then. “We went down to Omaha for the Stampede and beat Nebraska-Omaha the first night, then we beat Michigan 3-2. When I called home, my wife was more excited than I was. ‘You beat MICHIGAN?’ she said.”
After upsetting North Dakota Thursday night, Berenson stressed that North Dakota was the best team. “No way we match up,” he said. “But the best team doesn’t always win.”
Friday, Sandelin smiled and said, “Red’s been around a long time. He knows what to say. They did what they had to do to win against North Dakota. And so did we against Notre Dame. I think they can play better, and hopefully, we can too. It should be a great game.”
PP lifts Reiter, UMD to 4-3 win
UMD goalie Kenny Reiter had the closest seat in Xcel Center to view Notre Dame's furious closing rally.
By John Gilbert
SAINT PAUL, MINN. — Kenny Reiter regained his lost touch in the third period of Thursday afternoon’s first NCAA Frozen Four semifinal, as Minnesota-Duluth struck for three power-play goals to propel the Bulldogs to a 4-3 victory over Notre Dame and a berth in Saturday night’s NCAA championship game.
The victory sends the Bulldogs (25-10-6) into Saturday’s 6 p.m. final against Michigan (29-10-4), which surprised top-seeded North Dakota 2-0 in the second game of a semifinal day that drew 19,139 to Saint Paul’s Xcel Energy Center. While Michigan will be seeking its record 10th NCAA crown, UMD will be seeking its first title, in only its second title game. The only previous UMD final was in 1984 at Lake Placid, where a 5-4 loss to Bowling Green in four overtimes still stings veteran Duluth fans.
“It’s great to be in position to win the championship — something that’s never been done,” said Jack Connolly, whose second-period goal stood up as the game-winner. “Our power play has been huge for us all year, and fortunately we were able to come through on it tonight.”
Notre Dame (25-14-5) gave UMD all it could handle, grabbing early leads of 1-0 and 2-1, and, after failing to subdue UMD’s power play through two periods, the Fighting Irish rallied from a 4-2 deficit by outshooting the Bulldogs 15-2 to make it a pressure-filled third period.
Freshman J.T. Brown, and juniors Mike Connolly and Jack Connolly scored power-play goals for UMD, and Kyle Schmidt got the lone equal-strength tally. “Our power play has been great all year,” said Fontaine, who assisted on all three power-play goals with clever passes, while freshman defenseman Justin Faulk also had three assists, all in the opening period.
UMD’s penalty killers were just as effective, holding Notre Dame scoreless on five power plays, and limiting the Irish to only two shots on those five opportunities. The Irish penalty killers did sting UMD’s power play for Calle Ridderwall’s shorthanded goal early in the third period to close the gap to 4-3 and leave 18 dramatic minutes before the Bulldogs could claim the victory.
“Obviously, it was a game dictated by one thing — special teams,” said Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson. “They have an exceptional power play, and we couldn’t generate any offense on our power play.”
The Fighting Irish generated plenty of offense at the outset, although at a point in the tournament where great goaltending usually makes the difference, this one started off as a nightmare for both Reiter and Notre Dame’s Mike Johnson. UMD coach Scott Sandelin attributed it to nerves. “If you don’t have nerves in a game like this, you’re not human,” said Sandelin.
But this game raised the question of whether any shots might strike a goaltender. Notre Dame struck first, when Jack Costello gathered up the puck at center ice and rushed up the right side, shooting from the top of the right circle to beat Reiter on the first shot of the game at 0:49. UMD countered promptly enough, aided by its first power play. Fontaine kept the puck in at the left boards and fed center point, where
Justin Fontaine, who had three assists for UMD, lunged to try a shot at Notre Dame's Mike Johnson.
Faulk relayed a neat pass to Brown in the left circle. Brown either misfired on his shot or tried to pass to a teammate crossing in front of the goal, but in either case, the off-speed shot resulted in UMD’s first shot of the game, and went through Johnson’s legs at 3:04.
“It was a crazy start,” said Jackson, referring to five first-period goals. Notre Dame regained the lead at 2-1 at 9:46, when T.J. Tynan was wide to the right of the UMD goal where the rebound from Nick Larson’s long shot was headed. Despite almost no angle, Tynan got his shot past Reiter for a lead that lasted barely a minute.
Kyle Schmidt tied it 2-2 for UMD when he caught a hard, diagonal pass rushing up the left side. He veered toward the net and lifted his shot in, short side, at 10:52. UMD got another power play and took its first lead at 13:31 of the first period when Faulk passed in from center point to Fontaine, who immediately passed from the left circle to the slot and Mike Connolly quickly snapped a shot inside the left post. Despite being outshot 15-11 by the Irish, UMD led 3-2.
Faulk, who is from South St. Paul, now has 8 goals and 25 assists as the triggerman on the power play. “It was amazing be able to play here, in front of my friends and family,” said the freshman defenseman.
Faulk’s play was something Jackson admired. “Our special teams had been one of our staples, but it’s been disappointing this season,” said the Irish coach. “We don’t have a quarterback on the point like Faulk is.”
The Bulldogs took apparent command with a dominant second period, as the power play worked its magic again. This time Fontaine circled out to the top of the slot and passed in deep on the left side of the net to Brown, who quickly relayed a pass through a defenseman and across the goal-mouth to where Jack Connolly one-timed a shot into the net before Johnson could adjust. That goal came at 5:51, and the 4-2 margin grew in significance as the minutes passed.
When UMD got another power play early in the third, it was a chance to put the game away. Instead, it was the Irish — skating six freshman forwards and three more freshmen on defense — who clicked. Calle Ridderwall broke up the right side on what looked innocent enough, until he cut toward the slot and pulled up to fire a 40-foot missile that sailed past Reuter and cut the lead to 4-3 at 2:05.
Calle Ridderwall's scored shorthanded earlier, but UMD goalie Kenny Reiter stopped him on this try.
The shorthanded goal helped the Irish respond to coach Jackson’s strong words from the second intermission, and they dominated the third period, while UMD seemed willing to try to sit on the one-goal lead. “They outshot us and outhustled us in the third period,:” said Faulk. “But we got the puck out of our end when we needed to.”
Jackson pulled Johnson for six attackers near the end, but Reiter had found his rhythm and stopped everything, while his scrambling defense held on to the final buzzer.
“We weathered the storm at the end,” said Sandelin. “When our backs are to the wall, we battle back. Sometimes I think we’re better when our backs are to the wall.”
In the second semifinal, Michigan’s quickness seemed to offset North Dakota’s explosive offense, which had established an 11-game winning streak and 15-game unbeaten finish. The Fighting Sioux had romped to the Midwest Region title by blitzing RPI 6-0 and Denver 6-1, but couldn’t get anything past Shawn Henwick — a senior who had been an uncomplaining third-string goalie for three years. Henwick stopped all 40 North Dakota shots, and the Wolverines gained the game-winning goal when Ben Winnett scored only his fourth goal of the season at 13:26 of the first period.
Michigan's Ben Winnett fired past Aaron Dell's glove for the 1-0 lead that stood up against North Dakota.
Winnett converted a rebound off the right pipe after Jon Merrill’s left point shot struck iron. Thereafter, it was a test of Michigan’s ability to use its size and quickness to harness North Dakota’s firepower, and Henwick coming through to stop everything that got through.
The Sioux outshot Michigan 40-19, including 11-3 in the second period and 15-6 in the third. But the good scoring chances could be counted on one hand as Michigan prevented North Dakota’s usual penetration to the net, and the Wolverines 19th shot came from Scooter Vaughan, into an empty net with 36 seconds remaining.
“They’re a better team,” said Berenson. “No way we can match up. They are as good as it gets. But the best team doesn’t always win. In one game, anything can happen.”
North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol saw his team’s 32-9-3 season and a closing 15-game unbeaten streak come to a sudden end. “I didn’t think it was going to end,” he said. “I don’t think anybody in our locker room considered the chance we’d lose. I’m proud of the standards our leaders set — it was not an option in any one person’s mind that we’d lose. There was no frustration in our game. We laid it on the line till the end of the game.”
UMD, UND charge into Frozen Four
Kenny Reiter's acrobatic goaltending lifted UMD into Frozen Four.
By John Gilbert
With apologies to Hockey East and the ECAC, the 2011 NCAA Frozen Four has come down to a good-ol’ fashioned Western showdown, with the WCHA squaring off against the CCHA in what might be called the Xcel Xtravaganza. North Dakota and Minnesota-Duluth from the WCHA are paired against Michigan and Notre Dame, CCHA opponents that began their hockey programs as members of the WCHA, in the semifinals on Thursday, April 7 at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul.
North Dakota is top-seeded, although that has been no guarantee so far in the tournament. The Fighting Sioux, in fact, came through as the only regional top seed to make it to the Frozen Four in what has been the Year of the Upset so far. Michigan was second-seeded in the West Regional and barely survived against two other WCHA teams. UMD and Notre Dame were both third seeds, with UMD knocking out the top two ECAC teams to win the East Regional, while Notre Dame got past a pair of Hockey East foes to win the Northeast Region.
Ticket prices of $195 apiece haven’t stopped the demand, particularly from UMD, the only one of five Minnesota Division I programs to be playing in the homestate championships, and North Dakota, which has made it a tradition to travel by green-clad carloads to the Final Five at Xcel Center, which they won two weeks ago.
North Dakota is the clearcut favorite, coming in with titles in the WCHA regular season, the WCHA playoffs, and the Midwest Regional already headed for the trophy case. Clearly, the Fighting Sioux are at the peak of an exceptional season. But if this is the Year of the Upset, UMD is in good company, joining Notre Dame and Michigan as teams that won regionals where the top seeds were beaten.
The form chart held at the Midwest Regional at Green Bay, Wis., where North Dakota crushed RPI 6-0, and No. 2 seed Denver came from a 2-0 deficit to force a tie and then beat Western Michigan 3-2 in overtime. The anticipated rematch of the Final Five title game, which North Dakota won in overtime, saw the Fighting Sioux blitz Denver with a surprising 6-1 rout. Denver played well, but North Dakota was relentless, scoring at full strength, on the power play, shorthanded, empty netter — every imaginable way to push the score beyond the game’s level of competitiveness.
Elsewhere, the form chart meant nothing. UMD, as the third seed, surprised second-seeded Union 2-0 in the East Regional at Bridgeport, Conn., then the Bulldogs surprised the hockey world by stunning No. 1-overall seed Yale, racing to leads of 3-0 and 5-1 to beat those other Bulldogs 5-3. UMD goaltender Kenny Reiter was named most valuable player of the regional, after his acrobatic play stymied both ECAC foes.
UMD opens the Frozen Four in the 4 p.m. semifinal against Notre Dame, which upset Merrimack in the Northeast Regional at Manchester, N.H., while fourth-seeded New Hampshire upset top seeded Miami of Ohio. Notre Dame then beat UNH, no small achievement in Manchester, to reach the Frozen Four.
In the West Regional, defending NCAA champion Boston College was the overwhelming favorite, but was shocked and flat overrun by Colorado College in the first game at St. Louis, while Michigan got past Nebraska-Omaha in overtime on a controversial reversal by the officials, who changed their call of no-goal to a goal for the Wolverines, bringing new meaning to the term “sudden death.” The puck had bounced off a UNO defenseman and wound up under the leg pad of goaltender John Faulkner, whose leg wouind up on the goal line. Video replays showed Faulkner’s leg pad, but the goal line and the puck were both completely concealed, until the puck squirted out, and out of danger. Repeated views couldn’t change the fact that there was no evidence the puck had completely crossed the goal line, and certainly not enough evidence to change the original call. But after reviewing the videos for nearly 10 minutes, the officials declared that it was a goal, and Michigan won. The Wolverines also held off Colorado College 2-1 through a wave of penalties to claim the regional.
“Going to St. Louis, it was a foregone conclusion that Boston College had the best team, but Colorado College just spanked ’em. We got a lucky to win in overtime against Nebraska-Omaha, then we got by CC,” said Michigan coach Red Berenson, who is in his 27th season, and has remained as candid and humble person he was as a star player with the Wolverines and later in the NHL. “We had to kill seven penalties against CC, which had as good a power play as we’ve seen. We were fortunate to get out of the game alive.
“Three other No. 1 teams have gone down, and this is the last one standing — North Dakota. I don’t know if we can match North Dakota’s speed, or skill, and nobody has found a way to take that out of the game. They’ve got the edge in offensive skills and in special teams. We’ve got to play our game, and give it our best shot. We have an above-average team, led by the seniors. When we had our best team, we had seven 20-goal scorers; this team has no 20-goal scorers. But we haven’t been in any lopsided games. We’re probably the overwhelming underdog in this tournament, but we still have a chance.”
North Dakota's top-seeded Sioux are led by goalie Aaron Dell, top scorere Matt Frattin (21), defenseman Chay Genoway.
Under Hakstol, the Sioux have often started slowly, then built to a peak during the second half. This season, they started strong and never let up. “What we did well is keep ourselves focused on the job at hand and play a good team game. When you break down a game on video, there are a lot of points in a game when momentum can shift one way or another, if you get distracted or let a bad bounce get to you. We did a good job of worrying about the next play and trying to control what we can control. There are little areas that we hope we can improve on. We’re not going to make any drastic changes to our game, just do all the little things we’ve done.”
A forceful and balanced scoring offense is led by Matt Frattin, who won the league scoring title with a nine-point final weekend at Michigan Tech. Aaron Dell came in and became the top goaltender, and led all WCHA goalies in statistics. Even a string of injuries, including absences by key standouts like defenseman Chay Genoway and forwards Danny Kristo and Jason Gregoire, didn’t slow them. Genoway came back a few weeks before the end, Kristo returned from a case of serious frostbite in time to score in both Final Five victories, and Gregoire rejoined the lineup for the regiona. Hakstol, and the team, never wavered.
“Injuries have been a challenge for us,” said Hakstol. “When we went to Wisconsin, [Andrew] MacWilliam and [Derek] Forbort, who were paired on defense, both were dieagnosed with mono. It’s been the same way whenever anyone was out of the lineup — whichever 20 guys are available, they have the expectation to individually contribute and collectively succeed. This past weekend, we had everyone.”
As for facing Michigan, Hakstol said: “Our team will continue with the same mentality we’ve had since the beginning. We’ve shown up and worked hard, but we’ve been loose and had fun doing that. We felt we played well at Green Bay, but we have to continue to improve our game. We will prepare ourselves as we always do, for each and every opponent. This time of year, you need to be prepared to win games in different ways, different fashions, and have to have the mentality to get the job done however you have to do it.”
Someone asked if he had a preference for which opponent the Sioux might face if they beat Michigan. “I have a preference,” said Hakstol, “that at the end of the game, we’ve won the game.”
UMD, which split with North Dakota in two games at Grand Forks and lost a ceremonial game against the Sioux at the opening of Duluth’s Amsoil Arena, was ranked No. 1 in the country at midseason. The Bulldogs never lost two games in a row, and were never swept by any opponent all season, and have been led by the quick and clever first line of Jack Connolly centering Mike Connolly and Justin Fontaine, and an agile and rangy defense. Goaltending was shared by Kenny Reiter and Aaron Crandall, until, ironically, coach Scott Sandelin decided to go with Reiter down the stretch. Over the final four games, UMD had a chance to win the title, or finish second, or third, but dropped to fourth in the extremely close WCHA.
Getting it back together to sweep St. Cloud State in the playoffs sent the Bulldogs to the Final Five, where they were promptly dumped by Bemidji State in overtime. That loss was only UMD’s second in 14 overtime games this season, a record of 6-2-6. But that hardly sent UMD off to the East Regional flushed with confidence — theirs or their fans. But it was there that everything snapped into focus: Reiter became invincible, the defense became a shot-blocking gang, and the Connolly-Connolly-Fontaine line led the attack. Those three and Frattin remain the top four WCHA scorers in all games this season.
UMD's Jack Connolly (left), Mike Connolly (center), and Justin Fontaine are NCAA's top-scoring line.
Could the loss to Bemidji State have worked as an incentive? “It did sting,” said Sandelin. “I didn’t think we played very well, but give Bemidji a ton of credit. After that game, there was some disappointment. This group hasn’t lost a lot and they don’t like losing. It was interesting after we won the East Regional. Our guys were excited, but not overly excited. They captured the moment, and took it in stride. We advanced, but they were looking forward to not just getting to the Frozen Four, but having the chance to win a national championship.”
Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson has built the Irish into a power, which is no surprise to those who remember him winning NCAA championships at Lake Superior State in 1992 and 1994. He took the Irish to the Frozen Four in Denver three years ago, but is quick to say he is pleasantly surprised by the coming together of this youthful group. “Were thrilled to death to be coming to St.Paul for the Frozen Four,” Jackson said. “It’s an unexpected treat for a young team.
“As a coach, this is one of more fun years I’ve had in a long time. We really paid a price, with 10 or 11 freshmen in the lineup every night, but last weekend, we responded both on Saturday and Sunday. All the signs show we’re growing up. Goaltender Mike Johnson played well. This group is one of closest teams I’ve ever coached, maybe the closest. It was interesting to watch them after we won the regional. They were all together, arm in arm, for our alma mater. That’s a first. The locker room was pretty entertaining, from my perspective. Because of the youth, there has been some consternation. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into the regional. We didn’t have a real long winning streak all year, but every time somebody is ready to count them out, they come back. I have to bite my lip and hold my breath sometimes, but they’re great kids, and our seniors have done a great job with them.”
Rising up to win the Northeastern Regional required the consistency that had been questionable. “Last weekend, the keys were that we paid more attention to detail, offensively and defensively,” Jackson added. “I thought we proved we could do things for the full 60 minutes, and not drift off. Both Merrimack and UNH scored late, but we played through it, I watched the growth of our team, and we have to carry that with us to the Frozen Four.
“I know Duluth plays a real high-tempo game. We try to do that too. We’ve shown the ability to play both ways, but in the CCHA, when you’re playing Michigan or Miami, you have to be able to play an up-tempo game.”
A year ago, Boston College won the national championship with a high-speed, up-tempo team. This year, all four teams in the Frozen Four prefer an up-tempo game. “That’s a good observation,” said Berenson. “Three of the four No. 1 seeds were upset, but maybe they weren’t upsets. Maybe we’re talking more parity. I like the direction college hockey is going. There’s a good tempo up and down, and the hockey is better hockey than what we’ve seen in previous years.”
WCHA’s 1-2 in Green Bay, UMD goes East
North Dakota found Xcel Center full of adoring fans after beating Denver 3-2 for the Broadmoor Cup.
By John Gilbert
Anyone who witnessed the emotionally charged battle between North Dakota and Denver in the WCHA Final Five tournament at Saint Paul’s Xcel Energy Center might think it would be great to have a rematch between the league’s No. 1 and 2 teams. With the NCAA Frozen Four set for Xcel, that might seem feasible.
Instead, if it’s going to happen, it will be in Green Bay, Wis., in the Midwest Regional. North Dakota (30-8-3) will face Rensselaer (20-12-5) and Denver (24-11-5) plays Western Michigan (19-12-10) on Saturday in Green Bay, with those winners colliding on Sunday to grab one of the four slots in the Frozen Four. After North Dakota claimed the WCHA league title with Denver runner-up, then North Dakota beat Denver 3-2 in two overtimes in the WCHA Final Five championship game, it seemed as though those two teams might be separated into different regions, with a chance to both reach Saint Paul again.
“First, all 16 teams that have gotten to this point are good,” said Denver coach George Gwozdecky. “We have a guy on our staff who follows the Pairwise very closely, and he laid out the way he thought the NCAA would pair the teams according to record, and he was right on. So it wasn’t really a surprise to us.”
North Dakota, which ranks No. 2 in the nation behind only Yale, has been bolstered recently by the return of captain and defenseman Chay Genoway, and winger Danny Kristo made his return at the Final Five, scoring the first goal in both the 4-3 semifinal victory over Colorado College and the 3-2 victory over Denver. Now the Sioux regain the services of Jason Gregoire.
Four of the five WCHA teams to make the tournament are bunched into two regionals, with the West Region in St. Louis seemingly the toughest, with defending NCAA champ Boston College (30-7-1) facing Colorado College (22-18-3), after Nebraska-Omaha (21-15-2) taking on Michigan (26-10-4) in a Friday-Saturday regional. WCHA boosters might anticipate a CC-UNO final, but that would require two upsets, based on the 1-2 seeding of BC and Michigan. Nationally, BC ranks No. 3 and Michigan N. 5, while Omaha is No. 12 and CC No. 14.
The national rankings show: 1. Yale, 2. North Dakota, 3. Boston College, 4. Miami, 5. Michigan, 6. Merrimack, 7. Denver, 8. Union, 9. UMD, 10. Western Michigan, 11. Notre Dame, 12. Nebraska-Omaha, 13. New Hampshire, 14. Colorado College, 15. RPI, 16. Air Force. The NCAA selection committee followed those strict Pairwise guidelines, No. 1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, and so forth, placing each of the top four teams as a top seed in each regional. That form also allowed each regional to have one team from the 5-8, one from 9-12, and one from 13-16. It fit together well enough that it superceded other less-strict criteria.
Denver goalie Sam Brittain, crafty Sioux winger Evan Trupp can both look up to NCAA rematch.
It also succeeded in avoiding having any of the five WCHA teams, four CCHA teams, or three teams from Hockey East and the ECAC from facing each other in the first game, but it was impossible to avoid those intraleague matchups in the quarterfinal games. “With five teams in the tournament, there had to be more than one team somewhere,” Gwozdecky said.
With the four lumped into two regions, UMD is the fifth WCHA entry, and is going to the East Region in Bridgeport, Conn., where it will play Union, while Yale meets Air Force in the second game Friday. By tradition, that looks like a favorable set-up for the Bulldogs. But there are other Bulldogs in that field, and the Yale Bulldogs at not only the top seed in the regional, but rank No. 1 in the nation at 27-6-1. Ironically, Yale lost the ECAC league championship by one point to Union (26-9-4), so Union makes its first NCAA appearance as ECAC champion but a No. 2 seed in the regional, against UMD (22-10-6).
There are no WCHA teams in the Northeast Regional at Manchester, N.H., which, like the Midwest, is Saturday-Sunday. With two CCHA and two Hockey East entries, Miami of Ohio (23-9-6) is top seed and faces host New Hampshire (21-10-6), after Merrimack (25-9-4) plays Notre Dame (23-13-5),
Transportation costs and potential crowd attractions were less important. Otherwise, while it was logical to send North Dakota by bus down Hwy. 2 and on to Green Bay as top seed, it also made sense to send Minnesota-Duluth by bus to Green Bay, because the Bulldogs might also bring a strong fan base. That way, UMD and Denver might have switched spots, but Denver is second-seed at Green Bay, and UMD is a third, so they weren’t eminently swapable.
Similarly, Hockey East champ Boston College would be logical to be at the Northeast Regional, but New Hampshire already was the host school there, and the host school is guaranteed that if it makes the field, it will be at that site. As a No. 4 seed in that region, UNH would have had to be paired against fellow-Hockey East foe BC, in the first game, the sort of intraleague first-round match-up the NCAA successfully avoided.
Like the WCHA at Green Bay, the ECAC has its top two league teams at the same site. In national ratings, Union is No. 8 and UMD No. 9, so their game is strictly according to form, and the Bulldogs will be wearing road maroons as visitor. Air Force (20-11-6) is the nation’s No. 16 seed, with an at-large entry to the NCAA for winning its league playoff. If UMD and its boosters figure they will show WCHA supremacy by sweeping aside Union, the Bulldogs should be aware that Union came West and beat Minnesota 3-2 in overtime during a holiday tournament, before losing 3-1 to Bemidji State. The Dutchmen also beat Alaska-Anchorage 4-3, and beat Yale 3-2 during the season.
Since losing to Minnesota, Union went 14-1-1 the rest of the regular season. They had to await and at-large bid after following up their one-point league title by being upset by Colgate in a three-game playoff series. Union is led by Kelly Zajac of Winnipeg, brother of former North Dakota star Travis Zajac, now playing for New Jersey in the NHL, and goaltender Keith Kinkaid, of Farmingville, N.Y., was ECAC galie of the year with a 1.98 goals-against and .920 save percentage.
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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