WCHA bids 4 aces into NCAA puck tournament
Can North Dakota maintain its hot streak? Can Denver recover from losing two straight for the first time all season? Can Wisconsin channel its consistency into sudden-death mode? And can St. Cloud State turn its back on its curious 0-forever NCAA record?
All are valid questions awaiting those four WCHA teams, all of which earned slots in this weekend’s NCAA regional hockey tournaments. At stake in the four regionals are opportunities to go to Detroit on April 8-10 to take part in the Frozen Four, in hopes of becoming the 37th WCHA team to win a national championship since the league was organized in 1951. It would, however, be the first WCHA national champ in four years, because, in a rarity, no WCHA team reached the final game the last three years.
The WCHA Final Five tournament is such a taxing and emotional event that perhaps it has become a challenge to maintain or reacquire momentum or flow from the Final Five to the NCAA tournament. This would seem to be the ideal opportunity for the WCHA to regain its stature, with four of the 16 NCAA entries.
The prime opportunity would seem to come in the West Regional at Xcel Center in St. Paul, where Wisconsin (25-10-4) is the No. 1 seed and will face No. 4 Vermont (17-14-7) in the 8 p.m. (CDT) Friday semifinal, after St. Cloud State (23-13-5) rides the No. 2 seed against No. 3 Northern Michigan 20-12-8) IN THE 4:30 game. Those winners meet Saturday at 8 p.m. for the West Regional title. An all-WCHA final, between Wisconsin and St. Cloud State, is certainly feasible, as the two teams are returning to the scene of the Final Five, where the Huskies topped the Badgers 2-0 in the semifinals.
League champion Denver (27-9-4) is the No. 1 seed in the East Regional at Albany, N.Y., where the Pioneers face Rochester Institute of Technology (26-11-1) at 2 p.m. Friday, followed by No. 2 seed Cornell (21-8-4) against No. 3 New Hampshire (17-13-7) in the 5:30 p.m. second game. Those winners will decide the Frozen Four entry at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
Denver proved its superiority in winning the league title, behind goaltending champ Marc Cheverie, and league scoring champ Rhett Rakhshani, but the Pioneers have to try to get back in proper rhythm after losing both games — to North Dakota and Wisconsin — at the Final Five. Snapping back into form is not automatic.
North Dakota (25-12-5), riding a hot streak that includes a three-game surge to the Final Five’s Broadmoor Trophy, heads east also, where it will be the No. 2 seed in the Northeast Regional at Worcester, Mass., taking on No. 3 Yale (20-9-3) at 4 p.m. Saturday, preceded by a 12:30 p.m. match between No. 1 seeded Boston College (25-10-3) and fourth-seeded Alaska Fairbanks (18-11-9). Those winners collide Sunday at 4:30 p.m.
North Dakota is riding a hot streak of 12 victories in 13 games, with junior Evan Trupp contributing the latest hot hand. Trupp scored the clinching goal in the 2-0 victory over UMD to open the Final Five, then added two goals and assisted on the winner in the 4-3 victory over top-seeded Denver in the semifinals, and assisted on both goals when the Sioux countered from a 2-0 deficit against St. Cloud State and went on to a 5-3 victory for the Final Five title. Trupp, who came into the Final Five with 5-23–28, added 3-3–6 out of the first eight goals scored by the Sioux at Xcel Center.
The Midwest Regional at Fort Wayne, Ind., is the only one without a WCHA team, although it does have Bemidji State, which will be joining the WCHA next season. The Beavers (23-9-4) rate the No. 2 seed and will face Michigan (25-17-1) at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, following the 3 p.m. game between Miami of Ohio (27-7-7), the No. 1 seed overall, and No. 4 seed Alabama-Huntsville (12-17-3). Huntsville earned the slot after Niagara upset Bemidji State by beating Niagara in the College Hockey America final. That outcome, combined with Michigan’s upset of Miami and victory over Northern Michigan to win the CCHA’s automatic berth, conspired to bump Minnesota Duluth out of the 16-team field, or the WCHA would have had five entries.
An interesting aside is that Denver had never lost two games in succession all season, but was stung by North Dakota 4-3 in the WCHA semifinals, then also lost to Wisconsin 6-3 in the third-place game. The question facing the Pioneers is that those losses are meaningless if they regain their touch — unless they find it difficult to get back into their impressive form. It doesn’t help the Pioneers that Anthony Maiani, top scorer after the Rhett Rakhshani-Tyler Ruegsegger-Joe Colborne line, is out after being injured against North Dakota.
Wisconsin also has an impressive run of having not lost two in a row all season, a record the Badgers extended by beating Denver 6-3 in the third-place game after losing 2-0 to St. Cloud State in the semifinals of the WCHA Final Five. In that game, the Huskies lost Garrett Roe, their offensive co-leader with Ryan Lasch, when he slid into the boards trying to block a shot. Roe missed the 5-3 title loss to North Dakota, but will be back for the West Regional.
“He was more hurt than injured,” said St. Cloud State coach Bob Motzko after Thursday’s practice at Xcel Center. “He’ll be back, although he might have a sore neck.
“We’re playing well as a team, and we’re doing that the best we’ve done right now,” Motzko added. “I think we just have to keep chugging along. I’ve really liked our team from the start, and we’ve had a couple of good runs, and a couple of pops in the nose.”
The worst of those pops was an 8-1 loss to North Dakota in St. Cloud, but the Huskies responded by going to Wisconsin to win their next game 5-1. “We’ve had real battles through the playoffs,” Motzko said. “First we had to battle to beat Mankato in the best-of-three, then we had a great battle with Wisconsin, and then a great game against North Dakota.
“We went to Miami to open the season, and we lost two tough games, but we haven’t been swept since. When all else is equal, everything comes back to our penalty-killing. When we’re aggressive, we’re good killing penalties, but we gave up three poer-play goals against North Dakota. I’d have to say, though, that for 12-14 minutes of that game, North Dakota played great and put us back on our heels.”
The other thing the Huskies have going for them, when all else is equal, is the penchant for timely scoring from Roe and Lasch, both of whom have scored 19 goals, 27 assists, for 46 points. Penalty killing is vital, but so is the ability to generate scoring.
The Huskies also have something of a large hurdle to overcome, although Motzko points out that such history means nothing to the current crop of players. But this is the eighth time St. Cloud State has reached the NCAA tournament — third under Motzko — and the Huskies have yet to win their first regional game. It also is the first time the Huskies have been able to play in the West Regional, where the familiar Xcel Energy ice sheet should be surrounded by Huskies fans.
For now, Northern Michigan consumes the attention of Motzko and his Huskies. If they win, they can start worrying about Wisconsin — or Vermont. But that doesn’t prevent Motzko from seeing strong potential from WCHA teams at this year’s tournament.
“Our four teams that are in right now — all four — are playing their best right now,” said Motzko. “And I think any of the four have a good chance to win.”
UMD wins 3OT thriller for 5th NCAA women’s title
MINNEAPOLIS, MN. — While Jessica Wong may be only a freshman at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, she already has established a tendency to score huge goals. But she may never score a bigger one than she scored Sunday afternoon, when she deflected a Tara Gray shot into the Cornell goal at 19:26 of the third 20-minute overtime period to lift UMD to a 3-2 victory in the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four championship game.
It was the longest game in NCAA Frozen Four history, surpassing the 2003 title game that UMD won by beating Harvard 4-3 at 4:19 of the second sudden-death overtime, at the DECC in Duluth. But this one, before 1,473 fans at Ridder Arena, may be a difficult record to surpass — it was only 26.4 seconds short of being two complete games.
Wong, who registered 15 goals for her freshman season, scored the first one when UMD beat Minnesota 3-2 for the WCHA Final Faceoff title, and she has since refined her art, scoring the game-winner in the 2-1 quarterfinal victory over New Hampshire, and now notching the goal that ended women’s Frozen Four’s longest game.
UMD finishes 31-8-2, having won its last nine games, and recorded a stunning 18-1 record since December 4. The Bulldogs managed to outshoot Cornell (21-9-6) by a 36-21 margin in the three overtimes, and 64-51 for the extremely close, up-and-down game, to claim a record fifth national championship — exactly half of the 10 NCAA sanctioned women’s national tournaments held. The Bulldogs won the first, second and third NCAA titles, in their first four years as a Division I program and came back to win again in 2008.
Three championships by Wisconsin and two by Minnesota mean that all 10 NCAA trophies belong to those three WCHA schools. Coach Shannon Miller said this one stands above all the others, which were won by exceptional teams that often overran foes with great talent, because this team was a youthful underdog from the start, rising to championship glory as eight freshman regulars improved dramatically.
“I told the players this was the most special team I’ve ever coached,” said Miller, who also predicted to a staff member between overtimes that she figured Wong would score the winner. “I thought getting into the top eight in the country, and staying there, would be a great goal. And if we could make the NCAA field, we’re really good in one game. We’ve upset good teams all season.
“I know Cornell had never been to ‘the dance’ before, but we’re the Cinderella story this year. With five Olympians gone from our team, we’re playing with 13 scholarship players against teams that have 18.”
Cornell had three freshmen playing compared to UMD’s eight, but the Bulldog freshmen gave UMD enough depth to skate a third line when it got to overtime, and wear down the Big Red, which relied almost completely on two forward lines. Cornell, which upset No., 1 Mercyhurst 3-2 on Friday, while UMD was beating Minnesota by the same 3-2 score, played an outstanding game in turning its first attempt at the Frozen Four into a quest to knock off the two top-rated teams in the country back-to-back.
“It was a great game, and I want to congratulate Shannon and Minnesota-Duluth,” said Cornell coach Doug Derraugh. “I’m also very plesed with my team. We’ve had a blast here, and I played 14 yearrs of pro hockey, but I’ve never been prouder of a team or seen a team with more heart.”
In fact, the Big Red struck first, when Melanie Jue got her first of two goals, tipping Lauriane Rougeau’s shot from the right point past Jennifer Harss, UMD’s freshman goaltender. That goal didn’t come until 13:44 of the second period, during an extended Cornell power play, and the 1-0 lead stood until the third period began.
With UMD on a carryover power play, Emmanuelle Blais rushed form the left for a shot that was blocked, but she followed up with another shot to beat Amanda Mazzotta in the Cornell goal at 0:18. The goal was the 32nd of an astounding season for Blais, one of only four UMD seniors. She ended with 32-33—64 for the season, with a finishing flourish of six goals and six assists in her last five games — good enough to earn her the most valuable player award at the NCAA Frozen Four, duplicating the award she also won it at the WCHA Final Faceoff tournament, and first-team All-America status.
“When we won the WCHA playoffs and I got the MVP, I obviously was happy, and now this,” said Blais. “But I am focused so much on my team. This has been the best year of my life.”
With six minutes remaining, two of the other UMD seniors connected, when Saara Tuominen had the puck in deep on the right side and spotted defenseman Jaime Rasmussen breaking for the net from the left point. “I know Jaime is offensive, and would be going to the net,” said Tuominen. “I had time to see her.” She also delivered a perfect pass, and Rasmussen, a right-handed shooter, drilled her shot from the left circle at 14:42.
The 2-1 lead may have swept over the Bulldogs, knowing there was only 5:18 remaining between them and their record fifth championship, but it didn’t fool Miller. “When it’s for the national championship, and you’re leading by one goal, you anticipate a tie,” said Miller. “It takes mental toughness, and it’s nothing new for us, but Cornell was absolutely amazing, and they also had a great will to win.”
Sure enough, with 3:30 remaining, the Big Red tied the game 2-2 when a shot that bounced off the right pipe and the carom went directly to Jue, who put away a backhander from the right circle.
“Jue has come up with a lot of big goals,” said Cornell coach Doug Darraugh. “…Probably none bigger than tonight.”
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Cornell, led by senior center Catherine White, traded rushes with the speedy Bulldogs throughout the game, and had a 30-28 edge in shots when the third period ended. UMD had a slight edge, at 12-11, through the first overtime, then outshot the Big Red 10-4 in the second overtime, and 14-6 in the third. A pivotal difference was when Miller went from matching two lines against Cornell’s two lines to inserting the third line of Gina Dodge between fellow-freshman Vanessa Thibault and hustling sophomore Kacy Ambroz.
“I gave them a clear job, to be good defensively on a very short shift, get the puck over the red line and get it in deep,” said Miller. “Then I told them, ‘OK, that was perfect,’ and I gave them longer shifts.”
Her players appreciated it. “I always want more ice time, but I was ready to be done,” said Blais, who scored two goals and set up Laura Fridfinnson for the third in Friday’s 3-2 semifinal victory over Minnesota. “Thibault, Dodge and Ambroz gave us a tremendous lift, and I think that was a key in the game.”
Still, nothing was decided as the game went through the first, then the second, and deep into the third overtime. Lauriane Rougeau prevented a goal when she took down Fridfinnson to halt a breakaway, but she was penalized at 17:20. She came out of the penalty box and skated across the ice to the bench when UMD’s Mariia Posa worked the puck to Gray at the right point — 10 feet from the Cornell bench. “I saw her coming across the ice trying to get a change, and she got her stick under [Gray’s] stick as she shot,” said Derraugh.
As Rougeau fell, she nearly smothered the puck, but Gray got most of her force on the shot and sent it on net. Blais and Wong were in front, and said, “We had a double screen, and I was saying to myself, ‘Tara, shoot the puck!’ ” said Wong, who earlier in overtime had shot one off the crossbar. This time, she didn’t miss. “I saw it coming all the way, and I got a piece of it with my stick blade.”
The deflection went down and between the leg pads of Mazzotta. The clock showed “0:33.6” remaining, and UMD skated into NCAA hockey history.
Sioux sweep UMD, Denver, St. Cloud to win Final Five
SAINT PAUL, MN. — A year ago, it seemed impossible for any team to survive three games in three days to win the WCHA Final Five championship. As of Saturday night, it seems to be a new trend, as North Dakota toppled St. Cloud State 5-3 before 16,414 fans at Xcel Energy Center to become the second team in a row to capture the league playoff trophy with three victories.
North Dakota beat Minnesota-Duluth 2-0 on Thursday, then knocked off No. 1 ranked Denver 4-3 Friday, but had to rally from behind after spotting St. Cloud State a pair of goals in the first minute of the title game. The Fighting Sioux never lost their focus, and simply turned up their pace and responded with four unanswered goals to take command of the game. The Huskies rallied and threatened until the finish, but were finally outdistanced by an empty-net goal in the final minute.
Last year, Minnesota-Duluth became the first team to ever rise from the Thursday night “play-in” game to win the tournament.
“Minnesota-Duluth proved it could be done last year with a great run,” said Fighting Sioux coach Dave Hakstol. “Three games in a row is tough, but we’ve come to the Final Five many years and it’s always tough. The gas level was not going to be an issue tonight. I didn’t think we had any trouble with energy until late in the third period, and maybe in the third. But we had an extra man on the ice all weekend with the Fighting Sioux fans.”
The Sioux fans seemed to have the building surrounded, outshouting the other four teams’ followers. With the victory, North Dakota overran their own No. 4 tournament seeding by extending their hot streak to 12 victories in their last 13 games, rising. Now 25-12-5, North Dakota and St. Cllud State (23-13-5) were both already assured of joining Denver and Wisconsin to give the WCHA four teams in the NCAA tournament.
The Huskies couldn’t have had a better start, jumping ahead 2-0 in the first minute. Goaltender Brad Eidsness, a strong point for North Dakota all season, was victimized at 0:40 by Garrett Raboin, who scored after Ryan Lasch circled out from behind the net and got the puck to the slot. The assist gave Lasch his 184th career point for the Huskies, breaking Jeff Saterdalen’s all-time school record. The Huskies fans were still cheering for the 1-0 lead when, at 0:55, David Eddy scored jhis first of two goals from the right side after Drew LeBlanc’s pass across the slot.
“We came out quick, but they fought back and controlled play there for a lot of the game,” said Raboin. “For them to play three straight days again, the way we both did last weekend, says a lot about their team.”
Eddy said, “We knew we had to get a good start.” The two early goals came before Fighting Sioux fans could even wonder how exhausted their team might be, and probably reinforced the concerns. But there were no such thoughts in the Sioux camp, and they started responding almost immediately.
Sioux junior Evan Trupp, whose scoring touch has flared to life for North Dakota at the Final Five, set up Corban Knight for a North Dakota power-play goal at 5:59, when he came out from the left for a shot and quickly followed up to score on his second chance. That goal seemed to assure the Sioux they could skate with the Huskies, third-day or not, and they proceded to outshoot St. Cloud State 17-7 for the period. Brad Malone got the 2-2 equalizer at 17:06 on another assist from Trupp — his fifth point of the tournament. After failing to score in his previous 20 games, Trupp registered three goals and two assists for five points out of 11 goals his team scored in St. Paul.
“I love it here,” laughed Trupp. “I love this building — apparently. But it wasn’t just me. This was a character win, coming back the way we did.”
The Fighting Sioux kept on attacking in the second period, aided when Sam Zabkowicz and Oliver Lauridsen took successive penalties to present North Dakota with a two-man advantage for a 1:15 span. WCHA freshman of the year Danny Kristo boosted the Sioux ahead 3-2 with a blast from the left point that hit goaltender Mike Lee and squibbed through to cross the line at 5:22.
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Still one man up, the Sioux struck again when Chris VandeVelde curled out to the right circle and shot through a screen into the upper right corner at 6:05. St. Cloud State coach Bob Motzko pulled goaltender Mike Lee, who had shut out Wisconsin 2-0 in Friday’s semifinals, and brought in Dan Dunn.
“Dunn brought us a spark,” said Motzko. “Our two goaltenders have both given us that all year. I’ve got to congratulate North Dakota. They’ve had a tremendous run of six games in two weeks. We got off to a great start, but they got a couple of power-play goals that got them going. Once they got going, it was hard to fight through, but we battled back and just fell one goal short of making it a fun ending.”
With North Dakota going on to outshoot the Huskies 16-10 in the middle period, it looked like the 4-2 lead might be secure. But Eddy scored his second of the game, and 12th of the year, at 16:46 for the Huskies, and they entered the third period down only 4-3.
North Dakota, possibly wearying, withstood 15 Huskies shots in the third period, cautiously but efficiently clearing their zone and holding off the explosive St. Cloud attack. Eidsness had time to glance up at the scoreboard and do a little goalie logic.
“I looked up at about the eight or nine minute mark and I had the feeling I probably shouldn’t let in another goal, or the boys wouldn’t be too happy with me, after the third game in three nights,” said Eidsness.
And when Huskies Motzko pulled goaltender Dunn for a sixth attacker, he had barely gotten to the bench when the puck popped loose, sliding toward the St. Cloud goal, and Matt Frattin chased it down and deposited it into the empty net with 41 seconds remaining.
Eidsness was named all-tournament goaltender, and was joined by teammates VandeVelde and Blood. Raboin joined Blood on the all-tournament defense, and his teammate, Mosey, was named with VandeVelde and Wisconsin’s Blake Geoffrion. Just about the time everybody wondered why Trupp wasn’t named, he was announced as the tournament most valuable player.
Goalie shuttle carries UMD past CC, into Final Five
Despite a particularly rugged week of playoff action, the top five teams in the WCHA standings — the five teams that finished with above-.500 records — all survived their first-round playoff series to gain the Final Five.
A year ago, UMD might have been sneaking up on foes when it won three games in three nights to capture a surprise playoff championship, but this year, nobody will be in position to sneak up on any opponent. Minnesota-Duluth and North Dakota, who tied for fourth and fifth places, meet in Thursday’s game. That winner advances to Friday’s semifinals, where top-seeded Denver awaits. Wisconsin and St. Cloud State will clash in the other semifinal, then on Saturday, the 2 p.m. third-place game is followed by the final at 7.
The third-place game is not universally popular, but it could be important in NCAA tournament selections and placement this year. The WCHA is top-loaded in the PairWise ratings, which mimic the NCAA’s 16-team selection criteria. Going into the Final Five, Denver ranks No. 1, Wisconsin No. 3, North Dakota No. 5, St. Cloud State No. 6, and UMD No. 11.
UMD was teetering at a tie for 16th in the PairWise after splitting the first two CC games, and that status indicated the Bulldogs would have to win the Final Five again to reach the NCAA field via the automatic berth. With upsets going on around the country, UMD jumped up to the 11th slot by winning Game 3. That offers no guarantee, because surprises in other conference playoffs can bump teams out of the PairWise slots, but 11th is far better than 16th, and the WCHA appears ready to have five teams make the NCAA’s select field.
Exactly one year ago, the University of Minnesota-Duluth was a distinct underdog at the WCHA Final Five. The Bulldogs had floundered near the end of the season, but rose up to sweep two games at Colorado College, then make league history by beating Minnesota, first-place North Dakota, and then Denver to become the first team to ever go from the play-in game to the league playoff crown. One imposing reason for the surge was the goaltending of Alex Stalock, who shut down CC, then allowed one goal in all three Final Five games, boosting UMD to an automatic slot in the NCAA tournament.
This is another season, and all the teams are different, including UMD, primarily because Stalock passed up his senior year for a pro contract. Still, the Bulldogs have made various ripples through the WCHA season, leading the league for a stretch from midseason with a pair of unheralded sophomores in Brady Hjelle and Kenny Reiter trying to fill Stalock’s very large skates. Their competence has been reinforced by explosive scoring and power-play efficiency from a quick and exciting forward crop and a rangy but unheralded defensive corps. Still, the Bulldogs fell from grace by going 4-6 in their last 10 WCHA games and allowed onrushing North Dakota to gain a tie for fourth, and the seeding edge based on winning three of the four games between the two.
The Bulldogs were one of three WCHA teams that had to go to a deciding third game in the best-of-three first round of playoffs, and bring a 22-16-1 record to the Final Five. While top-seeded Denver (27-7-4) disposed of Michigan Tech, and second-seeded Wisconsin (24-9-1) put Alaska-Anchorage away, North Dakota (22-12-5) had to win a third game after Minnesota came back from a 6-0 drubbing to win Game 2 at Grand Forks. And St. Cloud State (22-12-5) spotted all-sport arch-rival Minnesota State-Mankato the first game, then came back to squeak past the Mavericks in the second and third games.
In Duluth,
UMD coach Scott Sandelin had to make some goaltending decisions against Colorado College, which wasn’t anything different from what he’s done all season. Sandelin has spent the season alternating his goaltenders, but in unusual fashion, seeming to pick one as his regular starter, but then changing to the other for similar status. It has been an unusual roller-coaster for both netminders, but they’ve maintained positive and upbeat attitudes all season.
Sandelin started the season with Hjelle as the regular goaltender, but after three starts he was relieved by Reiter in the second game at St.Cloud, and the two alternated in goal for the next five weekends, while UMD rose to a 10-5-1 record. Perhaps with flashbacks to the luxury Stalock afforded him, Sandelin elected to go with one goalie, and Hjelle started three more games, beating North Dakota and splitting against Denver. Reiter beat Mercyhurst, but Hjelle lost to Vermont, with Reiter relieving him, earning a promotion.
Reiter started five straight games, which included sweeps against CC and Mankato, but he was relieved by Hjelle in the first of two losses to Bemidji State. Hjelle lost the second game, so Reiter returned, starting six straight games, including a 4-0 shutout over Wisconsin. But he was relieved by Hjelle when UMD lost twice at North Dakota, and Hjelle stayed in to start the next three games, including a 3-0 shutout for a split against Minnesota. UMD still had a chance to finish as high as third on the final weekend, but the Bulldogs lost 3-2 at Anchorage, with Hjelle the victim. Reiter played and won the second game.
That brought Colorado College to Duluth for the playoffs, and Reiter beat the Tigers 3-2 in Game 1. That required a decision by Sandelin, and he went with Reiter again. Colorado College overturned a 3-2 deficit and won an intense second game 5-3 on an open-net goal. Sandelin was asked if he considered starting Hjelle in Game 2, which would serve the dual purpose of getting both goalies sharp for the Final Five, and would allow Reiter to return fresh for Game 3, if necessary.
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“If I did, and we lost, everybody would ask why I changed goalies,” said Sandelin. Nonetheless, that created a situation where he had to go with Hjelle or try Reiter for a third game in three days. Sandelin chose to go with Reiter.
In an intense and somewhat hostile third game, Reiter was superb and UMD won 4-0.
“The team played really well to try to help me get the shutout,” Reiter said. “I don’t think I’ve ever played three games in three days, unless it might have been in some youth hockey tournament. But I felt better than in the first two days.”
Colorado College, which had risen to proper desperation in Game 2, played that way again in Game 3, but the Bulldogs matched them. All three UMD goals in the 5-3 Game 2 loss were on power plays, meaning CC had outscored the Bulldogs 4-0 at even-strength. In Game 3, the ‘Dawgs changed that. Kyle Schmidt’s backhander from the right edge eluded Joe Howe for an early 1-0 UMD lead, and Brady Lamb snapped in his 11th goal to make it 2-0 in the second. Both goals were at full strength, and gave the scrambling Reiter all he needed to win. Lamb’s strong play earned him some power-play time, and he assisted Rob Bordson’s goal for the second poewr-play unit with 17 seconds left in the second period for a 3-0 cushion, and he also assisted Mike Connelly on the first power-play unit at 0:46 of the third.
“It’s nice to have the puck bouncing my way,” said Lamb. “I think we were able to wear down CC all weekend, and our power play is clicking. I think we can go down to St. Paul and win. It’s great to have a chance to defend our title.”
Seven Bulldogs have scored 10 or more goals, and while none of them won the league scoring title, they contended for it all year, and their team-leading stats are competitive enough. Jack Connolly leads with 18-31–49, while Justin Fontaine — who had three assists in the 4-0 Game 3 against CC — has a team-leading 21 goals and 21-25–46 stats, while Mike Connolly stands 14-26–40.
“I’m happy we’re getting a chance to defend our playoff title,” said Sandelin. “For our young guys, it’s a great chance to gain valuable experience, and for our seniors, it’s great to get another chance. Our special teams have been good, and it helps to have two power-play units. Lamber was strong all weekend, and Kenny played great in goal. Our guys really tightened up and sacrificed to get him the shutout.”
Hawks, Skippers lose at state, but win semifinal classics
When the Minnesota state high school hockey tournament was over, anyone who watched it will have to agree that it was full of surprise twists and turns. We also will have to acknowledge that Edina was a very deserving Class AA champion, and that Breck was a deserving winner in Class A. To get an accurate slice of the flavor of the big tournament, let’s go back to Friday’s semifinal round in both classes at St.Paul’s Xcel Energy Center.
To start the day, the best game of the entire tournament sent Hermantown against Mahtomedi. Hermantown had gotten past a hustling Virginia-Mountain Iron-Buhl team in the first round, and the Hawks managed it 2-1 when Adam Krause, who had sed up Cody Christopherson for the game’s first goal, rushed the puck after an outlet pass from Garrett Skrbich early in the third period, and rifled a 45-foot shot that beat goalie Casey Myhre high to the left corner. “I was at the end of a shift and I was tired,” said Krause. “I knew I couldn’t beat the defenseman, so I just tried to put it on net.”
Mahtomedi, led by a mercurial junior defenseman named Ben Marshall, had dispatched Alexandria 6-1 in the first round, and matched up well with Hermantown. We had no idea how well. Marshall led 1-0 and 2-1 in the first period, but Chad Bannor and Jared Kolquist countered both goals for a 2-2 standoff. Charlie Adams, who was a scoring machine for the Zephyrs, made it 3-2 before Kolquist’s second goal made it 3-3 after two. The fun was yet to come. Mahtomedi’s Brandon Zurn ignited a crazy third period with a goal for the Zephyrs at 5:50, and Mike Rose made it 5-3 at 7:23. Charlie Comnick got one back for Hermantown at 8:14, cutting it to 5-4, but Zurn scored on another set-up by Marshall at 8:49, and it was 6-4. That meant three goals in 1:26, and four goals in one second less than three minutes.
Comnick, however, took matters into his own hands when he scored on the rebound of a Thomas shot at 10:27, then positioned himself to deflect Jeff Paczynski’s poewr-play point shot down and in for a 6-6 tie at 11:18. The teams stormed back and forth, trying to break the deadlock, and in a game that seemed to be decided by whoever had the puck last went down to the closing seconds, and Mahtomedi’s Marshall had the puck. He raced up ice as the final seconds ticked down, cut to his right, and sent a neat pass to the slot. Adams one-timed his shot. Hermantown goalie Tyler Ampe flicked his right arm up, and the puck glanced off his arm but continued its path high into the upper right corner of the net. The red light came on, but so did the horn. The clock said 0:00.0.
The Zephyrs, who have never reached a championship game, poured off the bench and mobbed each other in a special pile-up of players, while the Hawks stood around, pretty dejected. The officials, dutifully, went over to check with the upstairs video review official. It took a while, but the overhead view showed the puck coming into the crease, sailing through the crease, and hitting the net. When they slowed it way down, and superimposed the digital clock, however, it also showed the clock hitting 0:00.02, then 0:00.01, and then 0:00.00 — with the puck still a few inches short of reaching the goal line. No goal. The Zephyrs were devastated, while the Hawks were flying again.
“We didn’t know what to do, it hit us like a brick,” said Marshall. who led the charge in overtime, on what might have been the decisive rush. But the puck came adrift, and Commick, who already had a hat trick and one assist, dashed back the other way, up the right boards, for Hermantown. He threw a perfect, pinpoint pass to Thomas, breaking with on the left. Thomas got past the defense and rushed at goalie Brad Wohlers, deking as though cutting to his right, then coming back to score with a forehand at the left edge. At 1:12 of overtime, Hermantown had won 7-6.
“Marshall carried it into our zone, but one of our ‘D’ poked the puck away,” said Thomas. “I curled, and saw Chuck [Charlie Comnick]. We made eye-contact and he gave me a perfect pass. Going in, I realized that Garrett Skrbich had gone to his backhand on an earlier breakaway and got stopped. So I went the other way.” And Hermantown went to the championship game.
Mahtomedi coach Jeff Poeschl said: “It was up and down like a roller-coaster. You get up by two, and then thinking you won it at the end makes it tough. I’d like to think we could have hunkered down and played better defense, but both teams might say that. You have to give credit to the offense on both sides, and if we didn’t have a time limit, it probably would have ended up 32-33.”
The rest of semifinal Friday seemed dull, but it was only by comparison. Breck overcame a 1-0 Warroad lead, fashioned on Brock Nelson’s remarkable first-period goal. Nelson, grandson of Warroad legend Billy Christian, who was in the building, was lurking on the right side of the net when Brett Hebel came at the net from the left. Hebel’s backhander hit goaltender Jon Russell and popped up in the air, heading for the right corner. Ah, but Nelson was waiting like Joe Mauer for a knee-high change-up, and he laced a line drive right out of the air and into the net. Breck, however, retaliated with three goals in the second period, two by Mike Morin, and made it 4-1 before Warroad got a late goal, to fall 4-2 to the defending champion Mustangs.
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Then it was time for Class AA’s semifinals, and Edina polished off a stubborn Apple Valley outfit 2-0, but while the Hornets outshot Apple Valley 37-18, the game was devoid of any of the electricity of Hermantown’s opener. When top-ranked Minnetonka faced Hill-Murray in the second AA semifinal, the general topics of conversation were how interesting it was that the Class A teams seemed to have outstanding individuals leading the way, while the Class AA teams were much deeper and more balanced, but really lacked the star power of Class A.The other prime topic was how nothing could match the day’s first game and its wrenching last-second twist.
Hill-Murray, a very balanced and well-coached outfit, had knocked out Duluth East 5-3 in a first-round game. East jumped ahead 2-0 in the first period, then suffered a defensive-zone meltdown that lasted exactly two minutes — giving up two goals 9 seconds apart in the last minute of the first period, and two more goals 38 seconds apart in the first minute of the second period. The Greyhounds never got it back together, although they regrouped to beat Lakeville-North in the consolation round, and defeated Roseau 3-1 in the consolation final. Virginia, by the way, almost gave the Northland two consolation crowns, reboundng from its opening loss to Hermantown to beat New Ulm, before falling 2-0 to Rochester Lourdes.
Back at semifinal Friday, it was not a surprise that Hill-Murray harnessed the Greyhounds and then did the same to Minnetonka’s explosive offense. The Skippers — seeking to ride the No. 1 rating to their first-ever state title — got the first goal, when Andrew Prochno made a great move and scored form the right circle at 12:09. But Chris Casto smacked in a rebound at the other end four minutes later and the first period ended 1-1. The second period also ended 1-1, and so did the third period — and the first, second and third overtimes!
Most amazing is that Hill-Murray stifled Minnetonka with only 9 shots through three periods. I would have bet that the Minnesota Wild couldn’t have held the Skippers to 9 shots in three periods. It appeared that Connor Ryan had won the game for Minnetonka in the second overtime when he converted Tommy Lundquist’s hard pass from the right side. But the video review proved Ryan had turned his left skate to block the speeding puck and the ricochet zipped into the net. No goal. Kicked in.
By the third overtime, they were alternating between 8-minute and 17-minute sessions, and it remained 1-1. They made ice again, and the fourth overtime began, at about 12:15 Saturday morning. At 2:31 of the session, Erik Baskin, coming from the left side, chased down the puck behind the Hill-Murray goal, and circled out on the right side with a sudden move, stuffing a shot that went in off goalie Tim Shaughnessy’s pads as he slid across. The goal gave Minnetonka a 2-1 victory and a berth in the AA championship game.
On Saturday, Hermantown gave it a good run, but Breck got a lucky bounce off a shinpad to win the A title 2-1. Then Edina took out a talented but tired Minnetonka outfit, 4-2, for the AA championship. But if you had to pick a day for the archives as evidence for what makes Minnesota high school hockey the state’s best attraction, year in and year out, choose Friday.
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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