Sioux top CC in classic, now meet Denver
North Dakota's Evan Trupp carried the puck 100 feet on the blade of his stick before flinging it toward the Colorado College net.
By John Gilbert
SAINT PAUL, MN. — North Dakota supplied a little order to the chaos of the WCHA playoffs Friday night, but it took a semifinal game that was often-chaotic itself before Matt Frattin’s late goal gave the Sioux a 4-3 victory over Colorado College before 15,008 fans at Xcel Energy Center. It was clearly the entertainment highlight of the Final Five.
The upsets that were sprinkled through the playoffs were left behind, and the top two seeds — North Dakota (28-8-3) and Denver (24-10-5) — remain to play in Saturday night’s 7:07 p.m. WCHA Final Five championship game.
Earlier in the day, Denver had ended Bemidji State’s run of playoff upsets with a four-goal third period that sank the Beavers 6-2. The 10th place Beavers had upset No. 3 seed Nebraska-Omaha in the two-game sweep to reach the Final Five, then knocked off No.4 seed Minnesota-Duluth 3-2 in overtime in Thursday’s quarterfinals. Bemidji State made a spirited run at No. 2 seeded Denver, with an 18-shot first period and a 2-1 lead, but the Pioneers weathered being outshot 38-32, killed off a two-man power play that overlapped into the third period, then got successive goals by Nick Shore, Jason Mermis, Luke Salazar and the second goal of the game from Kyle Ostrow, into an open net.
“Having gone to Omaha, then winning against Duluth last night, we brainwashed ourselves into thinking we could win,” said Serratore. “The bottom line is, the cream rose to the top, and that’s Denver. They’re one of the best teams in the country and they deserve their high ranking.”
The second semifinal, though, was the one that left both teams, their coaches, and the fans enthralled, featuring a little bit of everything, and a few unprecedented highlights. Standouts were everywhere, including North Dakota’s Matt Frattin, who scored the game-winning goal with 5:40 remaining off a dazzling set-up by Evan Trupp, who earlier had astounded the players on both teams and the big crowd with some sleight-of-stickhandling.
CC goaltender Joe Howe shared top billing with 34 saves, many of them to snuff excellent scoring chances, while teammate Rylan Schwartz scored twice, including a momentarily fulfilling turnabout goal that created a 3-3 tie midway through the final period.
“It was a great hockey game,” said North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol. “The pace was excellent, and it was one of the better games we’ve been involved in, for entertainment value.”
Matt Frattin did some fancy stepping before scoring the winning goal for North Dakota.
Colorado College coach Scott Owens said: “I’m glad we were able to put some entertainment back into the tournament. The pace was so different than last night. They played physical, and we battled and competed. The shots were a little lopsided, but they were not symbolic of the game. They’re old, and strong, and big, and they really come at you. We wanted to be in position to win in the third period, and we were. It was great Final Five atmosphere. Tremendous. It was an unbelievable experience for our guys.”
North Dakota (29-8-3) powered its way to a 38-21 edge in shots, but the outcome wasn’t decided until Trupp’s no-look pass out from the left end boards to Frattin. “I yelled, and Trupp’s been finding me back-door all year,” said Frattin, whose goal was the 34th of a brilliant senior season that earned him WCHA player of the year honors.
Colorado College dropped to 22-18-3, but likely will still gain an NCAA tournament berth, while North Dakota and Denver are assured of making the 16-team field, and Minnesota-Duluth and Nebraska-Omaha are also likely participants.
The entertainment highlight came five minutes into the third period when Trupp came up with a play that would have won ESPN’s play of the day, if ESPN cared enough about college hockey to notice. Trupp, a senior from Anchorage, was near his own blue line when he flipped the puck up, flat onto his stick blade, then hoisted it to waist height, and skated off into CC’s end, carrying the puck like a pancake on a spatula. When he got to the right circle, he fired off a lacrosse-style shot on goal. Howe saved it, but everybody in the building blinked in amazement.
“It’s great that everyone got to see what Trupper can do,” said Sioux captain Chay Genoway. “We get to see it on a regular basis.”
Frattin said: “I was breaking to the net when he did that, and I didn’t know what I should do — pull up?”
Hakstol could only smile. “I don’t know what I thought when I saw it,” he said. “Trupp does so many creative things for us, but I’ve never seen him do that. He carried the puck over 100 feet that way. It’s not like he’s doing it to get the spotlight; he’s just such a creative player he’s always coming up with something. You saw him a little later make that great pass to Frattin for the winning goal.”
The Sioux didn’t need any help in starting out as if to dominate, but they got help anyway when they charged the CC net and Tigers defenseman Gabe Guentzel was called for holding at 0:24. Colorado College killed off the penalty, but 20 seconds after it expired the aroused Sioux scored. The goal came from Danny Kristo, just returning from missing six weeks for severe frostbite to his foot for trying to take a nighttime shortcut home during the harshest cold of Grand Forks. Kristo carried up the right side, looking for a pass receiver, then snapped a wrist shot from the circle that beat Howe high to the short side at 2:44.
CC goaltender Joe Howe came up with the save to block Chay Genoway's wraparound.
For the next 10 minutes, the Sioux pretty well put on a forechecking clinic, checking the Tigers back on their heels and rarely letting them get out of their zone. North Dakota had a 9-4 edge in shots at the 12-minute mark, and had a couple of flurries after that. But Howe was brilliant, and when Corban Knight was penalized for high sticking, Colorado College got its first chance on the power play.
Setting up around the periphery, Guentzel passed from center point to the left circle, and Stephen Schultz blasted a one-timer past goaltender Aaron Dell for the 1-1 equalizer at 17:24.
Outshot 15-7 for the opening period, the Tigers had earned a standoff, and had a threat at the buzzer, but Dell stopped Joe Marciano’s try at the left edge. The quick but lighter Tigers were taking a heavy dose of contact at every confrontation with the aggressive Sioux, but they were resilient, played through it, and capitalized on their opportunities. The next opportunity came at 5:14 of the second period, when CC gained a 2-1 advantage. Dell stopped a shot by Ryan Lowery, but Rylan Schwartz scored with a follow-up shot, with the puck trickling across the line moments before Stephen Schultz hurtled over Dell in the crease.
North Dakota got the 2-2 equalizer at 14:55. Andrew MacWilliam and Joe Gleason worked hockey’s version of a reverse in the left corner. Gleason carried from the end boards up the left side and handed off to MacWilliam, coming the other way. MacWilliam continued around the end boards and fed to the slot where Brent Davidson plinked a wrist shot into the upper right corner of the net.
But the third period was worth the price of admission alone. After Trupp had performed his magic trick, the 2-2 deadlock remained up for grabs. CC’s Rylan Schwartz went off for tripping, but at 6:41, North Dakota freshman Brock Nelson was called for checking from behind, worth a 5-minute major and game disqualification. That negated the Sioux power play and left CC on a 4-minute advantage a minute later. While killing the penalty, Genoway flipped a pass to Frattin, who broke around the left of the defense for a short-handed chance. Rylan Schwartz, just a minute out of the penalty box, took Frattin down, sending him sliding into goaltender Howe, who was knocked clear of the crease to the right. A delayed penalty was signalled, and the Sioux went to the net like bees to a hive. Genoway was at the crease when Brad Malone got the puck, and Genoway jumped straight up as Malone shot under him to score into the empty net.
“I almost saved Brad’s shot,” said Genoway. “I had to jump and get out of the way. That would have been bad.”
CC's Rylan Schwartz wound up with his skates crossbar-high as he dived to score his second goal for a 3-3 tie in the third period.
That goal made it 3-2 Sioux at 8:30, and in addition to the short-handed tally, the Sioux got a power play because Rylan Schwartz still had to serve the delayed penalty. Fortunately for him, when he returned to the ice, the Tigers were still on the end of the major power play, and Schwartz came up with a colorful goal for atonement. Stationed to the right of the net, he knocked a bouncing puck out of the air and across in front, then hurtled past goalie Dell and jammed the puck in as he tumbled to the ice for a 3-3 tie.
“I knew I had to get one back for us,” said Schwartz, the sophomore half of the brother act with freshman Jaden Schwartz.
With 5:40 remaining, Sioux winger Trupp set up Frattin’s game-winner, but it wasn’t over. because Colorado College had one last power play. But the Sioux withstood it to get to the final minute, when they also fought off CC’s six-skater attack to the final buzzer.
Surging Beavers add UMD to WCHA playoff victims
Bemidji State players poured off the bench to celebrate after an overtime goal by Shea Walters of Hibbing beat UMD 3-2.
By John Gilbert
SAINT PAUL, MN. — Shea Walters joked about how it was the biggest goal he had scored all season, and it was. It was also the only goal he’s scored all season. But it was just enough to lift Bemidji State to a 3-2 victory over Minnesota-Duluth in sudden-death overtime Thursday afternoon and continue the Beavers longshot streak through the WCHA playoffs.
Bemidji State finished 10th in the WCHA, and reached the league’s Final Five only by upsetting the league’s No. 3 seed, Nebraska-Omaha, in two games last weekend. Having beaten the No. 3 seed, Bemidji State has now also beaten No. 4 UMD, and sets its sights squarely on No. 2 seed Denver in Friday’s semifinals.
The second semifinal puts league champion North Dakota up against Colorado College, which ended Alaska-Anchorage’s similar longshot bid 4-2 in Thursday night’s game. CC led 2-0 after one period, despite the Seawolves carrying much of the play, then Joe Marciano scored twice in the second period as the lead swelled to 4-1. Marciano had scored only once in his two seasons at CC, before scoring twice against Anchorage. All four Tigers goals deflected in off skates, while goaltender Joe Howe was outstanding for CC.
The second game may have secured an NCAA berth for Colorado College, but it lacked the drama of the first game.
Walters, who used to be a flashy scorer at Hibbing High School, which happens to also be the alma mater of UMD coach Scott Sandelin, plays the point on Bemidji State’s second power-play unit. When UMD defenseman Trent Palm was called for high sticking at 5:53 of the 20-minute overtime, Bemidji State coach Tom Serratore decided to go with the second unit instead of Matt Read’s No. 1 group.
“The Read line was just coming off, and besides, they had given up a short-handed goal,” said Serratore. “And our second unit moves the puck well.”
What they don’t do is score very often. Read moves back from center to play the point on the first unit, which has scored 21 goals this season, while the second unit — in fact, the entire rest of the Beavers lineup — had scored a total of 3 goals all season. But now it’s 4. Ryan Cramer won the left corner faceoff to Dan MacIntyre on the left point, and he slid the puck to Walters, moving toward center point. “We got a big win off the draw, and McIntyre gave me a nice pass. All I wanted to do was get it on net,” said Walters. “I saw it all the way.”
The puck appeared to nick the stick of Justin Fontaine and deflect slightly to the right, eluding goaltender Kenny Reiter and catching the lower right corner of the net. The goal lifts Bemidji State (15-17-5) to the next rung on its ladder of survival. Because of their status, the Beavers could only reach the NCAA field by winning the Final Five with a three-day marathon performance to capture the automatic league slot, but for the 10th-place Beavers to knock off third-place Nebraska-Omaha in a two-game sweep, then fourth-place UMD is an impressive basis for taking on second-place Denver.
“We knew exactly how they’d play,” said Sandelin. “I didn’t think our overall level of play was where we needed it to be.”
Serratore said he didn’t feel as though slowing the game down was the style his team wanted. “We knew it was going to be a tough game,” said Serratore. “We wanted to play with more tempo, but I thought it was a cat and mouse game. When we got that goal early in the third period, it definitely gave us some jump. The overtime was like a soccer match — chip it out, chip it in. It looked like nobody wanted to have the puck. But that’s playoff hockey. It’s tough to get the puck to the net, because you’ve got to defend hard.”
Any advantage Bemidji State might have had by wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day in Saint Paul was offset by UMD’s Irish connection of the unrelated Connolly boys. Jack Connolly took sole possession of the WCHA all-game scoring lead by deflecting in a shot from the left point by Justin Faulk at 6:05 of the first period, staking the Bulldogs to a 1-0 lead.
Bemidji State countered when Brad Hunt moved in from the right point, maneuvered for position, and beat Reiter with a shot into the lower right at 13:27.
UMD's Mike Connolly sprawled after scoring short-handed with a pass from Justin Fontaine for a 2-1 lead against Bemidji State.
UMD regained the lead before the first period ended when Mike Connolly went down to block a pass while killing a penalty, then fed an outlet pass to Justin Fontaine on the right side while joining him for a 2-on-1. Fontaine carried to the right faceoff circle before sending a perfect pass across the slot, where Mike Connolly gathered it in and crossed the goal-mouth right to left to slide backhand under goalie Dan Bakala.
UMD had an 11-7 edge in shots in the first period, but it the scoreless second period saw the game make a transition into Bemidji State’s favored style — tight, tenacious defensive play with very few scoring chances. There were, in fact, no scoring chances worth noting, as UMD outshot Bemidji State 6-5 in the session.
Sure enough, the third period started and Jordan George got the puck behind and to the right of the UMD goal, and passed out to the right circle. Reiter started moving one way, then reached back the other, while Read fired through the moving goalie and scored at 0:28, tying the game 2-2. “It was a great pass from Jordan George,” said Read. “I saw the defenseman and shot and it went in.”
Read, a senior, leads the Beavers with 22 goals — the same total as the nine players on the second, third and fourth Beaver lines. His wingers, Jordan George (16 goals) and Ian Lowe (12), mean the top line has 50 goals, out of Bemidji State’s team total of 87. But that doesn’t mean the entire Beaver lineup doesn’t contribute with great intensity.
UMD defenseman Mike Montgomery said: “We knew exactly how they’d play, looking for bounces in the neutral zone and wait for their chances. We just didn’t play our game. Our goal was to try to get another goal when the third period started and try to get some separation. Instead, they got it. They work harder than anybody, so I don’t see why they can’t keep it going.”
UMD goalie Kenny Reiter deflected a penalty shot by Jamie MacQueen just wide of the post.
The Beavers went on to outshoot UMD 8-5 in the period, but both goaltenders kept the 2-2 tie intact. Reiter had more pressure, particularly when Jamie MacQueen broke in on him with 4:29 remaining. Defenseman Trent Palm dived to try to catch MacQueen, and took his feet out from under him. The officials called for a penalty shot, which was high drama with 4:29 remaining in a 2-2 tie game. MacQueen skated in and made his bid, but Reiter got his right leg pad out just in time to deflect the shot wide of the left post.
UMD came up with its three or four best chances in the final minute of regulation, and even in the final 10 seconds, before the Beavers iced the puck hard with two seconds remaining. However, the officials didn’t call icing and let the closing seconds tick off. Referee supervisor Greg Shepherd explained that the new WCHA rule requires a defending player to skate back for the iced puck as far as the faceoff spots before the officials can call icing.
“I played against that Connolly line all game,” said Read, whose defense was as important as his goal. “I know how dangerous they are. They hemmed us into our end for the whole last minute-ten. But we worked all week on staying on our guys.”
The Beavers got the game into overtime, where one play could win the game, and it actually took two. First, a Beaver forechecker ducked under Lamb’s arm to swipe the puck, and when he went down, Lamb’s stick caught him up high, and Lamb was called for high sticking. Clever move for the Beavers, unfortunate call for the Bulldogs, because it gave the Beavers a fortuitous power play, and Walters made it count.
“If we lose, we’re done,” said Read. “We know we’re the underdogs, we’ve just got to keep it going.”
On the other side, UMD can keep practicing, and probably has a high enough rank to be picked among the NCAA’s 16-team field next week. “This team has responded well all season,” Sandelin said.”I told them to remember how losing feels. Because it sucks!”
‘Hounds, Hawks work OT in epic tournament
Eden Prairie teammates congratulated Kyle Rau after his diving goal gave Eden Prairie a triple-overtime 3-2 victory over Duluth East in the Class AA state finals.
By John Gilbert
The City of Duluth almost pulled off the impossible dream at the Minnesota state high school hockey tournament. If Hermantown had managed to get past St. Thomas Academy in the Class A final, and Duluth East bad beaten Eden Prairie in the Class AA title game, Duluth would have had the unique situation of providing both champions. It may never happen, but it also may never come closer than in the 2011 tournament.
My plan was to file game-by-game reports, blog-fashion, which would have been fun and a bit different. But once inside Xcel Center’s press box, the cursor on my trusty laptop froze up and, no matter what tricks I tried, it wouldn’t release. So, here it is, all in once — a once-over-lightly overview of the four-day odyssey at St. Paul’s Excel Energy Center:
WEDNESDAY/ Class A quarterfinals start at 11 a.m., No. 2 ranked Hermantown against Alexandria. The Hawks outshot Alex 56-14, but the game was scoreless until the second period. Jordan Domine took the second-period faceoff and somehow managed to score at 0:05. Nobody said that was an all-time record, and nobody could confirm or deny, but it’s virtually impossible to score in less elapsed time, unless the time-keeper is slow on the switch. That 1-0 Alex lead jump-started Hermantown for a five-goal outburst. In a 13-minute span the Hawks, who outshot the Cardinals 22-3 in the second period, pumped in goals by Garrett Skrbich, Jared Thomas, Travis Koepke, Jesse Dyson, and Chris Benson. That inscribed the 5-1 final, after a mellow third period.
Alexandria hauled down Hermantown's Garrett Skrbich.
Post-game press conference, and someone mentioned to coach Bruce Plante that he’s a media favorite, to which he, in his inimitable style, said: “That’s because I’m old, and I don’t give a shit like everybody else.” As for not running up the score, Plante added,”I’ve had teams where the other teams used to run it up, and it pissed me off. We never have run it up, and never will.”
Unranked Hilbbing, my upset pick against No. 3 Rochester Lourdes, put goaltender Nathan Tromp in the way and he continued his hot streak as the Bluejackets rolled 4-0. Adam Johnson, a smooth, slick, super-sophomore who played defense last season, scored his 39th goal of the season in the first period, converting a feed from Nick DeCenzo, the senior son of coach Mark DeCenzo. Mike Pechvnik scored in the second period, and Jake Doherty and DeCenzo scored in the third. DeCenzo’s goal was his 24th, and his two assists boosted him to 55. He and Johnson and Joe Anderson make a formidible line, while the soft-spoken Tromp recorded the shutout.
Hibbing's Nathan Tromp was perfect in blanking Lourdes 4-0.
It was Hibbing’s fourth playoff game, and Tromp has a 9-0 shutout against Silver Bay, a 5-1 decision over Duluth Central, then shutouts of 5-0 against Virginia and now 4-0 over Lourdes. One goal in four playoff games prompted me to ask how the one goal was scored. Coach Mark DeCenzo cut in: “It was on a 5-on-3 power play.” Walking out with Tromp, I asked him where he planned to go to college next year. “Michigan Tech,” he said. Full scholarship to Tech? “No, I haven’t talked to anyone about hockey,” he said. “I want to be an engineer.” We need to make sure Tech coach Jamie Russell knows he might be getting the best goaltending/engineering student in the country.
St. Thomas Academy, ranked No. 1, crushed New Ulm 13-2, but Thief River Falls surprised the Twin Cities folks, to say nothing of Breck, by scoring five goals in the third to eliminate defending champion Breck 7-5. The Prowlers served notice with a 2-1 lead in the first 5:28, on goals by Riley Soderstrom and Brady Meunier. But Breck appeared to take over in the second period with three unanswered goals. Thief River Falls stormed back in the third period, as Ryan Crosson scored at 1:08. then tied the game 4-all with a shorthanded goal at 3:50. Derek Kayser put the Prowlers ahead 5-4, and Micah Ranum scored after a great set-up by Chris Forney with 2:14 left for a stunning 6-4 lead. Breck got one back shorthanded with 1:37 left, but the Prowlers finished it with an empty-netter. The 5-goal rally meant that the Thief River Falls players curled to the same spot on the left boards to celebrate five times, and that spot happened to be right in front of the white-clad Breck students. “It was fun to give their students a jab, looking ’em in the eye,” said Crosson. Coach Tim Bergland, a former Gopher and former NHL player, always looked calm and cool on the bench. But Ranum said: “He can really blow a gasket, sometimes. After two periods, when we were down 4-2, he said, ‘Next goal wins.’ Then we went out and got five in the third period.”
THURSDAY/The Class A teams take a day off before Semifinal Friday to let the big schools of Class AA take over. And what a day it was! No. 2 seed Edina trailed 2-1 after one but came back to beat Blaine 3-2. Then Duluth East took center-stage against White Bear Lake. The Bears had won their Section 4AA semifinal 1-0 in overtime over Stillwater, then eliminated arch-rival and No. 1 rated Hill-Murray 5-4 in two overtimes in the 4AA final, making them battle-tested for the Greyhounds, who, after a scoreless first period, took a 2-0 lead in the second on goals by Hunter Bergerson and a classic by the big line. Trevor Olson fed Jake Randolph going in on the right side, and when Dom Toninato yelled, Randolph threw a no-look backhand pass across the slot that Toninato rifled into the center of the net.
East's Hunter Bergerson (41) and Steven Holappa helped JoJo Jeanetta stop White Bear Lake's Brandon Wahlin, who scored twice.
But Brandon Wahlin got one back later in the second and tied it 2-2 with his second goal in the third. Olson put East back in front 3-2, but Mitch Morrisette tied it with 4:23 left, and goaltender JoJo Jeanetta had to come through to preserve the 4-4 score to the finish. It was time for overtime. Then a second overtime, and senior Zac Schendel, who might have played his best game in three years, certainly made his biggest play in three years. The puck popped loose on the end boards and Schendel kicked it ahead to his stick as he came off the boards toward the left circle, then he spun and shot, through a defenseman and between the knees of kneeling goaltender Jared Schletty for a 4-3 victory. “As soon as I got the puck I knew I was going to put it on net,” said Schendel. “I didn’t realize I had scored until my linemates told me. It’s definitely a relief to get past the first game, because the last two years…we choked.” Indelicate, perhaps, but true.
In the lower bracket, powerful and No. 1 ranked Eden Prairie beat game but outmatched Lakeville North 5-0 behind Kyle Rau’s two goals. Then Eagan frustrated Moorhead to win by a deceptively lopsided 4-0, expanding a tight 1-0 lead with a goal with 4:18 left, then scoring twice into an empty net.
SEMIFINAL FRIDAY/Pick the best day at any state tournament, and the semifinals are the surest bet. The Class A semis were first, and Hibbing threw a great challenge at Hermantown. Nick DeCenzo
Nick DeCenzo converted for a 1-0 Hibbing lead against Hermantown goalie Connor Lucas.
scored the only goal of the first period, but Hermantown turned aggressive in the second period, hammering the Bluejackets all over the ice. The officials let the forceful play go, and the Hawks came to life. Garrett Skrbich scored his 41st goal of a splendid senior season to tie it 1-1 in the first minute of the second period. Jesse Dyson put the Hawks ahead, and Skrbich notched No. 42 off Andrew Mattson’s pass for a three-goal splurge in the first 3:45. Travis Koepke made it 4-1 at 8:20, and Hibbing’s lighter, smaller, and thinner Bluejackets looked like they were finished. Hibbing sophomore Adam Johnson was far from finished. He scored on a power play, flicking a 25-foot backhander in from the right circle with 55 seconds left in the second period, then he skated in on the left side, deked through a defenseman to the slot, before pulling the puck to his forehand and drilling a wrist shot in off the left pipe, just 31 seconds from the second intermission. That made it 4-3, and Johnson wasn’t finished. He completed his pure hat trick on a power play at 2:34 of the third period, tying the game 4-4 with his 42nd goal of the season.
Hermantown's Garrett Skrbich chased Hibbing's Adam Johnson.
A wild and wide-open stretch followed, as Hibbing gave it everything, and Hermantown countered every time. At 10:50, the Hawks struck again, as Andrew Mattson scored with the rebound after Skrbich’s shot was stopped by Tromp’s mask. Johnson had one more rush, but when goalie Connor Lucas stopped him, Skrbich was called for an ill-timed cross check at the crease with 1:32 left in the game. The Bluejackets moved the puck, and it came to Johnson, playing center point. He tried a slick play, flipping a soft feed ahead toward the goal, but Jarek Kolquist intercepted it. Being shorthanded, he didn’t have to worry about icing the puck, so he flipped a high shot at the open net. Johnson, like a lanky basketball player going for a rebound, jumped high and got his gloved fingertip on the puck, which slowed the trajectory slightly, but the puck was slithering toward the open goal. Johnson turned and chased after it, desperately, as it slid slower and slower. Finally, Johnson dived, but he couldn’t reach it until it was crossing the goal line–barely. The colorful empty-netter cinched a 6-4 Hermantown victory.
Afterward, Bruce Plante was asked if the physical pounding was part of the game plan. “I don’t think it was the game plan, just how the kids play,” said Plante. “Besides, these kids never do what you tell ’em, anyway.” As for the remarkable comeback, spearheaded by the three straight goals by Johnson, whose dad, Dave Johnson, is a former Hibbing and UMD star, Plante said: “He should be playing for UMD right now. Christ is he good! He’s an unbelievable player, with great hands and good vision. You give him room and he’ll eat you up. He’s as good as any player we’ve seen.”
No. 1 St. Thomas Academy, next, ended the hopes of Thief River Falls with a 5-0 victory, behind two goals by Zach Schroeder.
East's Dom Toninato made an impression on Edina goalie Connor Girard.
Hours later, the Class AA semifinalists took over the Friday night ice. Duluth East took on Edina in a classic. It was scoreless through one, as open ice and scoring chances were at a premium. East fired four of the first five shots in the second, but Steven Fogarty dashed the other way and beat JoJo Jeanetta’s glove at 9:22 for a 1-0 Edina lead. In the final minute of the period, Jake Randolph found himself out near the left point, although Hunter Bergerson was already there, and fired the puck back up the boards. It went to Trevor Olson, who let it go on through to Dom Toninato on the end boards. Toninato spotted Randolph, skating toward the left circle from the point, and slid a pass out to him. Randolph swung full force and got it all, sending his shot past the goalie’s glove and into the lower right corner of the net, for a 1-1 tie. In the third period, the teams skated back and forth on the Xcel Center ice, but nobody could score. Overtime again, and it was properly tight and tense until 3:54 had passed, then Schendel backhanded a pass up the right boards. Alex Toscano, one of three impressive East sophomore forwards, gathered it in and rushed up the right side. When he got to the top of the right circle, with one Edina defenseman in his path, Toscano pulled the puck just enough to set up the defenseman’s screen, then snapped a hard wrist shot that caught the far, left edge of the net. East had beaten Edina 2-1 in overtime to reach the championship game.
Goalie JoJo Jeanetta caved in the pile after East's 2-1 OT victory over Edina.
“I told the guys that if there are 19,000 here, 17,000 of them are going to be for the Hounds,” said Coach Randolph. “I said, Even the people who hate the Hounds will be cheering for us against Edina. This is special–a special time for them, and for me.” Randolph’s son, Jake, said: “I knew we could make it because this is a great group of guys. We all love each other in that room. When we got to overtime, we had so much fire. Everybody was smiling on the bench, and I knew we could do it.”
A couple other media types said they thought Eagan, which beat Eden Prairie during the season, would win again in the second semifinal. I disagreed, and said I wouldn’t be surprised if Eden Prairie won by something like 5-1 or 5-2. Turned out to be 5-1. Two goals in the first, then two by the redoubtable Kyle Rau in the second, and two more in the third. Kyle Rau had two assists to go with his two goals, and the Eagles were in the final, to face the Greyhounds.
CHAMPIONSHIP SATURDAY/The Class A final at High Noon was a classic, as well. Hermantown started with astonishing perfection. St. Thomas Academy had a lot of shots, but Connor Lucas handled them in goal, while Jared Thomas scored with a backhanded rebound at the other end, at 3:57. Thirty-nine seconds later, Andrew Mattson carried in on a 2-on-1 and snapped a wrist shot over the glove of goaltender David Zevnik for a 2-0 Hawks lead. Couple minutes later, the Hawks first line clicked when Mattson broke in, passed left to Skrbich, who was open to shoot but instead passed to the right edge, where Thomas had a tap-in. Only 7:08 had been played, but Hermantown led 3-0. The stunned Cadets bristle with skill, however, and Andrew Commers scored on a shorthanded breakaway before the first period ended to cut it to 3-1. Peter Krieger scored to open the second, and it was 3-2. Hermantown gained a 4-2 lead when Mattson scored on a loose puck at the crease, but then the Cadets got what
A.J. Reid, rilght, tried to pass, but the puck bounced off a Hermantown defenseman and into the net in the Cadets 5-4 victory for the Class A title.
they call “puck luck.” A.J. Reid carried in deep on the right of a 3-on-2, and he flipped a late pass to the slot just as he went past the net on the right side. The puck hit a Hawks defender in front and the ricochet went in, cutting Hermantown’s lead to 4-3. By that point in the second period, the pace of the game belonged to St. Thomas Academy. It continued that way in the third, and the momentum led to an Andrew Commers goal at 4:43 to tie the game 4-4. Then, remarkably, the Hawks seemed to rejuvenate, and regained the flow of the game. But nobody could score, and the third period ended. Once again, it was overtime. The Hawks had a chance on a power play, but couldn’t generate a goal. Then, at 6:34, Zach Schroeder pulled a right corner faceoff back to Tony Bretzman, who passed to Taylor Fleming at center point. Taylor cut loose, and his shot zipped past a screening body and grazed the right post on its way to catching the net and bring a crushing end to Hermantown’s title hopes. Long after the trophy presentation, Reid said: “I’m so excited, I don’t even want to take my jersey off.”
Then there was Bruce Plante. “Pretty big task, for us to play that team,” said the coach. “I was never confident, even with a three goal lead. We were a little tired in the second, but at the end, we played tired better than they played tired. We had to replace 14 players from last year, and we have a lot of young kids, but these kids came up and did what they were told. We have a saying in Hermantown, ‘Seniors lead, juniors follow, and sophomores keep your mouths shut.’ We never knew how good we were until we got down here, but the pressure never got to them.”
All of that hockey seems exhausting, in retrospect. But the best was still to come: The Class AA final, with Duluth East taking on Eden Prairie. The first period was scoreless, like a chess match, with a few good chances, but careful and precise defensive play. In the second period, East got a power play, and it couldn’t have been better executed, dazzling the crowd of 15,018. East played before 17,625 the first day, and 18,074 in the semifinals. There were about three passes before Meirs Moore zipped the puck to Jake Randolph on the outside of the right circle. Randolph immediately relayed another perfect pass across the slot to the left circle, where Trevor Olson
Dom Toninato watched Trevor Olson's shot hit the Eden Prairie net for a 1-0 East lead in the Class AA final.
one-timed his shot and before goalie Andrew Ford could react, the puck was behind him in the mesh. The only goal of the second period seemed substantial, in this game, but in the third period, the 1-0 edge vanished. Mark Rath scored at 1:43 after Luc Gerdes was checked off the puck, and it was 1-1. East, however, came back at 9:31 to regain the lead at 2-1. Again the big line connected, this time on a rush, with Trevor Olson carrying up the right and ripping a shot that hit a defenseman and then hit Ford and popped up and over the goalie. As it traced an arc slowly toward the net, two Eagle defenders dived for it, but the puck beat them across the line. As the final minutes of the third period, and potential victory, ticked away, Eden Prairie’s Nick Seeler shot from the left point. Jeanetta blocked it, but with 2:56 remaining in regulation, David Rath put in the rebound and it was 2-2.
Eden Prairie's Nick Seeler (11) and David Rath chased Trevor Olson's second goal into the net behind goalie Andrew Ford, as East gained a 2-1 lead.
Then, as they say, the fun began. East looked spent during the 8-minute overtime, but when it ended, they made ice, and then played 17 minutes in the second OT. East, revived by the break, had several good chances. The highlight for the Hounds, however, was sophomore defenseman Andrew Kerr, who caught the speeding Kyle Rau with a crunching bodycheck along the boards. It was one of four times Kerr caught Rau, but that one hit was shown repeatedly on Xcel Center’s big scoreboard screen, and each time the crowd “oohed” all over again at the jolting force of the hit. But the 2-2 score remained, and the game boiled into the third overtime, making it the longest championship game in state tournament history. It ended on a strange play, and an ironic one, at 4:43 of the third overtime. Curt Rau, Kyle’s twin brother, shot from the right point. Jeanetta blocked the shot, but the puck trickled through, behind him, and came to rest in the crease. He didn’t see it right away, but Kerr, exhausted as he was, spotted it, and tried to sweep it clear. But he only got a piece of it, nudging it to the left edge of the crease, as Kyle Rau arrived, head first. Rau made a headlong dive, stabbing at the puck with his stick. It took slow-motion replay to tell the whole story. Rau’s poke went off the left pipe, then pinballed back into the crease, where it either hit Kerr’s skate or Rau’s stick as he slid past the goal. Regardless, it wound up in the net, sending the Eagles into ecstasy. The Hounds slumped over into the disappointment that only those who come up short after a great effort in such a masterpiece can comprehend.
“It’s tough,” said coach Randolph. “Not on me personally, but it’s tough to watch the kids lay it on the line like that and not get rewarded. We played a complete game. Everybody played well. Hunter Bergerson, our only senior defenseman, went down with an injury, and I put Kyle Campion back there. He’s a forward and had never played back there, but he did a great job. I couldn’t ask more from a team. We got beat on a great play from Mr. Hockey, who could have gone away to play, but decided to stay in school. He got rewarded tonight.”
Last fall, Kyle Rau, who already had accepted a scholarship offer from Minnesota, talked things over with his twin brother, Curt, while deliberating whether to go to the USHL for a season instead of playing his senior year. “He told me he was going to go,” recalled Curt, “and I told him I’d support whatever he decided to do. But then he changed his mind and decided to come back.” Kyle Rau was a standout as a sophomore on Eden Prairie’s state championship team two years earlier, and he could have made a poster for high school hockey when he smiled and said: “This is an incredible experience. This is why I came back.”
Duluth East got it’s money’s worth of ice time, playing overtime games all three days, and six altogether, after also playing overtime to beat Grand Rapids in the 7AA final. That’s seven overtimes in four consecutive games. But White Bear Lake, which had last to East in the double-overtime quarterfinals, had come to the tournament having played overtime in the Section semifinal and final. After losing in two overtimes to East, the Bears went to consolation and beat Blaine, in overtime, of course. Then in the consolation final, White Bear Lake lost 4-3 to Lakeville North — in three more overtimes. That’s nine overtimes in five straight games.
While Kyle Rau returning to Eden Prairie is a huge plus for high school hockey, after having lost a lot of players to junior and U.S. Development programs, there were other tremendous positives coming out of the tournament. East, for example, had two returning players from last season leave the team before this season. It was the opposite for senior goaltender JoJo Jeanetta, who said that when he was 15, he was cut from the Bantam tryouts. There is a Bantam A team, and a Bantam B1, and Bantam B2 for players who are cut. “I was cut to Bantam B2,” said Jeanetta. “I remember being in my room and crying about it. I was going to quit hockey. Then I got furious about it. And I decided I was going to get better. And I’ve got to say, that if I hadn’t been cut to Bantam B2, I wouldn’t be playing here now.”
Interesting. Some kids have the chance to go elsewhere and stay, while others who figure they have no future in the game persever and wind up a star on their high school team. Both paths led them to one of the most spectacular state championship games ever. And you have to pause and sympathize with the kids who left their friends and their schools to play somewhere else. They missed out on the chance of a lifetime.
East wins 7AA, parents pay the price
Trevor Olson scored off a pass from Jake Randolph (far left) to give Duluth East a 2-1 overtime victory over Grand Rapids in the Section 7AA title game.
By John Gilbert
After Duluth East pulled out a dramatic 2-1 victory over Grand Rapids in the Section 7AA hockey championship final, East coach Mike Randolph was being interviewed in the raucus East dressing room when his kid, Jake, tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Dad, can I have some money?” Coach Randolph shelled out.
Just a couple of minutes earlier, out on the AMSOIL Arena ice, East was behind 1-0 with 1:30 remaining in the third period when Jake Randolph, a junior with hockey vision beyond his years, threw a pass around the boards to the right point where Nate Repensky went D-to-D to Meirs Moore, a sophomore, who flung a quick, screened wrist shot that snared the upper right corner of the net. That forced overtime, and on the first shift, Moore threw the puck around the boards where Jake Randolph caught it, facing the boards. Jake heard linemate Trevor Olson call out to him andhe immediately threw a no-look pass out front, right on the tape, and Olson scored at 0:26 to win the game 2-1 and send East to the state tournament.
I asked Mike how much he gave his kid, and he said, “20 bucks.” I asked if that was more than usual, and he grinned, and said, “Definitely.” I suggested to Jake Randolph that he might want to go on and study finance in college, because his timing was perfect. The Greyhounds and their big line had been harnessed all game by Grand Rapids, and when they really needed a couple of creative plays under the pressure of facing the end of their season, there was Jake, making them. How could his greatly relieved dad turn him down?
As I was leaving the arena, Skeeter Moore, the former East and UMD winger, and the father of Meirs Moore, was waiting in the lobby when Meirs, his kid, came up behind him. “Dad,” he said, “will you take my stuff so I can go get something to eat?” His dad said, “OK,” and again, how could he turn him down? I couldn’t resist, so I called Meirs back and said, “You’ve got to take better advantage of things after winning a game like this, because Jake Randolph got $20 from his dad.” Meirs Moore smiled, and said, “I already got $20, from my mom.” And he left the building.
State high school hockey weekend in Minnesota is close to being a religious experience, a teenage revival on the ice at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul. It’s a good time to see how your predictions are coming out, because the Class A quarterfinals were played Wednesday, and the Class AA quarterfinals Thursday–after this was written, but before it hit the streets. It is very risky to deal with predictions when the games being predicted are already over. But we’re up to that task.
Rarely have hockey fans in Duluth had a greater treat than watching the clever puck-moving of UMD’s high-tempo, high-skill line of Jack Connolly centering Mike Connolly and Justin Fontaine, and maybe just as captivating is watching Duluth East’s all-junior line of Dom Toninato centering Jake Randolph and Trevor Olson. Fontaine is a senior, while the two Connollys will return next season for their senior year, while East’s slick line should be even more amazing next year as seniors. Toninato is a big, strong center, Olson is an outstanding goal-scorer, and Randolph can outfox any defense with the same skill as he displayed to lift $20 from his dad. That magical threesome could play intact for Minnesota, St. Cloud State, Bemidji State, Nebraska-Omaha, North Dakota, or Wisconsin, but they’d look best wearing UMD jerseys. We can only wonder if UMD coach Scott Sandelin has considered recruiting East’s remarkable line intact. It would be a natural.
Patrick Moore (9) spotted a loose puck and scored to give Grand Rapids a 1-0 lead in the 7AA final.
Before the Class A sectional playoffs began, my prediction was that Hermantown would meet St. Thomas Academy in the Saturday championship game. By both making the field, that possibility remained as the quarterfinals were held Wednesday.
In Class AA, it was far more muddled, with many more elite teams battling for supremacy. East had all it could handle from Grand Rapids in the 7AA final, as Patrick Moore’s goal in the second period gave the Thunderhawks a 1-0 lead that lasted until only 1:30 remained, when Meirs Moore scored to tie it up and force overtime. On the first shift of overtime, East sent the crowd of 5,021 at AMSOIL Arena into bedlam when Jake Randolph backhanded a no-look pass out front and Trevor Olson drilled it past goaltender Dom DeGuiseppi at 0:26 for the victory and the chance to go to Saint Paul.
The high school league asks the coaches to seed teams 1-through-4 for the state, then they draw the other four names to oppose them, in both classes. Proponents argued that the top two teams rarely meet in the final, so they should be seeded in opposite brackets to prevent them from meeting in the first or second round. My counter-argument is that if the constantly rotating match-ups of sections caused the top two to play in the first round, at least they played. Only one of them can win the title anyway, and so often, when seeded in opposite brackets, one of them doesn’t reach the final, so they never meet.
For my prediction to make it in Class A, No. 2 Hermantown would have to have beaten Alexandria Wednesday. Only a considerable upset by Alex (12-15-1) could have prevented the Hawks from improving their 23-3-2 record while advancing to Friday’s semifinals. If the Hawks did advance, they could wind up smack dab against Hibbing, a talented team that beat Virginia in the section final, and one that’s capable of continuing to win. Hibbing was an underdog to No. 3 seeded Rochester Lourdes, even though both teams came into the tournament with identical 17-9-2 records. How the seeding folks underestimate the pride of the Iron Range! Further in Class A, it is neat to see New Ulm (21-4-2) make it to state, but they had to face St. Thomas Academy (22-6), the No. 1 seed, in the quarterfinals.
That winner would meet the Thief River Falls (19-8-1)-Breck (20-8) winner. Perhaps the biggest surprise in Class A sectionals was Thief River Falls, which has the neatest nickname in all of high school sports — the “Prowlers”– eliminating Warroad in the 8A final. Warroad, along with Hermantown and St.Thomas Academy, are all perennial Class A powers, and, as such, should be playing Class AA, where they would also be very competitive.
My pre-sectional picks for Class AA were that the best teams in the state were Hill-Murray, Eden Prairie, Wayzata, Maple Grove, Edina, and Duluth East. Not necessarily in that order. Eden Prairie and Wayzata were in the same section, so only one of them could make it, but if other favorites prevailed, I think the four seeded teams would have been: 1. Hill-Murray, 2. Eden Prairie, 3. Maple Grove, 4. Edina, with Duluth East and the others sprinkled in against those four.
But in a pair of overtime thrillers, White Bear Lake knocked off Hill-Murray in their annual grudge match, and Blaine took out a very impressive Maple Grove team. That meant Eden Prairie moved up to No. 1, Edina to No. 2, Duluth East became No.3, and Eagan, which beat Apple Valley in its final, got No. 4. Among at-large entries, Moorhead (18-7-2) beat Roseau and then top-seeded Bemidji in the 8AA final, to earn the Thursday night finale against Eagan (17-6-2), right after Eden Prairie (21-5-2) faced Lakeville North (13-14-1). That scenario indicates the East may have benefited more than anyone by upsets in other sections.
“I think that’s probably true,” said East coach Mike Randolph, before trucking his Greyhounds to the Twin Cities. “If Hill-Murray and Maple Grove both had made it, my guess is that we wouldn’t have been seeded.”
There is a tremendous advantage to be a seeded team facing a dangerous White Bear Lake team instead of being an unseeded team that might have drawn Eden Prairie or Edina or Hill-Murray. My pre-tournament pick showed East beating White Bear Lake after Edina beats Blaine in a shootout, to set up a rematch of Edina’s 4-3 victory over the Greyhounds at Xcel Center. In the night quarterfinals, I picked Eden Prairie to rout Lakeville North, possibly hitting double figures, while Eagan escapes to beat Moorhead. If that happens, I’ll take East to beat Edina in a classic, while Eden Prairie rips Eagan.
Trevor Olson's shot, set up by linemates Jake Randolph (16) and Dom Toninato (right) was whistled down when Grand Rapids goalie Dom DeGuiseppi left his stick behind to dive for it.
That would put East in position to duplicate its 4-3 overtime victory over Eden Prairie earlier in the season at Heritage Center. It would take a heroic effort by all the Greyhounds, and even then we’d have to see if East’s big line could outscore Eagle standout Kyle Rau, who should win Mr. Hockey.
It is a good sign of parity and strength that nobody can make it undefeated any more. There aren’t even any teams with one or two losses. Blaine, in fact, has the fewest losses, at 20-4-4, with East, White Bear Lake, and Eden Prairie next with five losses. There are a lot of winners in both fields, and they’re in the midst of spending a weekend they’re remember all their lives.
Surprising Nebraska-Omaha surprised
Senior Matt Ambroz from New Prague, MN., is UNO scoring leader.
By John Gilbert
There was some debate about changing the name of the expanded WCHA playoffs before it was decided to stick with Final Five. Otherwise, the league could have changed to “Expect the Unexpected.”
Just ask Dean Blais, coach at Nebraska-Omaha, which upset the whole league all season, then became the victim of the biggest upset in the best-of-three first round of playoffs. One of two new entries that expanded the WCHA from 10 to 12 teams, the Mavericks were the surprise team in the league by staying in title contention all season before settling into third place on the final weekend, one point behind Denver.
But heavily favored No. 3 seed Nebraska-Omaha was upset in a two-game sweep by No. 10 seed Bemidji State. The Mavericks weren’t alone, as No. 8 Alaska-Anchorage went to Mariucci Arena and took out No. 5 Minnesota in two games to eliminate the “home” Golden Gophers from the Final Five in Saint Paul’s Xcel Energy Center.
“I can’t believe it,” said Blais. “We outshot Bemidji 91-37 for the two games and lost them both. Dan Bakala, their goaltender, played out of his mind, and he kept it close enough both nights for them to find a way to win.”
The Mavericks are still practicing, however, because they could still get an invitation to the NCAA tournament. “We’re 13th on the Pairwise, so we’re hoping that the top teams win in all the leagues, because then we should still make the NCAA. We’re pulling for North Dakota, Denver or UMD to win, and for Michigan, Boston College, New Hampshire and Yale in other playoffs.”
In past years, the top five league finishers often advanced to the Final Five, but this year required juggling an unusual gathering of reseeded entries at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul. Previously No. 4 and now No. 3 seed Minnesota-Duluth takes on Bemidji State, reseeded as No. 6, at 3:37 p.m. on Thursday, while new No. 5 Alaska-Anchorage followed by playing new No. 4 Colorado College at 7:07 p.m. Those winners advance to Friday’s semifinals, where No. 2 Denver meets the first-game winner at 2:07 p.m., and league champion and No. 1 seed North Dakota takes on the second-game winner at 7:07 p.m.
When the WCHA expanded to 12 teams for the 2010-2011 season, the league’s prestigious Final Five playoff also had to be expanded from five first-round survivors to six. In the changed format the third-place game has been eliminated, so the fifth game and hence the namesake of the Final Five will be the championship on Saturday at 7:07 p.m. with the Broadmoor Cup and an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament’s 16-team field on the line.
For Blais, the NCAA hope eases the frustration of the Bemidji State match-up. The Beavers played a patient, grinding game against the high-speed, up-tempo Mavericks. After a scoreless first period in Game 1, Jordan George and Ian Lowe scored goals for a 2-0 Bemidji lead. Ryan Walter scored a power-play goal late in the second for UNO, and Terry Broadhurst’s goal early in the third tied it 2-2. But Bakala stopped 46 shots as Nebraska-Omaha outshot the Beavers 48-17, and Jamie MacQueen scored with 1:53 left in the third period to break the tie. Just 21 seconds later Matt Read supplied the insurance goal for the 4-2 result.
“In the second game, we came out and dominated,” said Blais. “When we scored [Rick Purslow, at 9:32], I looked up and we were outshooting them 9-0. Then they got a power-play goal [by Matt Read]. I looked up again when we were outshooting them 18-2, and it was 1-1.”
Jamie MacQueen got credit for the only goal of the second period, “off a skate,” said Blais, and Bemidji had a 2-1 lead.
In the third period, Matt Read’s goal gave Bemidji State a 3-1 lead. The Mavericks resumed their dominant attack, but Bakala, diving across the crease for saves, held the 2-goal lead. Finally Ryan Walters scored to cut it to 3-2–but only eight seconds remained in the game, and it ended that way.
“We outshot ’em 43-20, and lost 3-2,” mused Blais, whose team has been anchored all season by sophomore goaltender John Faulkner, who played the most minutes and made the most saves (897) while recording a 2.55 goals-against average and .908 save percentage.
Sophomore John Faulkner recorded WCHA-most 897 saves for the Mavericks.
A pair of seniors lead the way offensively, as Matt Ambroz has 17-17–34 and Joey Martin 11-23–34, with Rich Purslow adding 12-20–32. Ambroz, from New Prague, MN., has a younger sister, Kacy, playing for Minnesota-Duluth, while their younger brother, Seth, is playing for Omaha in the USHL and will play at Minnesota next season.
North Dakota won the league title at 21-6-1 for 43 points, but hadn’t clinched it outright until a final sweep at Michigan Tech. Nebraska-Omaha could have finished second by sweeping at UMD on the final league weekend, but they split, finishing 17-9-2 for 36 points to Denver’s 17-8-3 and 37 points. UMD, which also could have gained second with a sweep, was 15-8-5 for 35 points.
The top six earned home-ice advantage for the best-of-three first round of league playoffs. That was the good news. The bad news for UNO was that they drew the No. 10 seed, which was Bemidji State, the other league newcomer.
More good news there was that one of the two new teams was assured of reaching this week’s Final Five. The bad news for Nebraska-Omaha was that after beating every other team in the league, and holding either a decisive upper hand or splitting with all of them, they could never beat the pesky Beavers. Bemidji State won three of the four games between the two, and they tied the other.
“We split four games with North Dakota, and by beating them 8-4 in Grand Forks, we had the tie-breaker against them,” said Blais. “We split with Denver, UMD, Anchorage, and at CC, and we swept Minnesota, Wisconsin, and MSU-Mankato, and we were 1-0-1 against St. Cloud. But we were 0-3-1 against Bemidji.
“We were really ready for the playoffs, too. We lost a 6-5 game to North Dakota before 14,000 fans, and people said it was the best game they had ever seen. They didn’t even seem to mind that we lost. Then we beat Wisconsin and drew 15,000. We’re fourth in the country in attendance, behind North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin.”
Going into the best-of-three playoff series all that mattered to Blais was that his Mavericks played their game. Sure enough, they did. But sure enough, Bemidji State continued its peculiar hold on Nebraska-Omaha, winning the first game 4-2 with two goals in the last two minutes, then beating the Mavericks again, 3-2, extending their season’s mastery to 5-0-1.
The unpredictability of the playoffs also saw UMD need three overtimes to subdue St. Cloud State in the second game of their series. And Denver, heavily favored against No. 11 MSU-Mankato, trailed 2-0 after two periods before rallying for four goals in the third period, then trailed in the second game 1-0 after two before rallying again to win 2-1. The series that figured to be the closest saw No. 7 Wisconsin go to No. 6 Colorado College and win the first game, and CC came back to win two narrow victories and capture the only series that needed all three games to determine.
Such surprises certainly was the theme of this year’s regular season, which should have made it predictable that the playoffs would contain more surprises. What else could you expect when the top four went down to the final weekend, and down to the final game before second, third and fourth places were finalized, as well as sorting out sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth, places, while even 10th and 11th finished one point apart?
The team that edged MSU-Mankato by one for 10th place was, of course, Bemidji State. Both made their playoff presence known, Mankato by the scares it threw into Denver, and Bemidji State by knocking off their favorite new rival in Omaha.
More good news for fans of those teams that made it, especially driving-distance schools like UMD, North Dakota and Bemidji State, is that tickets should be readily available, despite a good advance sale, because of the absence of Minnesota, Wisconsin, St. Cloud State, and Minnesota State-Mankato, all of whom have strong fan support in Saint Paul.
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.
For those who want to keep up with John Gilbert's view of sports, mainly hockey with a Minnesota slant, click on the following:
Click here for sports