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Championship Notebook

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Goal or No?

About five minutes into the third, it appeared that the Irish made it a one-goal game, scoring to make it 3-2 as the puck went off the skate of Kyle Lawson and dribbled past BC goaltender John Muse.

However, the goal was disallowed, due to a supposed kicking motion. According to video replay official Greg Shepherd, “The puck was kicked in the net by the Notre Dame player’s right skate. The skate was moving toward the goal line. There were sticks in the crease, and we needed to make sure there wasn’t a deflection off the sticks or the defender’s skates after it was kicked.”

Depending on which replay one saw, it wasn’t entirely clear if Lawson used a distinct kicking motion — the catalyst in whether a goal should be allowed or not, according to Rule 6, Section 18 (a): “A goal shall be allowed if the puck has been directed into the goal by an attacking player with the skate, unless a distinct kicking motion is used.”

A puck off the skate of Notre Dame's Kyle Lawson eventually turned into a no-goal for the Irish (photo: Jim Rosvold).

A puck off the skate of Notre Dame’s Kyle Lawson eventually turned into a no-goal for the Irish (photo: Jim Rosvold).

The call ultimately didn’t mean much since the Eagles scored about 30 seconds later, but it was still a tough break for the Irish.

“To be honest, I didn’t even see the puck come across,” said Lawson. “I thought it hit my skate, it went to the review thing; I couldn’t tell you. I didn’t know what the review was going to be, but it is what it is.”

Parallels: Part One

Though the Eagles ultimately won the national championship, this year’s Notre Dame team reminded BC head coach Jerry York of another team from years past — his own.

“Notre Dame and Jeff Jackson remind me a lot of our team in ’98,” said York. “We just were starting to pick up the pieces and all of a sudden, we’re in Boston for the Frozen Four playing the University of Michigan. That kind of got us over the hump and back on the national scene and back on the national level and I think Notre Dame is right at that point now. They’ve reached the national championship game; they’re going to be one of those teams that I refer to as brand-name schools for hockey.”

Parallels: Part Two

If you didn’t notice, there were a few parallels between this year’s championship and the 2001 championship team. For instance:

2001: Brian Gionta misses out on the Hobey Baker to a player from a Michigan school (Michigan State’s Ryan Miller), then goes on to win the national championship.
2008: Nathan Gerbe misses out on the Hobey Baker to a player from a Michigan school (Michigan’s Kevin Porter), then goes on to win the national championship.

2001: BC wins the title in the Pepsi Arena (Albany, N.Y.).
2008: BC wins the title in Pepsi Center (Denver, Colo.).

2001: The Eagles have a player taken off with an injury (Ales Dolinar), who comes back on the ice at the end of the game on crutches.
2008: The Eagles have a player taken off with an injury (Carl Sneep), who comes back on the ice at the end of the game on crutches.

The Never-Ending Season

Though Saturday’s game marked the official end of Boston College’s season, the team stressed the fact that because of the championship victory, this season will never actually end.

“We talked right after regionals; one of the guys said, ‘In nine days, our season is going to be over,’ and we stressed the fact that, if you win a national title, your season never ends. You’ve got unbelievable spin-offs from it; there’s trips to the White House, there’s Fenway Park,” said York.

“But it never ends because you refer back to teams all the time. I’m the same way; at Bowling Green, we had some fabulous teams. The ’84 team, it just stands out.

“We’re always talking at BC, the ’01 team and now they’ve got that ’08 team, so it just kind of stays forever. They’re tough to get; we’ve been through a lot and they’re tough to get, these trophies.”

“That was one of the things we wanted, to have a season that never ended,” said captain Mike Brennan. “I think now we have that.”

The Frozen Four: A College Hockey Fan’s Event

A special side of the Frozen Four is spotting all the different teams represented in the building. This year, 52 of 59 Division I hockey teams were represented on the fans in the building. The seven not seen? Sacred Heart, Canisius, Holy Cross, Bentley, Western Michigan, Alabama-Huntsville and St. Lawrence.

All-Tournament Team

F Nathan Gerbe, BC
F Kevin Deeth, ND
F Ben Smith, BC
D Kyle Lawson, ND
D Mike Brennan, BC
G John Muse, BC

MOP: Gerbe

Random Facts

• BC is now 90-0-1 since October 17, 2003, when scoring four or more goals in a game.

• Attendance for the championship game was 18,632, the fourth-largest ever. Total attendance for the Frozen Four was 55,719, also fourth.

Boston College – Your 2008 National Champs

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BC Title

And that’s it. Notre Dame used it timeout with about 44 seconds to go and then put Pearce back in net, conceding defeat. Time finally ran out on the Irish, who had a great, great run.

Your all tournament team:

G – John Muse (BC)

D – Mike Brennan (BC)

D – Kyle Lawson (Notre Dame)

F – Ben Smith (BC)

F – Kevin Deeth (Notre Dame)

F – Nate Gerbe (BC)

Most Outstanding Player – Nate Gerbe

Time Running Out

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There’s 2:20 left in regulation and the Irish still trail by three. Their net is empty. Even a power play at this point probably won’t help Notre Dame – BC has killed all 15 penalties with weekend.

We just got handed the official explanation on the disallowed goal: “The puck was kicked in the net by the Notre Dame player’s right skate. The skate was moving toward the goal line. There were sticks in the crease , and we needed to make sure there wasn’t a deflection off the sticks or the defender’s skates after it was kicked.”

I don’t know about “kicked”. It was directed, unintentionally by Lawson as he attempted to play the puck off his skate to his stick. But it never made it to his stick – it went into the net.

No Goal, then a Goal

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Notre Dame’s Kyle Lawson appeared to make this one a goal game, but after a looooong review by the video replay official Greg Shephard, it was ruled that the puck was directed off Lawson’s skate. He appeared to be try trying to stop the puck with his skate at the far crease to put the puck in a wide open weak side, but BC’s Tim Filangieri checked Lawson off the play before he could use his stick. The puck went into the net directly off of Lawson’s skate, so no goal.

Just 35 seconds later, Boston College scored what’s probably the backbreaker, as Ben Smith took a feed from Gerbe (who has been in on all four BC goals) and floated a wrist shot past Pearce, who was screened by his own defenseman. What an emotion swing, from 3-2 to 4-1 in less than a minute.

Starting the Third

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We’re about to start the third period – still 3-1 BC. Shots through two periods are 18-13 Eagles. Sneep is out for the rest of the game.

Hey, Somebody Else Scored

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We’ve traded goals, with the last one coming for Notre Dame.

BC made it 3-0 at 8:11 on the power play. Joe Whitney took a feed from Gerbe and wristed it home. But the Irish responded just 56 seconds later on a pretty give-and-go between Kyle Lawson and Kevin Deeth. Deeth left a drop pass for Lawson, then went to the net, got the pass back and buried it.

Gerbe 2, Notre Dame 0

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Gerbe does it again, diving to poke in a loose puck at the far post. He now has five goals on the weekend and seven total in the tournament, tied for highest in NCAA history.

The Irish took two quick penalties, but the Eagles give one right back just six seconds into the 5×3. We’re skating 4×3 with 12:14 to go in the second.

BC Draws First Blood

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1-0 BC at 2:31 of the second. Goal scored by…guess who? Gerbe finds room in the near faceoff area and one-times a backhand pass from Brian Gibbons, which beats Jordan Pearce high glove.

Boston College defenseman Carl Sneep has not returned to the game since blocking a shot off of his ankle in the first period – we were just told in the pressbox that his return is “questionable”.

20 Minutes in the Books

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After one, we’ve got a 0-0 tie in Denver. Shots were 7-5 in favor of BC. Most of the shots for each team have come off power plays – Notre Dame has had three to BC’s one. The Irish will start the second period with 23 seconds of man advantage to work with.

Underway

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We’re eight minutes into the first period, and neither team has had a quality chance. There are definitely more Notre Dame fans here than there were on Thursday. Most of the Michigan fans went home, while North Dakota still has a respectable contingent, which is rooting for the Irish.

Notre Dame is on the first power play of the game. I think it’s critical for them to get the first goal.

Gerbe Shines Again In Spotlight

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National scoring leader. National champion. Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player.

Boston College winger Nathan Gerbe did it all this season.

Well, almost. Anyone want a re-vote for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award?

“As much respect as I have for Kevin Porter,” Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson said, “if they name the Hobey Baker after this weekend, they may change their mind.”

Michigan’s Porter got the top individual award for the season, but Gerbe is walking away from the Pepsi Center with the big prize.

Gerbe took the Frozen Four by storm, registering five goals and eight points in the two games, leading the Eagles to their third national championship.

Only Colorado College’s Bob McCusker, who had seven goals 51 years ago, has ever been more productive in the Frozen Four among the most outstanding players.

Nathan Gerbe (r.) with Boston College captain Mike Brennan and the NCAA championship trophy (photo: Jim Rosvold).

Nathan Gerbe (r.) with Boston College captain Mike Brennan and the NCAA championship trophy (photo: Jim Rosvold).

In Saturday night’s 4-1 victory over the Fighting Irish, Gerbe scored twice, giving the Eagles a 2-0 lead and putting them on track to avenge national championship-game losses in his first two seasons with BC.

It was another top-flight performance on college hockey’s biggest stage, and Gerbe was a big-time performer in the spotlight.

“I think it’s what every player wants,” he said of playing on the big stage. “They want to be part of something special, and you always want people watching. You want the biggest stage possible. It’s what everyone wants to have — Tiger Woods, [Sidney] Crosby. Everyone wants the big stage, so you’ve always got to put yourself there.”

Gerbe tied the record for goals in a single NCAA tournament with seven, and his five goals in the Frozen Four ranks fourth all-time.

He finished the season with 13 goals and 24 points in his last 12 games. His first goal Saturday clinched the national goal-scoring title — he was tied with Porter at 33 entering the game.

His season total of 68 points was five better than Porter in the same number of games.

“I really don’t think about it at all. It’s just numbers to me,” Gerbe said. “The biggest thing is that trophy is right next to us.”

Afterward, there were a number of connections made between Gerbe, who stands 5-foot-5, and a former BC forward of roughly the same stature.

Brian Gionta was a finalist for the 2001 Hobey but lost to Michigan State’s Ryan Miller. The next day, however, the 5-foot-7 winger helped the Eagles win the title.

Both players have great hands, impressive speed and the ability to disguise the angle of their shot, making them tough for goaltenders to stop in close.

Gionta and Gerbe share the occasional conversation.

“He gives me a few messages here and there … maybe a little pointer here and there,” Gerbe said. “But not too often. I don’t want to bug him, especially now. He’s in the middle of the playoffs.”

Gerbe had a playoff run to remember. He scored in all four NCAA tournament games for the Eagles, and his seven-goal total included three at even strength, two on the power play, one shorthanded and one into an empty net.

As much as his goals changed the Frozen Four, his work ethic was being praised Saturday night.

“I don’t know if there’s a kid in the country that works harder than he does,” Notre Dame defenseman Kyle Lawson said.

“He’s one of the hardest workers on our team, if not the hardest worker,” linemate Ben Smith said. “He’s always flying. That’s what he’s worked hard on. Some of it’s natural, but he works really hard on his agility, his speed, his quickness. It’s a good spark for our club, especially when he’s flying through the zone, getting breakaways and everything.”

The work ethic showed on his second goal Saturday, when he dived near the right post to poke home the rebound off the boards behind the net.

“You want to leave it all on the table, no matter what, if you get hurt or anything,” Gerbe said. “You’ve got time to heal now.”

Gerbe also has time to make a decision about his future. The Buffalo Sabres draft pick didn’t commit to anything Saturday night about where he’ll play next season.

“He’s going to be a terrific player — hopefully for us next year, but if not, down the road for the Sabres,” BC coach Jerry York said.

A line from an Eleanor Roosevelt poem came up when Gerbe described what it was like to hold the national championship trophy.

Many people will walk in and out of your life,
But only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.

“Especially for our team this year, these memories, it’s going to be footprints in each other’s hearts forever, this trophy,” Gerbe said. “It’s a great feeling. I’d way rather hold this than the Hobey.”

Almost There

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We’re 30 minutes away from dropping the puck in Denver. Here are your lines for the final game of the 2007-2008 college hockey season:

Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Visiting Team)

Forwards:

Thang–Ryan–Rankin

Kissel–Deeth–Van Guilder (starting)

Regan–Hanson–Minella

Ridderwall–White–Guentzel

Defense:

Cole–Lawson

Sheahan–Ruth (starting)

Blatchford–VeNard

Goal:

Pearce

Boston College Eagles (Home Team)

Forwards:

Gerbe–Gibbons–Smith

Price–Bertram–Gannon (starting)

Whitney–Greene–Ferriero

Kucharski–Lombardi–Orpik

Defense:

Aiello–Brennan

Filangieri–Kunes

Petrecki–Sneep (starting)

Goal:

Muse

WCHA crew in stripes.

Should He Stay or Should He Go?

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Everybody’s got an opinion about which players here in Denver will forego the remainder of their college careers and turn pro. I’ve been doing an informal survey of my fellow journalists and some coaches, as well as throwing in my own opinion. Here’s what I came up with:

Gone:

TJ Oshie (North Dakota)

Andrew Kozek (North Dakota)

Taylor Chorney (North Dakota)

Ryan Duncan (North Dakota)

Nate Gerbe (BC)

Mark Mitera (Michigan)

Maybe:

Bill Sauer (Michigan)

Chris Summers (Michigan)

Ryan Thang (Notre Dame)

Benn Ferriero (BC)

Matt Watkins (North Dakota)

Chris VandeVelde (North Dakota)

Joe Finley (North Dakota)

Pure speculation. I’ll revisit this list come next September and see how close I and some of the other pundits were.

Thoughts from Friday – Skills Competition

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The skills competition still needs some work, but it’s getting there. I wish there were more emphasis on the players themselves and less on trying to make sure the audience was having “fun”. People I talked to were there for the competition and not the promotions and comments from the various people with mics. My unsolicited advice: interviews with the players and correctly announcing what was going on – good. Trying to get cheers going for East vs. West, left hand people vs. right hand people, kids spinning around on hockey sticks until they get dizzy, etc. – bad.

My hat’s off to St. Norbert’s Kyle Jones, who I had the pleasure of watching pitch back-to-back shutouts in the Division III Frozen Four in Lake Placid a couple of weeks ago. Jones, the Division III Player of the Year, had 25 career shutouts and posted a 1.08 GAA and a .950 save percentage this season.

Jones (#35 in the picture) was the only D-III player in the skills competition, and he proved he could play with the best, not allowing a single goal in any of the skills challenges.

Kyle Jones #35

I ran into his coach, Tim Coghlin, on Thursday night after the semifinals and he said to me, “Maybe three of the four teams tonight could have used Kyle Jones.”

Thoughts from Friday – Hobey and Humanitarian

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No surprise that Keven Porter won the Hobey – he’s been the top choice for most of the season. But it would have been hard to fault the pick of the other two finalists. I can make a case for either Gerbe or Jones, as can most college hockey fans.

The choice of Will Bruce as the recipient of the Hockey Humanitarian must also have been a tough choice for the committee. The finalists all had wonderful credentials and the kids associated with this award continue to amaze me year in and year out in how they manage to balance a college workload, playing a demanding sport, and still have the time to selflessly devote themselves to helping others.

Thoughts from Friday – Lucky Number?

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Friday was its usual mishmash of practices, events and awards. Some random observations:

Lucky Number 7

A nice turnout as usual at the team practices. Both teams looked loose. The question on most people’s minds was why every player on the Fighting Irish wears a “7” on the back of their practice jersey. Junior Luke Lucyk wore Number Seven his freshman and sophomore years, then left the team to return to junior hockey. Back at Notre Dame this season, he’s wearing Number 20. The meaning behind the “7” is a tightly kept secret, known only to the team, so we’re left to venture some guesses:

  • They’re big fans of the movie
  • The Notre Dame online store only had #7s left in stock
  • Jeff Jackson is a big believer in Steven Covey’s Book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
  • Microsoft is sponsoring the team to promote Windows Version 7, coming in 2009, er, 2010, er…
  • The team is lobbying for Jimmy Clausen to be the starting quarterback next season

    • Feel free to come up with your own. One thing I did notice is that Notre Dame’s Motto: “Our Life, Our Sweetness, and Our Hope” has seven words. Hmmm.

    A Freshman Shall Lead Them

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    Coming into this season, Boston College had a big question mark facing them. The Eagles had lost two consecutive national championship games, and junior goaltender Cory Schneider decided to forgo his senior season and sign with the Vancouver Canucks. If Jerry York’s Eagles hoped to contend for the championship again, they would have to rely on an unproven goaltender, freshman John Muse.

    “It’s been awesome,” said Muse. “I can’t say that I thought that I’d play every minute when I started; it was a pleasant surprise. Luckily, we have a great conditioning coach and trainer who helps keep the legs fresh.”

    Muse stepped up beyond expectations in his first year. He played every game for the Eagles in his first season, and did something Schneider was not able to: backstop the Eagles to a national title. Muse was named the all-tournament goalie, and became the first freshman goalie to backstop a team to the national title since Peter Mannino led the Denver Pioneers to their second straight championship in 2005.

    “John’s been unbelievable,” said Eagles’ forward Nathan Gerbe. “He has a championship under his belt his freshman year, and that’s a huge thing to say about him. Some goaltenders couldn’t do that, like Cory Schneider and Scott Clemmensen, and those are two great goalies. John’s an elite goaltender, and he’s one of the most poised kids I’ve ever met. He’s just calm and even when the puck’s in our end; he never panics.”

    Muse made 20 saves against Notre Dame Saturday, several of them difficult stops from in close. The Irish had eight power plays, but were unable to convert on any of them. When they did get down low and put pressure on Muse, he made the big stops. Just as the Sioux found out Thursday, Muse thrives on the pressure.

    John Muse makes a save against Notre Dame. (photo: Candace Horgan.)

    John Muse makes a save against Notre Dame. (photo: Candace Horgan.)

    “He was awesome tonight,” said Notre Dame captain Mark Van Guilder. “He’s been awesome for a while. It’s pretty special for a freshman to do something like that. I thought his team played awesome in front of him too and he made some big saves, and that was the difference.”

    Defenseman and Eagles’ captain Mike Brennan has found Muse to be an asset to all the Eagles defensemen, something that was important Saturday when Carl Sneep was injured early in the first period.

    “I think as a defenseman, when you have a goalie back there who’s so confident and nothing fazes him, a goal goes in, nothing fazes him, and I think when you know that as a defenseman, you have confidence in him, you have confidence in your own zone and you know that he’s going to be there when you have a breakdown, and that’s exactly what he’s done all year for us,” said Brennan. “He’s never wavered, and he’s a big reason why we’ve won this national championship.”

    Early in the third period of Saturday’s game, Notre Dame appeared to score to narrow the gap to one. The goal went to a lengthy video review, and was ultimately disallowed. It was ruled that the puck was kicked in. During the lengthy review, Muse remained focused.

    “I didn’t think it was a goal when I saw it,” said Muse. “It looked like he moved his skates to direct the puck in the net, and luckily they saw the same thing and disallowed it. I just took it as they scored and we were up by one, and it was real nice that they disallowed it. I wouldn’t have gone all crazy if they hadn’t disallowed it.”

    For York, this win sets up an interesting symmetry. In 1984, York coached the Bowling Green Falcons to a national title with a freshman goalie, Gary Kruzich. Asked about any challenges involved in coaching a freshman goalie to a national title, York laughed.

    BC goalie John Muse goes airborne in the title game against Notre Dame (photo: Jim Rosvold.)

    BC goalie John Muse goes airborne in the title game against Notre Dame (photo: Jim Rosvold.)

    “I just try to stay out his way as much as I can,” said York. “Both were excellent players and Gary went on to have a real fine career at Bowling Green. I think John Muse can do the exact same thing at Boston College. John is a real special guy. His poise, he never gets rattled. He played 15-20 games last year at the New England prep school level, and he played 44 games for us this year. When you choose Boston College, you’re going to be under a lot of scrutiny. There’s a lot of pressure on the team to perform and win, and our expectations are very high. To put him in that situation, he’s handled it very well.”

    Having won the national title as a freshman, some might think that Muse has nowhere to go in his collegiate career from here. With many players leaving college early to pursue a pro career, including Muse’s predecessor, Schneider, it might surprise people to know that Muse isn’t thinking that way.

    “I’ve got three more national championships to go from here,” he said with a smile.

    For York and the rest of the Eagles, that is certainly good news.

    West Triumphs In Skills Challenge

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    They went through five competitions, and then the fun started.

    The West won the Frozen Four Skills Challenge 13-6 Friday night at the Pepsi Center, beating the East in the third annual lighthearted event on the eve of the NCAA championship game for seniors who have completed their eligibility.

    It finished up with penalty shots, and Eric Ehn stole the show.

    With the overall result settled, the Air Force forward pulled off a memorable move, kneeling and reaching down to slide the puck back between his legs, then spinning around and knocking the puck in the net.

    “I don’t know where that came from,” Ehn said. “That’s early-morning stuff, when you’re just out there with the guys, in the summertime, trying to get better, thinking up stuff. It kind of comes out. You half fall down, half make a play out of it and you’re like, ‘Hey, maybe if I did that on purpose, it’d be great.'”

    Laughs abound at the Skills Challenge Friday (photo: Melissa Wade).

    Laughs abound at the Skills Challenge Friday (photo: Melissa Wade).

    “I have never seen anything remotely close to that before,” said St. Norbert goaltender Kyle Jones, who watched it with his West teammates. “That was unbelievable. I hope he makes ‘SportsCenter’ top 10 tonight.”

    “He kept it pretty quiet, too,” Denver goaltender Peter Mannino said. “It was pretty funny because he didn’t know what he was going to do, and then, sure enough, he goes and pulls off something like that.”

    It was the highlight of a fun night for the 31 players involved. However, there were other impressive efforts.

    On his way to the net, Colorado College’s Jimmy Kilpatrick lifted the puck in the air, dribbled it on his stick three times and got enough on a swat to send it past Justin Mrazek of Union.

    Wayne State’s Mike Forgie threw his glove up in the air as a distraction, but Mrazek stopped him.

    Mannino had a pair of highlights in one last appearance in front of the home fans. He stopped all three shots he faced in the shootout, the third on a poke check by Rensselaer’s Jake Morissette.

    Morissette’s coach, Seth Appert, a former Denver assistant and the East’s co-coach, threw up his arms to complain about the poke check, but Mannino mockingly signed his stick and gave it to Appert as he skated past the bench.

    During the post-competition mingling on the ice, Mannino enlisted the help of Michigan State’s Daniel Vukovic to dump a water container on Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky, the West co-coach.

    “I needed a big guy to help me out with that water tub,” Mannino said. “But, you know, this is the chance to do it. I’m no longer with Gwoz, so he can’t get too mad at me. I told him right after, ‘I’ll pay for your dry cleaning.’ He can’t get too mad at me.”

    The night helped change the last impressions of Mannino’s senior season.

    “It was a lot of fun,” he said. “Losing in the first round of the [NCAA] tournament left a little sour taste at the end of the season, but to come back in Denver, as big of an occasion and a venue as this, this was pretty cool.”

    Each side got a point in the opening event, the puck control relay. The East’s Sabrina Harbec of St. Lawrence, Morissette and Jennifer Hitchcock of New Hampshire won the first heat. Miami’s Nino Musitelli, Lake Forest’s Courtney DeHoey and Kilpatrick took the second heat.

    The West took a 4-2 lead by claiming three of the four points in the fastest skater competition. Ohio State’s Tessa Bonhomme (4.97 seconds) and Denver’s Andrew Thomas (4.61) won points for the West by having the fastest times in the preliminaries.

    Bonhomme won another point by beating the East’s fastest female skater, New Hampshire’s Martine Garland.

    Providence’s Jon Rheault got the East a point by beating Thomas in the men’s head-to-head skate, clocking a 4.45 from the goal line to the opposite blue line in a re-skate ordered by referee Greg Shepherd because of a false start.

    Hitchcock got the East another point with the hardest women’s shot (76.6 mph).

    “It was a blast,” she said of the experience. “This whole weekend, the Frozen Four in general, we’ve been set up awesome. We get to see great hockey. It’s really cool to come and meet everyone from the other teams.”

    Vukovic fired a shot at 95.8 mph for a West point. The East took another point, making it 5-4, in the hardest shot competition by having the better average speed.

    A pair of perfect goalies earned a point for each team in the rapid shot contest. St. Lawrence’s Meghan Guckian stopped all eight shots for the East; Jones stopped all eight shots, with some help from the goalposts, for the West.

    Jones also stopped all three shots he faced in the shootout, making it a perfect night for the Division III player of the year.

    “It’s fun when you’re on your downtime,” said Jones, who helped the Green Knights to their first national title this season. “But when I’m in the net, I know it’s all business in there. I know I wanted to help pull it off for our team and we pulled it off.”

    The West added another point, making it 7-5, by having the most saves overall from four goaltenders, 28-26.

    Shannon Moulson of Niagara made it golden for the West in the accuracy shot competition, hitting four of five targets in seven shots.

    On the men’s side, Thomas and Army’s Luke Flicek both went 4-for-8; Thomas won a four-shot playoff, 3-1.

    The West made it a clean sweep in accuracy by outscoring the East 12-10 overall, giving it a 10-5 lead.

    The East was credited with a dubious victory in the inaugural event in Milwaukee in 2006; the West actually should have won, but an extra tiebreaking penalty shot was awarded to the East, and the West got revenge in St. Louis last season.

    Gerbe Stars Again, Eagles Hold Two-Goal Lead

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    Boston College is 20 minutes from a national championship, as it holds a 3-1 lead over Notre Dame through two periods of play at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

    All-American Nathan Gerbe, who scored a hat trick in BC’s 6-1 win over North Dakota in the national semifinals, netted the first two goals of the second period to break a scoreless tie. His seven goals in the NCAA tournament have already tied the all-time mark held by three other players.

    The Eagles are in search of their third national title while Notre Dame seeks its first in its inaugural trip to the Frozen Four.

    BC controlled much of the opening period territorially, but the Fighting Irish had the best offensive chances. Christian Hansen had a grade-A bid at 14:30 that BC goaltender John Muse was able to stop short-side.

    On the play, though, Notre Dame drew a penalty to BC’s Matt Greene. The Irish put solid pressure on the Eagles on the ensuing power play but were unable to beat Muse.

    As the penalty expired, a slapshot from the left point hit BC defenseman Carl Sneep in the ankle. He had to be helped from the ice and his status is unknown.

    The Eagles offense, which looked tentative in the first, exploded to start the second. They broke the deadlock when Gerbe one-timed a pass from Brian Gibbons over the left shoulder of Notre Dame goaltender Jordan Pearce at 2:23 to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.

    At 5:37, this time on the power play, Gerbe netted his fifth goal of the Frozen Four and 35th of the season when he sped off the halfboards and poked home the puck before Pearce could cover the left post for a 2-0 lead.

    Gerbe then helped extend the lead to 3-0 when he dished a pass to Joe Whitney, who blasted a shot from the point inside the right post at 8:11 .

    Notre Dame didn’t quit, though. Skating four-on-four, Kevin Deeth worked a perfect give-and-go with Kyle Lawson. Deeth finished the play with a wrist shot over Muse’s blocker to cut the lead to two at 8:11.

    Keys To Victory

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    Game day, almost game time. 60 minutes from a national title.

    The key to today is routine, focus, and demeanor. In coaching there is the philosophy every game as big as the last one and the next one. Today is the last one but needs to be approached by the staffs and players in the way they have approached every other. Thinking of what the postgame looks like when you win could be the first step towards losing. Positive visualization is great, but what you visualize as a player is what you have to do on a shift-by-shift basis. Coaches won’t get sucked into this, these are two veteran staffs who have head coaches and assistants who have won this tourney before.

    There are things that factor into today’s game that I feel are important to track, having seen each time numerous times this season. Here is what could factor in based on the data these teams have provided on ice this season.

    Start with Boston College. BC’s key is getting on runs in a game and never getting off them, or getting knocked off them. Look at the North Dakota game. BC got momentum, sensed they were close to a kill and never took their foot off the throttle. That’s Boston College. They were down 4-1 to UNH in the Hockey East semifinals and got a break, scored to cut the lead to 4-2, and then were off and running.

    BC is also a good momentum swing team as evidenced by their game in the regional semifinal against Minnesota. There were parts of the game during which Minnesota probably wished they had brought their own puck because they didn’t touch the one provided by the NCAA. However that second period saw Minnesota get its game going and saw BC lose some momentum. However, they withstood the run by Minnesota and eventually took the game over and won it.

    BC brings several things to the table. They are very good faceoff recovery team. They do lose some draws at key times but are very good at getting to those areas where pucks are and either getting them back or neutralizing the loss of the draw.

    The Eagles have the nastiest defense in the country and that’s something you don’t think of when you think BC. Head coach Jerry York always has teams that backcheck and gap well so that they are a defensive presence. This group of defensemen is big, mean, tough, nasty, and smart physically. You can see in games BC has played that they protect the front of the net well by using that size and agility.

    Mike Brennan is a throwback. He is an on-ice leader who finishes every hit and is very good in front. Nick Petrecki is a monster at 6-foot-3 and is still growing. Carl Sneep has size and agility and angles very well until he get you close and eliminate you. Tim Filangieri is as physical, smart, and competitive as any defenseman in the nation. In Anthony Aiello and Tim Kunes you get two disciplined defenseman who can also think offense.

    Teams have actually become intimidated by BC’s defense as games wear on. They spend a ton of time trying to get to the net, pay a physical price to do it, can’t, and stop trying. Then they’ll try to create off the cycle or play off the walls and get outmuscled. It’s a tough corps to deal with and will be a factor for Notre Dame to deal with. This might be the best defense they have played against all season and there were several good ones in the CCHA. BC is very different than Michigan or UNH because they don’t sell out as much defensively to support their offense. It’s a good team in terms of balancing their defensive-zone coverage and transition to offense.

    John Muse has been solid in going wire to wire in net. His rebound control is very good and his positioning eliminates a lot of goals that goalies who play deeper are susceptible to. He is in command and does not get rattled easily. He is very much Cory Schneider in terms of demeanor and has had a Schneider like season.

    Up front they have survived the loss of Brock Bradford and still keep going. They are deep and have been able to keep three bona fide scorers like Nathan Gerbe, Benn Ferriero, and Danny Bertram on separate lines to keep matching up a defense pair against a scoring line very tough. They can come at you four strong and their fourth line was their best in period one early against North Dakota. Matt Lombardi can play for me any day and that line is in your face and can do things with the puck.

    BC won’t be nervous and has no issues with back to back losses in this game. They have a staff that won’t get nervous if they get down a goal because as they showed against Miami, they can score in bunches and that goes back to what was mentioned earlier in that they can survive down swings and get momentum back on their side.

    Notre Dame is now further into unchartered waters but took a huge step against Michigan in their semi final game. Winning in OT is a big deal, but winning they way they did, after blowing a big lead and then a late lead. Notre Dame has issues with lead protection and BC has no problem playing from way behind.

    For BC, Notre Dame will remind them a bit of Miami and Minnesota in terms of commitment to defense, but in looking back at Hockey East they are very much like Vermont. Notre Dame can have trouble at times handling offensive speed but they best two defensemen in the game in terms of playing rush are Teddy Ruth and Brock Sheehan and I guess they see Nathan Gerbe when Notre Dame can get a matchup. ND also has a solid mobile and big defense but they do give up more grade a chances than BC does on average.

    For Notre Dame, they also have an ability to snuff out momentum and against Michigan they were on the verge of losing their 3-2 lead right after the 3-2 goal because Michigan was on fire. However, ND buckled down and settled the game down and were able to slow the pace. Huge key again for them.

    So, to the X’s and O’s and intangibles.

    Boston College wins if:

    1) They set the tempo and keep the game up tempo. ND proved they can skate with elite offensive teams but BC has that capability to control a game wire to wire when they skate.
    2) Be physical in their own zone. BC has owned their own zone most of the year.
    3) Penalty kill. ND’s power play is average and BC should win the special teams game in this area.
    4) They get good lead. Playing from behind isn’t Notre Dame’s forte.

    Notre Dame wins if:

    1) They win big shifts. Shifts after killing a penalty, shifts after goals for/against. Shifts late in periods. This is an area ND has been strong in.
    2) To counter the special teams, ND needs to make sure BC puts up bagels on the power play because BC will score even strength. Allowing a power play goal makes the hole bigger.
    3) Forecheck. ND is a good forecheck team but an even better NZ team with their 3rd man high and wing lock system. If they can keep BC wide and not allow the rush to develop speed they can be very effective in keeping the goals off the board.
    4) Smart puck play. Like Michigan, BC will kill you in transition and ND is a good puck team so they need to make sure pucks get in and they can use their size to create chances.

    Bottom line is both teams are loose and no one expected either to be here. ND is more the team playing with house money but BC has no problem playing as a favorite. If ND keeps Nathan Gerbe in check they’ll have a great chance to win. However, Gerbe is as focused as I have seen him in three years. He has a big game. BC wins.

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