St. Lawrence celebrates its first trip to the NCAA tournament since 2007 and first ECAC Hockey title since 2001 (photo: Rob Rasmussen).
One of the oddest seasons in ECAC Hockey history ended with one of the most unlikely league champions.
Third-seeded St. Lawrence beat No. 1 Quinnipiac 3-2 in overtime Saturday at the Frank Perrotti Jr. Arena to win the ECAC Hockey championship and advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2007.
It was the second straight overtime game for the Saints, who beat Colgate 5-4 Thursday to advance to the league title game for the first time since 2001. Those back-to-back playoff wins came after St. Lawrence ended the regular season on a 0-5-1 stretch and hadn’t played since Feb. 27 due to a COVID-19 shutdown.
With only four teams playing this year in ECAC Hockey, Quinnipiac advanced to the title game when Clarkson ended its season earlier this month after members of the team violated COVID-19 protocols.
David Jankowski scored the game-winning goal 3:44 into overtime, while goalie Emil Zetterquist finished with 24 saves for the Saints. Kaden Pickering and Justin Paul had the other St. Lawrence goals, while Odeen Tufto and Wyatt Bongiovanni scored for Quinnipiac.
Keith Petruzzelli had 25 saves for the Bobcats (17-7-4), who will likely get an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament next week.
“We had nothing to lose,” Zetterquist said. “That helps a lot going into those situations. Honestly, I love being there. You literally have nothing to lose. It’s just awesome every chance you get to play in overtime.”
St. Lawrence trailed 2-1 entering the third after Tufto and Bongiovanni scored twelve seconds apart early in the second period to put the Bobcats ahead.
“It’s going to happen,” Saints coach Brent Brekke said of Quinnipiac scoring two quick goals. “Over the course of coaching, the one thing that you find is that teams that are great, they usually don’t score just one, they score two. Just knowing that, you have to be able to rebound. Our guys stay focused and didn’t get frustrated.”
The Saints tied it when Luc Salem launched a shot from the point that bounced off Petruzzelli and to a waiting Paul, who put it in the net at 16:22 in the third.
Jankowski won it for the Saints early on in the overtime period, skating along the left wall before cutting towards the middle and lofting a shot through several Quinnipiac skaters and into the past Petruzzelli at 3:44.
“Our coaching staff talks a lot about getting to the middle and trying to get something on net, maybe trying to expose them that way,” said Jankowski, who also added an assist earlier in the game . “I tried to pick a spot and I fell down and didn’t really see it go in and then I heard the reaction and that’s all that I remember.”
The Saints, who didn’t start their season until Dec. 31, have been in six overtime games and had thirteen games decided by one goal or fewer. At 6-8-3, the Saints are the sixth team in Division 1 men’s hockey history to make the NCAA tournament with a sub-.500 record and the first since Alabama Huntsville in 2010.
“Last year we were in a ton of close games and I feel like every game this year has been a one-goal game,” Jankowski said. “We talk about it as a team and our leadership group and how we have to be a lot better than we were last year. I think we’ve proved that we’ve gotten better at it. That was definitely a focus point coming into the year.”
St. Lawrence came out strong in the opening minutes of the game and took a 1-0 lead when Pickering put home a rebound at 3:07 in the first. The Saints outshot the Bobcats 7-4 in the opening period.
“They were excited,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said of St. Lawrence. “Our guys were nervous and we shouldn’t be. We talked all week about confidence and dealing with adversity. I thought we stunk in the first, period, just stunk.”
For St. Lawrence, the league title came after a rough three-year stretch where the program won a combined eighteen games and saw Brekee take over after Mark Morris was fired following the 2018-19 season.
“To go out in a way like … we’ve been through a lot,” senior captain Dylan Woolf said. “It means a lot to every one of us.”
NOTES: It was the third straight season that the ECAC championship game went to overtime, a league record…Bongiovanni was in the lineup for Quinnipiac for the first time since Dec. 27 after missing time with an injury. He has five goals in eight games this season. “He did well,” Pecknold said. “He’s a goal scorer; it would have been great to have him for the whole season and have him [at 100 percent] He’s not there right now. For the percentage that he’s at and playing tonight, I was really happy.”
Junior goalie Emil Zetterquist and the Saints beat Colgate in overtime Thursday to advance to the league championship for the first time since 2001. (photo: C A Hill Photo).
Last time: 1-0
Overall: 20-22-7
Here we go. The abbreviated ECAC Hockey tournament comes to an end today, when top-seeded Quinnipiac hosts No. 3 St. Lawrence at 4 p.m. for the championship game. I’ll keep it simple in this post; here’s a link to a more detailed breakdown of the playoffs. I had the Saints advancing past Colgate, but the Bobcats have been the unquestioned top team in ECAC Hockey all season. St. Lawrence should give them a game, but this is Quinnipiac’s title to lose.
Rich McKenna achieved his goal this season of leading UW-Superior to a WIAC championship. (Photo courtesy of UW-Superior Athletics)
Rich McKenna had a five-year plan in mind when he arrived as the new head coach of Wisconsin-Superior’s men’s hockey team in 2016.
Consider that plan executed to perfection. Even in a season where the COVID-19 pandemic presented added challenges to the fold, the Yellowjackets were able to navigate their way through them to win the WIAC tournament championship.
Last week on the road against reigning national champion Wisconsin-Stevens Point, UW-Superior rallied for a 3-2 win over the Pointers to claim their first title since 2011 and eighth WIAC crown overall.
“It’s icing on the cake,” McKenna said.
Indeed it was. McKenna remembers the beginning of this journey quite well and achieving the goal in a different kind of year makes the title that much more special.
“I put a five-year plan together in the interview process, and this (a WIAC championship) was the last thing we had to attain,” McKenna said. “In an unconventional year, where we had a lot of obstacles to get around, we were able to do it. I’m proud of the guys.”
It didn’t come easy. UW-Superior had to go on the road to play the last team to win a national championship. The Pointers won it all in 2019. A champ wasn’t crowned in 2020 because of the pandemic.
They lost 5-3 to the Pointers back on Feb. 17 after falling behind 2-0 in the opening period. And now the Yellowjackets found themselves down 2-0 again.
“The guys never wavered,” McKenna said. “Their belief never wavered.”
Goals by Coltyn Bates and Chad Lopez tied the score at 2-2 before Levi Cudmore scored the game winner.
“You can’t really measure mental toughness. It’s not a numbers thing,” McKenna said. “It’s something you have to develop. You’ve got to have it to be successful.”
It was mental toughness that helped carry the Yellowjackets through a season where games weren’t guaranteed.
“We had the mindset that every day was a gift,” McKenna said. “There were teams that weren’t playing this season, and our athletic director said we are going to play. We just have to figure it out. I told our guys let’s stay in the moment, and not just get through today, but thrive today. The guys embraced it, and that comes back to mental toughness.”
That didn’t mean it was easy. Players went to school and to practice, and of course played games, and that was the extent of how much they saw each other day to day.
“The mental health of our kids was always a concern. They didn’t get a chance to know their teammates on a more intimate level, but they made the best of what they could do and made the most of it, and that transpired to a WIAC championship.”
UW-Superior finished the year 7-3, winning its last four games. It’s the second consecutive winning season for the Yellowjackets under the direction of McKenna, who said the WIAC is a league he’s always wanted to coach in.
“When the job came up, I went after it and got it, and part of the reason I wanted to be here was because of the resources we have,” McKenna said. “We’re right there with the best of them with resources and with what the school provides us and what the athletic department demands of us. It’s the reason we’ve been able to continue to build every year.”
Ten players tallied five or more points, with Artur Terchiyev and Paul Mikhasenok leading the way with 10 points apiece. Terchiyev scored three goals to along with seven assists while Mikhasenok scored one goal and dished out nine assists.
Lopez led the Yellowjackets in goals scored (seven). Johnson ranked second in goals (five).
Oscar Svensson and Myles Hektor combined for seven wins, with Hektor winning in all four of his starts between the pipes.
“Our guys always responded and always took on the challenge that myself or my staff put in front of them and went for it,” McKenna said. “I’m really proud of the way they accepted the challenges, made the adjustments that needed to be made and stayed in the moment every day. You can talk about that all day long.”
Northern Michigan pulled Friday’s biggest upset routing top-seeded Minnesota State, 5-1, in the WCHA semifinals. Joseph Nardi (above) posted a goal and two assists to lead all scorers (Photo: Jim Rosvold)
André Ghantous scored twice and freshman netminder Rico DiMatteo stopped 28 shots to lead sixth-seeded Northern Michigan a major upset of top-seeded Minnesota State, 5-1, in the opening semifinal of the WCHA Championship.
Northern Michigan will meet Lake Superior State in Saturday’s title game.
“Going into this weekend we knew we had a tall task ahead of us,” Northern Michigan head coach Grant Potulny said following the game. “Playing one of the best teams in the country, if not the best, in their home building we knew we had to play a flawless game.
“I thought from the beginning of the game right to the end, starting with our leadership, we had discipline in our structure, we had discipline individually in staying out of the penalty box and I thought our goalie was outstanding.”
Northern Michigan jumped to a 1-0 lead through one on Ghantous’ first goal of the game. But then it was a second-period explosion, four goals in the first 13 minutes of the frame, that blew open the contest.
The heavily favored Mavericks got a third-period goal from Reggie Lutz for a glimmer of hope in a frame in which Minnesota State held a 13-2 shot advantage. But the damage was done in the second creating far too tough of a hill to climb.
“There were some moments when the game was still up for grabs, and even in the third when they had their big push, that’s a team that can score in bunches,” said Potulny, “and I thought Rico did a really good job making some really timely saves.”
Joseph Nardi led all scorers with a goal and two assists, while and Ghantous’ two goals gives him nine on the season, all coming since January 25.
For Minnesota State, there is reason for concern. The Mavericks are certainly a lock for the NCAA tournament but now must regroup in the next week before facing a regional opponent still looking for the program’s for NCAA Division I tournament win.
“You have to look in the mirror,” said Mavericks coach Mike Hastings. “I told the guys we have to own our performance whether it’s good or bad. We didn’t handle today very well. We have to recognize what happened and flush it. Because we don’t have a lot of time to dwell.”
No. 17 Lake Superior 4, No. 13 Bemidji State 1
The Lake Superior offense struck early and often and limited what had been a red-hot Bemidji State team to just 27 shots, 13 coming in the third, as the Lakers advanced to the WCHA finals with a 4-1 victory over the Beavers.
Lake Superior built a 3-0 lead through two periods on a first period tally by Brandon Puricelli and two goals in the middle frame by Jacob Bengtsson and Hampus Eriksson.
When Lucas Kaelble extended the lead to 4-0 early in the third, even a late goal by Bemidji State’s Ethan Somoza could keep the Lakers from smelling the finals and their chance to capture their first WCHA title.
The Lakers won four CCHA tournament titles but hasn’t won a postseason tournament since 1995.
Atlantic Hockey
No. 15 AIC 2, Niagara 1
Top-seeded AIC held serve in Friday’s Atlantic Hockey opener, though needed a late third period goal to earn a 2-1 win over a very pesky Niagara team.
The Yellow Jackets, which hadn’t played a game since January 31 due to cancelations related to COVID, never held a lead until Justin Cole scored with 5:41 remaining in regulation.
Niagara, in fact, led the game heading to the third period on a Walker Sommer goal at 17:50 of the second.
But AIC found their jets in the third, holding a 12-5 shot advantage.
Elijah Barriga finally solved Niagara goaltender Chad Veltri at 11:22 of the third to even the game at one. That set up Cole’s game winner to advance the hosts to the title game.
Stefano Durante earned the win in goal for AIC stopping 17 of 18 shots.
Canisius 4, No. 19 Army 3 (OT)
J.D. Pogue’s goal at 13:23 of overtime ended a back-and-forth semifinal battle and gave Canisius the 4-3 victory over Army.
The Golden Griffs will face AIC in Saturday’s title game.
Max Kouznetsov sent the game to overtime scoring on the power play for the Griffs with 5:53 remaining in regulation. That came after Army’s Thomas Farrell and Matt Berkovitz each tallied in the first half for the third to give Army the lead.
The Black Knights scored the only goal of the first period, a tally from Jake Felker. But the second period belonged to Canisius as Simon Gravel tied the game at 6:02 and Mitchell Martan gave the Griffs their first lead just 46 seconds later.
Jacob Barczewski earned the win in goal for Canisius making 26 saves.
The loss puts Army, a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament, into extreme peril to secure an at-large bid. Canisius will need to win on Saturday to punch its first NCAA ticket since 2013.
Grace Bowlby and Wisconsin play in the national title game Saturday against Northeastern (photo: Troy Parla).
The top 12 women’s hockey players in the nation have been recognized as CCM/AHCA All-Americans for the 2020-21 season.
FIRST TEAM
G – Aerin Frankel, SR, Northeastern
D – Grace Bowlby, SR, Wisconsin
D – Skylar Fontaine, SR, Northeastern
F – Alina Mueller, JR, Northeastern
F – Danielle Serdachny, SO, Colgate
F – Daryl Watts, SR, Wisconsin
SECOND TEAM
G – Emma Soderberg, JR, Minnesota Duluth
D – Cayla Barnes, JR, Boston College
D – Ashton Bell, SR, Minnesota Duluth
F – Chloe Aurard, JR, Northeastern
F – Kiara Zanon, FR, Penn State
F – Grace Zumwinkle, SR, Minnesota
After finishing as national runner-up a year ago, Northeastern’s Dave Flint is the 2021 national women’s coach of the year award winner (photo: Northeastern Athletics).
Northeastern’s Dave Flint has been named the national women’s college hockey coach of the year.
This recognition is the first such honor for Flint, who was the runner-up for this award last year.
Flint is in his 12th season behind the bench for the Huskies and has led Northeastern to its first-ever national championship game.
Flint captured the Hockey East coach of the year for the third straight season and has led the top-ranked Huskies to a 22-1-1 record, including a 3-2 overtime win over No. 5 seed Minnesota Duluth in the NCAA semifinals and a 5-1 win over Robert Morris in the NCAA quarterfinals. The win over RMU led Northeastern to its first-ever women’s Frozen Four.
“Congratulations to all the great coaches that were nominated,” said Flint in a statement. “I am honored and humbled but this award is a testament to my amazing staff and team, without them we don’t achieve the success that we have had this season.”
Under Flint’s guidance, the Huskies lead the nation in goals scored (103), shutouts (10) and scoring margin (+3.50), while also only allowing three power-play goals in 63 chances and scoring a NCAA-best seven shorthanded goals.
Northeastern leads the country with a 22-game unbeaten streak and the Huskies won their fourth consecutive Hockey East championship this season. Flint holds the Hockey East all-time record with a tournament record of 27-8 (.771) and Northeastern has a Hockey East-best seven championship game appearances over the last 11 years.
Northeastern goalie Aerin Frankel has the Huskies in the Frozen Four title game tomorrow night with Wisconsin (photo: Jim Pierce).
The Women’s Hockey Commissioners Association has announced that Northeastern senior Aerin Frankel has been selected as the first recipient of the women’s college hockey goalie of the year award.
Voting was carried out by a panel of coaches, administrators and members of the media from across the country. Frankel’s selection was unanimous.
A native of Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., Frankel has set the standard for goaltenders across the country all year. The only goaltender among the ten finalists for this year’s Patty Kazmaier Award, Frankel leads the NCAA in save percentage (.967), GAA (0.76) wins (20) and shutouts (9). Her 20th win came on Thursday when she stopped 26 shots in a 3-2 overtime semifinal win over Minnesota Duluth.
Next up for the Huskies is the women’s national championship game Saturday night against Wisconsin.
In addition to Frankel, the other finalists for the award were Penn State freshman Josie Bothun and Maine senior Loryn Porter.
Penn State freshman Kiara Zanon tallied 10 goals among 30 points this season for the Nittany Lions (photo: Penn State Athletics).
For her efforts in a phenomenal rookie season, Penn State freshman forward Kiara Zanon has been chosen by the nation’s assistant coaches as the women’s college hockey rookie of the year.
A native of Fairport, N.Y., Zanon led all NCAA first-year players with 10 goals and 20 assists for 30 points. In the process, she led Penn State in points and assists and was instrumental in the Nittany Lions’ 16-3-2 season.
She was previously recognized as the CHA rookie of the year and player of the year.
Prior to this honor, Zanon was named one of the ten finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award, given annually to the best player in women’s college hockey. Zanon is the only freshman among this year’s finalists and is the first Penn State player to earn this recognition.
The national women’s rookie of the year is chosen by a vote of the NCAA Division I schools’ assistant coaches, with one vote per staff. The names on the ballot are each conference’s rookie of the year.
The runner-up for this year’s award is Colgate goalie Kayle Osborne.
Whew, we have made it to the WCHA Tournament. Four teams are left and that means two semifinal matchups full of intrigue followed by a championship contest by the two left standing after Friday’s games.
Semifinals
Minnesota State vs. Northern Michigan
Jack: NMU is the only team still in this tournament that needs to win to have a shot at the NCAA Tournament. Although anything can happen in a one-and-done situation, NMU’s previous games against the Mavs don’t exactly breed confidence. Plus, the Mavs have been almost impossible to beat at home. I can’t pick against them this year. Minnesota State 4, Northern Michigan 1
Daver: Boy, what the Wildcats did to Bowling Green in two out of the three games they played was extremely impressive. However, expecting the same result against the Mavericks seems unlikely. I think this is where their Cinderella story ends. Minnesota State 2, Northern Michigan 0
Lake Superior State vs. Bemidji State
Jack: This one could go either way. And both teams have plenty to play for. I think there’s a chance either team could still be in the NCAA’s without winning here, but they’d both love to leave no doubt with an extra victory. While I think this is basically a coin flip, my gut tells me the Lakers win a close one in overtime. Lake Superior State 3, Bemidji State 2 (OT)
Daver: As good as the Beavers looked in dismantling Michigan Tech last weekend, I really like what Damon Whitten has done at Lake Superior State. With a possible NCAA berth on the line for both teams, I think this game is full of intrigue, and you cannot ask for any more than that. I think the Lakers have the edge here, but it will be close. Lake Superior State 3, Bemidji State 1
Finals
Minnesota State vs. Lake Superior State
Jack: The Lakers only played the Mavericks twice but their results weren’t great (few teams have had success against them). I’m thinking they play better this time around but MSU is still going to complete the double and win the tournament title, too. Minnesota State 3, Lake Superior 2
Daver: As much as I like the Lakers this season, I just don’t see this one happening. The Mavericks are too deep, and unless McKay gets injured in the semifinals, I cannot count them out. Lake Superior will give them a good game, but I like the Mavericks in this one. Minnesota State 3, Lake Superior State 1
ERIE, Pa. – The Wisconsin Badgers women’s hockey team earned the chance to become the latest back-to-back champion with a 4-2 win over Ohio State Thursday night.
It was the sixth meeting between these familiar foes this season. While the teams had traded wins during the regular season, Wisconsin has taken both post-season matchups against the Buckeyes. They beat OSU in overtime two weeks ago to win the WCHA tournament championship.
Caitlin Schneider and Casey O’Brien celebrate Schneider’s second-period goal in Wisconsin’s 4-2 win over Ohio State in the national semifinal on Thursday. Photo: Robert Frank
Wisconsin staked a 3-0 lead in Thursday’s national semifinal and that proved too difficult for Ohio State to surmount. Four of the five games these teams played this year were decided by a single goal, which made the Badgers’ lead all the more surprising. The Buckeyes clawed back in the third period to close the lead to the familiar one-goal gap, but Daryl Watts’ empty-netter at the end of the game made this a 4-2 win.
Though the teams are familiar with each other, Buckeye coach Nadine Muzzerall said her team was nervous and jittery in the first period. No matter how much you prepare, the national tournament is just different. The big stage and a national tv audience added to the importance of the game.
It didn’t help that Wisconsin scored on their first shot of the game in the opening 90 seconds of the match. The puck actually went in the net on a deflection of an OSU defender’s skate, but freshman Makenna Webster got credit for it as she was crashing the net as the same time as the defender.
Webster, rookie Casey O’Brien and senior Caitlin Schneider were a force for the Badgers in this game as their line was responsible for the first three UW goals. But coach Mark Johnson said he felt the three had been improving all season and the team felt their impact particularly over the final six or so games of the season.
Getting contributions from different sources and utilizing their depth is part of what makes Wisconsin so dangerous. Webster is eighth on the team in scoring and this was just the second goal of O’Brien’s career. Schneider nearly doubled her season output on Thursday – she had a goal and three assists before adding a goal and two more assists in the semifinal.
O’Brien scored the second goal on a great dish from Schneider from behind the net. O’Brien had eluded her defender and had a wide open look at the back post to double the lead.
The third goal was a group effort from all three. Schneider forced a turnover at the Badger blue line and quickly dished it forward to Webster as the women quickly moved in transition. They moved the puck from right to left and it ended up with Schneider with her own open look at the back post to make it a 3-0 lead.
Ohio State responded by out-shooting the Badgers 29-13 in the second and third periods. Kennedy Blair was stellar in net for Wisconsin, keeping the Buckeyes off the board until well into the third frame. Gabby Rosenthal took advantage of botched coverage and Blair dropping a puck to put the Buckeyes on the board. A few minutes later, OSU got an odd-player rush in on Blair and the puck deflected in. Sara Saekkinen was credited with the goal.
Johnson’s favorite phrase for his team this week is that the “bend, but don’t break.” The Badgers let Ohio State start to climb back into the game, but did not surrender the lead. In the end, the Badgers cleared a puck out that looked like it was headed for the Buckeyes’ empty net in the final minute. OSU was able to clear it, but Daryl Watts blocked the attempt to leave the zone and found herself with a free shot to ice the win for Wisconsin.
The Badgers will face top seed Northeastern for the No. 1 vs. No. 2 battle many have been waiting for. With no interconference play during the regular season this year, it’s been difficult to gauge exactly how good teams are relative to each other. So it comes down to a winner-take-all faceoff between the top two teams in the country.
The national championship game will be played Saturday, March 20 at 7:30 pm eastern time. It will be televised on ESPNU.
In a crazy back-and-forth game, Cameron Buhl’s second goal of the game at 8:07 of overtime gave St. Lawrence a 5-4 win over Colgate and an ECAC title game date at Quinnipiac on Saturday (Photo: Courtesy St. Lawrence)
Cameron Buhl’s second goal of the game at 8:07 of overtime ended an epic battle between St. Lawrence and Colgate and gave the Saints a 5-4 victory and a date with top-seed Quinnipiac on Saturday.
The Bobcats were given a bye to the title game when Clarkson chose to end its season last week.
Both teams struck in the first on goals by Tucker McIntosh for the Larries and Josh McKenhney for Colgate.
But the Raiders took a 3-2 lead into the third when Buhl’s first of the night for St. Lawrence was sandwiched between goals by Colgate’s Jeff Stewart and Evan Tuchumi.
Dylan Wooly evened the score at 4:36 of the third before McIntosh brought the Saints back on top with his second at 5:45.
Colgate, though, had the answer and tied the game on Tyler Jeanson’s goal with 9:47 remaining to force the overtime.
Emil Zetterquist was the story for St. Lawrence, finishing the game with 39 saves, including everything he faced in overtime when the Saints were outshot, 9-1.
This Week’s Picks*: *All games are subject to change.
Atlantic Hockey Tournament Semifinal Round Friday, March 19 Canisius vs. Army West Point Dan: It would take a crazy person to pick against the Black Knights given how they’ve played over the past couple of months. They’re cruising and haven’t really stopped, and their style lends itself to a big time postseason run. They took three-of-four from Canisius last year with the only loss coming in overtime. In all honesty, I just can’t believe we’re seeing crossover (finally). Army West Point wins. Chris: Seriously, how can you pick against Army at this point? I expect a low-scoring affair with the Black Knights finding a way to win, as they have for thirteen straight (12-0-1 with a shootout victory). Army West Point wins.
Niagara at American International Dan: AIC hasn’t played in almost two months, but Eric Lang indicated his team has practiced to be ready for this exact situation. I think there will be some rust early, and Niagara likely pounces on it, but even Cinderella’s glass slipper won’t fit after the Yellow Jackets right themselves. There’s a reason AIC barely lost to anybody this year, and even though Niagara is catching fire at the right time, the east is just so powerful. AIC wins. Chris: This will be intriguing for sure. AIC hasn’t play since January 30, a span of 49 days that saw Niagara play eight games, including four last week. Things could get off to a rocky start but the Yellow Jackets have enough talent to overcome the long layoff. AIC wins.
Championship Game Saturday, March 20 Canisius/Army West Point vs. Niagara/AIC Dan: I wish I could go back in time for a number of reasons, but I would love to go back anywhere from 7-10 years and tell myself that in 2021, two eastern teams would finish 1-2 in the standings despite playing in the same division and would dominate the league. I’d probably believe a team was a three-time regular season champion, but there’s no way I’d believe it was AIC. That said, I love an AIC-Army West Point championship game, and I love the idea of a two-team bid. That said, both would go on merit, and it’s based on pure hockey when I offer this one up. Army West Point wins its first Atlantic Hockey banner. Chris: Nothing ever goes exactly as planned, and while I think the top two teams in the league will play in the title game, I’m going for an upset here and possibly both teams in the NCAA tournament. Army West Point wins.
ERIE, Pa. – The Northeastern Huskies advanced to their first-ever NCAA championship game with a 3-2 overtime win over Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs Thursday night at Erie Insurance Arena.
Senior defender Skylar Fontaine intercepted a pass at the blue line and skated across the goal before shooting back at the far post to beat UMD goalie Emma Soderberg and win the game for Northeastern with 26 seconds left in the overtime period.
The Huskies came from behind and scored three unanswered goals to advance to Saturday’s title game. They’ll face the winner of semifinal number two between Wisconsin and Ohio State.
Northeastern’s Katy Knoll scores the game-tying goal in the NCAA semi-final on Thursday afternoon. Photo: NU Athletics
“We’re thrilled for the opportunity to play in our first ever national championship game. I’m proud of my team, their resiliency going down 2-0 and battling back to win in overtime today,” said Northeastern coach Dave Flint.
The top team in the country, Northeastern started this game slowly and looked to be in trouble. Minnesota Duluth flustered them and dominated the shot chart and puck possession in the first period.
The Bulldogs were relentless on the Huskies, pressuring them in every part of the ice and forcing them to make quick decisions, something Flint said his team was unprepared for.
“They were all over us in the first. We just weren’t moving our feet. We hadn’t seen that speed in awhile. They were doing a good job of taking away time and space. We weren’t making good decisions with the puck,” he said.
UMD had the Huskies on their heels, but could not convert in the opening frame, something coach Maura Crowell said it would be easy to look back and say was important, but her team had a lot of other opportunities to score throughout the game.
Northeastern goalie Aerin Frankel has already been named Goalie of the Year and today was named a Patty Kazmaier top-3 finalist and she showed why, especially early on in this game. She was stellar with her glove hand in particular, nabbing everything Minnesota Duluth put on her cleanly.“The style we play is pretty wide open and we’re gonna give up some odd man rushes. We rely on (Frankel) to bail us out in some situations and she did that today. Even when we had a slow start, she kept it 0-0. If we go into the first intermission down one or two, it might have been a different game,” said Flint.
Sophomore Mannon McMahon finally broke it open for the Bulldogs midway through the second. A puck deflected off a Northeastern player’s skate out to Kailee Skinner at the top of the circles. She would up for what looked like a slapshot, but purposefully hit the puck off the back boards. Frankel was tied up on the opposite side of the crease, leaving space for McMahon to get the puck off the boards and score. It was McMahon’s first goal this year.
Junior Taylor Anderson said that is a play the Bulldogs practice and her teammates performed it to perfection.
Five minutes later, Anderson doubled the UMD lead on a play that was set up beautifully by senior Anna Klein, who carried the puck through the neutral zone with speed. She took it wide and ran into a bit of traffic along the back boards before playing it to herself and coming around the other side of the net and trying to backhand it in. The puck hit the post and deflected out to Anderson, who took one touch and picked her spot to beat Frankel.
But things began to unravel for UMD towards the end of the second as Northeastern had a 5-on-3 power play that straddled the period break. They capitalized just 42 seconds into the third, just after the first penalty expired and that seemed to give the team a jolt.
Maureen Murphy slotted home a pass from Fontaine to make it a one-goal game.
Suddenly the smooth-skating, confidence team that entered the game undefeated in 21 games started to emerge. Less than five minutes later, they took advantage of some Minnesota Duluth mistakes to even the score.
The Bulldogs weren’t able to hold the puck in the offensive zone which allowed Northeastern to go on offense. UMD looked to have possession back behind the net, but Veronika Pettey fed it out to Andrea Renner. Her shot was blocked by Maggie Flaherty, but the puck fell to the slot and Katy Knoll had a moment to collect it and size up the net before scoring and tying the game.
“I love the way we started. We came out flying, put a lot of pressure on them,” said Crowell. “The momentum shifted at the beginning of the third. We weathered it. I liked our effort in OT. I thought we got better and better. It comes down to making plays and they made one more than we did.”
Northeastern controlled the puck and the momentum in the third and but UMD weathered the push and the teams played a much more even overtime period.
It was fitting that it was Fontaine that ended it. She ended the game with 16 shots on goal, more than double anyone else in the game.
“When we had four shots in the first period, I said we have to start getting pucks to the net, so if you have a shot, there’s no bad shot. If you have an opportunity, get the puck to the net. I guess Skylar took that to heart,” said Flint.
It was a tough way to end the Bulldogs’ season, but Crowell said she and her team are holding their heads high.
“We could have won that hockey game. We belong,” she said. “Our performances speak for themselves.”
Northeastern extended their unbeaten streak to 22 games. They’ll play for the national championship Saturday night at 7:30 pm eastern on ESPNU.
Minnesota goalie Jack LaFontaine has the Gophers in the NCAA tournament after winning the Big Ten tournament earlier this week (photo: Jim Rosvold).
We’re inching ever so close to Selection Sunday so let’s take another look at Bracketology.
Right now, there are just nine college hockey games remaining after the NCHC (North Dakota) and Big Ten (Minnesota) crowned their champions. Hockey East has whittled their field to two teams, ECAC is down to three and WCHA and AHA still have their final four to be played.
To cut down to the length, Jayson and Jim are simply going to walk through our process and develop our current NCAA regional field, beginning this week with Jayson:
Jayson: Let’s take a look at who I think is in the field already. These are my locks. This week, I have 12 of them.
AIC
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Michigan
Quinnipiac
Boston College
Massachusetts
North Dakota
St. Cloud State
Minnesota Duluth
Minnesota State
Bemidji State
Let me skip ahead and look at the teams that need to win its conference tournament in order to get in. Some of these teams are also on the bubble.
Army
Niagara
Canisius
St Lawrence
Colgate
UMass Lowell
Lake Superior State
Northern Michigan
If any of these teams win its tournament, they will grab the autobid and one of the four bubble spots available – there are four possible autobids available here.
Now let’s look at the true bubble teams. I count nine of them.
Army West Point
Notre Dame
Boston University
Providence
Connecticut
Denver
Omaha
Bowling Green
Lake Superior State
The only teams left playing are Army and Lake Superior – win and in. Simple for it. But, a loss in the semifinal and I find it hard for Army to get in, while Lake Superior still has a chance.
I want to apply some numbers to what I am looking at here. Let’s take a look at some of the records of these teams against locks or bubble teams that are above them in seedings or standings.
Notre Dame (0-3-1 vs Wisconsin, 2-2 vs Minnesota, 2-2 vs Michigan)
Omaha (2-4-0 vs North Dakota, 1-1 vs SCSU, 0-1-1 vs UMD)
Denver (2-5 vs NoDak, 0-2 vs SCSU, 0-2 vs UMD)
LSSU (0-2 vs Minnesota State, 1-2-1 vs Bemidji (WCHA Semi coming), 2-0 vs BG)
Bowling Green (0-2 vs Minnesota State, 1-3 vs Bemidji St, 0-2 vs LSSU)
BU (1-1 vs BC, 2-0 vs UMass)
UConn (1-2-1 vs BC, 0-1 vs BU, 0-2-1 vs UMass, 2-2 vs Prov)
Providence (0-2 vs BC, 0-2-2 vs UMass, 1-1 vs BU, 2-2 vs UConn)
Army (1-3 vs AIC)
Let me eliminate some teams to start.
Bowling Green has a record of 1-7-0 against Minnesota State, Bemidji State and Lake Superior.
Connecticut has a record of 1-5-2 against Boston College, Boston University and Massachusetts.
Providence has a record of 1-5-2 against Boston College, Boston University and Massachusetts.
Army is 1-3 against AIC.
All other teams, except Lake Superior, have at least two wins against the top two teams in the conference.
Lake Superior has one win against Bemidji State, but is still playing. Thus, I leave them on the bubble.
I would eliminate those four at this time.
That leaves five teams:
Notre Dame
Boston University
Denver
Omaha
Lake Superior State
For the four spots that are left.
How about their records versus the top teams?
Notre Dame (0-3-1 vs Wisconsin, 2-2 vs Minnesota, 2-2 vs Michigan)
Boston University (1-1 vs BC, 2-0 vs UMass)
Denver (2-5 vs North Dakota, 0-2 vs SCSU, 0-2 vs UMD)
Omaha (2-4-0 vs North Dakota, 1-1 vs SCSU, 0-1-1 vs UMD)
Lake Superior (0-2 vs Minnesota State, 1-2-1 vs Bemidji (with WCHA Semi to go))
Right off the bat I will call Boston University, with a record of 3-1-0 against BC and UMass, at the top of this list.
That leaves three spots.
Denver and Omaha are the next two teams on my list, as both have two wins over North Dakota, Omaha with a win over St. Cloud and a tie against UMD, but a loss to Denver in the NCHC Quarterfinals. That gives Omaha the edge over Denver.
That leaves one spot.
Neither Notre Dame or Lake Superior have a win over the top team in the conference.
But, Lake Superior is still playing. A win over Bemidji State will give them a 2-2-1 record against them, matching Notre Dame’s 2-2 against Minnesota. But then, it gives them a chance to take on Minnesota State in the Championship.
Notre Dame though has a 2-2 record against Michigan, who I have as in the tournament while Lake Superior doesn’t have any more games against teams that will be in the tournament.
So, I have to give the slight edge here, as of today, to Notre Dame.
My ranking of the five bubble teams:
Boston University
Denver
Omaha
Notre Dame
Lake Superior State
If there are no surprises from autobids, my 16 teams are:
AIC
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Michigan
Quinnipiac
Boston College
Massachusetts
North Dakota
St. Cloud State
Minnesota Duluth
Minnesota State
Bemidji State
Boston University
Omaha
Denver
Notre Dame
Let’s rank the teams.
My top four teams are:
North Dakota
Boston College
Minnesota State
Minnesota
My second band includes:
Wisconsin
St. Cloud State
Quinnipiac
Minnesota Duluth
My third band includes:
Michigan
Massachusetts
Bemidji State
Boston University
My fourth band includes:
Omaha
Denver
Notre Dame
AIC
Let’s bracket.
Fargo – North Dakota
Bridgeport – Boston College
Albany – Minnesota
Loveland – Minnesota State
Second Band:
Fargo – Wisconsin
Bridgeport – Quinnipiac
Albany – St. Cloud State
Loveland – Minnesota Duluth
Third Band:
Fargo – Bemidji State
Bridgeport – Boston University
Albany – Massachusetts
Loveland – Michigan
Notre Dame vs North Dakota
Bemidji State vs Wisconsin
Albany
Omaha vs. Minnesota
Massachusetts vs. St. Cloud State
Bridgeport
AIC vs. Boston College
Boston University vs. Quinnipiac
Loveland
Denver vs. Minnesota State
Michigan vs. Minnesota Duluth
I would only make one change in this bracket and that is to put Quinnipiac in Albany, swapping them with St Cloud State. This is for potential attendance purposes and because the ECAC is hosting in Albany.
Fargo
Notre Dame vs North Dakota
Bemidji State vs Wisconsin
Albany
Omaha vs. Minnesota
Massachusetts vs. Quinnipiac
Bridgeport
AIC vs. Boston College
Boston University vs. St Cloud
Loveland
Denver vs. Minnesota State
Michigan vs. Minnesota Duluth
Jim: I am going to take a slightly different approach from Jayson. I, too, will give you 12 locks. Teams that, in my opinion, can’t be bumped regardless of the four remaining league tournament champions.
My 12 locks:
North Dakota
Boston College
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Minnesota State
St. Cloud State
Massachusetts
Minnesota Duluth
Quinnipiac
Michigan
American International
Bemidji State
I, too, will develop a bubble. But I’m going to try to build my bubble based on my perceived relative strength of each league. I’ll explain why I am doing this.
When the NCAA committee gets together, they are going to have to somehow find ways to rank teams and I believe that one of the first thing they will do is rank the conferences based on overall strength given the limited about of non-conference play.
I’ll keep mine the same from past Bracketology columns:
Tier I: NCHC
Tier II: Hockey East, Big Ten
Tier III: ECAC
Tier IV: AHA, WCHA
I’m going to attempt to balance the field based on these perceived rankings.
So, my bubble teams are:
Tier I: Omaha, Denver
Tier II: Boston University, Providence, Connecticut, Notre Dame
Tier III: None
Tier IV: Army, Lake Superior, Bowling Green
Thus, for me, I want to prioritize balancing the number of teams in the top tiers as I fill my final four bubble teams.
Thus, without even doing much math, I’m inserting Omaha and Boston University into the field based on their overall winning percentage.
Those two feel easy for me and gives me a conference allocation of spots of:
NCHC: 4
Hockey East, Big Ten: 3
ECAC: 1 (of three eligible teams)
WCHA: 2
AHA: 1
I still have to fill two more slots, and have Denver, Providence, Connecticut, Notre Dame, Army, Lake Superior and Bowling Green to fill these slots.
Right now, I’m going to use the “eye test,” or my version of it, to take two teams out. I’m removing Denver because, despite a strong conference, a 10-13-1 mark simply isn’t strong enough for me. Wins still matter and despite a strong team, Denver’s slow start this season hurt. I’m also eliminating Bowling Green. The team did have a couple of quality wins at Quinnipiac, but went 1-7 in games against the top of the WCHA.
That leaves me with Providence, UConn, Notre Dame, Army and Lake Superior. Five teams for two spots.
With Hockey East being a Tier II conference, a fourth team would give that conference 36.4% of its teams in the tournament. NCHC already has 50%. Big Ten already has 37.5%. So I think that’s a fair balance. The top tier conference has 50% participation and the second tier conferences have 36.4% and 37.5% respectively.
My question is: which of these Hockey East teams – UConn and Providence – should be selected? Here is where the math gets tricky.
When you look at the PairWise, something that the NCAA has said they will use ONLY to compare teams within their own conference, Providence has slipped just behind UConn (by .0001 in the RPI). That’s pretty close so you have to worry about the subjectivity of the committee. Would they prioritize the fact that Providence beat UConn in the Hockey East tournament? Difficult to tell.
For my purposes, though, I’m going with the straight PairWise and picking UConn.
So, who is my final team? Well, again, subjectivity is coming into play. I’m picking Lake Superior because they are in a conference with four teams that are under consideration in my opinion. Might not be sound reasoning. But it creates the following NCAA field, by seeding bands:
First Band:
North Dakota
Boston College
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Second Band:
Minnesota State
St. Cloud State
Massachusetts
Minnesota Duluth
Third Band:
Quinnipiac
Michigan
American International
Bemidji State
Fourth Band:
Boston University
Omaha
Connecticut
Lake Superior
I’m laying out my regionals as follows:
Fargo:
North Dakota vs. Lake Superior
St. Cloud State vs. Bemidji State
Loveland:
Minnesota vs. Boston University
Minnesota Duluth vs. Michigan
Bridgeport:
Wisconsin vs. Connecticut
Minnesota State vs. AIC
Albany:
Boston College vs. Omaha
UMass vs. Quinnipiac
Ideally, I’d keep all six eastern teams in the east regions, but with Boston College a number one seed and both Boston University and UConn fourth seeds, that’s not possible.
There is very little uniformity to both Jayson and Jim’s brackets. Which shows you the challenge the NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey committee will have on Sunday.
So here are this week’s brackets:
Jayson:
Fargo
Notre Dame vs North Dakota
Bemidji State vs Wisconsin
Albany
Omaha vs. Minnesota
Massachusetts vs. Quinnipiac
Bridgeport
AIC vs. Boston College
Boston University vs. St Cloud
Loveland
Denver vs. Minnesota State
Michigan vs. Minnesota Duluth
Jim:
Fargo:
North Dakota vs. Lake Superior
St. Cloud State vs. Bemidji State
Albany
Boston College vs. Omaha
UMass vs. Quinnipiac
Bridgeport
Wisconsin vs. Connecticut
Minnesota State vs. AIC
Loveland
Minnesota vs. Boston University
Minnesota Duluth vs. Michigan
There’s only one game on the schedule in ECAC Hockey tonight, but it’s a big one, as the Raiders and Saints play at 5 p.m. for the right to face Quinnipiac in Saturday’s championship game. Here’s a link to the playoff preview from earlier this week for a more in-depth look at the matchups. For tonight, I think the best player on the ice for either team is St. Lawrence goalie Emil Zetterquist and that should give the Saints the edge in a close matchup.
Max Kouznetsov celebrates his goal last Saturday in Canisius’ 6-2 rout of RIT to sweep the Atlantic Hockey quarterfinal series (photo: Lindy Feider).
Quarterfinals week in Atlantic Hockey had all kinds of drama, starting with the unfortunate exit by Bentley from the postseason, due not because the program itself had any COVID issues, but because there was an uptick on campus, resulting in the suspension of school activities.
The Falcons were scheduled to play at American International in a quarterfinal series, but the cancellation moved the Yellow Jackets, the overall top seed in the AHA tournament, into the semifinals and the right to host the semis and finals on Friday and Saturday.
There was plenty of excitement in the three quarterfinal series that went ahead, with Army West Point, Canisius and Niagara advancing to Springfield over Sacred Heart, RIT and Robert Morris, respectively. For RMU, it’s the first time the Colonials have missed the semifinal round since 2014, a string of six straight interrupted by last season’s early and unexpected halt.
Over 260 minutes were played in three quarterfinal games on Saturday, highlighted by Army West Point’s series-clinching win over Sacred Heart. Colin Bilek scored his 18th goal of the season at 13:20 of the third overtime to put the Black Knights into the semifinals.
“Both teams battled hard,” said Army West Point coach Brian Riley.
“Games like that, it’s an emotional roller coaster, when the puck’s in your end especially. It can end so suddenly.”
The Black Knights extended their unbeaten streak to 13 games (12-0-1). That confidence, knowing how to win, helped on Saturday.
“Players were calm,” said Riley. “We’ve been a lot of close games (during the streak). Also, being up 1-0 (in the series), we were in a better spot (than Sacred Heart).
“We knew that we had a tomorrow.”
With the four semifinalists set, the matchups this Friday are:
Niagara vs. AIC
Canisius vs. Army West Point
Between the pipes
As the saying goes, goaltending wins championships, and there was plenty on display in the quarterfinal round. All three winners rode outstanding goaltending into the semifinals:
– Canisius swept RIT, 5-2 and 6-2 despite being outshot 68-47. Golden Griffins goaltender Jacob Barczewski stopped 64 of the 68 shots he faced.
– Niagara’s Chad Veltri made a whopping 125 saves in three games against Robert Morris, allowing only six goals.
– Trevin Kozlowski stopped 75 of 78 shots against Sacred Heart, including pitching a 4-0 shutout on Friday.
– An honorable mention goes to Sacred Heart’s Josh Benson who was outstanding on Saturday, making a school-record 68 saves in the triple overtime loss to Army West Point.
Four teams, one dream
To minimize travel, this season’s Atlantic Hockey schedule limited teams to a geographic pod (with the exception of Air Force, which played teams from both the East and West pods).
So it’s not until the semifinals that you see some crossover, with the top remaining East Pod team squaring off against the lower seeded West Pod team and visa versa.
This means all four teams will be facing an opponent they haven’t seen so far this season.
The coaches say it’s not that big of a deal.
“There’s a bit of a mystique,” said Niagara coach Jason Lammers. “It’s a building some of our kids haven’t seen before, a trip they haven’t made before. But I don’t think it will be much of an impact.”
“It’s not like we haven’t watched the western teams play all year,” said Riley. “You have an idea of tendencies. We’ll continue to focus on ourselves and what we have done and what we can do to be successful.”
“We won’t read too much into the east/west crossover,” said AIC coach Eric Lang. “Our staff covers every game of the weekend regardless of who we are playing. I don’t think we will see any surprises this time of year. You beat teams with your execution and getting the game scripted to how you want to play in order to have success.”
AIC faces a unique challenge, as the Yellow Jackets have been off since Jan. 30, a stretch that will reach 49 days before they take the ice on Friday against Niagara. AIC had its previous nine games canceled due to various COVID protocols.
“We had as good of a weekend as you could possibly have in terms of getting ready after not playing for six weeks,” said Lang. “We played two intersquad games with the exact game protocol, music, announcers, we even asked our coaches and players to wear their suits. We did our video and pre-scout exactly as we would on any game day. We wanted it to replicate exactly what we will be doing this week. We played two very intense games against ourselves and learned a lot from it.”
“(AIC’s layoff) is a factor,” said Lammers. “It’s a lot of time to sit, but they’ll be fresh. Being able to scrimmage helps.”
Canisius coach Trevor Large summed up the season and this particular situation in a word.
“It’s been weird,” he said. “But (the lack of crossover) doesn’t mean a lot. We know Army. While not seeing them is odd, we have video capabilities.
“I’ve coached with Brian Riley. I know how they want to play. They’re a really good team.”
For the four remaining schools, it’s going to come down to execution.
“We’re all the same,” said Large. “All four teams. We all have extreme confidence. We’ve all put wins together against quality opponents. It’s going to be ultra competitive.”
Managing the impossible
At this time last season, the college hockey world was coming to grips with the sudden halt of games and sudden ends to college careers.
This time (knocks wood), there will be champions crowned and closure found, at least for most teams.
“My heart goes out to Holy Cross and Bentley,” said Atlantic Hockey commissioner Bob DeGregorio. “It’s hard to put into words what this season has been like.”
From the start, nothing has gone according to plan, with adjustments being made on an almost daily basis.
“We started with a 34 game schedule,” said DeGregorio. “Going in, how can we make the best schedule possible? How can we make everybody safe and still play games? We got input from athletic directors and coaches. We brought in LIU (Long Island University) to balance the numbers. Air Force had a tough assignment.”
But operating in a pandemic meant constant adjustments, backed by the fear that the league might not make it to the finish line.
“We got shut down in October,” said DeGregorio. “There were concerns that there seemed to be some spiking (of cases). There was talk then of pumping the brakes and waiting (to start the season) until January. But I was concerned, the experts were saying, that January and February could be worse. I just felt like if we stopped, we’d never start back up.”
At the end of the regular season, Atlantic Hockey teams had played anywhere from 13-21 games.
“Everybody worked hard,” said DeGregorio. “Players, coaches, trainers, athletic directors. We tried to make sure we covered all of the bases.
“Make adjustments. Control travel. Control exposure.”
“It’s been a tough season, but in some ways our most rewarding season,” said Riley.” I’m thankful to people behind the scenes, trainers, health officials, all the way up to our Superintendent. I wouldn’t want to play for anyone else in a pandemic.”
In closing
This is my final column for the season. It’s my 22nd year at USCHO, my 15th covering Atlantic Hockey. I’m grateful to all the coaches, players and sports information directors who made time for me this season and every season.
I’m also thankful for Matt Mackinder, my editor, for being kind to my mistakes.
My co-columnist, Dan Rubin, kept things fresh and picked up the load for many weeks when my family and I were hit with health problems. I couldn’t have asked for more. It’s been a great partnership that I hope lasts for a long time to come.
And lastly, thanks to my family for continuing to support my passions. It’s been a rough year for us, and I know that’s been the case for many, many families. But we’re still standing.
It’s getting better. I truly believe that. Stay safe. Take care of each other. Enjoy the hockey that’s yet to come.
Wisconsin State Journal writer and USCHO editor emeritus Todd D. Milewski joins hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger to preview the semifinal and championship rounds in ECAC Hockey, Atlantic Hockey, and the WCHA and the Hockey East finals between UMass Lowell and No. 6 UMass.
They also consider NCAA implications of the four series, including what “eye test” criteria might be used by the committee.
From left, Aerin Frankel, Daryl Watts, Grace Zumwinkle – the three finalists for the 2021 Patty Kazmaier Award.
The USA Hockey Foundation announced Thursday that Northeastern senior goalie Aerin Frankel, Wisconsin senior forward Daryl Watts and Minnesota senior forward Grace Zumwinkle have been named as the three finalists for the 2021 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award.
Frankel is 19-1-1 this season for the Huskies with an 0.71 GAA and a .969 save percentage with nine shutouts.
Watts, who won the award as a freshman in 2018, has gone for 17 goals and 34 points in 29 games this season.
Zumwinkle has compiled 17 goals and 24 points in 20 games for the Gophers.
The 24th winner of the award will be revealed on Saturday, March 27, as part of a special broadcast on NHL Network. Jackie Redmond will serve as host and all 10 award finalists will be featured.
An award of the USA Hockey Foundation, the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award is annually presented to the top player in NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey. Selection criteria includes outstanding individual and team skills, sportsmanship, performance in the clutch, personal character, competitiveness and a love of hockey. Consideration is also given to academic achievement and civic involvement.
The award is named in honor of the late Patty Kazmaier, who was a four-year varsity letter-winner and All-Ivy League defenseman at Princeton from 1981 to 1986. An accomplished athlete who helped lead the Tigers to the Ivy League championship in three consecutive seasons (1981-84), Patty Kazmaier-Sandt died Feb. 15, 1990, at the age of 28 following a long struggle with a rare blood disease.
Miami goalie Ludvig Persson defends the RedHawks’ crease earlier this season in a game against St. Cloud State (photo: Miami Athletics).
Now that the Frozen Faceoff has ended, it seems fitting to look back on the NCHC season.
It’s likely that three teams from the conference may make the NCAA tournament, possibly four, but with so much up in the air with selection, it’s also possible only two teams, North Dakota and St. Cloud State, will be chosen.
If so, it would be a horrible way for Minnesota Duluth’s streak of three straight NCAA championship games to end. In addition to the Bulldogs, Omaha has to be sitting on the edge of its proverbial seat wondering whether the loss to Denver in the first round of the NCHC tournament will end what has been a fine season.
The waiting game is interesting.
Going strictly off the PairWise, only North Dakota is truly safe. St. Cloud currently sits at 16, Minnesota Duluth at 20, Denver at 21, and Omaha at 25. St. Cloud will likely qualify for the NCAA tournament. Minnesota Duluth sputtered down the stretch, losing five of its last seven, and that may cost the Bulldogs a spot. Omaha lost four of its last five, as well as three of five games to Denver since late January, and that will likely end the Mavericks’ season.
Denver, despite flashes of brilliance, was never quite able to establish consistency, and that will likely bring the Pioneers’ NCAA tournament streak to an end.
Back in December, just before the NCHC pod in Omaha began, I questioned whether we were really going to have a hockey season and whether it was worth the risks in our COVID-19 era. I stand by that statement, but I think we also need to give the NCHC an enormous amount of credit for how the season played out.
Each of the league’s eight teams was slated to play a 24-game schedule, and six teams actually managed that feat. Denver and Colorado College were the only two teams to not play 24 games, though they almost managed that at 22 games each.
Having said that, COVID-19 did still affect the season in multiple ways.
Four teams (CC, Denver, Minnesota Duluth, and Omaha) had games cancelled due to COVID. CC was hit the hardest, losing out on three weekends. CC was also short players in the NCHC tournament because of COVID, as was Denver; the Pioneers only had 10 forwards, yet came within inches of advancing to the Frozen Faceoff championship when Cole Guttman’s empty-net attempt just missed. North Dakota then tied it and won in OT. CC also gave St. Cloud all it could handle, losing 2-1.
The NCHC season began with a bang with the pod in Omaha, something all the league’s teams seemed to find an interesting way to manage playing hockey during a pandemic. It worked so well that the league went to a “mini-pod” for its tournament last week, bypassing the usual best-of-three first round series on campus sites in favor of a single-elimination format for all the games.
When the decision was made, league commissioner Josh Fenton acknowledged COVID was behind it while also stating that the league hoped to return to its traditional format, including the Frozen Faceoff at the Xcel Center in St. Paul, Minn., next season.
Said Fenton in a press release, “Due to continued challenges with COVID-19, we are forced to alter the structure and location of the 2021 NCHC Tournament. Circumstances surrounding travel, testing, and fan attendance made the traditional format difficult to complete. We are disappointed that we will not be able to culminate the season at Xcel Energy Center, but look forward to bringing one of college hockey’s best tournament experiences back to Saint Paul in 2022.”
Last week in his state of the NCHC press conference, Fenton also acknowledged that COVID may still affect the league next season.
“We’ll have to see where the virus is and the transmission of the virus across our society overall before we’re making determinations of whether there are specific protocols that we’ve been in this year, whether it be testing, masking, social distancing, attendance at games, those types of things, whether those will hold true for next year,” Fenton said.
“We certainly hope that we can return to some sense of normalcy, particularly welcoming fans back to venues, but I think there are things within that protocol that we’ll certainly want to be mindful of as we creep toward next September and October.”
Awards season
On Wednesday, the 10 candidates for the Hobey Baker Award were announced. The NCHC was represented by North Dakota’s Shane Pinto, who led the league in scoring with 28 points and finished first in scoring in the NCHC and ninth nationally.
In the league’s eight-year history, it has had at least one Hobey candidate every year. A total of 13 NCHC players have been named Hobey candidates, seven of whom have gone on to be named Hobey Hat Trick finalists.
Denver’s Will Butcher won the award in 2017 and Minnesota Duluth’s Scott Perunovich won it last season. Last year, two NCHC players, Perunovich and North Dakota’s Jordan Kawaguchi, were Hat Trick finalists. In the league’s previous seven years, 2016 is the only year an NCHC player wasn’t a Hat Trick finalist.
Pinto isn’t the only player up for an award.
North Dakota goaltender Adam Scheel has been named a finalist for the Mike Richter Award. During the regular season, Scheel had a 15-3-1 record with a 1.78 goals-against average and .928 save percentage with four shutouts. Scheel won NCHC goaltender of the year honors as well. Two NCHC goaltenders have been among the Richter Award’s seven previous winners: North Dakota’s Zane McIntyre in 2015 and Denver’s Tanner Jaillet in 2017.
Additionally, Kawaguchi and St. Cloud State forward Kevin Fitzgerald are among the 10 finalists for the Men’s Hockey Senior CLASS Award, which stands for “Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School.” Fans can help select the winner by voting at the Senior CLASS website until March 29.
Last Thursday, the NCHC announced the league awards. North Dakota coach Brad Berry was named Herb Brooks Coach of the Year, the third time he was won the award. Pinto was named conference player of the year and also earned forward of the year and defensive forward of the year honors. St. Cloud forward Veeti Miettinen was rookie of the year, and Western Michigan defenseman Kale Bennett was named NCHC senior scholar-athlete for 2020-21. Fitzgerald also won the NCHC sportsmanship award.
North Dakota’s Jacob Bernard-Docker was named defensive defenseman of the year, Western Michigan’s Ronnie Attard offensive defenseman of the year, and Miami goaltender Ludvig Persson won the league’s three stars award.
