This past weekend I took in all five games of the Final Five and realized what an awesome format the new Final Five is. It’s a shame that the new format will only last two more seasons before the almighty Big Ten Hockey Conference will ride off into the sunset with Wisconsin and Minnesota. I hope we can keep a semblance of the current format.
There were a “few things” that I really liked about the new tournament format. First, in the new format your team is only guaranteed to play in one game, that’s it, if your team loses it’s done and that team goes home for the weekend, under the old format if your team managed to win on Thursday night, that team would be guaranteed to play in two more games. Since there was no third place game this year, fans did not have to buy a ticket to a meaningless third place game that could have ended up being a clunker if one team was already out of the NCAA playoff picture.
Again, In my opinion I must emphasis that this year every game mattered, while both teams were in the NCAA tourney already, when both teams were asked at the post game press conference if this was a meaningless game, the media was corrected by both teams players and the head coaches that this was not a meaningless game. If you need to ask why it wasn’t a meaningless game, it was because a conference title and a tourney trophy and pride was on the line. Not many teams get to claim back to back Broadmoor Trophies and the Denver Pioneers had an opportunity to prevent that from happening, in the end they did not but the Fighting Sioux had to work for it as well.
In retrospect this was one of my favorite WCHA Final Fives not just because my favorite team won but because there were a lot of great story lines and great hockey, I also got to see the game from a different angle this time around. I applied for a received a press pass from the WCHA and I was able to see the back stage of the college hockey world, this was a valuable experience that I will never forget. I met some really cool people as well and hung out with some old friends as well. It was a great learning experience all the way around.
Beavers and Bulldogs
In the First game of the WCHA Final Five the BSU Beavers beat the UMD 3-2 in overtime to advance to the Semifinals of the WCHA Final Five. The UMD and BSU game wasn’t without controversy as the Bulldogs defenseman Brady Lamb was called for high sticking at 5:53 mark of OT period and the Beavers forward Matt Walters scored 19 seconds later on the only shot of the period for the BSU Beavers. The win for the Beavers game the life to fight another day, the loss for the Bulldogs sent them home to lick their wounds and get ready for the next round. At the post game press conference you could tell by UMD head Scott Sandelin’s body language has not very happy at all and almost in disbelief at what had just happened, I kind-of likened it to another giant that fell victim for the BSU Beavers, just ask the Cornell Big Red and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
The "victors" on the other hand gave us a look backward into the past; the upstart Beavers that made the Frozen Four two short years ago, the wide eyed kids from Bemidji that refused to go away, they knocked off the third and fourth teams in the WCHA and they were now setting their sights on the second place Pioneers.
Seawolves and Tigers
In the second game of the quarterfinals the Seawolves gave the C.C. Tigers everything they could handle as they out-shot the Tigers 23-16 and dominated the play for most of the game but the Seawolves suffered some of the worst puck luck I have ever watched in a hockey game. The UAA head coach summed it up well with this statement, "It doesn't feel right," said Shyiak. "I thought we earned the right to win by the way we played. I thought we played well, and we had some quality scoring chances early, but we didn't get any of them to go in. And all four of their goals went in off skates."
UAA Seawolves forward Tommy Grant proved once again that he was one of the most under rated forwards in the WCHA as he ended his WCHA career just as he started going 100 hundred miles an hour playing each shift if it was his last. I can see this kid getting a contract sometime in the near future because of the way he plays the game, I will miss watching Tommy Grant play in the WCHA.
DU and BSU
The second game the upstart BSU Beavers didn’t really go as well as they had wanted , the Beavers need to win two more games to return to the NCAA tourney for a third year in a row. That run ended at the hands of the DU Pioneers as the Pioneers who thrashed the Beavers 6-2. The game was close through two periods as the Beavers had out worked the Pioneers and were still tied going into the third period. In the third period, the Beavers failed to convert on a 5-3 power play the Pioneers scored four unanswered goals.
At the press conference, the wide-eyed Beaver players from a day before looked dejected, the reality that their season was finally over, and a fantastic run had come- to- an end, the giants from DU had ended the BSU Beavers first season in the WCHA.
While all season long I have e read comments about the BSU Beavers being a poor hockey team or not being very good, the Beavers in fact proved to be a team that was dangerous and not to be over looked. I told my buddy Scott that the BSU Beavers resembled their coach, intense, small in stature, hard working and they never stopped moving their feet. They are on top of you and they will never give up. I think by making the Final Five and winning a game, the BSU Beavers were successful in their first season and there will be better days ahead. I think the Beavers proved to the naysayers and fan bloggers that the Beavers did in fact belong in the WCHA.
With the loss the magical career of Matt Read came to an end, I only wish I could see him play more, Matt Read finished his college career with (
65g-78a-143pts). Word has it that Read is close to signing a professional contract.
UND and C.C.
The Tigers and the Sioux were locked into a what I would call a pretty good defensive battle, Sophomore forward Danny Kristo scored a goal on his first shift in his first game back from the frostbite incident, I don’t know if you couldn’t write a better story line any, I mean does it get any better than that? Also, sophomore defenseman Andrew MacWilliam returned to the lineup from an undisclosed injury that had kept MacWilliam out of action for three games. MacWilliam looked fresh returning from the layoff and played like a man possessed. I would say that Andrew MacWilliam looked as good as I had seen him play all season long, MacWilliam known for being more of a physical bruising stay at home defenseman actually led a couple of nice rushes up ice. The Sioux won the game 4-3 on a goal from Hobey Baker finalist Matt Frattin.
DU and UND
The Sioux and the DU Pioneers took center stage to renew college hockey’s version of the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s feud. The game was testy and feisty from the start as both teams got after each other. The Sioux came out and looked like they were a little tight and the DU Pioneers got on the board first with a goal from Denver forward Dustin Jackson assisted by Kyle Ostrow and Anthony Maiani.
In the second period, the Fighting Sioux got their legs going and answered the Pioneer tally with a goal from Danny Kristo assisted by Taylor Dickin and Derrick LaPoint. Both teams exchanged good offensive scoring chances and sophomore goalie Aaron Dell kept the Sioux in the game with stellar goaltending. The Sioux finally took the lead on a weird goal by senior forward Brent Davidson as he scored from behind the red line, assisting on the Davidson goal were Kristo and LaPoint. Going into the third period the Sioux had something like a 20-0-2 record when leading after two periods so you had to think that Sioux had a good chance to win the game.
History in the making
In the third period with 2:13 remaining in the game the DU Pioneers scored to tie the game with a nice goal from Anthony Maiani assisting were Beau Bennett, Matt Donovan. The game was very entertaining through the first overtime and the game would remain tied until the 5:11 mark of the second overtime when Hobey Baker Finalist Matt Frattin scored the game winner assisting on the game winning goal were Chay Genoway and Evan Trupp. It was the first time the championship game of the Final Five had gone to overtime since the fluky Blake Wheeler goal in the 2007 Final Five. This was also the longest overtime game for a Final Five since 1993 when the WCHA went to the Final Five
Image via WikipediaWell it's official the NCHC will not be adding the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Like I have said in the past I don't think it's going to be that big of a deal for the NCHC. For the naysayers that think this a fatal blow to the newly formed NCHC are delusional, the NCHC is going to be a top league in college hockey and is home to 17 national titles (UND 7, DU 7, C.C. 2, UMD 1). 