College Hockey Update:  Well, it’s here, the big one we’ve been waiting for.  Notre Dame against University of Minnesota-Duluth.  Two teams that have both won all three of their 2018 NCAA Tournament games by one goal in each game, will meet tomorrow, Saturday, April 7th, in St. Paul, MN., at 4:30pm Pacific Time, scheduled for ESPN.  The two played in two different types of games yesterday, but from viewing them it’s hard to conclude whether or not these two teams are really that different from each other.  Is Notre Dame really limited to playing a steady pace that seems to gradually intensify as the game goes on, and can only seal the deal at the very end?  Is Duluth really a team that is limited to holding the other guys in check, and can muster a high-intensity shock only at the start of the game?

Minnesota-Duluth, ranked #11 at the end of the season, started the NCAA Tournament off by beating #6 Mankato State 3-2, then #21 Air Force 2-1, and yesterday, #5 Ohio State (who had beaten #3 Denver badly, 5-1).  Notre Dame, ranked #2 at the end of the season, started off by beating #18 Michigan Tech 4-3 — in overtime, then #7 Providence 2-1 — on a last minute goal, and yesterday, Michigan 4-3 — on a last second goal.

Early Game:  Minnesota-Duluth Gets An Early Lead And Grinds Out A Victory

Minnesota-Duluth came out with guns a-blazing, and it seemed to startle Ohio State and drive the Buckeyes back on their heels.  UMD seemed to smell the blood and Louie Roehl struck only two minutes into the game to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.  Their killer instinct continued on as Ohio State continued to look a bit bewildered and out-of-step, and it was Jared Thomas who scored only a minute later to extend the Duluth lead to 2-0.  Minnesota-Duluth delivered a crushing pace that saw them out-shoot Ohio State 17-4 in the first period, most of it, seemingly in the first five minutes.  That seemed to be about the point at which Ohio State hit the smelling salts, woke up, and started to match up to the offensive onslaught that was upon them.  The two teams played a grinding game for the next forty-six minutes of play, with neither team yielding to the other.  It was then that Ohio State managed to capitalize on a power play opportunity and score, nine minutes into the third, to close the lead to 2-1, Duluth.  Ohio State managed a slight lead in shots on goal in both the second and third periods, 8-6, and 8-5, respectively.  But the grinding play didn’t yield any seemingly sufficient offense for either Duluth or Ohio State, which was really, really bad news for Ohio State.  The last eleven minutes of the game continued on just like that, and Minnesota-Duluth hung on to an advantage created in a barrage they executed in just the first moments of the game, to win it, 2-1.

Of course this outcome is a major-league upset in our pool, as only one person picked UMD to win this game and advance to the championship game (28 had picked St. Cloud State, 14 had picked Denver, six had picked Ohio State, and one had picked Mankato).

Late Game:  Notre Dame Cardiac Kids Come Back, See-Saw, and Win Late

This one kind of had it all; it was an exciting back and forth game with a lot of action.  Michigan scored eight minutes into the first to take the 1-0 lead, held it through the first, and then scored off the face-off, seventeen seconds into the second, to extend their lead to 2-0; it wasn’t looking too great for Notre Dame at that point.  But just a couple of minutes later, a Michigan holding penalty seemed to add some octane in the Notre Dame tank, and a Jake Evans assist set up an Andrew Oglevie goal to make it 2-1, Michigan.  Some shoving near the goal made for a double-penalty and some four on four play.  With the double penalty about to expire, Jake Evans drilled one home to tie the game at two apiece, six minutes into the second.  The two fought out the remaining fourteen minutes scoreless, although the pressure came mainly from Notre Dame, out-shooting Michigan 15-7 in the second.  It continued early in the third, culminating in a Cal Burke goal two minutes in, to give Notre Dame the 3-2 lead.  Here’s where some differences in play became apparent.  Notre Dame players were hanging onto the puck too long in transition, not passing, and losing the puck; Michigan was passing to teammates in the neutral zone.   Notre Dame ran a decidedly dump and chase the puck offense, and Michigan was instead adept at weaving through defensive coverage and bringing the puck into the zone, under control.  Michigan was managing to gain control of the puck in their zone and clear it out; Notre Dame was not getting control of the puck in their zone and couldn’t clear it out.

These differences yielded a lot of Michigan pressure on the goal, and Notre Dame provided Michigan with a lot of opportunities close-up, either by not adequately protecting the puck, or just not hanging on to it.  Fifteen minutes into the third it was the latter, down low, and Michigan capitalized, and tied it at three apiece.  Notre Dame came to life, but Michigan had more than its share of time in the Notre Dame zone.  With only twelve seconds remaining, an icing call against Notre Dame resulted in a face-off in their zone; have to say that it really looked like it was going to be OT at that point.  Well, Notre Dame won the face off, then made a couple of great passes down the ice, and Cam Morrison took the puck into the Michigan zone, skated to the left side, and semi-circled toward the net, well covered.  Would this be another time Notre Dame held the puck too long and lost it?  He skated into the slot, low in front of the net, and didn’t exactly make a drop pass for the chasing Jake Evans, but sort of slowly floated it back in his “general direction” (thank you Monty Python).  Evans, also closely covered, had the advantage of seeing the puck drift his way, and managed to steer himself and his defender over the top of it; Evans got his stick on the puck and crafted a shot between the legs of his defender that also went between the goalie’s legs, for the 4-3 lead, and win, with only five seconds left.

This isn’t really an upset in our pool as half — twenty five out of fifty participants — picked Notre Dame to win this game and advance to the championship game.

Tomorrow

So what will happen tomorrow?  Will Minnesota-Duluth carefully manage to not create any opportunities for their opponent, and grind away the game?  Or will Notre Dame execute their slow-building momentum of patient and crafty offensive teamwork, and stingy defense, driving the game in their favor?  One of the teams will have to give something up in the contest, and it will be something else to watch it and see which it is.  You won’t want to miss this one — game time tomorrow, Saturday, April 7th, is 4:30pm, and it’s scheduled for ESPN.

And who’s going to win our pool?  Did you pick up points yesterday?  Soon we’ll all know the answer to this, one of life’s biggest questions.

That’s all for now.  Stay tuned and go Terriers, go college hockey!

— Tom