College Hockey Update:  Well it’s here.  The big one we’ve been waiting for.  Minnesota-Duluth against Massachusetts.  Two teams that have both allowed exactly three goals in their first three NCAA Tournament games — but in very different ways — will meet today, Saturday, April 13th, in Buffalo, N.Y., at 5:00pm Pacific Time, scheduled for ESPN2 — that’s about twenty minutes from the time of this posting.  The two played very different types of games Thursday, and after viewing them it is hard to conclude whether or not these two teams are really that different from each other.  But it does seem clear that they play two different types of games.  Is Duluth actually a team that is limited to holding other teams in check, and can muster a high-intensity jolt only at the start of the game?  Is Massachusetts a team that relies on blasting out a big lead very early on, and has trouble containing and keeping the pressure on, and could have trouble at the end, even given an early jump?

Massachusetts, ranked #4 at the end of the season, started off the tournament blanking #13 Harvard 4-0, then blanking #12 Notre Dame 4-0, and then Thursday #6 Denver 4-3 — surrendering three goals and not scoring the winning goal until fifteen minutes into overtime.  Duluth, ranked #2 at the end of the season, on the other hand has allowed scoring in each game — exactly one goal per game; going to OT in their first game against #15 Bowling Green for a 2-1 win; then beating #8 Quinnipiac 3-1, and then beating #11 Providence Thursday 4-1; but those four goals against Providence include two very late empty-netters.

EARLY GAME:  MINNESOTA-DULUTH SITS ON TIE GAME, WINS LATE

Thursday Minnesota-Duluth and Providence College played a low-penalty game that was pretty evenly played early on.  In a scoreless, one-penalty first, Providence had nine shots, vs. eight for UMD.  Justin Richards scored seven minutes into the second to give UMD the 1-0 lead, but it seemed to ignite Providence.  A cross-checking penalty on UMD’s Nick Wolff four minutes later gave Providence their second power play opportunity of the game, and like lightning, Josh Wilkins netted one eleven seconds later to tie at one apiece.  UMD seemed content to sit on the tie and hold PC off; the period ended a 1-1 tie, and UMD managed to fire off thirteen shots, vs. eleven for PC.  The third started out much as the second half of the second ended, and UMD even played a little too aggressively and gave PC a couple of consecutive power play opportunities, including eighteen seconds of 5-on-3 advantage.  But UMD sat on PC and held them off.  Coming out of the second penalty UMD heard the bell ring, and stepped up the pace and took control of the momentum, and four minutes later Billy Exel found the net for the 2-1 Duluth lead.

UMD out-shot Providence in the third 15-9, and did something very important — with only a one goal lead they managed to keep the action up and down the ice, getting the puck into the Providence zone and preventing PC from adding an extra attacker.  Finally PC had a shot at it and added an extra attacker, but UMD was quite opportunistic, and Dylan Samberg quickly scored an empty-netter with only a half-minute remaining to extend the lead to 3-1.  With the entire season on the line, Providence added an extra attacker again as soon as the opportunity arose, and again UMD managed to crack the code, this time with Justin Richards finding the empty net with only six second left, to give UMD the 4-1 win.  Make no mistake about it, this is a playoff team, and is nearly a playoff machine.  I think it takes a very strong neck to play them, because they essentially sit on the head of their opponent, making it very difficult to them to do anything at all.  That is their specialty.  While it might not yield exciting hockey, it does the job for them.  And they’re not limited to it.  They are a strong and powerful team capable of shifting into a dominating offensive mode when it is needed.

This outcome is not an upset in our pool as forty-four out of fifty-eight picked Duluth to win this game vs. only one for Providence (nine for Mankato State, and four for Northeastern).

LATE GAME:  MASSACHUSETTS JUMPS TO EARLY LEAD, NEEDS OT TO PREVAIL

Thursday’s Massachusetts/Denver game contained lots of play of which neither team could or should be proud.  There was just some bad playing going on out there; it was surprising and it was not typical of either team.  Denver started the game out with an edge in momentum.  The typical UMass slick skating and passing offense seemed to be stuck in low gear, or even in neutral.  Six minutes into the game Niko Hildebrand, UMass captain and leader of the team in heart and soul, delivered an ugly shot to the head of a Denver player, and was ejected from the game (this was only his ninth penalty all season long).  Denver went on a five minute major penalty, and Colin Staub scored two minutes later to give Denver the 1-0 lead.  But UMass was able to hold Denver off for the next three minutes.  Then, after the great defensive effort from UMass, Denver had sort of a meltdown only half a minute later.  First came a tripping penalty on Jarid Lukosevicius, followed only thirty seconds later by a holding penalty on Tyson McLellan, creating ninety seconds of five-on-three for UMass.

The opportunity woke UMass up and their game went into high gear as they became fast and slick in skating, stick handling, and especially passing.  Thirty seconds into the five-on-three Bobby Trivigno netted one to tie it at one apiece, and return the game to a single man advantage.  But less than a minute later, Denver’s meltdown continued as Ryan Barrow delivered an ugly hit to the head, and was ejected from the game (this was also only his ninth penalty of the season, tied for ninth on his team).  With five-on-three play resumed, the UMass offense went into overdrive.  With the puck flying everywhere, Mitchell Chaffee found the net only thirty seconds later for the 2-1 UMass lead, returning the game to single-man-advantage for UMass.  But the frenzy continued as UMass seemed super-charged, and only twenty seconds later John Leonard score to make it a 3-1 margin for UMass.  It appeared as thought Denver was very frustrated by the situation, but as the game returned to a five-on-four, they managed to hold UMass off for the next four minutes.  The crazy first ended 3-1, UMass, with Denver having fired off eleven shots, vs. ten for UMass.

In the second it seemed as though UMass was perhaps content to play defense and run the clock out.  But for forty minutes??  UMass was unable to convert on a power play opportunity at the twelve minute mark, and then at the sixteen minute mark, their leading scorer, Mitchell Chaffee gave the game it’s third ugly hit to the head, player ejection, and five minute major penalty (this was Chaffee’s eleventh penalty of the season, making him only the seventh most penalized player on his team — Hildebrand is the eleventh most penalized on UMass).  Denver played out the last four minutes of the second with a man advantage, and also the first minute of the third, but did not convert on the opportunity.  A scoreless second, in which Denver shot nine, compared to seven for UMass, sent the teams into the second break, still in a 3-1 game.  In the third, again UMass seemed to be trying to run out the clock for another twenty minutes.  Two UMass penalties at the four and eight minute points meant that UMass played five of the first ten minutes of the third short-handed, which perhaps added to the perception that they were content to play defense.  But the first power play opportunity seemed to really wake Denver up, and from that point on they were just out-playing UMass, and UMass seemed lulled into a routine from which they couldn’t find an escape.  Bad formula.  After the second penalty ended, Cole Guttman scored for Denver, narrowing the game to a 3-2 margin.  The Denver charge continued, creating a period in which they held an amazing 15-4 shot advantage, and culminating in another Cole Guttman goal four minutes later to tie the game at 3-3.

In the midst of this, Bobby Trivigno of UMass delivered the fourth shot to the head of the game.  This one was not the bone-jarring type of head-on collision that typified he first three, but was instead a skate across the ice elbow to the helmet of a Denver player.  It went undetected by the referees and was not called as a penalty (the NCAA has since reviewed it, and Bobby Trivigno has been suspended one game — the Championship game tonight; again it was only the tenth penalty on him all season long, and he’s tied as the tenth most penalized player on his team.  What the heck was going on out there??  So UMass enters tonight’s game down a thriteen-goal-scorer.).  Sheeeeesh!!  UMass seemed to stiffen their backs after the two even-strength goals, and held Denver off for the last four minutes.  In OT, both teams played well, but UMass seemed to find offensive rhythm again for the first time since late in the first period.  A slap shot by Marc Del Gaizo found the net for UMass fifteen minutes into OT to win it for UMass, as they had seven shots vs. five for Denver in the fifteen minutes of the period.  UMass demonstrated once again they are capable of playing a fast and slick offense, and that they can play a stingy defense as well.  Defenseman and Hobey Baker Winner Cale Makar was absent from the ice for the last forty minutes of regulation.  Should they have the opportunity to do so, this idea of running out the clock would probably be a bad idea tonight, as would playing bad hockey that leads to major penalties.  Could be a great game tonight, but only if UMass plays their best and doesn’t make a bunch of really stupid mistakes.

This outcome is an upset in our pool in one regard, as only as ten out of fifty-eight picked Massachusetts to win this game, compared to forty-one picks for St. Cloud State.  In a head-to-head comparison, the ten for UMass compares to only three picks for Denver, so not an upset in that regard (two for Ohio State, one for Clarkson, one for Harvard).

GAME ON!  5:00PM PACIFIC TIME!  IN ABOUT TWENTY MINUTES!  ESPN2!

What’s going to happen in the game today??  It’s only twenty minutes away.  Or maybe by the time you’re reading this, it’s on right now.  Turn it on and let’s find out!!

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

— Tom