College Hockey Update:  Wow, just like that the big game was here, and, well, just like that . . . . it was over.  I doubt anyone anywhere anticipated the game to go the way it did, but guess what?  It did.  It was a game, and that was the outcome.  I have scrupulously handwritten notes from the game that go all the way until about mid-way through the second, and they just stop. In reviewing them I realized that this game wasn’t about the details so much as just the larger picture of it . . . .

The first period opened up and both teams were able to get the puck up the ice into their opponent’s zone.  And both teams were able to stop their opponent once they got into the zone.  Early in the game, I’d say maybe as long as the first half of the first, it seemed that in this back and forth game of pretty good transition, St. Cloud State was able to keep the puck in the UMass zone a bit more so than the other way around.  But something odd happened.  A goal was scored seemingly out of nowhere.  It wasn’t the last one of the game.  I have to say the UMass goals were things of beauty, brilliantly executed.  It might not have seemed that way to a St. Cloud State fan watching the game Saturday, but they really were.  So, let’s give a quick summary of what happened in the game, and then we’ll go to the “highlight reel.”

Here’s my version of what happened Saturday.  Both teams played pretty good defense.  It was a game in which the team that made a mistake was going to be in trouble.  The defense that UMass played was pesky.  That’s my word for it.  Seemingly not dominating or overwhelming. Unless, that is, a team could manage to be pesky for an entire game — and they did.  It turned into domination and it became overwhelming.  Both teams made mistakes.  UMass, it seems, made little mistakes, and they were very quick and could cover for the mistakes, or recover from them.  St. Cloud State, it seems, made bigger mistakes, and UMass was fast enough to capitalize on them.

So there they were, seven minutes into the first period and the back-and-forth play, and St. Cloud State, in the Massachusetts zone, pressed down low and the puck came loose.  A UMass player snagged the puck, and guess what?  The slot was wide open.  Could’ve driven a zamboni or two down it.  He sent to puck to Aaron Bohlinger who was eyeing nothing but white from his goal to the St. Cloud State goal, and he was off, charging.  And on his right side up at the point, two St. Cloud State players crashed into each other and took each other down, complete freeing Ryan Sullivan to turn the one-on-none into a two-on-none pursuit of the goal. The two split wide apart, forcing the goalie to pick deliberate sides of the goal.  Bohlinger to Sullivan, and Sullivan held on to the last second, back to Bohliger, goal.  1-0 UMass.  Two freshmen, perfectly executed.  Indefensible.  Back to the back and forth, and St. Cloud State got a power play opportunity on a slashing call on Anthony Del Gaizo fifteen minutes into the period.  UMass befuddled St. Cloud State through the penalty, and a minute after it expired along came UMass again.  A St. Cloud State clearing pass at the left side was snagged by Cal Kiefiuk, and he kept it, skating down to the net.  He wrapped around from behind the net and instead of shooting, passed it to Reed Lebster, right at the goal, and Lebster knocked it in.  2-0, UMass, with only a minute left in the first, the score at the first break.  The announcers were fairly deliberate about St. Cloud really controlling more of the action in the first.  Not sure I agree with it, and the 7-3 shot advantage UMass had didn’t seem to support it.  And either way it didn’t matter.  The score was 2-0.

The second opened up with a tripping penalty on St. Cloud, but the Huskies did their job and UMass didn’t really get very organized and didn’t convert.  Two minutes later a tripping penalty on Ryan Sullivan gave St. Cloud State another power play. One minute later as St. Cloud State was moving the puck around in the UMass zone, the puck sort of drifted over the blue line, and once again UMass defined the notion of opportunistic hockey.  Phillip Lagunov picked up the puck and zipped down the right side.  Confronted by St. Cloud defender Nick Perbix, Lagunov dragged to slow down and got by him, slipped the puck by him, and then was off and running again.  I suspect Perbix is still looking for his underwear.  Talk about a slick move.  Lagunov went to the left side of the net and again made a magic move, and zing, score.  3-0 UMass, four minutes into the second.  That goal was #3 on the ESPN top ten plays reel for Saturday. St. Cloud State pressed, and managed more time in the UMass zone than vice versa.  St. Cloud State had another power play chance eleven minutes into the period, but UMass was able to kill the penalty again.  Just seconds after UMass went back to full strength, a St. Cloud State line change put too many players on the ice, and UMass went on the power play, and it was a beauty of crisp orchestrated passing, totally controlling the puck.  Oliver Chau had the puck down low a minute into the power play, and passed it up to Matthew Kessel, who blasted a shot past the traffic and high into the net to make it 4-0, with six minutes left in the second. St. Cloud continued to press, and UMass continued to be pesky.  St. Cloud out-shot UMass 12-6 in the period, but the score going into the second break was 4-0.

St. Cloud State again out-shot UMass in the third, 10-9.  But UMass was pesky again and prevented St. Cloud State from converting.  Six minutes into the period, Bobby Trivigno launched a shot high into the net, making the final score 5-0, Massachusetts.  This is the first NCAA Hockey Championship UMass has ever won.  Congratulations.  Well earned.

THE COLLEGE HOCKEY UPDATE POOL

So, is there drama in the outcome of our pool this year?  There could easily have been.  You know what I’m talking about, those years in which someone had a higher point total and won, but didn’t pick the winner — and someone else had picked the winner, but they had a lower point total.  I hope we can all agree that if someone were to pick the winner (four correct picks), but not any other pick, while someone else were to get twelve of fifteen picks, but not the winner, the person picking the winner wouldn’t and shouldn’t be the winner of the pool.  The question is, where on the scale does picking the winner get you the pool, and I think we are there now.  Thanks to Charles Wienbar for pointing this out many years ago (and who eventually got us to give participants two points for picking the winner instead of one, after he was involved in it for the second time in two straight years, in The Great Controversy Of 2003), and then to Dave Ramsey, who petitioned his case ardently in 2018, leading us to increase the points awarded for picking the winner up to the current three points.  Well Dave, thanks to you, it worked this year.

The Results of This Year’s Pool

According to the rules, as written on the bottom of your brackets, we had a three-way tie for first place in the pool, with eleven points each.  The three are:  Joe Pike, Kim Ramsey, and Chuck Speare.  Joe Pike and Kim Ramsey each had eleven successful picks for a total of eleven points.  Chuck Speare had nine correct picks for nine points, but, not so fast.  He picked UMass to win it, and, thanks to Dave Ramsey, instead of only getting two points for picking the winner, he earned three points, bringing his total points to eleven, putting himself into the tie, and driving us to the tie-breaker.  Here we go:

1.  The first tie-breaker is:  Did you pick the winner (worth another point in tie-breaker)?  Of the three, Chuck Speare was the only one with the winner, and therefore he gets a tie-breaker point, while Joe Pike and Kim Ramsey don’t.  The tie is broken, and Chuck Speare is the winner.  Chuck is now the third two-time winner of our pool following Seann Sweeney (2007 and 2009), and Jim Slaughter (2001 and 2010).  Chuck won the pool his first time in 2003. Congratulations to you Chuck.  Your sweatshirt arrived here yesterday morning, and I am going to try to get it screened with our logo on the back immediately and bring it down to San Jose on Friday, early in the afternoon.

Another quick note.  I think it’s amazing when people get all eight of the first round teams in their bracket.  It does happen.  I clearly don’t know how, since I’ve never won the pool in 21 tries, and I’ve never had all eight of the first round picks.  This year a tip of the hat to the three who did:  Mark Peterson, Kim Ramsey, and Greg Schreader.  Also a tip of the hat to the only other participant out of fifty-two of us to pick UMass to win it:  Charlie O’Connell.

Final College Hockey Update Pool Standings

Winner, Chuck Speare, by Tie-Breaker    9 correct picks, 11 total points

11 Picks, 11 Points:  JPike, KRamsey

8 Picks, 10 Points:  O’Connell

10 Picks, 10 Points:  Krajan, McLean, MReichel

9 Picks/Points:  Pastor, Peterson, DRamsey, ERamsey, Schreader, DShymanski, Sweeney

8 Picks/Points:  Corbin, Holte, Johnson, Oswald, Rugani, Schwictenberg, JSchreader, TShymanski

7 Picks/Points:  Bettendorf, Bremer, Cook, Edman, Fairbrother, Heisel, Kirsch, Mattson, Muscarella, Olson, MPike, PReichel, Roth, Schmidt, Shimshock,

6 Picks/Points:  Bricknell, Cattermole, Michela, Sempere, Slaughter

5 Picks/Points:  Breen, Huberty, Kreisel, Miller, Sell, Wienbar

4 Picks/Points:  Kramer, Ryan, Shaida

3 Picks/Points:  Allen

FINAL TEAM RANKINGS/FINAL POLL FOR THIS SEASON

This provides the final top-twenty teams, rankings, records, and NCAA Tournament results, if they could all fit on one short little line:

[table id=229 /]

Again, congratulations to Chuck Speare, who has been in the pool for many years.  Thanks to all of you for coming along for the ride.  What a season!  And thanks to my behind the scenes contributors for who know a lot more about hockey than I do, for helping me out — Greg Schreader, John McLean, and Bruce Carlisle (and sorry if I am overlooking anyone else).

So, that’s all for now.  Stay tuned, and go Terriers, go College Hockey!

— Tom