COLLEGE HOCKEY UPDATE: In the final game of the East Region in Manchester, N.H., Sunday night, March 30th, Boston College skated fast and was aggressive up and down the ice, taking a number of shots, while the University of Denver played a bit more patient game — but when they wanted or needed to, they displayed plenty of speed of their own.  Neither team was able to convert on their power play opportunities in the middle of the first period, but with only two minutes left, Eric Pohlkamp was able to net a shot from the slot to give Denver the 1-0 lead going into the second break despite Boston College holding an 11-5 shots advantage in the period.

At times it seemed Boston College might be playing a bit too aggressively, creating some opportunities for Denver, at three minutes into the second, perhaps one of those came along and James Reeder deflected a shot at the goal (assisted by Zeev Buium) for the 2-0 Denver lead.  Denver seemed to pour it on at that point, and it seemed Boston College was busy looking over their shoulders for much of the period.  But with a minute left, the aggressive play of BC paid off when Teddy Stiga broke down ice on a turnover in the slot of the Denver zone.  An outlet pass got to Stiga right in front of the blue line on his fast break, and he continued to the right side of the net and shot it in under the legs of the Denver goalie to make it a 2-1 game going into the third.

In the third Boston College turned it up and appeared to have the momentum, but Denver was highly focused on holding them back from the goal and from any really good shots on it.  While B.C. out-shot Denver 15-2 in the period, they could not convert any of their efforts into a score, and with only a few ticks left, Zeev Buium found the empty net for Denver to make the final score 3-1.  The University of Denver advanced to The Frozen Four in St. Louis on Thursday, April 10th, to face Western Michigan University at 2:00PM Pacific Time on ESPN2.

The outcome of this game was (another) huge upset in our pool, as only nine entrants picked the University of Denver to win, compared to thirty who picked thirty who picked B.C. to win it.

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

— Tom