Nyquist, Baker, Geoffrion are Hobey finalists
March 31, 2010
ORONO, Maine (AP)—Maine’s Gustav Nyquist and New Hampshire’s Bobby Baker areamong the three finalists for the Hobey Baker Award, which recognizes thenation’s top college hockey player.
The third finalist is Blake Geoffrion of Wisconsin. The winner will beannounced April 9 at the Frozen Four in Detroit.
Nyquist was the nation’s leading scorer this season with 19 goals and 41assists for 61 points.
Butler was the nation’s top goal scorer with 27. Geoffrion was No. 2 ingoals scored with 27.
Frozen Four moves to bigger stage at Ford Field
March 30, 2010
Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves hopes that holding the Frozen Four at Ford Fieldin Detroit will help draw attention to college hockey the way NHL has benefitedfrom playing outdoor games.
“I think it’s a good idea to go and try it and see how it works out,” hesaid.
The NHL game at Wrigley Field last year between the Chicago Blackhawks andDetroit Red Wings drew the biggest television audience for a regular-season NHLgame in nearly 34 years. More than 30,000 fans are expected to attend the gamesin Detroit. The semifinals are on April 8 and the title game is April 10.
The Badgers (28-11-1), who are seeking their seventh national title, willface Rochester Tech in the opening game. The Tigers, who have won 12 straight,are in just their fifth season in Division I.
Miami of Ohio (29-7-7), which came within a minute of winning last seasonbefore blowing a two-goal lead and losing in overtime, will play Boston College(27-10-3). The Eagles have ended the RedHawks season in three of the past fouryears.
Eaves, who has coached the Badgers in outdoor games in front of 40,890 fansat Lambeau Field in 2006 and in front of 55,031 fans home at Camp Randall thispast February, said playing indoors in such a large venue will bring differentchallenges.
He expects it to be warmer in the larger venue and is concerned it couldcause players to cramp up.
“Another thing is, how far is the walk? I’ve heard rumors they’re going tohave golf carts for the goaltenders. So these are some of the logistics we’regoing to have to deal with,” he said.
Rochester Tech coach Wayne Wilson isn’t worried about the venue, he’s moreworried about how his team is going to handle playing on a bigger stage.
“There are a lot of possible traps and distractions out there. But withthis particular team it’s another game against another very good team in adifferent facility,” he said. “It’s Wisconsin on another ice sheet.”
He’s more concerned about the attention his team is receiving as heavyunderdogs. The Tigers entered the tournament as the 15th seed.
Wilson said he consulted with Bemidji State coach Tom Serratore, who lastyear became the first coach to guide a No. 16 seed into the Frozen Four. Wilsonsaid Serratore warned about not getting caught up in the media attention.
“The guys started believing everything and were all so excited that theylost a little bit of their grit, they just lost a bit along the way because ofthe attention they were getting through the media,” he said. “We can eitherlisten to him and benefit from someone whose been through it or do our own pathand maybe follow into the trap.”
Hirschfeld gives Miami 3-2 win over Michigan
March 28, 2010
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP)—Alden Hirschfeld scored at 1:54 of the second overtimeto give top-seeded Miami of Ohio a 3-2 victory over Michigan in the NCAA MidwestRegional final Sunday night, sending the RedHawks to the Frozen Four for thesecond straight year.
Hirschfeld picked the puck up at the top of the right circle, turned andfired it past goalie Shawn Hunwick. Pat Cannone scored two power-play goals forMiami, Curtis McKenzie had a pair of assists and Connor Knapp made 55 saves.Hirschfeld’s goal was the only even-strength goal Miami scored in the regional.
David Wohlberg had an even-strength goal for Michigan, Chad Langlais added apower-play goal and defenseman Steve Kampfer had a pair of assists. Hunwick made32 saves against Michigan’s Central Collegiate Hockey Association rival.
The RedHawks (29-7-7), who came within a minute of winning the nationaltitle last year before squandering a two-goal lead and losing in overtime toBoston University, will face Boston College (27-10-3) in the semifinals April 8in Detroit.
The loss cost Michigan (26-18-1) a chance to play for the nationalchampionship practically in its own backyard. The Michigan campus is about 45miles from Ford Field.
Knapp also had a nice pad save on a wrist shot by Carl Hagelin with a littleover 9 minutes left in the first overtime as Michigan outshot the RedHawks 20-6in the period.
The RedHawks scored first on a power play, ending a streak of nine straightgames where Michigan scored first. McKenzie was pinned against the boards behindthe net but made a nice backhanded pass out front to Cannone, who lifted thepuck over Hunwick.
The Wolverines tied it 94 seconds later, though. Wohlberg was wide openbetween the circles when he fired a wrist shot that Knapp stopped. But therebound ricocheted off Wohlberg’s leg into the crease and he knocked it in.
The Wolverines took a 2-1 lead in the second period when Langlais scored ona slap shot from the left point. The RedHawks quickly answered when McKenzieskated out from behind the net and fired a shot that Hunwick blocked. But whenHunwick couldn’t cover it, the puck slid across the crease and Cannone slammedit in for his 10th power-play goal.
Miami had a great chance to regain the lead later in the period going on thepower-play for 3:28, including 32 seconds with the two-man advantage, but theWolverines had the best scoring chance on a breakaway by Wohlberg.
Michigan had another good scoring chance in the opening minute of the thirdperiod when Miami turned the puck over in its own zone. But Wolverines scoringleader Louie Caporusso fanned on the shot. The Wolverines had anotheropportunity four minutes into the period when a shot by Lynch went over Knapp’sshoulder and rolled down his back, but Knapp and right wing Trent Vogelhuberkept it out.
Hunwick had a nice glove save on a wrist shot by McKenzie midway through thethird period as the RedHawks finally got some pressure on Michigan. But Hunwick,the CCHA tournament MVP, couldn’t keep Michigan’s postseason run alive. It wasjust his second loss in 10 games since replacing starting goalie Bryan Hogan,who sustained a severe groin injury in late February. One of his best plays wasnot a save when with 5 minutes left he used his skate to stop Cannone fromsliding the puck across the crease while Hunwick was flat on his stomach.
Cannone nearly had a hat trick, but his shot with 3 minutes left hit theright post and was covered by Hunwick.
Knapp started in goal for Miami instead of Cody Reichard, who was the CCHAplayer of the year. Reichard was pulled in the league tournament semifinal gamemidway through the third period after giving up five goals in a loss toMichigan.
Boston College advances to Frozen Four
March 28, 2010
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP)—Cam Atkinson had three goals and Carl Sneep scored a170-foot short-handed goal to help Boston College beat Yale 9-7 on Sunday in theNortheast Regional final for its ninth trip to the Frozen Four in 13 seasons.
Joe Whitney and Jimmy Hayes each scored twice, Brian Gibbons also scored andJohn Muse made 32 saves for the Eagles (27-10-3), looking for their thirdnational title since 2001. Boston College matched the regional record for goalsin a game and the teams set a regional record for combined goals.
Mark Arcobello scored three goals for Yale (21-10-3), Brian O’Neill addedtwo and Denny Kearney and Broc Little also scored.
Boston College, the Hockey East tournament champion, won national titles in2001 and 2008 after winning regional finals in Worcester.
With the game tied 1-1, Sneep collected a puck between the circles in hisown end, turned and fired a seemingly harmless clearing shot toward Yale’s end.As the puck approached the goal, it appeared to bounce to the right and bygoalie Ryan Rondeau.
Atkinson and Whitney each scored twice in the second period for Eagles.
The top-seeded Eagles made it 3-1 early in the second when Whitney scoredoff his own rebound. Arcobello scored on a wrist shot from the slot, cutting itto 3-2 at 4:46 before Atkinson stole defenseman Ryan Donald’s clearing pass inthe right circle and slipped a shot past Rondeau 11 seconds later.
Atkinson scored off a centering pass from Gibbons to make it 5-2 midway intothe second. Rondeau was then pulled.
Whitney fired a slap shot past backup goalie Billy Blase to make it 6-2.
Atkinson completed his hat trick on a breakaway as he was being hooked frombehind early in the third. Yale then pulled Blase in favor of Jeff Malcolm.
The Bulldogs, the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference regular-seasonchamps, made a charge late in the second period.
Third-seeded Yale, looking to make its first final four appearance sincebeing selected as one of two teams from the East in 1952, scored twice in theclosing 3 minutes of the second to cut it to 6-4. Hayes had his two early in thethird against Malcolm, making it 9-4 with just under 13 minutes to play.
Wisconsin advances to Frozen Four
March 27, 2010
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP)—John Mitchell scored two goals and Wisconsin advanced tothe Frozen Four for the 12th time, beating St. Cloud State 5-3 on Saturday nightin the NCAA West Regional final.
“When you get down to this point in the season, you’re looking for offensefrom anybody and everybody,” Badgers coach Mike Eaves said after Mitchellscored for the first time since Jan. 29. “So to see (Mitchell) step up speaksto the depth of this team.”
Mitchell, Blake Geoffrion and Jake Gardiner had first-period goals for theBadgers (27-10-4), who will face East Regional champion Rochester Institute ofTechnology in the national semifinals April 8 at Ford Field in Detroit.
“Wisconsin earned that victory almost start to finish tonight,” St. CloudState coach Bob Motzko said. “To our guys credit, we made it interesting for afew moments there.”
Aaron Bendickson also scored, and Scott Gudmandson made 26 saves forWisconsin, making its first Frozen Four appearance since winning the 2006 titlein Milwaukee.
“Our strength all year long has been our depth, so just because Mitchhadn’t scored in a while doesn’t mean he hasn’t been huge,” said Geoffrion,selected the regional’s most valuable player. “He had two big ones tonight.”
Jared Festler scored twice, and Tony Mosey added a goal for St. Cloud State(24-14-5), which cut the Badgers’ lead to a goal three times, but couldn’t pulleven.
“Once they get the lead, it’s tough to get back,” Huskies forward GarrettRoe said. “They came at us the entire night. Give them credit. Their goalie wassolid and it was tough to get anything going.”
St. Cloud State’s Mike Lee stopped eight of 11 shots before being replacedby Dan Dunn late in the third with the Huskies down 3-1. Dunn made 31 saves.
Michigan advances with win over Bemidji State
March 27, 2010
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP)—Carl Hagelin scored a pair of third-period goals andwalk-on Shawn Hunwick made 26 saves to lead third-seeded Michigan past No. 2seed Bemidji State, 5-1 in the NCAA Midwest Regional semifinals Saturday night
Ian Lowe finally beat Hunwick midway through the third period as BemidjiState (23-10-4) scored on a power play. But Hagelin scored 2 minutes later, andBrian Lebler added an empty-netter. Luke Glendening and Louie Caporusso alsoscored for Michigan (26-17-1).
The Wolverines will face league-rival Miami in the regional final 8 p.m.Sunday. The Wolverines, who finished seventh in the Central Collegiate HockeyAssociation, needed a win over the RedHawks in the CCHA semifinal and NorthernMichigan in the final to earn its 20th straight trip to the NCAA tournament.
Hunwick, the MVP of the CCHA tournament, improved to 8-1 since replacingstarting goalie Bryan Hogan, who suffered a severe groin injury in lateFebruary. Hunwick made two of his best saves in the second period, first on ashot by Jordan George right in front, then a pad save on a slap shot from theleft point by Kyle Hardwick.
Lowe scored on a nice pass by Matt Read. But Hagelin quickly restored thegoal two minutes later when on a 2-on-1 break. He passed across to Kevin Lynch,Lynch passed it back and Hagelin slid the pack past Bemidji State goalie DanBakala. He then added a short-handed goal on a breakaway.
Michigan opened the scoring when Glendening deflected a slap shot from theleft point by Chad Langlais. Caporusso scored his team-leading 21st goal with 38seconds left in the second period while each team had a player in the penaltybox. Chris Brown slid the puck across the crease to Caporusso at the right ofthe net and he beat Bakala on the shortside.
RIT beats New Hampshire to advance to Frozen Four
March 27, 2010
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)—Tyler Brenner scored two goals, Jared DeMichiel made 24saves and Rochester Institute of Technology advanced to the Frozen Four for thefirst time, beating New Hampshire 6-2 on Saturday night in the NCAA EastRegional final.
In just its fifth season as a Division I program, fourth-seeded RIT(28-11-1) extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 12 games.
Chris Haltigin and Tyler Mazzei each had a goal and an assist, Brent Alexinand Stevan Matic also scored, and Andrew Favot had three assists for the Tigers.
Phil DeSimone and Blake Kessel scored for New Hampshire (18-14-7).
RIT beat Denver 2-1 on Friday night.
Yale beats North Dakota in NCAA tournament
March 27, 2010
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP)—Denny Kearney had two goals, Mark Arcobello also scored,and Ryan Rondeau made 34 saves to help Yale beat North Dakota 3-2 on Saturday inthe NCAA Northeast Regional semifinals.
Third-seeded Yale (21-9-3) will face top-seeded Boston College on Sunday fora berth in the Frozen Four at Ford Field in Detroit. The Bulldogs’ onlyappearance in the final four came in 1952 when they lost to Colorado College inthe semifinals.
Kearney and Arcobello scored in a 4:57 span in the second period to giveYale a 3-0 lead. Brett Hextall and Matt Frattin scored early in the third periodfor North Dakota (25-13-5).
“A lot of people weren’t expecting much out of us,” Yale defenseman RyanDonald said. “We’re kind of playing with house money. We played the underdogrole pretty well and we were a little more looser than usual.”
Kearney took a pass from Kevin Lambert at the bottom of the left circle,shifted quickly from right to left and slipped a shot behind goalie BradEidsness to make it 2-0 at 12:49 of the second.
The Bulldogs, the Eastern College Athletic Conference regular-seasonchampions, made it 3-0 when Arcobello collected a rebound off the backboards andslipped a shot inside the right post.
“We got off to a slow start the first two periods and they took advantageof it and got up 3-0,” North Dakota defenseman Derrick LaPoint said. “Youcan’t really put a finger on it. Some days you have it and some days youdon’t.”
The Fighting Sioux, making their eighth straight NCAA appearance and 25thoverall, scored twice in the opening 6 minutes of the third to get close.
Yale coach Keith Allain called timeout to settle his team down.
“We reminded our guys that if they wanted to be champions they’d have to gothrough tough times,” he said.
North Dakota’s Darcy Zajac fired a shot off the left post on a penalty shotlate in the second period.
The Fighting Sioux won 12 of their final 13 games heading into the NCAAtourney.
Miami beats Ala-Huntsville 2-1 on power-play goals
March 27, 2010
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP)—Curtis McKenzie and Cameron Schilling scored power-playgoals and top-seeded Miami of Ohio dominated play in a 2-1 victory againstAlabama-Huntsville on Saturday in the NCAA Midwest Regional first round.
The Chargers (12-18-3) cut the lead to 2-1 with a power-play by BrennanBarker with 38 seconds left, about 7 seconds after pulling goalie CameronTalbot.
The Chargers struggled to keep up with the quicker RedHawks (28-7-7),repeatedly drawing penalties. The RedHawks had nine power plays to five forAlabama-Huntsville. Miami also had 38 shots on net to17 for the Chargers.
McKenzie, who also had an assist, scored the first goal midway through thefirst period, firing in a pass by Carter Camper from behind the net. Schillingmade it 2-0 early in the second period when he partially fanned on a shot outfront. The puck popped up, hit Chargers goalie Cameron Talbot in the glove andfell into the net.
While Talbot repeatedly stopped Miami shots from right out front, theRedHawks limited Alabama-Huntsville quality scoring chances. Miami goalie CodyReichard did make a nice skate save on a shot by Alabama-Huntsville defensemanRyan Burkholder midway through the second period.
Boston College beats Alaska-Fairbanks 3-1 in NCAAs
March 27, 2010
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP)—Pat Mullane scored the tiebreaking goal 3:46 into thethird period and Matt Price was awarded a goal when he was hauled down breakingtoward an empty net with 12 seconds left, lifting Boston College to a 3-1 winover Alaska-Fairbanks in the NCAA tournament Saturday.
Matt Lombardi also scored for the Eagles (26-10-3), the top seed in theNortheast Regional. They will face the North Dakota-Yale winner on Sunday for aspot in the Frozen Four.
Andy Taranto scored for Alaska-Fairbanks (18-12-9) in its NCAA tournamentdebut.
Boston College, the Hockey East tournament champion, improved to 9-0 infirst-round NCAA tournament games in Worcester. The Eagles are seeking theirthird NCAA title since 2001.
With Nanooks goalie Scott Greenham pulled for an extra skater in the final30 seconds, Price was racing toward a loose puck deep in the Alaska zone when hewas hooked down by defenseman Joe Sova.
After a brief pause, the referee signaled “automatic goal” with both handsin the air, grabbing one wrist to indicate a goal even though the puck neverwent into the net.
“I was thinking when I was lying in the crease, is he going to make me takea penalty shot? Can you have a penalty shot when there’s no goalie?” Pricesaid. “It took a while for him to signal it was an automatic goal.”
Lombardi had a short-handed goal in the first period for BC. Taranto tied itwith a power-play score late in the second.
Eagles goalie John Muse made 28 saves—and caught a break when DustinSather hit the crossbar with just more than 2 minutes to play.
“We had all we could handle,” Boston College coach Jerry York said. “Idon’t think I’ve ever been in an NCAA tournament game where the games aren’tdifficult.”
The Eagles jumped ahead 1-0 when Lombardi collected a loose puck near centerice, broke in on a semi-breakaway, shifted and tucked a backhander behindGreenham at 8:54.
Alaska tied it when Taranto took a pass from behind the net and slipped ashot by Muse from the slot.
For most of the game, the Nanooks kept BC’s high-flying offense in check.
“I think the game from our standpoint was where we wanted it,” Alaskacoach Dallas Ferguson said. “We didn’t want it to be 7-6, 8-6.”
It was the farthest East the Nanooks have played since traveling to Elmira,N.Y., in 1993.
“I’m so proud of the way we competed, being our first time in thetournament,” Ferguson said.
Greenham made 29 saves.
