I’m spent. I hope the Dogs have a little more energy left than I do. Tonight in the NCAA hockey tourney the UMD Bulldogs battled…scratched…clawed…absolutely escaped…and surprised the heck outta me to beat Princeton, 5-4 in OT. This was a game UMD should have been in the driver’s seat. They seemed to be for the majority of the first period, taking an early lead on a goal from F Andrew Carroll. But Princeton tied it late in the 1st, then took the lead in the 2nd, then added another to go up 3-1. UMD D Brady Lamb got a shot off that eluded Princeton G Zane Kalemba to give UMD some life. Princeton controlled the 2nd period, but a penalty with 3 seconds left gave even more hope to UMD faithful starting the 3rd.

But as was the story for most of the night, UMD’s powerplay mounted little chances, and later in the period, on another PP, UMD gave up what appeared to be the dagger, a shorthanded goal for Princeton thanks to lackluster lunges at the puck trying to get it off the Tiger’s stick. Down 4-2, UMD pulled G Alex Stalock with about 2 minutes to play. A penalty call on Princeton with roughly a minute and it was “So you’re telling me there’s a chance…”

Then it got nuts. UMD scored on the PP with 39 seconds to go. Still, I’m thinkin’ it woulda been nice to get that goal about 5 minutes ago. UMD won the faceoff and pushed to the net, but a questionable (IMHO) goaltender interference call moved the faceoff out of the zone with 12 seconds to go. Once again UMD won the faceoff, something they did consistently all night long, and got the puck on goal. Zane Kalemba played the puck off for a defender, but the Dogs were coming hard, and they got the puck out front on of the net, where Bulldog D Evan Oberg threw a desperation wrister at the goal.

<<Visualize My Reaction>>Holy crap…it went in! Check the clock! 0.8 left on the clock! It’s a good goal!!! Jump up and down and attempt to be quiet so you don’t wake the family!!! Too late, dog barking, baby crying, wife asking what’s going on!!<<End Visualization>>

Whew! So now we go to an improbable OT, where you worry that the momentum will not carry over because you’ve spent too much emotion. Both teams had some chances, and I let out some gasps on both sides of the ice. With about 6 minutes to play the Tigers were called for tripping, and UMD had another PP opportunity. They were not good on the PP all night, but only a few seconds after the ensuing faceoff UMD F Mike Connolley showed some nifty skate work to catch a beauty centering pass from F Justin Fontaine and had a yawning net to stuff the puck into, and he did just that. UMD moves on to the West region championship game. Win and go to the Frozen Four! The pro UMD crowd was awesome all night, continually getting behind the Dogs. Those that came down to Minneapolis from Duluth now get to go out and party and look forward to seeing UMD play another day.

Friday Recap
UMD had to scratch and claw to get a win tonight and defend their higher seed. In the other games Friday, the high seeds were upset. In the East regional, #4 Air Force beat #1 Michigan 2-1 and #3 Vermont beat #2 Yale. In the other West regional game, #4 Miami Ohio took care of Denver 4-2. So I got one game out of the four right in my bracket…and I barely got that one.

That sets up Air Force v. Vermont and Minnesota Duluth v. Miami Ohio to go to the Frozen Four. Honestly, I got nothin’ on AF v. Vermont. As for UMD v. Miami, the Dogs have got to be super tired - it is good that the game is an 8:00 CST start. Good opportunity to rest. They have to be careful not to take Miami lightly because they are the #4 seed. Miami also probably learned alot from Princeton’s gameplan to take the athletic Alex Stalock out of UMD’s gameplan. The Dogs will have to stay intense and bury their opportunities better than they did tonight. And, sticking to my bracket, and my loyalties, I think they will do just that.

GO DOGS!

Minnesota Duluth’s unexpected run to the WCHA Final Five title and appearance in the NCAA Tournament continues my distraction from the ever-frustrating NHL team I usually ramble on about. I will continue this impromptu coverage of the 2009 college hockey season with predictions for the NCAA tournament.

Northeast Region
Verizon Wireless Arena - Manchester, New Hampshire
Pretty much a no-brainer, but I’ve got #1 overall Boston University coming out of this region. I am going with a slight upset in the #2/#3 game, with the host New Hampshire Wildcats beating the North Dakota Fighting Sioux. This will not make my wife, a few friends, and some relatives very happy, but after the standard start-slow, finish strong to win the WCHA regular season, North Dakota hasn’t quite been the same since the playoffs started. They less-than overwhelmed Michigan Tech in the first round, then lost to UMD and Wisconsin in the Final Five. They’re headed into an arena 38 miles from UNH, and I think the Wildcats will ride the wave to one W. They will be overmatched in the next round v. Boston U, and BU will be in the Frozen Four.

East Region
Bridgeport Arena at Harbor Yard – Bridgeport, Connecticut
Yale is the host school for this regional…only 16 miles from the arena. I think Yale beats Vermont, Michigan beats Air Force, and Yale upsets Michigan to get to the Frozen Four.

West Region
Mariucci Arena – Minneapolis, Minnesota
First one to comment who I think will win this region gets the Atta Boy prize. I gotta believe UMD’s run continues for a few more games. Bulldog G Alex Stalock let in one goal last weekend in the Final Five and he’s playing like the best goalie in the nation. That said, I’ve heard rumblings that Princeton has the ACTUAL best goalie in the nation. I’m looking for Stalock and MacGregor Sharp to stay hot, for some other Bulldog scorers to join the party, and for the Dogs to beat Princeton in a low-scoring affair. Then it’s UMD v. Denver to get to the Frozen Four. All sorts of history here…UMD just beat Denver in the Final Five championship game this past weekend. Denver ended UMD’s last NCAA run in the national semifinal in 2004. I think UMD has the tie-breaker here because they’re the hot team and it’s their turn to win on the big stage.

Midwest Region
Van Andel Arena – Grand Rapids, Michigan
I know next to nothing about most of these teams. I know Bemidji State wants to get into the WCHA, and I know that UMD swept them in Duluth this season. When BSU gets into the WCHA they’ll play against better competition, but for now they’re overmatched. Notre Dame wins that game, and I’ve got Northeastern beating Cornell, and the Fighting Irish advancing to the Frozen Four.

Frozen Four
Verizon Center – Washington D.C.
Boston U will end Yale’s cinderella run  and advance to the championship game. In the other semifinal…you guessed it, I have UMD over Notre Dame. That sets up a Bulldog v. Boston Terrier final. Naturally the Bulldogs will win that matchup, and UMD will win it’s first-ever NCAA hockey championship!

While I was able to apply at least a little logic to the regional games, I’m clearly looking at the Frozen Four through Bulldog-colored glasses. But when your team has only been to the hockey dance 5 times previously, you’ve got to take advantage of the opportunity!

Here’s proof of my prognostication, courtesy of the poor low-light picture-taking abilities of my iPhone…

Check back later for recaps of this weekend’s games.

GO DOGS!

I’m finally able to say this…the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs are the WCHA Final Five Champions!

 
photo: duluthnews.com

UMD beat Denver University, a team they historically struggle against, 4-0 in Saturday’s championship game at Xcel Energy Center. They are the first team to win the Final Five having to play 3 games in 3 nights starting with the Thursday play in game. They earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. They are on an unbelievable high and who knows how long they can ride it.

I wasn’t able to pay 100% attention unfortunately. My family and our cousins had a great idea to go to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch and baby girl was all riled up. I actually missed all 3 goals in the first 2 periods, looking up just in time to see the celebration. But trust me, I’m ok with it. I’m just too excited to care!

MacGregor Sharp had a hat trick and G Alex Stalock stopped all 20 shots he faced to secure the Broadmoor Trophy. Stalock was named tournament MVP (duh).

photo: duluthnews.com

NCAA Tourney
UMD got a nice break from the NCAA selection committee. They will play in the West regional, which is being played at Mariucci Arena at the U of Minnesota. They drew the #2 seed in the region and will play #3 Princeton Friday night. The other game is #1 Denver v. #4 Miami of Ohio. This will be UMD’s 1st appearance in the NCAA since 2004, when they made it to the national semifinal before losing to that infamous Denver Pioneers squad.

On a side note, Minnesota did not earn a spot in the tournament for the first time since 2000.

Look for more coverage on the NCAA tourney here later this week, including my bracket predictions!

 
For the first time ever, the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs are in the WCHA Final Five championship game. The Dogs are riding a wave of unbelievable goaltending, strong defense, and a bit of luck into a chance to actually lift a trophy.

Last night the Dogs took on the #1 seeded North Dakota Fighting Sioux, they beat them 3-0, and I finally made it down to the X for the first time this season.

Ticket Hunt
We met up with some friends at Great Waters Brewing and hoped to find a good deal on tickets outside the arena. I thought alot of Gopher fans would be selling their tickets. To my surprise, all that were available outside were singles, and they were going for more than we were looking to pay. I’ll give Gopher fans props for still attending the game after they were knocked out of the tournament. We wound up buying tickets at the box office, which wasn’t really all that bad…we were able to avoid Ticketmaster’s ridiculous fees.

Early Lead
The Dogs capitalized on an early miscue by UND G Brad Eidsness on a UND powerplay when UMD cleared the puck and Eidsness went behind the net to stop it. He left it for a teammate, but UMD F MacGregor Sharp got to it first and snuck it into the net. Later the Dogs got another goal on a 4-on-4.

Alex Stalock – Clap Clap Clap Clap Clap
UMD’s goalie was again outstanding. He made several key saves when UND eventually got their game rolling. And he was also lucky. UND missed alot of opportunities where the puck would hop a stick or go off a skate.

 

Hang On!
The 2nd and 3rd periods were definitely tense for the outnumbered UMD fans at the X. Much as I love the Dogs, they always have had a tendency to become complacent and let a team back in. But it didn’t happen last night.

The key to the game after a long 5-minute major penalty called on UMD D Brady Lamb. UMD was able to kill the powerplay and got a ton of momentum and confidence for the rest of the game.

Suite 32
Our friends got us into their suite for the 2nd and 3rd periods. That was cool, because the seats were better than we had, and the beer was free! Definitely appreciate Paul for getting us in. Thanks buddy!

Every other fan in the suite were Sioux fans, and they were all crabby by the time we got there. They were very cordial to me, but you’d think UND was the worst team ever if you listened to their grumbling.

 
UMD v. Denver
The Broodmoor Trophy will go to either the Pioneers or the Bulldogs. UMD has never played well against Denver in my memory, and they knocked the Dogs out of the Frozen Four a few years ago. It will have to be another stellar defensive show if the Dogs want to win, and Stalock will again need to be good. If the Dogs can get the first goal again, I like our chances. I may just get to see my team hoist a trophy!

My regular readers know I am a huge University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs hockey rube. After an impressive upset in the first round of the WCHA playoffs over Colorado College last weekend, the Dogs earned a rare birth in the WCHA Final Five. Tonight was their play-in game, against our (and about 5 other team’s) biggest rival, the University of Minnesota Gophers. This house was riled up. My wife is from Grand Forks, ND, and is a Fighting Sioux fan, so clearly we both were looking for a Bulldog victory.

And that is exactly what we got…UMD 2, UMTC 1. It was a really good game. The Dogs went up 1-0 early in the first period and also killed an extended 5 on 3 Gopher powerplay. They got another goal in the 2nd to go up 2-0, and the Gophers seemed to be disinterested the rest of the second period. Even the homer Gopher announcers for FSN noted that they just didn’t seem to have life.

But as everyone would expect, the Gophers brought it in the third. They got a goal about midway into the period on a deflection and the Dogs held on for dear life. A key point in the game was with about two minutes left, after playing almost all of the period in their own defensive zone, UMD put a little pressure on the Gophers and came up with a couple good scoring chances. That was enough to run out the clock, although as time expired UMTC had a nice little last-second opportunity and a UMD player got a hook in to draw a penalty, but time expired and the Dogs get the W. UMD goalie Alex Stalock has been getting a TON of press around the Twin Cities about how he is the best goalie in the WCHA right now and one of the best in the country, and he absolutely lived up to the hype. He kept the Dogs in the lead in this one.

Sweet victory for me. I am a UMD fan living and working in Gopher-land. Gopher fans were looking past tonight’s game to a matchup with North Dakota in the semifinal. I hate to pile on UMTC fans after the basketball team was ousted early in the NCAA tournament, but then maybe they shouldn’t be so sure of themselves every time they get the opportunity.

UMD v. UND
So that sets up a Final Five matchup for my Dogs v. my wife’s Sioux in St Paul. UND won the WCHA regular season title, UMD finished 7th. UND is an unbelievable second-half of the season team, UMD is on an influential run. UMD beat and tied UND in two games this season. Tomorrow night should be fun. Julie and I will head to St. Paul and try to score a couple tickets from disgruntled Gopher fans unloading their ducats. If we are successful, come back here for some pics.

And all I can hope for is a competitive game and a chance to win at the end – and to only hear “Sioux Yeah Yeah” a minimal of times.

GO DOGS!

Wild @ Sharks – Thurs Mar 5 – View from the Couch
I sure didn’t see that coming. Tonite the Wild were dominated for almost two periods v. San Jose. Down 3-0, the Wild get goals from F Mikko Koivu (or D Marc-Andre Bergeron) and F Pierre-Marc Bouchard late in the 2nd and a backhanded dump in from center ice by D Marek Zidlicky that bounced through Sharks G Brian Boucher to get to overtime. A point is nice, but two are better, and F Mikko Koivu knocked in a stray puck off a rush by D Brent Burns with only 13 seconds left in the OT, and the Wild break their 4-game losing streak in dramatic fashion, the final 4-3.

Love the Cele
How great was Mikko’s reaction after the game winner? Jumping up and down like he just won the cup, you could tell an anvil-sized weight was just lifted off him and this team. After the game on FS North he talked about the spirit of the team, mentioning that Owen Nolan was on the bench, and I quote, “puking,” and still playing, and that was a great sign for the team.

Mikko strapping the team to his back Kirby Puckett style is great to see. “We’ll see you tomorrow night!”

Jots

• I can not overemphasize the emotional swing of this game. Just from my own standpoint, I went from fast-forwarding through another snoozefest and getting all crabby about dropping further into the playoff black hole, to watching intently and jumping up when Mikko scored the winner. Now it’s “Ain’t no stoppin’ us now!”
• PMB needs to keep scoring. His goal tonight was nice – a little head bob before firing a wrister. He is a guy that is disappointing big time this season, but turn it on now and who cares Butch!
• Thank you to SJ for not playing G Evgeni Nabokov tonight. I have to believe that Nabokov does not let this game get to OT.
• Wild D Kurtis Foster, who broke his fibula just under a year ago at HP Pavilion v. SJ on a touch-up icing play and is ready to make his season debut after surgery and rehab, had the option to play tonight. He chose to wait, no doubt the ghosts of what happened a year ago entering his mind.
• Closed-Circuit to Wild GM Doug Reisbrough, you’re right, we didn’t need Olli Jokinen. He only scored 2 goals in his debut tonight for Calgary v. Philly. And while we truly didn’t need D Jordan Leopold, he also scored a goal. This is what happens when you make trades DR…

The Fight to…Make the Playoffs
Lady Luck smiled on the Wild tonight. Dallas led LA 3-0 as well, and LA closed the gap and got a fluky goal as well to tie it, this one with 15 seconds left. They eventually get the W in OT, so the Wild remain in 11th place but only one point out of that last playoff spot. Don’t write off this season just yet.

Next
Wild go to Los Angeles to take on the Kings Saturday afternoon (3 PM CST). They CAN NOT waste this spirited effort by losing to the Kings. CAN NOT!

Tuesday the Wild signed G Niklas Backstrom to a 4-year contract extension, reportedly worth $24 M. I have mixed feelings. I thought that Backstrom was really the only asset the Wild have at the trade deadline and that they could deal him for some offense in return. Add Marian Gaborik back from injury to that offense, and you might have a new force for a playoff run. You can read my great GM mind published here in a guest bit on Cycle Like the Sedins. But given that Wild GM Doug Reisbrough would never pull the trigger on a deal like that, I guess the next best scenario is signing Backstrom to a contract that keeps him here for a few years. At least he will not be leaving for nothing.

Initially after seeing the terms I thought that’s actually not a bad price to pay…it’s not an overly-aggressive deal. Then I read that it makes him the fourth-highest paid goaltender in the NHL. His stats certainly put him in that category. Pretty good for a guy signed two years ago as a nobody from Finland to be Manny Fernandez’s backup.