Minnesota-Duluth Returns To Site Of Greatest Triumph

The field of play has finally taken form and the 2018 Frozen Four is set. The University of Minnesota-Duluth and Notre Dame were the first teams to qualify, while the University of Michigan and Ohio State round up the Frozen Four on April 5 and 7 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota after clinching Sunday.

Boston University faced Michigan in the Northeast Regional Final at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass. BU suffered a heavy loss going under 6-3. Michigan put on a scoring performance in the third period cracking through Jake Oettinger twice and once on an empty net. Michigan coach, Mel Pearson, put an emphasis on the stroke of luck that seemed to loom on the shoulders of the Wolverines.

“I can’t tell you we played the best game; I can’t tell you we were the better team tonight,” said Pearson. “We got lucky. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, but we were good and lucky.”

Michigan’s wins to lock a spot in the Frozen Four were against opponents who represented Hockey East Conference. After Sunday’s action, the bracket is complete but heavily favoring the Big Ten’s odds of reeling in a national title. Notre Dame and Ohio State being the second and third B1G teams in the Frozen Four.

Speaking of Ohio State, they had one job and that was to defeat the defending national champion and National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) member, Denver. Well, they did it in explosive fashion putting four past NCHC goalie of the year and Mike Richter Award finalist, Tanner Jaillet. The final score was 5-1 after the Buckeyes squashed a potential Denver rally on Tyson McLellan’s goal in the third.

Denver’s loss marked two NCHC heavy hitters out of the tournament. Denver was picked to finish No. 1 overall in the conference in the preseason poll and St. Cloud State was picked to finish second.

For Minnesota-Duluth, qualifying for the national semifinal game resonates deeply. When they won their national title it was in 2011 precisely at the Xcel Energy Center. To get to this year’s Frozen Four, they needed to beat a very dialed in Billy Christopoulos, netminder of Air Force Academy.

Bob Motzko said it best after SCSU’s loss on Friday:

“This kid, he’s dialed in right now and if he stays that way tomorrow [yesterday] Air Force is moving on. Someone’s got to score on him…he’s a big tall goalie so you need to shoot lower.”

Indeed, the Bulldogs were able to do what St. Cloud State, the top seed of the tournament, couldn’t do. They came out hard and were able to come at Christopoulos early with a goal from Joey Anderson at 9:03 of the first period —the shot was low. Another goal came in the first period by Nick Wolf at 12:12, making Air Force look like a completely different team from Friday. The Falcons couldn’t muster up a single shot in the opening frame Saturday.

Air Force found its form in the second applying that same medicine to Duluth. The Bulldogs were out-attempted and outshot in the second period but still took their 2-0 lead into the third period. Since falling 4-3 in overtime at Miami on Feb. 21, 2015, they are 53-0-3 when taking a lead into the third frame —20-0-1 in the same situation this year. Despite the Falcons netting a goal in the third period on a power play, it wasn’t enough to negate what awaited Minnesota-Duluth.

“I want to congratulate Air Force on a great year,” Duluth head coach Scott Sandelin said. “We knew it was going to be an extremely difficult game. We had a great start, obviously our first period was good but things tightened up after that and we held on. It was the game we expected. I’m proud of our guys coming out early and getting that lead.”

Out East, Notre Dame qualified for their second straight Frozen Four appearance as well. Dylan Malmquist, Edina, Minnesota native, really wanted to go home; he ensured that trip with his last-minute heroics. Notre Dame was staring down an alley full of nerves, otherwise known as overtime, with Providence giving them all they can handle. Malmquist netted the game-winner with about 30 seconds left in regulation time.

“Our game plan the whole night was just to chip pucks by them,” Malmquist said. “Oglevie had a great first touch behind the net and [Cal] Burke made an incredible pass to me in the slot and I was lucky enough to get a stick on it.”

Much like Air Force’s Christopoulos, Notre Dame’s backbone has been Cal Morris, who leads the nation in save percentage and is even a Hobey Baker Award Finalist. Morris has been able to get his team out of a hole on multiple occasion.

“It’s definitely been a roller coaster,” Morris said. “We’ve had those tight games all year, so we’re kind of made for that at this point of the year. We know that we can handle any situation.”

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