Saturday, March 27, 1999

Saturday, March 27, 1999
East Regional, Worcester's Centrum Centre, Worcester, Massachusetts
West Regional, Dane County Coliseum, Madison, Wisconsin

Well today is day two of NCAA hockey tournament regional action. Who will advance in the West? Who will survive in the East? These questions and more will be answered by time the final horn sounds later tonight. However, by the day there will only be six teams left in this tournament, six will have had their seasons ended and will be back home (or headed home).

#3 Colorado College vs. #6 St. Lawrence (West Regional)

This is the first game in the West and the first game played this afternoon. Both teams start out a little hesitant (as have most teams so far in this tournament) as things get under way. The Tigers of Colorado College had a hard time hanging onto the puck in the early going, but eventually settled down and got things back under control. After settling down Colorado really started to apply some pressure on the Saints goal. Their best chance in the early going came when the puck was headed behind the SL goal, the goalie went after it, the puck hit the boards, took a wild bounce right back in front of the now empty net, and sat their screaming hit me!! The Saints were able to clear it out before CC could get there, but it was an opportunity I’m sure they wish they had back. A bit later in the period CC was on their 2nd power play of the game and appeared to have scored a goal, however, no goal was awarded. The puck had hit the cross bar and dropped straight down to the ice where the SL goalie scooped it up. SL dodged their second bullet of the still young period. While still on this power play CC had the puck in their own zone, a SL player came after it and when the CC player went to move around the SL player, the CC player fell. The SL player picked up the puck, walked in on the goal, stayed very patient waiting for the goalie to commit, and then slipped the puck into the net. This was a short-handed goal for St. Lawrence and even though CC had really outplayed them they had the early 1 to nothing lead. The period would end with St. Lawrence holding onto the 1 goal lead. The SL goalie is very good and is a Hobey Baker award finalist. He often looks out of control and like he can be beat, but he manages to come up with the big saves. He probably looks so out of control because he is quite tall for a goal tender. You don’t see many goalies as tall as he is, nor as good (unless you’re a Michigan fan that is). CC had a huge advantage in shots on goal at 21 to 8 at the end of the first.

CC started the second period with about 1-minute of power play time, but they were unable to capitalize on the man advantage. However, shortly after the power play expired SL gave the puck up in their own zone and CC jabbed it past the goalie and the game was tied at one. Eleven seconds later, with CC still attacking like a pack of rabid dogs, they get their second goal and take the lead in this game. About thirty seconds later CC gets a break away (a clean break away I might add), the CC player comes in all alone, and beats the SL goalie for CC’s third goal. These three goals came in a span of 42 seconds which sets a NCAA tournament record for the most goals in the shortest span of time. Later in the period SL got back to within one when they picked up a power play goal. This was so similar to the missed chance by CC in the 1st period it was scary. The puck went behind the net, the CC goalie went after the puck, the puck hit the same place on the boards, took the same wild bound out in front of the net, and a waiting SL player jabbed it into the empty net. With just over 3 minutes remaining in the period CC, again on the attack, got a shot off that the goalie blocked, but he couldn’t cover the rebound. No SL player could get to the puck, nor could they clear the CC players out of the way, as a CC player picked up the rebound and punched it back into the net, going 5 hole on the SL goalie. The third period ended with CC holding a 4 to 2 lead.

There was a penalty called against CC right at the 20-minute mark of the 2nd period so SL started the 3rd on the power play. Down 2 goals you had to expect them to come out gunning for a goal and that is exactly what they did. They kept the pressure on the CC goalie, but he would not allow the puck through. The entire third period saw St. Lawrence getting shot after shot as they eventually evened the shots on goal tally up, but neither team could get the puck past the goal tenders. SL finally pulled their goalie with about 30 seconds left in the game, but CC almost immediately picked up a loose puck, and tallied the empty net goal to pick up their fifth and final goal of the game. The game ended with CC advancing to the quarterfinals with a 5 to 2 win over St. Lawrence.

Both of these teams like to skate a wide-open game. This was not nearly as physical a game as we saw in the two East Regional games yesterday. Colorado College has an explosive offensive team, and they will be Michigan State’s opponent tomorrow in the West Regional quarterfinals. While MSU is a more physical and defensive minded team than was St. Lawrence, MSU also doesn’t score a lot of goals (they don’t have a real potent offense). If CC can jump on MSU early and make MSU play catch up, which is not their game, the Spartans could be in trouble. However, if MSU can make tomorrow’s game a physical, grinding, kind of game (not what CC appears to prefer) you can expect to see the Spartans in the frozen four.

#2 Clarkson vs. #3 Maine (East Regional, quarter final)

Both teams start this game going full out, just flying around the ice. Clarkson looks to be a little rusty after not playing yesterday, but they are keeping pace fairly well. Maine gets the first power play opportunity of this game, but 45 seconds into the power play Maine gets called for a penalty putting the teams at 4 on 4. Clarkson gets a short power play, but all the penalties get killed off and no one scores. About midway through the first period Maine draws first blood and takes the 1 to nothing lead. Maine continues to attack as they put all kinds of pressure on the Clarkson goal. Some great passing and puck work get Clarkson a goal with 9 minutes left in the period. Well at this point the station I was watching switched to the West Regional so all I can do is report scores from this point on.

At the end of 1 period it was Maine 3, Clarkson 1.

With 2:20 left in the second it was Maine 4, Clarkson 2.

With 18:18 left in the game it was Maine 5, Clarkson 2. Steve Kariya is having an absolutely fantastic night of hockey, with 4 points to this point (2 goals, 2 assists).

With 7:39 left in the 3rd Maine gets a power play goal to take a 6 to 2 lead.

With 4 minutes left in the game Maine gets another goal to take a 7 to 2 lead.

This is how the games ends – Maine 7, Clarkson 2. Clarkson is a team that has been to the tournament 9 times in the last 11 years, but they have played very badly in the tournament. Their tournament woes end this year, a year when they were expected to take the big step and make the frozen four. Instead Maine is the first team to advance to the frozen four. The Blackbears are an excellent team and will give anyone they play a very hard time. They are fast, they continuously attack, and they have several weapons to utilize (including Steve Kariya, one of the better players in the country). Both teams from the ECAC have now been eliminated from the tournament.

#4 Boston College vs. #5 Northern Michigan (West Regional)

Both teams start this game playing it physical, yet wide open. This is probably the most controlled game out of any of the games involving teams playing their first tournament game. Northern is really on the offensive in this game and is making BC work extremely hard just to keep pace. With just over 14 minutes left in the period Northern draws first blood as they work the puck around the BC zone, get a shot off, the shot misses, but the rebound comes to Northern. Northern takes the rebound and punches it past the BC goaltender to take the early 1 to nothing lead. Boston College would get the first power play opportunity of the night, however, not far into this power play BC also takes a penalty putting both teams at 4 men apiece. Northern would get a short power play at the end of this, and seconds into this short power play they almost made it 2 to nothing. NMU intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and got a clean break away. The NMU player drove into the BC zone, walking right in on the BC goalie, NMU gets the shot off, but it clangs on the cross bar and sails harmlessly over the top of the goal. This should have been a goal and 9 times out of 10 I bet that player nets the puck. Now with only seconds left on the short NMU power play NMU gets called for another penalty effectively killing their short power play and once again putting BC on the power play once again. Anyway after all of this back and forth the penalties get killed off and no one has scored a point. The period ends with Northern holding the 1 to nothing lead. Northern played an excellent first period and really was the aggressor in the entire period.

The second period starts out much the same as the first one had gone with Northern continuing to take the play to BC. Just 2:14 into the second Northern gets another power play chance. During this power play they get another real good chance to score another goal, but squander the opportunity. Now with about 15 minutes left in the period NMU gets called for a penalty putting BC back on the power play. This time BC doesn’t waste the opportunity and they get the power play goal to tie the game at 1 apiece. The next scoring chance would again come on the power play. Northern once again gets called for a penalty, putting BC on the power play (my note says with about 4 minutes left in the period, but I thought it was earlier than that – oh well). With about 25 seconds left in the BC power play NMU gets called for another penalty giving BC a 25 second, 2 man advantage. Northern kills off the 2-man advantage, but with the extended power play time the second penalty gives BC, the Eagles of BC get their second power play goal of the period to take the lead 2 to 1. This is how the period ends, BC 2, NMU 1.

Now the third was again much of the same. Northern came out and really was the aggressor, but BC was able to force them out to the perimeter of the ice, giving them no real good looks at the goal. No matter how hard they played or how much of an advantage they got they just couldn’t get another goal. With about 1 minute left in the game NMU pulled their goalie, but even the extra attacker did them no good. The game ended with BC winning and advancing the quarterfinals by a score of 2 to 1.

Northern played an excellent game, but the quantity of penalties they committed and the poor timing of those penalties finally did them in. If they had played a little more under control and had capitalized on the scoring chances they did have Northern could have taken this game. This year however it was not meant to be. The CCHA has now lost two teams in the first round with only Michigan and Michigan State (who hasn’t played yet) remaining.

#1 New Hampshire vs. #5 Michigan

There is a decidedly UNH crowd in the Arena tonight, not surprising since New Hampshire is closer than Michigan. The first minute or two of the game clearly belonged to UNH. They were playing very physical and were getting all of the shots. In the first minute of play they really put a flurry of shots on goal, but were not able to get any scores. After the initial flurry of shots things did settle down a bit, with both teams playing this game end to end. UM takes the first penalty of this game putting UNH on the power play. Like Denver last night, UNH has a great power play unit. They ended the year as the number 5 power play unit in the country with a 24% conversion rate. UM pretty much kept UNH from setting anything up, but with the power play almost over UNH got set and got off a shot. The only thing that kept them from getting a score on this play was Blackburn in the net. He came up with a great save that ended what looked like a sure UNH score. UM killed the remainder of the power play and the score remained nothing to nothing. A bit later in play UNH comes up with a clean break away, but Huntzicker comes flashing down the ice, catches the UNH player, and takes him off the puck (without getting called for a penalty). This was just a great defensive play by Huntzicker, who is having a real good tournament run. As UM turned play around and headed into the UNH zone they got the puck ahead to Matzka who had a great chance to get UM on the board, but came up short when he didn’t get a good swat at the puck. UNH did get a couple of more shots as time went by in this period, but Blackburn had stopped them all. Then with just 9 seconds left in the period UM got a little lazy with the puck. They didn’t put everything on a pass they should have, it got deflected at the blue line. From there it hit an UM players skate and bounced back into the UM zone where three UNH players were waiting for it. With the three on one advantage UNH walked the puck into the UM zone. They got off one shot that Blackburn stopped, but he didn’t cover the puck, UNH picked up the rebound, and got it past Blackburn to draw first blood. The period ended with UNH leading by a 1 to nothing score. UNH also held a decided advantage in shots on goal at 14 to 4. Like last night Michigan was unable to mount much of an offensive threat, but even though they didn’t get many shots you didn’t get the sense that they were being completely outplayed. The first period was really a very fast paced period with lots of up and down play and except for the let down right at the end of the period things weren’t looking that bad. UM needs to pick it up a notch in the next period and just keep taking it to UNH.

UM didn’t start the second period the way they would have wanted to as they continued to give the puck away in bad places on the ice. Luckily they have been able to get away with it because of the play of Blackburn. About 45 seconds into the period UNH gets called for a penalty giving UM a quick power play chance in this stanza. While UM did get one good look at the goal they were unable to get a goal and UNH killed off the power play. With 14:40 left in the period Krog of UNH almost worked his patented magic act but the Hobey Baker candidate was unable to get the score. He tried a wrap around and he either didn’t get as much wrap on it as he wanted or Blackburn got a piece of it. The end result was that it slipped through the crease and the scoring chance by UNH was missed. Krog is quite a player having picked up 80 points on the year. After several more minutes of up and down play and several more UNH shots on goal the score is still 1 to nothing in favor of UNH. The only reason UM is still in this game is Josh Blackburn. He is having a great night in the goal. At the midpoint of the period Blackburn comes up with yet another outstanding save as the defense allowed UNH to another great look at the net. With about 7 minutes left in the period UM almost got a goal, but they just seem to be unable to get this thing done. UM did start to play a bit better late in the second period, but they still haven’t been able to score any points. The period ends with UNH still holding their one goal lead at 1 to nothing and they still hold an edge in shots on goal, however, the Wolverines have closed that gap as UNH has a 22 to 16 advantage in shots.

Michigan will have to come out in this final period and really pick up the play. They really have to count themselves lucky to be down only 1 goal and UNH must be wondering what they have to do convert some of those shots into goals. If UM can come out and get 1 (or maybe 2) quick goal(s) they might be able to take this game over. They did seem to improve toward the end of the second period as they started to assert themselves physically. UNH came out in this game wanting to play physical hockey and I don’t think that’s really their game. With their inability to crack Blackburn they may be tiring themselves out and UM may just get the opening they need IF they can pick up it up a notch in this final period. It’s all or nothing now going into this final period of play. Get this game won or head back to A2 to think about next year.

We start out the third period the way we ended the second; Blackburn turning away another UNH shot. The up and down action in this game continues. It has been an unbelievable game of non-stop hockey. With 14:45 left in the game it looked like we were going to get a point on the board, but again we simply cannot find the net. Midway through the period Blackburn is still the difference in this game. Right around this time (the 10-minute mark) UNH ices the puck. The face off moves down into the UNH zone. Bobby Hayes is in to take the face off and he not only wins it, but forces his way through the UNH player, gets off a shot, and finally gets UM on the board to tie the game. After tying the game the up and down play continues as does the outstanding play of Josh Blackburn. UNH trying to get this game as time begins to run down as they are putting extreme pressure on the UM goal. We are down to the last 2 minutes of the period and it’s taking forever. Sorry, there isn’t much to say, the action just keeps moving up and down the ice. UM gets a look once and a while and Blackburn just keeps stopping shot after shot. We are now down to about 1:08 to play and yet another face off in the UM zone. UM wins this face off, but they clear it to hard, the puck travels the length of the ice, and icing is called. Another face off in the UM zone with 1:01 left to play. After some more non-scoring action it appears that there will be another face off in the UM zone, but they move the face off outside the zone. Off the face off the puck gets bounced around, and regulation ends with the score tied at 1 apiece.

Well there will be a 20-minute sudden victory overtime period (as many as needed) after the ice is resurfaced. Whoever looses this game it is going to be a shame after seeing this game played. Thirty seconds into the overtime period both teams have had a shot at scoring the winning goal. After the initial trading of shots UNH really starts to poor on the offensive coal. They are getting a lot of looks at the goal, but so far Blackburn has stopped them all. Well that ends it. Just over three minutes into the overtime period UM gives the puck away behind their net, UNH takes the puck feeds it up front. Blackburn stops the initial attempt at scoring, but Blackburn is unable to cover the puck and UNH punches the resting puck into the UM net winning the game. This goal ends Michigan’s season and sends UNH on to Anaheim to play in the frozen four.

Well like I said it’s a shame that one of these teams had to loose this game, and it’s particularly disappointing that UM had to be the one to loose it. When you look back over this game UNH really dominated the first period, but the two teams played things fairly evenly through the next two periods. UNH clearly had more shots on goal and were thwarted at each turn by Josh Blackburn who had an outstanding game. The season, while not as good as we’ve gotten used to over the last couple of years, was still a good one. We finished 2nd in the regular season, took the CCHA tournament, and at least advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. So far they have been the only CCHA team to win a game in this tournament so now it falls to MSU. So ends the year for UM hockey and I’d like to take a moment and say thanks to the team for another great year. I’m already looking forward to next year and until next year, C-ya!!