UMD captain’s clutch play leads Bulldogs national title

“This year has been fun because our relationship as a coaching staff (with Kuhlman) grew,” Bulldogs head coach Scott Sandelin said. “We had a lot of talks earlier in the year. It was fun to see him kind of mature into the leader that he was.

 

“There were some frustrating times, but we found a way to get through together … I can’t say enough about Karson. He’s a great kid, great captain for us and I was so excited that he was the Most Valuable Player of this tournament because he deserved it.”

 

Kuhlman was also the MVP of the NCAA Division I West Regional and led the Bulldogs to four straight one-goal wins in the national tournament.

 

This was Kuhlman’s first season wearing a letter for a team since he was an alternate captain for the Dubuque Fighting Saints in 2013-14. His teammates voted him as the team’s captain last spring after the Bulldogs reached the national championship game.

 

UMD captain Karson Kuhlman and former Bulldog great, Bill Watson, share an embrace following Minnesota Duluth’s 2-1 Frozen Four championship game win over the Irish on Saturday night at Xcel Energy Center. (MHM Photo / Jonny Watkins)

“Throughout the summer and the fall, we knew we were going to have a lot of ups and downs,” said Kuhlman, whose team had eight freshmen and five sophomores in the lineup in Saturday’s win at Xcel. “As much as it was a learning experience for the younger guys, it was also a learning experience for myself and the leadership group.

 

“How to manage games with these younger guys and also how to manage everything from on the ice to off the ice to everything in between. At the end of the day, I couldn’t be happier with how all of them and how they stepped up.”

 

It helps when the captain is leading the way with his energy and relentless play. In the championship game, Kuhlman also stepped in to help out on a line he had not played a shift with this season.

 

Freshman left wing Kobe Roth went down with a lower leg injury in the first period. Kuhlman took a shift in Roth’s place and gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead with a goal at 9:06, which was 2:45 after Roth left the game.

 

“We were down to 11 forwards and I just liked the way Karson was playing,” Sandelin said. “He said he was fine to go and I told him to keep his shifts short. It paid off. It was a big goal for us to get the lead.”

 

Kuhlman got the puck from Jade Miller after Miller stole the puck in the neutral zone. He got it to Kuhlman, who faked a slap shot at the top of the faceoff circle, took a couple strides and then scored on a wrist shot from the faceoff dot.

 

“I was kind of caught it flat-footed and the ‘D’ man was closing in pretty good,” Kuhlman said of his 13th goal of the season. “I actually had scored on one of those earlier in my career on a really similar play on the catching glove side.”

 

Then Kuhlman set up the game-winner. Kuhlman and center Jared Thomas were attacking low in the Notre Dame zone. Kuhlman was able to push the puck down to Thomas, who took a couple strides toward the net and scored at 18:39 of the first period for a 2-0 lead.

 

UMD went on to win its third straight game that the Bulldogs held a 2-0 lead after the first period and ended up winning 2-1, this time to clinch its second national title.

 

Kuhlman grew up a Minnesota-Duluth fan and was a freshman on the Cloquet/Esko/Carlton High School team when the Bulldogs won their first title in 2011 in St. Paul.

 

“I remember 2011 and how much it meant to the fans in the whole city,” Kuhlman said. “I just can’t believe it. It’s pretty special.”

 

Kuhlman is an undrafted player, who finished with 38 goals and 40 assists in 165 career college games. He will graduate this spring with a degree in organizational management after being an NCHC All-Academic Team member for four years.

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Minnesotans combine for eight points as UND wins Frozen Four

TAMPA, Fla. — Brock Boeser was not the MVP of the Frozen Four, but his numbers in the two games should grab any hockey fan’s attention.

Boeser, a freshman from Burnsville, had a goal and three assists and was a plus-4 to help the University of North Dakota men defeat Quinnipiac 5-1 on Saturday before a crowd of 19,358 at Amalie Arena.

“He’s been a special player for us all season long and big players come through in big games,” North Dakota senior left wing Drake Caggiula said of Boeser. “He definitely stepped up today.

“He’s a hell of a player, hell of a kid. It was an honor to play on his line all season long. He makes things happen out there and he definitely took charge today.”

Boeser had a point on each of the first four goals for North Dakota and ended up scoring the game-winning goal in the first period on a bit of an odd play.

Boeser and Austin Poganski, a St. Cloud Cathedral graduate, combined on what turned out to be the game-winning goal. The two forwards were on the ice killing a penalty and their aggressive play was rewarded.

“I was just finishing my check in the neutral zone and he tried to shoot it into a pad,” Poganski said of Boeser on the initial play. “But then Brock used his great speed.”

Quinnipiac goalie Michael Garteig came out of the net to play a loose puck, but shot it into Boeser, who ended up scoring his team-leading 27^th goal into an empty net at 14:16 of the first period to give North Dakota a 2-1 lead.

“I saw the goalie come out and I kind of read what he was doing and he kind of gave it away,” said Boeser, who scored the first short-handed goal in a championship game since 1999. “It went off my shin pad and then I had a wide open net.”

The Fighting Hawks (34-6-4) led 2-1 going into the third period before Boeser had assists on two goals by Caggiula — at 1:21 and 3:41 — to help North Dakota to a 4-1 lead.

He also had an assist on the game’s first goal, which was scored by Shane Gersich. Gersich, a freshman from Chaska, gave North Dakota a 1-0 lead at 11:56 of the first period.

“That was just a great play by (Boeser) to get the puck out of the (defensive) zone and he was able to get it to (defenseman Gage Ausmus) and he was able to get a nice shot on net and the rebound just happened to be right there,” said Gersich, a Washington Capitals draft pick.

Poganski, a 20-year-old right wing and St. Louis Blues draft pick, finished off the scoring with a goal at 10:41 of the third period to make it 5-1.

“You dream for that, for just helping the team succeed and for winning the national championship,” Poganski said of scoring his 10^th goal of the season. “I think everyone on this team had a little part in that today with blocked shots (14), big hits and big saves by (goalie) Cam (Johnson). Cam played awesome and it was a huge team effort.”

MINNESOTA CONTRIBUTIONS

Gersich had three shots on goal, a blocked shot and was a plus-1 in the game. He finished the season with nine goals, two assists and was a plus-15 in 36 games for the Fighting Hawks.

Trevor Olson, a sophomore right wing from Duluth, was the other forward from Minnesota in the lineup for the Fighting Hawks. Olson had four assists, 18 penalty minutes and was a plus-11 on the season.

Two of North Dakota’s defensemen in the lineup Saturday are from Minnesota.

Tucker Poolman, a sophomore from East Grand Forks and a Winnipeg Jets draft pick, had three shots, two blocked shots and was a plus-2 for the Fighting Hawks. For the season, he had five goals, 19 assists, four penalty minutes and was a plus-20.

Gage Ausmus, a junior from East Grand Forks, had two assists, four blocked shots, a shot on goal and was a plus-2 for North Dakota in the title game. Ausmus, a San Jose Sharks draft pick, had 11 assists, 31 penalty minutes and was a plus-14 on the season.

North Dakota’s Brad Berry, who played for the Minnesota North Stars from 1991-93, became the first rookie head coach to a national title. Berry, who set a school record for wins by a rookie coach, took over after Dave Hakstol left the university to coach the Philadelphia Flyers. Berry, who led North Dakota to the NCHC regular season title, spent nine seasons as an assistant coach before taking over as head coach of the Fighting Hawks.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Boeser, Caggiula, North Dakota defenseman Troy Stecher, North Dakota goalie Cam Johnson, Quinnipiac center Travis St. Denis and Quinnipiac defenseman Connor Clifton were named to the all-tournament team. Caggiula, who had four goals, an assist and was a plus-5 in the two games, was named Most Outstanding Player of the Frozen Four.

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Brock Boeser sets up UND with long-awaited championship shot

TAMPA, Fla. — The joke on the ‘CBS Line’ for the University of North Dakota men’s hockey team takes a shot at the youngest of the three players.

Freshman Brock Boeser leads the Fighting Hawks in goals. Wink, that doesn’t sit well with sophomore center Nick Schmaltz and senior left wing Drake Caggiula, the other members of Boeser’s line.

“We always joke around, telling him to pass the puck because all he does is score,” Caggiula said of Boeser, who has 26 goals. “A lot of people don’t realize how good his vision is. He can make plays all over the ice, not just scoring goals.

“He made a great play to me on my first goal with a saucer pass behind the defenseman and a great play to set up the third one.  He’s been huge for our line and he’s a freshman, but he doesn’t act like a freshman. He’s a very mature kid on and off the ice and I think that’s what makes him special.”

Boeser, a 19-year-old from Burnsville, had assists on the first and third goals for the Fighting Hawks in a 4-2 win over Denver in the semifinals of the NCAA Division I Frozen Four on Thursday at Amalie Arena. Boeser set up Schmaltz for the game-winning goals with less than a minute left to play and the Fighting Hawks added an empty-net goal with 1.8 seconds left.

Third-seeded North Dakota (33-6-4) plays top-seeded Quinnipiac (32-3-7) at 7 p.m. Saturday for the national title.

North Dakota advanced to its first national title game since 2005 and will be trying to pick up its first national title since beating Boston College in 2000.

Boeser and his linemates are a big reason why. Boeser, a first-round draft pick of the Vancouver Canucks in 2015, has 56 points in 41 games and was a plus-3 in the semifinals win.

“He’s a fun player to play with (on a line) and he thinks the game the same way as me and Drake,” Schmaltz said of Boeser. “We like to make plays, but we also like to play hard away from the puck. A staple of our success is how hard we play away from the puck and get on offense.

“(Boeser) has been a huge piece to our line and, hopefully, we can keep it rolling on Saturday.”

Boeser, the NCHC Rookie of the Year and an All-NCHC first team pick, played last season for the Waterloo Blackhawks in junior hockey in the United States Hockey League. He was a USHL first team all-star and tied for the league lead with 35 goals in 57 games and was third in the USHL in points with 68.

He said that playing on a line with Caggiula and Schmaltz has exceeded his expectations for this season.

“I really can’t explain the feeling of the opportunity to play with these guys … it’s been tremendous,” Boeser said. “With the North Dakota fan base and the tradition … you can’t really describe it. You just have to live it and it’s just been tremendous.”

Austin Poganski, a sophomore right wing from St. Cloud and a St. Louis Blues draft pick, plays on the second line for North Dakota and said that watching Boeser play this season has been special as well.

“He’s done it all and it’s hard to explain all the things he can do with the puck,” Poganski said of Boeser. “He just plays with so much poise.”

That poise helps him take the good-natured ribbing from his linemates and turn it into a positive.

“They say that I have tunnel vision and just shoot the puck,” Boeser said with a smile about his linemates’ criticism of his play. “I’ve been proving to them lately that I can get an assist too.”

The other Minnesotans who were in the lineup Thursday for North Dakota were freshman left wing Shane Gersich (Chaska), sophomore right wing Trevor Olson (Duluth), sophomore defenseman Tucker Poolman (East Grand Forks), junior defenseman Gage Ausmus and freshman defenseman Hayden Shaw.

3 MINNESOTANS ADVANCE WITH BOBCATS

Three players from Minnesota played Thursday for the top-ranked Quinnipiac team that will play in its second national championship game in four years.

Left wing Bo Pieper, center Tommy Schutt and defenseman Derek Smith were each in the lineup for the Bobcats in their 3-2 win over Boston College on Thursday.

Pieper, a sophomore from Roseville, was on the second line for Quinnipiac and had two shots on goal. Pieper, who is 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds, has five goals and four assists in 41 games this season and eight goals, 14 assists in 79 career games.

Schutt, who is from Chanhassen, played on the third line for the Bobcats. Schutt, a 6-0, 190-pound junior, had a team-leading five blocked shots, two penalty minutes and two shots on goal. Schutt has six goals and five assists in 42 games this season and 12 goals, 15 assists in 117 career games.

Smith, who is from Apple Valley, was on the third defensive pairing and had one shot on goal. Smith, a 5-11, 185-pound junior, has three goals and 13 assists in 36 games this season. In 107 career games, he has five goals and 34 assists.

The trio helped Quinnipiac kill 4 of 5 penalties against Boston College.

WILD DUO PLAYS FOR EAGLES

Two draft picks of the Minnesota Wild played right wing for Boston College on Thursday.

Adam Gilmour, a 6-foot-3, 193-pound junior from Hanover, Massachusetts, played on the Eagles’ top line. Gilmour had four shots on goal in the game. For the season, he finished with 12 goals, 14 assists in 41 games. In 119 career games, Gilmour has 28 goals and 45 assists. He was a fourth-round pick of the Wild in 2012.

Alex Tuch, a 6-4, 220-pound sophomore from Baldwinsville, New York, had Boston College’s first goal, four shots on goal and was a minus-1 on the second line. For the season, he had 18 goals, 16 assists in 40 games. For his career, he has 32 goals, 30 assists in 77 games for Boston College. Tuch was a first-round pick of Minnesota in 2014.

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