During Friday’s Mason Cup Championship, Groll got to hang on to a precious moment as he scored an empty-netter to clinch a 4-2 victory over rival St. Thomas and win the Mavericks’ third Cup in four years. He was happy that there was a little less pressure on the line for him to score this time around.

“Thankfully, our team was in a really good spot and it didn’t matter if I scored or not,” he said with a smile. “(Evan) Murr put the game-winner in before me. There was no pressure this time to make sure it counted, but it felt great. Having (Adam) Eisele hold me up like Simba and going around was really cool and saluting the crowd was fun after that. Just having the breath of fresh air and that relief after scoring was great, especially in a tight moment like that in the playoffs when everyone is kind of gripping their sticks a little bit. It gets everyone’s shoulders a little less tense.”

Things may have seemed a little tense heading into the third period as the game was tied 2-2, but Mavericks coach Luke Strand said that there wasn’t any stress in the Mankato locker room during the period break.

“Going into the third, there was a neat feeling in the room,” he said. “There was zero panic and very comfortable being an even game. I don’t think you take moments like this for granted, and that’s the maturity of this, this group.”

UST’s Chase Foley skates with the puck with Minnesota State’s Zach Krajnik behind him in their game on March 21, 2025. (MHM Photo / Ryan Stieg)

While the Mavericks were all smiles, the Tommies’ mood was significantly different. UST rolled into the game on an eight-game winning streak and was arguably the hottest team in the nation at puck drop. However, the Tommies fell one game short of being able to hang a CCHA Championship banner in their new arena next fall.

“I definitely feel for all the seniors and the age-outs,” Tommies captain Lucas Wahlin said. “They deserve better obviously. I’m going to be kicking myself for sure a little bit, and I’m definitely going to miss a lot of those boys, especially my linemates (Liam Malmquist and Matthew Gleason). It’s tough. They battled their hearts out and a lot of those guys stepped up when we needed them. You could see it tonight with goals from Gleason and Liam, two guys that won’t be here next year that gave it their all. (Jake) Sibell in net, I just feel bad for those boys. Hopefully next year, we can have a better outcome.”

When reflecting on the season as a whole, it was clear that Tommies coach Rico Blasi was proud of what his team accomplished during its big second half run that earned it home ice in the first round of the CCHA Tournament and a home semifinal win.

“There’s not too many teams in the country that go 15-4-1 in the last 20 games,” he said. “Led by the guy to my left (Wahlin), who drives our bus every day in practice and in games. This is what we play for. This is what St. Thomas hockey is going to be about. Playing for championships. So, everything that we do in our process from day to day will be geared toward that, on and off the ice.

“Our culture is in a really good place, our leadership group is in a good place. Our identity is what it is, and I don’t think we’re going to change that. There’s a lot of people that wrote us off at Christmas time, but this team buckled down and came together. They understood their roles and believed in each other. We have a saying in our locker room, Faith in Brother, and there’s a lot of meaning to that. Obviously, there’s faith in something bigger than ourselves, but also faith in each other and that’s what this team has and that’s where our program is at.”

An even game between the Tommies and Mavericks
The first period was evenly played overall. The Mavericks came out with a little more jump in their skates as the puck spent the majority of the first half of the period in the Tommies’ zone. However, as the period went on, things started to even out. There weren’t many high-quality scoring chances for either team, so the goalies weren’t tested much. However, they both made saves when they had to, and the score was 0-0 after 1.

Things were a different story in the second period as both teams started to get into a groove offensively. UST got on the scoreboard first on a great individual effort by Gleason. The senior forward collected a loose puck by the side boards, skated in hard and beat Mavericks goalie Alex Tracy blocker-side at the 6:56 mark.

UST defenseman Chase Cheslock chases a Minnesota State player with the puck in the CCHA Championship game on March 21, 2025. (MHM Photo / Ryan Stieg)

“I think that was a big confidence booster for our squad,” Wahlin said. “I would say that was our goal coming out. They obviously came out the first 10 minutes and gave us their best, so props to them. We kind of punched back the last 10 minutes of the first and we ended up getting our first goal of the game, which was huge for us. It brought our squad a lot of confidence and that was what we were looking for. We kind of came into the game with that confidence of ‘Hey, we’re going to score first’ and that was our mentality. We didn’t really get the bounces that we wanted to, so props to Minnesota State.”

However, Mankato answered back on the power play at 10:40. After UST was called for tripping, Mavs center Luigi Benincasa got a cross-ice pass from Rhett Pitlick and beat Sibell glove-side to tie the game at 2-1. The Mavericks then took the lead at 13:14 on a goal by Kaden Bohlsen. With Sibell trying to cover the puck, it squirted free and Bohlsen tapped it into the open net to make it 2-1.

The Tommies wouldn’t go away though. After the Mavs were called for interference, Malmquist brought the puck into the slot and toward the right post where he snapped it past Tracy to tie things up at 2-2 going into the third. That was Malmquist’s 20th goal of the season, which currently leads the CCHA, and his league-leading 45th point.

Things remained tight and a back-and-forth affair throughout the third period. The Mavericks grabbed the lead at 10:13 thanks to a shot by Murr. The CCHA Defenseman of the Year fired a shot from the point that beat Sibell to the far post to put Mankato up 3-2. The Tommies got a couple of good chances to tie the game, but Tracy denied them both. UST was also unable to pull Sibell for the extra attacker until 45 seconds were left in the period thanks to some good pressure from the Mavs, and then Groll finished off the win with his empty-net goal.

The post Mavs Win Mason Cup appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

After having a solid junior season as a transfer from Wisconsin, Malmquist has emerged as the Tommies’ most potent offensive threat as he currently has 19 points, with 13 of them being assists. Two of his six goals have been shorthanded.

Malmquist may put on a good show on the ice at times, but when asked about his accomplishments so far, he stays humble. However, he does admit that as an Edina alum, he’s embraced the stigma of being a “cake eater” to hockey fans around Minnesota.

“I think it’s awesome,” he said, with a laugh. “You grow up and guys know what Edina is. You get so used to it. You never really hear it (at first) because you’re always around other Edina guys growing up, but when you branch out, you’ll hear it. I think it’s funny.

“We were playing at Bemidji State this year and we were coming off intermission during Saturday’s game and they had some Bemidji alumni thing. We were walking through the tunnel and one of the alumni screamed ‘Hey Malmquist, you cake eater.’ It was a crucial game, so I was trying to stay focused, but I smirked and laughed at it. I’m used to it and it doesn’t bother me at all.”

It’s hard to rattle Malmquist on the ice as he carries himself with a quiet poise. As a former tennis player, he knows how to take advantage of any opportunity that comes his way.

“I like having the puck,” he said. “I like having the plays there for me and being able to see the whole ice sheet and seeing guys move to where they’re going to be. I like when I can do some quick cut-ups and enter the zone with speed and use my edges to change direction to try to catch people off guard. I also like if there’s a play and I can take a chance to try to do it by using my speed.

“Hockey is like a tennis match in a sense. Each shift and each period and each game is brand new. Maybe in different games, I try to use my speed depending on the team, and other times, I’ll need to be a lot smarter and use my head more than my legs.”

Liam Malmquist said being called an Edina “cake eater” doesn’t bother him. (MHM Photo / Ryan Stieg)

College-hockey decision was a tough choice
When it came time to decide on where to play college hockey, Malmquist had a tough time deciding as he wanted to find the perfect fit like his father found playing for Harvard or his brother Dylan found suiting up for Notre Dame. Liam eventually found it in Madison playing for the Badgers.

“It was a tough decision,” he said. “I was talking to other schools and a lot of the people I was talking with were really nice, and I have nothing but good things to say about my recruitment process. I wanted to make sure I was going to a place where I was going to get an opportunity. I didn’t want to rush, but I also had an opportunity to play junior hockey at the same time. Madison, at the end of the day, was the right fit. I respected (then head coach) Tony Granato and his way of thinking about the game and how he approached recruiting me.

“My two years in Madison were unbelievable. We didn’t have the best records or the playoff runs that we’d hoped for, but the guys were really nice and supportive. I learned a lot from my first two years just going to a big school with a city feel to it. At the end of the day, it worked out where I got to experience it and now, I’m back closer to home.”

After Malmquist’s sophomore year at Wisconsin, Granato was fired and replaced by former Minnesota State head coach Mike Hastings. After some initial discussions with his new coach, Malmquist decided the perfect fit might be somewhere else.

“I was still hoping to play hockey in Madison, but they had Mike Hastings come in, and I had a couple conversations with him prior to entering the portal,” Malmquist said. “I have nothing but respect for him as well. He’s the real deal. I wanted to express what I thought I could be and where I saw myself. I’m sure he had his own system and his own ideas in place, and it didn’t end up fitting mutually.

“So, it was a personal decision to enter the portal. I kind of took a leap of faith. I had a lot of people supporting me and people who had my back and taught me how to manage. It was pretty stressful and it’s hard when you’re at a place for two years and it feels like your home. But then time moves so fast and you kind of blink and it’s gone and then you’re back to where it started with recruitment.

“I was fortunate to talk with some schools and heard a lot hockey minds and perspectives on things, and I guess it all shifted when I got the call from (Tommies head coach) Rico (Blasi), (assistant coaches) Leon (Hayward) and Cory (Laylin). They were super supportive and really excited to talk to me. It was easy for me at the time because I knew what they were bringing in and I knew a lot of the guys already and who they had already recruited from the portal. My decision to leave Madison wasn’t against anyone. It was just kind of personal and wanting to try a different experience. I’m taking what I learned at Madison and am trying to continue to grow at St. Thomas.”

Before skating with Wisconsin and St. Thomas in college hockey, Liam Malmquist won the Class 2A state championship with Edina in 2019. (MHM Photo / Ryan Stieg)

Malmquist has produced on the stats sheet for Tommies
The Tommies were predicted to be better last season, but ended up surpassing preseason expectations by finishing second in the CCHA. Malmquist was a big reason for that as he finished with 10 goals and was second on the team in points with 27. When asked what created that sudden offensive explosion, Malmquist said there were a lot of factors, but it might’ve just come down to a new mindset.

“I think the biggest thing when I got to St. Thomas was the feeling of ‘I’ve got nothing to lose,’” he said. “Rico was really appreciative of who I was right away, and he gave me confidence and an opportunity that a lot of guys would want. I had the support of teammates and some really good guys and got set up with special teams with really good players. It kind of took off and after that first game at St. Cloud, we got that win and everything burst wide open. It was just, go out and play and just enjoy it.”

Now that he’s on track to probably having an even better statistical season this year, Malmquist said that he’s continuing to block out the noise around him.

“When you’re not focusing on the things you can’t control, things tend to work out point-wise,” he said. “You get compliments and you get some confidence from it. I’m just continuing on what it was last year. Everyone in that room, including myself, is there to win a hockey game. I know everyone will do whatever they can to get a result. Individually, I try not to focus on any of that. If we can get a clean breakout and move five guys on the ice and snap it around five or six times and create a chance, that catches my eye more than stats.

“It goes back to having confidence in myself. Last week, I was playing with (teammates) Matt (Gleason) and Lucas (Wahlin), who are unbelievable players, and two years ago at Madison, I maybe wasn’t playing as much. Now, I’m here as a senior, and it’s pretty amazing. I’m playing a top role on a top team with all these top players.”

Malmquist may be underrated nationally, but right now, it’s clear that he’s the Tommies’ top guy.

The post Tommies’ Top Guy appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Dan Myers recaps the 2023-24 season for the Minnesota State Mavericks men’s hockey team.

This story was originally published in the April 2024 Year In Review College/Frozen Four digital issue.

The post Minnesota State: Strand Era Begins appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

There have been times when Xcel Energy Center has been abuzz with activity with three or four of the nation’s top-ranked teams gathering to fight it out for a guaranteed bid into the NCAA tournament. This spring, league champion North Dakota and pre-season favorite Denver are among the nation’s elite, while Omaha and St. Cloud State are battling for that level of prestige.

At 7:30 p.m. on Friday, St. Cloud State — which is on the outside of the NCAA’s PairWise-based top 16 — will take on powerful Denver in the second NCHC semifinal, after North Dakota takes on Omaha in the first semifinal at 4 p.m. at the NCHC Frozen Faceoff. The two winners will advance to Saturday night, where they will clash for the playoff title and the automatic NCAA berth, and will have the unique benefit of playing after the Minnesota Wild play at 1 p.m. that afternoon at the X.

They will all want to get comfortable in the home of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, because the NCAA Frozen Four will be held there April 11-13.

The UMD Bulldogs had both the highest of hopes and the longest of long-shots as they headed west to contend with a mountain snowstorm and get to Denver’s Magness Arena, where the powerful Denver Pioneers had no mercy and not a lot of patience in whipping the Bulldogs 4-0. The next game was closer than the final score of 5-2 indicated but still a Denver victory, ending the Bulldogs’ season.

St. Cloud State had to go to Sunday and win the third game of a best-of-three series to subdue Western Michigan, leaving behind NCHC rival Minnesota Duluth, along with Minnesota State Mankato. St. Cloud State will serve as Minnesota host for the NCHC Frozen Faceoff.

Beyond the NCHC
Bemidji State still is in good position to advance, having beaten Lake Superior State 4-1 on Saturday to gain the CCHA championship playoff game against Michigan Tech, which eliminated MSU Mankato with a 4-3 Tech victory. 

Minnesota had high hopes of repeating as Big Ten tournament champion but first had to get past Michigan, its quarterfinal foe, and the rival who had knocked out the Gophers in the two previous seasons. The Wolverines, who had beaten the Gophers two weeks earlier in a wild 6-5 overtime battle, gained a 1-0 lead and stretched it to 2-0 in the second period, then held off the Golden Gophers 2-1 after Jimmy Snuggerud scored to cut into the deficit in the third.

In normal circumstances, that defeat would have ended Minnesota’s season, but the Gophers have managed to hold their high rank in the PairWise and in the national rankings even while falling in the Big Ten standings. So, while Michigan advances to face league champion Michigan State this weekend, with the tournament winner getting an automatic invitation to the NCAA party, the Gophers are virtually certain to be awarded an NCAA at-large bid and sneak in the back door.

The four NCAA regionals are scheduled for Sioux Falls, S.D., Maryland Heights, Mo., Springfield, Mass., and Providence, R.I. Undoubtedly, if the Gophers get an at-large invitation, they will be sent on the road to an Eastern regional, or get a lower seed to stay in the west, both of which will be more difficult to win.

Much as all of us in Minnesota would love to see another playoff match with Minnesota against anybody, and things won’t seem normal to have NCAA tournaments without UMD or MSU Mankato, you have to consider the big picture and know that if you’ve ever been anywhere between East Lansing and Ann Arbor, Mich., then you have some idea how every sports competition between Michigan and Michigan State becomes the biggest rivalry in the country.

With Michigan State as big a surprise conference champion as Michigan was finishing fourth, the single-game elimination between the Spartans and Wolverines will be well worth watching on t he Big Ten Network, when they collide at a sold-out Munn Arena in East Lansing on Saturday night.

When the shooting finally stops in each conference championship, the survivors will be scattered among four regionals around the country, each playing semifinals and finals to determine one Frozen Four team for the NCAA semifinals and finals back in St. Paul at Xcel Energy Center.

“Go, Buzzy, Go!”
Back in 1966, I had recently pulled out of the University of Minnesota to accept a sportswriting job at the Duluth News Tribune. It was a fascinating time, because UMD had just made the move to begin shifting to Division I in hockey and into the WCHA as a conference. Ralph Romano was coach, athletic director, ticket manager and sports information director at UMD, and he did an amazing job of manipulating all of those tasks at once.

My wife, Joan, and I found an apartment that could house us and our young son, Jack, and we were very close to Romano and his operation. So, when he invited us to meet him for a recruiting rip to his hometown of Thunder Bay, Ontario, it was high adventure. We drove up the North Shore, got a hotel room, and met Romano at the arena to watch a junior hockey game where a young prospect named Ron Busniuk was the top attraction.

A stocky counterman with quick moves and a hard-nosed willingness to mix it up in the corners, Busniuk — universally called “Buzzy” in the region — caught our attention right away. Our toddler son chanted “Go, Buzzy, Go…” every time Buzzy touched the puck. Romano was successful in recruiting Busniuk, who came to UMD and never forgot our closeness. Freshmen were ineligible to play varsity hockey in those days, and we had Buzzy over to our apartment for dinner. Joan remembers him with a tiny souvenir hockey stick, playing floor hockey with Jack on the living room floor.

Busniuk stepped in and led the team in goals and points as a sophomore and junior. When he was a senior, Romano shifted him back to defense, where he not only led the Bulldogs in goals and points but also earned All-WCHA and All-America honors in 1970.

After leaving UMD, Busniuk signed with the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL, and after two seasons, he signed with the Minnesota Fighting Saints, where he was a highly valued asset as a puck-moving defenseman. for two seasons. He later played several more years with the New England Whalers and Edmonton Oilers of the WHA, before retiring back home to Thunder Bay, where he coached the Thunder Bay Twins to two Allan Cup national senior men’s championships.

I had lost touch with Buzzy, after writing about him for most of a decade, and I never heard that he was ill. So it was a jolt to me when I read that Ron Busniuk had died earlier this month at age 75 at a residence in Thunder Bay.

They’ve already held the services up there, and while it may be traditional to wish “Godspeed” to a close and highly respected friend who has died, our family prefers to send him off with one final “Go, Buzzy, Go!”

The post A Pause In Puck Playoff Frenzy appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

In the CCHA, which used to be the WCHA for both men and women, it couldn’t be more competitive. Bemidji State leads with 37 points on an 11-7-2 record; St. Thomas and Bowling Green are tied with 35 points and identical 11-8-1 records. Minnesota State Mankato also has 35 points and an 11-7-2 record. 

This weekend, things could get straightened out a bit — or even more tangled — in the CCHA when Bemidji State faces two games at St. Thomas, while Lake Superior State invades Mankato, Michigan Tech is at Bowling Green and Northern Michigan at Ferris State.

In the Big Ten, Minnesota stumbled at Notre Dame, but came back from a 6-1 embarrassment to gain a 3-2 overtime victory in the rematch when Jaxon Nelson scored late to tie it, and Jimmy Snuggerud scored at 1:18 of overtime to win it.

Nevertheless, Minnesota’s stretch of 9-1-1 was broken, as was the Gophers hope to vault up into the top spot in the conference. At 12-6-4, the third-place Gophers have 37 points to stay ahead of Notre Dame, but they still trail first-place Michigan State (46 points, 14-4-2 record) and second-place Wisconsin (13-6-1, 39 points). The Gophers are idle this weekend, while last-place Ohio State heads for Michigan State after ruining Wisconsin’s title hopes with 3-2 overtime and 3-1 victories for the Buckeyes last weekend.

The NCHC, meanwhile, which had some struggles early, has now settled into its usual position as the nation’s best conference. The top five teams could legitimately feel as though they could win any other conference in the country. Those top five are North Dakota, St. Cloud State, Colorado College, Denver and Western Michigan, and they are all bunched within eight points.

Rough weekend for UMD vs. Denver
Minnesota Duluth isn’t among the NCHC title-chasers this season, but if they can pull all their loose ends together for the final six regular-season games, the Bulldogs may well decide who wins it. The Bulldogs languish in seventh place after being swept 5-4 in overtime and 5-2 by Denver last weekend at AMSOIL Arena. While Denver looked like the best team any hockey fans in Duluth have seen this year, they trail the leaders: North Dakota (11-6-1, 37 points), St. Cloud State (10-4-4, 36 points) and surprising Colorado College (12-6, 33 points). Denver is 11-6-1 with 31 points.

UMD, having lost twice to powerful Denver, now finishes the regular season at North Dakota this weekend, at Colorado College and back home against St. Cloud State. How’s that for a playoff tuneup?

Last Friday night’s game might have been the most entertaining and exciting games of the season for the Bulldogs who, if they didn’t have their torturous loose ends together, they pulled them together in that wild finish with two goals after pulling goaltender Zach Stejskal to tie the game 4-4 — only to fall on a goal by Aidan Thompson at 1:46 of the 3-on-3 overtime.

The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, all within about four minutes of elapsed time.

The loose ends came back to haunt UMD Saturday night, after another similar rally seemed to lift the Bulldogs from a horrible three-goal opening deficit fashioned in a shaky first seven minutes, to self-destructing when two of their promising scorers — Ben Steeves and Anthony Menghini — wound up sharing penalty box time for misconduct penalties through the final minutes to eliminate any chance of continuing the rally.

It was, in a word, embarrassing. That, after an embarrassing start of three goals on five shots that caused coach Scott Sandelin to pull Stejskal and send in Matthew Thiessen.

“And you know what the most embarrassing thing was?” Sandelin said, challenging three media types who showed up after the game. “That stuff at the end. Having two guys sitting there for mouthing off. It’s frustrating, and I get it, but I’m sorry, if they don’t learn it’s not going to bode well for us. You don’t disrespect the team.”

And with that, Sandelin stalked away from the podium. Press conference over.

That Saturday night, UMD’s fire was extinguished early when Zeev Buium scored on the first shot of the first shift, at 0:31, and Connor Caponi shoveled in a backhander at 5:25. Jared Wright got loose on the right boards and flew in to score short-side on his breakaway for a 3-0 lead at 6:39. Shots were 5-5, but the score was 3-0 Denver, and the crowd was silent. Thiessen was sent in to tend goal, and he was sharp immediately, and made saves on all eight shots the rest of the first period.

Denver took a 5-2 lead in the third period, and the air went out of the balloon. At 9:57 of the third period, it got worse. That’s when Menghini, who has scored seven goals as a freshman, was called for checking from behind. Menghini said something to the ref, and was given a 10-minute misconduct, too. Sandelin sent Steeves over to serve the minor, and it ended just as a whistle blew. Steeves skated out and, as he passed the ref, he made a comment. Bang! He also was awarded a 10-minute misconduct, with eight minutes to go.

Losing the chance to make one last bid to win was too much for Sandelin, and while he has defended his players all season, he blew up this time, although UMD’s dressing room full of players might have been a better audience than the three-person media contingent that showed up after the game.

UMD women’s hockey close to home-ice advantage
Meanwhile, on the women’s front, UMD had a more beneficial answer to the women’s WCHA run to the playoffs. Needing three points to clinch home ice for the first round, the Bulldogs edged St. Cloud State 1-0 on Clara Van Wieren’s goal at 4:33 of the third period, and goalie Hailey MacLeod held on for the victory by that score. Playing as afternoon preliminaries to the UMD men, the Bulldogs played another amazing battle with St. Cloud on Saturday, this time going 0-0 through all three periods and overtime, and sending the game to a shootout to be decided.

Goalies Jojo Chobak of the Huskies and freshman Eve Gascon of UMD were brilliant throughout, but when the shootout started, everybody scored! Hanna Baskin scored for UMD; Emma Gentry scored for the Huskies. Van Wieren scored for UMD; Laura Zimmermann matched it for St. Cloud. Then Olivia Wallin skated in but was stopped by Chobak, putting all the pressure on Finnish freshman Sofianna Sundelin, who scored on Gascon and gave the extra point to the Huskies.

In what might be a brilliant political PR performance, UMD’s MacLeod was named goaltender of the week by the WCHA for her first-game performance, overlooking Chobak’s two-game performance, stopping 28 of 29 shots in the first game and all 39 shots the Bulldogs pelted her with in the second, for a weekend tally of 57 saves on 58 shots.

UMD coach Maura Crowell admitted she was pleasantly surprised that her sophomore goalie got the award, but added Chobak’s cumulative two-game performance deserved something.

UMD senior center Mannon McMahon was cited for playing in her 164th and 165th consecutive games over an illustrious five-season career, and she admitted stopping the game to acknowledge her achievement was “a special moment.”

More importantly, the Bulldogs will play at Minnesota this weekend, after which UMD and St. Cloud will reconvene at AMSOIL Arena next weekend for the first round of the best-of-three WCHA playoffs. And the Huskies, after very impressive performances in both games of last weekend’s series, will not be bothered by not having home ice.

The post ‘Minnesota 6’ Compete for Conference Titles appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Timing couldn’t be better, because girls playing high school hockey in Minnesota are just starting their sectional playoffs ahead of the girls state tournament. And we can dedicate the whole week to those girls and young women advancing to play for any of the six Division I college hockey teams that make up a sizable segment of the WCHA — the best women’s college hockey conference in the country.

The stretch drive in the WCHA is well underway, with Ohio State the runaway No. 1 seed with its No. 1 national ranking and a 21-1 record atop the WCHA. The battle for second place rages with Wisconsin second at 18-4 and Minnesota third at 16-5-1, while the struggle for the fourth and final home-ice slot for the WCHA tournament is the tightest in the league.

St. Cloud State is making its strongest bid for contention and held third place until last weekend, when the Huskies lost 5-2 and 2-1 in overtime at Wisconsin. At the same time, Minnesota-Duluth was at home, beating sixth-place Minnesota State Mankato 3-0 and 2-1. Those two victories lifted the Bulldogs by six points, to a 12-10 record worth 35 points, vaulting ahead of St. Cloud State’s 10-11-1 for 33 points.

Duluth women’s team looking for home-ice in playoffs
UMD coach Maura Crowell laughed about the coaching cliche of playing “one game at a time,” and acknowledged that if there ever was a time when she’d like to be able to demand “two wins at a time,” this would be the weekend.

UMD women’s hockey coach Maura Crowell said she’s felt like her team has been in playoff mode since returning from the holiday break. (Photo courtesy of UMD Athletics)

“Ever since we came back from Christmas to play at Quinnipiac, we’ve felt like we had to be in playoff mode,” Crowell said. “The players just need to play and not worry about the standings and all these things the media talks about. We know the pressure is on us, but when there’s pressure, you know you’re playing for something.”

This weekend is the perfect opportunity for UMD to pad its new-found edge for the fourth and final home-ice spot in the playoff tournament, where first-round winners advance to Ridder Arena on the University of Minnesota campus for the Final Faceoff. The Bulldogs play at eighth-place St. Thomas on Friday and Saturday and are heavily favored to sweep both games — while St. Cloud State has a huge challenge with a home-and-home series against Minnesota, where the Huskies are underdogs but have proven competitive.

After this weekend, only two weekends remain in the regular WCHA season, with St. Cloud State at UMD for a showdown series that could determine fourth place. Or, maybe not. On the final weekend, UMD is at Minnesota in what could project as a battle for the Golden Gophers to try for second place while UMD will need to hold onto fourth. St. Cloud State finishes at Bemidji State, where the Huskies will be favored in a closing series that could vault them back into fourth place.

The classic, of course, is that the fifth-place team plays at the fourth-place team in the first round of WCHA playoffs, which seems destined to throw the Bulldogs and Huskies into what indeed might be a classic dogfight for survival, and home ice could be pivotal.

Goalie Hailey MacLeod has a 1.23 goals-against average in 13 games this season. (Photo courtesy of UMD Athletics)

“I really like the way we’ve been playing,” Crowell said of her Bulldogs. “We’ve played a lot of games under pressure, and we’ve made some mistakes along the way, which gives us things we can work on in practice to improve our play.”

The sweep against Mankato was vital for UMD, because the Bulldogs had just finished losing four straight to Ohio State and Wisconsin. The disparity in the WCHA means that the top teams regularly beat up on the bottom three, with Minnesota State, Bemidji State and St. Thomas clustered at the bottom.

UMD, for instance, is 11-1 against those bottom three, but 1-9 against Ohio State, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Bulldogs stay in the fight with close games
That is not to say the wins have been blowouts and the losses have been equally lopsided. Many of the games have been nail-biters, and the Bulldogs have needed timely scoring and the consistently brilliant goaltending of the previously untested tandem of freshman Eve Gascon and sophomore Hailey MacLeod. In the first game against Minnesota State, MacLeod stopped all 16 shots she faced to get the shutout, her fourth during an 8-4-2 rookie season. Gascon just missed her fifth shutout of the season and is 7-7-1 for the season.

Crowell played Gascon most in the early going, but went to an alternating plan she has followed since January started.

“Both have been playing great,” Crowell said. “They have both settled in, and that allows both of them to focus on one game, which is nice mentally and physically for both. They work hard every game, but also every day in practice, which makes it hard on our players to score in practice.”

The biggest difference between the two is that Gascon, who is from Mascouche, Quebec, is 5-foot-8, while MacLeod is a 6-foot rookie originally from Abbotsford, British Columbia.

UMD goaltender Eve Gascon has alternated time with Hailey MacLeod. (Photo courtesy: UMD Athletics)

MacLeod said one of the strengths of both of them is their close friendship.

“Being good friends with each other is important, because we always support each other,” MacLeod said. “When Eve plays her best, it makes me want to play my best.

“Competing with her has pushed me out of my comfort zone. When I have a bad game, I always make sure to be physically prepared for my next game. If I could have any game to play over again this season, it would be the game I played at St. Cloud.”

There’s that name again. The Bulldogs went to St. Cloud in December and won 2-1 in overtime, but then got shelled 5-1 in the second game. Maybe that will add a bit of a revenge motive for MacLeod and the Bulldogs in two weeks. But for now, it’s time to celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day, and weekend.

The post Bulldogs celebrate ‘National Girls and Women in Sports Day’ appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The Huskies were in far better spirits when they returned home Sunday, after they blew a 4-2 lead in the third period to force overtime, then nipped the Pioneers 2-1 in a shootout to come away with a victory, even though the rules note the game is counted as a tie in the standings. 

The game-one loss shows the disparity between national ratings and league standings, because St. Cloud State went into the series ranked No. 14 but led the NCHC with a 7-0-1 record. While Denver ranked No. 6 in the country. So, the Huskies flew home with a 7-1-2 league record, still good for first place. While Denver moved to 5-3-1, and the capacity for splitting NCHC series still alive and well.

St. Cloud State’s schedule doesn’t ease up at all, as the Huskies welcome North Dakota, which risked its 5-4 NCHC standing and No. 4 ranking in last weekend’s split against Omaha in Grand Forks.

More evidence of NCHC parity was obvious in last weekend’s visit by Colorado College to AMSOIL Arena to face UMD in a series that could have elevated one ahead of the other in the middle of the NCHC pack. Instead, the two teams split, and it couldn’t have been more equitable. UMD captured a 3-2 overtime victory Friday night, when Ben Steeves scored his 15th goal for the winner 1:06 into overtime. In the next game, Colorado College CC got the tying goal from Nicklas Andrews with 0:00.2 showing on the clock near the end of the second period. Noah Laba scored the winner for Colorado at 1:39 of overtime. The games also featured goaltending duels between UMD senior Zach Stejskal and CC sophomore Kaidan Mbereko.

Colorado College arrived in Duluth holding fifth place in the NCHC as a reward for coach Kris Mayotte’s rebuilding plan, while the Bulldogs were sixth. Friday night’s victory boosted the Bulldogs into a three-way tie for fifth with Colorado and Omaha.

The rest of the NCHC follows the rules of parity too, as Western Michigan split with Miami, and Omaha surprised North Dakota for a split.

Ohio State still dominates WCHA
Both UMD-CC games were part of a celebratory weekend in Duluth, with Friday’s dedicated to Make-A-Wish Foundation. Saturday night, both the UMD women’s and men’s games were part of the ceremonial tribute to Sophie’s Choice, a mental health foundation originated by UMD’s women’s star, Gabbie Hughes, who is now playing for PWHL Ottawa.

The UMD women made the best of the circumstances, playing Bemidji State through a tough first game Friday afternoon resulting in a 2-0 victory. 

The next night, it rained goals for UMD as the Bulldogs smothered Bemidji State 7-0. Reece Hunt, who transferred to UMD from Bemidji State for her final season, scored at 8:50 and 10:30 of the first period, then completed her hat trick at 8:50 off the second period to make it a 3-0 lead. Grace Sadura, Mannon McMahon and Danielle Burgen added second-period goals before Danielle Brunette added one more at 4:41 of the third period to complete the rout.

With a 10-6 record, UMD rises to fourth in the WCHA, behind Ohio State, Wisconsin and Minnesota, and leading St. Cloud State, Minnesota State-Mankato, Bemidi State and St. Thomas. A full WCHA slate is coming up this weekend, with UMD at Ohio State, Wisconsin at Mankato, Minnesota at Bemidji State and St. Thomas at St. Cloud State.

Last weekend’s series between WCHA leader Ohio State and the rebuilt Minnesota Golden Gophers was supposed to be some sort of showdown in Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. But Ohio State settled that issue with a 7-0 rout of the Gophers, followed up by a 6-1 hammering by the Buckeyes.

The high-flying Buckeyes are now 15-1 atop the WCHA, with Wisconsin second at 12-4, Minnesota third at 10-5-1, and UMD fourth at 10-6. St. Cloud State is hot on their heels at 9-6-1 in fifth place.

The post No Sweeps Allowed in Rugged NCHC appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Hockey fans are the same as normal people. We don’t ever get enough hockey, so we don’t need a Christmas break from, for example, the tension and pressures of college hockey races. But the teams definitely could use a pause, and all the major Division I conferences take a Christmas break, just to recharge the systems and take a deep, collective breath to get ready for what is sure to be a wild and crazy second half.

It also gives us the perfect opportunity to evaluate the way the late, great country songwriter Guy Clark would put it: ‘Wondering what it’s coming to, and how we got this far.’

The best guess is that the final standings will bear little resemblance to what the various conference standings show now at the midpoint. But looking at the six mens Division I college hockey teams in Minnesota, we can see into three of the country’s top college hockey conferences. We all think “our” conference is the best, and they all have their moments, but which one has been the biggest surprise so far? Which teams? Which players? You decide.

St. Thomas leads CCHA standings
My nomination is the CCHA, the league that had retained the best name in the game as the WCHA but wasn’t satisfied and switched it to another regenerated name for the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. That conference has been dominated from its current incarnation by Minnesota State Mankato. There was no reason the Mavericks couldn’t do the same again, even though living legend coach Mike Hastings took the money and ran to take over the Wisconsin program in the Big Ten. Unfortunately for the Mavs, some of their top players followed along and went with him.

So after 10 or 12 games, who is leading the CCHA? As top candidates we have the usual suspects — Michigan Tech, Northern Michigan, Bemidji State, MSU-Mankato, Lake Superior State, Northern Michigan and Bowling Green. Oh, and don’t forget the new guys on the block, St. Thomas.

You’d better not forget the Tommies, because they are in first place, leaders at Christmas break with a 7-5 record and 21 points. Second is Michigan Tech, 6-4 with 19 points, then comes MSU-Mankato at 5-4-1 with 17 points in third place, with Bemidji State, 5-5 with 16 points, a surprise in fourth place. Bemidji State is feeling the heat from a three-way tie for fifth at 15 points with Lake Superior State at 5-6-1, Bowling Green 5-5 and Northern Michigan 5-5. Ferris State is eighth at 3-7 with 8 points.

NCHC is full of surprises, Bulldogs struggle
For just last weekend, though, nobody pulled off bigger surprises than the NCHC, where Denver and North Dakota had switched off being ranked No. 1 in the nation, and both seemed primed to fight off the surprising challenge of St. Cloud State.

But Colorado College made what must be an historic trip to Grand Forks, stunning the North Dakota Fighting Hawks 3-2 in overtime. The Tigers finished the weekend with an improbable sweep of the Fighting Hawks, who had just been voted No. 1 in the country a week earlier. 

The shocker of the weekend, though, was in Kalamazoo, Mich., where Western Michigan broke from a 3-3 tie eight minutes into the third period in the first game, and whipped the University of Denver 7-3. The next night, Western Michigan almost struck for a sweep but lost 6-5 in overtime. 

St. Cloud State seized its opportunity, winning 4-1 at Omaha to strengthen their hold on first place. Omaha won the second game in a shootout to prevent a St. Cloud State sweep.

One of the bigger surprises in a less-positive scope is that Minnesota Duluth struggled to score goals despite being projected as a contender in the NCHC. In recent weeks, the Bulldogs had been playing better and better, but still without the rewards their determination seemed to have earned. In their final weekend before the break, the Bulldogs hit the road to Oxford, Ohio, where they faced the Miami Redhawks in a series that determined who would escape last place.

The Bulldogs took a shootout victory it so desperately needed in the first game before taking a 3-1 victory the next day after adjusting lines. Blake Biondi spent some time at center and scored in the second period. 

The NCHC standings show St. Cloud State leading at 7-0-1 with 22 points, which certainly qualifies as a surprise. North Dakota is second at 5-3 with 18 points, followed by Western Michigan (4-4) with 14 points, Denver 5-3 with 13 points, Colorado College (4-4) with 10 points, Omaha (3-4-1) with 9 points and tied with UMD (2-5-1) with 9, and Miami 0-7-1 with 1 point.

Big Ten had surprising results; WCHA women’s hockey adventures
The Big Ten also had some surprises last weekend, as Minnesota went to Columbus and claimed a 5-4 victory over last-place Ohio State, but it was a battle. The Gophers rallied for a 1-1 tie in the second game, but the Buckeyes stole the extra point in the shootout. The result dropped the Gophers to 0-3 in games decided by shootouts this season. 

But the Gophers still have work to do to get to the top, where Michigan State swept Notre Dame 5-2 and 2-1 in East Lansing to claim first place with a 7-1-2 record and 25 points. That’s ahead of Wisconsin (8-2) with 24 points, after the Badgers swept Penn State 6-3 and 4-1 in Madison. Minnesota follows at 5-4-3 with 17 points, then comes Notre Dame (4-4-2) with 15 points, Michigan (3-5-1) for 11 points, Penn State (2-5-3) with 11 points, and Ohio State (0-8-1) for 1 point.

The women, not to be left out, had their own adventures in the WCHA last weekend, as Minnesota knocked off Wisconsin 5-3 in Minneapolis before the Badgers responded with a 5-1 win in the second game. First-place Ohio State extended its lead by sweeping MSU-Mankato 6-1 and 4-1 in Columbus. And St. Cloud State proved the seriousness of its intentions by splitting a series with Minnesota Duluth at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

So, the Buckeyes are first at 13-1 for a whopping 37 points, followed by Minnesota (10-3-1) with 33 points, Wisconsin (10-4) with 31 points, St. Cloud State (8-5-1) with 25 points, UMD (8-6) with 24 points, MSU-Mankato (3-11) with 9 points, Bemidji State (2-12) with 6 points, and St. Thomas (1-13) with 3 points.

The correct answer, therefore, to the question of which conference had the most and biggest surprises through the first half of this season is — all of them! Ho-Ho-Ho! But all that does is make us certain that after a welcome pass for Christmas, the surprises will just keep on coming in the second half.

The post College Standings At Christmas appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

But the women’s representatives from Minnesota deserve to be recognized for their prominence, too. A look at the week before Christmas national rankings show that five of the top eight teams are from the WCHA, starting at the top:

1. Ohio State, 14-2
2. Minnesota, 13-2
3. Wisconsin 13-3
6. UMD, 10-5-1
8. St. Cloud State, 12-5

The 1-2-3 punch at the top had to survive the sort of upsets that never used to happen in the WCHA.

St. Cloud State, clearly the surprise of women’s college hockey this season, invaded Columbus and, after falling behind 1-0 in the first period, scored twice in the second period. Finnish import goaltender Sanni Ahola stifled the Buckeyes the rest of the way for a shocking 2-1 upset. Ohio Sate had lost only one game all season, and while everyone anticipated a tough game, nobody expected a Huskies win.

St. Cloud’s Addi Scribner said that after that upset, an Ohio State fan came up to her and said: “Your goalie is unreal. She’s a Cyborg!”

The Buckeyes came back in the second game and broke a 1-1 tie with four straight goals in the second period to gain a 6-2 victory and a split. While being upset by St. Cloud could have cost Ohio State the No. 1 ranking, it didn’t. That’s because No. 2 Wisconsin suffered a similar weekend, against Duluth.

UMD went to Wisconsin and lost 3-0, solidifying the Badgers position on Saturday. However, the Bulldogs battled the Badgers through two scoreless periods in their Sunday afternoon rematch, and were determined to make their effort stand up in the third. UMD won that second game 3-2 for the split. 

A victory by the Badgers would have elevated them back to the No. 1 ranking.

The upsets weren’t over when the weekend ended, though, because the Gophers had a one-game matchup Tuesday against St. Cloud State. Peyton Hemp gave the Gophers a 1-0 lead but Scribner tied the game in the second period. The game went to overtime and a shootout. Allie Franco’s shootout goal gave the Gophers, who came in on an eight-game winning streak, the extra WCHA point. 

But it seems there are no such things as upsets anymore in the WCHA. At least going into a frantic pre-holiday-break weekend that features Wisconsin at Minnesota, and UMD at St. Cloud State, with Bemidji State at St. Thomas for good measure among Minnesota’s teams.

Minnesota teams have always dominated with NCAA championships
For statistical evidence, it’s not as though the Minnesota teams and the West are just emerging on top. Go back to the year 2000-01, which was the first year the NCAA conducted a national tournament for women’s teams. In the first 13 years it was held, Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota virtually owned the championship.

UMD won the first three NCAA titles, with spectacular players such as Jenny Schmidgall, Maria Rooth and Caroline Ouellette leading the way. Under Shannon Miller’s coaching, UMD won five championships in all, with the 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008 and 2010 trophies still filling the school’s trophy case. Minnesota won championships in 2004, 2005, 2012 and 2013 — meaning that the Bulldogs and Gophers won nine of the first 13 NCAA women’s championships.

The other four titles were won by the emerging power at Wisconsin, meaning that those three WCHA teams won all of the first 13 women’s national championships. The Badgers won in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2011, and their 2007 team went 36-1-4 to eclipse the 31-3-2 of UMD in 2003 and the 36-2-2 by the Gophers in 2005.

But in 2013, the Golden Gophers had a load of talent throughout their lineup and set the record for all time with a splendid 41-0-0 championship season.

It was the following year, in 2013-14, that Clarkson broke through and claimed the first NCAA title for women for the East, and Clarkson also won championships in 2017 and 2018. And that’s it. Only three times did a non-WCHA team win the title, and all three times it was Clarkson.

All NCAA tournaments took a year off during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. When they resumed, Mark Johnson led his Badgers back for their sixth championship, with Ohio State emerging to capture the 2022 title. Last spring, Wisconsin was a surprise winner of its seventh title, and the same WCHA teams seem clustered for another run this season.

St. Cloud State women marking their mark
But maybe there will be an additional team in the mix, after St. Cloud State pulled off the seemingly impossible task of upsetting Ohio State on the road and coming home to tie the Gophers. That takes care of the top two-ranked teams, and now they get to take on old rival UMD, which upset No. 3 Wisconsin.

The games at St. Cloud State’s Herb Brooks National Hockey Center are expected to be tight, low-scoring battles, because both teams have two outstanding goaltenders. UMD has record-setting Hailey MacLeod, who is setting records for goals-against and save percentage, alongside freshman Eve Gascon, from Montreal.

St. Cloud State has an interesting duo, with Ahola capturing the spotlight in net. She’s paired with Jojo Chobak, who spent a season at UMD before transferring to St. Cloud State because she had grown weary of backing up Swedish Olympic star Emma Soderberg, who decided to stay another year.

Both teams depend on depth, getting scoring from their three top lines, and four for St. Cloud State. Both play tough defensive hockey but with defensemen who can readily move up into the play to help the rush or fire lasers from the points.

“We hung our hats on being a tough defensive team last year,” said St. Cloud State coach Brian Idalski. “We haven’t changed that and still want to play tough defense, but we’ve added some new players and I think we’re capable of scoring more goals this year.

“Especially coming off two tough games at Ohio State, then tying the Gophers on Tuesday. We’re getting contributions from all four lines, and we’re approaching this weekend like we’re preparing for the playoffs.”

From Duluth’s end of the transition from last weekend’s upset to this weekend’s rivalry series, the sound was similar. Center Mannon McMahon praised third-line center Jenna Lawry, who was cool and poised as she scored the game-winner at Madison.

“It was super cool to see how Jenna and her line have stepped up, and now they’re being rewarded,” McMahon said. “A lot of us were disappointed at losing 3-0 in Saturday’s game, but we were confident enough to not let that happen again on Sunday.

“Our response from the first game to the second was what I was most proud of. Now we have to carry that through to St. Cloud. It’s going to be tough. They just don’t quit, and they love to battle.”

The post Women Take Command appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

When the University of Minnesota concluded its interconference rivalry series against Minnesota Duluth in early November, the Bulldogs rallied from a 3-1 deficit in AMSOIL Arena with a spirited third-period rally, which forced overtime. Nobody scored in the overtime, so the game went to a three-player shootout, which UMD won when Quinn Olson and Ben Steeves scored and UMD goaltender Matthew Thiessen stopped the first two Golden Gopher shooters, giving UMD a 4-3 victory in the game.

But that was in the view of all the players on both sides, and the 7,345 fans who saw UMD bounce back from a 5-1 loss in Minneapolis the previous evening to gain a split with their long-time rival. That’s what they saw happen in front of them, so that’s what they took home with them, even though the NCAA counts the game as a tie, for purposes of nationwide rankings.

No matter, Minnesota coach Bob Motzko treated the loss as though it had been a tie game, which is the same attitude he had after the Gophers lost shootouts against Michigan and at UMD. The fans and players know better, of course, but they also know that sometimes what you see is not what you get.

College hockey lives in its own world, and in Minnesota, we’re lucky to have six Division I programs and they participate in three of the best college hockey conferences in the country with the NCHC, Big Ten and the CCHA. Plus, we have the WCHA that is now strictly for women’s hockey. The NCAA leaves it up to the leagues to decide how to treat their ties, and they can award an important extra point to a shootout winner. But in non-conference games, it is closer to mass confusion.

You could make the case that if we as observers aren’t sure what rules they’re going by, maybe the coaches and the officials of the different conferences aren’t sure, either.

Hailey MacLeod was engulfed by her teammates after recording her first UMD shutout, 3-0. She came back to anchor a 1-1 tie in the second game. (MHM Photo / John Gilbert)

UMD women have strong showing vs. No. 2 Colgate
We can gather a unique bit of evidence at Duluth’s AMSOIL Arena, where the UMD women’s team last weekend was host to Colgate, the No. 2 team in the nation which brought a 12-game winning streak to the Head of the Lakes. UMD played its best game of the season, winning the first game 3-0 behind Hailey MacLeod’s first shutout for the Bulldogs.

In the second game, Colgate played much more intense. But UMD turned it up, too, and took a 1-0 lead into the third period. After their second straight strong showing, the Bulldogs seemed ready to clinch the sweep when Colgate’s Kristýna Kaltounková was penalized at 18:58 of the the third period.

A power play for the final 1:02 seemed to secure the victory. But in the last-minute scrap for possession behind their own net, the Bulldogs botched the breakout control, and the puck suddenly popped out to the right circle. Red Raiders right defenseman Allyson Simpson read the play perfectly, moved in from the right point and got her full force on a shot that MacLeod couldn’t block.

The stunning tie defied the five-minute, 3-on-3 overtime, so it was time for a shootout. But as the few fans waited for what would be the highlight of the game, the teams broke off into handshake lines and headed for their dressing rooms, and left the game unsettled at 1-1.

“It’s the choice of the home team,” said UMD coach Maura Crowell. “We don’t have to have one, and it’s up to the home team. I didn’t like the way the game was going at the end, so we chose to not have the shootout.”

St. Cloud State men’s team hosts Michigan 
Let’s switch our attention to the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud, with the only remaining full Olympic-size 200-by-100 foot ice surface. The Huskies had come out of a tough preseason stretch and welcomed Michigan to town last weekend. The Wolverines had earlier lost a shootout to Ohio State and beaten Minnesota in another. Michigan beat the Huskies 2-0 in the first game and grabbed a 3-0 lead in the second game. 

Colgate’s Allyson Simpson (10) scored the only Red Raiders goal of the weekend against UMD goaltender Hailey MacLeod, shorthanded with 44 seconds remaining, for a 1-1 tie that fueled a debate about mandatory shootouts. (MHM Photo / John Gilbert)

“I thought we played really good all weekend,” said St. Cloud State coach Brett Larson. “We hit a pipe and three crossbars the first game and just couldn’t put one in.”

In that second game, Veeti Miettinen scored a shorthanded goal to cut the deficit to 3-1 late in the second period, and Kyler Kupka scored a power-play goal early in the third to trim it to 3-2. With the goalie pulled at the finish, Kupka scored again with 0:07 remaining, sending the big crowd into a frenzy and forcing overtime. Five minutes, 3-on-3, and still 3-3. Time for a shootout, and each team scored. Kupka scored yet again for the winner.

“In conference play, you get an extra point,” Larson said. “In non-conference, you get nothing, but everybody on both teams and all the fans in the building knew that we won the game.”

I told Larson what had just transpired in the Duluth women’s game, where Crowell said she didn’t want to have a shootout and as home team coach, her decision ruled.

“We were told we had no choice,” Larson said. “We were told we had to have a shootout against Michigan. But here’s a crazy thing: A few weeks ago we played in Mankato, and Luke Strand, their coach, and I talked it over and said we had to agree. So we agreed that if we tied, we would have a shootout. As it turned out, we did tie the second game but they beat us in overtime.”

So, incredible as it may sound, three distinct games involving St. Cloud State’s men and UMD’s women exposed three completely different concepts of how to decide a tie game. And nobody seems to be prepared to change what they did. Well, except for UMD.

“I had long conversation with our commissioner of the WCHA,” Crowell said. “She told me we had to have the shootout and should have had it against Colgate. I told her I never understood it that way, but we’ll do it from now on.”

That’s a relief. So from now on, college coaches realize they can have the glass have full, or the glass half empty, but they no longer can tip the glass over and leave the result spilling onto the floor.

Coming up
UMD’s women, who just ran a gauntlet by facing Minnesota and Colgate on back to back series, heads for Wisconsin and a rare Saturday-Sunday series against the league-favorite Badgers. While Minnesota is at home trying to avert an upset against Bemidji State. Two other Minnesota rivals, Minnesota State Mankato and St. Thomas, will play a home-and-home series. St. Cloud State hits the road to face No. 1 ranked Ohio State in Columbus.

The men are scattered around, too, with Minnesota at Penn State for a Big Ten series, St. Thomas is at Ferris State in a CCHA series, while MSU-Mankato is at Lake Superior State in another. UMD comes back from a bye week to play host to Omaha.

The Gophers have found consistency an elusive target this season, and they found out Michigan State was for real in the Big Ten last weekend when they lost 4-3 in a shootout opener on Friday. They had a 5-3 lead at Mariucci Arena on Sunday afternoon, but the Spartans came back for two in the last five minutes to forge a 5-5 tie. This time, Jimmy Clark scored at 3:58 of the sudden-death, five-minute overtime to lift the Gophers to a 6-5 victory.

The first game? Forget it. That was a shootout, when the Gophers built leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2, only to have the Spartans come back for a tie, then won it in overtime. Or was it a tie. It was both, depending on your point of view and the rules used that night.

The post Tricky Ties in College Hockey appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.