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 Blue-line scoring boosts Minnesota to sweep of Notre Dame

MINNEAPOLIS – An expected clash between Minnesota and the Notre Dame in South Bend four weeks ago in the Ice Breaker Tournament title game never materialized thanks to Rensselaer’s upset win over the Fighting Irish. It was hardly worth the wait for Notre Dame as No. 1 Minnesota rolled to 5-0 and 4-2 wins over the weekend to sweep its golden-domed foes out of Minneapolis.

Much of the credit must go to the Gophers’ defensive corps which posted four goals and five assists in the two games including three points each by junior Mike Reilly (2-1–3) and sophomore Michael Brodzinski (1-2–3). Had Jake Bischoff’s apparent goal on Friday been allowed to count it would have simply added to an already impressive weekend, especially considering he absence of junior Brady Skjei who missed both games due to a lower body injury suffered last week in a 4-3 overtime win over St. Cloud State.

Brodzinski indicated the offensive surge against No. 14 Notre Dame was by design to a degree.

“I think the big emphasis this weekend was for the defense just to join the rush and be the fourth man in—hopefully we’d get the puck—and gets some shots on net,” Brodzinski said.

Reilly, who led Minnesota defensemen with nine goals as a sophomore in 2013-14, entered the series with a team-leading eight assists but had yet to find the back of the net this year. That all changed on Friday when he one-timed a Jack Glover pass from the bottom of the right circle to give the Gophers a 3-0 lead.

“[Assistant coach Mike] Guentzel was saying the D had no goals going into this weekend besides Skjei’s empty-netter,” said Reilly whose blast on Sunday also put the Gophers up 3-0. “But we’ve been working a lot on defensemen shooting on the blue line and making sure we’re getting pucks to the net.

“It was great to get that first one and I hope it keeps going from there.”

The defensive unit’s nine points over the weekend amount to half of Minnesota’s total entering the series after combining for 17 assists, but just one goal, through the season’s first six games. While not necessarily alarming numbers, they’re not consistent with a Minnesota blue line which produced 28 goals (3rd in the nation) and 103 points (T-4th) last season.

Different team you say? That’s true as Justin Holl and Jake Parenteau have been replaced by the likes of Glover and fellow freshmen Ryan Collins and Steve Johnson. But Minnesota returned 97 percent of its backend goal production and 87 percent of its points entering the 2014-15 season so little or no drop off was expected.

Minnesota coach Don Lucia offered a fairly rudimentary explanation for the offensive outburst from his blueliners.

“We went back there more, we used them,” Lucia said. “We have guys that have the ability back there, we just weren’t using them enough and they weren’t getting enough pucks through.”

In addition to Reilly and Brodzinski, senior Ben Marshall notched his first goal of the season against Notre Dame with his tally on Friday while Glover’s dish to Reilly in the series opener earned him his first collegiate point.

“Everybody stepped up this weekend, especially the freshmen defensemen,” Brodzinski said of Glover and Collins. “They really showed us what they can do and hopefully we can bring that over to next weekend against UMD.”

The Gophers do indeed square off with the Bulldogs next weekend in a home-and-home series beginning Friday night at Mariucci Arena and concluding at Amsoil Arena in Duluth on Saturday. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m. on FSN+.

Notes: Minnesota sophomore C Vinni Lettieri left Sunday’s game at the 11:50 mark of the second period after taking the full brunt of Notre Dame D Robbie Russo’s slap shot to his head. With the Fighting Irish on a power play, Lettieri dropped to his knees in an effort to block Russo’s blast but the rising shot went right at his head, narrowly missing his facemask as the sophomore turned away at the last moment. Lettieri had to be helped to the bench but walked to the dressing room under his own power. Information on his condition won’t be known until Tuesday at the earliest according to Lucia. … Sophomore RW Taylor Cammarata had a big day on Sunday with a trio of first-period assists to give him five helpers in the series. Cammarata’s linemates Sam Warning (2-1–3) and Justin Kloos (1-2–2) each chipped in three points on the weekend.

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SCSU finishes “Red October” with third win

ST. CLOUD – The gauntlet that has been the October portion of St. Cloud State’s schedule hasn’t seen a team ranked lower than fifth.

But the Huskies are right where they wanted to be five games into the season, with three wins.

SCSU handed No. 1 Minnesota its first loss of the season, 4-1, in nonconference action Friday in front of a capacity crowd at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

“Every series we play the Gophers here, it’s always great because it gets absolutely packed,” said SCSU forward and Blaine native Jonny Brodzinski. “So playing in front of a crowd like this, especially when everyone is in costumes, it’s awesome.

SCSU’s Kalle Kossila’s two-point night (1-1–2) helped lift the Huskies over the Gophers on Friday. (SCSU Athletics Photo / Brad Olson)

“We’ve started Fridays out just terrible this year so we wanted to put the foot down on the gas early.”

Brodzinski finished with a goal and two assists and Kalle Kossila had one of each for the Huskies.

SCSU entered last weekend’s series with No. 2 Union coming off a split at home to No. 5 Colgate, a bye week and was still in snooze mode when Union scored three in the first period.

But a 3-2 win the next night, earned the split and got SCSU back to .500.

The Gophers, coming off a comeback win and sweep against Bemidji State, got a few good chances early but then couldn’t continue into an offensive rhythm despite averaging 4.25 goals per game entering the weekend.

The Huskies’ sticks were disruptive on defense, getting in passing lanes and poking pucks off Minnesota’s blades before it could take shots.

“It was just an all-around tough game. We didn’t match their tenacity. We just didn’t have it today,” Minnesota alternate captain Seth Ambroz said.

“We got off our game, taking the penalties and looking for any reason, looking to blame the refs. You could tell we lost our composure there. We were punched in the mouth and we weren’t able to punch back. Tomorrow, we’re going to have to play desperate and come out with the victory tomorrow.”

Charlie Lindgren, a Lakeville native in his first year as SCSU’s full-time starting goalie, wasn’t as flashy with the glove but caught his share of pucks in the shoulder and he didn’t give up many juicy second chances.

“He made key saves at key moments,” SCSU coach Bob Motzko said. “One early in the game where (Minnesota) could’ve gone up but we get a power play goal and it let us get our feet underneath us.

“I think Charlie is going to get a lot of credit for this win.”

The Huskies got first-period goals on Kossila’s wrist shot from the left circle and David Morley’s swipe at a floating puck into the open net with less than two seconds on the clock.

SCSU got a power play goal 1:12 into the second period by Brodzinski on a shot that beat Minnesota goaltender Adam Wilcox 5-hole and Joey Benik was able to stuff in his second goal of the season early in the third period.

The Minnesota power play still leads the nation in goals scored (6) and effective percentage (31.6) but was held without a goal in two opportunities.

The Gophers finally got one past Lindgren at the 4:18 mark of the third period when Hudson Fasching scored on a wrister, which beat Lindgren high.

“We’ve talked about it all year. We have improvement to do,” Minnesota coach Don Lucia said. “You play a good team on the road it’s never going to be easy, but you can’t give up a couple power play goals and put yourself down 5 on 3 and some of the positions we put ourselves in.”

The Gophers had previously gone unbeaten in 16 of their last 17 games against in-state opponents. They fall to 4-1-0 overall.

And though SCSU’s month of high difficulty has closed, the weekend has not.

Motzko told his players after the game to expect a different Gophers team when they meet again at 4 p.m. Saturday at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis.

“Coach said what (Minnesota) is going to do after the game,” Kossila said. “’They’re going to get on the bus and be quiet and they’re going to be ready tomorrow.

“Our plan is to get as much rest as possible so we can be as pissed off as they’re going to be.”

The post Huskies Treat Gophers to First Loss appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

 Gopher stars spurn pro offers, return for a title shot.

Last spring’s Frozen Four in Philadelphia provided a 48 hour roller coaster of emotion for the Minnesota Golden Gophers men’s hockey team. It all began with an exhilarating semifinal win over North Dakota on Justin Holl’s goal with just 0.6 seconds to play in regulation and concluded with an equally as heartbreaking, yet far more thorough, defeat at the hands of Union College in the NCAA championship game.

“It’s always in the back of our mind and, in a way, it almost feels like we played that last game yesterday,” defenseman Mike Reilly said.

That it was the final game in the college careers of seniors like Holl, captain Nate Condon and Jake Parenteau was already established. The great unknown at the time, however, was would teammates such as Reilly, Kyle Rau, Adam Wilcox and Brady Skjei —all with college eligibility remaining— follow and get a jump start on their inevitable pro careers.

The question was answered over the summer as all four elected to return to pursue the national title that has, so far, eluded them. Reilly, Skjei and Wilcox are back for their junior seasons while Rau will be wearing the ‘M’ on his chest for a fourth year as one of six seniors.

“I think that’s a little bit of Kyle’s MO; he stayed through high school,” Minnesota coach Don Lucia said of his captain. “He probably had the most difficult decision to make what he was going to ultimately do.”

Reilly weighed the pros and cons in the offseason and said the importance of school and preparing for life after pro hockey helped tip the scales along with the title bid.

“You’ve just got to be able to be ready if you’re going to go,” Reilly said. “I think we made the right decision, you know, wanting to win it all and just kind of define our game a little more and just keep making an impact.”

“We are fortunate that even though four guys had an opportunity to sign professional contracts, they all elected to return,” Lucia said. “I like the kids that we have on our team because they’re pretty goal oriented and focused on doing what they can for the University of Minnesota, and I think that was a big reason why we had the kind of success that we had a year ago.”

Perhaps the happiest of those impacted by the quartet’s decision to return are their Gopher teammates.

“They all play a huge role on our team and knowing that they want to come back and win a title is pretty important,” said senior defenseman Ben Marshall who, along with fellow senior Seth Ambroz, will serve as an alternate captain.

Among the four, the player likely to have the greatest individual impact on Minnesota’s title hopes is goaltender Adam Wilcox who went 26-6-6 as a sophomore with a .932 save percentage which set a new Minnesota single-season record.

“Adam was our backbone the whole year,” Marshall said. “Whether it’s in practice or in a game — or even sewer ball before the game — he’s a competitor and we’re extremely lucky to have him back.

“Adam doesn’t take a day off. Every day he tries to get better, every day he’s a competitor, that’s why he was Big Ten Player of the Year last year.”

Wilcox, a Hobey Baker Award and Mike Richter Award finalist, was also the Big Ten’s inaugural Goaltender of the Year, a First Team All-Big Ten honoree and a Second Team All-American.

“I think usually the team at the end is going to have a pretty good goaltender,” Lucia said. “They make coaches a lot smarter.”

While this season’s freshman class is another talented lot with the likes of Swedish import Leon Bristedt and U.S. National Development Team Program alums Jack Glover and Ryan Collins, this group of rookies won’t likely be relied upon nearly as much as the Gophers’ battle-tested sophomores were last season.

“Like any season I think we’re going to have to rotate some guys early in the year within our lineups to see who should play with who and ultimately who does deserve to play,” Lucia said. “We’ll do some of that rotating the first half of the season, and then you get into January, you hope that your lineups will be a little bit set.”

Lucia was prophetic a year ago when he said Minnesota’s success in 2013-14 would be dependent on team play, particularly in terms of offensive production. To that point, then-freshman Justin Kloos led the Gophers with 16 goals last year but was one of six Minnesota double-digit goal scorers.

With 86-percent of its overall point production returning, a deep team which played for a national championship is even deeper heading into a new season. But Lucia knows it will take more than that to achieve Minnesota’s ultimate goal.

“You need the depth, you need guys pushing each other, and I think when you have that, that’s when you have your best teams,” Lucia said. “But I also think there has to be a buy-in where guys accept their roles, they understand where they’re at, and a team that wants to work hard on a daily basis, and we had those ingredients in place last year.”

Minnesota Golden Gophers

2013-14 Final Ranking: No. 2 (USCHO) / No. 2 (USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine)

2013-14 overall record: 28-7-6

2013-14 Big Ten record: 14-3-3-0

2013-14 Conference Finish: First

2013-14 Postseason Finish: NCAA Frozen Four runner-up to Union

2014-15 predicted finish: First (B1G Preseason Poll)

Tough Skates to Fill: F Nate Condon, D/F Justin Holl, D Jake Parenteau

Impact Returnees: G Adam Wilcox, F Kyle Rau, F Sam Warning, D Mike Reilly, D Brady Skjei

Key Additions: F Leon Bristedt, F Robin Höglund, D Jack Glover, D Ryan Collins, G Nick Lehr.

Why the Gophers will exceed expectations: It’s tough to do better than the No. 1 ranking the preseason prognosticators bestowed upon the Gophers last month. But with upperclassmen making up roughly half of a roster filled with firepower and an elite goalie, Minnesota is poised for another title run.

Why the Gopher will fall short of expectations: The only thing that might hurt this team is, well, getting hurt. Despite Minnesota’s depth, injuries at key positions, particularly goaltender, could spell disaster especially with a tough schedule chock full of teams giving the Gophers their best effort night in and night out.

The post DI Men’s Preview: Minnesota appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Players, fans endure full spectrum of emotions in Philadelphia.

PHILADELPHIA — There are some times in which the inevitability of sports is painful. Nowhere is that more present that in college sports.

Someone always has to win and someone always has to lose. In that we forget that these players are just kids. Kids who play the games for fun, for love, for a college education and for the fans.

This weekend I had the pleasure of being able to follow the Gopher Men’s hockey team to the Frozen Four in Philadelphia. In fact as I am writing this, I am on a flight with a plane full of Gopher fans who feel pain, mixed with the excitement of what the last four days brought us.

On Thursday we learned that every second of every game counts (or at least they re-learned the lesson after last year’s loss to Yale in the NCAA regional).

The Gophers and North Dakota played for the first time this year, extending a series that almost seemed as if the hockey gods were not able to let it go. The all-time series was close, the post season series was close, heck the last time the two teams had faced each other before that game was a tie.

So it was apt that it should go down to the final second of the game which would send one team to a national title game.

With 0.6 seconds left on the clock Justin Holl scored his only goal of the year, in a way that we are all taught to; throw the puck towards the net and see what will happen. In this case it punched their ticket to the title game, made Holl a folk hero (some even had shirts made up with “0.6” on the front) and put the Gophers on ESPN’s repeated news cycle.

Just 48 hours later, I walked into locker room after the loss to Union in the championship game. Holl’s giggles had morphed into waling, his smile into a painful frown.

You see, in sports, the good never stays good for long and thankfully the bad never does either. But for this young man who had just finished his career and was wandering around the locker room in tears going from teammate to teammate for an embrace, it was especially painful.

He was far from alone.

Captain Nate Condon spoke to me just two days earlier about how this team refused to celebrate the win over North Dakota that much. They were excited for the win but, as he stated, it meant nothing if they didn’t finish the job.

Condon is a natural captain for this team. Not just because he was elected by his peers but because he was born to be. He is stoic, well-spoken and one heck of a hockey player.

He was also the guy who seemed to take this loss the hardest. After the loss to Union he sat motionless at his locker, face red with tears; which you could only see as he occasionally brought it up from being buried in his hands. He never undressed or wiped the sweat away, He just stared, seemingly watching his entire career at the University of Minnesota pass before his eyes.

After a few minutes of gathering himself, he stood up to take questions from the media. Now, Condon is always a great interview with insightful answers wrapped in a pleasant demeanor. But on this night, even he couldn’t hide the terrible feelings inside when asked what he felt they could have done differently tonight:

“Win,” he said with no follow up.

Condon and Holl are just two players in an entire locker room of disappointed kids. And they are just that … kids.

I know there will be people out there who criticize them and fault them from not playing their best game when on the biggest stage (something they said after their loss to Union) l, but lets please remember that these players are kids.

They don’t get the millions of dollars or the endorsement contracts. They put in long hours on the ice to be the best player they can be, and off of the ice to be the best student they can be. If you are thinking about publicly shaming them, don’t. I heard it last year after their loss to Yale and I am sure I’ll hear it again.

No matter the round a season ends in, it’s not OK to blast these kids. If you believe that you have the right to criticize an 18-23 year old kid because you’re a bleeding heart fan, or you’ve had season tickets for years, think again.

They are playing because they love the game and I assure you that no matter how badly you think you feel, they have it worse.

It is interesting though, losses always seem to catch you off guard. I mean, there is literally and statistically just as good a chance of winning as there is of losing.

Yet we are never prepared for the let- down, not as participants in the sport, or as fans of it.

The post Gophers Find Thrill in Victory, Agony in Defeat appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

PHILADELPHIA — If Minnesota’s Frozen Four semifinal win over North Dakota proved anything it’s that every second counts.

The Gophers took two minutes off in the first period of Saturday’s championship game at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center and that was all Union College needed to seize control on its way to defeating Minnesota 7-4 for its first-ever national title in front of a near sellout crowd of 18,742.

The teams combined for a regulation-game record 89 shots on goal, second only to the 96 by Minnesota-Duluth and Bowling Green in the 1984 championship game.

Minnesota coach Don Lucia said the Dutchmen are very deserving champions.

“Kind of looked at the end of the year that there were kind of three teams that were BC, Minnesota, and Union, that were right at the top most of the year,” Lucia said. “Union beat BC and Minnesota back-to-back, and they certainly earned their national title.”

Minnesota led 2-1 just 10 minutes into a thoroughly entertaining contest but Union stormed the Gopher crease from there as Mike Vecchione, Eli Lichtenwald and Daniel Ciampini scored in a 1:54 span in the period’s final five minutes to take a lead it would not relinquish.

The loss is Minnesota’s first of the season when scoring the game’s first goal (18-1-5).

“They just won little battles in front of the net there and were able to put pucks in,” Minnesota forward Seth Ambroz said. “It’s just amazing how quick a puck can get in the back of your net just off little things like that.”

The Dutchmen were all over Minnesota goaltender Adam Wilcox in the closing minutes of the first period with Union’s forwards dominating the Gopher defense resulting in second, third and fourth chance opportunities upon which it capitalized.

“I’m not sure the mental part of our game matched the physical part,” Minnesota coach Don Lucia said. “We made a few mistakes tonight that we don’t normally make … I think some of that was just trying too hard, trying to do somebody else’s job.”

“They battled hard and we battled hard too and made some mental mistakes,” Gopher senior captain Nate Condon said. “That’s what costs you this time of year. When you get switched up and they get a wide open guy two, three shots in a row, you can’t expect Adam to save that.”

Wilcox, who finished with 43 saves, turned in yet another stellar performance in keeping the Gophers within striking distance of Union but, to their credit, the Dutchmen were simply too much for Minnesota’s defense on this night.

“It just came down to grit in front of the net and they got a couple good bounces that went right to them,” Wilcox said. “All they really needed was their first period and from there they never looked back.”

“We hung our goalie to dry,” Minnesota freshman forward Justin Kloos said. “He’s been our best player all year, and for us to put him through that was kind of disappointing. I don’t think you can look at anyone in our locker room and say they weren’t physically trying their hardest, but mentally I think made a few too many mistakes in that segment.”

The Gophers played shorthanded for 3:49 of the game’s first five minutes but took advantage of what little even strength time they had to grab an early 1-0 lead. Just 18 seconds after Brady Skjei’s first roughing penalty of the night, Justin Kloos put a rebound of a Nate Condon shot that Union goalie Colin Stevens thought he had controlled.

Union got on the board with a Shane Gostisbehere goal at 9:26 but the Gophers answered 29 seconds later on Sam Warning’s sharp angle goal after Stevens thwarted Kyle Rau’s wraparound attempt.

Minnesota pulled to within one just 1:13 into the second on freshman Taylor Cammarata’s 10th of the season in which he banged in his own rebound for the only goal of the second period.

The Dutchmen restored the two-goal lead 5:31 into the final period when Kevin Sullivan’s shot off a rush was deflected by net-crashing Philadelphia native Max Novak up and over Wilcox.

Minnesota defenseman Brady Skjei said the Gophers weren’t rattled by the two-goal deficit with only 15 minutes left.

“We felt we were in the game the whole game,” Skjei said. “It’s the hardest lead to keep in hockey so we were never out of it.”

They weren’t as Hudson Fasching’s power-play goal with 3:40 to play made it 5-4 and Minnesota was in position for a second consecutive dramatic finish.

But a late goal by Sullivan and Mat Bodie’s empty-net goal sealed the Gophers’ runner-up fate.

“You’re hoping at that point you can get a face off in the offensive zone and call your timeout and try to make a play on 6-on-5,” Lucia said. “They did the job. They closed it out. Like I said, they are very deserving of national champions.”

“You never want to go out like this but credit Union, they came out there flying from the start and they wanted it more,” Ambroz said. “It is what it is, it’s been a fun year and I’m proud of the boys and we’ve just got to take it, learn from it and get a good run there next year.”

The loss is, of course, toughest on Minnesota’s seniors in Condon, Justin Holl, Jake Parenteau, Michael Shibrowski and Tom Serratore.

“They’ve been great since they got here and I think they’ve been the backbone of really getting us back to where we want to be,” Condon said. “A lot of selfless guys and a lot of guys that are really gonna miss playing for Minnesota and I know I’m going to be one of them.”

Condon is confident he leaves behind a team fully capable of making another title run.

“I told them I’m gone but I want nothing but success for these guys and I think that next year they’re going to do a good job,” Condon said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys, a lot of really talented guys, that can go far if they put their minds to it.”

The post Dutchmen Down Gophers, Capture Title appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Justin Holl’s buzzer beater vaults Minnesota to title tilt against Union.

PHILADELPHIA — Mix Minnesota’s maroon and gold with North Dakota’s green and white, add ice, stir and the result is utterly unpredictable.

Such was the case on Thursday night as no one could have foreseen Minnesota senior defenseman Justin Holl scoring his first goal of the season, shorthanded mind you, with 0.6 seconds remaining to defeat UND 2-1 in the Frozen Four semifinals at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

But that’s precisely what unfolded, giving Minnesota its third win in five NCAA Tournament meetings with North Dakota.

“No better time for Justin to score his first goal of the season than tonight,” Minnesota coach Don Lucia said. “But that’s our team. We haven’t relied on any one guy. A new guy has to step forward each and every night.”

As the final seconds of regulation ticked down and the Gophers shorthanded, Holl carried the puck through the neutral zone and fed it to Kyle Rau who carried it across the North Dakota blue line. With time running out, Holl chose to jump into the play offensively and, when Rau’s shot deflected off of UND’s Jordan Schmaltz, the puck found its way to his stick and his shot through a screen slid just inside the right post and the on-ice bedlam ensued … for a moment.

An officials’ review was required to verify the puck crossed the line before time expired, which it did, and the celebration was on again.

”It’s a great feeling, but it doesn’t mean anything if we don’t do well on Saturday,” Holl said. “So we’re looking ahead to Saturday and we’re excited for that game.”

Holl’s defensive partner Brady Skjei could not be happier for him.

“He’s one of the biggest team guys we have on our team,” Skjei said. “That’s his first goal of the season, which is crazy because he’s been playing so well. I think he saved it for a good time.”

Rau assisted on both goals adding to his team-leading points (39) and assist (25) totals and goaltender Adam Wilcox was spectacular in making 36 saves and raising his record to 26-5-6 on the season.

“We really had to be good defensively and when you’ve got Wilcox in goal, you can give up a couple and he really stood on his head tonight,” captain Nate Condon said. “We don’t go anywhere without Adam.”

“Adam made some critical saves, like he always does,” Lucia said. “Like I’ve said most of the year, we’re a good team with a great goalie. Adam gives us a chance to win and he certainly did tonight”

Though their bitter rivalry was lost after both teams departed the WCHA after last season for “greener pastures”, it was allowed to briefly rekindle for this one-night-only engagement with each team’s season on the line and an opportunity to play for a national title at stake.

The score was 0-0 through two and a half periods until Minnesota’s Sam Warning scored his 13th of the season, backhanding a Rau rebound behind UND goaltender Zane Gothberg, who finished with 26 saves, to break a scoreless tie at 10:51 of the third period. But North Dakota’s Connor Gaarder answered just 32 seconds later to knot the game once again.

Gaarder drove hard to the net from the left side, getting off a backhand shot Wilcox stopped but could not control. As he headed behind the Minnesota goal, the Edina native reached up with his forehand and batted the puck out of midair past Wilcox for his ninth of the year and third of the postseason.

With time winding down in a tie game and the certainty of overtime growing, Gopher defenseman Mike Reilly was called for holding with just 1:39 to play putting UND on a power play for potentially the rest of regulation and into overtime. Holl’s heroics took care of all that.

The Gophers move on to face Union in the national title game on Saturday night at 6:30 pm on ESPN. The Dutchmen beat Boston College 5-4 earlier in the evening. The championship game will be the fourth meeting all-time between Union and Minnesota. The Gophers hold a 2-1 advantage in the series.

“That was the goal at the beginning of the year, to be playing at the end of the season,” Condon said. “We’ve realized that goal but I don’t think anyone comes here to lose.”

Minnesota is making its first championship appearance since 2003 and 12th title game appearance overall. The Gophers’ 2003 national crown was their most recent.

The post Gophers Advance to Frozen Four Championship appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

[See image gallery at minnesotahockeymag.com]

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Kloos scores twice as Minnesota blanks Huskies, earn trip to Frozen Four.

SAINT PAUL — The fourth and final spot in the 2014 NCAA Frozen Four was decided in St. Paul on Sunday night and the University of Minnesota punched its ticket to its second trip in three seasons—and 21st overall—in Philadelphia with a dominant 4-0 victory over St. Cloud State in front of 8,893 at Xcel Energy Center.

The Gophers will faceoff against North Dakota on Thursday, April 10, at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center at 7:30 p.m.

The tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, Justin Kloos, scored twice with Seth Ambroz and Kyle Rau adding a goal apiece. Nate Condon and Travis Boyd, meanwhile, each chipped in a pair of assists.

The NCAA West Region final victory in the first-ever NCAA tournament meeting between the two former WCHA rivals raises No. 1 Minnesota record to 54-28-12 all-time against No. 8 St. Cloud State and gives coach Don Lucia win No. 650 of his career.

“Going to the Frozen Four never gets old; it is a thrill,” Lucia said. “I’ve been to a handful now but for the guys that haven’t been there before to go through the heartache that we did last year with losing in overtime (to Yale in the region semifinal) to be able to come back this year and get back to Philadelphia is a real credit to our group of guys.”

The Huskies (22-11-5) were coming off of an emotionally and physically draining overtime win over Notre Dame, which ended close to midnight on Saturday, and found it difficult to bounce back against a Minnesota team which attacked in waves.

“We ran out of a little steam but you have to tip your hat to the University of Minnesota,” St. Cloud State Bob Motzko said. “They played an excellent game, they shut a lot of things down, we never got a power play and it was a difficult night for us to get anything going.”

Minnesota (27-6-6) essentially put the game away in a two-goal second period in which it put on a veritable passing clinic that was best exemplified by a pretty passing play by Condon, Taylor Cammarata and Justin Kloos to make it 3-0 at 9:53.

Cammarata and Condon worked a give-and-go as they entered the St. Cloud State zone before Cammarata’s pass from the right circle hit the tape of a wide open Kloos at the left post. St. Cloud State goaltender Ryan Faragher had no chance as the freshman from Lakeville slammed in his second of the game and 15th of the season.

“We were on an odd man rush and sometimes when they don’t have a strong gap you’re able to make prettier plays like that,” Kloos said. “I’ve got to give it to my linemates, all I had to do was tap it in.”

If you missed it here’s a .GIF of the play courtesy of C.J. Fogler (@cjzero on Twitter).

Faragher, who made 39 saves in Saturday’s overtime win, was pulled from the game 4:47 later to finish with 12 saves on 15 shots, although he could hardly be faulted on any of the goals allowed. He was replaced by Kloos’ former Lakeville teammate, Charlie Lindgren, who stopped 19 of the 20 shots he faced the rest of the way.

In contrast, Minnesota goaltender Adam Wilcox came up big when called upon in making 24 saves to earn his fourth shutout of the season. The Gophers outshot the Huskies 35-24 for the game.

“Our team just played lights out this whole weekend,” Wilcox said. “The first game the team played great defensively and I had to work on my rebounds a little bit, and I thought I did that tonight. It was an overall effort from everyone.”

St. Cloud State defenseman Kevin Gravel echoed that sentiment.

“They got the puck deep and finished their checks and just kind of wore us down a little bit,” Gravel said.  “You’ve got to give them credit, they came to play tonight and they took it to us at times. But it’s tough right now.”

The Gophers are undefeated this season (17-0-5) when scoring the first goal so when Minnesota opened the scoring at 11:09 of the first period on Kloos’ first of the game it was a good sign for the maroon and gold.

Justin Holl’s blast from the right point caught a piece of Condon’s stick but never made it to Faragher. Kloos picked up the loose puck near the right post, carried it behind the net and banked his wraparound attempt in off the skate of Huskies’ forward Brooks Bertsch.

Condon’s assists gave the senior captain four points on the weekend (2-2–4) and his performance drew the praise of his coach.

“The way Nate played this weekend elevated our team,” Lucia said. “Nate’s one of those guys where you can’t win without Nate Condons on your team.”

Minnesota doubled its lead 3:48 into the second when Boyd won a tough battle along the left wing boards before sending a cross-ice pass to Jake Parenteau whose one-timer was stopped by Faragher. But the rebound caromed right to Ambroz who tapped in his 14th of the year.

Boyd’s assist on the play gives him one assist in each of the last six games. The six-game point streak is a career high for the junior while his 30 points, nine goals and 21 assists this season are all career highs.

Lucia said the performance of the Ambroz, Boyd and Tom Serratore line was the best he’d seen out of the trio recently.

“They had an important matchup with [Kalle] Kossila and [Jonny] Brodzinski and then [St. Cloud State] moved [Joey] Benik up there after the first period so it was three really good offensive players,” Lucia said. “All three of them are good penalty killers, they play the game the right way and they’re heart and soul type players.”

In fact, all four of Minnesota’s goals were scored within 10 feet of the crease which—after the Gophers managed just one goal in losing to Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament—was no accident according to Lucia.

“That was a point of emphasis after last weekend when we only scored the one goal,” Lucia said. “We had drills to get to get to the hard areas of the ice in front of the net. This time of year it’s amazing how pucks go off somebody.”

The 2014 NCAA Tournament West Region All-Tournament team, as voted by the media:

Forward: Justin Kloos (Minnesota)

Forward: Nate Condon (Minnesota)

Forward: Nic Dowd (St. Cloud State)

Defenseman: Brady Skjei (Minnesota)

Defenseman: Mike Reilly (Minnesota)

Goalie: Adam Wilcox (Minnesota)

Most Outstanding Player: Justin Kloos (Minnesota)

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