What had been taken for granted in the 1990s and early 2000s is now appreciated given the work it has taken to get back to this point. A record crowd of 10,894 for the second game of the Badgers series on Feb. 1 brought total attendance for the sweep to 21,641.

Connor Kurth and Cal Thomas celebrate a goal against Wisconsin in front of the packed home crowd cheering them on. (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Athletics)

“For all of us who work in the athletic department and on the external side, where we’re not on the ice every day, having a game-day environment like that is what we aspire to,” said Mike Wierzbicki, senior associate athletic director for the Gophers. “Providing an atmosphere that fans can enjoy and that gives you goosebumps.”

Telling the story of attendance and fan interest at what is now known as 3M at Mariucci Arena, isn’t as simple as throwing out a bunch of attendance figures.

That helps — the average of 9,769 tickets distributed this season is the highest it has been since 2015-16 and is up from 7,867 in 2021-22 — but it fails to address the most important thing: The electricity, as Motzko called it, that has returned to the 32-year-old building.

That is what so often had seemed to be missing until the last few seasons. A student section that wasn’t filled, or season tickets that had been sold to corporations or the general public, but weren’t used. The tickets might have been distributed, but that doesn’t mean sections were full or that the building had life.

The Dropoff
Motkzo was part of two NCAA championship teams during his time as an assistant on Gophers coach Don Lucia’s staff from 2001-05 and returned to replace Lucia in 2018 after spending 13 seasons at St. Cloud State. Motzko remembers the importance placed on getting fans back upon his return.

Bob Motzko has coached the Gophers men’s hockey team since 2018-19. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

“It was a major discussion at the administrative level, and they did a lot of things behind the scenes, too, on students and ticket prices,” he said. “It was the perfect storm. I always call it the breakup of the WCHA. That took a decade for people to forgive. I think we’re through that.”

As members of the Big Ten, the Gophers were forced to make the move from the WCHA to the Big Ten when the conference began to sponsor men’s ice hockey in the 2013-14 season. This was triggered by Penn State’s decision to start playing Division I hockey and enabled the Big Ten to have a six-team conference. It resulted in major upheaval for college hockey.

The Gophers had long-established WCHA rivalries with North Dakota, Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State. Throw in Minnesota State Mankato and Wisconsin, and five of Minnesota’s nine conference opponents were within driving distance. The Civic Center and then the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul were the regular hosts of the WCHA Final Five.

Suddenly, all of that was gone, and while tickets were still being sold to Gophers games, the amount of nights on which Mariucci felt like the place to be dwindled. This despite the fact the Gophers finished in first place in the Big Ten each of the conference’s first four seasons and went to the championship game of the 2014 Frozen Four.

Mike Wierzbicki, University of Minnesota senior associate athletic director. (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Athletics)

Wierzbicki, who grew up in Minnesota, arrived at the university as the assistant athletic director of marketing for the 2016-17 season. The Gophers won the Big Ten before losing in the NCAA regional semifinals to Notre Dame. There was an average of 9,595 tickets distributed as the Gophers qualified for the NCAA tournament for the fifth time in six seasons under Lucia.

The figure plummeted to 8,726 in 2017-18 as the Gophers finished fifth in the conference and did not make the NCAA tournament in Lucia’s final season. Motzko was hired to replace Lucia, but the work was just starting.

“There was a lack of WCHA rivalries and some changes there were not the most well-received things,” Wierzbicki said. “We also knew our team success wasn’t where we are nowadays and we didn’t perform on the ice the way we’re accustomed to.”

That wasn’t the only issue. The other was that a season-ticket waiting list that dated to the 1990s was “pretty much exhausted,” by Lucia’s penultimate season. That meant that when season-ticket holders didn’t renew for 2017-18, the athletic department was left with no built-in place to turn to replace them.

That wasn’t going to be easy, especially with the general public and corporations. The Gophers had the hockey market largely to themselves when the new Mariucci opened in 1993, the same year the NHL and North Stars left for Dallas. But by the time the season-ticket waiting list was gone, the NHL had returned with the Wild in St. Paul, the Twins were playing in a new stadium (Target Field) and the Vikings were opening U.S. Bank Stadium.

The sports dollar only goes so far and fans only want to attend so many events. Tickets to Gophers games weren’t cheap and there also was the issue of students no longer packing the place.

The road back
The low point came in March 2019. The Gophers played host to Michigan in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament. Minnesota swept the Wolverines in two games, but the headline was the attendance.

The Gophers’ 3-2 overtime victory in the opener drew an announced crowd of 1,835 fans. Numerous photos from inside the building indicated that figure might have been generous. According to a 2023 Star Tribune story, the Gophers had an average of only 5,325 tickets scanned per game during Motzko’s first season.

The average number of tickets distributed in 2019-20 decreased to 8,100 during the season in which the COVID-19 pandemic caused the season to be canceled before the end of the Big Ten tournament. Fans were not allowed into games the following season, and the low point of 7,867 for ticket distribution came in 2021-22.

The general public season-ticket sales for that season was 3,991 and the student season-ticket figure was 1,498. The Gophers, however, won the Big Ten and made it to the Frozen Four before losing to Minnesota State in the semifinals.

As disappointing as the attendance figures might have been, things were about to get a lot better. Some of it was in the control of Wierzbicki and his team and some of it was timing.

“Once students got through Covid, there was an opportunity to springboard off that and we saw them more interested in coming to games across the board,” Wierzbicki said.

Ticket distribution has been on the upswing for the past three seasons. (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Athletics)

The distribution of tickets has been on the rise the past three seasons: 9,129 in 2022-23 as the Gophers lost the NCAA title game after finishing first in the Big Ten; 9,221 in 2023-24 in which Motzko’s team lost to Boston University in the NCAA regional finals after finishing third in the conference; and 9,769 this season. The non-student season-ticket sales have been over 4,500 for two consecutive years and student season tickets have been over 1,500 for three years in a row.

“You have felt it ever since Covid with the students,” Motzko said. “If you remember, right before Covid, student attendance was falling all over the country in every sport. Then, the craziest thing is now we’ve got this uptick going on. For us, there’s no question. Our student section brings our building to life. We have such great diehard fans. They love that young energy. You can’t fool our fans, they want good hockey. But when you get that electricity in this building, I think it’s the greatest atmosphere in one of the greatest college sports.”

Wierzbicki points to the work done by the marketing, digital and social teams in the athletic department.

“We had to make it fun, right?” he said. “A cool and fun thing to do. So that played into giveaways, free food and creating demand and interest. All of those things need to come together. … But it all goes back to the post-Covid buzz and once there was reinvigorated energy to springboard off of that.”

Both season- and single-game ticket prices were dropped in different areas of the arena and a strategy was devised to get more fans into the building. One of those has been moving the faceoff time for Saturday home games to 5 p.m. That has helped the Gophers get more groups, such as youth hockey teams, and families to come to games and get home at a decent hour.

Giveaways also have helped.

“Our marketing team has done a good job of thinking outside the box,” Wierzbicki said. “We’ve done more unique things that students found value in. It might be a scarf giveaway or a unique stocking cap.”

Of course, “it doesn’t move the needle unless the team is successful,” Wierzbicki said.

The Gophers will enter their weekend series at Michigan in second place in the Big Ten, five points behind Michigan State with six games remaining. Their final regular-season home series will be Feb. 21-22 against Ohio State. The Gophers are a Big Ten-best 12-2-2 at home this season.

It feels like old times at Mariucci.

“You go back to (the Doug) Woog days and Lucia days, it’s been that before,” Motzko said. “We’re not creating anything new. Things go in cycles. We’ve always said, ‘Our fans haven’t gone anywhere, we’ve got to give them a reason to come back.’”

Both the team and the marketing department have done just that.

The post ‘Electric’ Crowds Are Back appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

After playing three-years with Harvard University and finishing up her NCAA college playing career with a season at Clarkson University, Petrie took a giant step toward that desire of playing in the PWHL.

That giant step occurred on June 10 when this talented 23- year-old forward from Hermosa Beach, Calif. was picked in the fifth round, 27th overall, by the Minnesota Frost.

“I was at home in California where we had a watch party,” Petrie said. “We had the draft live streamed on YouTube.”

In reflecting on that moment when Minnesota selected her, Petrie said: “There were tears, sighs of relief, excitement, smiles and lots of high fives.”

Dominique Petrie scored the tying goal to force overtime in the season opener against New York. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

A big highlight in the early going of the season has been the home fans which drew lots of strong praise from Petrie.

“Minnesota has an amazing fan base,” Petrie said. “Minnesota is the state of hockey. I’m really excited to have been drafted by Minnesota. It’s (playing for the Frost) an awesome cool experience.”

The biggest electrifying on-ice highlight which Petrie described as being “on top of the list for one of my greatest hockey moments,” occurred in the Frost’s first regular-season game of the year.

Leaving her mark early
Playing on Dec. 1 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Petrie was absolutely pumped when at 15:47 of the third period she scored and celebrated her first PWHL goal, which at the time tied things up 3-3 of an eventual 4-3 overtime loss against the New York Sirens.

“I couldn’t have written a better story,” Petrie said about the goal. “It was a two-on-one (with Denisa Křížová), just like we’ve worked on in practice. I got in on my stick and let it rip.

PWHL players and fans watched as the Walter Cup Champions banner was unveiled before the season opener on Dec. 1 at Xcel Energy Center. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

“The fans erupted and my teammates were celebrating, and it was a cool moment. It’s at the top of my list for great hockey moments.”

Naturally, Petrie was presented with that milestone puck which she still has.

“Right now, it’s sitting on a shelf. I will take it back home at some point,” Petrie said.

In talking about that regular-season opener, Petrie couldn’t help but to once again deliver more praise toward the Minnesota fans.

“The fans were decked out in our paraphernalia,” Petrie said. “When we scored, the fans got really loud. It’s definitely a special market and the fans pump us up.”

Prior to Minnesota’s season opener, fans got to experience PWHL history as the Minnesota had their Walter Cup championship banner raised to the Xcel Energy Center rafters.

“The banner ceremony was a cool experience,” Petrie said. “To look around and take it all in was a cool moment.”

In putting on the Minnesota Frost jersey for her PWHL debut, Petrie called it “a surreal moment.”

“I felt blessed and thankful,” Petrie added.

During that much anticipated debut against New York, Petrie had three shots on goal and was a plus-one.

Petrie played at Harvard, then Clarkson
Before embarking on her PWHL career, Petrie played three years of college hockey at Harvard University where she graduated with a degree in economics and a minor in psychology. In looking to continue her education and college hockey career, Petrie transferred to Clarkson for a Masters of business administration.

Her three-year playing career at Harvard saw her play 76 games where she produced 30 goals and 71 points. In her time with Clarkson last season, she scored 15 goals and 35 points in 40 games.

“It was an amazing opportunity,” Petrie said. “I enjoy challenging myself, and I was fortunate to be able to play hockey and get an education.”

Without question, Petrie’s greatest moment playing for Clarkson occurred in March 2024 when playing at home in front of a sold-out Cheel Arena. She made history by scoring in quadruple-overtime for a 3-2 win against the University of Minnesota Gophers. The win sent fourth-ranked Clarkson to their first Frozen Four since 2019, though they lost to Ohio State in the semifinal.

In making that jump from college hockey to the PWHL, Petrie said a big difference is how much more physical the pro league is. However, Petrie referred to herself as a physical player, so it’s something she isn’t bothered about.

From an early age, Petrie’s passion to play hockey was inspired by her brother, Guy, who played college hockey at the University of Utah.

On the international stage, Petrie has also had success in helping the U.S. Women’s National U-18 team take home gold at the 2017 and 2018 IIHF World Women’s U18 Championships. A year later, she captained the squad to a silver.

In her first three games as a Frost player, Petrie has three goals and is a +2.

“I’m happy Minnesota took a chance on me,” she said. “I just want to show what I can do.”

It might be extremely early, but chances are Petrie has definitely made a loud statement to the Frost organization that she can play in the PWHL.

The post Dominant Dominque appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

“Dan loved to throw the puck behind his back, and I’ll just say I wasn’t a huge fan,” Ward said, with a laugh. “I remember his first year he gave the puck right to the other team a few times, and he’d come back to the bench with this look on his face that he knew I was gonna bark at him a little bit, and I did. But that was part of his maturation process as a player.

“I would tell him to save that move for men’s league in the future and I’m sure he’s still tried it a couple times since, but he got better with time. We still laugh about it today and Daniel Shlaine is one of my favorite kids that’s ever played here.”

However, eliminating those passes was just one part of what’s been a tremendous growing process, both as a hockey player and a person.

Shlaine first moved from Moscow, Russia to Faribault at 13 years old with his parents, Ekaterina and Dmitri, to join his older brother, Artem – who is currently a grad student at Arizona State. Artem, who also attended Shattuck-St. Mary’s, split his first four NCAA seasons between UCONN and Northern Michigan and is a New Jersey Devils draft pick (2020, fifth-round).

As for Daniel, he spent five years at Shattuck and the past two seasons with the U18 Prep Team, scoring 42 goals and racking up 146 points over 110 games. He also registered 44 points (19-25-44) over 57 games with the 16U AAA team in 2021-22.

While there have certainly been adjustments on the ice, living in North America was an adjustment in itself, especially early on.

“I was very fortunate to be at Shattuck because everyone knew what they were doing and everyone was so helpful,” Shlaine said. “I didn’t really know much English my freshman year, and I didn’t really know anybody or have many friends, and the size of the rink was different from the European sheet. So, it was just a lot different. But after probably three or four months I was able to adapt and felt comfortable.

“I ended up spending my whole five years of high school there and played with some of the best kids in the country, and the coaching staff is unbelievable. It’s easy to say yes when you have the opportunity to go there and they have everything for you to succeed. You just have to take advantage of it.”

Daniel Shlaine started figure skating as a 3-year-old kid in Russia and shifted to hockey a year later, eventually moving to the United States and Minnesota at age 13. “He quickly became a rink rat, and he was at the rink every day skating and working on his game,” said SSM coach Tom Ward. “He spent a lot of time in the weight room, too and just took advantage of all the perks we have here at Shattuck, and it paid off for him.” (Photo courtesy of Sammy Miller / Lincoln Stars)

Those last four words are exactly what Shlaine did.

“He was a kid that came here with his older brother and his family and honestly, he was just an average player,” Ward said. “He was nothing special as a young player, and he was always Arty’s little brother, but he started to break out his 16-year-old year and put the work in.

“He started to understand how he could be the best version of himself and he just continued to grow, and it was really fun to watch him.”

That growth certainly raised some eyebrows last season as Shlaine received plenty of college interest and ultimately committed to Minnesota Duluth in March. He cited the coaching staff, specifically Scott Sandelin, and UMD’s tradition as his biggest reasons for picking the Bulldogs.

A leader on the Stars
Shlaine had conversations with a number of junior teams last season, too, and was selected by the Lincoln Stars in the USHL Phase II Draft (fourth overall) last May.

He’s made an immediate impact with his new club.

“I was excited to get drafted this past summer and get started, obviously new faces and new coaches, but my time (in Lincoln) has been great so far,” Shlaine said. “Everyone has helped me out a lot and I’ve been able to feel really comfortable, and we’re having a pretty good start to the season too. So, hopefully we can keep it going.”

The UMD commit is averaging more than a point per game to open his USHL career and leads the Stars in points (13) and assists (8). His five goals and plus-7 rating are also tied for the team lead, and Shlaine already has four multi-point games.

Lincoln (9-2-0) currently owns the USHL’s best record and has outscored its opponents 43-25 through 11 games. It’s been a collective team effort.

However, Shlaine has been one of Lincoln’s individual standouts, and he’s certainly impressed head coach Rocky Russo and his staff.

“He’s so talented and you can tell he wants to be successful, and he certainly doesn’t look like a first-year player in our league,” Russo said. “He’s a little bit of an older guy as an ’05, but it’s still an extremely hard league, and it goes to show his hockey IQ and work ethic.

“He’s a great skater, he moves laterally so well, he’s good on the dots and he can play both power play and (penalty kill). He’s got a great brain, and he’s not afraid to advance pucks up the ice either, and he just wants to do whatever to help his team win.”

Daniel Shlaine was Lincoln’s first-round pick in the 2024 USHL Phase II Draft. “It’s kind of funny, but I talked to almost every other USHL team except Lincoln leading up to the draft,” Shlaine said. “I remember I was on my phone watching the draft and we were eating at the dining hall (at Shattuck), and when the Stars were on the clock, I put my phone down for a minute and got up. When I came back the guys started congratulating me, and I saw my name on the screen, and it’s worked out really well so far.” (Photo courtesy of Sammy Miller / Lincoln Stars)

It’s a continuation of what Shlaine showed in Faribault.

“He’s always been an intelligent kid, and he’s no different as a hockey player,” Ward said. “He’s a cerebral guy, and he sees what’s going on on the ice. He plays with vision, he understands how to play the team game, he’s a 200-foot player, and I think he’s a very solid defensive player. He’s just a true centerman and he can play in any situation, and you’re seeing that offensive side of his game too.

“I think you’ve seen his confidence grow and as he’s become more of a counted-on player, his personality has grown so much too. He’s a keeper of a kid.”

While Shlaine hopes to continue producing, he’s also aware the 62-game season will include its share of ups and downs – a challenge he’s ready to embrace.

His goals are to round out the little details of his game and be a consistent 200-foot center, along with winning the Clark Cup. Lincoln last did so in 2003.

However, it’s hard to ignore Shlaine’s start to the 2024-25 campaign.

“It’s been a good start, but there’s still a lot of season left and room to grow,” Shlaine said. “The USHL is a fast league and the guys are obviously bigger and stronger, so you know that you’re going against the best every night. So you just know you’ve got to work twice as hard and I’m excited for that challenge.

“But I think that prepares you well for college, and I’m excited to keep learning and developing my game. You don’t want to look too far ahead, but I’m excited to keep working towards and making that jump to college.”

The post Shattuck-St. Mary’s Shlaine Shines appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The line of Jimmy Clark between wingers Connor Kurth and Matthew Wood was listed fourth. That had been one of the Gophers’ hottest lines entering the weekend and proceeded to combine for two goals and six points in a 7-1 victory over the Tommies on Friday at Mariucci Arena. A night later, it was first line winger Brody Lamb who scored three goals, all on the power play, in a 6-2 victory over St. Thomas at Xcel Energy Center.

Bob Motzko, in his seventh season as the Gophers’ coach, was asked about having such an embarrassment of scoring riches.

“The only problem we have is we have to start a line, that means one line has to be fourth,” Motzko said. “We’re trying to build it into how we have to play selfless hockey and one line after another with the attack. I love how hard they’re working. I love their compete (level) and we have four lines that can get after it.”

This comes as no surprise — at least from a talent perspective.

Talent, compete level have Gophers off to strong start
The Gophers might no longer get all of the top players in the state, but recruiting top-level talent from both inside and outside the state isn’t an issue. The challenge for Motzko is getting that talent to jell into a cohesive unit that wants to grind as much as they want to score.

This is what makes Motzko so happy about a 5-1-0 start in which his team has outscored opponents 33-12, including having seven goals three times, six goals once and five in another.

“If you’re going to win big, the compete in this sport has got to be number one,” Motzko said. “You recruited the talent. They all have a history of having that. But playing with that tenacity and grit and a ground game (forechecking) and being selfless, that’s a learned skill as well. It’s a short snapshot (of the season). I was asked how many games does it take? I said that I usually like the month of October.”

Motzko said this last Friday and the Gophers won’t play again until opening the Big Ten season against Penn State this weekend.

Spend time around the Gophers and the fact they embrace the grit and grind isn’t a surprise. Players talk about how many of them stuck around this offseason to work in the weight room and bond away from the rink. This type of talk can be cliched, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

“It started in the summer,” defenseman Sam Rinzel said. “All the guys being in the weight room competing, trying to outlift each other or whatever it is. But we can get on each other and we can kind of hold ourselves accountable. I think that’s important for our team … we’re like glue together. So, our team is pretty close.”

The closeness of a team is important, in large part because of what Rinzel said. It enables players to hold each other accountable, without creating division.

“I think everyone on the team has good chemistry,” Wood said. “Everyone loves each other, and that’s a big part of it. Off ice, everyone is just a really good person and I think that really helps.”

Motzko has taken the Gophers to the NCAA tournament in each of the past four seasons, and two years ago his team fell short with an overtime loss in the Frozen Four championship against Quinnipiac. These Gophers are seeking their first title since 2003.

Minnesota’s four lines aren’t the only ones who can produce goals.

High-end defensemen contributing offense
Last season, the blue line combined for only nine. This season, that number is at eight through six games, thanks to four goals apiece by Rinzel, a sophomore, and Ryan Chesley, a junior. Mike Koster’s decision to return for a fifth season after missing the first month of last season because of injury was a big boost to the blue line.

“We really thought in the offseason that our d-corps was going to be much higher-end offensively,” Motzko said. “Obviously with Mikey (Koster) back, but then the three juniors, or upperclassmen, with much more confidence. And Luke Mittelstadt is playing as good as any defensemen I’ve seen in a long time. He’s not being rewarded offensively yet. And (Leo) Gruba is yet to come. So offensively we’ve got a d-corps that can push it and be led by a couple of guys right now. We felt that could happen.”

The biggest question mark is in goal, where sophomore Nathan Airey and transfer Liam Souliere split the St. Thomas series.

Souliere, who was the primary starter for Penn State the past two seasons, is the best bet to take over the full-time role. Souliere had his goals-against average rise from 2.43 to 3.38 from 2022-23 to 2023-24 and his save percentage sank from .917 to .874. Airey was the backup to Justen Close as a freshman but only played in three games.

Close and the Gophers got to the final game of the NCAA Sioux Falls Regional before losing to Boston University. This team is hoping that talent combined with work ethic can take them to a place this program hasn’t been since 2003.

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The post Goals For Gophers appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Class A Hawks Graduate to Class NCAA at UMD

John Gilbert reports on UMD’s penchant for recruiting Hermantown players…with much success.

From our December special print/digital issue on Duluth Area Hockey.

Enjoy!

The post Hawk’s Pipeline appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Denver University probably had fewer fans at the Xcel Energy Center this weekend than the mite hockey teams that entertaained customers between periods of the NCHC tournament.

It didn’t matter.

The Pioneers, after dispatching Minnesota-Duluth 3-1 in Friday’s semifinals, cruised to a 4-1 victory over No. 1-ranked St. Cloud State at the NCHC Frozen Faceoff championship game on St. Patrick’s Day at the Xcel Energy Center.

The finale capped a rough weekend for Minnesota teams; North Dakota dumped Minnesota-Duluth 4-1 in Saturday’s third-place game.

Strangely, Saturday’s assorted results around the nation should allow the Bulldogs to sneak in the NCAA tournament which begins next week. Meanwhile the University of Minnesota — which is scheduled to host the Frozen Four later this spring at the X — was ousted from tournament play.

The Huskies, who reached the final with a 3-2 overtime win over North Dakota Friday, had already clinched a spot in the upcoming NCAA tournament but never seemed to get on track against the fourth-ranked Pioneers.

Credit Denver.

The Pioneers climbed in front when a shot by Kohen Olischefski caromed of the skate of a defender and past goalie David Hrenak just 4:24 into the first period, then made it 2-0 with just six seconds left in the period when Jake Durflinger potted a long rebound.

Pioneers coach Jim Montgomery said he figured there would be no letdown from his guys over the intermission.

“You can’t relax,” he said. “If you play prevent defense against St. Cloud, you’ll be two goals behind in a matter of five minutes.”

Instead, the lead ballooned to 3-0 less than three minutes later — just 2:06 after the first intermission — when Ryan Barrow’s backhander from the left circle beat Hrenak and prompted Huskies coach Bob Motzko to insert backup Jeff Smith in the net.

Motzko pulled Hrenak just to try to change momentum.

“He really wasn’t at fault,” Motzko said. “They were kind of fluky goals.”

St. Paul, MN; March 17, 2018; NCHC Frozen Faceoff, Xcel Energy Center. Championship game between the Denver Pioneers and St. Cloud State Huskies. Photo by Russell Hons

St. Cloud, despite the repeated urging of the Huskies fans in the announced crowd of 11,372 that was inflated with customers from Duluth and North Dakota but almost nobody from Denver, simply could not break through against Denver’s defense and goaltender Tanner Jaillet.

Jaillet made 28 saves and was picked as the tournament MVP.

“In the first five minjutes we were on our heels and St. Cloud was coming at us,” Montgomery said. “Obviously the tournament MVP stood tall in those moments, and after we scored that first goal we really started to play Denver hockey.”

The second goal, at 19:54 of the opening period, was an even bigger difference maker, according to Jaillet.

“Us being able to get that one before the end of the first was huge,” said Jaillet, a senior from Red Deer, Alberta. “From there, we just kept rolling.”

It didn’t help St. Cloud’s cause that the Huskies, trailing 3-0 after two periods and needing a jolt of offense, picked up three penalties in less than a six-minute span of the final period.

“We were going,” Motzko said. “We killed them all off and we got our momentum, but after we made it 3-1, we had a couple of great chances and they got another fluky one. That was a tough spot that we were in.”

The Huskies’ goal by Ryan Poehling at 15:54 of the third period was offset by Dylan Gambrell’s goal just 1:12 later, ruining any chance for Motzko to try to pull his goalie and further whittle the lead.

So who’s dancing?

Despite Saturday’s loss to the Pioneers, St. Cloud State should be in firm position for the No. 1 seed at the West Regional in Sioux Falls.

Meanwhile, Minnesota State-Mankato, which was eliminated in WCHA semifinal play last week, will likely secure a No. 2 seed in one of the four regionals because of their strong, consistent play this season.

As for the University of Minnesota, an unprecedented, doomsday style of events unfolded. The program needed a win from one of six teams on Saturday to carry them into the tournamet: Clarkson, Providence, Robert Morris, Ohio State, Northern Michigan or St. Cloud.

And all six lost.

Coming into play on Saturday, there was only a 1/64 chance of the Gophers not making the tournament and that one minuscule outcome came true, according to College Hockey News.

Yet, because the Gophers was bounced, it’s likely that the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs have secured a spot the 16-team tournament, which will be announced on Sunday morning, March 18.

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Both Denver and Minnesota Duluth have played a multitude of tight games in the past year. Coming into Friday’s tilt, nine of the last 10 games have been one-goal contests.

Even though Denver picked up a rare two-goal win over it’s conference foe, they certainly didn’t waltz their way to victory.

Opportunistic Pioneers

The Pioneers got off to a flying start. After peppering pucks on net in the early stages of the first period, they also held UMD to zero shots during the first seven minutes as well. Shortly thereafter, the Pioneers drew a power play and it only took them ten seconds into the man advantage to light the lamp with Henrik Borgstrom whistled a point shot past opposing goaltender Hunter Shepard for his 22nd goal of the season.

After the Bulldogs tied it at one, Denver continued its opportunistic play, retaking the lead at the 4:22 mark of the second period on a gritty goal from junior forward Colin Staub, which put the Pioneers up for good. Denver ended up finishing with just 19 shots in the win and 10 of those came in the first period. They also racked up 21 penalty minutes.

“I think we killed ourselves with the momentum in the game,” Denver coach Jim Montgomery said. “It wasn’t intentional to take our foot off the gas. We just took some needless stick penalties that changed the momentum of the game and they started getting scoring chances. Duluth’s a real good college hockey team and they’re going to be in the tournament for a reason and you give them momentum they’re going to come at you.”

Pioneers let the Bulldogs off their chains

The lone blemish on Denver’s first period start came when that they took a foolish cross-checking penalty at the 19:52 mark. With the Bulldogs rested and up a man to begin the second period, Hibbing native Scott Perunovich tied things up for Minnesota Duluth.

UMD continued to buzz throughout the second and even drew a 5-on-3 power play for 59-seconds but could not cash in. As the second period winded down, once again, Denver played recklessly. Defenseman Blake Hillman drew a game-misconduct for a hit from behind on Bulldogs forward Blake Young, giving Minnesota Duluth a five-minute major power play to close out the second. After being limited to just four shots in the first twenty minutes, Duluth outshot Denver 16-4 in the second period.

“I thought our team was great for the majority of the first period,” Denver goaltender Tanner Jaillet said. “They only had four shots, they didn’t generate much. So obviously we were expecting them to come with a bit more of a push and just throw pucks on the net. And I thought we had there push pretty well.

Denver defenseman Adam Plant crashes hard into the net during the second period. (MHM / Jonny Watkins).

Duluth gets too cute

After failing to score in the first 2:22 of the power play, Minnesota Duluth went into the second intermission well rested and still had 3:38 of power play time to work with. Yet the Bulldogs were too cute with the puck and Denver ended up killing off the penalty while allowing just one shot on net during the man advantage.

“Our execution wasn’t good enough,” UMD coach Scott Sandelin said. “We had opportunities to get pucks to the net. We were trying to make hard plays, we didn’t come up with enough speed. Again, you got to execute we had opportunities at the end of the period to get pucks there and we didn’t. We tried to force some plays and they were a little more aggressive off the zone entry and we didn’t have the support.”

After the power play, it seemed as if Minnesota Duluth was defeated and the team ended up with just five pucks on net in the final period of regulation.

What’s next?

With Denver’s win, the Pioneers will meet the St. Cloud State Huskies for the rights to an auto-bid in the NCAA Tournament as well NCHC Tournament champions. However, with both teams sitting pretty in the Pairwise, it’s likely the loser of the championship game, will still have a higher seed at the tournament.

The post Denver quiets Duluth appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

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Ex-UMD star keeps tabs on Bulldogs while excelling in Carolina 

SAINT PAUL — As the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs make final preparations for their first Frozen Four appearance in six years, an old friend of theirs paid a visit to the scene of the team’s single greatest moment.

Standing in the visitor’s dressing room at Xcel Energy Center Tuesday afternoon, Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk couldn’t help but reminisce before his team’s game against the Minnesota Wild later that night.

“That room over there was pretty friendly to me in 2011,” the former UMD star said of the dressing room the Bulldogs used to celebrated the night Hermantown’s Kyle Schmidt scored 3:22 into overtime to lift Minnesota Duluth to a 3-2 win over Michigan and its first national championship.

Faulk, who had three assists in UMD’s 4-3 semifinal win over Notre Dame two nights before, was reminded of the team’s bleach-blonde hair they sported in unity that weekend.

“Orange, probably more so,” Faulk corrected. “But yeah, that was a phase. Well worth it. A lot of fun that year for us.”

(NCAA.com Photo)

In Faulk’s one and only season in Duluth, the South St. Paul native led all Bulldogs defensemen in goals (8), assists (25) and points (33) in 39 games. After squeezing a stint with Team USA at the World Junior Championship into his collegiate season, Faulk signed with the Hurricanes shortly after the Frozen Four.

Faulk said he’s happy to see UMD back in the hunt for a national title and praised coach Scott Sandelin for what he’s accomplished in his tenure.

“Nothing against the guys, but it’s not like he has team full of high draft picks,” Faulk said. “I think there’s like four or five on the team every year and that’s about it. He just finds a way to be successful and produce a pretty good product on the ice every year.”

Faulk, who is scheduled to play his 400th NHL game when Carolina hosts the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, has carved out a nice career for himself in Raleigh.

In all or part of six NHL seasons, Faulk has amassed a franchise-leading 66 goals among defensemen and his 191 points are good for fourth all-time behind Dave Babych, Glen Wesley and Mark Howe.

With his 17th goal of the season on Sunday in Pittsburgh, Faulk broke the franchise record for goals in a single season by a defenseman he tied last season with former Hurricane Anton Babchuck. Faulk currently holds three of the top four goal scoring seasons by Carolina defensemen.

His goal on Sunday was the result of some good fortune when his blast from the high slot glanced off Pens forward Nick Bonino before caroming off the glass behind the Pittsburgh net and off the back of stunned Penguins goaltender Matt Murray.

“I’m just getting some good looks, good opportunities,” Faulk said. “Just trying to shoot as many pucks at the net as I can and get a couple bounces.”

Is he looking for some of that puck luck for the Bulldogs this weekend?

“I don’t think they need the puck luck but I think they’ll be fine either way,” Faulk said. “I’m pretty excited for them.”

The post Faulk Looks Back appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.