The college hockey season is officially over now that the Bulldogs of Minnesota Duluth have been crowned National Champions.
It was a great game as they defeated Michigan 3-2 in overtime. If you missed the game or would just like to watch it again, it will re-air on Tuesday at 1pm ET on ESPNU. I highly recommend it if only for the tremendous celebration by game winning goal scorer - Kyle Schmidt.
Before someone asks me, yes he was the only Bulldog not to completely douse himself in blonde 205 because he's getting married this summer and they're taking pictures soon and he didn't think his fiance would appreciate the new do, so he just dyed some of the ends and earned the nickname "tips" in the process. Smart guy…
Another little known fact about Kyle is that he broke his hand in December and had surgery to insert a rod, came back and then broke the same hand in a different spot two weeks ago against Yale in the Regional Final and had a screw put in. It was the big joke postgame that the guy with the broken hand scored the game winner.
In any case, it was a tremendous season for the Bulldogs and while they were ranked 11th at the start of the tournament, they actually spent quite a few weeks in the top five and even in the number one spot so… was their win really as unexpected as some people are making it out to be? I don't think so.
I've said it many times and if I continue to cover college hockey I'll be saying it many times more - the polls mean nothing!!!
There were some surprises this season - some were good…like the successful seasons of Denver, Merrimack and Western Michigan and some weren't so good like the stunning fall from grace of Maine and Wisconsin - but that's why you play the games.
It hasn't been 48 hours and I'm already getting questions about next season and about prospects and free agents who may or may not sign and ones who may or may not be drafted.
BC has a tremendous incoming freshman class and it looks like Brian Doumoulin and Chris Kreider will be staying so despite their losses to graduation and early departures, they should still be battling for another run at a National Championship. Denver's Drew Shore has also announced his intentions to stay for his junior season and they can only get better based on their performance this year. BU has had two lack luster seasons and I doubt they'll have a third. Notre Dame showed what it can do based on raw talent, they should be in the discussion on the national landscape and in a big way next year and already we have at least three head coaching positions available and a fourth already filled.
The creation of a Big Ten Conference will dominate the college hockey discussion this off season. The big concern will be scheduling and non-conference balance. The other discussion that has already gained momentum due to this announcement is the feasibility of other schools who have successful club programs making the jump to Division I. For now it's just a lot of talk, but it's already a lot more than what was going on before and it might just get the wheels turning in the right direction.
For now, congrats to the Bulldogs…They've got work to do if they want to repeat next year in Tampa…54 other teams have already started their off-season workouts.
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Now…let's chat about these NHL playoff matchups…
The bottom line is I don't think you can take anything for granted this season. As we saw last year, once you make the cut, anything can happen. It happens all the time in the NCAA in it's one-game format, but is a whole lot less common in the NHL with the seven game series. You can't just be good enough to win one game, you need to win four.
I'm most curious about Buffalo and Philadelphia because they are two teams that have gone in very different directions the past two months. Can the Sabres keep it up? or can Philly figure it out and get back to the dominate hockey team they were not too long ago.
I'm also really eager to see how the Vancouver-Chicago series pans out. The Canucks are playing some unbelievable hockey right now. Some people are calling for a Chicago upset and while I'm not sold on that happening, I am convinced that this will be one heck of an entertaining series no matter who wins.
I'd like to see Nashville finally make it past the first round, but the Ducks sure won't make it easy for them. I fully expect that series to be a real battle as well since one team has a lot of offensive weapons and the other likes to lock it down defensively.
I'm also quite intrigued by Pittsburgh and Tampa, especially if Malkin or Crosby come back and make the Penguins an even more dynamic offensive threat. Either way, this is sure to be a series with more than a few goals.
On the flip side, Washington and New York looks to be a great defensive battle. This is what the Capitals have been preparing for all season and it's finally time to see how much they've learned about team defense.
Last year, it was Phoenix hosting Detroit with the Red Wings winning in seven and this year it's the Coyotes looking to return the favor as these two teams renew their love-hate relationship.
San Jose and Los Angeles also intrigues me because neither team has been all that consistent this season. They've had tough stretches and they've had outstanding runs and if you're a fan of either of these teams you can only hope they've learned from those experiences and apply it in the postseason as both teams look to shake off some second season daemons.
Finally, if you aren't excited about Boston and Montreal, you can turn your fan card in at the door…That one's going to be an instant classic!
In all, I can't wait to get things going on Wednesday. Having the draft lottery tonight will be a nice diversion, but I suspect Tuesday will be a looooooong day.
Julie
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