The field for the 2014 Frozen Four has lived up to the expectations of college hockey watchers who wished for the expansion of the tournament and the success of the new landscape which included the creation of two new conferences and the dissolution of another.
In Philadelphia, four different leagues are represented: Hockey East (Boston College), ECAC (Union), Big Ten (Minnesota) and the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (North Dakota). That’s what you want to see, a broad representation of the best the nation has to offer on its biggest stage.
Sometimes, things don’t go according to plan, but the unintended benefits end up making news and create storylines which reverberate positively for those involved. Such was the case for Hockey East back in 1999 at Anaheim, at the birth of the Frozen Four.
The conference which sported the Eastern-most programs in Division I was no stranger to success on the national stage immediately before then. Boston University and Maine tussled in the 1995 title game at Providence, with Jack Parker’s BU emerging triumphant. The Terriers made it again two years later but fell to Dean Blais’ North Dakota Fighting Sioux in Milwaukee, then upstart Boston College gave the home fans a thrill by taking Michigan late into overtime before falling to the Wolverines on a Josh Langfeld marker in 1998.
But ’99 was different. All three schools which were welcomed by the selection committee ended up advancing to the semifinals, outpacing some traditional powers, and officially announcing itself as a force to be recognized.
Of the 12 teams picked, the now-defunct CCHA claimed the most with four (Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Northern Michigan), while the WCHA saw three (North Dakota, Colorado College and Denver) and ECAC sported two (St. Lawrence, Clarkson). Hockey East sent BC, Maine and New Hampshire –- no coincidence the top three finishers during the regular season and three of the league’s four playoff finalists.
BC, which pulled off a repeat as conference playoff champs, did not snag a bye and opened up in Madison with a tight 2-1 victory over a smothering Northern Michigan club. One night later, they stole the spotlight and toppled then-No. 1 North Dakota with a 3-1 victory. It was the same story for Maine, which doubled up ’98 semifinalist Ohio State before taking down a rested but rusty Clarkson by a 7-2 count. UNH, as regular-season conference champs, earned a first-round bye as the top overall seed in the East at Worcester, but had to hang on against defending-champion Michigan and eventually pulled out a 2-1 overtime victory.
Once all three squads were ensconced in Southern California, it was a study in contrasts.
The Eagles and Black Bears were given the early semifinal time slot, and engaged in an atypically fast-and-loose game which featured 73 combined shots on goal in three-plus periods. BC defenseman Marty Hughes opened the scoring on a power play with just over 5 ½ minutes played in the second, but Niko Dimitrakos evened things with 2:34 gone in the third and each side endured close calls until Bobby Stewart beat Scott Clemmensen at the 5:16 mark of the extra session. Maine had reached the championship contest for the third time in the last seven seasons.
In the later semifinal, the Wildcats drew the Michigan State Spartans, owners of one of the stingiest defenses in the country that season. UNH went to work, bringing the speed used in the space of an Olympic-sized home rink to the NHL-size dimensions of Arrowhead Pond and punctured MSU goalie Joe Blackburn five times in a 5-3 victory. Dynamic forward Jason Krog finished with two goals and one assist, while Mike Souza netted the go-ahead goal late in the second period among his two scores along with two helpers and Ty Conklin stopped 30 shots.
After nine years at the helm, Dick Umile finally reached one of his goals for the program, which had neither won a national crown nor appeared in the championship contest to that point.
Marcus Gustafsson won it a little more than halfway through overtime, putting his own rebound past Conklin. Junior goaltender Alfie Michaud, who used his NCAA experience as a springboard to the professional ranks, was named Most Outstanding Player after stopping 46 shots. It wasn’t all smooth sailing. Had Maine not blown a two-goal lead and let New Hampshire back in the game on scores from Souza and freshman Darren Haydar, bragging rights in the Border War would have been proclaimed with a stronger voice. Ben Guite and Dimitrakos staked the Bears to a solid lead by the early stages of the second period.
“The first national championship was for the state of Maine. This one is for our players,… Black Bears head coach, the late Shawn Walsh, said. They learned values they’ll use for the rest of their lives.…
That was a stunning turnaround for a program which was banned from the postseason in 1996 and ’97 for violations of NCAA recruiting rules.
Krog rode the wave of offense all the way to the finish line, leading the nation in scoring with 85 points and was selected the Hobey Baker Award winner, the second in a row for Hockey East, after BU forward Chris Drury was selected the year before.
"Obviously I am real disappointed, but I have to congratulate Maine. These were two good teams that deserved to be here. We will remember this night for a long time and hopefully build on from here," Umile stated.
Since then, this unique set of circumstances has only happened once more, with a similar in-conference championship game. Nine years ago, Minnesota, North Dakota and Denver all represented the WCHA in Columbus and Denver knocked off UND for the second and last of its back-to-back titles under legendary head coach George Gwozdecky. That was also the first year behind the bench for current Sioux coach Dave Hakstol.
Over the last 15 seasons, Hockey East has accounted for five championships (BC 2001, ’08, ’10, ’12 and BU ’09) and six other title-game appearances (BC 2000, ’06, ’07; Maine 2002, ’04), UNH (2003). The conference escaped the shifting landscape unscathed, and actually benefited the most, having added Notre Dame prior to this season and Connecticut for next year to grow to an all-time high of 12 member institutions.
Not too shabby for a league which took a huge leap out on its own 30 years ago to split from the larger ECAC.