Players like Cason Hohmann, Evan Rodrigues and Anthony Moccia might play hockey beyond this season, but it will never be the same. Before I sat down to write this blog post, I asked my laptop if it had any bias against any particular college hockey programs. Conferences across the nation will crown their league champions, and NCAA automatic qualifiers, this upcoming weekend.
For some teams these will be do-or-die games. I remember sitting in front of the television and yelling to the point of nearly losing my voice as the Bulldogs skated to the Frozen Four, and then took a two-goal lead in the national semifinal against Denver. As you are probably aware, not much has gone right for UMD since. They were on their way to a win over St.
Cloud State in the first round of the playoffs, but then Bobby Goepfert stood on his head for four overtimes over two nights. Cloud won the series, and UMD was sent to the golf course prematurely, only to find when they got there that the two best players on that team Matt Niskanen and Mason Raymond had signed pro contracts.
MacGregor Sharp led the team with 17 points. Andrew Carroll led in goals with eight. It doomed them to an eighth-place finish and a two-game playoff loss to Denver. With how the regular-season ended, no one saw this coming. The Bulldogs went down the stretch, with two straight losses to Alaska-Anchorage providing a painful farewell for seven UMD seniors. In retrospect, one of the worst home weekends in a long time may have been a blessing in disguise. UMD deserved to lose those games, and they knew it.
Instead of moping or resigning themselves to a one-and-done playoff fate, this Bulldog team used the adversity as a coming-together point. It was early Thursday morning before they arrived. Instead of being tired after such a difficult late-season trip, UMD looked fresh and prepared Friday. A win Friday was followed by a triumph Saturday. By now, you know full well what happened over the weekend in St. The most amazing statistic is that they have yet to trail in the playoffs.
