Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Boston Bound: Frozen Four Storylines

Four fascinating teams converge on TD Garden April 9 & 11 to decide the 2015 national championship.

Boston Bound: Frozen Four Storylines
North Dakota hopes to celebrate its 8th national championship April 11 in Boston.

Old and new – The 2015 NCAA Frozen Four features a fascinating mix of old and new, with two teams that have combined for 12 national championships in one semifinal (Boston University vs. North Dakota) and two seeking their first title in the other (Nebraska Omaha vs. Providence).

Frozen Four Appearances (Most Recent)
22 – Boston University (2009)
21 – North Dakota (2014)
4 – Providence (1985)
1 – Nebraska Omaha

The roads traveled – The four Frozen Four teams have followed unique paths to Boston. North Dakota and Boston University are two of the five teams that have occupied the No. 1 spot in national polls this season, while Providence was the preseason No. 1 in Hockey East. A bit more on their stories:

– Boston University: Pegged sixth in the conference by Hockey East coaches, the youngest team in college hockey – under second-year head coach David Quinn – proved its ability with a 4-0-0 start. Led by the fourth-youngest player in the nation, freshman Jack Eichel (N. Chelmsford, Mass./U.S. NTDP), the Terriers are the nation’s most improved team from a year ago.

– Nebraska Omaha: Also picked sixth in its conference, UNO jumped to a 6-1-1 start behind the play of its 18 freshmen and sophomores, plus senior goaltender Ryan Massa (Littleton, Colo./Fargo-USHL). The Mavericks entered the NCAAs on a 2-6-3 skid, but outscored regional foes Harvard and RIT, 8-1. The third-youngest program in Division I (only Penn State and Robert Morris are newer), UNO hadn’t won a tournament game in two previous appearances before this year.

– North Dakota: After losing on a last-second shorthanded goal in last year’s NCAA semifinals to archrival Minnesota, UND came back determined to return to the Frozen Four – and they are the only returning team in the field. Ranked No. 1 for nine weeks during the season – most in the nation – North Dakota only lost consecutive games once behind a balanced offense and goaltender Zane McIntyre (Thief River Falls, Minn./Fargo-USHL/BOS).

– Providence: The Friars returned the bulk of last season’s team and earned the preseason favorite tag in Hockey East, but started 4-5-1. From there, led by junior goaltender Jon Gillies (S. Portland, Maine/Indiana-USHL/CGY), they went 20-8-1 and allowed less than two goals against per game (1.93).

First timer? – Three of the last four national champions were first-time winners (Minnesota Duluth ’11, Yale ’13, Union ’14), a trend that would seem to bode well for the teams in the first semifinal (Nebraska Omaha and Providence).

Schedule:
Thurs., April 9: Providence vs. Nebraska Omaha, 5 p.m. ET; BU vs. North Dakota, 8:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2/TSN2)
Sat., April 11: National Championship, 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN/TSN2)

Future stars – More than two-thirds of all NHL teams (21 of 30) have draft picks in the Frozen Four, with several other free agent and 2015 NHL Draft prospects in the mix as well. North Dakota features 14 draft picks on its roster, while the other three teams have seven each. Chicago and Calgary lead all teams with four prospects each in the field, while Boston, Tampa Bay and San Jose will all have prospects facing each other in the semifinals (all in BU vs. UND).

BU freshman Jack Eichel (N. Chelmsford, Mass./U.S. NTDP) – the likely No. 2 pick in June’s NHL Draft – is one of five draft-eligible players on the Terrier roster.

Banner seasons – Boston University is the only team in the Frozen Four to win its regular-season and playoff conference championships, sweeping Hockey East. The Terriers won the Hockey East tournament (and the Beanpot) at TD Garden. North Dakota won the NCHC regular-season title.

Coaching connections – Nebraska Omaha head coach Dean Blais led North Dakota to two NCAA titles in 10 years as head coach at UND, where Dave Hakstol was one of his assistants. Boston University head coach David Quinn was an assistant coach on Nebraska Omaha’s first team under current UNO associate athletic director Mike Kemp.

Captains’ log – College hockey captains typically boast fascinating stories, and the leaders of these four teams are no exception:

– Boston University: Junior Matt Grzelcyk (Charlestown, Mass./U.S. NTDP/BOS) grew up minutes from TD Garden, where his father works on the “Bull Gang.” The dynamic offensive defenseman has 10 goals – all since Jan. 30.

– Nebraska Omaha: Senior Dominic Zombo (Ballwin, Mo./Sioux Falls-USHL) is the son of NHLer Rick, who played for head coach Dean Blais at North Dakota. Co-captain Brian O’Rourke (St. Louis, Mo./Green Bay-USHL) is another Missouri native, a defensive defenseman who skated some games at forward as a freshman.

– North Dakota: Nicknamed “The General,” Stephane Pattyn (Ste. Anne, Man./Portage-MJHL) is a hard-nosed forward who has played 12 more NCAA games (166) than any other player in the Frozen Four. His brother, Yvan, is a junior at Vermont and familiar with Hockey East foes Boston University and Providence College.

– Providence: Ross Mauermann (Janesville, Wis./Janesville-NAHL) was a recruited walk-on in head coach Nate Leaman’s first season and promptly led the Friars in scoring each of the next three years. His co-captain, Noel Acciari (Johnston, R.I./Kent School), is one of only four Rhode Islanders in Division I this season and scored the first goal in the Friars’ regional final win vs. Denver.

Mass. appeal – Seventeen Massachusetts natives – all on BU and Providence – are in the field, tied with Minnesota for the largest representation of any state or province. In addition, two Boston Bruins draft picks will be playing at their potential future home: BU junior Matt Grzelcyk (Charlestown, Mass./U.S. NTDP) and North Dakota junior Zane McIntyre (Thief River Falls, Minn./Fargo-USHL).

Stingy teams – All four teams rank among the nation’s top 13 teams in goals against per game, and the four starting goaltenders are all in the top 15 nationally in save percentage. Experience is a big part of their success – the goaltenders feature one senior (UNO’s Ryan Massa) and three juniors.

GoaltenderTeamClassSv. % (Rank)
Ryan MassaUNOSr..939 (1st)
Zane McIntyreUNDJr..931 (7th)
Jon GilliesPCJr..929 (12th)
Matt O’ConnorBUJr..928 (15th)

Senior leaders – As usual, seniors have played a key role in the success of all four Frozen Four teams. Ryan Massa (Littleton, Colo./Fargo-USHL), as noted above, has been UNO’s leader in goal. BU’s Evan Rodrigues (Etobicoke, Ont./Georgetown-OJHL) ranks second nationally in scoring (61 points) and has surpassed his point total from his first three years combined. Providence’s top eight scorers are all juniors and seniors, including seniors Shane Luke (Dauphin, Man./Dauphin-MJHL) and Ross Mauermann (Janesville, Wis./Janesville-NAHL). North Dakota leads all Frozen Four teams with seven seniors, including two of its top five scorers.

Young guns – Eichel, whose 67 points lead the nation, heads an impressive list of freshmen going to TD Garden. His point total is the most by an NCAA freshman since Paul Kariya posted 100 in 1992-93, which was also the last time a freshman led the nation in scoring.

Nebraska Omaha (11) and BU (10) had the two largest freshman classes in the NCAA Tournament field, and BU’s group led all freshmen classes in goals (44), assists (100) and points (144). Only 11 freshmen scored goals in the NCAA Regionals, and seven of them are on these four teams – five on Omaha alone.

From all over the map – Players from three countries, 21 states, six Canadian provinces and Washington, D.C., are in the four-team field. Massachusetts and Minnesota lead all states and provinces with 17 players in the Frozen Four each. British Columbia and Ontario are the only provinces (or states) with at least one player on each roster. BU’s Ahti Oksanen (Kirkkonummi, Finland/Espoo) is the lone European in the field.

Noteworthy

Ryan Massa and Zane McIntyre were the goaltending tandem for the Fargo Force (USHL) in 2010-11, a team that also featured UNO’s Brian Cooper and Tanner Lane, plus North Dakota’s Colten St. Clair … Three NHL teams have teammates whose alma maters will be facing off in the BU-UND game: St. Louis (Kevin Shattenkirk vs. T.J. Oshie/Chris Porter), NY Islanders (Brian Strait vs. Brock Nelson) and Minnesota (Charlie Coyle vs. Zach Parise) … Two Hobey Baker Award finalists are in the field: BU’s Jack Eichel and UND’s Zane McIntyre.

Boston University: The Terriers +17 win improvement from last season is the largest in the nation … Ahti Oksanen, who shares the team lead in goals, played defense prior to this season … BU features four freshmen defensemen in its typical lineup … Freshmen have led the Terriers in scoring three straight seasons (Danny O’Regan, Robbie Baillargeon, Jack Eichel) … BU has four 20-goal scorers, the only team in the country with more than two.

Nebraska Omaha: The Mavericks have 18 freshmen and sophomores on the roster, tied for the most among NCAA Tournament teams and third-most in the nation … The team’s top seven scorers are freshmen and sophomores … Leading scorer Jake Guentzel’s father, Mike, is the associate head coach at Minnesota. Jake was born in Omaha, where his father was the coach of the USHL’s Omaha Lancers. His brothers, Ryan and Gabe, played at Notre Dame and Colorado College, respectively … Austin Ortega’s 11 GWGs set a single-season NCAA record … Avery Peterson, one of nine Minnesotans on the roster, was the state’s Mr. Hockey last season.

North Dakota: Sixteen players on UND played in the NCAA semifinal loss to Minnesota last April in Philadelphia, the only players in the field with Frozen Four experience … UND’s seniors have 102 wins in the last four years, trailing only Minnesota (105) and Boston College (104) in that time … First-round picks Jordan and Nick Schmaltz are the only pair of brothers remaining in the tournament … On a team with 14 NHL draft picks, NHL free agent Drake Caggiula leads UND in scoring … Senior Connor Gaarder, a late addition to his freshman class, has a knack to score big postseason goals for UND … Leading active scorer and first-team All-NCHC forward Mark MacMillan is out for the season due to injury … Zane McIntyre was previously known as Zane Gothberg, but adopted his mother’s maiden name to honor her and his late grandmother prior to this season.

Providence: Friars Brandon Tanev and Nick Saracino have brothers (both named Chris) who were freshmen on the RIT team that reached the Frozen Four in 2010 … Chris Tanev is now with the Vancouver Canucks, making Brandon the only player in the Frozen Four with a sibling in the NHL … Jon Gillies’ father, Bruce, and uncle, Chris, reached Frozen Fours as goaltenders with New Hampshire and Denver, respectively … Three of the Friars’ seven NHL draft picks are Calgary Flames selections … Junior Trevor Mingoia is a transfer from Union College, where Nate Leaman recruited him prior to his move to Providence. Many of Mingoia’s former teammates and Leaman’s former players won the national title with Union last season.