Friday, April 8, 2016
Elite Teams to Clash for Title
North Dakota, Quinnipiac will be just the fourth national championship matchup of No. 1 seeds since 2003.
Either North Dakota or Quinnipiac were No. 1 in the USCHO.com poll for 16 of 22 weeks this season. They rank first and second in wins and winning percentage and in the last four seasons are tied for the most wins in college hockey with 109.
Saturday one of them will win No. 110, and a national championship.
In an era of unprecedented parity in college hockey and the unpredictability of a single-elimination tournament, the 2016 national title game offers the relatively rare chance for the two best teams in the country to meet for the national title.
It marks just the fourth time since the tournament expanded to 16 teams in 2003 that two No. 1 seeds meet in the title game (also 2014, 2010, 2003). It’s just the third time (2014, 1996) in the 21 years of the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll that the No. 1 and 2 teams are facing off for the title.
Quinnipiac will be seeking to become the fourth straight first-time national champion. North Dakota is eyeing its eighth title, with hopes of ending a 16-year title drought.
“This program prides itself on our success and the history,” junior defenseman Troy Stecher (Richmond, B.C./Penticton-BCHL) said, “and tomorrow’s another opportunity to do something this university hasn’t done in 16 years. So a lot of colleges would be proud just to get to the Frozen Four, and we’ve done that in past years and fell short, and were disappointed. We’re really excited for tomorrow. We understand it’s going to be extremely difficult.”
With a win Quinnipiac, which enters the game 32-3-7, would have the fewest losses of a national champion since Maine’s 42-1-2 season in 1993. North Dakota, 33-6-4, could have the most wins of a national champion since Boston University’s 35-6-4 season in 2009.
The teams’ 65 combined wins match the most by the two championship game teams since 1993 (73; Michigan and Colorado College also combined for 65 wins entering the 1996 title game).
“I love the way North Dakota plays,” said Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold. “I think Brad Berry has done a phenomenal job getting his team prepared for each and every game. … There are similarities. Certainly they have some high-end draft picks that we have to be aware of and some high-end skill guys. In the end, we have to do well what we do well. It’s why we win. We’re 42 games in here, and we play to our identity. If we do that, we get rewarded.”