Friday, May 13, 2016

18 Schools Represented in ECF

Penguins, Lightning clash with two rosters shaped by NCAA alumni.

18 Schools Represented in ECF
Former Maine star Ben Bishop, a Vezina Trophy finalist, leads Tampa Bay into the Eastern Conference Final.

Nearly one-third of all Division I schools have alumni in the NHL’s Eastern Conference Final, the latest sign that NHL success is running more and more through the NCAA ranks.

Former Maine goaltender Ben Bishop led the Lightning into the conference final with a shutout in Game 5 against the New York Islanders. On the other half of the bracket, former Minnesota star Phil Kessel scored twice in Game 6 and Boston University alum Nick Bonino scored in overtime as Pittsburgh defeated the Washington Capitals.

Both teams have players from Boston College and Notre Dame on their rosters. A few other notes on the series:

  • Pittsburgh’s Brian Dumoulin will return to Tampa, where he helped lead the Eagles to the national championship in the 2012 Frozen Four.
  • Nick Bonino (Boston University, 2009), Matt Carle (Denver, 2004 and ’05) and J.T. Brown (Minnesota Duluth ’11) also won NCAA titles.
  • Pittsburgh’s Ian Cole and Tampa Bay’s Erik Condra were teammates at Notre Dame, where they led the Irish to a Frozen Four and the 2009 CCHA regular-season and playoff titles.
  • Both head coaches played college hockey, with Pittsburgh’s Mike Sullivan starring at Boston University and Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper playing club hockey and varsity lacrosse at Hofstra.
  • The two arenas have hosted three of the last five Frozen Fours (2012 and ’14 in Tampa, 2013 in Pittsburgh).