Friday, May 27, 2016

NCAA Heroes Lead Teams to Cup Final

Pavelski, Rust highlight contributions of 18 alumni on San Jose, Pittsburgh.

NCAA Heroes Lead Teams to Cup Final
Joe Pavelski (left) and Bryan Rust starred at Wisconsin and Notre Dame, respectively.

Goal-scoring heroes Joe Pavelski (Wisconsin) and Bryan Rust (Notre Dame) headline significant contributions from NCAA alumni on the Stanley Cup finalists as San Jose and Pittsburgh prepare to meet for hockey’s biggest prize.

Alums Who Won the Stanley Cup

Eighteen former NCAA players have appeared in the playoffs for the two finalists: five on San Jose and 13 on Pittsburgh. Six schools have multiple alumni in the final, including five – Boston University, Massachusetts, Miami, Minnesota and Wisconsin – who are assured of a Cup winner regardless of the outcome.

Pavelski leads the playoffs with 13 goals, the most by an NCAA alum in 10 years (Fernando Pisani had 14 in 2006). He scored four times in the last three games of the Western Conference Final as San Jose beat St. Louis in six games.

Pavelski, the Sharks captain, could become the second NCAA alum to accept the Stanley Cup in as many years; former North Dakota star Jonathan Toews captained Chicago to the Cup in three of the past six seasons, including last year.

Archives: Developing Story: Brian Rust

Rust, who scored four goals in the regular season, has five in the playoffs, including three in Games 6 and 7 of the Eastern Conference Final. He scored both goals in Game 7, a 2-1 Pittsburgh victory.

More than half of all of Pittsburgh’s playoff games played (55.4%) have been by former NCAA players; in the regular season that number was 52.9%, second most all-time behind only last year’s New York Rangers. A Pittsburgh win would put at least 13 NCAA alums’ names on the Stanley Cup as players (based upon Game 7 lineup), which would tie the 1995 New Jersey Devils for the most all time.

A #TBT to the HBK Line’s days on campus: pic.twitter.com/sgyZ3aNdVB

— College Hockey Inc. (@collegehockey) May 19, 2016

As that stat suggests, the contributions of former NCAA players on both sides aren’t limited to Pavelski and Rust. Others of significance:

  • Phil Kessel (Minnesota) leads Pittsburgh in playoff scoring with 18 points, while Nick Bonino (Boston University) is tied for second with 15
  • Carl Hagelin (Michigan), Bonino and Kessel have made up Pittsburgh’s potent “HBK Line”
  • Four regular Pittsburgh defensemen are NCAA alums, with Ian Cole (Notre Dame) Brian Dumoulin (Pittsburgh) and Ben Lovejoy (Dartmouth) appearing in every playoff game
  • Sharks defensemen Justin Braun (Massachusetts) and Paul Martin (Minnesota) have also appeared in every playoff game

The San Jose-Pittsburgh matchup also features some compelling storylines rooted in NCAA days:

  • Two players on each team won NCAA titles: the Sharks’ Pavelski (2006) and Martin (2002, ’03) and the Penguins’ Bonino (2009) and Dumoulin (2010, ’12)
  • Bonino defeated San Jose’s Tommy Wingels and Miami in the 2009 NCAA championship game
  • Wingels and Pittsburgh reserve goaltender Matt Zatkoff, who has played in two playoff games, were teammates at Miami in 2007-08
  • Braun and Pittsburgh’s Conor Sheary are both former captains and team MVPs at Massachusetts
  • The series features the CCHA Best Defensive Forward from 2010 (Wingels) and 2011 (Hagelin)