Thursday, June 2, 2016

NCAA Impact Grows in Cup Final

Record-setting lineup leads Penguins to 2-0 lead with alums scoring every goal.

NCAA Impact Grows in Cup Final
Conor Sheary had 104 points in his four-year career at Massachusetts.

Led by a lineup featuring 11 former college players – the most in Stanley Cup Final history – the Pittsburgh Penguins have taken a 2-0 series lead against the San Jose Sharks.

Those NCAA alumni have fueled the Penguins’ success, with all five Pittsburgh goals through two games coming from former college players. Rookie Conor Sheary (Massachusetts) scored his second goal of the Final in overtime of Game 2 to give Pittsburgh the 2-0 series lead.

Sixteen former college players appeared in Game 2, with Sheary, fellow UMass alum Justin Braun and former Minnesota star Phil Kessel accounting for the three goals (Braun for San Jose). Bryan Rust (Notre Dame) and Nick Bonino (Boston University) also scored for Pittsburgh in Game 1.

The Penguins’ 11 alums attended 10 NCAA schools, with Rust and Ian Cole both coming from Notre Dame. The alums account for 55% of the team’s playoff games played; the most of any team in NHL regular-season history was 54%, by last year’s Presidents’ Trophy-winning New York Rangers.

A few more notes on the NCAA presence in the Stanley Cup Final:

  • 13 of the 16 alums to appear in the series played at least three years of college hockey
  • 8 of the 16 alums in the series were undrafted or taken in the 6th or 7th round of the NHL Draft
  • The top two playoff goal scorers in the series (Joe Pavelski, 13, and Phil Kessel, 10) both played NCAA hockey
  • Both teams boast a pair of NCAA champions in their lineup: Brian Dumoulin (Boston College, 2010 and ’12) and Nick Bonino (Boston University, 2009) on Pittsburgh and Paul Martin (Minnesota, 2002 and ’03) and Joe Pavelski (Wisconsin, 2006) on San Jose
  • Both head coaches have college ties: Mike Sullivan (Boston University) could become the first former NCAA player to coach a Cup winner since Dan Bylsma (Bowling Green) in 2009, while Peter DeBoer’s son, Jack, is committed to Boston University
  • If the Penguins win the series they would have at least 13 former NCAA players get their names on the Stanley Cup, matching the 1995 New Jersey Devils for the most all-time
  • If San Jose wins the series, Pavelski would become the second NCAA alum in as many years to accept the Stanley Cup as team captain; Jonathan Toews (North Dakota) led Chicago to the Cup last year and in three of the last six seasons