College Hockey Inc.
Friday, May 13, 2016
18 Schools Represented in ECF
Penguins, Lightning clash with two rosters shaped by NCAA alumni.
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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.

NHL Matchup Tool | Western Conference Final Storylines

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).