2020-21 Division I Hockey Thread

[JMCx4]

At this writing (subject to change at the next writing), here is what the ECAC men's conference tournament schedule looks like ... maybe ...

• No. 3 St. Lawrence hosts No. 4 Colgate on Thursday, March 18, in the sole Semifinal match.
• After No. 2 Clarkson withdrew last week (due to a rumored team COVID-19 protocol violation), No. 1 Quinnipiac received a bye to the ECAC Hockey Championship game.
• Scheduling of the 2021 ECAC men's championship game remains TBA.

 

[JMCx4]

College Hockey News men's conference QF wraps ...

• HEA Quarterfinal Roundup
• Big Ten Quarterfinals

And a look at some of the weekend's other conference play, courtesy of USCHO.com ...

• Monday 10: College hockey playoffs in full swing as conference quarterfinal matchups take center stage
  
  

 

[JMCx4]

Apologies, I neglected to cover Atlantic Hockey tourney results for the weekend (and before that) ...

2021 Atlantic Hockey Tournament: Niagara Makes Surprising Push Into Semis

Mar 15, 2021
Jacob Messing

Atlantic Hockey is down to four teams remaining as the fight for the postseason tournament narrows.
American International, Robert Morris, Army West Point, Canisius, and RIT each earned a bye for the reformatted, single-elimination first-round. Sacred Heart also received a bye for the first-round after pending opponent Holy Cross withdrew from the postseason following a tier 1 positive coronavirus test. ...

Read more at: 2021 Atlantic Hockey Tournament: Niagara Makes Surprising Push Into Semis

 

[JMCx4]

From Monday night's Big Ten Semifinal Game #1 @ Notre Dame, the #1 Wisconsin Badgers defeated #5 Penn State Nittany Lions 4-3 in OT.

And from the early game of Monday night's NCHC Semifinals @ The Ralph, the #2 St. Cloud State Huskies defeated #3 Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs by a final score of 3-2.

 

[mk80]

Wisconsin and Minnesota advanced today to the B1G Conference Final both winning their games against Penn State and Michigan respectively in OT

 

[JMCx4]

In Monday's late conference tourney Semifinal games, two come-from-behind OT wins to send victors to their respective conference championship games ...

[Dang it, @mk80 scooped me on this one ... ] B1G: #2 Minnesota Golden Gophers overcame a 2-goal deficit in regulation time, then scored @ 6 minutes into overtime to eliminate the #3 Michigan Wolverines by a 3-2 final score.

NCHC: #1 North Dakota Fighting Hawks scored with an extra attacker @ 1:27 left in regulation, then scored @ 8:37 in OT to defeat #5 Denver Pioneers on UND-friendly ice by a 2-1 score.

 

[JMCx4]

DI men's Conference Championship games tonight for the Big Ten (#1 Wisconsin vs. #2 Minnesota) and for NCHC (#1 North Dakota vs. #2 St. Cloud State), just how the seeding committees planned it. Good luck & good play to all four teams, with the winners to earn bids to the 2021 NCAA DI tournament. Let's all hope that tourney goes off without a COVID hitch.

 

[JMCx4]

Congratulations to the MN Golden Gophers, 2021 B1G Champions. Final Score: Minnesota 6 - Wisconsin 4.

ETA: The one that put it away ...

 

[JMCx4]

And in the NCHC championship game, NoDak comes from behind in the 3rd period to defeat St. Cloud State by a score of 5-3. Congratulations to the UND Fighting Hawks.

 

[JMCx4]

Hockey East men's Semifinals on the CBS Sports Live free stream this afternoon & this evening.

 

[JMCx4]

Score after 1 period in the first HEA conference semifinal game, UMass Lowell River Hawks 0 - Boston College Eagles 1. BC sophomore d-man Marshall Warren with the backdoor tally during 4-on-4 play. Lowell outshot BC 11-6 for the period, with two power plays (one just a couple dozen seconds long after the Eagles scored). Good pace throughout, good hockey to watch.

 

[JMCx4]

After 2 periods, EML 1 - BC 4. The Eagles held the edge on offense for the first 13 minutes of that middle session, highlighted by their second goal starting with a stumble at the BC blueline by a Lowell defenseman. That turned into a 3-on-the-goalie opportunity by the BC sophomore forward line, leading to Mike Wardman getting the goal with Matt Boldy & Alex Newhook each earning their second assist.

Newhook scored later in the period to stretch the Eagles' lead, with the assists to Hardman & junior D-man Jack St. Ivany. River Hawks senior defenseman Anthony Baxter scored unassisted 21 seconds later on a very good snapshot from the high slot to break the shutout of Hockey East Goalie of the Year Spencer Knight. BC's Newhook took the momentum back & added his 4th point on a goal late in the period, with Boldy notching his 3rd point of the evening.

 

[JMCx4]

The River Hawks dominated most of the 3rd period offensive play, with the Eagles having to block a LOT of shots. Lowell junior forward Reid Stefanson gave his team some life about halfway through the final period, burying another blocker side high snapshot past Knight (assists to sophomore forward Matt Brown & junior d-man Chase Blackmun).

UML continued to press, and had a very good PP but could not convert. The pressure paid off with just under 5 minutes left, as sophomore forward Andre Lee stole a BC pass & made the score 4-3 (assists to Blackmun & sophomore forward Blake Wells). A subsequent Lowell power play yielded a 4-4 tie, with junior forward Lucas Condotta getting the goal assisted by Lee.

With UML taking only their second penalty, Boldy feeding junior forward/cpatain Marc McLaughlin to make it 5-4 BC. THEN with less than 2 minutes left, the River Hawks pull freshman goaltender Henry Welsch and Baxter tied it up (senior forward Charlie Levesque and junior forward Sam Knoblauch with the assists).

End of regulation, 5-5. They need a rest, and I need a rest.

 

[JMCx4]

And with 6:49 left in overtime, St. Ivany whirls at the UML blueline & gets the puck past Welsch for an apparent GWG. But the officials reviewed a potential BC offside prior to the play, and ruled no-goal.

 

[JMCx4]

And River Hawks sophomore forward Josh Latta hits a post behind Knight with 3-1/2 minutes left in the first OT period. Remember that one, too.

 

[JMCx4]

AND UML's Levesque rings the far side post with about 45 seconds left.

End of the 4th period, still UMass Lowell 5 - Boston College 5.

 

[JMCx4]

The other HEA Semifinal game between Providence & UMass Amherst was bumped to NESN+ due to the extra time in Game #1, so it is not currently available via CBS Sports Live. The Friars are tied with the Minutemen 2-2 after one period.

 

[mk80]

The other HEA Semifinal game between Providence & UMass Amherst was bumped to NESN+ due to the extra time in Game #1, so it is not currently available via CBS Sports Live. The Friars are tied with the Minutemen 2-2 after one period.

The BC vs. UMass Lowell game is one of the craziest college games I've seen in awhile!

 

[JMCx4]

The BC vs. UMass Lowell game is one of the craziest college games I've seen in awhile!

I heartily agree. Though I might change "college" to "hockey".

 

[JMCx4]

8 minutes left in the 2nd OT, Matt Brown bats a Spencer Knight rebound out of the air to score for UML ... maybe ... play under review ...

 

[JMCx4]

Final Score (FINALLY): UMass Lowell River Hawks 6 - Boston College Eagles 5 in double overtime. UML moves on to the HEA Finals on Saturday, while #1 ranked BC moves on to the NCAA tournament.

ETA: Credit to junior defenseman Seth Barton with the assist on the game-winning goal by Matt Brown.

 

[JMCx4]

"We interrupt this crazy Hockey East night, to bring you this ..."

2021 Hobey Baker Nominees

And from NCAA.com ...

Matt Boldy – Boston College – Sophomore, Forward, Millis, Massachusetts ...
Cole Caufield – University of Wisconsin – Sophomore, Forward, Stevens Point, Wisconsin ...
David Farrance – Boston University – Senior, Defense, Victor, New York ...
Dylan Holloway – University of Wisconsin – Sophomore, Forward, Bragg Creek, Alberta ...
Spencer Knight – Boston College – Sophomore, Goalie, Darien, Connecticut ...
Jack LaFontaine – University of Minnesota – Senior, Goalie, Mississauga, Ontario ...
Dryden McKay – Minnesota State University – Junior, Goalie, Downers Grove, Illinois ...
Keith Petruzzelli – Quinnipiac University – Senior, Goalie, Wilbraham, Massachusetts ...
Shane Pinto – University of North Dakota – Sophomore, Forward, Franklin Square, NY ...
Odeen Tufto – Quinnipiac University – Senior, Forward, Chaska, Minnesota ...

 

[JMCx4]

HEA Semifinal Game #2 Final Score = Providence Friars 2 - UMass Amherst Minutemen 5. That victory means the Minutemen will play in the Hockey East Finals game on Saturday @ 7:00 PM EDT, hosting UMass Lowell.

 

[JMCx4]

From: The Western College Hockey Association > WCHA Press Releases

WCHA WEEK 18: DOWN TO FOUR

Sauer Trophy winner will be decided in Mankato

Date: Wednesday, March 17, 2021

Opening Faceoff

- Three Games to a Championship: The race for the Jeff Sauer WCHA Championship Trophy is down to four teams as the 2021 Western Collegiate Hockey Association Postseason moves to the WCHA Championship, March 19-20, at the Mayo Clinic Health Systems Event Center in Mankato, Minn. The top two tournament seeds - No. 1 Minnesota State and No. 2 Lake Superior State – will be joined in Mankato by No. 4 seed Bemidji State and No. 6 seed Northern Michigan. The winner of the 2021 WCHA Championship receives the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship. ...

The Week Ahead

- No. 6 (RV/UR) Northern Michigan vs. No. 1 (3/3) Minnesota State: In a series that dates back to the 2013-14 season, Minnesota State owns an 18-5-3 record vs. Northern Michigan. The Mavericks, who have won the last four games between the two schools, picked up 5-0 and 4-0 wins at NMU Jan. 2-3 this season. MSU stands 10-2-0 vs. Northern Michigan in games played between the Mavericks and the Wildcats in Mankato.

- No. 4 (RV/UR) Bemidji State vs. No. 2 (17/RV) Lake Superior State: Bemidji State is 2-3 vs. Lake Superior State in WCHA postseason play. LSSU swept BSU in a first-round playoff series in 2018-19. Last season, BSU defeated Lakers in three games to advance out of the WCHA Quarterfinals before the COVID-19 shutdown prematurely ended the season. ...


Read more at: WCHA Week 18: Down To Four - Western Collegiate Hockey Association

 

[JMCx4]

Atlantic Hockey Association conference championship play resumes on Friday, March 19th, at the MassMutual Center in Springfield ...​