Inside College Hockey | 2004 NCAA Frozen Four

April 10, 2004
NCAA Frozen Four
One for All
One goal gives Denver its sixth national title

By Jess Myers

Denver 1, Maine 0
Team	Goal	Str
Time	Assists
First Period
1-DU	Gabe Gauthier (18th)	PP
12:26	C. James, R. Caldwell
Second Period
No Scoring
Third Period
No Scoring
Goaltending
DU: Adam Berkhoel, 60:00, 24 saves, 0 GA
ME: Jim Howard, 58:39, 19 saves, 1 GA
Penalties: DU 11/22; ME 8/16
Power Plays: DU 1-4; ME 0-6
Attendance: 18,597

BOSTON – Denver goalie Adam Berkhoel made history on Saturday, becoming just the third netminder to record a shutout in the NCAA title game. Berkhoel stopped 24 shots – including four in a frantic final two minutes – as the Pioneers beat Maine 1-0, winning the school’s sixth national hockey title.

The Pioneers were whistled for two penalties in the final 2:09, and after Maine goalie Jim Howard was pulled, Denver held on for the final 94 seconds while the Black Bears had a 6-on-3 power play.

“We had four of our warriors out there, and we were fortunate that it was the end of the game and the ice wasn’t that good. Pucks were bouncing around a little bit,” said Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky, who has now won national titles as a player (at Wisconsin), as
an assistant coach (at Michigan State), as a D-III coach (at Wisconsin-River Falls) and as a D-I coach.

Gabe Gauthier scored the only goal of the game, converting on a first period power play.

Audio Files
Jeff Sauer on the title game
Denver coach George Gwozdecky
Denver's Adam Berkhoel

It was the Pioneers’ first title since 1969, and the first title-game shutout since Boston University goalie Tim Regan blanked Cornell 4-0 in the 1972 championship. Berkhoel was named the tournament’s most outstanding player.

Maine appeared to take a 1-0 lead just over five minutes in when the Black Bears’ power play clicked – or so they thought. A shot from the point by Colin
Shields deflected off a Pioneer and slid through traffic to Derek Damon, who was posted to the right of Berkhoel. Damon deked the goalie down, then slipped the puck low on the stick side. But video replay showed that the toe of Mike Hamilton’s skate was in the crease on the play, and the goal was disallowed.

Instead, Denver made the first mark on the scoreboard via a power play goal that required no video review. Connor James picked up the puck behind the Maine net and skated to the corner, fighting off defenseman Troy Barnes and forward Todd Jackson. With all of the attention focued on James, and the puck, Gabe Gauthier was left uncovered in front of the Maine net. When
James fired a cross-ice pass to Gauthier, there was nobody to stop the Pioneers top goal scorer from snapping off a low shot that beat Howard on the stick side.

The Black Bears fired nine shots at Berkhoel in a scoreless second period, but for Maine, the stanza was most significant for missed opportunities. On more than one occasion, Maine forwards passed up straight-on shots and instead attempted to get Berkhoel moving laterally. The Black Bears’ best opportunity to tie the game in the second came early in the period when Hamilton caught a loose puck all alone in front of the net, but his rising shot from 10 feet out sailed over the crossbar.

“You can’t miss opportunities, and I missed one tonight. That might have been the one,” said Hamilton afterwards. “This is a tough one to swallow. We played hard, but they got one and we couldn’t.”

In the final 20 minutes, Denver finally generated some offensive jump. After mustering just 10 shots in the opening two periods, the Pioneers had another 10 in the third, and were close to doubling their lead twice, with a pair of 2-on-1 breaks that just missed. All seemed to be going smoothly for the Pioneers until Matt Laatsch was whistled for hooking with 2:09 to play.

“That was really tough,” said Laatsch, who spent much of the final two minutes with his head down, unwilling to watch the action on the ice. “You never want to be the goat, but I had confidence in our guys.”

The Black Bears were on the power play for 35 seconds when Gauthier threw the puck out of the zone toward center ice. Referee Tim Kotyra blew the play dead, and called Gauthier for delay of game, for closing his hand on the puck. But despite keeping the puck in the Denver end for much of the final 1:25, Maine could not get the equalizer, with shots hitting the pipe and the crossbar, as well as being smothered by Berkhoel.

When the Pioneers cleared the zone with less than eight seconds left, the Denver players erupted.

“Sometimes it’s just your time,” said Gwozdecky. “I told the guys that I really believed that coming into this Frozen Four. Timing is so critical, and sometimes it’s just your time.”

Berkhoel became the second Denver goalie to record a shutout in the NCAA championship game, after Gerry Powers blanked North Dakota 4-0 for the title in 1968.