Inside College Hockey | 2004 Frozen Four Championship Preview

April 9, 2004
NCAA Frozen Four

DENVER
vs.
MAINE

Sat., April 10 • 7 p.m. ET
ESPN

	Overall	Conference	Home	Away	Neutral
Denver	26-12-5	13-10-5	13-9-1	8-3-4	5-0-0
Maine	33-7-3	17-5-2	17-1-1	8-4-2	8-2-0

	Goals/Gm.	GA/Gm.	PP Pct.	PK Pct.	PIM/Gm.
Denver	3.4 (7th)	2.8 (25th)	.187 (19th)	.852 (16th)	17.0 (24th)
Maine	3.3 (12th)	1.6 (1st)	.167 (34th)	.849 (20th)	19.2 (7th)

Denver: West Region second seed
Denver 3, Miami 2
Denver 1, North Dakota 0
Denver 5, Minnesota Duluth 3

Maine: East Region first seed
Maine 5, Harvard 4
Maine 2, Wisconsin 1 OT
Maine 2, Boston College 1

Up front, these teams look like mirror images. Both have a gritty, hard-working line that controlled play Thursday. For Denver, it was the Max Bull-Lukas Dora-Luke Fulghum combination, while Maine was bolstered by the play of Dustin Penner, Jon Jankus and Mike Hamilton. The Denver line looks different tonight, however, with Jeff Drummond in Dora's spot; the game-winning goal scorer from Thursday night has been suspended tonight for an unspecified violation of team rules. Dora was a Matthew Barnaby-like player who got under an opponent's skin. Drummond isn't a bad replacement, with 28 points on the year, but he doesn't have Dora's presence.

Other lines, meanwhile, have more prominent offensive numbers: Gabe Gauthier's group for Denver and Michel Léveillé for Maine. Connor James looked better and better as Thursday's game progressed, bolstering the Pioneers' offensive ability. He also has great speed, which is another thing these teams have in common – Greg Moore and Todd Jackson are the top speedsters for the Black Bears.

Whoever wins tonight, they won't dispel the age-old saying: defense wins championships. Maine has the best goals-against average in the nation. Prestin Ryan is a dynamic presence for the Black Bears, and was at his best Thursday. The rest of their blue line is unheralded, but definitely capable. Mike Lundin is blossoming into a future star. Denver has allowed more goals, but defense has been critical to their success in February and March. Ryan Caldwell is the leader for the Pioneers, but they have their share of young talent as well, led by Matt Carle and Brett Skinner.

Maine has an edge here, although it's not a huge one. Jimmy Howard sparkled Thursday night, and he seems to thrive at the FleetCenter, where he won the Hockey East championship game in three overtimes. Adam Berkhoel has been terrific in the NCAA Tournament for Denver. Both teams' shooters should feel like they are looking at familiar faces in net – although Howard is slightly bigger (6-foot-1 to Berkhoel's 5-foot-11), they play a similar style. Both play terrific positionally, squaring to shooters and moving well laterally, and there are no goaltenders in the college game with better glove hands.

A great penalty kill starts with good goaltending, and both Denver and Maine have that base covered. Howard, in particular, was outstanding against Boston College – after making the glove save on Patrick Eaves during the 5-on-3 in the second period, Eagles forwards were intimidated by his presence the remainder of the game. Against BC, Maine's plan on the PK was to clog things up for the forwards and make the defensemen beat them. They'll have to pressure Denver's point men tonight, which should open up some opportunities for the Pioneers' net-crashing forwards.

It's difficult to evaluate Maine's power play because they spent so little time on the PP against Boston College. It's been their one glaring weakness the entire season, however. If the Black Bears need a goal, they'll have to generate it during 5-on-5 situations because the power play is unreliable. Denver's penalty killing unit is solid, and they've shown the potential to force turnovers and turn them into scoring chances going the other way. If there's an important face-off, Denver will send Gabe Gauthier or Greg Keith to take the draw while Maine relies on Derek Damon.

Obviously, any coach who gets a team to the last game of the season is a good coach, but Denver's George Gwozdecky and Maine's Tim Whitehead may deserve more credit than the typical Frozen Four bench boss. Both teams reflect the attitudes of their coaches – Maine is a very business-like bunch who've bought into Whitehead's team concept. Listening to Black Bear players deflect praise to other teammates at the press conference following the win over Boston College Thursday became almost comical. Shawn Walsh was a great coach and his name will always be synonymous with Maine hockey, but it's time to give Whitehead his due.

Gwozdecky is a winner. He earned national championship rings as a player at Wisconsin in 1977 and as an assistant coach at Michigan State in 1986...and let's not forget his NAIA title as head coach at Wisconsin-River Falls in 1983. Like Whitehead, Gwozdecky takes a very business-like approach to matters, but his striking dry sense of humor that can rear its head at the most unexpected times keeps his boys on their toes and definitely contributes to the team's carefree, nothing-to-lose demeanor.

Finally, Gwozdecky and Whitehead are hard workers, and so are their teams. Regardless of who wins, you'll see a game in which every ounce of effort and emotion will be left on the ice when it's all over.

WHY DENVER WINS: The Pioneers are on a great run and had their introduction to the Frozen Four on Thursday. They shouldn't repeat their ugly first period now that they've played on this stage, even if it's been 30 years since they were in the title game. Their strength against Maine will lie in possessing the puck, much like Boston College did, but finding a way to solve Howard more than once. Easier said than done, but they seem to have a special touch right now.

WHY MAINE WINS: The first goal will be critical to either team's chances Saturday, but probably moreso in Maine's case. If they get an early marker and play they way they did after claiming their third-period lead against BC, it will be a long, frustrating night for Denver. Considering that most title games are close – five of the last eight have gone to overtime – the Black Bears have an edge with their remarkable run of eight straight one-goal victories.