Inside College Hockey | 2004 NCAA West Regional

March 26, 2004
NCAA Tournament | West Regional
D-lightful Denver
Pioneer rearguards spark win over Miami; North Dakota next

By Mike Eidelbes

Denver 3, Miami 2
Team	Goal	Str
Time	Assists
First Period
1-DU	Ryan Caldwell (14)	SH
7:01	L. Dora
Second Period
2-DU	Matt Laatsch (5)	EV
2:25	T. O'Leary, A. Veidman
1-MIA	Marty Guerin (14)	EV
7:04	B. Sipotz, A. Nelson
Third Period
3-DU	Brett Skinner (7)	PP
6:35	M. Carle, G. Gauthier
2-MIA	Matt Davis (6)	PP
17:37	unassisted
Goaltending
MIA: Brandon Crawford-West, 59:00, 30 saves, 3 GA
DU: Adam Berkhoel, 60:00, 21 saves, 2 GA
Penalties: MIA 6/23; DU 9/26
Power Plays: MIA 1-7; DU 1-4
Attendance: 5,532

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – In order for Denver to advance in the NCAA Tournament, someone had to pick up the slack for injured forward Connor James, whose season ended three weeks ago when he broke his leg against Colorado College in the Pioneers’ regular season finale.

Who would’ve thought the spark would come from the Pioneers’ blue line?

Goaltender Adam Berkhoel was terrific, but the defensemen were also difference makers by scoring every goals in Friday’s 3-2 win against Miami. First, senior Ryan Caldwell scored a shorthanded goal seven minutes into the first period. Two minutes into the second period, junior Matt Laatsch added an even-strength goal to give the Pioneers a 2-0 edge. Later, sophomore Brett Skinner picked up a goal during a two-man advantage 6:35 into the third.

“We’ve got a lot of production from the defensemen all year,” said Laatsch, a Lakeville, Minn., native and a rapidly improving member of the team’s backline corps. “It didn’t surprise anyone on our bench.

“A lot of the credit for our offense has to go to the [international-size] rink. The wings have to come a long way to get to the point. We were all sliding to the middle tonight to get an opening on net.”

What makes Denver’s rearguards so effective is their versatility. The sextet of Caldwell, Laatsch, Skinner, Matt Carle, Jussi Halme and Nick Larson is big (Carle is the smallest at 6 feet, 190 pounds). They’ve got puck skills and footwork that range from dependable to exemplary. And they play their roles extremely well – Laatsch and Larson are the bangers, Halme and Skinner are adept at moving the puck and Carle and Caldwell are strong two-way players.

“Skinner, Carle and Caldwell are three of the best puck-handling defensemen in the country,” Denver coach George Gwozdecky said. “We watch them every day in practice and in drills and we know they can create offense. We know how effective they are.”

Gwozdecky was especially effusive in his praise of Caldwell, the Pioneer captain and a 2000 draft choice of the New York Islanders.

“You could write a book about the number of injuries that he’s had and he’s suffering right now,” Gwozdecky said. “But he’s a great competitor.”

The Denver defense will be tested in Saturday’s regional final against top seed North Dakota. Judging from Friday’s results, they’re well prepared for the final exam.

North Dakota 3, Holy Cross 0
Team	Goal	Str
Time	Assists
First Period
1-ND	Zach Parise (23)	EV
0:47	B. Murray, B. Bochenski
Second Period
1-ND	Brendan Bochenski (27)	PP
18:23	Z. Parise, B. Murray
Third Period
1-ND	Mike Prpich (9)	EV
5:09	R. Hale
Goaltending
HC: Tony Quesada, 56:18, 30 saves, 3 GA; Ben Conway, 3:42, 4 saves 0 GA
ND: Jordan Parise, 60:00, 21 saves, 0 GA
Penalties: HC 4/8; ND 5/10
Power Plays: HC 0-5; ND 1-4
Attendance: 5,128

TONY TERRIFIC

Holy Cross goaltender Tony Quesada played his heart out in the Crusaders’ 3-0 loss to top seed North Dakota, stopping 30 Sioux shots, many of the point-blank variety.

The sophomore from South Freeport, Maine, also played the contents of his stomach out, the result of a stomach virus he came down with Friday morning. During a third period television timeout, Quesada deposited his gastrointestinal cargo just to the left of his cage, but stayed in the game until being relieved by backup Ben Conway with 3:42 left in the final period.

Quesada was taken to a Colorado Springs hospital to receive intravenous fluids so he wasn’t available to discuss his performance, but it was the primary topic of conversation afterward.

“We had trouble getting shots on goal,” said North Dakota coach Dean Blais, “and when we did, their goaltender made some good saves.”

Holy Cross captain Greg Kealey lauded the efforts of teammate Tony Quesada.

North Dakota Hobey Baker Award candidates Brandon Bochenski and Zach Parise each scored a goal, but Quesada thoroughly frustrated them on every other occasion. In the third period alone, he thwarted Parise on a pair of prime opportunities just outside the crease and gloved a Bochenski snap shot ticketed for the top corner out of midair.

““It was Tony’s game,” Holy Cross coach Paul Pearl said. “You put it into his body, you’re not getting a rebound. If you put it in his pads, you may get a rebound but he’s very good at getting back [into position].

“He’s been blessed. He’s got very quick legs for a big kid. He takes away the bottom of the net very, very well.”

While the outcome of Friday’s game wasn’t exactly what the Crusaders had hoped for, Quesada’s teammates said his performance against North Dakota was indicative of his play during Holy Cross’s stretch run.

“The last two months, he’s been in the zone,” captain Greg Kealey said. “He did a great job out there, even with his flu symptoms. Maybe he’ll make ESPN or something like that.”

INCH's Three Stars of the Night

3. Tony Quesada, Holy Cross
For a guy who was, ahem, battling flu-like symptoms, Queseda turned in a fine performance, making 30 saves against the nation’s top offense before leaving the game late in the third period.

2. Zach Parise, North Dakota
His goal seconds into the first period served notice that North Dakota came to Colorado Springs with one mission in mind. The sophomore also set up linemate Brandon Bochenski’s power period goal in the second period.

1. Adam Berkhoel, Denver
Here's a sample of Berkhoel's highlight-reel saves Friday:

• He stoned the RedHawks’ Marty Guerin with a pad save on a first-period breakaway, then pulled Matt Christie’s point-blank follow-up on the rebound out of midair with a quick flash of the glove.

• His cart-wheeling pad save on Andy Greene kept Miami from tying the score just prior to intermission.

• Late in the second period and his stick behind the net, he stymied a RedHawk forward with another dazzling glove save.

SEEN AND HEARD AT WORLD ARENA

• While most prognosticators expected North Dakota to get past Holy Cross with relative ease, the Crusaders proved to be a tough out. They were especially disruptive in the defensive zone, breaking up a number of Sioux passes, especially during the first two periods.

Blais wasn’t especially enthralled with the effort but he’s a results-driven guy, as evidenced by his response when a reporter asked him to give his team a letter grade for their performance.

“Anytime you win,” Blais remarked, “it’s an ‘A’.”

• North Dakota’s Ryan Hale has played in his hometown of Colorado Springs on numerous occasions, but the junior forward admitted that competing in an NCAA regional in the shadow of Pike’s Peak is unique.

“It’s always nice to come back home,” said Hale, who assisted on Mike Prpich’s third period goal, “but I think this time the focus is really on making sure we get these two games.”

Hale wisely let his parents take care of weekend tickets arrangements for friends and family.

• Miami defenseman Andy Greene had a tough outing Friday.

In the first period, he was robbed of a goal thanks to a spectacular tumbling save by Denver’s Berkhoel. In the second period, he missed a wide-open net. In the third period, he went down to block a shot from the point during a 5-on-3 DU power play and was hit on the instep of his left foot. Later on the same penalty kill, his stick broke. Shortly thereafter, the Pioneers scored what ended up being the game-winning goal.

“It’s just one of those things,” Greene shrugged and said. “You try to fight through it and do everything you can.”

• We chronicled the relationship between Gwozdecky and Miami’s Enrico Blasi in our West Regional preview and, though the two teams have played in the past, Friday’s contest had a little extra emotion given the fact that it would be the end of the season for one team.

“We knew somebody was going to lose,” Blasi said. “The teams left it on the ice, and that was the good part. It was a clean game. They had their chances and we had our chances.

“I would’ve liked to play George in the finals of the tournament. Then I wouldn’t have been real disappointed.”

• Like the Red Sox folding in October, an NCAA hockey regional in Worcester in March is almost a New England tradition, and Holy Cross often serves as the host. So naturally, the first time the Crusaders qualify for the NCAA Tournament, not only is there no regional at the Centrum Centre, but there sent three-quarters of the way across the country to face the top overall seed.

“It would’ve been awesome to play with the hometown support,” senior Greg Kealy said. “But the [Colorado] weather is nicer and the scenery with the mountains…we’re glad to be here, too.”

• Outside of a small group of vocal Crusaders’ supporters, the fans in attendance at the Holy Cross-North Dakota game were about as boisterous as the gallery at Augusta. So when a die-hard Colorado College fan tried to rouse the crowd by engaging them in a standby Tiger cheer – having one side shout “Go!” and the opposite side respond with “Sioux!” – it was mildly humorous when the majority of fans answered back by hollering “Tigers!”

• INCH’s editorial credo is “Just trying to capture the spirit of the thing,” but one fan at World Arena summed up the college game’s allure with a three-word phrase emblazoned on the front of his white t-shirt in green letters: Beer and Hockey.

PLUSSES AND MINUSES

Walk around the World Arena concourse and you’ll find the trappings of the average sports venue – concession stands, souvenir kiosks, marketing tables. But here in Colorado Springs, you’ll also find banks of video games, including old-school classics such as Pac Man and Galaga, stationed intermittently around the concourse. Best of all, there’s one bubble hockey table tucked away in a small alcove. Could there be any better way to kill time between games?

Maybe I’m biased because purple is the primary color of my undergraduate alma mater, the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., and the Minnesota Vikings, but Holy Cross’s road sweaters of that color are terrific. Imagine the Flyers’ jerseys in all purple with a broad white stripe down the sleeves, Buffalo Sabres-style numbers on the back and an interlocking “HC” on the front.

The temperature at World Arena just prior to face-off was in the mid-70s, the sun was shining and a cool (albeit stiff) wind perfectly balanced out the heat generated by the powerful Rocky Mountain sun. It’s not textbook hockey weather, but there are no complaints from fans here on the Front Range.

World Arena is the lone regional venue with the larger, international ice sheet. And while the 200-by-100 foot surface has its proponents, it seems like NCAA Tournament games should be played on the standard North American ice sheet. Some teams (such as those from the WCHA) have a lot of experience on big ice while others (like Holy Cross, who played one game on the larger surface) don’t. This observation is nothing new, but introducing a huge variable to the equation at the most important time of the year seems odd.

The NCAA said television interests drove the decision to have Friday's game between Miami and Denver start at 9 p.m. local time, which is 11 p.m. in the Eastern Time Zone. TV interests where...Hawaii?

As college hockey beat writers go, Virg Foss of the Grand Forks Herald is slightly more objective than a government writer for the Havana Times. It wasn’t particularly surprising, then, that his Holy Cross-North Dakota preview story wondered whether a team from a conference that allows only 11 scholarships could stick with the Sioux. His assessment might be right, but the statement is incorrect – Atlantic Hockey limits its teams to 11 full rides, but Holy Cross offers no athletic scholarships in any sport. Besides, it wasn’t that many years ago that another non-scholarship outfit – the Princeton men’s basketball team – bounced UCLA from the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament.

WHAT'S NEXT

Just like Seinfeld had his Newman, Denver has North Dakota as its primary tormentor. The Pioneers have given the Fighting Sioux a run for their money on occasion – most notably the taut, 1-1 thriller the two teams played in Grand Forks in late January – but Dean Blais’ crew has often found Denver’s soft underbelly.

Saturday, however, may be the best chance for Denver to trump the tournament’s top seed. Sure, they’re playing close to home in Colorado Springs, but the large ice surface at World Arena should give the Pioneers the opportunity to generate quality scoring chances against North Dakota’s defensemen, who are big but not particularly mobile.

It’s imperative for Denver to win the special teams battle – they can’t afford to take as many penalties as it did against Miami. But if the game comes down to a battle of goaltenders, the Pioneers definitely get the edge.