Inside College Hockey | 2005 NCAA Frozen Four

April 7, 2005
NCAA Frozen Four Notebook
Forward, March
The Pioneer forwards showed that there's more to their game than grit vs. Colorado College

By Mike Eidelbes, James Jahnke, Nate Ewell and Jess Myers

Gabe Gauthier leads the NCAA Tournament with nine points.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Hockey fans watching Thursday’s Colorado College-Denver semifinal match at Value City Arena or on ESPN2 learned what Denver supporters have known for nearly six months – that the Pioneers’ forwards are more than a collection of pluggers in tune with their defensive responsibilities and able to score an occasional grimy goal.

From Luke Fulghum’s dance around a CC defenseman en route to scoring the game’s first goal to Gabe Gauthier’s power-play snipe that gave the Pioneers a 4-1 lead, the Pioneers displayed an offensive flair that would seem to jibe with coach George Gwozdecky’s take-care-of-your-own-end-first philosophy. Let there be no doubt – these Pioneers can play.

“Our team takes pride in our offensive ability,” said Fulghum, who scored both of DU’s first-period goals. “We’re such a balanced team offensively. I think we’ve got three or four guys with 40 points and a bunch of guys with 30 points. It just shows how balanced we are as a unit.”

Perhaps it’s that balance that makes the Pioneer forwards an unheralded group. Denver doesn’t have one or two dazzling scorers a la Colorado College’s Hobey Baker Award duo of Marty Sertich and Brett Sterling, but it can send waves of dangerous playmakers and finishers at you. Oh, and as a group, they’re as strong defensively as anyone in the nation.

“They don’t get enough credit,” senior defenseman and captain Matt Laatsch said. “Coach [Gwozdecky] brings in a specific type of player. For example, Gabe Gauthier [was] great scorer in juniors, but he pays attention to the defensive details. Our forwards are the keys to our game not only offensively, but defensively with their puck pursuit through the neutral zone, back-checking in the middle of the ice and getting physical in the corners.”

Colorado College players, especially the team’s defensemen, certainly noted of Denver’s relentless attack.

“I got whomped on the blue line,” said CC sophomore defenseman Lee Sweatt, who was on the ice for each of the Pioneers’ six goals.

“They definitely had some good forwards,” Tigers’ rearguard Richard Petiot said. “Those guys can skate real fast and they have great hands and can all make plays. They definitely showed it tonight on their chances.”

Unlike most observers, Sweatt and Petiot aren’t guilty of overlooking Denver’s skill and talent, which is easy to do when a team is so solid and consistent in all aspects of the game.

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CC'S D STRUGGLES

There were plenty of hanging heads in the Colorado College locker room after Thursday’s game, but one of the droopiest belonged to sophomore defenseman Lee Sweatt, who was on the ice for all six of Denver’s goals.

He was the victim of perhaps the most telling play of the contest, when onrushing Denver senior left wing Luke Fulghum jumped inside of him at the CC blue line, twisted him into the ground and skated unimpeded on Curtis McElhinney for the game’s first goal about halfway through the first period. It was one of several times that Pioneer forwards triumphed in one-on-one battles against Tiger defensemen Thursday – and many of those breakdowns ended with an assistant referee fishing the puck out of the CC goal.

“I’m pretty disgusted,” Sweatt said. “I’m counted on to be one of our top penalty killers, and I’m on the ice for all six of their power-play goals. It’s not something I’m very happy about. It’s weird. It’s just one of those games. I believe I tried everything I could to do my job, we just didn’t get the bounces we expect. Defensivewise, maybe we weren’t as committed as we should have been.”

Afterward, CC’s defensemen struggled to put their fingers on why Denver’s forwards were able to dance around them most of the game. This was the same unit that shut out the Pioneers on March 3 and lost 1-0 to DU in the WCHA Final Five championship game two weeks later. CC’s blueliners said the Pioneers weren’t any faster on Thursday. They weren’t stronger, either. But, for some reason, Denver attackers rarely encountered defensive resistance that couldn’t be defeated by a slick toe-drag.

“We knew coming into this game we had an advantage,” Fulghum said. “And maybe they were a little tight.”

The Tigers took some solace in the fact that 16 of Denver’s 29 shots and all six of its goals came on the power play. By and large, they said, they were at least as good as – if not better than – DU at even strength. But they kicked themselves for taking so many penalties (14 compared with DU’s 10) and putting themselves in a precarious position.

“The game was called a little tighter then they were used to, but we were dumb on a lot of penalties,” CC coach Scott Owens said. “By the end of the game, we were a little frustrated with everything and lost our composure a little bit. And I rarely say that about this team.”

Though CC’s defensemen were inexplicably dull early in the game, their troubles were more understandable by the end. Perpetually killing penalties drained the Tigers’ legs and made their improbable comeback attempt impossible.

“They took it to us,” said Richard Petiot, who was on the ice for four of DU’s goals. “Their power play was unbelievable tonight. They got it done and we didn’t. (Defensively), I don’t think we played well enough to win.”

But even in the bitterness of defeat, Sweatt managed a brief moment of optimism.

“See you next year,” he said to a departing reporter. “In Milwaukee.”

SEEN AND HEARD AT THE SCHOTT

• Denver freshman Ryan Dingle tried a Mike Legg-style move on a breakaway in the third, the type of thing that looks great if it works. Dingle didn't look great, and his teammates expressed regret for the play.

"I pulled Mark Stuart aside in the lineup and also Scott Owens and apologized to them on behalf of the team," said team captain Matt Laatsch. "He understands he made a mistake, he learned from it and he won’t do it again. He apologized to the team.”

A visibly angry George Gwozdecky had a chance to rant right after the play, as ESPN2 took a television timeout.

"I had to go away from the bench at that point," Laatsch said. "That was the first time that anyone lost their noodle on the bench. Thank God it was with two minutes left.”

• Luke Fulghum bucked the typical Curtis McElhinney scouting report – shoot high glove – on his first goal, shooting low glove side. He knew he wanted to try something different.

"On that goal, I was able to pop it through his legs," said Fulghum. "It was a special goal to get the team going and really brought a bit of life to the bench.”

Later, bidding for his third goal, he tried top corner.

"I tried to go high glove on him for the hat trick in the third and he made a great save on me," he said.

• Denver players, no stranger to championship rings, were in awe of a New England Patriots Super Bowl ring that made a post-game locker room appearance. "I thought ours were gaudy," one player said.

• CSTV analyst Billy Jaffe saw Denver for the fifth time this season, and every time is more and more impressed with the Pioneers' collective intelligence, calling them the smartest team he's seen this year.

• Former Minnesota Duluth and Michigan Tech coach Mike Sertich is a man who knows his periodicals. At the arena on Thursday to watch his nephews, Marty and Mike, skate for Colorado College, Sertich bumped into Sports Illustrated scribe Steve Rushin in the arena's concourse.

"Sports Illustrated," Sertich exclaimed upon spying Rushin's media credential. "I've read that before. I keep a copy in my outhouse."

• Colorado College forward Brett Sterling dodged a potential NCAA violation when Easton – without Sterling's knowledge – issued a press release hyping the fact that the Hobey finalist uses the company's skates. The school contacted Easton and the company retracted the release quickly enough to avoid any eligibility concerns.

• Paul Stastny left the game 4:58 into the third period after taking a high stick from CC's Brian Salcido. Stastny needed six stitches to close a cut by his ear and was still bleeding after the game, but will be available Saturday.

• The crowd was sparse, but not as thin as some feared. Still, the game failed to sell out (17,116), a first for any Frozen Four game since 14,447 attended the championship game in Anaheim in 1999. There wasn't much demand for tickets outside the rink. A front-row ticket for both of Thursday's games sold for just $60 before the game.

PLUSSES AND MINUSES

Credit Denver head coach George Gwozdecky for the decision to start freshman goaltender Peter Mannino, who was sharp from the drop of the puck. While it seemed like a no-brainer for some, it did require courage to deviate from what had gotten the Pioneers this far.

One Colorado College t-shirt spotted in the crowd probably won some friends among the Buckeye faithful. The back read, "Sorry, Michigan, Maybe Next Year ... Hee Hee Hee."

Without a band from either team, some of the whistles lacked atmosphere. But at least we had highlights from the 1994 women's volleyball championship.

We love the video boards over center ice, but the scoreboard itself leaves a lot to be desired. It doesn't include penalty time, and shots on goal are labeled as "Team Fouls." No wonder CC lost; they had 14 more fouls than DU.

Matt Carle played well offensively, but gets dinged with a minus for what may have been Denver's only real lapse of judgment in the game. His double-minor after Colorado College's first goal ended up being evened out, but it could have further swept momentum in the Tigers' direction in what was then a close 3-1 game.

WHAT'S NEXT

Denver advances to Saturday's championship game, where it will try to win its third title in just over a month (counting the WCHA regular-season and playoff crowns) and its second NCAA title in two years. The Pioneers could become the second repeat winner in the last five years, joining Minnesota in 2002-03, after a 30-year span in which no teams repeated.