Inside College Hockey | 2005 Frozen Four: Coach's Takes

April 4, 2005
NCAA Frozen Four
Frozen Four Semifinals: Coach's Takes

Inside College Hockey talked to some head coaches whose teams have played the teams involved in each of Thursday's semifinal games. In exchange for anonymity, they gave us their candid breakdowns of the matchups.

"The key for Denver is going to be [Gabe] Gauthier."

Colorado College vs. Denver

I don’t think CC gets enough credit for how good a team they are defensively. They really funnel back to the slot well, and keep teams on the perimeter.

They’ve got guys that contribute throughout the lineup, but their offense certainly starts with that one line.

You've got to shut down Sertich and Sterling. It's important to play the body and finish checks, play solid team defense and protect the middle of the rink. Because he's a center, you've got to key on Sertich but keep an eye on Sterling, because he can get loose on you. They're not big guys, but they're good in what they do and they'll hurt you. That's why it's so important to play the body. Don't forget about the other guys, though – their second, third and fourth lines aren't as bad as people think they are.

Denver’s very good offensively. I don’t think they get enough credit for the job they do with the puck.

The key for Denver is going to be Gauthier. He’s so good offensively, but he’s also very strong defensively. You can play him head-to-head or play him against a weaker line, and he is a very good faceoff man as well.

Both teams really like to jump their D up into the play offensively. Denver’s got Carle and Skinner who are both very good defensively and very active in
getting up into the rush. They’re both very active in the offensive zone and get in on the cycle. Against Colorado College, the DU defensemen can't run around and they've got to minimize turnovers at the blue line.

CC has Stuart, and that kid has such a presence out on the ice. He’s physical and can take over a game, and he’s dominant with the puck and makes good decisions. He’s the key for Colorado College on the back end.

It's also important to play the body with the CC defensemen. They're not a group that gets hit a lot, especially on their big rink, because they move well. You've got to finish checks and not let them skate. With Salcido, Stuart and Sweatt, they've got a transition game as good as anyone in the nation.

Get traffic in front of McElhinney. He can give up soft goals and go into the tank.

It might come down to little things like faceoffs. Denver does a lot of things on faceoff plays in the neutral zone. They’ll swing their board player behind
the center to try to generate some speed. After a goal’s scored, Denver will line up two wings to the rear of the center faceoff dot and fire both guys
through.

Denver has won the last two games. CC has probably got motivation and feels that there’s unfinished business. I don’t think the Tigers felt they played their best game in the WCHA playoff championship, so they’ve got that motivation.

The experience of having played in the Frozen Four last year would tip the scales a little bit in Denver’s favor. Their kids have gone through it and have been in pressure situations. Being down six-on-three in the last minute of the national championship game and coming through and being successful, there’s nothing that can replace that experience.

They've also played the afternoon game at the WCHA Final Five and two afternoon games at the Northeast Regional in addition to the afternoon semifinal at last year's Frozen Four. Colorado College hasn't really played in the afternoon. If you haven't done it, it's a bit different. It's different waking up and not having a [morning] skate ... maybe you wake up, have breakfast and a pre-game meal later and get to the rink at noon, or sleep in, have a late morning meal and then head to the rink.

I like Denver to win because they’re very strong defensively and they’ve got that edge in experience. They’ve been there, and they’ve done that, while it’s
a little bit of uncharted territory for Colorado College.

"[Jordan] Parise has played very well. That was a question mark for North Dakota early in the season and he’s stepped up and answered the question. "

North Dakota vs. Minnesota

Minnesota has such great team speed and skill. They did a very good job of moving the puck against Cornell and using their team speed. Cornell obviously wanted a grind game on the wall.

North Dakota is a big physical team with a big D corps and they make it very difficult to get to the net. I think the Sioux will try to make it a game along the wall and battles in front of both nets.

North Dakota’s specialty teams are outstanding now, especially on the power play. They have a lot of movement up top, and they do a good job of changing shot lanes to get shots through to the net. They’ll try to get a lot of traffic in front of Briggs.

Parise has played very well. That was a question mark for North Dakota early in the season and he’s stepped up and answered the question. He’s been phenomenal.

In the regional, Briggs played very well. I think North Dakota is going to put a lot of big bodies in front of him and make it difficult for him to see the
puck.

If Hirsch is back in the lineup, that gives Minnesota more scoring balance. Players like Chucko and Tallackson have to have big games versus North Dakota because their size and strength is going to be important. Goligoski is a question mark. Minnesota missed him on their power play.

One key is going to be North Dakota being aggressive on their cycle. They incorporate all three forwards. If Minnesota can transition and get their D jumping up in the play, they can do a very good job of hitting late players on the rush.

Irmen and Potulny are guys that can put the puck in the net, but it certainly hurt Minnesota’s offense when they were without Hirsch and Goligoski in the
regional.

North Dakota’s got a bit of motivation. They’re certainly playing with a purpose with Robbie Bina out. They seem to be on a mission.

The Sioux struggled to score goals without Brady Murray at a few points this season, but compare this team to last year and you’ve taken Murray, Bochenski and Zach Parise out of the lineup – that’s an awful lot of offense to adjust to not having in your lineup.

North Dakota put up 10 goals in the regional, so they’ve definitely got some confidence. You’ve got guys like Spirko who is very skilled and Stafford can
definitely bury the puck, and they’re a team where the third- and fourth-line role players really step it up in critical situations like the Frozen Four.

I like North Dakota to win on the smaller ice rink. I think if they were playing on an Olympic size sheet, Minnesota would have the edge, but North Dakota makes it so tough to get to the net and their D are so big and physical that they’re hard to play against.