Denver Wins 15th WCHA Playoff Championship
March 22, 2008
Denver won its record 15th WCHA playoff championship Saturday night with a 2-1 victory over Minnesota, and to do it the Pioneers needed to overcome an amazingly hot Gophers run of playoff magic, and the huge "home ice" advantage the Gophers had at St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center.
The title match was something of a surprise to see both finalists get that far, because third-seeded Denver had to conquer red-hot North Dakota in the semifinals, while seventh-seeded Minnesota had to run through a withering streatch of six overtime-filled games in nine days that saw victories over fourth-seeded Minnesota State-Mankato, fifth-seeded St. Cloud State, and top-seeded Colorado College.
"My hat is off to Minnesota, because the way they've played is an inspiration to all of us," said Denver coach George Gwozdecky.
While Minnesota struggled most of the season to find consistent scoring and cohesive defense, the Gophers finished the season by playing their best hockey, with freshman goaltender Alex Kangas leading the way. Kangas, in fact, was tournament most valuable player.
Denver ran into difficulties after a strong first half, where the Pioneers matched Colorado College in what looked like a two-team race for first. Both Minnesota and Denver lost their top scorers - Kyle Okposo of Minnesota and Brock Trotter of Denver - to midseason pro offers, but both also got things together for season-ending surges to return to top form in the playoffs. And both will take that into next week's NCAA tournament.,
There was no fatigue factor on Minnesota's part. The Gophers outshot Denver 35-34, which means both goalies, Kangas and all-tournament Peter Mannino of Denver, made 33 saves.
The game was scoreless until light-scoring Ryan Flynn got a letter-high stick on a right-point shot by Stu Bickel at 5:39 of the second period. The deflection was the only puck to elude Mannino, a senior whose team made its first return to the Final Five since he was a freshman. That year, 2005, the Pioneers won the Final Five and the NCAA championship.
Denver countered at 9:10 on a crazy deflection, and maybe it took such a bounce to puncture Kangas's brilliance in goal. Tyler Bozak was at the end boards deep on the left, and he flung a pass toward the goal-mouth. The puck glanced off freshman Gopher defenseman Cade Fairchild and the sharp-angle carom caught the net before Kangas could react.
The teams battled 1-1 until the last minute of the second period, when Tom May, a 6-foot-3 senior from Eagan, broke past the Gopher defense with a neat pass from Anthony Maiani and rushed up the left side, cutting to his right across the slot and drilling his shot past Kangas at 19:34.
It was a dazzling goal for a late-blooming winger who had only seven goals until notching the game-winner, possibly a promising sign for Denver's NCAA hopes.
"We're hoping to be playing our best hockey right now," said May, who clearly was, himself, as he joined Minnesota's Mike Hoeffel and North Dakota's T.J. Oshie as all-tournament forwards, while North Dakota's Taylor Chorney and Denver's Chris Butler on defense, with Mannino in goal.
Minnesota went with six attackers for the last 1:23 in search of the equalizer, and after playing two double-overtime and a single overtime game to get past MSU-Mankato, and then his starring role against St. Cloud and Colorado College, it seemed strange to see the lanky freshman on the Gopher bench instead of between the pipes.
"I have to offer congratulations to Denver, for a well-deserved championship," said Minnesota coach Don Lucia. "I'm very proud of our players. We found a way to win four games and get to the championship game with a chance to win it."
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