College Hockey Musings: Tournaments Approach

A few random quick hit thoughts from around college hockey ...

--> Is there a better league race than the NCHC? The first-year league has produced some serious drama heading into the final four weeks of the regular season, as the top six teams are separated by just four points. First-place St. Cloud State faces second-place UMD this weekend in St. Cloud after taking four points from Denver -- then tied for second -- last week.

And it doesn't take a rocket surgeon to figure out that this could very easily not be the last time the NCHC's top two teams meet in the final four weeks of the season. If UMD overtakes the Huskies and North Dakota has a good weekend against Miami, we could see it again next weekend, when UMD and UND meet in Duluth.

If UMD doesn't overtake St. Cloud State, it's conceivable that SCSU-UND in two weeks in St. Cloud could be a battle for first place. Final-weekend series featuring Nebraska Omaha at UMD and Western Michigan at North Dakota could also be 1/2 matchups, depending on how things play out.

The NCHC isn't the only good league title race going. The WCHA is still led by a Ferris State team that has games in hand on Minnesota State, but the Mavericks seem to be rounding into form, and the home-ice race with Michigan Tech, Alaska-Anchorage, Bowling Green, Alaska, Bemidji State, Northern Michigan, and Lake Superior State (keep in mind, one of these teams won't make the WCHA tournament) looks entertaining, too.

In Atlantic Hockey, the top five teams -- Mercyhurst, Bentley, Air Force, UConn, and Bob Morris -- are separated by a mere four points.

Then there's Hockey East, where, well, Boston College has pretty much clinched the thing already. Never mind.

League tournaments will be bonkers. But will anyone attend them?

The NCHC Frozen Faceoff will be at Target Center in Minneapolis. UMD and St. Cloud State look like they have at least a reasonable shot of being there, along with North Dakota. With SCSU's proximity, UND's nutso fans, and UMD's strong Twin Cities alumni base, there's no reason this can't be well-attended, especially with the affordability of tickets.

Hopefully, the NCHC folks took good notes at the Final Five. Even as that tournament stagnated a bit (at least in my opinion, it did), it was still a great event. Anything remotely close to the Final Five's worst years would be a great start for the NCHC's championship weekend.

--> I'm not sure there's anything that can happen over the final few weeks of the regular season that would prevent Johnny Gaudreau from being the prohibitive favorite for the Hobey Baker Award. Well, Gaudreau could be caught in a cheating scandal or something, but it seems unlikely. Outside of that or a collapse of historical proportions, this award goes to "Johnny Hockey," in my opinion.

Hard to argue with two points per game on the best team (potentially) in the country.

St. Lawrence forward Greg Carey deserves a nod, too, as does Nebraska Omaha's Josh Archibald. But this is Gaudreau's award to lose. Don't hold your breath waiting on that to happen.

--> There were a lot of negative comments Thursday night when BTN aired Minnesota-Wisconsin at a half-empty Kohl Center. But many missed the mark on this.

A national TV game on a Thursday is not a bad thing for a niche sport that relies on die-hard fans to tune in. Where are die-hard fans on Friday and Saturday? They're at games. Can't attend games when they're not being played. Why not throw a game on when it might actually attract a bigger audience than normal?

Despite the poor attendance, the game didn't look horrible on TV. Probably looked better than UMD-Western Michigan did at Amsoil in December, when the student section was largely empty while kids "studied for finals," and the lower bowl was full of empty yellow seats because people were out touring Bentleyville or whatever. That'll only help, especially when the Kohl was jammed for Friday's game, which was also on BTN.

Now, I thought the broadcast itself was clunky, but I like what BTN is doing here, and I wish others would try it. That doesn't mean we need to have a big-time college hockey game every Thursday, but the occasional showcase game wouldn't hurt anyone. In fact, it might give us a chance to grow the game a little bit. And that isn't bad for anyone.

Jack Connolly's Hobey Journey Ends Today

Duluth may swell with pride late Friday afternoon, as the 2012 Hobey Baker Award presentation takes place at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.

It's there that UMD senior center and team captain Jack Connolly will vie for the school's record-setting fifth Hobey award.

Connolly will already have his third All-American honor in his pocket, to go along with the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, three All-WCHA selections, the 2012 WCHA Player of the Year award, three WCHA All-Academic selections, the Premier Player of College Hockey award, and other well-deserved accolades too numerous to mention.

(Oh, and if all of that isn't enough, you can be virtually assured it's just a matter of time before Connolly's No. 12 is retired by UMD. I'm not saying I've been told it's going to happen, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out it's beyond likely.)

The Friday afternoon Hobey ceremony will air on NHL Network. If you don't have that channel, you can come watch it at my house watch it online at hobeybaker.com.

To get you warmed up, Amsoil Arena's Jeff Stark produced a cool Connolly tribute video a couple weeks ago.

Jack Connolly Makes Hobey Hat Trick

For the first time since 2004, a UMD player is in the Hobey Hat Trick.

The award's selection committee has spoken, and a list of ten finalists has been trimmed to three for next Friday's award ceremony in Tampa.

The Hobey Baker Memorial Award Foundation on Thursday announced the three Hobey Hat Trick finalists for the 2012 Hobey Baker Memorial Award, honoring college hockey’s top player.  Alphabetically, they are: Spencer Abbott, senior forward from the University of Maine; Jack Connolly, senior forward from the University of Minnesota-Duluth; and Austin Smith, senior forward from Colgate University.

The three finalists were selected from the initial list of Top Ten candidates by the 23-member Selection Committee and an additional round of online fan balloting to determine this year’s Hobey Baker winner.  Criteria for the award includes: displaying outstanding skills in all phases of the game, strength of character on and off the ice, sportsmanship and scholastic achievements.

This year’s Hobey Baker Award winner will be announced Friday, April 6, 2012 from MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, FL during the NCAA Frozen Four.  The 32nd annual announcement will be aired live on the NHL Network at 6:00 p.m., ET, and at the Hobey website, www.hobeybakeraward.com.  Here is more on this year’s three finalists:

Spencer Abbott – University of Maine, Senior, Forward, Hamilton, Ontario
From a recruited walk-on four years ago to a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, Spencer Abbott has had a remarkable four-year collegiate career.  Already recognized as the Player of the Year in Hockey East as well as a First Team all-star, the Black Bear assistant captain leads the nation in scoring and in assists.  In 39 games this season, Abbott scored 21 goals, assisted on another 41 for 62 total points.  His unselfish scoring exploits earned him the conference scoring title and he was named player of the month twice while piling up 18 multiple-point games.  Abbott is a Family Relations major and has been on the Dean’s List three times.  Spencer is active in the community helping with Special Olympics, assisting at youth hockey clinics and participating in charity games.  Abbott, a pro hockey free agent, just signed a contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Jack Connolly – University of Minnesota-Duluth, Senior, Forward, Duluth, Minnesota
A repeat Hobey top ten finalist, the Bulldog captain had a fantastic season winning the WCHA scoring title, being named a First Team all-star for the third straight season and capped it off as the league’s Player of the Year.  A two-time All American, Connolly is second in the nation in points and assists accumulating 20 goals and 40 assists for 60 points in 41 games.  Duluth was the second highest scoring team in the nation this past season and Connolly never missed a college game, having played in 164 straight.  He was held pointless in consecutive games only twice in his illustrious four-year career.  The hometown hero is active in community endeavors helping with trash clean-up in the Adopt-A-Highway program, visiting Duluth hospitals, volunteering with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and working with various cancer fund-raisers.  He’s a Communications major with a 3.3 GPA.  He is a pro hockey free agent.  Hockey runs deep in the Connolly family as Jack’s older brother Chris, was the captain and second leading scorer for Boston University this past season.

Austin Smith – Colgate University, Senior, Forward, Dallas, Texas
Austin Smith completes the trifecta of Hobey scoring whizzes as the nation’s top sniper with 36 goals to go along with 21 assists for 57 total points, third best in the country.  Dangerous at all times, Smith leads the nation in short-handed goals with six and scored seven power play goals as well.  Winning the ECAC scoring title this past season, Smith was named the conference Player of the Year and a First Team all-star. Along the way, Smith scored 30 goals this season faster than any college player in the last 12 years and is currently third in the nation with a plus-25.  A Sociology and Anthropology major, Smith helps out with the Hamilton, NY Food Cupboard, assists with food and toy drives during the season and is involved with the local Goals for Good program.  He is a fifth round draft pick of the Dallas Stars.

The ceremony will take place a few miles from the Tampa Times Forum, the site of the 2012 Men's Frozen Four. This is the first time since 2006 that we will have a winner that did not play in the Frozen Four, and it's the first time since the Hat Trick format was put in place in 2002 that none of the three finalists played on teams that qualified for the Frozen Four.

Abbott signed a pro deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs Thursday, while Smith has signed on with the Dallas Stars, the organization that owned his draft rights. Connolly is unsigned.

Saturday Hockey Notes and Thoughts: UMD Blows Another Chance

ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- It wasn't long after Friday's game here started before those of us in the press box were well aware of the opportunity presented to UMD.

Wisconsin scored once in the first period, then added three in a stunning second period, on its way to a 4-1 win over Minnesota at Mariucci Arena. That Minnesota loss swung the door wide open for UMD to get in position for the WCHA regular season championship.

Instead of walking into the door, UMD stumbled, losing 2-1 to St. Cloud State.

Simply put, the Bulldogs were flat for a chunk of the game, and SCSU took advantage on its way to a 2-0 lead. UMD struggled with the Huskies' young and mobile defense at times in the first half of the game. There was a media timeout with 9:11 left, and UMD started to string together some good shifts after that.

Unfortunately, all the puck-chasing done over the first 30-plus minutes took a toll, and the Huskies appeared to be a fresher team at times in the third period, before UMD finally was able to string together more good play late. It just wasn't enough, as UMD hit a couple pipes, flubbed on some scoring opportunities, and was stood up by SCSU goalie Mike Lee (35 saves) on a bunch of others.

From my perspective, it just looked like UMD was a tick off for too much of this game. Yes, there were parts of the game where the overall effort wasn't all that good. But when UMD did get things cranked up, its execution wasn't there. Breakout passes either too far or behind the intended receivers. Centering passes when guys should have shot. Shots when guys should have held on to the puck and let someone go to the net. Guys not taking great care of the puck and turning it over as a result.

St. Cloud State's forecheck pinned UMD a few times because of the Bulldogs' execution just not being where it needs to be. It was a good performance for the Huskies, who needed it, but not UMD's best effort.

That's unfortunate, because there was an opportunity there. Now, UMD will have to hope for no more than a share of the MacNaughton Cup, and the Bulldogs know now that they will be in a first-round series against Minnesota State next weekend at Amsoil Arena. UMD will be seeded No. 2, and MSU is locked into the 11th spot.

Saturday, look for UMD to play a lot better. It won't necessarily be about anything St. Cloud State does, instead the Bulldogs simply have to play with the kind of jam and jump they did last weekend. Do that, and everything else will be fine.

A share of the MacNaughton would be nice, but what's more important is entering the playoffs on a positive note. Friday wasn't that far off, so it's not like anyone is looking for a complete turnaround.

******

Something was pointed out Friday that's really irritating me. The website Inside College Hockey has a regular Hobey Tracker feature, which is updated to show what the author(s) feel are the top candidates for the Hobey Baker Award.

This week's Hobey Tracker is available here, with the current choice being Colgate forward Austin Smith. Here's what was said about the second choice, UMD captain Jack Connolly.

There’s no denying Connolly’s consistency; he’s had at least one point in 31 of the Bulldogs’ 34 games to date and has been held scoreless in consecutive games just once. The issue, as was mentioned in the most recent INCH Podcast, is determining his impact independent of high-scoring teammates Travis Oleksuk (21 goals, 47 points) and J.T. Brown (20 goals, 42 points). Working in Connolly’s favor is the fact that whomever coach Scott Sandelin puts on his line—Brown, Oleksuk, Mike Seidel—produces offense.

Emphasis mine.

Listen. I don't pretend to be a great hockey mind, and I'm certainly biased in this case.

But whoever wrote this clearly hasn't watched UMD very much. Connolly has skated on a line with Oleksuk and Brown for precisely two-and-a-half games out of the 35 UMD has played to this point. Yes, he has a lot of power play points, but 1) he also has a lot of even-strength points, and 2) I fail to see how having a lot of power play points is a bad thing.

Beyond the "crazy simpleton" nature of the above statement is the undeniable fact that Jack Connolly has played a significant role in the career years being had by at least four UMD players, including Oleksuk and Brown, and including Mike Seidel and Joe Basaraba, Connolly's linemates for much of the 17-game unbeaten streak UMD had into January.

You can talk about Oleksuk and Brown being great players, and you're not at all wrong there. But to diminish the impact Connolly has had on them by pretending that they're the ones having the impact on him is borderline delusional, and points to a potential bias that would be simply inexplicable.

If you don't believe me, ask the guys Connolly has been playing with this season if they've been made better by having Connolly on the team. Hell, ask Oleksuk how he scored that late power play goal against Colorado College last Saturday. It might look like a sick, twisted wrister in the box score, but the tape tells a different story. Find a guy in the game who can make that pass.

I'm not here to pump Jack Connolly's tires. Honestly, I don't think I need to, because his play on the ice usually takes care of that.

Just pointing out that not everyone necessarily sees it clearly, no matter how hard they try.

******

It's going to shape up to be a great finish in the WCHA. Minnesota's loss to Wisconsin leaves the league championship in doubt. There is a three way tie for the final home ice spot, as Colorado College became the fifth team to take a spot in the top six. CC beat Michigan Tech 5-2 in Colorado Springs behind a Jaden Schwartz hat trick two goals from Jaden Schwartz.

Nebraska Omaha fell 3-0 to Denver, which clinched the third seed. Juho Olkinuora threw a 26-save shutout at the red Mavericks. With the loss, UNO is tied with the Huskies -- both Michigan Tech and St. Cloud State -- for the last home ice spot. If all three win Saturday, UNO will get home ice. Michigan Tech and St. Cloud State are Denver fans for the evening.

North Dakota got two Danny Kristo goals to beat Minnesota State 4-2. The loss locks the Mavericks into a matchup at UMD next weekend, while North Dakota knows it will be seeded fourth. Aaron Dell started and won in goal for the Sioux.

Late Friday, Bemidji State held off Alaska Anchorage 2-1. Jordan George had two first-period goals for the Beavers, who didn't take a penalty in the game. The Beavers could finish ninth with a win Saturday and a Wisconsin loss, and the difference is significant. A ninth-place finish means a two-hour bus ride to Grand Forks, while finishing tenth would send Bemidji to Denver one weekend after traveling to Anchorage. Beaver fans rooting for the Gophers? It could happen.

UMD Honors Its Past

The Hobey Baker Award was first given out in 1981.

Over that time, the UMD Bulldogs have produced four Hobey winners, a number not surpassed by any other school in the country. UMD might not have nine national championships, but the school sure has a pretty good track record of producing big-time players.

The four Hobey winners -- Tom Kurvers, Bill Watson, Chris Marinucci, and Junior Lessard -- were in town last July for the school's annual alumni weekend, at which time the current UMD players were presented with rings commemorating last year's national championship.

But the four have never been together at a UMD game before.

Until Friday.

During the first intermission of UMD's game against North Dakota, the four will be honored, with new banners going up.

Watson is pretty excited.

"They've been very gracious. This is more about our night at UMD, and honoring those guys. We're all looking forward to it."

Lessard was the last of the four to play professionally, up through last season.

"It's rare for us four to be together on a night," Watson said, "and it's nice to be doing it on a weekend where we're playing a series like this (North Dakota)."

With UMD senior captain Jack Connolly among the favorites for the Hobey Baker Award this season, the timing of this ceremony is certainly good. It should serve as an opportunity for fans to get excited about Connolly's candidacy, even though the center is mired in a bit of a scoring slump at this point.

For Watson, it's also a chance to look at his Hobey comrades and show them something they don't have.

That, of course, is an NCAA championship ring, something Watson earned while a part of the coaching staff last season. He's still on staff as a volunteer assistant, working regularly with the players and spending time at the end of practices playing in something dubbed the AHL, for Afternoon Hockey League.

Last year, it was Justin Fontaine and the non-related Connollys (Jack and Mike) plying their craft in the regular games, joined by a host of other players. Now, others get their shot, including Adam Krause and Joe Basaraba, among others, on Wednesday.

Friday night will be special for UMD fans. It's a chance to see a lot of the program's history and tradition in the building on the same night. Hopefully, it's also the start of a new streak of good play for the current Bulldogs.

Jack Connolly Marches Toward History

Jack Connolly's season goes beyond his Hobey Baker candidacy, his point streak, his exemplary work as UMD's captain, or his march up UMD's all-time scoring list.

The UMD senior center had four points last weekend -- including three on Saturday -- in a non-conference sweep of Alabama-Huntsville. That lifted Connolly into sole possession of 12th place on UMD's all-time list with 177 points. It also ran his point scoring streak to 22 straight, tying a school single-season record.

Connolly is on the verge of being a three-time All American -- which would be a UMD first. He's also on pace to top 200 career points, assuming UMD plays in at least three postseason games (a virtual certainty between the WCHA and NCAA playoffs). To put that in perspective, TJ Hensick was the last college player to hit 200 career points. And that was a while ago. As Chris Dilks noted this week on Western College Hockey, it's not like there's a long line of guys behind Connolly who have a chance at the number.

Only six players in UMD's history have 200 career points. The last one to hit the milestone in a UMD uniform was Derek Plante in 1993 (219 points). Dan Lempe (222), Matt Christiansen (219), Bill Watson (210), Gregg Moore (206), and Scott Carlston (203) are the others.

In case you're wondering, it's not unrealistic for Connolly to reach 210 points if UMD plays more than one game at the Final Five and four games in the NCAA Tournament. That would tie Connolly for fourth all-time with Watson.

Reality suggests that Connolly's feats will be exceptionally difficult to duplicate. Most players who are talented enough to rack up this many points would be serious flight risks before they've played four years of college hockey. Any chance we have of seeing 200-point players in the future probably lie in undersized, undrafted players like Connolly.

Over the rest of the season, there will be a lot of chatter -- both in this space and in other places -- about Connolly's candidacy for the Hobey Baker Award, given to college hockey's top player. Unlike some other awards, there are components to the award criteria that have little to do with hockey. However, you're not winning the Hobey if you roll up 15 points in 39 games on a team that goes 12-23-4, no matter what you do with your time away from the rink.

Connolly figures to be a strong possibility for the final ten that the Hobey folks will announce in mid-March, and there's a chance he'll make the Hobey Hat Trick, which is announced shortly after that. He leads the nation in points and points per game, he doesn't "fatten up" on power plays, he doesn't lack in goal-scoring ability (on pace to shatter his previous career high of 18 goals), and he plays in all key situations for UMD, including late in games where UMD is defending a lead. He's developed into a key penalty-killer over his career.

"Obviously, he's a heck of a player on a very good and a very deep team," Michigan Tech coach Mel Pearson says. "So sneaky, so smart. You have to be aware of when he's on the ice."

Pearson would know. For 40 minutes of each game of the teams' series in Houghton in December, Connolly was shut down. In the third period of each game, the Huskies couldn't stop him. Connolly had two goals and an assist in the third period of a 5-3 win Friday, then scored the game-winner in a 5-3 win Saturday.

"They have other parts, but he stirs the drink," Pearson said. "I thought we did an excellent job on him. You might be able to shut him down for 58 minutes, but those two minutes you don't, look out."

UMD coach Scott Sandelin thought Connolly's line -- he centers Mike Seidel and Joe Basaraba -- was out of synch and off its game in Friday's 2-1 win over Alabama-Huntsville. Last year, Connolly and his star linemates Mike Connolly and Justin Fontaine rarely put together a stretch of two sub-par games in a row.

Connolly wasn't going to let it happen this year, either.

"I thought he was outstanding from the drop of the puck," Sandelin said. "I thought he was at another level. It's hard to keep them down. Even those guys not having their best night is still good, but they were very good on Saturday."

UMD's balance is certainly a key to the team's success, but Connolly's ability to dominate in the clutch is what could take this group to another level. Focus too much on Connolly, and you risk getting torched by Travis Oleksuk and JT Brown. And even if you can contain both top lines, you still have to find a way to keep the third and fourth lines -- more than capable of contributing -- off the scoreboard.

Connolly is -- as Pearson says -- the straw stirring the drink. He's the most valuable player you'll find on any top team in college hockey, and he might be the best you'll see anywhere.

The Hobey debate is always an interesting one, because you get into a world where guys play different positions, different roles, and put up different statistics while playing on different teams in different leagues. Being on that committee is a hell of a responsibility, because it's your job to make sense if it all, even though there's a good chance you haven't seen all the candidates play in person.

When the dust clears and there are three guys sitting in the front row at the Hobey ceremony Apr. 6 in Tampa, you'll have a hard time convincing me Jack Connolly won't be one of them.

The only question that carries real intrigue, besides the obvious, is this:

Will he still have his Zac Brown-like playoff beard when he's sitting there?

It's a question we'll have a hard time answering until that day comes.

Jack Connolly Named Hobey Baker Finalist

The Hobey Baker Memorial Award is the most prestigious honor given out in college hockey. Annually, it is awarded to the sport's top player, with the nod also given to those who are good people off the ice.

In the award's history, it has been won by four UMD Bulldogs: Tom Kurvers, Bill Watson, Chris Marinucci, and Junior Lessard.

In 2010, UMD is going after a fifth Hobey winner.

Junior All-America center Jack Connolly has been named a finalist for the award. The list of ten finalists was released by the committee Thursday.

Entering the WCHA Final Five Thursday afternoon, Connolly has 15 goals and 54 points to lead the Bulldogs and tie for the WCHA lead with North Dakota's Matt Frattin, who has played in two more games (39 to Connolly's 37). Connolly has 1.46 points per game, tops in the WCHA and third in the nation behind Miami senior Andy Miele and Niagara's Paul Zanette.