Just a weekend after becoming the inaugural champions of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC), the Pioneers fell to Boston College in the first round of the NCAA Division I Tournament, 6-2.
The Frozen Faceoff, the first of many NCHC tournaments, began for the Pioneers on March 13, where DU lost its first game to Nebraska Omaha. Consecutive wins saw the Pioneers move into the NCHC semifinals where the Pios took down Western Michigan 4-3 to advance to the tournament finals. Denver took on Miami of Ohio in the finals, again winning 4-3, in order to claim the first ever NCHC championship.
Denver entered the tournament as the sixth seed in the conference, and with two other NCAA tournament-bound teams, were not expected to take home the title. However, Miami’s upsets of both St. Cloud State and North Dakota, along with DU’s own four game hot streak allowed them to cruise the title.
“For our season, I’m really proud of our group that’s been able to win a championship and add to the legacy and tradition of Denver hockey,” said head coach Jim Montgomery. “There are seven national championships, several WCHA Championships. It’s great to be able to add the NCHC conference tournament championship in the first season in our league,” said Montgomery.
With the NCHC victory, DU locked up its place in the NCAA tournament as a four seed in the Northeast Regional. Boston College, the number one seed in the conference, and the second overall seed in the tournament would be their first round opponent. Boston College had lost three of their last four games, all against Notre Dame, heading into their match against Denver.
The game started off poorly for the Pioneers and continued to get worse throughout. The story of the game was the performance of Boston College’s stars Johnny Gaudreau and Kevin Hayes. Gaudreau and Hayes were first and second in points in the NCAA this season respectively, and their tournament performance lived up to the hype.
Gaudreau started off the game’s scoring with a first period goal just 25 seconds into the game. BC’s Hayes scored another goal just five minutes later. Gaudreau would go on to score two more goals in the game, giving him a hat-trick, while Hayes would go on to score another for himself as well. Gaudreau is the heavy favorite for the 2014 Hobey Baker Award, which is given to the top collegiate hockey player in the nation each year.
“We knew in order to have success today we would have had to play perfect hockey,” Montgomery said. “Unfortunately, Boston College played perfect hockey. They won face-offs, they executed on special teams and their top line was phenomenal tonight. There’s a reason that those guys will end up playing at a higher level and making a lot of money.”
Boston’s Bill Arnold, seventh in NCAA points, scored another goal in the second period, giving Boston College a six goal lead, which would prove more than enough to secure their victory. Denver would eventually strike back as Trevor Moore scored late in the second period, and Evan Janssen scored late in the third, making the score 6-2 before the game ended.
Senior goaltender Sam Brittain allowed all six goals in the first two periods before being replaced by freshman Evan Cowley for the third period. Brittain made 20 saves while allowing the six goals, while Cowley made seven saves in the third period.
This was Denver’s seventh consecutive tournament appearance, and the first under new coach Montgomery. It was also their sixth first-round exit in that span. The Pioneers finished their season with a 20-16-6 record on the year.