COLUMBUS, Ohio – The sticks, gloves and helmets flew into the air of the Value City Arena on Saturday night as the Pioneers won their second straight ice hockey national championship by beating the University of North Dakota 4-1.
Fans had questions about DU at the beginning of the season: its goaltending after Adam Berkhoel left, the way DU would defend its title and the strength of its freshmen.
DU answered all of these concerns by winning again.
Freshman Peter Mannino and sophomore Glenn Fisher were strong in the net all year helping the Pioneers finish with a 32-9-2 record and a Western Conference Hockey Association title.
Also, the freshmen on the team were regarded as the best in the nation, with Paul Stastny winning the WCHA rookie of the year and Mannino, the Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player awards, respectively.
“Going into the season a lot of guys doubted Peter and I and we proved them wrong and filled the big shoes that were left to fill,” said Fisher.
Going into the championship weekend, DU knew that it was going to be tough, but the scores did not reflect that
Thursday, the Pioneers controlled the play with a 6-2 victory over Colorado College to advance to their second straight NCAA title in two years.
The Saturday night national title game was not as thrilling as last year’s nail-biter, but it definitely had its moments.
Denver got on the board first with a goal by senior Kevin Ulanski six minutes into the game. Three minutes later though, the Fighting Sioux’s Travis Zajac evened things up and it would stay that way until the end of the first period.
UND came out with lots of energy and intensity in the first period and Mannino came up big in goal snagging some hard shots, but it was Denver in the second period that turned up the intensity.
Halfway through the period, Stastny finally ended his playoff slump with his 16th goal of the season, giving DU a 2-1 lead heading into what was expected to be nail-biting final period.
Stastny struck again eight minutes into the period to give the Pioneers a 3-1 lead. Gauthier topped things off with an empty net goal to cement DU’s second straight national championship.
“I just wanted to know what it felt like to win the national championship and here it is,”said freshman Andrew Thomas. “I am so happy for the seniors.”
“It’s hard to think about it right now…it’s going to take a couple days to set in,” said senior Jussi Halme. “Last year was pretty good, but to do it again is amazing.”
Denver has now won its seventh title in its ninth try and is the second team in the history of the NCAA to win eight straight tournament games.
“It is amazing to win. We had targets on our back,” said senior Jon Foster. “Everyone expected us to win and this is the best way you can go out as a senior.”
The university will recognize the team’s successful season tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. in Magness Arena. The event is open to all students as well as the public.
In Thursday afternoon’s game against Colorado College, the Pioneers took a few minutes to get adjusted to the new atmosphere of the Value City Arena, but once they got going, they could not be stopped.
After Mannino came up big on the Tigers scoring chances, DU senior Luke Fulghum found the net with 6:06 remaining in the first.
Less than two minutes later, Fulghum stuck it between the posts again for his 23rd of the season and a 2-0 Pioneer lead after the first period.
Denver’s energy and intensity continued into the second period as sophomore Matt Carle lit the lamp with his 13th goal of the year and now a 3-0 Denver lead.
The quest for their second straight championship game was not without a little struggle as Brian Salcido finally got CC on the board halfway through the second period.
Junior Gabe Gauthier scored to give Denver back its three-goal lead heading into the third period. Denver didn’t let up heading into the final period as Gauthier netted one more just over five minutes into the third period.
CC scored once more, before sophomore Adrian Veideman tallied with 45 seconds left to seal DU’s 6-2 victory.
“To be in this situation, in the Frozen Four, it’s just a thrill for all the freshmen, and we just wanted to take it in stride and give as much impact to the team as we could,” said Mannino.
