This past weekend I went up to Hamden, CT to cover the 2019 women's Frozen Four for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Those articles can be found below, but I also wanted to add some thoughts on the weekend and experience. It was a fantastic experience catching up with old friends, meeting several people I've interacted with, and of course, getting to once again cover the University of Minnesota's run in person.
Nicole Schammel gets her Frozen Four moment as Minnesota shuts out Cornell to advance to the national championship game: http://www.startribune.com/gophers-women-s-hockey-tops-cornell-2-0-to-advance-to-national-title-game/507538602/
"It's fierce and special, mixed with a dash of familiarity." On the Minnesota-Wisconsin rivalry being contested over a national championship: http://www.startribune.com/rivals-minnesota-wisconsin-to-play-for-women-s-hockey-championship/507572422/
"These years have been the best years of our lives." Why Minnesota was both disappointed to lose in the national championship game and grateful to get the opportunity: http://www.startribune.com/gophers-women-s-hockey-loses-2-0-to-badgers-in-national-championship/507591282/
An early look at the 2019-20 Gophers team: http://www.startribune.com/gophers-have-talent-to-rebound-from-ncaa-title-game-loss/507616532/
Some final thoughts that didn't fit into a story:
-How fitting was it that Wisconsin, in its sixth straight Frozen Four and without a national championship since 2011, win its elusive title in a place nicknamed the Land of the Sleeping Giant?
-Once again, all three games were fantastic. Whereas 2018 was the OT Frozen Four (all three games went to overtime with Colgate-Wisconsin needing two), 2019's Frozen Four was one for the goalies. All three Frozen Four games ended in shutouts.
Wisconsin goaltender Kristen Campbell ended the tournament as the Most Outstanding Player after being the first to not allow a goal during the NCAA Tournament.
It's not just Campbell, however. Minnesota's Alex Gulstene was on her game during Friday's 2-0 win over Cornell, which saw the Gophers struggling to find a way past Big Red goaltender Marlene Boissonnault. While Clarkson lost 5-0, the score doesn't tell the whole story. Kassidy Sauve kept the Golden Knights within one until there were less than 10 minutes left. The ensuing goals were mostly a combination of Wisconsin breaking through the dam after outshooting Clarkson, empty netters and the Golden Knights being aggressive to score with its season on the line.
-Goals were at a premium. At the same time, this wasn't a weekend where the hot goaltender won. In all three games, the team with the better chances came out ahead.
-Following the 2018 Frozen Four, I wrote a feature for The Athletic on the ECAC making its mark in WCHA country with the first national championship game not to feature either a Minnesota or Wisconsin school.
At the end of the feature, it's mentioned how the Gophers and WCHA will regroup after getting back Olympians. Point made.
This season featured stronger teams throughout the country, but the WCHA rebounded. The 2019 Frozen Four championship ended up being an all-WCHA affair in ECAC country as Minnesota and Wisconsin, each defeating ECAC teams in the semifinals, ended the year by far the top two teams in the country. It was a great way for WCHA women's commissioner Katie Million (there in attendance) to end her tenure.
-Despite the event featuring three regulars who on paper could be penciled in back in September, a common refrain among players and coaches was how difficult the road can be. It's tough to get back to the Frozen Four, year-in and year-out; let alone one year. With expectations so sky-high for a team like Minnesota, that ends up overshadowing the actual accomplishment.
Cornell head coach Doug Derraugh, making his first Frozen Four appearance since 2012, echoed how he took earlier ones for granted, saying, " As a young coach, I think I got spoiled back in that era. Over the course of the last number of years, I've realized how difficult it is to get to this point and what you have to go through to get an opportunity to play in the Frozen Four."
-WCHA love-fest aside, the fact two-time defending champion Clarkson, after picking up Sauve and T.T. Cianfarano as grad transfers and maintaining much of its team, losing in the semifinals seems to be disappointing says much about where the Golden Knights program has gone up from its 2014 trip to Hamden to now.
-If there was one difference between this year's Wisconsin team and past Frozen Fours, it can be summed up in Annie Pankowski's quote, "we weren't afraid to lose."
I thought Wisconsin backed up the words with actions. The Badgers had a different mindset. Instead of feeling like it couldn't make any mistakes and had raised expectations to win a national championship - something that seemed to be the case each Frozen Four - the team came in with the confidence of playing with house money. It showed. Wisconsin was beyond confident playing its own game, shutting down Clarkson's potent top line and using its own depth to match Minnesota's. Campbell did the rest, but a lot of credit could go to the Badgers defense and role players.
-As always happens when a team wins a national championship, several smaller stories of redemption and resilience seem to accompany it. For Wisconsin, three of those are Emily Clark defeating Kelly Pannek in a championship game after the latter won gold in the 2018 Olympics, Kristen Campbell moving to the Badgers after North Dakota cut its women's hockey program, and Pankowski finally winning in her sixth and final year after coming so close so many times.
Pankowski's story, by far, ended up being the best one and likely the best championship story since Amanda Kessel came back from career-ending concussions midway through 2016 and won with Minnesota. (Even if the Gophers won, Pankowski's still would have been better than Taylor Williamson's comeback arc from her coaches never believing she would play again.) So many times Pankowski has been the runner-up and never the winner. Twice cut from the US Olympic team, including missing out on gold in 2018. Three times a Patty Kazmaier Award finalist without winning the award. Three times playing in the Frozen Four without a national title.
Until this weekend, the story of Pankowski's career was heartbreak of being the best without having won as the best. To finally get the national championship win - #JusticeforAnnie as some Wisconsin fans put it - felt good to see and reminded me of Daniel Cormier won the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Pankowski doing so by scoring the goals in each game that changed course (her shorthanded short side goal against Minnesota turned what looked to be a tie game into a comfortable Wisconsin lead) was icing on the cake.
-Honestly, it's tough to define Campbell's story as one of redemption. Hers is one closer to a missed opportunity. I'm extremely happy for Campbell and all ex-North Dakota players that they were able to find new programs. That the Fighting Hawks cut women's hockey still stings. With a number of former UND players and recruits succeeding in college hockey, that team would easily be contending.
Still, her performance stood out as one of the all-time Frozen Four performances and should be recognized as one. It's a far cry from seeing Campbell, backing up Lexie Shaw, getting a rare start and being lit up by Minnesota.
-There's not much about the Gophers here because I spent all weekend writing about Minnesota. Personally, it's tough to see this class go after covering them for 4 years (5 for Kelly Pannek). The entire group of players is fantastic people on and off the ice. Several of my favorite features involve this year's senior class. Can't wait to see what they do next as college graduates.
-Brad Frost's team will have to replace several key names, but Minnesota should be in good position to reload and be a top team in 2019-20. Curious to see how having that taste of losing in the national championship game in their mouth (it's healthy, as Pannek put it) affects the Gophers.
Hamden is both near New Haven (Yale) and out in its own neck of the woods outside the city. The campus on which the arena sits is up on a hill overlooking the rest of the area. It's peaceful up there.
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