Last week, I joined my friends Giles Ferrell and Ben Remington on the "Giles and the Goalie" podcast to help rank the ten most influential figures in Minnesota hockey.
As the second-biggest guest* of the week, it was an honor to give my opinion and discuss what makes a figure influential. Doing so made me think who the most influential figures in Minnesota women's hockey history would be.
So I made a list.
Thursday, April 23, 2020
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Thirty-One Seconds: Honoring An Unfinished 2019-20 Season
Thirty-One Seconds. The time it takes for one shift in a hockey game, a single 31 second stretch shaped the 2019-20 Big Ten regular season.
Trailing Minnesota 2-1 in the third period, Penn State’s Nikita Pavlychev tied the February 22nd game with his 7th goal of the year. The roar from the goal announcement had yet to linger before Pavlychev found freshman Kevin Wall and put the Nittany Lions ahead 3-2.
Penn State’s ensuing win and six-point swing put the Nittany Lions three ahead of the Gophers, Ohio State and Michigan when the following weekend and February came to an end. One shift made a world of difference. For the first time in program history, the Nittany Lions, who began the 2010s by announcing a men’s hockey program, were regular-season champions.
****
Outside of October’s eternal new season hopes, perhaps no month springs college hockey optimism quite like February. A number of teams find themselves hitting their stride after taking some lumps in slow starts. Others spent months building up to this point, being the best of the best and willing to prove it each weekend. With conference tournaments ahead for all but a small handful of teams, almost every team believes in its heart of hearts that it has a shot.
March and April get championship credit. February, the culmination of five months of the regular season, sits home to many more championship dreams.
Some of the best college hockey teams I’ve seen are ones who ran into a hot goalie with the game of his life, or had a single off night and did not make the Frozen Four. A nearly six-month grind that begins when leaves change colors and ends when flowers begin to bloom, the regular season does not get enough love.
Champions walk together. Even regular-season champions. However, the ones remembered more end up being the ones surviving the quick, short second season.
Let’s be honest. College hockey history gets written by those who have two fantastic weekends in March and April.
Sunday, April 12, 2020
Puck Drop: Picking the NCAA Tournament (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
With no Frozen Four played, the next best thing was to make my picks how the 2020 NCAA Tournament would play out regardless.
I joined Randy Johnson of the Minneapolis Star Tribune to pick the men's tournament. As a two-time defending bracket champion, I was happy to use my method* and expertise. In a sport where parity and upsets rule, my bracket includes its share of upsets while telling some fun and fantastic stories. There's a Frozen Four with a pair of first-time teams. Denver goes through a pair of teams it got revenge on and the West Regional features the biggest upset of the group.
Congrats to Minnesota State, winners of my mythical 2020 Frozen Four. Let me know when I should expect an invitation to raise the banner.
The entire bracket, along with Randy's picks, can be found in two parts.
Part I (Regional Weekend): https://www.startribune.com/no-ncaa-tournament-we-re-making-our-picks-anyway/569157512/
Part II (Frozen Four): https://www.startribune.com/frozen-four-is-shelved-but-not-these-mythical-championship-picks/569536682/
*This method for winning being "pick the Atlantic Hockey autobid to upset No. 1 overall seed St. Cloud State."
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I joined Randy Johnson of the Minneapolis Star Tribune to pick the men's tournament. As a two-time defending bracket champion, I was happy to use my method* and expertise. In a sport where parity and upsets rule, my bracket includes its share of upsets while telling some fun and fantastic stories. There's a Frozen Four with a pair of first-time teams. Denver goes through a pair of teams it got revenge on and the West Regional features the biggest upset of the group.
Congrats to Minnesota State, winners of my mythical 2020 Frozen Four. Let me know when I should expect an invitation to raise the banner.
The entire bracket, along with Randy's picks, can be found in two parts.
Part I (Regional Weekend): https://www.startribune.com/no-ncaa-tournament-we-re-making-our-picks-anyway/569157512/
Part II (Frozen Four): https://www.startribune.com/frozen-four-is-shelved-but-not-these-mythical-championship-picks/569536682/
*This method for winning being "pick the Atlantic Hockey autobid to upset No. 1 overall seed St. Cloud State."
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Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Feature: Experience The Freakout (College Hockey, Inc.)
In late January, I went up to Troy, New York to attend RPI's 43rd annual Big Red Freakout. I've never been to RPI's campus before that weekend.
Luckily, I was able to get behind-the-scenes access for the entire weekend thanks to RPI SID Perry Laskaris. (I was also on WRPI with Perry during Friday's second intermission.) This was my favorite feature to write during the year, and one I hope to follow up on with more behind-the-scenes stories. These types of features don't often happen in college hockey. Given how important a community is with the sport, this feels all the more important right now.
Big thanks to College Hockey, Inc. for publishing.
****
Owen Savory stands alone. The RPI sophomore goaltender, the lone player not on the blue line for the Canadian and American national anthems, prefers to be close to his net.
By now it’s tradition. He was not 100% sure what to do during his first start. Savory stayed back, being there for the rest of the Engineers after the starting lineups were announced.
RPI won that night. So it stuck.
On this night though, he’s not alone. Not this night. From the moment RPI came out in road red sweaters for warmups against Vermont, hundreds of standing home fans lined the glass to cheer on the Engineers. That includes nearly 60 returning alumni from the program, many of whom skated on the Houston Field House ice hours earlier. The cheers and European-style atmosphere does not let up until Savory leaves the ice to end the game, concluding a weekend tradition nearly a half century in the making.
“It’s unbelievable, the vibe around our room during the day and the alumni around. You could shake their hands and see the impact they had on the program,” said Savory. “I think when you skate out there for the anthem and the whole crowd yells ‘RED,’ that’s for our whole team. It gives us chills and that’s why we sacrifice because they did a long time ago.”
Welcome to The Big Red Freakout – part party, part reunion, part celebration of all things Engineers hockey – a night that serves as the biggest event of the home hockey calendar.
You can read the rest of the feature here: http://collegehockeyinc.com/articles/2020/03/experience-the-freakout.php
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If you enjoyed this blog, you can follow Nate on Twitter and like/subscribe to his Facebook page. Thanks!
Luckily, I was able to get behind-the-scenes access for the entire weekend thanks to RPI SID Perry Laskaris. (I was also on WRPI with Perry during Friday's second intermission.) This was my favorite feature to write during the year, and one I hope to follow up on with more behind-the-scenes stories. These types of features don't often happen in college hockey. Given how important a community is with the sport, this feels all the more important right now.
Big thanks to College Hockey, Inc. for publishing.
****
Owen Savory stands alone. The RPI sophomore goaltender, the lone player not on the blue line for the Canadian and American national anthems, prefers to be close to his net.
By now it’s tradition. He was not 100% sure what to do during his first start. Savory stayed back, being there for the rest of the Engineers after the starting lineups were announced.
RPI won that night. So it stuck.
On this night though, he’s not alone. Not this night. From the moment RPI came out in road red sweaters for warmups against Vermont, hundreds of standing home fans lined the glass to cheer on the Engineers. That includes nearly 60 returning alumni from the program, many of whom skated on the Houston Field House ice hours earlier. The cheers and European-style atmosphere does not let up until Savory leaves the ice to end the game, concluding a weekend tradition nearly a half century in the making.
“It’s unbelievable, the vibe around our room during the day and the alumni around. You could shake their hands and see the impact they had on the program,” said Savory. “I think when you skate out there for the anthem and the whole crowd yells ‘RED,’ that’s for our whole team. It gives us chills and that’s why we sacrifice because they did a long time ago.”
Welcome to The Big Red Freakout – part party, part reunion, part celebration of all things Engineers hockey – a night that serves as the biggest event of the home hockey calendar.
You can read the rest of the feature here: http://collegehockeyinc.com/articles/2020/03/experience-the-freakout.php
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February & March NCAA.com Features
Each week during the 2019-20 season I wrote a feature, column or bracketology for NCAA.com. That continued throughout February and March up until the point when the season was canceled due to coronavirus.
Rather than post every single feature as its own post, I decided it would be best to have them all in one spot for portfolio reasons. Despite the season ending prematurely without an NCAA Tournament for those bracketology features to pay off down the stretch, I am happy with being able to spend a second season covering college hockey nationally for NCAA.com
Men's Hockey Bracketology:
February 12, 2020
February 26, 2020
March 11, 2020
Women's Hockey Bracketology:
March 5, 2020
Columns and Features:
February Stock Report
NCAA Awards Picks (Through February 19)
11 College Hockey Teams To Watch In March
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Rather than post every single feature as its own post, I decided it would be best to have them all in one spot for portfolio reasons. Despite the season ending prematurely without an NCAA Tournament for those bracketology features to pay off down the stretch, I am happy with being able to spend a second season covering college hockey nationally for NCAA.com
Men's Hockey Bracketology:
February 12, 2020
February 26, 2020
March 11, 2020
Women's Hockey Bracketology:
March 5, 2020
Columns and Features:
February Stock Report
NCAA Awards Picks (Through February 19)
11 College Hockey Teams To Watch In March
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If you enjoyed this blog, you can follow Nate on Twitter and like/subscribe to his Facebook page. Thanks!
Game Stories: Minnesota at Penn State, February 21-22 (Zone Coverage)
In late February, I went out to State College and covered Minnesota's Big Ten regular-season road finale series against Penn State for old friends Zone Coverage. (I was planning on covering the Gophers' Big Ten conference semifinal return for the Minneapolis Star Tribune before it and the rest of the college hockey season was canceled due to coronavirus.) Pegula Arena has not been kind to Minnesota as of late, and that streak continued for the young Gophers.
Minnesota showed heart Friday, coming back from a 2-1 deficit to lead in the third period despite being outshot 57-25, before tying 3-3 and losing the extra Big Ten conference point in 3-on-3 OT. The Gophers led 2-1 on Saturday before Penn State came back with two goals in 31 seconds to take the lead, the game (and a week later the Big Ten regular-season championship).
Both recaps can be found below.
Friday: https://zonecoverage.com/2020/gophers/gophers-nittany-lions-skate-to-a-3-3-tie-in-battle-for-big-ten-supremacy/
Saturday: https://zonecoverage.com/2020/gophers/golden-gophers-squander-2-0-lead-dim-big-ten-title-hopes-in-loss-to-nittany-lions/
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Minnesota showed heart Friday, coming back from a 2-1 deficit to lead in the third period despite being outshot 57-25, before tying 3-3 and losing the extra Big Ten conference point in 3-on-3 OT. The Gophers led 2-1 on Saturday before Penn State came back with two goals in 31 seconds to take the lead, the game (and a week later the Big Ten regular-season championship).
Both recaps can be found below.
Friday: https://zonecoverage.com/2020/gophers/gophers-nittany-lions-skate-to-a-3-3-tie-in-battle-for-big-ten-supremacy/
Saturday: https://zonecoverage.com/2020/gophers/golden-gophers-squander-2-0-lead-dim-big-ten-title-hopes-in-loss-to-nittany-lions/
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Feature: Sleeping Giant (Minnesota Hockey Magazine)
For the March 2020 edition of Minnesota Hockey Magazine, I wrote about Quinnipiac junior forward Odeen Tufto, the best Minnesotan playing college hockey you likely don't know.
The Chaska, MN native left high school at St. Thomas Academy without a single Division 1 offer. After going to the BCHL and three different USHL stops, Tufto made his way to Connecticut where he's been among the nation's best playmakers. The past two seasons saw Tufto crack the top-10 among top assists. The feature goes into Tufto's path to Quinnipiac, the challenges of being a smaller player, why Matthew Barzal and Mitch Marner are his favorite players and much more.
This edition of MHM was sold at the Minnesota Boys HS State Tournament. Coincidentally, St. Thomas Academy made it there as well. Still, you can find it online and read just as easily.
Online magazine: https://online.fliphtml5.com/aotas/pqpw/#p=58
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Feature: State Is Forever (Minnesota Hockey Journal)
For the March 2020 edition of Minnesota Hockey Journal, I wrote the cover story on a pair of Division 1 men's hockey captains in Minnesota Duluth's Nick Wolff and Bemidji State's Tommy Muck.
The pair of defensemen are friends and high school teammates. In 2014, they helped lead Eagan HS (MN) to the Minnesota Boy's High School State Tournament, an event that still plays a major role in the development of both Wolff, who signed an NHL contract with Boston after the season, and Muck.
There are plenty of gems on both throughout the entire feature, which also focuses on the leadership gained from a state tournament run and how they use it on their college teams. Minnesota Hockey Magazine can be found at local Minnesota rinks and wherever available (when available to go), along with online.
Website: https://www.minnesotahockeyjournal.com/news_article/show/1091151
Digital Magazine: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1212390-march-2020/15?m4=
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