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First we had the Olympic hockey tournament, now the state high school tournament, and the return to action of the National Hockey League. But somehow wedged in there somewhere, college hockey in its new and changed and various forms is rising to the boiling point for their playoffs.
Consider, for example, that when Nebraska-Omaha comes to AMSOIL Arena this weekend to face UMD, it is the final series of the first regular season for the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference.
The first NCHC season couldn’t have a more exciting finish. North Dakota and St. Cloud State are tied for first place with 42 points; Nebraska-Omaha has 36, then UMD and Western Michigan follow at 34, with Denver sixth at 32, and Colorado College (24) and Miami of Ohio (17) trail. St. Cloud is on the road at CC, North Dakota home against Western Michigan, to settle the title. With Nebraska-Omaha at UMD and Miami at Denver, things are far from settled.
Last weekend couldn’t have been more fortuitous for UMD. While Denver and Western Michigan split, UMD swept at Miami which vaulted UMD from sixth into the tie with Western for fourth place and the final home-ice slot. And UMD holds the tie-breaker against Western Michigan. UMD can finish as high as third or as low as sixth, while one UNO victory will secure home ice for the Mavericks.
“It will be a great series,” said UNO coach Dean Blais, the former International Falls and Golden Gopher star who has carved out quite a niche as an elite coach at stops like North Dakota, then building the Fargo junior hockey franchise, and now at Nebraska-Omaha. “Both teams will get up and down the ice.”
Both of them also went up and down the ice earlier this season when UMD shocked the Mavericks 3-2 and 3-1 in Omaha. It might be safe to say Aaron Crandall won the goaltending job that January 10-11 weekend is an understatement. “We outshot them something like 55-11 in the second game,” said Blais.
Sure enough, UNO outshot UMD 40-30 in the first game, and 55-11 in the second, and Crandall’s 38 saves followed by 52 saves was nothing short of astounding.
Elsewhere in college hockey, the playoffs have already commenced. St. Scholastica went on the long road trip to Adrian last Saturday and beat the No. 2 seed 4-3, as senior Alex Valenti followed up a first-period goal by scoring unassisted early in the third period to secure the victory for the Saints. That earns them the chance to make another road trip this weekend to face St. Norbert, the No 1 seed, and the NCHA playoff winner gets an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III tournament.
The Saints had to move into their new league with the old name because the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference wanted to play among themselves. Wisconsin-Superior is causing some ripples, having gone on the road as well to surprise River Falls with a two-game sweep behind Dayn Belfour, son of former NHL star netminder Eddie Belfour. With Belfour taking over in goal, the Yellowjackets won 2-1 on Friday, then Belfour’s 33 saves earned the shutout in a 4-0 follow-up.
Also, we can’t overlook Superior, which is making its 36th run at the Wisconsin High School tournament this weekend in Madison.

AND YOUR REWARD IS...

If the UMD women’s hockey season ends with a thud at Bemidji Friday night, it won’t be surprising. The Bulldogs take on Minnesota’s two-time defending NCAA champion and No. 1 ranked Golden Gophers in the WCHA tournament semifinals of the Final Faceoff. Wisconsin faces North Dakota in the other game.
That’s the reward the Bulldogs fought so hard to attain against Ohio State last weekend in what, really, was a classic playoff series.
UMD coach Shannon Miller ended her experiment of shifting strong-skating/weak-passing forward Jenna McParland back to defense, where she played very well, and moved the puck very effectively. With Tea Villila and Lara Stalder back from the Olympics to bolster the UMD defense, Miller moved McParland back up with center Ashleigh Brykaliuk and left wing Jamie Kenyon. “She didn’t want to play defense,” said Miller, “and those three really wanted to play together.”
In Game 1 of the best of three, Kenyon scored her 15th goal of the season and goaltender Kayla Black made it stand up with 26 saves for a 1-0 victory. In Game 2, UMD poured on the offense, outshooting the Buckeyes 10-1 in the scoreless first period.
   Zoe Hickel scored midway through the second period to stake UMD to a 1-0 lead, but Kendall Curtis scored to tie it a couple minutes later. In the third period, Kenyon got her 16th at 3:51, but 16 seconds later, Ally Tarr tied it again for the Buckeyes. UMD kept up the pressure, outshooting OSU 16-7 in the final period and 34-16 for the game, but Kari Schmitt rifled in a shot from the slot on a power play at 6:11 and Ohio State had its first lead of the weekend at 3-2.
UMD had some good chances through the final minutes, but goaltender Lisa Steffes made 32 saves and the Buckeyes held on to win 3-2 and equal the series at a game apiece.
Game 3 was a lopsided 5-1, and I heard one UMD official say the Bulldogs won decisively. Hardly. UMD gained an early lead when Hickel scored her 12th midway through the first period, but Kayla Sullivan tied it on a rush by beating Kayla Black’s glove at 16:31. Defenseman Sidney Morin notched a power-play goal from center point for the only goal in the second period, but the 2-1 lead was hardly secure against the aroused Buckeyes.
It wasn’t until midway through the final period that things got settled, as Hickel scored her second of the game and 13th of the season to make it 3-1. Even that wasn’t airtight, when Buckeyes coach Nate Handrahan pulled Steffes with 2:03 remaining. Only then did McParland count her only point of the game, directing the puck in while sliding past the open net with 1:07 remaining. Kenyon finished it with another empty-net goal with 44 seconds left. So the 5-1 final was artificially bolstered by two empty-netters.
For Kayla Black, giving up only four goals in three games in three days was a good workout. Will it be the proper tune-up for the Gophers? We can only wait and see. But having dropped a pair of matching 6-0 games at Minnesota two weeks ago, Minnesota might be caught looking ahead to the Wisconsin-North Dakota winner, while the Bulldogs don’t have to look far for incentive.