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We have discussed at length the monumental slight the NCAA hockey tournament selection committee inflicted on the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference -- unquestionably the best college hockey league in the land.
Chalk in up to being totally unaware of the NCHC’s skill level, intensity in balance, or comparatively inept public relations, but Hockey East and the ECAC remain constant in their promotional abilities, and the Big Ten can rely on a season-long promotion of superiority of their new hockey conference.
Minnesota has been No. 1 most of the season, and the Golden Gophers are indeed impressive, from their goaltending through their defense, and on up to four lines-worth of swift forwards. Kyle Rau is a great senior leader who always comes up with big goals in big games, but after Rau, the Gophers offense is determined by freshmen.
Having freshman contribute to the success of a team is a vital asset, but the Gophers lack the all-out sensational forward such as Johnny Gaudreau of Boston College. When the Eagles scored six goals to beat Denver 6-2 in the Northeast Regional, Gaudreau scored three goals and three assists -- which is all the points you can score in a six-goal outburst. That’s why on those few weeks the Gophers dropped out of No. 1, BC took over the top spot.
And it’s why Boston College ranks as favorite to spank Union in the semifinals, and win the NCAA hockey title next week in Philadelphia.
The Gophers would make for a sensational final against BC, and they are well-equipped to get there, as the overall No. 1 seed.
Justin Kloos scored twice in the 4-0 West Regional final against a St. Cloud State team that obviously spent itself in a rugged 4-3 overtime semifinal victory over North Dakota while the Gophers coasted to a 7-3 romp over bottom-seed Robert Morris. He’s a freshman. So are Taylor Cammarata, Hudson Fasching, and standout offensive defensemen Jake Bischoff from Grand Rapids and Michael Brodzinski from Blaine. They have more, too, but Kloos, Fasching and Cammarata are speedy attackers who can strike at any time, and both Bischoff and Brodzinski can shoot bullets from the point and join the offense.
But the Gophers will have to depend on those freshmen to come through, and they will have to be at their best in the semifinals against North Dakota -- the Team Formerly Known as Fighting Sioux.
It is difficult to consider coach Dave Hakstol’s UND outfit as an underdog anytime they get to the NCAA tournament, and they had to struggle mightily to beat Wisconsin 5-2 in the Midwest Regional at Cincinnati. The game was 2-2 until two minutes remained, then a UND goal, and two empty-netters by Rocco Grimaldi gave him a hat trick and blew it open to 5-2.
Wisconsin, which was second in the Big Ten to Minnesota, was No. 1 seed at the regional, while North Dakota was No. 4. The bottom seed! But UND  came back from beating the Badgers to trip a strong Ferris State team 2-1 in two overtimes for the fourth and final slot in the NCAA Frozen Four.
Ferris State had beaten Colgate 1-0 in the regional semifinal, but don’t overlook Colgate, which was good enough to come into Mariucci Arena and knock off No. 1 Minnesota and then-No. 2 Ferris State to win the Mariucci Classic. That was one of those games where Minnesota lost, but it was in a shootout, so it counted only as a tie for the Gophers.
College hockey bows to the popularity of the NCAA basketball tournament, taking a week off so as not to intrude on March Madness finishing up in April. Then they converge on Philadelphia for the Frozen Four, where an East-West title game is assured.
North Dakota, with balance, speed of its own, and the electrifying but pint-sized Grimaldi, has its usual Hakstol-inspired team concept. No college hockey team is more of a tight-knit family than North Dakota, which undoubtedly is riding the extra incentive of barely squeezing into the NCAA’s 16-team field. And if the Gophers are not at their absolute best, North Dakota has more than enough talent, balance, and team cohesiveness, to beat them and gain the final.
And once there, beating Boston College or Union will be just one more game in a remarkable second-half surge by North Dakota. It would be a fitting finish to provide a new feeling of responsibility to uphold a new tradition of the NCHC being the best.

Wild Keep Hockey Alive

The Minnesota Wild seemed to be faltering a week ago, threatened by being overtaken by Phoenix in their battle for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff slot, while Dallas and Vancouver are lurking close behind. It wouldn’t take much more than continued shaky play by young goaltender Darcy Kuemper to see the Wild fall out of the playoffs. The non-hockey types writing columns and filling the Twin Cities airwaves had rekindled their tired challenge that the Wild must fire coach Mike Yeo.
But, as Yeo has done with his patient and thorough coaching concept, the Wild bounced back just when things looked bleakest.
Ilya Bryzkalov, a late acquisition to shore up the beleaguered goaltending after both Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding went out with ailments, went in and beat Phoenix at Phoenix in a 3-1 game last week. That might have been the most important victory the Wild have won all season.
If it wasn’t, they came back two days later at Los Angeles, where the Kings had lost only one home game all season. A stirring third-period rally, and more great goaltending by Bryzkalov, secured a 3-2 victory and boosted the Wild back into solid possession of seventh place -- five points ahead of Phoenix.
The regular NHL season is in its homestretch right now, despite being overshadowed in the media by March Madness and all the college playoffs, but as the Wild try to keep their closing rush moving, consider this: How many other NHL teams would have any chance of success without either of their top two goaltenders? The answer is none. And Mike Yeo deserves more than the abuse he’s been subject to in the Twin Cities media.

Twins Open at Home

The Minnesota Twins often have promotions, such as giving out mini helmets, baseball caps, or mini bats at home games. But when the Twins come home to open at Target Field Monday, maybe they should give out little shovels. Then the fans could help shovel out the ballpark and welcome the “boys of summer.”