No. 1 Pioneers are on power trip
minneapolis» After a series sweep of Colorado College to begin the National Collegiate Hockey Conference playoffs last weekend, coach Jim Montgomery of the top-seeded University of Denver Pioneers said he would prefer to play North Dakota in the conference semifinals. Nebraska Omaha was the other option at the time, but despite DU having won its past 10 games against the Mavericks, Montgomery wanted to play the defending NCAA champions at the Frozen Faceoff.
Montgomery got his wish when Western Michigan beat Nebraska Omaha in overtime to win that bestof-three series. Top-seeded DU was ensured to play the lowest remaining NCHC seed in the league’s semifinals Friday, and that became No. 4 UND, which beat the Pioneers with a last-minute goal at the Frozen Four a year ago, two days before winning the national title.
“It’s a great opportunity for our team to have an experience in front of a big crowd — a Frozen Four-type atmosphere (Friday) night,” Montgomery said Thursday after DU’s practice at the Target Center. “We didn’t see that last year until we got to the Frozen Four, so I think it’s going to be a great experience, very beneficial, heading into next week’s regionals and then hopefully into the Frozen Four. The other thing is, they’re our rival. We’re excited.”
Nationally top-ranked Denver (28-6-4) has more incentive to advance to Saturday’s NCHC championship game. First, the Pioneers want to win their second league title in four years. Second, doing so would clinch the No. 1 slot in the PairWise Rankings, which mimic the method used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
The No. 1 overall seed is bound to open the 16-team national tournament against the Western Collegiate Hockey Association champion — Bowling Green (21-17-2) or Michigan Tech (22-14-7). The No. 2 overall seed will almost certainly open against the Atlantic Hockey Association champion, and that favorite is dangerous Air Force (24-9-5).
Whatever happens, DU, riding a 13-game winning streak, will be one of four No. 1 regional seeds.
“We’re going to be 1, 2 or 3 (overall) depending on how well we do this weekend,” Montgomery said. “We’re just focused on staying in the moment and winning this tournament. If we win this, we’ll be (seeded) No. 1 (overall).”
NCHC Frozen Faceoff
What: Conference semifinals and championship game Where: Target Center, Minneapolis Schedule: Friday — No. 3-seeded Western Michigan (22-10-5) vs. No. 2 Minnesota Duluth (23-6-7), 3 p.m. MDT; No. 1 Denver (28-6-4) vs. No. 4 North Dakota (20-14-3), 6:30 p.m. Saturday — Third-place game, 2:30 p.m. Championship game, 6:30 p.m. TV/radio: CBS Sports Network (except the third-place game)/1600 AM (DU’s games)
The Pioneers were 1-0-1 against North Dakota in the regular season. Both games were played in Grand Forks, N.D.
“I said from the beginning of the year, as a senior class we’ve had three goals: To win the Penrose (Cup), NCHC (tournament) championship and the national championship,” said DU senior defenseman and team captain Will Butcher. “For us this is just another step, part of the process leading into that. We’re ready to go. The guys are focused.”
“We’re excited,” added DU senior wing Evan Janssen. “This is what we’ve been preparing for all year long.”