Note, disclaimer, declaration, warning, announcement, proclomation:
 
This is only my feelings about the Denver Cup championship last night, so
please, keep the flames to a minimum (I'd hate to ask you all to not flame
me)
 
======================================================================
 
Random thoughts (I'm sorry, I had nosebleeds at McNichols so I couldn't get
too many player's names, let alone numbers...)
 
First Period
------------
The Tigers absolutely dominated the first period; they had free run in the
netural zone, and were sending endless rushes to the net. With the the
speed and stickhandling of the Tigers, this usually spells doom for their
opponent. Denver's scrappy defense somehow only allowed for about 4 quality
shots; the other 8 shots from the first period weren't much of a threat.
 
Mullen did a capable job in goal. He didn't have much of a chance on either
of CC's two goals in the period. This kid has some great goalie sense
however; he really positions himself well (including coming waaaay out on a
few challenges) to cut off angles and poke the puck away. Mullen also
showed off a few nifty moves when gathering the puck after a CC clear or
dump, making clever passes to his teammates.
 
The CC forwards -- all of them -- put on quite an impressive display of
puck control and passing. CC's second goal was a perfect display of the raw
skill of the "[Jay] McNeil line," as Hartnell (?) kept control of the puck
while on the boards to Mullen's right -- with two Pinoeer defenders on him!
-- and dished a picture-perfect cross-ice pass to a streaking Chad Remackel
who one-timed it past Mullen.
 
Denver's bright spot in the period came from what strong forechecking.
While it wasn't pretty, and didn't bring results, it did tie up the puck in
CC's zone. Without this aggressive forechecking, it's likely that CC would
have bagged a few more behind Mullen.
 
Denver had 2 quality chances, but with only 6 total shots, Lambert wasn't
really tested in the first. Lambert, by the way, does an EXCELLENT job of
covering up the puck. I think throughout the whole game there were only 2
rebounds off the guy, both of which were cleaned up by the Tiger defense.
 
CC's defense was very strong against both the power-play and the odd-man rush.
 
"Edges"
Defensive: CC
Offensive: CC
Forechecking: DU
Backchecking: CC
Goaltending: CC
Passing: CC
Stickhandling: CC
 
 
Second Period
-------------
Gwozdecky MUST have made quite a speech in the lockerroom, because the
Pioneers came out flying (my roomate tells me they had a camera in the
lockerroom and played the end of his speech on the tube). From the drop of
the puck you could see that Denver had collected themselves, and were ready
to play hockey the Pioneer way. DU played an excellent trapping game in the
neutral zone and really took CC's forwards out of the game. Whenever DU
picked up the puck in the neutral zone, the Pioneers would fly right
towards the net. CC certainly wasn't ready for this change in playing
style.
 
From the start of the period, Denver created a lot of quality scoring
chances for themselves. It was almost the opposite of the first period,
with DU claiming 12 SOG and CC with 7. Both teams however, had a fair share
of quality opportunities. Mullen came up with some BIG saves.
 
It was DU's offense however that remained tight. The Pioneer forechecking
continued to play strongly, as many of the CC defenseman had trouble
handling the much of the dumps into their own zone.
 
While the Tigers still controlled the puck well, they just couldn't get it
into the zone. Any pass out of the neutral zone into the DU territory was
either stolen or broken up quickly. When on the power play, CC still had
difficulty moving the puck into the DU zone, and a clever pickoff gave
Denver to a shorthanded tally by Erik Andersson.
 
CC's offense, forced to play a dump-and-chase game, really fell apart. From
what I've seen of the Tigers this year, this is a style they're really not
used to, and it shows. Poor forechecking followed their dumps into the
Pioneer zone, which allowed Denver to quickly regain the puck.
 
Denver's defensemen also were very capable at moving the puck up to their
forwards quickly, and the Pioneers caught CC for both goals with quick puck
movement out of their own zone, and raw speed into the CC zone.
 
Both Lambert and Mullen played solid periods, although Lambert was lucky to
escape with 2. He was beaten 5-hole from the right circle, but the puck
bounced off the far post. Considering the amount of the DU offense however,
Lambert did quite a good job, as his defenseman weren't keeping the DU
forwards away.
 
"Edges"
Defensive: DU
Offensive: DU
Forechcking: DU
Backchecking: DU
Goaltending: tie
Passing: CC
Stickhandling: CC
 
Third Period
------------
Perhaps the Tigers were still thinking about the lockerroom speech, because
Antti Laaksonen won the opening faceoff, and one minute later went
top-shelf on Lambert. Suddenly, unbeaten CC was losing, and the fans were
going NUTS!
 
That which does not kill CC makes them stronger, for throughout the period
CC played a very tight game. If not for a few stellar plays by Mullen,
including two separate point-blank attempts by Geronazzo, this game might
have gone the way of the Tiger. Throughout the game, Mullen showed why he's
undefeated. He's got great positioning, quick reflexes, and plays very
intelligently.
 
A key here might have been the Tigers' shot selection on Mullen; the
majority of his saves (8) were right on the ice. The only shots that went
high were the point-blank ones, and it seemed like the 5-hole might have
been the better option here. My roomate commented that on a number of the
TV replays, Mullen's legs couldn't close fast enough when the shooter was
in close - a common problem among butterfly goalies. Good thing that the
shooters went high.
 
After Laaksonen's goal, the Pioneers sat back on their heels, and didn't go
after much offense. While they still provided plenty of rushes into the CC
zone, forechecking and trapping was clearly more of a priority as they
attempted to play defense for 19 minutes.
 
The Pioneer defensemen however, were either very skilled or very lucky on a
number of occasions however, as CC put together 3 quality 2-on-1 breaks.
Two were foiled by a diving/slipping/falling defenseman's flailing stick,
desperately poking the puck away; on the other break, the CC forward
streaking up the left (sorry, no name) seemingly couldn't make up his mind
between shooting and passing, and send the puck both very wide of the goal
and ahead of his linemate.
 
While both teams played good games in the third period, I think that Denver
should be thankful for two things: Mullen, and the under-achieving CC
forwards. There's no reason for one of the top offenses in the country to
be shut out in the third period of such a pivotal game. Although the
Pioneer defense played well, the Tigers never put together the kind of
offense needed to pull out the win. If CC had played in the 3rd the way
they did in the 1st, methinks the Tigers would be hoisting their first-ever
Denver Cup.
 
"Edges"
Defensive: DU
Offensive: CC
Forechcking: DU
Backchecking: CC
Goaltending: Mullen
Passing: CC
Stickhandling: CC
 
Overall Impressions
-------------------
All-around, the CC-DU title matchup was a top-notch, exciting hockey game
between two of the strongest teams in the country. After seeing the Tiger's
game against Air Force, and reading about the St. Cloud games, I wondered
if the Tigers were overrated. Last night I saw that they are still a very,
very good hockey team, definitely one of the best (still possibly "the"
best) in the country. Likewise, the Denver squad impressed, by not losing
composure when down 2-0 to the #1 team in the country, and playing the best
hockey I've ever seen Denver play, in any year.
 
It'll be interesting to watch these two teams butt heads 4 (or more!) times
this year. It'll also be interesting to see how Minnesota begins to factor
into the equation. It looks like quite a WCHA battle is just warming up.
 
Future Denver cups look promising, as I'm sure CC will be looking for
revenge, while DU will be looking to win its 5th straight cup. Now if only
Colorado State and CU-Boulder could get teams together...
 
The fans at McNichols were great. More hockey-savvy than the fans at most
of the  Avalanche games, I'd say.
 
And I was worried that by leaving Boston, I would be leaving the excitement
of college hockey behind.
 
 
greenie
 
S P O O N ! !
(go BU)
 
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