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 ! ! 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