Second-seeded Minnesota Duluth had its season come to an end Saturday via a 3-2 loss to top-seeded Boston University in the NCAA Northeast Regional Championship in Manchester, N.H.
Here are my thumbs up and thumbs down from Saturday’s regional final, followed by my three stars of the game.
Thumbs up to UMD ending the season with one of its best efforts of 2014-15
The result was disappointing, as was the officials’ decision to call a penalty late in the game after letting so much go all night – like a high, blind-sided neutral zone hit on Tony Cameranesi that should have been a five minute major for interference.
What wasn’t disappointing was effort, energy, enthusiasm and all-around play of UMD on Saturday, though. After kicking the tar out of the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Friday, UMD and BU waged a great back-and-forth battle.
UMD coach Scott Sandelin was right about two things this weekend. The first was his comment on Friday that UMD would have been feeling pretty crappy about their season ending the way it did two weeks ago against Denver. Again, the Bulldogs didn’t get the result they wanted tonight, but this is a much better way to go out than two first-round NCHC playoff losses.
As UMD senior wing Justin Crandall said after the game, he won’t have any regrets about this weekend.
Thumbs down to UMD vs. BU not being a Frozen Four matchup
The second thing Sandelin was right about was its too bad a penalty proved to be the deciding factor in this game, which by the end felt like it should have been played in the Frozen Four in Boston, not in the Northeast Regional Championship.
This could have been an epic Frozen Four game in The Garden – one for the ages – especially if the refs let the players play and this game goes to overtime. This was a great matchup tonight of two of the best teams in the country. Unfortunately, UMD’s injuries caused it to slide at the end of the season and slip to No. 2 and it was wasted in an aging not-even-half-full-soon-to-be-ECHL rink.
Note that I would have also been in favor of this being a best two-out-of-three series as some have talked about going back to. That would be exciting.
Matt’s Three Stars
3. UMD freshman goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo: Again, the rookie out of Finland was solid in net and gave the Bulldogs a chance to reach the Frozen Four, making 27 saves. He has to be the most encouraging player to emerge for UMD this season and ensures this program will be in contention for league and postseason titles in the future.
2. UMD sophomore defenseman Willie Raskob: This is the most improved player for UMD in 2014-15. He scored another goal for UMD tonight and had the Bulldogs beaten BU, I would have named Raskob my Most Outstanding Player of the Northeast Regional.
1. BU senior wing Evan Rodrigues: Freshman forward Jack Eichel is not the best player in the country. He’s not the best player on his own team. Based on what I saw this weekend, Rodrigues is. The senior got my vote for MOP after finishing with three goals and an assist this weekend, including two on Saturday. The second was the game winner. Rodrigues should be up for the Hobey Baker, not Eichel.