BUFFALO, N.Y. — Ever since UMass announced its arrival as one of the top teams in college hockey this season, there’s been little doubt the Minutemen could make noise at the Frozen Four.
“Obviously, it's very special. (Head coach Greg Carvel) touched on it. Coming into this year, we knew we had a special group. I think it's a credit to everybody on our team coming to the rink every day knowing and wanting to work hard and make everybody else better,” said Hobey Baker Hat Trick Finalist Cale Makar.
Despite being a historically underwhelming program, this year’s version of the Minutemen are different. They’ll look to continue that narrative on Thursday night when they take on Denver, one of the greatest college hockey programs of all time.
While Denver and its eight national championships, including the latest one in 2017, might seem like a daunting task, UMass is the better team. If the Minutemen play to their potential, they should be moving on to Saturday’s national championship game against the winner of the other semifinal between Minnesota Duluth and Providence.
Despite all the talent, UMass will have its doubters until it can prove them wrong for good at this weekend's Frozen Four. The team laid an egg in a 3-0 loss to underdog Boston College in the Hockey East semifinal. A pair of pair of 4-0 wins in the regional helped to quell the naysayers, but there will be lingering doubt until Thursday’s final buzzer.
“We've all said this plenty of times. We learned a lesson from (the Hockey East semifinals). We kind of turned the page on that. We know what's at stake. It's the semifinals of the Frozen Four. We’ve got to be dialed in,” said sophomore Mario Ferraro, another of the team’s star defensemen.
“Come tomorrow night, it's all business when we get to the rink. All the distractions, count them out. We got to go out there ready to play the first five minutes. We're going to go do that,” added Ferraro, a second round pick of the San Jose Sharks.
Denver has a lot of very good players, including star sophomore defenseman Ian Mitchell, a second round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks. However, UMass has the ultimate game changer in college hockey this season.
Makar, the fourth overall pick of the Colorado Avalanche in the 2017 NHL Draft, has racked up 16 goals and 32 assists in 39 games. His skating and puck skills are vastly superior to anyone else in college hockey.
“Obviously, he's a pretty special player. When he's on the ice, you know there's a pretty good chance we're going to possess the puck. He makes things a lot easier,” said Jacob Pritchard, a grad student who is the team’s second leading scorer with 16 goals and 29 assists.
“It's obviously really special to be able to play with a guy like Cale. He's a great player and a great person off the ice. He pushes you to be better. That's what he's done for the team all year. It's going to continue into this weekend. We're happy to have him on our team,” Ferraro concurred.
Makar is unquestionably the team’s leader, but this UMass team isn’t just a one man show. There are a couple other factors in the team’s favor when reasoning for why it should get past Denver Thursday night.
The overall team speed is something that has been a huge factor all season. It’s been a huge benefit on UMass’ home ice on the olympic sheet. The Minutemen were 17-1-0 at the Mullins Center this season.
It starts with the defense. In addition to Makar and Ferraro, players such as Marc Del Gaizo and Ty Farmer help UMass be one of the best teams in college hockey at creating offense on the rush.
The forwards have speed, too, but there’s also a lot of guys up front who are willing to muck it up and grind in the corners. From the first game of the season, Pritchard showed he would win puck battles along the wall. Freshman Bobby Trivigno is undersized, but he plays with a huge heart. Sophomore right wing Mitchell Chaffee is heavy on pucks, can play in all situations, and isn’t afraid to go into the dirty areas.
In an interesting twist of fate, both UMass freshman goaltender Filip Lindberg and Denver freshman goaltender Filip Larsson blanked both opponents in their respective regionals.
While Denver has the undeniable edge in experience at the Frozen Four, Carvel can claim the edge in coaching experience over his counterpart on the Pioneer bench. DU’s David Carle is one of the youngest head coaches in college hockey history.
UMass should win this hockey game based on team speed, an ability to play heavy, and having the ultimate difference maker in Makar. Puck drop, pending no overtime in the first semifinal, is scheduled for 8:33 p.m. at the KeyBank Center.
