The Terrier Hockey Fan Blog: UPDATED Game Day: Terriers take on Minnesota in Frozen Four semifinal

Thursday, April 06, 2023

UPDATED Game Day: Terriers take on Minnesota in Frozen Four semifinal

April 6, 2023. Today is what 10 BU seniors came back for: to play in the Frozen Four and compete for a national championship.

At 5:00 p.m. ET, the #5 Terriers will face off with top ranked Minnesota at Tampa's Amalie Arena. The game will air on ESPN2 and be streamed on ESPN+ as well as on TSN+ in Canada with John Buccigross, Barry Melrose and Colby Cohen on the call. Bernie Corbett and Mark Linehan will provide the audio coverage on BU All-Access.

BU fans in Tampa will be gathering for a pre-game reception at Harry's Crab House while Watch Parties for BU alums and fans are set in 10 cities.

Playing in its 38th NCAA tournament and in the Frozen Four for the 23rd time, BU (29-10-0) comes into the game with a nation's-best nine-game winning streak. The Gophers (28-9-1) claimed the Big Ten regular-season championship and have won 10 of their last 12 games.

The contest will match Division 1's #2 scoring offense (Minnesota 4.21 GPG) vs. the #4 offense (BU 3.90). The Gophers are led by its top line featuring freshman Logan Cooley, second in D1 scoring with 57 points, and classmate Jimmy Snuggerud, who is fifth with 50 points. Cooley is a Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist, as is the third member of the line, sophomore Matthew Knies, who has 41 points.

The backline features standouts Brock Faber, Jackson LaCombe and Ryan Johnson. Senior goalie Justen Close brings a 1.99 GAA and a .928 save percentage.

Minnesota goes into the game as a clear favorite (all six of the CHN reporters predict the Gophers will win the title), but the Terriers are undaunted about their chance to win the sixth national championship in program history and the first since 2009.

“I don’t know if there’s a better offensive team in all of college hockey, so we have to make sure we’re sticking to our structure,” said BU coach Jay Pandolfo. “The puck management piece is huge against this team. But I think it’s just the buy-in from the players, understanding that we’re not going to outscore teams every single night. We have to play defense, as well.”

“These guys all year long have taken what we’ve talked about and they have gone out there and done it,” the first-year head coach added. “That is what their mindset has been the last month or so now. We are just playing the right way, playing to our identity and it’s resulting in wins. And we are certainly going to need more of that with the team we are playing.

“Puck management will be the big thing against them. Making good decisions with the puck and not throwing it away.”

BU and Minnesota have met 26 times with each team winning 12 times with two ties. In NCAA tournament action, the Gophers own a 5-3 advantage. BU's three wins came in the 1971 national championship game (BU's first title) and in the 1994 and 1995 Frozen Four semi-finals when Pandolfo skated for BU).

Pandolfo is looking to become just the second first-year head coach to lead his team to a national title; North Dakota's Brad Berry achieved that feat in Tampa in 2016.

Commenting on the Terrier-Gopher rivalry, Pandolfo said on Wednesday:

“I know the rivalry in the '70s was talked about a lot. I know we played them in '94 and '95. I don't remember it being as big a rivalry then just because we didn't see them other than that one game. And I think back then they played on a little bit more of a regular basis. It's always fun to beat a big program like Minnesota. So hopefully we can have the same result tomorrow."

Pandolfo also reported that junior center Nick Zabaneh, who was injured in the Hockey East championship game and missed the regional tournament, has been practicing the past few days, adding "I wouldn't be surprised if he's in the line-up." Senior center Wilmer Skoog, who suffered a hand injury in the regional final against Cornell, has been skating, but his availability is expected to be a game-time decision. Senior defenseman Case McCarthy is out with a broken collarbone.

“At this level there's only so many games, so many opportunities,” said Pandolfo. “So guys are going to do whatever they can to play. These guys are understanding it -- you get to this point…it's hard to get here but it's even harder to win.”

UPDATE:

tw-align-center
Have a feeling these two are gonna be on the ice today… 👀 https://t.co/VCwL8NhsRR
— Boston Hockey Blog (@BOShockeyblog) April 6, 2023

“I think for our group, we’re never really satisfied, so we always want more,” said senior captain Domenick Fensore. “We always want to get better. I think it starts in practice, we always compete with each other and kind of push each other to become better. And I think that kind of leads to the game.

“Especially into these games, we’re never satisfied. We want more. This is why you come to BU. You come to win a national championship. That’s what we’re going to do here.”