A North Dakota player was overheard talking to a teammate en route to the Fighting Sioux’s dressing room following Saturday night’s 13-goal NCAA Tournament shootout at the Pepsi Center.
“That was the worst hockey game I’ve ever been in,” the Sioux player said.
Funny, that came from a guy that will participate in today’s West Regional championship game.
In a game with little flow but an extraordinary amount of offense, third-seeded North Dakota got the best of No. 2 Michigan, winning 8-5 to come within a game of making the April 5-6 Frozen Four in St. Louis.
The Sioux (24-13-5) will face No. 1 Minnesota (31-9-3) today in an all-Western Collegiate Hockey Association rematch of last week’s WCHA Tournament championship game in St. Paul, Minn.
The Gophers won that game 3-2 in overtime but the Sioux captured the two previous games this season. The border war rivalry is one of the country’s most intense.
“It’s going to be a heck of a matchup,” Sioux coach Dave Hakstol said. “You can take everything in the past and throw it out, including last Saturday. We’ll prepare specifically to play Minnesota, but the most important thing is we’re preparing to play for an opportunity to advance to the Frozen Four.”
Michigan blew leads of 2-0 and 3-1 in a game that featured a combined four goals in each of the first five minutes of the game and the second period. North Dakota led 5-3 after the first period but the Wolverines scored twice within the first minute of the second period to tie it at 5.
“It was a goalie’s nightmare,” Michigan coach Red Berenson said. “We talked before the game that one goal could win the game, and certainly the team that wins shouldn’t give up more than one or two goals. If I were North Dakota, I’d feel bad about giving up the goals they gave up, and at Michigan we’re embarrassed to give up the goals we gave up.
“This time of year you’re not going to win games giving up five or six goals, so it really was a weird game.”
North Dakota scored the only third-period goal – an empty-netter with 2:11 to go that give T.J. Oshie a hat trick.
Another T.J.
T.J. Hensick, the NCAA’s leading scorer, completed a stellar career at Michigan in disappointing fashion. Although he had two goals and an assist, Hensick, selected by the Avalanche in the third round of the 2005 draft, was given a 10-minute misconduct early in the third period and the Wolverines trailing 7-5.
“The ref was chirping at me more than I was chirping at him,” Hensick said. “I don’t really have much to say. But I didn’t say much to him, except at the end when I was getting sick of what he was saying.”
Hensick (23 goals, 46 assists) likely will sign with the Avs this week.
