As Frozen Four MVPs in 2004 and 2005, respectively, Adam Berkhoel and Peter Mannino will forever be linked as University of Denver heroes.
The goaltenders also share this: As seniors, they got hot at just the right time, with Mannino’s legacy yet to be finalized.
Four years after Berkhoel backstopped the Pioneers to the first of two consecutive NCAA titles, Mannino is on track to upstage the 2004 USA Hockey player of the year.
Berkhoel ended his career on a 4-0 streak, allowing just five combined goals, after being pulled in the Pioneers’ previous loss that season — 6-1 to Colorado College.
Mannino is 4-0, allowing a combined five goals, since being pulled in the Pioneers’ last loss — a 3-1 regular season-ending setback to CC.
“It will be a lot more ironic if things go according to plan, and three weeks from now we can go, ‘Wow, the similarities are amazing,’ ” said DU coach George Gwozdecky, whose team opens the NCAA Tournament on Saturday against Wisconsin in the Midwest Regional in Madison, Wis. “Anytime a competitive athlete like Peter doesn’t have success, it grinds away at them. He just can’t wait to get the next start. Adam was like that. Peter is like that.”
The big difference between the two goalies is Berkhoel had no previous NCAA Tournament experience in 2004, and Mannino is the country’s most playoff-tested netminder. A year after Berkhoel’s heroics, Mannino carried DU to its second straight national title and was named 2005 Frozen Four MVP as a freshman.
Mannino, who has allowed just two goals in his last three games, wasn’t aware of his obscure connection with Berkhoel.
“It would be nice if it could repeat itself,” Mannino said of finishing undefeated after being humiliated against CC. “I’d love to win it for the guys. It would be a great feeling to bring it back here.”
After DU defeated Minnesota 2-1 in last Saturday’s WCHA playoff championship game in St. Paul, Minn., Gophers coach Don Lucia said Mannino “is in the zone.”
We’ve all heard that term, but what does it really mean?
“The term is feeling confident, and that I am,” Mannino said. “I’m feeling good, and that comes from how our team is playing. Right now we’re all on the same page, and we’re playing great playoff hockey.”
To Gwozdecky, being in the zone means different things for different goalies. For Mannino, he said it’s playing on the safe side of aggressiveness.
“Right now, he’s controlled-aggressive, and he’s at his best when playing that style,” Gwozdecky said. “This is his time of year.”
DU junior defenseman Chris Butler said Mannino, who has a school-record 15 career shutouts, is in the zone when shooters bang their sticks against the boards after a great save. It happened more than once last weekend in St. Paul.
“For the guys in this room, we have every ounce of confidence in him,” Butler said. “He’s won it as a freshman, and now he’s a senior. If you look at the way he’s playing, and the saves he’s making, he’s changing games, giving us momentum. Why should we think that’s not going to continue?”
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
