Apologies to the legendary John Cena.
Denver is in town for two, so a tremendous challenge awaits the UMD men, the UMD women battled illness and a top-tier adversary simultaneously last weekend, and plenty to do and see in the next nine thoughts.
Go time.
9 THOUGHTS
1. “Bottom line, I wasn’t good enough.” Klayton Knapp fell squarely on the grenade after Friday’s 7-2 loss at Colorado College.
But the confident, competitive freshman goaltender liked his chances at being able to bounce back. At Wednesday’s media conference, he told us about what he calls the “midnight rule.” Basically, at midnight, he flushes that day’s game away and starts focusing on what lies ahead.
“Midnight hits, OK,” Knapp said. “Got another game the next night. And now we’ve got to reset.”
And reset he did.
“I had a tough time falling asleep Friday night,” Knapp said. “I’ll be completely honest with you. But I knew Saturday was going to be a different story. And throughout my career, even dating back to 15, 60, 70 games in a Triple-A season, you’re bound to have bad nights. And I’ve always been able to rebound really well, not just in hockey, but other sports that I’ve played, too.”
Before Saturday’s game, UMD coach Scott Sandelin predicted that a Colorado College team that was struggling to score goals and win games would come out hard and confident after picking up a touchdown the night before.
He was quickly proven correct. Knapp had to be sharp basically from the outset of the game Saturday, and he was.
“CC probably played their best hockey in the first period on Saturday,” Sandelin said. “I thought they were really good. They put us on our heels. They were attacking. Knapper had to come up with some big saves and keep us in it. It kind of reminded me of the Western Michigan game on Saturday where Adam (Gajan) played great for us and kept us in the game.”
2. Knapp played for Bismarck of the NAHL, just like a certain former UMD goalie who set a few records while with the Bulldogs.
Yeah, we’re talking about Hunter Shepard.
Matt Wellens asked Sandelin — who has drawn comparisons between the two in the past — what about Knapp reminds him of Shepard.
“Compete level in practice,” Sandelin said. “Finding ways to stop pucks. I think it carries over in the game. I know he’s not a very outspoken person. As we know, Shep was pretty quiet and soft spoken. Unless you’re talking about hunting or fishing.
“Klayton’s opening up. He works, he competes. I think you see it in some of the saves he’s made, but he does that in practice, too. So it’s not a shock that it carries over into a game.”
3. It wasn’t just Knapp who needed to respond on Saturday. In our pregame interview, the head coach didn’t stop at the goalies not being good enough Friday night.
“It’s not hard enough,” Sandelin said, primarily talking about his team’s defensive play. “It’s just not hard enough. And if it doesn’t get better, we’re gonna be in the same boat.”
Sandelin said getting through the first period with the score tied 1-1 with how well the Tigers were playing was a big key for his group.
“I thought they were, they won every race, they won every battle, and they were getting pucks there. Like I said, Knapper had to make a couple of huge saves for us. We were a step behind. Getting out of that period and where the game was at, I think, was really important.
“We talked a little bit about that after the period and we had 40 minutes. We had a couple of calls go our way, a couple of challenges. I thought the (Blake) Bechen goal maybe changed the game a little bit. I thought they looked a little frustrated as the game went on, but that happens when you kind of dominate a team in the first period and don’t get maybe the results you want. But I thought they got, you know, a little bit. more agitated as the game went on. I thought our guys kept their composure for the most part, which was really important. So I was proud of our guys for that.”
4. Can we talk about the Bechen goal for a moment? Here’s the clip that UMD posted.
IT’S A GOAL!! BECHEN, 2-1 UMD! pic.twitter.com/uDltRtyzVv
— UMD Men’s Hockey (@UMDMensHockey) January 19, 2025
(You all know me too well to not have known this mini-rant was coming.)
Colorado College coach Kris Mayotte challenged this goal for a high stick by Bechen. Frankly, there’s a case, and I thought there was a chance the goal would be disallowed after seeing the replays we saw in the press box.
What I didn’t expect was it would take five minutes to look at the play and make a decision.
5:10, to be precise.
Look, this is not an easy job. No NCHC coach is going to throw challenges out there willy-nilly, certainly not at the midpoint of a game. If there was a challenge, they probably got word that there was something worth challenging.
I can understand the officials wanting to make sure they give this play the proper look and have a healthy debate about what they see.
But there’s a game being played. And five minutes is wayyyyyyyyy too long. Clearly, this wasn’t definitively a high stick or not a high stick. Looking at it for five minutes is not going to change anything.
I’m still not in favor of time limits on these things, but we need to tighten up the process so I can stop complaining about it.
5. I may have unintentionally irked the head coach on Wednesday. I wanted to ask if he saw the freshman line (Zam Plante between Max Plante and Jayson Shaugabay) make any adjustments from Friday to Saturday. Of course, I stumbled over my words like a dummy and I think Sandelin missed the point of my question.
Reality is that they’re going to continue to get more attention as they continue to perform well, and they certainly got more last weekend.
Matched up against some bigger, heavier players for Colorado College, the trio had a very impactful game on Saturday after struggling a bit on Friday.
Sandelin: “They’re good players, they’re gonna have games where they’re not as effective. Maybe they’re getting chances and not scoring. They’re not gonna score every goal for us every game if that’s what everybody expects. I mean, they’re still freshmen and they’re good players and they learn and they find ways. Yeah, it was just like our team. We needed to find somebody, everyone had to be better.
“But I don’t know what expectations everybody has for them. Maybe it’s a little too much. But they like it. They like pressure situations. Good players find a way. They might be quiet for two periods, but they find a way to score a goal or make a play to win a game for you. They’re not going to go out there and dominate every shift. Nobody’s going to in hockey. You’re gonna have nights where you’re a little bit off or teams defend you well, bounces aren’t going your way. It’s the way it goes. So hopefully, again, I don’t know what people’s expectations of them are, just because they have an off night.”
I don’t remember my exact verbiage on the question, and my recorder didn’t pick it up. But just assume, as usual, that I am an idiot and screwed it up.
6. I did a better job talking about it with Max Plante.
Me: “I thought maybe a tougher night Friday in Colorado. You’re getting some bigger, heavier guys that they put in. You’re going to get more attention. You guys know that. You’re smart players. What allowed you to have the success you guys had on Saturday?”
Max: “I think coming into Saturday, our whole team kind of felt it. You’re not supposed to lose games like that. We don’t want to lose games like that. I got out of hand a little bit, a 7-2 game. Their guys were chirping, getting in our heads. Obviously, no one wants to feel like that, right? We had a bunch of chances on the power play on Friday if we didn’t score any goals.
“So Saturday coming in, we’re just like, all right, we’re just gonna play. We’re not gonna try and change anything. Maybe just have that little extra jump in our step. And my legs felt a little bit better on Saturday. I don’t know if it was the elevation or anything, just to take it a little bit to get used to.”
7. I don’t think I’m alone in saying that the NCHC is absolutely wild this season. After all, defending national champion Denver started 12-0, already has 17 wins on the season, and sits fifth in the league, outside the top four for home-ice quarterfinal series.
“I think bumps in the road are always expected,” said DU head coach David Carle. “To get swept at home by ASU (Arizona State) certainly was a bit of a wake up call. And a bit of a surprise to our guys. But now you see what they’re doing and you felt like they weren’t as, they weren’t what the record showed coming in, and they’re getting healthier now. They’re first place in the league now.
“So a really. really good team that came in here and beat us twice but forced us to look in the mirror and hasn’t been an easy schedule since then, going out to Maine. Got kind of back on track with some offensive confidence against Miami and then head into the bye week. So we’re excited and geared up for what we know will be a really tough final stretch.”
The Pioneers are — once again — led in scoring by senior forward Jack Devine, who flirted with 30 goals this season but only has four so far, even though he’s still well over a point per game. Carle said he likes the looks Devine is getting, but another factor are his two new linemates, Carter King and Aiden Thompson, both of whom have double digit goals.
“I think it shows his versatility as a hockey player that he can impact the game in different ways,” Carle said. “Last year playing with (McKade) Webster and (Massimo) Rizzo for most of the season. And now he’s with King and Thompson. Two really good players as well, but a little bit different maybe as they’re more shot-first players. Webster and Rizzo were more past first players, so Jack ended up kind of being that trigger guy a year ago, and now he’s finding himself being more of the setup guy, which again speaks to his ability to adapt, and the versatility he has as a hockey player and his hockey sense.”
Oh, and there’s that Zeev Buium guy. Still getting lots of attention, much like he did last year (especially in the second half). Still affecting games basically every shift.
“Good, excellent player,” Carle said of the Minnesota Wild draft pick. “A little bit harder this year because all the eyeballs are on him. He’s not unknown in any sort of way or manner anymore. But obviously still fighting away to be very impactful and productive for our team.”
8. First-place Arizona State brings a 10-1 record over its last 11 games into a home series against Colorado College. The Sun Devils lost their first three NCHC games, two at Colorado College and one at home against Omaha, back in November. Since then, ASU has won eight of its last nine league games, dropping two points in an OT loss to North Dakota and one in the OT win over UMD before break. That’s it. Clearly a pivotal weekend for both teams, as the Tigers continue to try to find footing. They enter the weekend tied for sixth with UMD, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that Colorado College is going to pop one of these weekends.
Elsewhere, Miami plays two at second-place Western Michigan. The Broncos are one point back of ASU with two games in hand, and Western has yet to lose a league game in regulation. Miami has yet to win a league game by any means. Its one point has the RedHawks 13 back of SCSU for eighth place. St. Cloud State is at Omaha this weekend in a battle of two teams heading in complete opposite directions. SCSU has picked up zero of 12 points in two league weekends since break, falling to eighth in the conference. Omaha, meanwhile, has 12 of 12 points over the same two weekends, sweeping Colorado College at home and Miami on the road.
9. The UMD women (quick: read this!) play a rare Thursday/Friday series at St. Thomas (7pm Thursday and 1pm Friday on Big Ten Plus). Last weekend was no fun, as the Bulldogs lost twice at home to Ohio State, and did so while battling an illness sweeping through the locker rooms for both UMD teams.
To add injury to insult, senior Hanna Baskin went down on an illegal check in the first period Saturday, did not return, and was ruled out for this weekend by coach Laura Schuler at her media conference Wednesday. Schuler indicated that the Bulldogs are mostly over the upper-respiratory injuries, though, which is a great sign.
(By the way, Sandelin said Gajan is more “day to day” now with his lower-body injuries, while forwards Carter Loney and Harper Bentz seem to have a chance to play this weekend after missing last week with upper-body injuries.)
As for St. Thomas, Schuler isn’t fooled by the Tommies’ 5-17-2 record (0-12-1 in the last 13 games while going through an in-season coaching change after Joel Johnson resigned).
“I think they’re a really good structured team,” she said. “So the details are going to be really important for us. It’s hard to kind of find open ice against them. They’re a team that likes to play man on man. So for us, we’re going to have to get creative.”
Besides the virus, the story of the Ohio State series was sophomore goalie Eve Gascon, who stopped 102 of 106 shots on the weekend, including a program-record 34 in the second period Friday.
“She’s such a student of the game, and I think just from being here, she’s learning the game more,” Schuler said. “So it’s not just about, like, from a technical standpoint, how to make the save, but also continue to grow as a student of the game and knowing what situations are and how they’re going to develop. Because she always seems to be one step ahead of the play to be able to make more controlled saves. So I’ve seen that progress from her from last year to this year.”
_______
6:30pm pregame from Amsoil Friday, 5:30pm Saturday.
Back pregame with the lines.
Comments