Recent National Champions Clash 

UMass had spent the final few weeks of the season on the bubble for making the NCAA tournament. Their playoff fate was not sealed until Denver knocked off Omaha in the NCHC Championship to give UMass the final playoff spot. This will be the Minutemen’s fourth appearance in the NCAA tournament since 2018. 

In a twist of fate, the same Denver team that allowed UMass to squeeze into the tournament will also be the first-round opponent of the Minutemen. The two teams have become close opponents over the years despite the geographical differences. UMass fans will remember a 4-3 OT victory against the Pioneers in the 2019 Frozen Four. 

The Pioneers are no strangers to the NCAA tournament as they have appeared in 15 of the last 16 tournaments, winning two national titles in that span. Standing in the way of Denver winning a third national title will be a nearly 2,000-mile trip to reach the MassMutual Center in Springfield.

Denver finished the season with a 28-9-3 record with an elite offense in tow. Denver boasts the leading offense in the nation which scores 4.87 goals per game. With 194 total goals on the season, Denver has 11 double-digit goal scorers. 

The elite bunch is led by junior forward Jack Devine, a Florida Panthers prospect. A Glencoe, Illinois native, Devine has hammered home 27 goals this season along with 28 assists. Devine’s 55 points rank sixth in the country and solidified him as a finalist for the Hobey Baker trophy. 

Another star in the loaded Pioneers lineup is junior forward and assistant captain Massimo Rizzo. While Rizzo has been out since Feb. 3 he is likely to play this week. In just 28 games this season he posted 44 points including 34 helpers. 

The Buium brothers on defense have been crucial for the Pioneers as well. Zeev Buium, a freshman, sits second on the team with 48 points which leads all defensemen on the Pioneers. He was critical over the past weekend scoring the game-winning goal in the NCHC semifinals against St. Cloud State. 

His older brother, Shai is one of the best defensive defensemen on the team and was a member of the 2022 national championship squad. He has posted seven goals and 27 assists this season and is second on the team with 41 blocks. 

Standing in the way of a potent Pioneers offense for the Minutemen is second-team Hockey East goaltender Michael Hrabal. A freshman from Czechia, Hrabal has been dominant since taking over the starting goalie spot for the Minutemen in the second week of the season.

In his freshman campaign, Hrabal finished with a 16-10-1 record and a .912 save percentage. Unfortunately for Hrabal and the Minutemen, they are coming off their worst defeat of the season, an 8-1 thrashing at the hands of Boston College where Hrabal stopped just 28 of 36 shots. 

Hrabal has been a critical piece for the MInutemen season and has allowed more than three goals in 9 of his last 14 starts. 

UMass does not have top-end scorers like the Pioneers, but the Minutemen play gritty hockey along the boards with their size, and most skaters can play just as well on both ends of the ice. Nobody exemplifies this for the Minutemen more than defenseman and captain Ryan Ufko.

This season Ufko has been elite on both ends of the ice for UMass. Ufko posted 26 points on the season including 10 goals, three of which were overtime game-winners. Ufko has also been a staple on special teams this season and blocked 50 shots, tied for second. 

Overall, this UMass team is young, but veterans like Ufko have experience in the NCAA tournament and will be able to prepare young freshmen like forwards Jack Musa and Aydar Suniev for what the NCAA tournament is like.  

One area where UMass will need to improve for the tournament is special teams. The Minutemen carry the 34th power play unit and 51st penalty-kill unit. On the other hand, Denver ranks 14th on their powerplay, but just 49th in the penalty-kill. Shoring up the penalty kill will be a necessity for the Minutemen to gain a victory.

Elite Goaltending Meets Fiery Offense

The second matchup in the Springfield regional will see the Cornell Big Red take on the Maine Black Bears. 

Cornell also spent most of the season on the outside looking in, but after knocking off Dartmouth on Friday night and St. Lawrence a day later, the Big Red won the ECAC tournament and clinched a spot in the tournament. Cornell will return to the tournament for the first time since 2019. 

The Big Red are also led by their star goalie Ian Shane. A native of California, Shane has spent three seasons in Ithaca. He won the Ken Dryden Goaltender of the Year award for being the ECAC’s best goalie, and his stats back it up. 

He leads the nation with a 1.704 GAA and his 54 goals allowed on the season are the lowest for a goaltender with more than 1,800 minutes of ice time. He also boasts a .774 winning percentage which is second in the nation behind BC’s Jacob Fowler. 

Similar to UMass, Cornell lacks big scoring threats but they possess a balanced attack led by forwards Gabriel Seger, Dalton Bancroft and Ryan Walsh. Seger led the team in goals and points with 14 and 42 respectively. Bancroft finished second on the team with 12 goals and 19 assists for 31 points. Walsh also finished with 12 goals and has netted a point in five of his last eight. 

Despite a lack of elite scorers, the Big Red ranks 12th in the country in scoring offense with 3.36 goals per game. 

Heading into the tournament Cornell ranks eighth in the nation in faceoff percentage, but similar to UMass and Denver they struggle in special teams. Cornell’s power play ranks 41st in the country, while their penalty kill sits at 36th. 

On the other side of the bench, the Maine Black Bears will be making their first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 2012 and the first under third-year head coach Ben Barr. Maine finished third in Hockey East this past season but fell short in the conference quarterfinals against Boston University, 4-1.

The Black Bears have also had no shortage of goal scoring this season with 3.28 goals per game ranking 15th in the country. The turnaround for the Black Bears this season has been triggered by the Nadeau Brothers, a pair of freshman forwards from New Brunswick. 

Bradly Nadeau led the team with 46 points including 19 goals. He also led the team with 108 shots on the season, but his brother Josh was not far behind. Josh Nadeau totaled 45 points on the season with 18 goals. He was also a star of the powerplay netting eight goals with the man advantage. 

Behind them, are a talented group of skaters that have spent multiple seasons up in Orono. One of the most important in that bunch is captain Lynden Breen. In 36 games this season he has posted nine goals and 21 shots.

Heading back to the blue line, Maine’s other captain David Breazeale is the leader. He posted nine points this season and a team-leading 42 blocks. 

The Black Bears have also struggled to string together consistent special teams performances. They rank 29th in the nation for their penalty kill and 23rd for their power play. 

Maine also struggled to land consistent play out of their goalies before landing on Albin Boija, a freshman from Sweden. The Swede had been starting occasionally, but after a shutout on the road against UMass on Feb. 3 he took over the net. Since then he is 7-5 including a career-high 34-save performance against UMass on Mar. 9. 

The games will begin Thursday at 2 p.m. when UMass takes on Denver. Maine and Cornell will follow shortly after at 5:30 p.m. 

Then the winners of both matchups will meet on Saturday at 4 p.m. and the winner of that contest will travel to Saint Paul, Minnesota for the Frozen Four.