Alex Bump has been a problem all season long for Western Michigan’s opponents and tonight, in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship game – the last one in St. Paul – he was the difference. The #3 seed Denver Pioneers shot out to a 3-0 lead in the second period but the #1 seed Western Michigan Broncos, led by their leading scorer, came back in the third to tie it before Bump scored the game-winner just 22 seconds into the second overtime. The Pioneers were looking for their second straight and fourth overall NCHC Tournament title. Instead, the Broncos come away with their program’s first-ever conference tournament championship.
The Pioneers have struggled to close out games all season and it came into focus over their two games at the Xcel Energy Center this weekend. Though their blown two-goal lead against Arizona State in the semifinal did not derail their shot at another conference crown, their blown three-goal lead in the championship game certainly did against a better opponent in the Broncos.
DU and WMU skated through a scoreless first period with both teams struggling to finish on their looks but it was clear, even early that the Broncos had their legs where the Pioneers didn’t. Denver was uncharacteristically outshot in the opening period 10-4 but they flipped a switch in the second and smothered the Broncos, scoring three straight goals and nearly had a fourth that was called back for being offside. Jake Fisher opened the scoring, finishing the rebound off of a Samu Salminen shot before Eric Pohlkamp wired a wrister past Broncos goaltender Hampton Slukynsky to double the lead. Barely a minute later, Zeev Buium did Zeev Buium things, stickhandled around a defender and took advantage of Slukynsky leaning to the wrong side to give DU a commanding 3-0 lead midway through the second.
Samu Salminen appeared to score the dagger to make it 4-0 just a few minutes later but Western Michigan quickly challenged for offside and the goal was correctly called back. It may not have felt like it at the time but that was the turning point in the game. During the review, Western regrouped, pulled themselves together, and made a strong push to finish the second period even though the Pioneers led 3-0 after two.
The Broncos were head and shoulders better than the Pioneers in the third period and overtimes. That switch that Denver flipped in the second period? The flipped it back to ‘off’ when the puck dropped in the third. Zach Sharp, Bump, and Tim Washe all scored in the third to tie the game. Washe’s goal, the one that tied the game with just 3:40 remaining, was the most egregious as it was meant as a harmless shot but DU goalie uncharacteristically misplayed the puck and it bounced off of his glove and into the net. The brutal misplay was a perfectly terrible ending to a brutal third period.
Things only got worse from there for Denver when 2nd pairing mainstay Boston Buckberger left the game with an upper-body injury behind DU’s net and was unable to return. From there, the Pioneers held onto the game for dear life and by some miracle – mostly Matt Davis – they forced a second overtime. But as they tend to be, the miracle was temporary and Bump ended the game with a wrister just 22 seconds into the second overtime to complete the comeback victory and clinch the championship for his team.
Now, for the Pioneers, this game was largely meaningless in the bigger picture (beyond the obvious “winning championships is good” thing). If Denver won, they would have likely played Providence next weekend in the Manchester regional, wearing white with the second change. Instead, now that they lost, they will likely play Providence next weekend in the Manchester regional, wearing crimson without the second change.
The point is Denver’s NCAA Tournament fate was already effectively sealed before the puck dropped in St. Paul tonight. All they were realistically playing for was what color uniform they’d wear in the first round.
Tonight’s blown lead in the conference championship in a season chock-full of blown leads stings, no doubt. A second-straight conference crown would have been great. Winning hardware is always a good thing.
But Denver’s ultimate goal is still in front of them, there for the taking and tonight’s result, as frustrating as it was, did not change its difficulty. They were always going to have to get through Providence and, in all likelihood, rematch with Boston College to return to the Frozen Four. If they can make it through Manchester and onto St. Louis, tonight’s loss will be nothing more than a footnote.
The NCAA Tournament Selection Show will be televised on ESPNU at 1 pm MT tomorrow. The only remaining question is whether DU will be the early or late game in Manchester on March 28th.
Top photo courtesy of Denver Athletics
Sorry to say…This team looks worn out.
Refs gave the game to Western horrible officiating.
The refs had very, very little to do with the outcome here. They actually let the players play for the most part. The DU called-back goal was clearly offside on review, and Zeev’s penalty in OT was legit.
DU had a great, great second period surge to take over the game, at least for a while. DU also heroically won the face-off battle and blocked a ton of shots more than they usually do, and Davis made a lot of big saves along the way, except for that gift howler off his glove in the late third. The Pios left it all on the ice last night, but WMU was the better team over the course of the game, outshooting DU by a large margin and dominating DU in the third period and the overtimes, when the game was on the line. That Bronco team was the higher seed for a reason, and they are a team that is, objectively a top 5 team — slightly better than DU is right now.
The record this year says DU is a top 10 team, but not a top 5 team. As the great football coach Bill Parcells once observed – “You are what your record says you are.”
Can the Pioneers win the NCAA Tournament again? Perhaps. They certainly have the pedigree, the great talent and the great coaching to do so. But the ability to hold a lead has proven to be a huge obstacle for this particular group and the Pios have lost a number of leads in the latter portions of games. Why is that? I can’t say for sure, but much of it is likely the game played between the ears. These are 19-24 year old athletes and hockey can be a very unpredictable sport at times, which is part of what makes the drama so compelling. If we wanted a guaranteed ending, we’d all be at the opera.
Why does this team struggle mentally to close out other good teams? Good question. While they are the defending champs, they get everyone else’s best shot. That’s a big part of it – opponent desire can trump self-confidence and talent. DU is also the second youngest team in the country and that might have something to do with it, too, although DU was similarly young last year when they won it all. BC is the youngest team in the country and while still ranked first this year had some yips in the Hockey East tourney.
Leadership is also a factor. DU at times this year has been too complacent and lacking in urgency.
As for the collapse against Western specifically, I think DU was really gassed as the game went along, especially in overtime, and Western looked far far less tired. Going the full three games against rival CC last weekend was a likely factor here, as was DU chasing and defending too much against a very fast and talented WMU team that had most of the momentum. We also saw DU lacking in urgency on the PP in the early third, leading to puck-watching on Western’s first goal. And certainly Davis was not mentally sharp on the third WMU goal, which clearly deflated the team’s pysche.
All in all, I hope this DU team can get on a little four-game win streak and bring home NCAA title number #11. If I am Coach Carle, I’d be spending quite a bit of time this week on honing the mental toughness of this team heading into Manchester, and getting enough rest so that fatigue is less of a factor.
Agree with Swami on all points, especially that the refs had little to do with the outcome. Pios brought their ‘A’ game for just one period…..that’s not enough in the post-season. DU had little to play for: apparent outcome was going to be Manchester regional vs Providence win or lose. WMU had only a little more motivation: protect PW#4 ranking and #1 seeding in their regional. Still, it was a tough way to lose…
That anonymous ref comment seems to be a running joke by a keyboard warrior. Time to get out of the basement, mom has some warm pudding waiting for you.
Hey, I didn’t know the Xcel center had yellow bleacher seats! Please don’t feed the troll who posts the bad officiating comment after every game.
Bummer that we lost, but it was overall a good NCHC tournament. Carle knows the obvious things to address: getting a change in focus when playing with a lead (hope it’s not too late to teach that) and getting some rest. Hopefully Buckberger is OK. That guy seems like a warrior, so hopefully he can heal and fight through it. How interesting that we could face BC again in the regional. I haven’t seen this kind of certainty about which regional we’d end up in before. Wonder why it’s so certain this year.
We didn’t have access to any photos taken at the X this year. Had to pull from what we did have access to with permission.
This year is just one of those years where the PWR lines up perfectly and makes the committee’s job easy, especially in Manchester. They’re able to keep bracket integrity (i.e., 1 vs 16, 2 vs 15, 3 vs 14, etc.) without violating any of their other guidelines like preventing in-conference first round matchups. I can’t comment on the other regionals necessarily, though it sounds like those have been set in stone for a week or two now too, but in Manchester, we will have 1 vs 16 and 8 vs 9. You can’t get any better bracket integrity than that and if the committee decides to do something different, like sending 9 DU to Toledo which will be Michigan State’s regional and 10 Ohio State to Manchester, it would be a shock because that would fly in the face of their proven emphasis on bracket integrity over the years. Anything can happen, of course, and the committee is known to surprise us from time to time but this year, their job has been made very very easy. Honestly easier than it’s been in a long time.
I appreciate the explanation. A little less drama going into the selection show this year. Honestly, just happy with where we are positioned. This program has such mad consistency, I am so thankful to be a fan of it. JK about the photo, I figured that was why.
The certainty is because the PWR this year was quite stable in terms of each team’s numerical seeding ceilings (and floors). That makes for a predictable and easily seeded bracket for bracket integrity with obvious destinations for each team. Most years, the PWR can be much more volatile.
Really hoping Buckberger can play…His absence would really be felt. DU isn’t the same team without him.
The better team won. As good as I felt after DU went up 3-0, the momentum really shifted in the 3rd period, and WMU took over the game. Very disappointing that DU couldn’t hold that lead and close it out, but the momentum shift was dramatic. WMU outshot DU 29-11 after the 3rd period, and WMU put up a whopping 50 SOGs for the game. Pios battled but looked tired late in that game, and it just felt as if it were a matter of time before WMU won it. Hopefully the Pios get some quality rest this week before the national tournament starts.
WMU is really good. They look capable of winning it all. DU remains, in my opinion, a bit of a wild card. Capable of winning it all, but I’m not feeling super optimistic.
Doesn’t matter now if DU thinks they can protect a lead. The opponent thinks DU can’t…Last thing DU wants to give an opponent this late in the season is hope.
When the score was 3 zip I said “ok we win UNLESS we p[lay the score. ” and that’s what happened. Our boys took their foot of the accelerator and focused on delay and defense. Lesson learned.
I’m not feeling very optimistic about the tourney this year. DU has just been so inconsistent. Moments of brilliance with long stretches of mediocrity. But they surprised the hell out of me last year so who knows!
This team can’t finish games and is very inconsistent. Hope they win one NCAA tourney game. I thought after beating CC and Arizona St. the Pioneers were on a roll. No such luck.