Inside College Hockey | Postcard: The Wizards of the Ice

March 26, 2005
Postcard: The Wizards of Ice

By Nate Ewell

Senior Brendan Cook and Bemidji State complied with the wishes of the other College Hockey America schools by representing the league well.

AMHERST, Mass. – The classic film The Wizard of Oz featured witches, talking scarecrows, tin men and lions, as well as those unforgettable flying monkeys, but if you ask me, it was the munchkins who stole the show.

Consider the first round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament, then, The Wizards of Ice. Even though there were no upsets in the No. 1 vs. No. 4 games, the little guys provided the lasting memories on the conference’s first two days.

In the rich-get-richer environment of college hockey today, Mercyhurst and Bemidji State were supposed to provide only limited resistance as Boston College and Denver marched back to the Frozen Four.

Instead, they played inspired hockey – although far from perfect games – and did a lot to dismiss any future expectations of blowouts when the Atlantic Hockey and College Hockey America autobids reach the NCAAs. Their dreams weren’t precisely what they envisioned, but they showed their skills – in living color. The mystique of the “big four” conferences is still there, but it’s quite clear that the best of those conferences can compete on the national level.

“In the handshake line at our conference tournament, we kept hearing, ‘Represent us well, represent us well,’” said Bemidji State senior Brendan Cook. “Hopefully we did that.”

Denver head coach George Gwozdecky knew to expect a battle, even before watching the Mercyhurst-BC game Friday night – one he called “a dandy.”

“There’s no question College Hockey America has established itself in college hockey,” Gwozdecky said. “The CHA has closed the gap between them and every other Division I program.”

Mercyhurst players and coaches spoke at length after Friday night’s 5-4 loss to Boston College about their pride in Atlantic Hockey and their expectations for success at this level.

“Our teams in our conference are really getting better,” said Laker head coach Rick Gotkin. “It’s just a matter of time before one of our teams makes a statement at this level.”

It was almost less than 24 hours later and 55 miles away before a “little two” team made that statement. But both Mercyhurst and Bemidji State left a lasting impression not to take Atlantic Hockey or CHA teams lightly in the future.