INCH spoke with coaches of opposing teams that have played against this year’s Frozen Four participants. We offered them anonymity in exchange for their candid takes on aspects of the 2011 quartet.
MINNESOTA DULUTH vs. NOTRE DAME
Minnesota Duluth
With goaltending, no matter who it is, if the kid’s hot they’re going to give you a great chance and that’s especially the case with Duluth because they’ve got the ability to score some goals. They’ve got to get great goaltending and the big guys have to score for them.
If there’s a way to stop that top line, nobody’s figured it out yet. When you’ve got three kids of that ability together, it’s tough. If it’s one or two a lot of the time there are some things you can do, but when you’ve got three that are pretty much equally prolific, it’s tough to shut down a line, which is why they’ve had the success.
If that second line had to be their first line, then it’s a whole different story in my opinion. (Travis) Oleksuk and (J.T.) Brown are very good players, but I think they also benefit a little bit that everybody is worrying so much about the first line that maybe they go under the radar a little bit. Because of that they’re afforded some opportunities that they might not get if they were called on to carry the major load.
Their power play is formidable. You take those top three then put Faulk with them and it’s an extremely skilled group on the ice. Those four kids are obviously extremely skilled.
Notre Dame
They’re a team with a first line, but they’re also pretty deep, solid on the blue line and if they get goaltending they’ve got a crack to win it.
I don’t think goaltending is a concern, but it’s also probably not an area where they think it doesn’t matter if he’s hot or not. I think (Mike) Johnson is one of those kids that can be very good but I don’t know that he’s a guy you look at and think he’s the best goalie in college hockey.
Far and away, they’re a team that can play in any league and would be a quality team in any league.
I’m a big proponent of experience, and especially experience at this time of year, but I would say T.J. Tynan and Anders Lee are two of the best freshmen in the country. I’m sure if you ask Jeff, he’d rather everyone was juniors and seniors, but they’re not and they’re in the Frozen Four. So obviously those kids have produced and played well enough for them to get to this point. It’s another step up in terns of intensity when you get to this point, but they’ve been successful throughout the year.
MICHIGAN vs. NORTH DAKOTA
Michigan
The Wolverines are kind of like North Dakota. Their seniors have stayed and this is their year.
Michigan has a good strong group of defensemen with good size, and obviously (Shawn) Hunwick is going to be an important player or them and is going to have to play very well.
I was impressed watching Michigan play against CC. They looked really good.
This team is tighter defensively. They’re committed and when I’ve talked to their coaches, they’re buying into the defense. They’ve got a good core of six defensemen. If you asked them, they’d probably say the strength of their team is the D core.
They haven’t lost many here at the end. Maybe one of the last 10, and if you look at the end of the year, the teams that go in with a hot streak have the edge.
Typical of a Michigan team, they’re going to skate and they’re going to come at you. They have good size up front and you can’t feed them turnovers at the blue line. In the past sometimes Michigan would turn pucks over and you’d be able to transition back on them. So puck management is going to be critical for both teams.
If you look at the other three teams, Michigan has the best chance on paper to beat North Dakota.
North Dakota
They’re a very good transition team, and you have to be physically able to stand up to them, especially (Brad) Malone and (Matt) Frattin. (Evan) Trupp is a guy that kind of dekes and dives out of areas, but Malone and Frattin are so big and strong and they attack the net so hard.
They’ve got two really good lines that can score. They can skate and they’re very good in transition and they’re going to keep coming. The key when you play North Dakota is you better defend the blue paint because that’s a key area, and the more rebounds your goaltender can suck up and get a whistle, the better, rather than letting play continue on.
You might have to give up the blue line in order to defend those three forwards you’re playing against.
On defense, they’re older and (Ben) Blood and (Chay) Genoway are a good blend and complimentary to each other. Genoway is a guy who’s going to take it and go end-to-end, so you’ve got to get the puck behind their defensemen because they’re so big and strong they can ride you into the boards and keep the play in front of you. You want them to have the puck. You can’t let them get the crowd into it with big hits.
They’re a good penalty-killing team and their power play is very good. You can’t get seamed on the penalty kill. They do a good job of trying to suck you in and all of a sudden those guys off the wings can one-time pucks. And again, they’re so good at attacking the net for rebounds.
Give the coaches a lot of credit. They made what I’m sure was a very difficult decision to go with (Aaron) Dell when they had an experienced guy returning. It turned out to be the right play because he’s given them that consistency.
The type of team North Dakota is, if you’re going to beat them you’re going to have to beat them 3-2. You’re not going to get four or five very often.
