Championship Weekend in Review

Congratulations to the Union College Dutchmen on capturing their first Whitelaw Cup, and also securing a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Also, congrats to Cornell for coming in third and making the NCAA Tournament.

It was a good weekend in Atlantic City. I had a lot of fun. AC is a fun place if you make the trip, but can be very expensive. I thought Boardwalk Hall was a cool building, but the atmosphere was pretty lackluster. I guess that I expected it, but it was still fun being at the games.

The championship weekend began Thursday night with the ECAC Hockey Awards banquet at the Atlantic City Convention Center. I had the privilege of attending the event. It was cool seeing all the players and coaches make their speeches. The video presentation was ok, but the food was really good. Most of the players and coaches gave pretty generic speeches, except for Austin Smith who called Commissioner Hagwell by his "hockey name," "Hagsy," among other things (see video here). Also, a lot of great things were said about SLU's Joe Marsh, and there was a video tribute to him. There was also a "Year in Review" highlight video, which you can see here. It was also announced that Colgate's Austin Smith and Union' Troy Grosenick were named finalists for the Hobey Baker Award.

Here's a recap of the award winners and All-League teams (Official Release):

Union's Award Winners

Player of the Year: Austin Smith, Colgate
Goalie of the Year: Troy Grosenick, Union
Defensive Defenseman of the Year: Danny Biega, Harvard
Defensive Forward of the Year: Kelly Zajac, Union
Rookie of the Year: Brian Ferlin, Cornell
Coach of the Year: Rick Bennett, Union

First Team
Forwards: Austin Smith (Colgate), Brian O'Neill (Yale), Alex Killorn (Harvard)
Defense: Danny Biega (Harvard), Mat Bodie (Union)
Goalie: Troy Grosenick (Union)

Second Team
Forwards: Jack Maclellan (Brown), Chris Wagner (Colgate), Jeremy Welsh (Union)
Defense: Nick D'Agostino (Cornell), Michael Sdao (Princeton)
Goalie: Andy Iles (Cornell)

Third Team
Forward: Connor Jones (QU), Kyle Flanagan (SLU), Kelly Zajac (Union)
Defense: Thomas Larkin (Colgate), Patrick McNally (Harvard)
Goalie: Paul Karpowich (Clarkson)

Rookie Team
Forward: Brian Ferlin (Cornell), Matthew Peca (QU), Chris Martin (SLU)
Defense: Patrick McNally (Harvard), Shayne Gostisbehere (Union)
Goalie: Steve Michalek (Harvard)

Friday's first semifinal saw Union beat Colgate for the third time this season, by the score of 6-2. The Dutchmen started off a little slow, but were still able to hold on to a 3-1 lead heading into the third period before exploding for three goals in their best period of the weekend. The lethal trio of Daniel Carr, Jeremy Welsh, and Josh Jooris had a great game accounting for four of Union's six goals. Austin Smith collected one assist in the game for Colgate. Click here for USCHO's recap.

The second semifinal was another blowout with Harvard dominating Cornell 6-1. The Crimson absolutely dominated from start to finish, scoring the game's first six goals and limiting the Big Red to just nine shots through the first two periods. I was absolutely shocked that Cornell allowed so many goals in such a big game. Ted Donato's team received two goals from each Alex Killorn and Marshall Everson, and four assists from Colin Blackwell. Killorn and Everson's linemate, Alex Fallstrom, was injured so he played sparingly (in both games), which bumped Blackwell up to the top line. Patrick McNally also scored a sick goal for Harvard. Click here for USCHO's recap.

These results set up travel partners Colgate and Cornell to faceoff in the consolation game. While this wasn't a big game for the Raiders, it was a huge one for the Big Red, who needed a win to make the NCAA tournament. It must have been really hard for Colgate to get up for this game, and it showed on the ice. Despite being close in shots and only losing 3-0, it really didn't seem like they were that into it. In his final collegiate game, Austin Smith was held pointless, giving him only one assist on the weekend. I hope this performance doesn't hurt his chances for the Hobey Baker Award. Click here for USCHO's recap.

The championship game was the closest game of the weekend. I thought Union was definitely the better team, but Harvard and Raphael Girard played well enough to keep the game scoreless through two periods. With about 15 left in regulation, Alex Killorn broke the scoreless tie with his third goal of the weekend. The Crimson seemed to take the momentum despite being heavily out shot throughout the game. But, Union's Jeremy Welsh took the game into his own hands, scoring probably the biggest goal in Union Hockey history with end-to-end effort just 37 seconds later to tie the game and take the momentum back. Linemate Daniel Carr scored the eventual game-winner about four minutes later on a rebound. Harvard had some chances late to tie the game, and even hit the pipe with just a few minutes remaining, but Josh Jooris sealed the first ECAC Hockey championship in Union's history with an empty net goal. The celebration then began for the Dutchmen. Here's the recap, along with some great pictures, on USCHO. Also, my boys at Union Hockey Blog have some great videos and pictures of the celebration.



Welsh was named the weekend's Most Outstanding Player, and made the All-Tournament team with  teammate Daniel Carr, Shayne Gostisbere, and Troy Groenick, as well as Harvard's Alex Killorn and Danny Biega.

The excitement didn't end for the Dutchmen on Saturday, as they received the #1 seed in Bridgeport for the NCAA Tourney. They will play Michigan State on Friday, and will play the winner of Miami and UMass-Lowell (if they win of course) the following day. Union was featured for a bit on ESPN's selection show, and Barry Melrose picked Union to make the championship game. See what else he had to say about Union, here. The Dutchmen watched the selection show on the bus on their way back from Atlantic City this after noon (video).

Cornell also made the tournament as a #4 seed. They will be playing Michigan in Green Bay, and will face either Ferris State or Denver if they get past the Wolverines.

In the end, I think the best team won the conference. Union has the most depth of any team in the league, and have a great defense and goaltender. They make very few big mistakes and capitalize on other team's mistakes. Union is now a battle tested team and is familiar with Bridgeport, which gives them a nice advantage. Congrats to Coach Bennett and his staff on a great season. Hopefully they can keep it going through the NCAA Tourney.