By Brian Farrell, Senior Staff Writer
Hamden, Conn. – Quinnipiac is making it clear that it wants more than just a Frozen Four birth. After a convincing 5-1 win Sunday over Union, Quinnipiac coach and players echoed the same statement.
“Our goal is not just to be here; it is to win,” senior goaltender and finalist for the Hobey Baker Eric Hartzell said.
“We’re not done. We’re not just happy to go; we want to win games,” head coach Rand Pecknold said.
Not done. Just two words that describe not only Quinnipiac’s season, but also its mentality entering the biggest stage in college hockey.
The Bobcats were picked in the preseason to finish fourth in the ECAC, a fine accomplishment for a team that while had regular season success, hasn’t done anything in the playoffs.
After an 11-year drought and for the first time since QU has joined the ECAC, the Bobcats qualified for the NCAA tournament. They did so, as many other former national champions – as the No. 1 overall seed.
Quinnipiac will join rival Yale, UMass-Lowell and St. Cloud State in two weeks for the 2013 Frozen Four in Pittsburgh. It will be just the second time since 1993 that a team will win its first national championship.
Lowell is the only other No. 1 seed to reach the Frozen Four while Yale and St. Cloud State are the only No. 4 seeds to advance.
It is a brand new year in college hockey as shown by the only four teams remaining. For the last two decades schools like Minnesota, Denver, Boston College, Maine and Boston University have dominated the sport. Today things are different.
Just a few years ago, teams like Yale, Quinnipiac and UMass Lowell were the butt ends of jokes to the schools listed above. While Yale qualified for the national tournament in the past, it was quickly ousted and criticized for playing in a league that is not the WCHA or the Hockey East.
This season, Yale struggled near the end and was on the outside looking in thanks to two shutout losses in the ECAC championship tournament. Had either Boston University or Michigan won, the Bulldogs would be home watching the Frozen Four.
“It’s pretty good for the New Haven-Hamden area,” Pecknold said chuckling. “Yale had a tough weekend last week and I give them a lot of credit. They rebounded and beat Minnesota and North Dakota, and that’s pretty impressive. It’s great for the state of Connecticut.”
What could be even bigger for the state is if each team wins its semifinal game. If so, Quinnipiac will take on Yale for the national championship. But they are not the only newcomers to the Frozen Four. Similarly, St. Cloud State and Lowell have struggled at one point over the last couple of seasons.
St. Cloud State has been mediocre over the last two seasons, mulling around a .500 record, but playing in one of the top leagues in the country. This year the Huskies earned themselves the WCHA regular-season title, but were a bubble team on the eve of the selection show. According to USCHO.com’s Jayson Moy, had Boston University and Michigan won its respective conference title, the Huskies would be sitting on the couch with Yale.
In 2010-11, Lowell won just five games going 5-25-4 before completely turning around the program last year improving its record to 24-13-1. Lowell was ousted in the first round of the Hockey East tournament last season, but qualified for the national tournament. In its first game, the River Hawks took down Miami 4-3 in overtime before falling to Union 4-2.
The Frozen Four is set for Thursday, April 11 and Saturday, April 13. Lowell and Yale will faceoff at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday with the Bobcats and Huskies headlining at 8 p.m. Both games will be televised nationally on ESPN 2. The winners will play for the national championship on Saturday at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
