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Final Frozen Four Thoughts

We've come to the end of another successful Frozen Four and another great season of college hockey. This was Western College Hockey's first season covering college hockey and I think it went very well. I'll consider this the last regular season post and then we'll move onto offseason stuff.

The theme of the final game to me was that of Wisconsin taking advantage of their opportunities, while BC did not. There were some complaints abotu Wisconsin's Jack Skille taking a dive to draw a penalty that led to Tom Gilbert's game-winning powerplay goal. But if you check back on the live blog, just a few minutes prior to Skille drawing that penalty, a BC did a similiar thing to draw a penalty. Of the two, I thought the BC player's dive was more embellished. Wisconsin took advantage of their powerplay. BC did not.

It may not have been fair that BC had to play essentially a road game at the Bradley Center. Then again, when I traveled to Boston for the 2004 Frozen Four, you would have never guessed BC was the home team just by looking at the crowd. Wisconsin took advantage of their proximity to the Frozen Four. BC did not.

BC deserves a lot of credit for making it as far as they did. They're a testament to how far opportunism and great goaltending can get you. If it weren't for an amazing effort by a great Wisconsin team, they may have even walked out of their with a national title.

The most amazing stat of the game to me was Boston College only managing 5 shots in the third period. Wisconsin scored the go-ahead goal with about half the period left to play. You would have expected BC to come back with a flurry of shots as they desperately tried to tie it up, but Wisconsin's defense was so good that they didn't let anything get through to Brian Elliott. That was one of the more impressive defensive performances that you're going to see.

Other people had some thoughts on the championship game as well.

We'll start with the victors. Wisconsin Hockey Blog

was rightfully elated.

Colorado College Hockey did an excellent job covering the Frozen Four. Here was their take on the final game.

Fledgling Mav Hockey Nation also gave credit to the Badgers.

Goon's World had mixed emotions about Wisconsin winning.

And finally, to transition us into the offseason, UAA Hockey Fan Blog has a poignant piece on the wait until next season.