THE PIPELINE SHOW: Frozen Four Coach’s Show
It’s a bonus episode of The Pipeline Show this week as we produce our annual Frozen Four Coach’s Show. A special preview of the NCAA Division 1 championship from the perspective of the four coaches leading their respective team to the Frozen Four in Buffalo, NY.
2019 Frozen Four: Providence Friars
The Providence Friars began the season as one of the favorites in not only Hockey East but in all of Division 1 college hockey. They qualified for the national tournament on the final weekend of play and as a number 4 seed, took advantage of playing close to home in front of their fans and got through the East Regional.
I spoke in depth with head coach Nate Leaman about his team, their performance over the season, through the Hockey East playoffs and last weekend in Providence. We touched on several individual players including Kasper Bjorkqvist, Jack Dugan, Hayden Hawkey, Vinnie Desharnais, Tyce Thompson and Jay O’Brien.
Finally, I asked the coach to preview the upcoming game against the defending national champions, the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs.
2019 Frozen Four: Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs
As defending national champions, the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs have had a target on their backs all season long. But to the chagrin of the other 60 Division 1 programs, UMD is back at the Frozen Four and are arguably the favorites to come away with another title.
My lengthy conversation with head coach Scott Sandelin begins with my asking how this year’s roster compares to the last two as the team gets ready for a third straight appearance at the Frozen Four. From there we focus on individual talents like Parker Mackay, Dylan Samberg, Mikey and Matt Anderson, Scott Perunovich, Noah Cates and netminder Hunter Shepard.
We wrapped up with his expectations of the opening game against the Providence Friars and his thoughts on the Spencer Penrose Award as Coach of the Year.
2019 Frozen Four: Massachusetts Minutemen
How do you take a NCAA division 1 hockey program from 5 wins to 30 in only three seasons? It’s an amazing accomplishment by head coach Greg Carvel and now his club has a chance to put the icing on the cake of their season by heading to the Frozen Four in Buffalo.
As you would expect, coach Carvel shared the credit for the program’s success with his staff and the players. During our in depth conversation we talked about some of those players including Cale Makar, the odds on favorite to be named as the Hobey Baker Award winner later this week as the top player in college hockey.
We also talked about Mario Ferraro, Marc and Anthony Del Gaizo, Mitchell Chaffee, Oliver Chau and goalie tag team duo Matthew Murray and Filip Lindberg.
Of course I asked for his expectations ahead of the upcoming game against the Denver Pioneers and I also asked him who he would vote for as Division 1 Coach of the Year.
2019 Frozen Four: Denver Pioneers
He intended on playing as a Pioneer but a heart condition ended David Carle‘s college hockey playing career before it began. But Carle spent 4 years on the bench as a student assistant coach, went to the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers for two seasons and was then brought back to DU by Jim Montgomery. Now, as a 29-year-old, he’s led the Pioneers back to the Frozen Four as the program’s freshman head coach.
I asked him about the transition to blowing the head coach whistle and how much is different as head coach. Then we began talking about key players on his roster like Jarid Lukosevicius, Liam Finley, Ian Mitchell, Emilio Pettersen and netminders Filip Larsson and Devin Cooley.
We ended our extended conversation with his expectations facing UMass and who of the other 9 finalists for the Spencer Penrose Award his vote would go towards.
Guy Flaming is the host of The Pipeline Show, a year round, 100% prospect orientated podcast now in its 14th season. Since 2006, the mandate of the program has been to introduce the audience to the future of the NHL and that is accomplished every week by speaking with the top players, coaches, general managers, scouts and media that junior and college hockey have to offer. It is free to subscribe to The Pipeline Show and is available via iTunes, Google Play, Soundcloud, Spreaker, the Podcast App and www.thepipelineshow.com