ST. PAUL, Minn. — Before David Carle entered a noisy dressing room Saturday night, the party had already started.
There was a band circle and a University of Denver folk song. There was singing and dancing. Players alternated between shouting “Party!” » and Matty! » after goalkeeper Matt Davis, the inevitable MVP who had the match of his life by shutting out top-seeded Boston College. They lifted the national championship trophy, which was theirs again for the second time in three years, and the college hockey trophy with 10 in total.
Then Carle delivered the mic.
The 34-year-old is in fine form, with two national titles and a recent world junior gold medal. And Carle’s group had just beaten blue-blood programs Boston University and Boston College in this Frozen Four to give them one more title than Michigan (nine).
“You will walk together forever,” Carle told the team. “One last thing: it’s indisputable. We have the (f-ing) belt now. No one can (fucking) argue. We are the best program in college hockey.
It’s difficult to argue.
David Carle tells his team that they now have the “belt”. “We are the best program in college hockey.” Difficult to argue. Ten titles. pic.twitter.com/eKnpVPWVsU
– Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) April 14, 2024
The Pioneers have appeared in five of the last nine Frozen Fours, with three titles in the last seven. And to get this one, they handed a powerful Eagles team a 2-0 loss, their first in 16 games and their first shutout of the season. The country’s most dangerous trio of Gabe Perreault, Will Smith and Ryan Leonard was kept off the scoresheet for the first time this year and even separated midway through the third. They had outscored their last five NCAA Tournament opponents 29-8.
Carle said one key controlled the middle of the ice, “making them play through us.” It started with the offensive zone, slowing down the way the Eagles got the puck out and out of their territory. In the third, the Eagles adapted by shredding and shooting the puck, but it was too late. And Davis closed the door.
“They’re a team that keeps you on your heels,” Carle said. “If you play on your heels, you are playing with fire. You have to find a way to skate forward and around corners, stay on your tiptoes, disrupt them and make them uncomfortable. I think we did well the first two periods. And the third period was the Matt Davis show.
The Eagles’ frustration could be seen during the game and heard after the game.
“We felt like we were the better team,” Leonard said. “We were beaten by a goalie.”
“He played the game of his life,” Smith said. “We gave him everything and we took everything out of him. He played a great match.
The most iconic and fitting moment of this game will be the landmark save Davis made on Leonard early in the third period during an Eagles power play. Perreault placed the puck on a “T” for Leonard at the far post, and he clocked a one-timer. But Davis slumped back, held out his glove and put his arm on it.
“Good save,” Leonard said.
More appropriately, ESPN’s John Buccigross shouted on the broadcast, “Oh my God! What was that? Matt Davis is crazy!
“MATT DAVIS IS OUT OF MIND!!!!!”
📺ESPN2#MFrozenFour #SCTop10 X @DU_Hockey pic.twitter.com/EnFT0DHuHl
– NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) April 13, 2024
Davis said when he saw the puck go through the backdoor to Leonard, he was like, “Uh oh.” He got up and leaned on the post to catch his breath. He looked up at the replay. “I just saw it on the Jumbotron, and I’m like, ‘Sweet,'” Davis said. “As long as it’s not in the back of the net, it’s nice.”
Davis, the Calgary junior, finally got his shot at number one this season after being behind Magnus Chrona for two years. But he suffered a lower-body injury in October that kept him out for two months. Davis rebounded well, playing some of his best hockey down the stretch, including going 9-1 in March. He backed up two 2-1 wins at regionals to reach the Frozen Four, then another in Thursday’s 2-1 overtime win over Boston University.
“He’s the best goalie in the world,” said defenseman Zeev Buium, who is expected to be a top-10 pick in June’s NHL draft. “Amazing.”
The Pioneers took the lead for good midway through the second period with a goal from Jared Wright, who knocked a shot off the post, and goaltender Jacob Fowler, who had been equally formidable during the team’s 15-game winning streak. Eagles. Five minutes later, Buium made a hell of a play by drawing a few defenders and slipping a pass to Rieger Lorenz, a Wild prospect who made a 2-point game in the biggest game of his life.
“He sank into the ice (afterward),” Lorenz said. “I cried a little. I’m just super proud of this group.
The scene on the ice after the final buzzer was telling. On one side, there were the reeling Eagles, loaded with NHL prospects up front, led by Cutter Gauthier, who led the country with 37 goals this season (Hobey Baker finalist). “One game is not going to define our season,” Gauthier said.
Gauthier, whose rights were traded to the Ducks, said he hasn’t had any recent discussions with Anaheim recently, so he’s not sure what will happen in the plan. Even though he was expected to be the last college hockey star to move from chasing a championship to the NHL.
“It’s difficult,” Gauthier said. “I already spoke with my parents (the Frozen Four). A lot will happen in the next two weeks, playing college hockey, playing for a national championship, playing professionally. There is a lot to understand. I try to focus on one day at a time and cherish every last moment of being a college athlete.
While many Eagles held back tears, the Pioneers celebrated. After running off the bench and creating a mega pile on Davis (35 saves), they started cutting their net to pieces. They put these coins under their hats as they celebrated. “We’ve done it every time we’ve won, so why change? » said Lorenz.
Cut the fillets!! ✂️#MFrozenFour X @DU_Hockey pic.twitter.com/zzltWdcKib
– NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) April 14, 2024
The Pioneers won the NCHC Frozen Faceoff championship in the same Xcel Energy Center late last month, so they had some good karma in that building. When they had the chance to move to a larger locker room after Thursday’s semifinal (after Boston University and Michigan lost), they decided to keep the same small locker room they had.
Besides Carle, Captain McKade Webster also gave a speech. As his teammates shouted, “One more year!” Another year!” the senior winger explained how proud he was of the group. “We will remember this for the rest of our lives,” he said.
Who else was given the game player’s safety helmet? Davis. Webster has repeatedly said in recent years that his roommate would lead the Pioneers to a national title. “It won us a national title,” he said.
“We definitely had a lot of valleys this year,” Davis said. “But man, it feels good to be on top.”
(Photo: Bailey Hillesheim/Sportswire Icon via Getty Images)