In a few hours Ohio State will take the ice in its opening round match of the 2017 NCAA tournament. The Buckeyes earned their first trip to the tourney since 2009 thanks to their body of work in the regular season, sliding into the sixteen team field with the final at large bid. In doing so, said head coach Steve Rohlik, they realized their “No. 1 and only goal” for the 2016-17 season.
| game info | osu vs umd |
|---|---|
| Opening Faceoff | Friday at 6:30 p.m. |
| Location | Fargo, ND |
| Television | ESPNU |
| Radio | 1460 AM |
| Online Stream | WatchESPN ($) |
Rohlik also noted that, while the Bucks intend to enjoy the tourney experience, they are “not satisfied with just going up there and being part of it.” Nick Schilkey echoed his coach’s comment, saying, “It’s not just about getting here, it’s about making some noise too.”
The Buckeyes will need to be loud indeed to advance in the West, the tournament’s most deadly quarter. In addition to OSU, the regional features defending NCAA champ North Dakota, Hockey East co-champ Boston University, and regular season NCHC runner up and conference champion, Minnesota-Duluth. Seven of the eight first-round NHL draft picks in this tournament will skate in this stacked West regional.
| team stats | ohio state | minn-duluth |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Record | 21-11-6 | 25-6-7 |
| Regional Seeding | No. 4 | No. 1 |
| National Polls | No. 14 | No. 2 |
| Average Goals For | 3.97 (T-No. 2) | 3.42 (No. 8) |
| Average Goals Against | 2.89 (T-No. 30) | 2.29 (No. 11) |
| Power Play Percentage | 32.5% (No. 1) | 20.0% (No. 20) |
| Penalty Kill Percentage | 74.2% (No. 57) | 80.3% (T-No. 41) |
| Points Leader | Mason Jobst - 55 points | Alex Iafallo - 45 points |
| Top Goal Scorer | Nick Schilkey - 27 goals | Alex Iafallo - 18 goals |
| Starting Goaltender | Matt Tomkins - 2.48/.909 | Hunter Miska - 2.23/.917 |
UMD is the first giant on the docket for the Bucks. The Bulldogs are the No. 2 overall team in the country. They are a big, strong, experienced squad. The team’s players are very skilled individually and when they operate together within the system, Duluth is even greater than the sum of its talented parts. There is no better evidence of this than the fact that the Bulldogs played the most difficult schedule of any team in college hockey this season and yet only dropped six games.
Minnesota-Duluth enters the tournament on a spectacular roll. The team has only one regulation loss in its last 17 outings. Freshman goalie Hunter Miska is undefeated in his last 16 starts (13-0-3) dating back to mid-January. And, in case all this wasn’t challenge enough for the Bucks, the whole regional takes place just a hop, skip, and a jump from the Bulldogs’ backyard.
But Duluth’s formidableness is not news to the Buckeye coach. Said Rohlik, “We’re playing, obviously, a very good hockey team. They’ve been rated No. 1 for three months of the year for a reason. We’ll be focused. We know we’ve got to play good, sound, team defense and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Rohlik also made a point of noting that the burden of defensive responsibility does not rest on the blue liners alone. “I think it’s not just on our defense to play team defense. It’s on everybody on the ice and our forwards have got to be responsible.”
Ohio State’s rearguard has struggled at times this season, though the Buckeyes’ average goals against is down to just 2.00 over their last eight contests. Defense became an even bigger challenge after the Big Ten tournament in which Drew Brevig was lost for the remainder of the season and Josh Healey suspended two games.
However, Rohlik maintains the absence of these two senior leaders does not affect his team’s strategy. “We’ve got to go up [to Fargo] and stick to our game plan, do the best job we can. We understand who [the Bulldogs] are and what they are, but we can’t change who we are.”
And who Ohio State is, is just about the biggest powder keg of scoring potential in all of college hockey. The Buckeyes average an NCAA second best 3.97 goals per game. Only Harvard (4.21) rates better.
The Bucks are also running a historically astounding power play. They have converted 32.5% of their chances this season. The program record for a single season is 32.7%. OSU is 10 for its last 20 power plays (50%).
Can Ohio State bring down Minnesota-Duluth with high voltage offense and a patched together defense? Anything’s possible. As Rohlik noted, “You wouldn’t say [the Bulldogs have] got a lot of weaknesses, looking at them, but they’re as beatable as anybody else.”
Connections
We mentioned the association between the Ohio State and Duluth coaching staffs already. There are also a couple of sibling links among the teams. The Bulldogs’ leading scorer, Alex Iafallo, is the brother of the women’s hockey Bucks’ second leading scorer, Julianna Iafallo. Josh Healey’s sister, Jessica, skates for UMD’s women’s team.
Big Ten News
- Tom Anastos has stepped down as the head coach of Michigan State.
- Wisconsin star Luke Kunin is the first major early departure for the B1G this season. The sophomore signed with the NHL’s Minnesota Wild.
- Seniors who have inked pro deals include Michigan’s Alex Kyle (Rochester, AHL) and MSU’s Rhett Holland (Idaho, ECHL).
