MONTREAL – Hockey East belongs to goaltender Cayden Primeau, defenseman Jordan Harris, and the rest of the Northeastern University Huskies.
The Huskies claimed the conference title on Saturday night, posting a 3-2 win over the Boston College Eagles at TD Garden in Boston.
Primeau was outstanding again between the pipes, turning aside 38 of 40 shots against to help the Huskies officially punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
The 19-year-old Voorhees, NJ native, who made 29 saves in the squad’s semifinal victory over the Boston University Terriers on Friday, was presented with the William Flynn Award as the tournament’s most valuable player, and was also named to the All-Tournament team as well.
“Everyone knew that we had doubters at the beginning of the year because of losing the big three [Adam Gaudette, Dylan Sikura and Nolan Stevens] like that. It definitely hurt, but in the locker room we knew that we had a good group and that we wanted to prove all those people wrong,” Primeau told reporters following the contest. “Winning the Beanpot again, and then winning Hockey East, it just shows how this club is and when we buy into playing the right way and how the coaches want us to play, that’s how we are successful.”
For his part, Ryan Poehling didn’t suit up for the top-ranked St. Cloud State Huskies on Saturday night as they came up just short in their quest to secure a National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Frozen Faceoff crown.
It was the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs who posted a 3-2 triumph in double overtime at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN.
Poehling was injured in the Huskies’ semifinal tilt against the Colorado College Tigers on Friday, crashing violently into the boards while going after a puck in the offensive zone.
As for Brett Stapley, he chipped in with a pair of assists to help the University of Denver Pioneers win their third-place showdown with Colorado College by a score of 6-1 on Saturday night.
What’s next?
Later on tonight, the NCAA Tournament bracket will be revealed. Sixteen teams will take part in the annual event, which is played in a single elimination format.
Regionals will be held at four sites across the United States from Friday, March 29 through Sunday, March 31, with the winning team from each region earning a spot in the Frozen Four.
The Frozen Four will be played at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY from Thursday, April 11 through Saturday, April 13.
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