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  • A whole lot of brotherly love as North Dakota wins eighth title

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    A whole lot of brotherly love as North Dakota wins eighth title

    Bob Snow April 10, 2016
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    TAMPA – At 6:10 p.m. Saturday night, Philadelphia Flyers’ first-year head coach Dave Hakstol punched the last playoff ticket in the Eastern Conference when his boys took down Pittsburgh, 3-1, after the Bruins melted down in their 6-1 loss to Ottawa.

    His straight-faced intensity a trademark, that win likely brought a smile somewhere in Hakstol’s celebration. But two in the same day?

    Twelve hundred miles south, Hakstol’s former assistant completed the program’s first national championship since 1997 at 10:45 p.m., when Brad Berry’s Fighting Hawks took out Quinnipiac University, 5-1, before a sold-out 19,353 at Amalie Arena and a national audience on ESPN2.

    Surely the Flyers coach was smiling as “broad”ly as that famous Philly street. There’s a whole lot of brotherly love for some time to come from Philadelphia to Tampa – and across the Peace Garden State.

    It marked a first-ever title for a first-year coach. That last opportunity? Hakstol, back in 2005 when North Dakota lost to Denver, 4-1.

    “It’s not about me, it’s about these guys and what they bring every game,” the modest Berry said about his NCAA milestone.

    Hakstol delivered in Grand Forks from day one from 2004-2015, taking North Dakota to the NCAA tournament every year, including seven trips to the Frozen Four with teams playing with a combined tradition of talent and snarl.

    When his career shifted to the NHL, Berry, an NHL 15-year journeyman and fellow North Dakota alum, picked up right where his former boss left off. With 10 NHL draft picks and an NCAA best 33 wins into Saturday night, Berry’s boys flew through the Midwest Regional and then Thursday’s second semifinal against Denver, 4-2, on a last minute backhander by Chicago draftee Nick Schmaltz after leading, 2-0.

    While Schmalz and his “CBS” line of Drake Caggiula and Brock Boeser got the headlines most of the season — and Thursday night with six points — it was a fourth-line freshman that got North Dakota on the scoreboard first.

    Washington Capitals’ pick Shane Gersich put a backhand past Michael Garteig at 11:56 and the Fighting Hawks were off to the races with captain Gage Ausmus and Boeser assisting.

    UND gave the best-in-the-country power play an opportunity to even the score at 13:19. But a minute in, Garteig decided to attempt to clear the puck 25 feet outside his crease. He put in into the chest of a charging Boeser and the Canucks’ freshman draftee went public skating to the net for a 2-0 lead at 14:56.

    “I’d rather prefer not to talk about it, thank you,” Garteig said about the gaffe.

    With a minute to go in the first period, Caggiula went to the box. Several seconds later Troy Stecher was whistled, and with a 5-on-3, it took only six seconds to cut the Bobcats’ deficit in half when junior Tim Clifton jammed it by Cam Johnson at 18:53 with brother Connor and Travis St. Denis assisting.

    North Dakota outshot Quinnipiac, 16-13, after the first 20 minutes, while taking four penalties to none for the “Q.” Make that 5-0 at 2:13 of the second period when Quinnipiac again went on the man-advantage.

    The Achilles heel of Hakstol — and maybe Berry teams — is too many untimely penalties. Johnson, saved his mates with two sparkling saves to reflect his 1.68 GAA this season and 1.77 career.

    “Our guys stuck with it and got back on the rails,” Berry said about keeping Quinnipiac off the board. “We addressed that. No more. No more penalties. If we did that, then we’d be okay rolling four lines and getting back into our play. And I think we proved we have a good goaltender.”

    Seven minutes in, the Bobcats leading scorer, Sam Anas, hit the post to Johnson’s left. It took half the game for North Dakota to get its first chance on the power play that went for naught in a tight-checking second period.

    So, it came down to the final 20 minutes of the NCAA season with North Dakota unbeaten in 75 straight when leading into the third period. With that stat and a national championship on the line, the CBS money line went right to work, hemming Quinnipiac in the corner until Schmaltz sent a cross-crease pass to Caggiula who rifled it home for his 27th goal and 50th point of the season at 1:21.

    “I haven’t seen a line like that all season,” Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold said about the Fighting Hawks’ CBS trio. “They are high-end NHL talent.”

    “We put the gas at full throttle,” Caggiula said about the third period start.

    Two minutes later at 3:41, Caggiula, a senior free agent who played three seasons under Hakstol, airmailed a thank-you to Philadelphia and copped the MVP of the week when he and Boeser went in 2-on-1 on Garteig, sending a 20-foot laser past the Q’s ironman goaltender who played every minute of the season.

    “This championship is also for [Dave],” Caggiula added. “He helped build this program.”

    St. Louis draftee Austin Poganski made it the 5-1 final at 10:41, roofing a rebound past Garteig; Ausmus and Rhett Gardner assisting.

    It was a bittersweet end for Quinnipiac and Pecknold who lost the program’s only other bid for the title in 2013.

    “We played to our identity in the second period,” he said. “Not in the first and third. They gave us a lot and we just couldn’t handle it tonight.

    “[I was told yesterday] we were trending No. 1 on Facebook. And I was like, what do you mean, Connecticut? No, in the world. Donald Trump is 2. We’re 1. So that puts in perspective what this program, what those kids have done not just for hockey but for Quinnipiac University.”

    North Dakota now stands alone in program tiles at eight, one behind Michigan’s record nine.

    “We openly talk about winning championships,” Berry concluded, “and trying to be the best that we can be every single day. And to finally complete that and do that, it’s an accolade or a team award that we’ll cherish for a long time.”

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