BUFFALO, N.Y. — For a third straight week, UMass faced questions about adapting to a big stage.
It’s no secret this is the Minutemen’s first appearance at the Frozen Four, similar to how it was the first time in 12 years they played in the Hockey East semifinals in Boston or the NCAA Tournament. The inexperience factor was going to be a topic of conversation, especially after how poorly UMass played against Boston College in the Hockey East semifinals.
But the team that took to the KeyBank Center ice Wednesday for practice is far different than the one that was overwhelmed by the attention in Boston.
“Yeah, we’ve all said this plenty of times, we learned a lesson from Boston,” sophomore defenseman Mario Ferraro said. “We kind of turned the page on that. … It all starts with our practice (Wednesday). We got it under our belt, went out there, cameras were on us, on the ice for the first time.”
The Wednesday practice was understandably shaky for the first 10 or so minutes before coach Greg Carvel called the team to center ice to calm them. He reminded them it was the same practice UMass runs every day before a game and the Minutemen (30-9-0) seemed to settle down.
It’s one of the few times Carvel will have to make a big speech to his team on this type of stage. The third-year coach said his biggest challenge now is to push the right buttons for his team, and for him that might just be taking a step back. He said the last thing he wants to do is mettle too much and just wants to stay out of the players’ way because they know the task at hand.
“As coaches we don’t oversaturate them with too much information, video, the rest of it,” Carvel said. “You almost want to just not show them any video, just say, ‘Go play, have fun, play as hard as you can. You guys know what to do.’ It’s much more important that we do what UMass wants to do rather than trying to prevent Denver from doing what they want to do.”
And what UMass has done well all season is start strong and carry that level of play throughout the entire 60 minutes. It was those fast starts that buried Harvard and Notre Dame in the Northeast Regional in Manchester, New Hampshire, although the score was tied at the end of the first 20 minutes of both games. The Minutemen have scored the first goal in two-thirds of their games this season and hold a 24-2-0 mark when tallying first.
The only thing that might delay that fast start is the fact UMass will be playing in the second semifinal of the night, and is at the mercy of the opening game between Providence and Minnesota-Duluth. The Minutemen are scheduled to face off with Denver (24-11-5) at 8:33 p.m., but the game will start an hour after the teams clear the ice from the first semifinal.
It was an issue that UMass ran into for the Hockey East semifinals as an overtime affair delayed its start time. Ferraro said that won’t be an issue again because everyone knows what’s at stake Thursday.
“It’s all business when we get to the rink,” Ferraro said. “All the distractions, count them out. We’ve got to go out there ready to play the first five minutes. We’re going to go do that. Whatever happens in the first game, we’re not worried about that, we’re worried about Denver, and we’re going to bring it to them strong.”
A fast start might be important in a matchup between the only teams to escape the regionals without allowing a goal. UMass handled both of its foes fairly easily for a pair of 4-0 wins while Denver beat Ohio State 2-0 before defeating American International 3-0. With both teams excelling on the defensive end, the first goal might be even more important than other games this season.
“Both teams are obviously playing well defensively,” UMass forward Jacob Pritchard said. “It’s going to come down to maybe the first goal is a little bit grittier, maybe it’s a rebound, maybe it’s guys going to the net. We just got to play our game, play UMass hockey, and we’ll be good.”
In Manchester, the Minutemen dictated the play for 120 minutes by playing their style of aggressive, physical hockey no matter who was on the ice. The communal buy-in was just as important to UMass’ success as any other aspect of its game, giving Carvel the confidence to send out any line in any situation.
That is the message Carvel will leave his team with, the same one he’s preached from the opening day of the season. Everyone no matter their size has to commit to the identity UMass has established this season and play aggressive.
“We say to our guys that everybody is responsible to our identity,” Carvel said. “Not every guy is 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds. Some guys like Bobby (Trivigno) are 5-8, 150 pounds. They all have to play with an aggressive mindset that we try to play. … Ultimately, this year (the buy-in) happened early. The guys realized when we do this, we’re a really good team, really tough to beat.”