BUFFALO, N.Y. — UMass had a long night Thursday.
The Minutemen ended their Frozen Four semifinal win over Denver with an overtime goal at 12:02 a.m. Friday. It was the latest a national semifinal ended in NCAA history.
They ate a postgame meal of chicken, rice and pasta and didn’t return to their hotel until after 1 a.m.
“It was a little hard to get to sleep. At the end of the day we came here to win two games, not just one,” UMass senior Jacob Pritchard said. “We have to get over it.”
UMass returned to the KeyBank Center for a pregame media session and practice at noon Friday.
Recovering from the semifinal win quickly became just as important as preparing for the title game.
“I think it’s just recovery and hydration, proper nutrition,” UMass sophomore forward John Leonard said.
Strength coach Clayton Kirven and athletic trainer Marc Paquet will play a major role in preparing UMass physically for Saturday’s national championship game against Minnesota Duluth, scheduled for 8 p.m.
Kirven is in his second season with UMass’ hockey team after joining the athletic program as an intern in 2016. Pacquet came to UMass in 2017 after four years in the Calgary Flames organization.
“We’re very fortunate to have such great support staff on our team. Clayton, you’re able to go into the gym whenever you want, regardless if it’s our workout time or your individual time to go work,” UMass sophomore Cale Makar said. “In terms of Marc, you’re able to get treatment whenever. They’ve been so accessible in terms of time we can go in and everything.”
BENCH SOLDIER — When UMass scaled down to three lines for the third period and overtime, there were two players left to fill in on an as-needed basis.
Whenever a forward was tired, Carvel called on senior Kurt Keats and sophomore George Mika for spot duty shifts. In the interim, their job was to keep morale high on the bench in the tense moments of the national semifinal while also being prepared at a moment’s notice to skate a shift for a teammate.
“You’ve just got to stay in it and just be ready to go at any minute,” Keats said. “Guys get tired and they kind of swap me in and out there, so I just keep my head in it, staying positive. We call them bench soldiers sometimes where you’re just keeping it positive on the bench and keeping yourself and everybody else in it.”
RARING TO GO — Mitchell Chaffee and Niko Hildenbrand suffered through what was arguably the most nerve-racking two hours of their life Thursday.
Both forwards were handed game misconducts early in UMass’ 4-3 win over Denver and were forced to watch the rest of the victory from the press box area with the rest of the day’s scratches. Every moment became more intense for them as they watched Denver rally to tie the game in the third and then the action went back-and-forth throughout the overtime period.
“It was very tough to sit up there, it’s just frustrating getting kicked out like that and there’s nothing I can do about it,” Chaffee said. “It’s pretty frustrating, but I had full faith in everybody on this team.”
Hildenbrand gave Marc Del Gaizo a big hug when he joined the celebration in the locker room in appreciation for keeping the Minutemen’s season alive for one more game. That energy will be needed Saturday as Chaffee and Hildenbrand will be fresher than most of the UMass players who sloughed through the almost 76-plus minutes of hockey, most of which came with the Minutemen down players.
“The guys here will be more energized than ever, how do you not get up for a national championship game,” Hildenbrand said. “We talked about it, we joked about it, maybe we have a little more gas than some of the other guys, so we’ll be ready to go for Saturday for sure.”
RIGHT PLACE & TIME — Pritchard joined UMass as a graduate transfer from St. Lawrence before this season. He’s never played for the Minutemen when they weren’t a national contender.
“I kind of hopped into the success. I’m obviously very thankful for that,” Pritchard said. “Carv runs a great team. I knew he would have a good year here.”
Pritchard played three years at St. Lawrence, and Carvel coached him for two of them before he was hired at UMass.
“Whenever you can be part of a team that has a lot of success, it’s a lot of fun,” Pritchard said.
SIMILAR TRAJECTORIES — UMass had five wins two years ago and will play for a national title Saturday. It’s a path Minnesota Duluth coach Scott Sandelin knows well.
The Bulldogs went 7-28 in his first year in 2000-01, but they reached the Frozen Four in 2004. They’ve won two national championships in his tenure, including last season’s.
“I wish mine would have gone that fast, I know that. But we kind of had the same trajectory,” Sandelin said. “It’s still kind of a cool story to see teams take a step up. It gives hope for a lot of programs. You work hard, get the right kids that fit in your program, you can have some success. Doesn’t mean you’re going to get to this point all the time, but you can have success. Give those guys a lot of credit.”