Best college hockey game you've ever seen

[Slap Shot]

Re: Best college hockey game you've ever seen

I understand why all the Gophers are plugging the 2002 game, but as a Maine fan that is one I'd like to forget.

I feel ya, but I know quite a few Gophers fans will mention '89 vs. Harvard even though our team lost - just because the game was so memorable and exciting.

[MGoBlueHockey]

Re: Best college hockey game you've ever seen

2/19/2011. #17 western at #11 Michigan. Senior Night. CCHA Championship would ultimately be decided on this goal, because western beat notre dame the following weekend which gave Michigan their 11th CCHA Championship (Most in the conference).

Rookie NHL star Carl Hagelin scored the game-tying goal with 38.5 seconds left in the third period, and scored the game winning goal with 2.6 seconds left in overtime. Had Hagelin not scored the OT goal, game would have went into a shootout which would at best be 2 points for Michigan, which would not secure the conference championship.

Game highlights

The goal on it's own from a crowd perspective that gives me chills, still.

[Wol4ine]

Re: Best college hockey game you've ever seen

Was not in Milwaukee for '93 Championship when Jim Montgomery scored a pure Hat Trick in the 3rd but that has to be among the greatest comebacks of all time in a National Championship.

For me, one of the greatest comebacks was the BU- Miami NC game. A close, hard fought low scoring game. Miami took the lead half way through the third and that really looked like enough. Just when you thought BU was getting pressure and was going to tie it up, Miami scores the insurance goal with about 4 minutes left. With under 3 minutes left Parker pulls the goalie. Miami misses a couple of chances to get the empty netter before BU scores with just under 1 minute left. Miami has to hold on for just 1 Minute. They can't. BU scores again with the extra attacker with about 15 seconds left to tie it. Both sides get chances in OT but BU has the momentum and wins it about 10 minutes in.

It's funny to compare that game, BU scores twice 6x5 in the last 2 minutes, to the game where DU held off Maine 3x6 for the last 2 minutes. The hockey gods can be fickle.

[alfablue]

Re: Best college hockey game you've ever seen

My best games were pretty natural- the 96 and 98 NC games that Michigan won in OT- one that was a big weight off of Red's shoulders, the other was un-expected after a year were the expectations were to dominate and win it all... The 98 game against North Dakota was pretty sweet, too.

In terms of game that my team was NOT in, my best game was the '98 regional final of tOhio State vs. Michigan State. Being that the fans were decidedly Michigan fans, neither team had a gross majority, and the place was pretty electric in a weird way. On top of that, it was a great game, with OSU winning it in overtime with a slap shot from the blue line. What a game.

The 2004 NC game of Maine vs. Denver was a real barn burner, too. On the edge of your seat all night.

Somewhere in there was the Wisconsin BC game, and the MSU-BC game- one of which almost was tied with a couple of seconds left, the other was won in the last min.

It's easy to come up with games I consider great when Michigan plays and wins. It's a lot harder, and I think more relevant, when it's not my team, moreso if I don't like either team much.

[BobF]

Re: Best college hockey game you've ever seen

For me, one of the greatest comebacks was the BU- Miami NC game. A close, hard fought low scoring game. Miami took the lead half way through the third and that really looked like enough. Just when you thought BU was getting pressure and was going to tie it up, Miami scores the insurance goal with about 4 minutes left. With under 3 minutes left Parker pulls the goalie. Miami misses a couple of chances to get the empty netter before BU scores with just under 1 minute left. Miami has to hold on for just 1 Minute. They can't. BU scores again with the extra attacker with about 15 seconds left to tie it. Both sides get chances in OT but BU has the momentum and wins it about 10 minutes in.

It's funny to compare that game, BU scores twice 6x5 in the last 2 minutes, to the game where DU held off Maine 3x6 for the last 2 minutes. The hockey gods can be fickle.

That BU-Miami game was one of the greatest title games I have seen, and yes that comeback made it that much more dramatic. Same can be said for the 2007 MSU-BC game when MSU tied it with 10 minutes to go at 1-1 and then won it with 18 seconds to go. Have seen so many great National Championship games, Michigan over BC in OT at the Boston Garden was another great game.

[chickod]

Re: Best college hockey game you've ever seen

I was at that game and I remember NMU got a standing ovation from the Gopher faithful after winning the 1991 title. This game would be up there for me as well.

Gee...that's a real shock that the Gopher fans would cheer against BU...

[goldy_331]

Re: Best college hockey game you've ever seen

Gee...that's a real shock that the Gopher fans would cheer against BU...

I even cheered for North Dakota in Milwaukee in '97.

Last time I'll ever do that!

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: Best college hockey game you've ever seen

I even cheered for North Dakota in Milwaukee in '97.

Last time I'll ever do that!

If it makes you feel any better, I cheered for the Gophers in 2003. Also, I did not cheer against them in 2002 (I have good friends that are both Maine fans and Gopher fans, and I was sitting with all of them).

[burd]

Re: Best college hockey game you've ever seen

If it makes you feel any better, I cheered for the Gophers in 2003.

Congratulations on coming out on USCHO. Admirable courage, but you realize we will look at you differently now.

[Fighting Sioux 23]

Re: Best college hockey game you've ever seen

Congratulations on coming out on USCHO. Admirable courage, but you realize we will look at you differently now.

I almost always cheer for conference mates ahead of others. The exceptions being 2002 when I didn't cheer for either team, and 2004 when I didn't cheer for either team.

[brookyone]

Re: Best college hockey game you've ever seen

I was at that game and I remember NMU got a standing ovation from the Gopher faithful after winning the 1991 title. This game would be up there for me as well.

Was at this one as well. I think this was the best game I've attended. Harvard and Minnesota in '89 was another excellent game. Probably already been mentioned.

[lord k]

Re: Best college hockey game you've ever seen

The best ones I have been to live were all in 1997.

UND vs Gophers in the final 5. UND won in OT.

Michigan vs BU at the frozen four. BU knocked off the juggernaut.
UND vs BU in the NCAA championship.

The Holy Cross game robbed Sioux/Gopher fans of what would have been an unbelievable game in a regional championship in Grand Forks. It is doubtful the stars will ever align to make that happen again.

[HockeyMan2000]

Re: Best college hockey game you've ever seen

Both games that you wish you had attended were both played at the Pepsi Arena in Albany (now the TU center) and while the 2001 title game was a great game if you're a BC fan, the SLU-BU game was indeed a classic.

I was at both of those games and the 01 national title game was much more exciting in terms of a hockey game. The SLU-BU game was obviously one of the longest games ever played but personally I wouldn't call it a "classic." The longer it went on, the harder it was to watch the players try and hold themselves up. Scoring chances became fewer and fewer. The pace was sluggish as you'd expect. I'll never forget being there, but in terms of hockey, it was actually painful to endure by the 4th and 5th hours and I got the sense most fans there who didn't have a dog in the fight just wanted to see it end.

[goldy_331]

Re: Best college hockey game you've ever seen

If it makes you feel any better, I cheered for the Gophers in 2003.

No, it doesn't.

[Beeeej]

Re: Best college hockey game you've ever seen

Not sure if this is the "best" game I was ever at, but it's the most memorable, the most epic, the most taxing.

Most in attendance had their Frozen Four tickets for Milwaukee already bought and we had been the best team all season. It couldn't end in the regionals could it? To Cornell? Now nothing against Cornell as they were our toughest opponent in the NCAA's that year and they played a whale of a game that day, but the train wasn't supposed to come off the tracks in the regional.

What a gut wrenching marathon of a game where as the periods passed without a goal, it became clear that one slip by either team was going to be the difference. Nerves on end for about 4.5 straight hours.

I was also at the FF a couple of weeks later, but this was the game of games for me.

When I saw this thread a few minutes ago, I knew someone would have beaten me to this game as an answer - the 2006 regional final, Cornell vs. Wisconsin. You know it must have been an incredible game for a Cornell fan to think it was the best game he's ever seen even though Cornell lost.

We had some decent firepower on that team - three future NHLers in Moulson, Bitz, and O'Byrne - and Dave McKee in the net, just one year after making the Hobey Hat Trick. But by all rights, we probably shouldn't have even been there. We'd finished 3rd in the ECAC regular season, and it took us two double-overtime games in a row (!!) to dispense with Clarkson in the quarterfinals. After an uneventful shutout of Colgate, we got pasted by Harvard in the finals. We'd had a great regular season, so we got an at-large bid, which was wonderful, but of course that meant getting shipped out to Green Bay.

There was a beautiful if unexpected comeback against Colorado College in the opening round game, after being down 0-2 in the first period. So spirits were high, but Wisconsin was still the #1 overall seed, and we were still #8. We were realistic. But it was still a shot at the Frozen Four.

Then the game happened. Oh, Lord, what a game. You could tell Wisconsin was the better team - I'm pretty sure Cornell didn't even get a shot on net for the first nine minutes, including on a power play. But Cornell was scrappy, and they hit hard. They had fewer chances, but McKee was doing everything he needed to do on the other end - even against 19 Wisconsin shots in the third period alone. I remember thinking in the first period, though, during a 4x4 after matching minors, that I really didn't want to see us go to 4x4 again, because Wisconsin definitely had the better of it with more room on the ice for their speed.

Of course I would've still preferred 4x4 to 4x5, but nevertheless we gave Wisconsin five more power plays in a row while not getting any more for ourselves, as if things needed to be any more difficult than they already were. And McKee was still putting on a ridiculous goaltending clinic - as was Brian Elliott for Wisconsin, for that matter. 99 total saves in the game, when it was all said and done, and I'd probably put three or four of each goalie's saves on any highlight reel of the best twenty-five saves I've ever seen.

I don't like overtime. I don't like losing in regulation, either, so I'd always rather see Cornell tie it up and have a chance in OT - but I feel like every overtime game takes about a year off my life. If that's true, these three overtimes took ten years off. Chance after chance after chance - and make no mistake about it, Cornell actually had some good opportunities to pot one, about as many as Wisconsin for a change. Could the tide be turning? Maybe if we were the better-conditioned team, maybe if we kept hitting, maybe the Badgers would just be too **** worn down to keep us off the scoreboard, and we could pull off a miracle to get to the Frozen Four in Milwaukee.

Then came the matching roughing minors halfway through the third overtime, after the game had already gone for 110 minutes. And I remember saying out loud something I'll always regret, though I obviously don't think it changed the outcome: "We won't survive two minutes of 4 on 4."

When Josh Engel flipped the puck off the wall into the slot to Jack Skille, I knew it was over. I didn't even have to watch the shot go in. And that was one of the most devastating moments of my (at the time) 19 years of Cornell hockey fandom, to see a miraculous run come to an end after an absurd, herculean effort. It took days to get over it.

The Frozen Four was in Milwaukee that year, and obviously Wisconsin was playing, so I knew I would encounter an absurd number of Badger fans. I wear my Cornell game-worn to the Frozen Four every year, and I wasn't sure what to expect. Sure enough, every single one of the Wisconsin fans who came up to me during those few days, every single one, remarked on what an incredible game that had been, and what a shame it was that anybody had to lose it. If there was any doubt before, that sportsmanship and shared awe is what pushed this game over the edge to become the best I'd ever seen.

Runners-Up:

2003 ECAC title game - Cornell 3, Harvard 2 (OT)
2003 NCAA regional final - Cornell 2, Boston College 1 (2OT)
1997 regular season - Cornell 4, Brown 3 (Cornell was down 1-3 with 6:20 remaining; we scored with 4:01 left, 1:25 left with the extra man, and then again with 1:02 left to take the lead. You don't see too many games where both teams have to pull their goalies.)
ETA:
2004 NC - Denver 1, Maine 0 despite Maine skating 6x3 for the last minute or so. Crazy finish.