MANCHESTER — Matt Davis has developed a killer instinct for this time of year, University of Denver men’s hockey coach David Carle said.
Davis, the senior goaltender for the Pioneers, has allowed no more than one goal in any of his six career NCAA Division I tournament games. Over that span, Davis has two 35-save efforts against Boston College — in Denver's 3-1 victory at SNHU Arena to win the Manchester Regional on Sunday night and in last year's national championship game, won 2-0 by the Pioneers.
Over his six NCAA tournament games, Davis has a .976 save percentage and a 0.6 goals-against average.
This from a goalie who back in December allowed four goals on 11 shots in Denver’s 6-6 tie with club team UNLV in an exhibition game.
But that was only one night, way before his favorite time of the year, late March/early April.
“He’s a proven winner now and I thought he had an excellent season this year,” Carle said after Sunday's Manchester Regional final.
Denver will play Western Michigan in a rematch of the NCHC tournament final in the Frozen Four on April 10 at 5:30 p.m. in St. Louis.
On Sunday night, BC outshot the Pioneers 15-2 in the third period following Teddy Stiga’s breakaway goal that came with 53 seconds left in the second period.
“Feels like deja vu a little bit,” Eagles coach Greg Brown said after the loss.
Davis, 23 and undrafted by an NHL team, said he just regrouped and moved on after Stiga's breakaway goal, which beat him five-hole.
His effort helped the Pioneers become the first defending champ in eight tries to win a national championship rematch that occurred in the following NCAA tournament.
“I would say goaltending in general is about 95% mental,” Davis said. “You could have all the physical attributes, but if you can’t put it together mentally, you’re not going to do any good. I’ve been working on that a lot.”
“I think for (pro) teams watching at the next level, it’s a critical factor,” Carle said of Davis’s developed killer instinct for the most important part of the season. “He’s identified that 95% of the position is mental and he’s got a great mental game.”
The SNHU Arena experience
Despite troubles with the goalposts during Friday’s semifinal games, teams generally had positive reviews of their trip to the Manchester Regional.
Both semifinal games had to stop play due to goalposts coming off their moorings. The issues were most apparent during BC’s 3-1 victory over Bentley University in the regional’s opening game.
Shortly after it ended, the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship Committee issued a statement, saying “an issue with the goal pegs that hold the net in place caused the net to dislodge, leading to several delays. The NCAA recognizes the impact of the stoppages and are working with our hosts at the University of New Hampshire and SNHU Arena to address the issue.”
Bentley coach Andy Jones said that the nets were being knocked off the pegs because the pegs weren’t deep enough.
Denver’s 5-1 semifinal win over Providence College had one delay for the same reason. The final had one stoppage of play because the Denver net came dislodged after minimal contact.
“I mean, I think that’s a correctible thing that obviously the staff and the crew here noticed and managed in between games,” Carle said after the Providence game. “I think it only happened at the end of the second period in our (semifinal) game, so we’re thankful for that, but you can tell that the puck was bouncing a bit in the first game, and so it’s something to be aware of.”
Carle is in favor of playing NCAA tournament games prior to the Frozen Four at campus sites and said “it’s no secret there’s some challenges to this regional...” after Sunday’s final.
Providence coach Nate Leaman ...
