TAMPA — Talent doesn’t always prevail, especially in hockey, a sport of lost skate edges, bizarre ricochets, broken sticks, and promises surrendered to the cruel caprice of a soulless puck.
But both North Dakota and Quinnipiac left here with what they deserved Saturday night: UND the riches of a Frozen Four national championship, and QU only the psychic income of a brave yet inconsistent effort.
Sparked by two first-period goals, then an offensive onslaught that included a pair of Drake Caggiula goals at the start of the third period, the Fighting Hawks rolled to their eighth national title with a convincing 5-1 victory at Amalie Arena. The Bobcats — seeded first here with the likes of UND, Boston College, and Denver — were never able to deploy their trademark skating and hectoring style and ultimately settled as runners-up for a second time in four seasons.
UND was bigger, stronger, faster, slicker, and more talented from front to back. Quinnipiac, the ECAC powerhouse that coach Rand Pecknold created in Steve Jobs fashion from the back of his family sedan, couldn’t match the Fighting Hawks’ talent or effort.
In 1980, a team of ragtag Americans prevailed over the Olympic powerhouse CCCP at Lake Placid. Here at the edge of the Gulf of Mexico, there were no Miracles by the Bay for the scrappy club from Hamden, Conn.
“They were the better team,’’ conceded Pecknold, his plucky club finishing 32-4-7 for the season. “That doesn’t mean we couldn’t beat them. But that’s the best team in college hockey. They are just loaded with talent and they’re honest and they compete — and they backcheck. Again, tonight, can we beat them? Absolutely. . . . In the end, we just didn’t defend well enough. We didn’t play good enough defense. We struggled a little bit at times, and you’ve got to credit North Dakota for how well they played.’’
UND nearly booted it away in the semifinals, shrinking into a defensive shell against Denver once popping in a pair of goals in the second period for a 2-0 lead. The Pioneers picked them apart and pulled even late in the third period, but the Hawks quickly reignited their scoring touch and advanced with a 4-2 win.
They nearly repeated their folly in the title game after building a 2-0 lead midway through the first period. Overaggressive play in the form of two cross-checking penalties late in the period set up the Bobcats with a prolonged 5-on-3 advantage, and they quickly cut the lead in half. Tim Clifton’s 19th goal of the season, however, turned out to be the last Bobcat strike of 2015-16.
Over the remaining 41:07, Cam Johnson turned away 20 Bobcat shots, few that were testers, and by early in the third period the good folks watching in Grand Forks were lifting high the pitchers of ND craft ale. The title was on the brew.
“During the [second] intermission, we talked about keeping the foot on the gas,’’ said Caggiula, the high-energy winger who will cash in now as he hits the NHL market as an undrafted free agent. “We came out, and I think we put the gas full throttle there. We wanted to get the next goal. We wanted to push back and make it as hard for them as possible. We got two early goals there [in the third]. From there we just kept rolling and rolling. We had the momentum all in our favor, and we just — we executed our game plan to perfection.’’
Brad Berry, who put in two long stints as an assistant coach at UND before he assumed the top job upon Dave Hakstol’s hiring by the Philadelphia Flyers, became the first rookie head coach to win the Frozen Four. The burly, Alberta-raised Berry also played for Winnipeg, Minnesota, and Dallas in the NHL, and he clearly has infused his charges with a pro-game approach and ethos.
Berry also has the roster talent that made his 34-6-4 record no fluke. More than half the roster is replete with NHL draft picks. Four are All-Americans. They spent the season maturing as a group and hit their stride here, their confidence as complete and steely as their defensive structure.
“I think we caught fire,’’ said Berry, summarizing the third-period outburst. “We knew that was the recipe for success, was to stay out of the penalty box, make sure we play a 200-foot game, and grind them down a little bit low.’’
Summer is here for the college game. BC, a 3-2 loser here to Quinnipiac in the semis, will head back to the Heights to retool, with the prospect of a handful of Eagles heading to the pros. Quinnipiac and Denver will do the requisite retooling. Next year’s Frozen Four will be in Chicago, a shorter trip for UND. Of course, return visits are not booked in advance. But it sure looked that way when the lights and curtain went down here.
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeKPD.
