BOSTON – Gophers volunteer goaltending coach Brennan Poderzay is quite familiar with Minnesota State Mankato goalie Dryden McKay. After all, he coached him for three seasons.
No matter the result in second Frozen Four semifinal, give goalie coach Brennan Poderzay credit
He trained Minnesota State Mankato's goalies for six years before he joined the Gophers for this season.
April 8, 2022 at 4:24AM
Poderzay joined the Gophers this past offseason after spending the previous six years with the Mavericks, and on Thursday night he and the Gophers faced the Mavericks in the NCAA men's Frozen Four semifinals at TD Garden. He helped develop McKay into an All-America honoree and a finalist for both the Hobey Baker and Mike Richter awards last year.
Gophers coach Bob Motzko and Mavericks coach Mike Hastings are friends, and Motzko reached out to Hastings to bring Poderzay to the Gophers program.
"He was commuting [from the Twin Cities] for seven years and they just had a new baby,'' Motzko said Wednesday. "It was actually a way to keep him a little closer to home. They're volunteers; they don't get paid, so it also saved on his gas bill. … We're very fortunate. He did a great job there, and he's been terrific with our goaltenders.''
This season, Poderzay faced a big challenge. Jack LaFontaine, the Mike Richter Award winner as the nation's top goalie in the 2020-21 season, unexpectedly signed with the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes in early January. LaFontaine had started every game for the Gophers to that point, and his departure left the job to Justen Close, who had had four relief appearances and no starts in his career.
Close responded by going 14-4 with a 1.83 goals-against average, .929 save percentage and three shutouts entering Thursday's game.
What might have been
In a light moment during Wednesday's news conference, Gophers co-captains Sammy Walker and Ben Meyers were asked which social media platform Motzko would be best at and why.
"I'd love to see him on Tik-Tok,'' Walker said.
"I have no idea what Tik-Tok is,'' said Motzko, 61, adding, "I tweet a couple times a year.''
Motzko said he considered tweeting on Tuesday when he walked into the team's hotel and saw a display of Red Sox legend (and former Twins player) David Ortiz.
"If you know, I'm a big-time Twins fan, and now they throw that in my face,'' Motzko joked. "We gave him away for free. Think of that. Us Minnesotans get that. … You're welcome.''
Etc.
- Minnesota had the most players of any state or Canadian province in the Frozen Four with 33, or 30% of all players. Michigan (15), Alberta (eight) and California, British Columbia and Ontario (each with six) followed. Massachusetts had only one player among the four teams. The Gophers have the most Minnesotans on their roster with 21, while Denver had the most Canadians with 13.
- The Frozen Four rosters included 41 players who've been drafted by NHL teams. The Gophers have the most with 14, followed by Michigan with 13, Denver with 12 and Minnesota State with two.
- Denver won NCAA championships in Boston in 1960 and 2004. The Gophers won their first NCAA title in Boston in 1974, and Michigan won its most recent one there in 1998.
- The Frozen Four teams entered Thursday a combined 72-12-2 since Christmas. MSU Mankato was 21-1, Michigan 17-3-1, Denver 18-4-1 and the Gophers 16-4.
Amisha Ramlall burst on to the recruiting scene last season as a freshman and colleges, including the Gophers, quickly took notice.
