Four losses, six ties, and four wins; it is up to the final two games of the hockey season to determine whether the men’s hockey team continues into the playoffs, to possibly even win the MIAC Championship for the fourth straight year. Last weekend, they beat the Tommies with a 2-1 shootout win on the Friday and then a 3-1 victory on the Saturday.
The game against University of Saint Thomas was filled with a lot of pressure. Junior John McLean, who was out for the first half of the season due to hip surgery back in August, made sure that he performed well for his team to have a chance at the playoffs.
“We had a really good weekend, we needed to win both games. It was a lot of pressure on everyone, but we really had to focus on the game,” McLean said.
In Saturday’s 3-1 victory, McLean only allowed St. Thomas one goal, despite being shot at 29 times within 40 minutes. With a 3-1 lead heading into the third period, McLean turned away eight shots to bring his total saves to 36 in the game. Overall that weekend, he turned away over 60 shots.
McLean was named MIAC Men’s Hockey Athlete of the Week. No one else of the Gustavus hockey team has received that recognition this season.
“I went into the game really relaxed. I knew it was possibly going to be my last two weekends and I just wanted to have some fun. I was so focused that it was actually a blur to me; I took it one shot at a time, one minute at a time, and one shift at a time,” McLean said.
The men’s hockey team is now head to head with Augsburg in points. This means the Gusties must sweep Bethel this weekend to qualify for the playoffs.
“There are possibilities we get six points this weekend and not get into the playoffs, but if we don’t get six points we know for sure we will not be able to get in. We haven’t had a weekend this season where we had six points. We got five last weekend against Saint Thomas, but it’s still not six. If we had gotten six last weekend it would have been better because now it is major crunch time,” Coach Brett Peterson said.
During the MIAC showcase back in October, which started the season, Gustavus fell to Bethel 2-4. But with McLean recovered from his surgery and the hockey team healthier than before, there are strong hopes the team will take two wins and gain the points they need.
“I don’t want to go down softly. I want to win these games and make it to playoffs. I hope we end on a good note,” Junior right-wing forward Darren Lapic said.
This weekend not only marks the Gusties last opportunity to qualify for the playoffs, but also the last chance seniors may have to play hockey.
“I hope for the seniors sake that they get to finish in the playoffs. Our senior group has been a great group, it seems like they just got on campus a couple of weeks ago, but now it’s been 4 years. There’s not another senior group in our conference that has played in 3 championship games, so I’d love to see them in a 4th. If it didn’t happen though, for them to look back and say, ‘Hey, we’ve been in 3 championship games, no other senior class in our conference can say that.’ That’s a tribute to them and how well they have taken care of themselves. I’m really proud of them,” Coach Peterson said.
Come support the men at Senior Night this Saturday at 7 p.m. as they take on Bethel in their last game of the regular season.
“It doesn’t matter how you start, it’s how you finish,” McLean said.
-Jessica Yang