April 19, 2004

By Dave Starman
Special to CollegeSports.com

The NCAA Hockey season is now over, following Denver's thrilling 1-0 win over Maine in the National Championship game. It would have been interesting if the UMD Bulldogs had won on the men's side, as it would have marked a neat switch at the top. Last season, UMD's women won, and Minnesota's men won. If UMD men had won this year, there would have been role reversal because the Minnesota women won.

Now college hockey fans turn to the NHL playoffs, where every team in the postseason boasts multiple NCAA stars in their lineup.

Here is a look at each roster, highlighting some of the great NCAA alumni currently starring in the post season.

Boston-We can start with the head coach, as former Boston University Terrier captain Mike Sullivan is a disciple of legendary coach Jack Parker, who still mans the bench at BU. The Bruins boast two former national champs in Harvard's Ted Donato and Lake Superior State's Brian Rolston. Mike Knuble racked up 175 points in a four-year career at Michigan, including leading the CCHA in goals with 38 in 1994-95. Need a defenseman? Add Providence College blueliner Hal Gill to the mix. Gill starred at PC in the mid nineties.

Calgary-The top dog in Calgary is former Clarkson standout Craig Conroy, who put up 164 points during his four years in upstate New York in the early nineties. However, the Flames future could be rooted in two impressive backliners. Former Minnesota Golden Gopher captain Jordan Leopold, a member of the 2002 National Champions, is running the Flames power play. Leopold, a former Hobey Baker Award winner, set all kinds of scoring records in Gopher and WCHA record books for defenseman. Mike Commodore was a member of the North Dakota Fighting Sioux from 1997-2000 and brings a stabilizing influence to the Flames defensive zone.

Colorado-Once again we can look right behind the bench, as Wisconsin Badger Tony Granato leads the Avalanche, who all of a sudden are the #2 hockey team in Denver after the Pioneers upset Minnesota Duluth and Maine to capture the 2004 National Championship. The Avalanche are led by several notable NCAA alumni, starting with one of the game's best players in Paul Kariya, who racked up 100 pts for Maine as a freshman in its NCAA title season of 1992-1993. Other prime time performers feature defenseman Rob Blake, who was a rock on the Bowling Green defense from 1987-1990, including a 23 goal season in 1990. Others on the roster include a pair of Michigan State Spartans in veteran Jim Cummins and outstanding rookie defenseman John-Michael Liles. Hard-nosed forward Darby Hendrickson represents the Minnesota Golden Gophers, and our thoughts are with injured forward Steve Moore, a four-year letter winner at Harvard.

Detroit-If you're looking for star power from NCAA lineups, Detroit is a great place to find it. For starters, how about University of Minnesota Duluth's Brett Hull? In two seasons with the Bulldogs from 1983-1985, Hull terrorized WCHA goalies to the tune of 144 points. On the defense, Jason Woolley of Michigan State has been a solid contributor both offensively and defensively. Woolley had three seasons of 10+ goals as a Spartan, and led the team in scoring in 1990-1991 with 59 points. In goal, a little remembered fact is that Curtis Joseph once patrolled the crease at the University of Wisconsin, just after another pretty good netminder left the NCAA for the NHL, Mike Richter.

Montreal-The trio of collegians starts with Joe Juneau, a member of the RPI Engineers from 1987-1991. Juneau, a francophone who graduated with honors despite a limited command of the English language when he enrolled at RPI, also excelled on the ice, putting 213 points on the board in his four varsity years in Troy, NY. While Juneau was at RPI, a New Jersey native was dominating the CCHA with Lake Superior State. Jim Dowd, who later won a Cup with the New Jersey Devils, began his championship ring collection with the Lakers, winning the National Championship in 1988. Dowd led the Lakers in scoring his junior and senior year; beating out current St. Louis Blues star Doug Weight. Promising newcomer Mike Komisarek rounds out the threesome. A defenseman from the University of Michigan, Komisarek posses a great skating stride which he learned under the tutelage of coach Alexei Nikifirov on Long Island.

Ottawa-Three impressive NCAA players highlight the Senators roster, led by Michigan State's Bryan Smolinski. "Smoke" led the Spartans in scoring in 1992-1993, finishing ahead of current NHL'ers Rem Murray, Steve Guolla, and Anson Carter. He had back-to-back 30 goal seasons to end his brilliant college hockey career. Todd White was another scoring sensation in college as a member of the squad at Clarkson. White twice led the team in scoring, and had consecutive 70+ point seasons in 1995-1996 & 1996-97. Josh Langfeld will long be remembered at the University of Michigan for his National Championship winning goal against Boston College in the 1998 title game. He averaged 30 points a season from 1997-2001.

Philadelphia-Two terrific veterans and integral members of USA Hockey highlight the Flyers NCAA veterans, and also include two very good youngsters. Someone has to be first, so we'll go with Tony Amonte of Boston University. Amonte played two seasons as a Terrier, and was part of the team that lost an epic 3OT game in the 1991 National Championship in St. Paul, MN, BU's first National Championship appearance since 1978. Amonte posted 126 points in 79 games in two seasons at BU. John LeClair, like Amonte, stayed in his home state to play college hockey. The former University of Vermont star played at UVM from 1987-1991. LeClair will most be remembered for back to back OT game winners in the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals, both of which came in Los Angeles as a member of the Montreal Canadiens. Randy Jones became the first defenseman to lead Clarkson in scoring, doing that in 2002-2003. Another Vermont Catamount on the Flyers roster is Patrick Sharp, who was impressive in the Flyers recent elimination of the defending champion Devils. Sharp, Vermont's Team MVP in 2001-2002, also led the club in scoring.

San Jose-The Teal and Black feature three NCAA alumni and all three are future stars in the league. Niko Dimitrakos leads this impressive corps. A four year letter winner from the University of Maine, he was a member of their 1999 National Championship team. He scored 52 points in his senior year. Jim Fahey comes to San Jose from Northeastern, where he played from 1998-2002. In his last two seasons in the NCAA, he averaged 50 points a year. Colorado College Tiger Tom Preissing spent four years in the Springs and was a free agent signing at the beginning of the season. Preissing led the nation's defensemen in points last season.

Tampa Bay-This marked the first season that a college hockey player led the NHL in scoring, and that honor goes to Martin St. Louis. St. Louis, a star at the University of Vermont, put up 267 points in four years, never registering under 50 in any of those seasons. Those amazing point totals came between 1993 and 1997. St. Louis scored several big goals, including the series winner in OT as the Lightning dispatched the Islanders in the first round. Dan Boyle played his college hockey at the University of Miami, Ohio from 1994-1998, where he connected for 147 points as a RedHawk. Goalie John Grahame spent three seasons at Lake Superior State University, where he posted a 56-24-9 record between 1994-1997.

Toronto-OK, so he only spent one season in the Gold and Maroon of Boston College, but Brian Leetch tops our list of Maple Leafs who skated on NCAA ice prior to the NHL. Leetch, one of the top five defensemen ever to play in the NHL, had 47 points in his lone campaign in Chestnut Hill in 1986-87. Another one year wonder on the scene is goalie Ed Belfour, and what a year it was. His one season with the University of North Dakota produced a National Championship, posting a regular season record of 29-4 in 1986-87. Joe Nieuwendyk played three seasons at Cornell, where he scored 137 points from 1984-1987. What do those three collegians have in common? The answer - their names on the Stanley Cup. Nieuwendyk has three rings from Calgary in '89, Dallas in '99, and the Devils in '03. Belfour was also a member of that '99 team in Dallas, and Leetch was the playoff MVP in 1994 when his Rangers captured the Cup. Two other Leafs are part of the college corps in Toronto, with Bowling Green's Ken Klee and Providence College's Tom Fitzgerald.

Vancouver-One is the loneliest number, and it represents the Canucks number of college guys. That spot is held impressively by Brendan Morrison, who scored a 3OT game winner in game six against Calgary to stave off elimination at the hands of the Flames. Morrison was a member of Michigan's 1996 Championship team, and won the Hobey Baker Award in 1997. He scored 284 points in his four year career under Head Coach Red Berenson.

Dave Starman serves as an analyst on CSTV Friday Night Hockey and contributes regularly to CollegeSports.com. Starman has coached professionally, most recently for the Memphis RiverKings (CHL), and is currently the head coach of the New York Junior Bobcats of the Atlantic Junior Hockey League.