Tonight, the WCHA will kick off the Final Five with a play-in game between #11 University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs and #5 University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux (or whatever they may be called these days.) The winner of Thursday night’s game will take on Denver University, the #1 team in the nation, on Friday – a game that frankily will be a hundred times better than either Hockey East matchup this weekend. (Take away my East Coast college hockey card, go ahead.)
University of Minnesota-Duluth features sophomore forward Jack Connolly, the little brother (despite being the same class year) of Boston University sophomore forward Chris Connolly. Chris is a sturdy little forward for the Terriers, currently second in the team in scoring with 10 goals and 21 assists, despite being thrown in seventy-five different line combinations this season. Jack is a powerhouse for the Bulldogs, leading the team in scoring with 18 goals and 31 assists. Jack is 7th in the nation in scoring, and his impact on the Bulldogs has been immense.
The Connolly’s have caused many BU fans to become slight UMD fans (although still many more pledge their WCHA allegiance to North Dakota), and many UMD fans to become slight BU fans (although many WCHA fans find East Coast college hockey grossly inferior). But what sealed the deal on my slight UMD fandom was the following shirt:
The one. The only. UMD Hjelle T-shirt.
The Bulldogs have a sophomore goaltender named Brady Hjelle, who played lights out last year, and found himself in a goalie rotation with junior Kenny Reiter this season. Reiter started last weekend’s quarterfinals against Colorado College, and will most likely start tonight’s game against North Dakota. Hjelle’s play last season – leading them from a seventh seed in the WCHA playoffs to the NCAA Regionals – spurred on this fan shirt, sold on the UMD fan blog Running With the Dogs.
For those of you not familiar with the reference, the shirt is based off the popular 2008 YouTube sensation, “It’s Peanut Butter Jelly Time.”
What can I say – I’m a sucker for a funny and punny fan shirt, and the Peanut Butter Hjelle shirt is one of my faves this year. Between this and Jack Connolly’s dominance, I have to root for UMD tonight over North Dakota.