Colorado Avalanche prospect report: Cale Makar and UMass are headed to the Frozen Four

It was an incredibly exciting weekend for Colorado Avalanche prospects in the NCAA regionals. I don’t think I breathed properly until the Northeast Regional Final ended. Also, there’s nothing after the Notre Dame section in this prospect report since everyone’s seasons have ended.

Ontario Hockey League

#17 - Brandon Saigeon (C)
Oshawa Generals (44-20-4)
Round 1 vs. Peterborough: won series 4-1

Oshawa advanced to the second round, taking their series against the Petes in five games. Saigeon went pointless in Game 4, but added a secondary assist in Game 5. He went quiet in those last two games after exploding for six points in the first three matches. Oshawa will take on the Niagara Ice Dogs in the second round of the OHL playoffs.

Western Hockey League

#21 - Nick Henry (RW) - ELIMINATED
Lethbridge Hurricanes (40-18-10)
Round 1 vs. Calgary: series lost 4-3

Let me just preface this by saying that this series was absolutely insane. 55 goals scored between two teams in seven games is nuts. Henry finished with six points in seven games, but went pointless in Game 7 as Lethbridge was eliminated.

Henry had two goals this week, in Games 5 and 6 — unfortunately, only one of those goals came with a video:

With that, Henry’s junior career comes to an end. Since he signed his ELC with the Avs last month, he’ll likely report to the AHL in the coming days.

NCAA

#16 - Cale Makar (D)
UMass Minutemen (26-8-0)
vs. Harvard: won 4-0
vs. Notre Dame: won 4-0

Makar is still being awarded other accolades:

Makar and the Minutemen emerged victorious on Saturday, booking their trip to the Frozen Four — their first in program history. He had a fantastic weekend, assisting on the game-sealing goal in the semi-final against Harvard:

And made a really strong impact defensively, too:

The next night against Notre Dame, he unleashed a bomb to once again put the game out of hand:

He really needs to start using his one-timer more. It’s lethal.

Makar was named to the Northeast Regional All-Tournament team and Most Outstanding Player:

Hobey Baker top 10 voting ended Sunday at midnight. Makar finished first in the fan vote at just over 40%. The Hobey Hat Trick (final three) will be announced tomorrow, so keep an eye out for that.

The Minutemen will head to the Frozen Four in Buffalo and take on the Denver Pioneers on April 11th.

Richard T. Gagnon for UMass Athletics

#15 - Shane Bowers (C) — ELIMINATED
Boston University Terriers (14-16-4)

Bowers signed an entry-level contract with the Avalanche last week and will play out the remainder of the season with the Colorado Eagles.

Please enjoy this video of Bowers in full gear, trying to stuff himself into a car:

#26 - Cam Morrison (LW), #4 - Nick Leivermann (D), #2 - Nate Clurman (D) — ELIMINATED
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (18-13-3)
vs. Clarkson: won 3-2 (OT)
vs. UMass: lost 4-0

The Irish’s regional semi-final game against Clarkson was one of the most stressful games I have watched in a long time. Thankfully, Notre Dame came out on the right end of that one, thanks to noted clutch performer Cam Morrison:

Nate Clurman also made an impact in that game, forcing a turnover that led to the first Irish goal:

Their win put them against UMass in the regional final. Notre Dame was attempting to qualify for their third straight Frozen Four, but were unfortunately shutout. It remains to be seen whether Morrison will return to Notre Dame for his senior season or turn pro with the Avalanche. Clurman and Nick Leivermann (who was a healty scratch during the playoffs) will likely return to the Irish in the fall.

#58 - Sampo Ranta (RW) - ELIMINATED
Minnesota Golden Gophers (14-15-4)

#25 - Denis Smirnov (RW) — ELIMINATED
Penn State Nittany Lions (19-13-2)

#40 - Tyler Weiss (LW) — ELIMINATED
Nebraska Omaha Mavericks (9-22-3)

Europe

#51 - Nikolai Kovalenko (RW) - ELIMINATED
KHL - Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (40-16-6)

#2 - Danila Zhuravlyov (D) — ELIMINATED
VHL - Bars Kazan (27-22-7)

#19 - Gustav Olhaver (RW) — ELIMINATED
Allsvenskan (SWE) - Tingsryds AIF (19-25-8)