Devils prospect Joey Anderson and his Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs, who lost in last year's national championship game against Denver, fed off the 18,000+ mostly hometown fans that filled Xcel Energy Center in St Paul to defeat Ohio State2-1 in the Frozen Four semifinal on Thursday and do it again on Saturday against fellow Devils prospect and best friend Matt Hellickson and Notre Dame for the championship.
Right when we got on the ice, they started chanting for us. It felt like all 18,000 people were our fans and it was truly a home game. For it to be in my home city was really special, to have my friends and family there, it was a pretty neat setting to win the title there," said the Roseville native who grew up 20 minutes away and had large personal cheering section that included his parents, sister, girlfriend, former teammates and coaches, friends from high school and even his billet family from Ann Arbor when he was with the US National Team Development Program.
"Getting the early lead was big for us too," he continued. "It allowed us to take a breath and really get into our game. It took even more pressure off us because we didn't need to score goals and push the offense and we know how good we can be defensively. So once we got the lead, we weren't worried about it. Even when they scored to make it 2-1, we were still pretty confident in our game plan to shut them down."
Anderson said the mood in the locker room was a lot calmer this year as they welcomed the underdog role. Last year's championship game featured the two top teams in the country who had been battling it out in the rankings all year. This year, it was a team that got into the tournament by the skin of their teeth against a team with a 16-game winning streak who had consistently been in the Top Five all season.
"We knew what we had in that locker room and all we had to do was get into the tournament because we knew we were good enough. Once we were in, we were able to play some really good defense when we needed it and scored some clutch goals when we needed it and I just think that underdog mindset was really good for us and how we approached each team and the tournament as a whole because no one expected us to win. We had nothing to lose," Anderson said. "So not only did it fuel our team by wanting to prove all those people wrong, but also allowed us to play without pressure and the way we wanted to play."
When asked which was better, winning an NCAA national championship or the world junior championship he won last year with Team USA, Anderson said, "Winning a national championship is something I think we've all dreamt about throughout our hockey careers and just being able to enjoy that experience, it's something I'll never take for granted, but I have to go with the world junior gold. That tournament was so special for me. It's the first time I had won a big tournament like that and to do it in Canada against Canada and our team was just so tight. It was an experience that I've never had before and I don't know if I'll ever have anything like that again, but I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciate both opportunities and experiences."
As far as what's next for the Devils third round draft pick from 2016, he says he's taking a couple days to rest and celebrate with his teammates including a championship event on Tuesday in Duluth before making a decision on returning to Duluth next season or starting his professional career with the New Jersey Devils.
"Right now, I still have no idea what I'm going to do besides celebrate this championship."
