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ALBANY, N.Y. – University of Maine senior right winger John Hopson transferred to Maine from the University of Alaska-Anchorage in order to play with his younger brother Keenan.
Not only did he get his wish this year after redshirting last season, he also helped lead the Black Bears to the Frozen Four by scoring three goals in the East Regional, including two in Sunday’s 5-4 final win over Michigan State.
He was chosen the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
“It seems every dream I have is coming true. It’s nice to get the award but it’s even nicer for our team to make the Frozen Four,” said Hopson, who is on a line with Keenan and Mike Hamilton, although Chris Hahn filled in there during Saturday’s 6-1 win over Harvard.
“Our line has played well the last few games but we hadn’t been able to get the puck to go in. This weekend, we were able to get some goals,” John Hopson added.
Keenan Hopson had two assists Sunday and Hamilton had one.
The Bears advanced to the Frozen Four at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee where they will battle Midwest Regional champ Wisconsin (28-10-3) in a national semifinal on Thursday, April 6 at 8 p.m. Wisconsin beat Cornell 1-0 in triple overtime in the Midwest final.
Boston College (25-12-3) will play North Dakota (29-15-1) in the other semifinal at 3 p.m. Thursday’s winners advance to the national championship on Saturday, April 8 at 7 p.m.
Maine senior right wing and captain Greg Moore said after Sunday’s victory that he was proud of John Hopson.
“I can’t imagine sitting out a full season and just practicing [without playing in a game],” Moore said. “To come back and play the way he did this year and to come through in this tournament was huge for our team.”
John Hopson also pointed out that his younger brother Keenan was prophetic as they sat on the bench with the Bears hanging on to a 4-3 lead late in the game.
“Keenan said, ‘You know what we need, a Greg Moore empty-netter. Wouldn’t you know, 20 seconds later he’s putting it in,” said John Hopson, who has six goals in his last nine games.
Another key contributor was senior center Derek Damon, who had a goal and an assist in his return to the lineup after missing Saturday’s 6-1 win over Harvard for violating the UMaine Student-Athlete Code of Conduct for missing class. He served a one-game suspension.
“It was fun to go out there and help out the team,” said Damon. “Coach [Tim Whitehead] said, ‘Just go out there and play hard for your teammates. That was my whole goal and I did.
“The guys picked me up [Saturday] so I thought I owed them today. I was able to go out and contribute on the score sheet. It’s exciting to be going back to the Frozen Four,” Damon added.
Whitehead could have elected to stick with the lineup that beat Harvard but Damon was glad he was reinserted into the lineup.
“Coach knows I’ve earned that opportunity. I made a mistake and you have to live with your mistakes,” Damon said. “But I’ve contributed a lot to this program and he knew I was going to come out and bang and I was able to do that.”
Damon considered it one of his best all-around games of the year including his defensive play. His goal and assist gives him three goals and three assists in his last five games.
“That’s what’s been missing a little bit from my game recently. I haven’t been playing two-way hockey,” Damon said. “I was able to backcheck and when you see other guys doing it, you want to do it. So, hopefully, the guys were seeing that and seeing that I was playing hard for them. I would have done anything for the guys today.”
Damon was plus-one in plus-minus as he was on the ice for one of Maine’s even-strength goals and Michigan State never scored an even-strength goal when he was on the ice.
Damon was pleased John Hopson was chosen the Most Outstanding Player.
“That’s typical of Maine hockey. We don’t have any real superstars but each person can contribute in this lineup. He’s a fabulous guy and a great teammate and for him to get the MVP is outstanding,” he said.
“It says a lot about him. He had a great weekend and everybody had a great weekend. Everybody played well and that includes Chris Hahn [Saturday].”
Hahn replaced Damon in the lineup against Harvard and had an assist.
BLACK BEARS 5, SPARTANS 4
(Sunday Afternoon)
Maine (28-11-2) 3-1-1-5
Michigan State (24-12-8) 1-2-1-4
First Period – 1, Maine, Duffy 3 (Damon), 3:13. 2, Maine, J. Hopson 9 (Hamilton, K. Hopson), 10:21. 3, Maine, J. Hopson 10 (Duffy, K. Hopson), 16:38 (pp). 4, MSU, Crowder 16 (Booth, Kennedy), 19:16 (pp). Penalties: Ryan, Maine, interference, 6:37; Mueller, MSU, holding, 6:37; Booth, MSU, roughing, 14:39; Mueller, MSU, goaltender interference, 18:53; Ramsey, Maine, double minor, tripping, roughing,18:53; Leveille, Maine, slashing, 20:00; Abdelkader, MSU, slashing, 20:00.
Second Period – 5, Damon 15 (Soares, Lundin), 3:35 (pp). 6, MSU, Crowder 17 (Kennedy, Booth), 8:00 (pp). 7, MSU, McKenzie 11 (B. Lerg, Mueller), 19:00. Penalties: Kennedy, MSU, hitting from behind, 2:54; Maine bench, too many men on ice, 7:22; Bellamy, Maine, holding, 9:10; Duffy, Maine, interference, 14:34.
Third Period – 8, Maine, Moore 28 (Soares), 19:23 (en). 9, MSU, Miller 18, 19:55.
Penalties: None.
Shots on goal: Maine 17-8-9-34. MSU 12-16-9-37.
Power-play opportunities: Maine 2 of 2; MSU 2 of 4.
Goalies: Maine, Bishop (37 shots-33 saves). MSU, Lerg (33-29)
High-percentage scoring chances: Visitor 9-12-6-27; Home 9-7-4-20
Attendance: 4,470
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