Montreal Canadiens: Cole Caufield’s College Career Ends
Montreal Canadiens star prospect Cole Caufield saw his college season end prematurely last night. With it, his college career is likely over.
The Wisconsin Badgers had a sold season, winning the Big Ten Conference regular season before falling in the final game of the conference playoffs to the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Wisconsin was selected as one of four #1 seeds heading into the four regional tournaments this weekend. College hockey selects 16 teams to advance to their sport’s version of March Madness.
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The Badgers played the #4 ranked Bemidji Beavers in the first playoff game. They were a heavy favourite, as their excellent offensive prowess was supposed to overpower Bemidji’s defensive style. However, that was not the case as Bemidji surprised Wisconsin with a huge upset victory that ends Caufield’s season.
Caufield did not go out quietly. He set up the Badgers first goal to make it 2-1 Badgers in the first period and then scored a pair on his own to close the gap from 5-1 to 5-3 in the third frame. That was as close as the Badgers would get, and a late empty net goal made it a 6-3 final.
This puts a bow on a terrific college season for the Habs first round pick from 2019 and will likely end his college career.
And what a college career it was. Caufield scored 19 goals and 36 points in 36 games as a rookie. He followed that up with an exceptional second season that just wrapped up.
In what will surely result in a Hobey Baker Award as the best player in college hockey, Caufield led the nation with 30 goals and 52 points in 31 games this year. He was good to start the year with nine points in his first nine games and he just kept getting better. He finished the season with a nine game point streak that included 13 goals, six assists and 19 points.
It was an incredible display of skill and a terrific shot all season long. Caufield showed he was the best player in college hockey. The only question now is, does he need to go back to college for a third year? The answer is, no. He has proven everything he need to at that level.
It’s time for his to turn pro and we should see him signing with the Canadiens in the next few days.