Men’s and women’s basketball received most of the college sports spotlight on Sunday. But the quarterfinals of the NCAA men’s hockey tournament, which determined which teams would advance to the Frozen Four in St. Paul, Minnesota, deserved some attention, too.
In one of Sunday’s games, Michigan forward Frank Nazar III provided a highlight for the ages, making a dazzling pass between his legs to teammate Gavin Brindley, who scored a goal to give the Wolverines a 4–2 third-period lead over No. 4 seed Michigan State. Michigan won the game 5-2.
However, merely saying Nazar made a pass “between his legs” isn’t an adequate description of the brilliant puck-handling he displayed. He first pulled the puck toward his inner left leg before threading a pass across the ice and between two Spartans defenders right to the blade of Brindley’s stick.
Check out the play for yourself:
Nazar’s slick pass may have looked like a brilliant moment of improvisation. But the sophomore said it was a play he envisioned making after missing an opportunity earlier in the game.
“I had a play like that in the second period and I missed the pass,” Nazar said, via The Hockey News. “So I was kind of envisioning that in my head between periods. It ended up working out well. It was nice to get that one in the back of the net there.”
Brindley remembered missing on a similar pass from Nazar before and didn’t want to whiff again.
“That was unbelievable,” he told MGoBlueTV after the game. “I was telling the other guys, he gave me one of those back in the day and I fanned on it, so I made sure that would never happen again. He was unbelievable tonight.”
Nazar, a 2022 first-round draft pick by the Chicago Blackhawks, compiled 41 points (17 goals) in 40 games this season.
Michigan (23–14–3) later added another goal in a 5–2 victory over their in-state rival. The Wolverines will face No. 1 seed Boston College (28–9–2) in the Frozen Four on April 11.
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