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Pioneers venture past the Sioux

University of Denver teammates Jussi Halme, left, Matt Laatsch, center and Kevin Ulanski celebrate with the NCAA Championship trophy after their Frozen Four Championship game at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday. Denver defeated North Dakota 4-1 to repeat as national champions in NCAA Division I men's hockey. PHOTO: REUTERS

Should he wish to play hockey in the Olympics, Paul Stastny may have a difficult decision. He was born in Canada. He grew up in the US. And his father, Peter Stastny, a hockey legend on two continents, was the general manager of Slovakia's team in the last Winter Games.

Stastny, a 19-year-old freshman, probably wasn't worried about such things on Saturday night because he was celebrating two power-play goals that helped Denver to a 4-1 victory over North Dakota (25-15-5) in the NCAA tournament title game. Denver won its second consecutive championship.

As much as he is a 21st-century athlete, Stastny is also something of a throwback. He plays with a wooden stick, the way his father did back in the 1980s when he left what was then Czechoslovakia to join the NHL (Peter Stastny's style and skill took him to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1998). Most current players use composite sticks with artificial materials.

Stastny's father could not watch the game here; he was working in Europe as a representative to the European parliament for Slovakia.

"But he was on the Internet and on the phone with my mother after every goal," Stastny said. "So he knows what happened."

Stastny was the rookie of the year in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, which provided all the teams to the Frozen Four this spring. His goals tonight were his 16th and 17th of the season. He said the wood stick was "the same pattern my dad used" when he played for the Quebec Nordiques, the New Jersey Devils and the St. Louis Blues, beginning in 1980-1981 and ending in 1994-1995.

What, he was asked, would he do with the stick?

"I'll probably just throw it down the basement with all the sticks my dad's got and keep it in the collectors' edition," he said.

He didn't need the stick for the first goal, at 10 minutes 8 seconds of the second period, to break a 1-1 tie.

After taking position in front of goalie Jordan Parise -- also the son of a retired NHL player, J.P. Parise -- Stastny fought off a defenseman's check and let Kevin Ulanski's slap shot ricochet into the net off his rear end.

His second goal, at 8:19 of the third period, made it 3-1 and came after a brilliant bit of stickhandling by defenseman Matt Carle.

Carle drew coverage toward him as he weaved in from the blue line and passed to Stastny for a one-time wrist shot from the right-wing circle.

It was the seventh title for the Pioneers (32-9-2), tied with North Dakota for second most. Michigan leads the list with nine. Goalie Peter Mannino stopped 44 shots by Denver and was voted the most outstanding player.

The US beat Canada 3-1 in a penalty shootout to capture the IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship on Saturday, ending the defending champions' run of eight straight titles.

Natalie Darwitz, Angela Ruggiero and Krissy Wendell scored for the Americans after regulation and a 20-minute overtime ended 0-0. Sarah Vaillancourt scored Canada's goal in the shootout, the first ever in championship history.

"It was amazing out there, both teams battled so hard and both goalies obviously played outstanding," said Ruggiero, a two-time Olympian.

Canada won two of the last finals in overtime, but Ruggiero said the Americans were "really calm, but obvisouly excited in the locker room and there was a lot of adrenaline pumping."

The US finally won the title after losing all eight previous championship games to Canada. The Americans outshot their opponents in every period -- 50-26 overall.

With another title, Canada would have matched a record for consecutive world hockey championships won by a country. The former Soviet Union men's team won every crown from 1963 to 1971.

Earlier, Maria Rooth scored two goals, leading Sweden to a 5-2 victory over Finland in the bronze-medal game.

It was the first third-place finish for Sweden in nine championships. Finland, which also lost the 2002 Olympic bronze-medal game to their Swedish rivals, finished third in seven of nine championships since the inaugural edition in 1990.

At nearby Norrkoping, Germany blanked China 3-0 for fifth place, and newcomer Kazakhstan edged Russia 2-1 after a deciding penalty shootout to finish seventh. Russia placed eighth and last.

Daniel Alfredsson claimed a playoff record 12th goal and Henrik Lundqvist earned his fifth postseason shutout as Frolunda beat Farjestad 4-0 and moved within one victory of the Swedish Elite League title on Saturday.

Frolunda leads the best-of-seven series 3-1, and can clinch the championship in Europe's top hockey league on home ice on Monday.
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