MILWAUKEE – In the split-second that it took the puck to travel from Joe Pavelski’s stick to the open spot on the ice where Tom Gilbert was heading, the senior defenseman for the University of Wisconsin men’s hockey team had time to think about two missed opportunities earlier in Saturday’s game.
“I was just thinking to myself, ‘I am not going to strike out three times,'” he said. “Joe Pavelski made a great pass to me and I just buried my head. I knew the puck was going to go in.”
That it did, giving Gilbert a memory he can cherish forever – and the Badgers their first NCAA title in 16 seasons.