Let's Review....
First up the WCHA...
Underdog Minnesota-Duluth beat state rival Minnesota in the play in game, possibly ending the Gophers season as they drew strength from their goaltender Alex Stalock, who has been playing outstanding as of late, as he stopped 39 shots.
Note: Coming from a state school with multiple campuses, I used to think everyone should have the same colors to promote unity. I've changed my mind!!! It was so hard to tell Gopher fans apart from Bulldog fans since their colors are the same...
In the first semifinal, Wisconsin took on Denver, who had won each of the four meetings against the Badgers during the regular season. The Pioneers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period and effectively shut down Wisconsin's offense by out working them to loose pucks. The Badgers strength is their defense getting pucks to the net and their forwards picking up the rebounds and putting them home. Well, you can't really do that when you can't get to the loose pucks! Kudos to the Denver defense for effectively clearing the crease as they move on to defend their WCHA title in the Championship Game.
In the second semifinal, the Bulldogs took on the Fighting Sioux, who's fans showed up in full force. No joke, you might have thought this tournament was being held in Grand Forks there was so much green in the crowd. Too bad it didn't help the Sioux as the crowd was taken out of the game early on a big time boo boo by their goaltender, Brad Eidsness. He went behind the net to corral the puck coming around the boards and then left it there for his defenseman and skated around the long way to the front of the net, but was unaware of McGreggor Sharp, who has been Johnny on the Spot for the Bulldogs this weekend, coming up around the other side who scooped up the puck and tapped it into an essentially empty net. Did I mention that was shorthanded?? The Sioux finally got their act together in the middle of the second and started playing to their potential, but Stalock put up another solid performance and didn't let anything by as the Bulldogs advanced to the Championship Game.
Tune in to FSN North tonight at 8pm ET to see if Denver can repeat as conference champions or if the Bulldogs from Duluth can make history and win three games on the weekend - something that's never been done in the history of the Final Five.
Interesting to note: The two teams that went the mohawk route for the post season have advanced & every team that has won has been outshot...who says goaltending isn't important??
NCAA implications: Denver has pretty much secured a No.1 seed even with a loss. North Dakota is in. Duluth is in even with a loss today (kind of shocking considering they were 7th in the WCHA). Minnesota still has a chance albeit a small one, as does Wisconsin, who needs to win the third place game against North Dakota in order to stay alive and potentially squeak in as they have the tie breaker over the Gophers.
Moving on to the CCHA...
In the first semifinal, Northern Michigan gave the Irish quite a scare as they tied the game with just over a minute to go in regulation, but Notre Dame responded on the very next shift when Ben Ryan crashed the net and banged one home to put the Irish up by one again.
In the second semifinal, the Nanooks from Alaska played a competitive game against the Wolverines, but couldn't get the job done as Michigan advanced with a 3-1 victory.
Nothing out of the ordinary here, although NMU did keep this tournament from being completely predictable and kept things interesting.
Tune in tonight on FSN Detroit at 7:30pm ET to see Notre Dame and Michigan in the Championship Game. These two teams have some very interesting recent history as the underdog Irish eliminated the favored Wolverines in last year's Frozen Four. They split their season series this year.
NCAA Implications: Both Notre Dame and Michigan should be No.1 seeds, Miami will be in probably as a high 4th seed and Ohio State could also sneak in as they have the tie breaker over Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Next up...Hockey East...
In the first semifinal, the underdog River Hawks from UMass-Lowell took on the big bad Huskies from Northeastern and WON! Northeastern is getting cold at the wrong time of the year! Brad Theissen turned in a solid performance and kept Northeastern in the game, but didn't get enough offensive support to get the win. Northeastern jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead within the first ten minutes of the game. Lowell pulled within one with just over a minute to go in the first. Things were pretty quiet throughout the second and most of the third, but then the River Hawks tied things up with 20 seconds left in regulation on the PP and with the extra attacker to force OT. They only needed an extra three minutes to get the game winning goal and advance to the Championship Game.
In the second semifinal, Boston College and Boston University renewed their rivalry. Before the game started, I said it would be a battle of epic proportions and it certainly didn't disappoint. A very tight game, BC was first on the board with just over two minutes to go in the second period. The tight play continued into the third until halfway through when BU went on a tear scoring three goals in a span of 44 seconds. The Eagles pulled within one with more than five minutes to go, but Colin Wilson's goal stood at the game winner sending the Terriers to the Championship Game.
Interesting Note: Both teams combined for 39 shots on the game with BU getting only 4 in the final period...good news for them, three went in.
Tune to NESN at 7pm ET as BU and UM-Lowell are set to square off at the Garden tonight. The Terriers have won everything they could this year and I don't expect this to be much different, but I also don't expect Lowell to just roll over and let them take it.
NCAA Implications: BU has secured a No.1 seed and, with a win, the top seed in the country. Northeastern will end up being a 2 seed as will Vermont. New Hampshire is good for a 3 seed. BC, the defending National Champions, are out and the only way UM-Lowell makes it in is with a win tonight to get the automatic bid as conference champions.
In the ECAC...
In the first semifinal, St. Lawrence gave Yale a run for their money heading into the third with a one goal lead. It stood until Yale pulled their goalie with two minutes to go and scored with the extra attacker to tie things up with 90 seconds to go. Bonus hockey seemed to be in the forecast, but that was short lived as the Bulldogs scored 30 seconds later to win the game and send them to the Championship Game.
In the second semifinal, Princeton and Cornell, who have battled well against each other all season long, didn't disappoint as Princeton tried to protect a 3-1 lead in the third period. Cornell battled back to within one with three minutes left in regulation and then tied things up with the extra attacker and 25 seconds remaining in regulation to force OT. It took nearly 30 mins of bonus hockey, but the Big Red from Cornell came away victorious and will face Yale in the Championship Game.
NCAA Implications: Yale is in and will earn a 2 seed even with a loss today. Cornell is also in and with a win today could be a 2 seed, with a loss a 3 seed. Today's third place game between Princeton and St. Lawrence is where all the drama is...win and you're in. This game is also pivotal to other bubblicious teams like Minnesota and Wisconsin who will be rooting for the Tigers to keep their hopes alive.
In Atlantic Hockey...
Air Force beat up on Bently 3-0 to advance and Mercyhurst won in OT after RIT scored with 59 seconds in regulation to force the extra session. No matter who earns the auto bid, I'll still be irritated that two teams (one from this conference and Bemidji State from the CHA) who don't deserve to be in the tournament and won't even be able to compete with their opponent will be in over teams like Wisconsin and Minnesota who could actually give teams within their bracket a run for their money.
That's all for now...
In case you missed it on my Twitter, the Hobey Finalists are:
Louie Caporusso – Michigan, Sophomore, Forward
Matt Gilroy – Boston University, Senior, Defenseman
Chad Johnson – Alaska, Senior, Goalie
Zane Kalemba – Princeton, Junior, Goalie,
Jacques Lamoureux– Air Force, Sophomore, Forward
Jamie McBain – Wisconsin, Junior, Defenseman
David McIntyre – Colgate, Junior, Forward
Viktor Stalberg – Vermont, Junior, Forward
Brad Thiessen – Northeastern, Junior, Goalie
Colin Wilson – Boston University, Sophomore, Forward
My thoughts about these nominations coming up later in the week...
:)
Julie
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