Click here for the NCAA brackets
I really don't know where to begin when talking about this weekend so here's the deal...I'll be breaking down each regional every day this week leading up to this weekend's games. If you have a question about a team that ISN'T in the tournament and want to know why, just send me an email and I'll fill you in. For now, here are some fun facts for you...
Did you know that the regular season champions of 5 of the six conferences in college hockey didn't even make it to their championship game?
Miami lost to Michigan, the eventual champions, in the CCHA semifinals, Denver also lost in the semifinals to the eventual champions of the WCHA, the North Dakota Fighting Sioux, but even more surprisingly New Hampshire lost to eighth seeded Vermont in the Hockey East Quarterfinals and Yale lost to 11th seeded Brown in the ECAC quarterfinals. The real kicker was that nationally ranked Bemidji State lost to Niagara, at team not even receiving votes, in the CHA semifinal, but...the good news is that all of the regular season champions ranked high enough nationally to receive at large bids to the tournament.
For the record the only team to win both their conference regular season and playoff title was Rochester Institute of Technology in the Atlantic Hockey Association.
Did you know that there will be four Hobey Baker Finalists participating in the East Regional in Albany?
Denver has two finalists in senior captain Rhett Rakhshani and junior goaltender Marc Cheverie who was also chosen as the WCHA Player of the Year. Cornell has senior goaltender Ben Scrivens who was also selected as the ECAC's goaltender of the Year and New Hampshire has Hockey East Player of the Year, senior forward, Bobby Butler. Only three other finalists are participating in this year's tournament. CCHA Player of the Year and sophomore goaltender for Miami, Cody Reichard and from the University of Wisconsin, senior tri-captain Blake Geoffrion and junior defenseman Brendan Smith.
Did you know that Denver the number 2 seed in the country is going into the tournament having lost two games in a row to North Dakota and then Wisconsin...which is actually the first time they've lost in back-to-back games all season?
In fact, they had only lost two games since the beginning of January and seven all season and hadn't even lost in back to back weekend's since October! That said, if they were going to lose a game, best to get it out of the way now, before the national tournament started. I've never seen their leadership group so disappointed and frustrated, so I fully expect to see a focused and determined Denver Pioneer team in Albany.
Did you know that Michigan will be heading to their 20th consecutive NCAA tournament?
In case you were wondering, yes, that is a record. The next longest streak belongs to New Hampshire at ten and North Dakota at 8. Michigan also holds the record for National Championships with 9, followed by Denver and North Dakota tied at 7 and Wisconsin at 6. Although to be fair all but two of those Championships for the Wolverines came before 1965 and they haven't won it since 1998.
Did you also know that this marks the second year in a row that the reigning National Champion failed to make the tournament?
Surprisingly, that happens more often than not as more and more players decide to leave school early for the professional ranks. In the past decade there have only been four teams to make the tournament after winning it all the previous year and twice those teams have gone on to repeat - Minnesota in 2002 and 2003 and Denver in 2004 and 2005.
Did you know that this tournament will feature over 90 NHL draft picks with 28 teams represented? North Dakota has the most with 16 draft picks and Chicago, Columbus and Florida are represented the most with six a piece followed by Toronto, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Ottawa and the New York Islanders with five. Only Vancouver and St Louis are without a prospect in the tournament.
Did you know that all of these games will air on ESPNU either live, on tape delay or online since many games occur simultaneously? I will post the complete schedule in my blog as the weekend nears so you can be sure to tune in. also for you HD fans...at least five of the games will be broadcast in high definition.
To wrap things up, this is one of the most competitive fields we've had in awhile and we could be in store for a lot of upsets, that said, I also wouldn't be surprised to see all four of the number one seeds advance to the Frozen Four in Detroit at Ford Field. Much like the Hobey Baker race, this tournament is anyone's game and the competition is just that good.
Again, if you have specific questions regarding this year's NCAA Tournament or college hockey in general, please send them my way to
[email protected]
Julie
[email protected]
Join the Discussion:
»