Day one NCAA hockey...

Here is the league break down for day one of the NCAA hockey tourney. Not a good day for the WCHA, hey you can't win them all...

WCHA 0-2
HE 0-1
EZAC 1-0
CCHA 3-0
CHA 0-1

Scores:

Michigan 5 Niagara 1 (no shocker here)
Clarkson 3 SCSU 1 (still oh for the NCAA tourney)
ND 7 UNH 3 (semi-big shocker)
MSU 3 C.C. 1 (I am not shocked by it)

To win games in the NCAA tourney your team has to have gritty players doing gritty things between the faceoff dots. In the three games that UNH, SCSU and C.C. lost you had three teams that were beaten physically in my opinion. If these teams had got down low in the dirty areas they could have won these games. MSU plays a good defensive game and Comley had the Spartans playing the systems perfectly today, God is that boring hockey to watch, but effective.

The MSU game was a perfect example of keeping the shots to the outside. All star/conference goalies like Jeff Lerg will stop 99% if the shots taken from the perimeter all day long. To score on a goalie like Lerg you have to crash the net and get screens. Lerg is also a short goalie and you have to catch him moving from side to side, then he is toast. Make no mistake about it; C.C. much like SCSU are nice offensive teams but until they get some gritty players like a Hextal or Kaip they will never advance past the 1st or second round.

I predict the Sun will come up tomorrow and It will be a better day for the WCHA, the most dominating conference in college hockey the last 10 seasons. Take care and enjoy NCAA hockey...

Is Air Force the next Holy Cross?

Here is an interesting pick in tomorrow's Miami and Air Force game. The Blog that Yost Built is picking Air Force to beat the RedHawks. I think it would be a fitting end to the RedHawks season. It won't happen though and I would be willing to bet Packerbacker a case of beer on that one.

Northeast Regional: 4. Air Force over 1. Miami:
I'm going to take crap for this--since I've argued all year with the WCHA fans that Miami actually is a very good team--but I'm taking Air Force. The Falcons are a good hockey team, and I'm surprised they've been as good as they have been without the services of Eric Ehn. Indications are that Ehn could be back for this game, and his return would help, even if he's not close to 100%. History says that the games between Miami/Air Force and Michigan/Niagara will be very close, and Miami has puckered in the big games this season. Air Force is battle-tested.

They've played Boston College, Colorado College, Minnesota, and Denver this season, so a highly-skilled opponent will be nothing new to them. They took Minnesota to the brink last season in the tournament. And they've got a goalie that I've heard of, which is always a plus for a team that isn't from one of the major conferences. They also come in riding the longest unbeaten streak in the country (9 games).

Miami is a good team. Would it shock me if they won this game--or even the Regional? Absolutely not. They're a skilled bunch. Davis, Jones, Miele, Camper, Cannone, Mercier, Martinez...they've got some guns, and they've got a really good goalie. For all I know, this could be 7-0 in Miami's favor. History suggests otherwise, and I'm taking the upset in this one.