UND 4th in first USCHO Poll

The first USCHO Poll is out and the Boston College Eagles are the number one pick. I know that some Gopher fans will be upset with the slight but according to Todd Milewski of USCHO, only one team since the 1997-98 season – the Minnesota Golden Gophers in 2002-03 – has went on to win an NCAA title. So being the number one team in the first USCHO poll of the preseason really doesn't matter all that much.

The 32 game National College Hockey Schedule - CBS sport announced 18 game schedule

CBS Sports Network (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As the Lockout enters the tenth day with no end in sight – hockey fans have been given even more options to fill the void left by theNHL lockout.

Earlier, I posted a 24 game college hockey schedule for NBC Sports Network. Today, CBS Sports Network announced their 18 game schedule and starting on Thursday November 15, 2012 with a game between Notre Dame and Michigan in Ann Arbor Michigan.

I took the liberty of combining the two schedules and now between the CBS Sports Network and NBC Sports Network schedules hockey fans have 32 game national college hockey schedule that hockey fans can choose from. You can check your local cable companies listings for what channel these sports networks are on. For those fans that have DirecTV, NBCSN is on channel 603 and CBSSN is on channel 613.

Ice Breaker Tourney

Fri. Oct. 12 Notre Dame vs. Maine (7:00 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Fri. Oct. 12 Army vs. Nebraska (TBD.) – NBCSN

Sat. Oct. 13 Final (Teams TBD) (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Nov. 15 Notre Dame at Michigan (7:30 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Nov. 16 Harvard at Cornell (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Nov. 30 Boston College at Boston University (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Nov. 30 Vermont at Maine (8:00 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Nov. 30 Wisconsin at Denver (10:00 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Dec. 1 Boston University at Boston College (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Dec. 7 Michigan State at Notre Dame (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Dec. 8 Maine at Boston University (8:00 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Dec. 14 Western Michigan at Michigan (7:30 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Jan. 4 Colorado College at Nebraska-Omaha (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Jan. 4: Robert Morris at Army (7:30 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Jan. 5 Merrimack at Vermont (7:30 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Jan. 11 Union at Princeton (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Jan. 11 Nebraska-Omaha at Denver (10:00 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Jan. 12 Army at Air Force (6:00 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Jan. 18 Harvard at Yale (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Jan. 19: Alaska at Notre Dame (7:00 p.m. ET)  – CBSSN

Jan. 25 Ferris State at Notre Dame (7:30 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Jan. 25 Yale at Cornell (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Feb. 1 Dartmouth at Union (7:30 p.m.ET) – NBCSN

Feb. 8   North Dakota at Nebraska-Omaha (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Feb. 8 Michigan at Notre Dame (7:30 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Feb. 10 Providence at New Hampshire (4:00 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Feb. 15 Notre Dame at Miami (7:30 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Feb. 15 Boston University at Maine (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Feb. 22 Yale at Quinnipiac (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Feb. 22 North Dakota at Denver (10:00 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Feb. 22 Notre Dame at Western Michigan (7:30 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Feb. 23 New Hampshire at Vermont (4:00 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Feb. 24 Boston College at Merrimack (4:00 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

March 1 Wisconsin at Nebraska-Omaha (7:30 p.m.ET) – NBCSN

Mar. 1 Ferris State at Michigan (7:00 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Mar. 3 UMass-Lowell at Merrimack (4:00 p.m. ET) – CBSS

March 8 Maine at New Hampshire (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Hockey East Tournament

March 15 Quarterfinals (7:00 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

March 22 Semifinals (4:00 p.m. ET) and (7:00 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

March 23 Final (7:00 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Originally posted at The Hockey Writers - Combine  

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UND 4th in USA Today poll.

USA TODAY PRESEASON POLL              Final record 2011-12                                             

1 Boston College, 476 (20)                    1                 33-10-1
1 Minnesota, 476 (12)                             4                  28-14-1
3 Michigan, 408 (2)                                  7                  24-13-4
4 University of North Dakota, 407         6                  26-13-3
5 Union College, 295                              3                  26-8-7
6 Cornell, 233                                         13                  19-9-7
7 UMass-Lowell, 221                               9                 24-13-1 1
8 University of Denver, 220                      8                 25-14-4 1
9 Miami University, 203                          10                 24-15-2 1
10 University of Notre Dame, 186       NR                19-18-3 1
11 Western Michigan University, 182   14                21-14-6 1
12 Minnesota Duluth, 176                        5                25-10-6 1
13 Boston University, 158                       11                23-15-1 1
14 Ferris State, 123                                   2                 26-12-5 1
15 Wisconsin, 99                                    NR                17-18-2 1

I got a chuckle out of Roman Augustoviz blog post today – apparently Chris Dilks struck a nerve with Roman and he took issue with what Chris said on his blog Western College Hockey.

I actually agree with both men – I agree that preseason polls are meaningless – hockey is settled on the ice and not on paper. The reason I say that is, rewind to last season when UND was ranked very high to start the season last year and UND was a very young team that struggled at first to find their identity and didn’t really play up to their rankings until probably about the middle half of the season and then they actually ascended back to the top half of the rankings at the end of the season.

Based on who Minnesota brings back – the Gophers “should” be pretty good. There is one major unknown facing the Gophers this season – the Gophers have no experience at the goalie position to start the season – that in my opinion is a major factor and that could play out many ways for the Gophers. That being said, their team is pretty decent and has some depth through the forward lines “if” they stay healthy and don't have any more of their players suffer season ending injuries.

Chris Dilks, who writes for the Western College Hockey Blog, is skeptical about the Gophers' high ratings: "I guess unlike me, pollsters didn't have to search through last year's Frozen Four photos for a good Minnesota pic, only to be reminded of how just badly BC obliterated them."

That was then, this is now, Mr. Dilks. I didn't have a vote in the USA Today poll but, if I had, the Gophers would have gotten my vote for No. 1. Who has more returning talent than the Gophers, sir?

The only question mark with the 'U' is in goal. Otherwise, their defense is ridiculously deep, with two talented freshmen joining the mix, and coach Don Lucia should be able to put together two high-scoring lines.

Boston College will play the Gophers in one of the first-day games of the Mariucci Classic which is held during the holidays.

I also think that there are a few teams in this poll that won’t be there at the end of the season. If history repeats it’s self-there will be a couple of team in the season opening poll that will under achieve or not meet expectations and will end up having a season to forget. There will also be teams that no one expected to do well this season that will end up surprising the college hockey world. That's why they play the games.

Is the NCHC lacking name-recognition?

Chris Peters of the United States of Hockey has this little blurb on his blog today – it’s worth a look. I sure there will be NCHC fans will take issue with some of the things that he said. Or not!

In all honesty, the league didn’t have to do terribly much to seemingly come out ahead on realignment. By just letting things play out and adding Notre Dame, largely due to the league thanks to the National Collegiate Hockey Conference’s (seriously, that’s as hard to type as it is to say) lack of foresight and possibly arrogance, Hockey East took another significant step forward by attracting UConn.

Meanwhile the NCHC has very little name-recognition, and therefore a second-rate TV deal, a second-rate tournament venue, but a high level of on-ice competition. From a hockey standpoint, it’s a fantastic league, but that’s where it ends. That might be enough for you as a fan, but it’s not enough to lead me or anyone else to believe it’s going to be a great business long term.

The Big Ten Hockey Conference will have good exposure on the Big Ten Network, but it’s still merely a six-team league. Until a few more Big Ten schools step up for hockey, and there’s nothing to indicate that will happen anytime soon, the conference’s size doesn’t make for a lot of variety and excitement, though the rivalries should remain intense. Still, the exposure and brand recognition resonates with the casual fan.

First off, is Chris Right? For disclosure – Chris was not a big fan of the re-alignment that took place last summer, he isn’t alone there are a lot of people that weren’t fans of last summer's re-alignment plan as well. It's not like we had a choice in the matter, said schools pursued this venture without any input from the fans.

That being said, do you agree with what he said? Right now, I am more concerned with what NCHC fans think than the B1G fans. It's obvious that the B1G has name-recognition.

Does the new NCHC has very little name-recognition? In my opinion; no! I am also not so sure how you can say that there is little name recognition with the teams that make up the NCHC. Teams like UND, DU, C.C. UMD have all won NCAA titles and have storied histories.

Add to the mix up and coming teams like Miami University and Western Michigan from the soon to be defunct CCHA and UNO and SCSU and you have the making of a very well balanced hockey league. The NCHC brings to the table 16 NCAA titles, only the B1G will have more NCAA titles (20), so were not talking about a second rate bunch of pathetic cupcakes here. We already know the title counts of all three leagues involved.

Let's take a look at the financials. Historically, the NCHC teams have been successful on the ice as well as financially; if you look you will see that five of the future NCHC teams make about 3.2 million off of their Division I hockey programs as opposed to the reconfigured Hockey East which loses about $395,000 a year of their hockey programs. Only Denver and Western Michigan have lost money with their hockey programs.

I am not here to disrespect Hockey East or (Chris for that matter) because Hockey East is a very good hockey league and has piled up an impressive four NCAA titles during the 2000’s, however, it’s only been two teams that have won the NCAA titles during that time period ( BU and B.C.) – besides the three power schools currently in the Hockey East no other really stands out in that conference, except maybe the University of New Hampshire.

If anything I think that the two leagues are on equal footing as far as name recognition goes in college hockey.

I think historically speaking people are just as familiar with BU and B.C. as they are with DU, UND when it comes to college hockey.

Adding Notre Dame to the Hockey East was a good move but what exactly have they accomplished during their hockey existence? Yep! You will be able to watch your team play Notre Dame when they play their Hockey East foes, but the rest of the league is not going to benefit financially from that television deal.

Breaking it down further – outside of the power schools Boston College, Boston University, Maine and UNH who else in the current Hockey East stands out and packs fans in the stands? Maybe Notre Dame when they get to Hockey East in 2013-14.

Are University of Connecticut hockey fans going to suddenly realize that they have a college hockey team and fill the XL center when it’s 30 miles from their campus? This isn’t the UCONN Men’s or Women’s Basketball teams.

This is a very different animal, the UCONN Huskies hockey team with very little history that is currently a member of the AHA conference, that’s not to say that they can’t evolve into a power house hockey team. Let’s call UCONN a work in progress.

Here is the part that I do agree with Chris with. If the Target Center which is exclusively a Basketball venue doesn’t improve after the 100-150 million dollars improvements Target Center is going to be a second rate tournament venue. That’s really not debatable; the Target Center has its work cut out for it.

The central location of the Target Center does make it an attractive venue and the majority of the fans that have the most rabid fan bases are all driving distance away.

Finally, I am not so sure we can call the deal with CBS Sports a second-rate TV deal, before we even see how it turns out.

Besides the Notre Dame TV deal with NBC Sports Net, how is the rest of Hockey East doing when it comes to games being televised? I have watched a few of the games on NESN via my DirecTV Satellite Dish but I don’t see a lot of UMASS Lowell or Amherst games on the dish.

There are a lot of unknowns going forward – no one knows how this deal is going to shake out – I would say at least give the NCHC a chance before we bury them and kick dirt on a conference that hasn’t even played a collegiate hockey game as of yet.

I also think that it’s too early to declare winners and losers – with college athletics none of this stuff stays static – things change constantly. Who knows, maybe there are more moves in the re-alignment phase before the 2013-14 season kicks off.

Lastly, I know there are a lot of unhappy people with the NCHC Television deal, I gathered this by reading the reactions of the fans over on Brad Schlossman’s blog. Due to the size of UND’s fan base there are a lot of fans that live outside of the Midco.net foot print and watch UND hockey on DirecTV or FTA Satellite dishes. After the upcoming season, many of them are worried that they will no longer be able to watch all of UND’s home games. I too wonder if I need to re-subscribe to Midco.net myself?

In conclusion, there is also no reason to panic just yet because there is a whole year left to work out the details. As we get closer to the kickoff of the NCHC more details will emerge and we will get a better idea what is going to transpire. I also don't think that the NCHC will lack name-recognition.

Comparing Brock Nelson and Chris Kreider's deals

Chris Kreider's Cap Geek page  

 I was perusing the Cap Geek numbers for former Fighting Sioux forward Brock Nelson and for former Boston College Eagles Chris Kreider and I was a bit shocked at the difference in numbers. It will be interesting to see how these two players’ careers play out.

 Brock Nelson's Cap Geek Page 

 

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A week after the onslaught

Boston College Eagles men's ice hockey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After taking some time to let last weekend’s Frozen Four sink in; the first comment I want to make is that there is no shame in the Gophers or the Ferris State Bulldogs losing to the Boston College Eagles. The 2011-12 version of the Boston College Eagles is one of the best NCAA championship teams that I have seen for a very long time.

I was eviscerated by Gopher fans for my prediction that the Boston College Eagles would beat the Golden Gophers 5-1, I know I was off; the final score ended up being 6-1; silly me. 

Losing to the Boston College Eagles should never be looked at as a "chock job" either, I think we can put that to bed right now.

Let’s also not forget that Jerry York “will” be in the U.S. Hockey Hall of fame when he is done coaching, I would bet my next pay check on that.

Let’s break York’s impressive record down further.

Currently, coach York is the winingest active division I college hockey coach and he has been coaching for 40 seasons and started coaching during the 1972-73 season with the Clarkson Knights.

Coach York with 913 career wins and has a coaching record of 913-557-94 and an impressive record of 446-222-60 at Boston College.

York’s has led Boston College to ten Frozen Fours while he was the coach of the Eagles – 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012. York’s Eagles have four Frozen Fours at Boston College since the 2000-01 season.

Overall, York’s teams have also won an impressive 5 NCAA championships.

As a fan of team that has been beaten by the Eagles, let me just say I seen this act before and I really didn’t enjoy it very much. I am sure the Ferris State and Minnesota fans felt the same way a week later.

Let me just say that, the Boston College Eagles are a very good hockey team that plays well in all three zones on the ice and we need to give credit where credit. There is no shame losing to the Eagles.

This season’s version of the Boston College Eagles won an unprecedented 19 games in a row and during that winning streak the Eagles didn’t give up more than three goals in any game. That’s impressive in any hockey league.

The last game the Eagles lost was when they were swept by the Maine Black Bears back on January 27-28 when the Eagles lost both games of a weekend series in Orono, Maine (3-4 L, 4-7 L).  Since the late January display of mediocrity the Eagles were flawless.

After being swept by the Black Bears, the Eagles record stood at 14-10-1 and looked like they were an average bubble team and they were in the Pairwise Rankings. We all know how that turned out. 

My question is, will team’s finally change the way they recruit (fast forwards, some of them under sized and a very mobile defense corps, that play both ends of the ice well) based on the way the Eagles have steamrolled the opposition when they get to the Frozen Four?

Just for the record, Boston College only had 9 NHL draft choices on their team as opposed to the Minnesota Gophers who had 17.

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2011-12 AHCA/CCM Hockey Men’s Division 1

Here are the 2011-12 East and West All Americans teams.

All-American Teams

All-American West First Team

Goalie: Taylor Nelson, Sr., Ferris State University (Regina, SK)

Defense: Torey Krug, Jr., Michigan State University (Livonia, MI)

Defense: Justin Schultz, Jr., University of Wisconsin* (West Kelowna, BC)

Forward: Jack Connolly, Sr., University of Minnesota Duluth*# (Duluth, MN)

Forward: Jaden Schwartz, So., Colorado College (Wilcox, SK)

Forward: Reilly Smith, Jr., Miami University (Mimico, ON)

All-American East First Team

Goalie: Troy Grosenick, So., Union College (Brookfield, WI)

Defense: Danny Biega, Jr., Harvard University (Montreal, QC)

Defense: Brian Dumoulin, Jr., Boston College* (Biddeford, ME)

Forward: Spencer Abbott, Sr., University of Maine (Hamilton, ON)

Forward: Alex Killorn, Sr., Harvard University (Montreal, QC)

Forward: Austin Smith, Sr., Colgate University (Dallas, TX)

All-American West Second Team

Goalie: Kent Patterson, Sr., University of Minnesota (Plymouth, MN)

Defense: Chad Billins, Sr., Ferris State University (Marysville, MI)

Defense: Dan DeKeyser, So., Western Michigan University (Clay Township, MI)

Forward: Nick Bjugstad, So., University of Minnesota (Blaine, MN)

Forward: J.T. Brown, So., University of Minnesota Duluth (Burnsville, MN)

Forward: Jason Zucker, So., University of Denver (Las Vegas, NV)

All-American East Second Team

Goalie: Joe Cannata, Sr., Merrimack College (Wakefield, MA)

Defense: Mat Bodie, So., Union College (East St. Paul, MB)

Defense: Tim Kirby, Sr., U.S. Air Force Academy (Austin, MN)

Forward: Barry Almeida, Sr., Boston College (Springfield, MA)

Forward: Brian O’Neill, Sr., Yale University (Yardley, PA)

Forward: Jeremy Welsh, Jr., Union College (Bayfield, ON)

* First Team in 2010-11; # Second Team in 2009-10

University of Denver defenseman Joey LaLeggia was named the sixth annual HCA National Division I Rookie of the Year award.

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Goon's Frozen Four review

Much like Sioux7 my brackets for the NCAA Hockey Tourney were totally busted as I got only one out of four brackets right, usually I am able to pick two of the four correctly.

Just for the record, my Frozen Four brackets included Michigan, Miami, Boston College and North Dakota.

I confess as a college hockey fan I am not all that excited with this season’s Frozen Four field, to be honest with you it bores me. This Frozen Four could end up being as bad as the 2010 Frozen Four that was at Four Field where Boston College ran through the field like a hot knife through butter. I could see the same thing happening again this season.

Unfortunately, the two best teams are in the same bracket and the attractive match-up is Minnesota and Boston College; other than that, nothing really jumps out at me in this season’s Frozen Four. In one bracket we have what I would consider a snooze feast between Union College and Ferris State, and there are others that agree with me.

 

Game time for the first game between Union College (26-7-7) and Ferris State (25-11-5) is 3:30 p.m. Central Standard Time Thursday.  The game is on ESPNU (DirecTV208 and Dish Network148) 

My prediction is that the Ferris State University Bulldogs, who are lead by head hockey coach Bob Daniels, who incidentally was awarded the 2012 Spencer Penrose Award, will end Union’s magical season in a boring non-eventful game if you’re still awake by the end of the game you will see Ferris State win in a trap feast 2-1 game.

Both teams Union and Ferris State have never been in the Frozen Four so one of these two teams is going to make the championship game of the Frozen Four for the first time in their team’s history. 

Fun and interesting facts about Ferris State and Union: The Bulldogs and Dutchman's rosters contain  NO NHL Draft picks, there is not a single one on either team, that is almost unheard of in today’s college hockey world. Just for the record, Union college has , Boston College has 9 and Minnesota has 17 NHL draft Choices.  

In the evening title it’s the Boston College Eagles (31-10-1) vs. the Minnesota Golden Gophers (28-13-1) at 7:00 p.m. Central Standard Time Thursday. The game is on ESPN2 ( DirecTV and 209 Dish Network 144)

This season’s Frozen Four prohibitive favorite, Boston College is a team that has three solid forward lines that could be most teams first line on any team. The Gophers are also loaded through the forward lines as well. Here are the lines that both teams used in their last games.

Boston College Forward Lines 

Barry Almeida (22g-16—38pts) – Bill Arnold (17g-17a—34pts) – Steven Whitney (13g-22a—35pts)

Chris Kreider (22g-21a—41pts) – Kevin Hayes 6g-20a—26tps) – Destry Straight (3g-6a—9pts)

Johnn Gaudreau (20g-21a—41pts) – Pat Mullane (10g-26a—36pts) – Paul Carey (15g-12a—27pts) 

Minnesota Gophers Forward Lines

Kyle Rau (18g-25a—43pts) – Nick Bjugstad 25g-17a—42pts) – Zach Budish  (12g-23a—35)

Sam Warning (6g-9a—15pts) – Erik Haula (20g-28a—48pts) – Jake Hansen (15g-22a—37pts) 

Nate Condon (11g-19a—30tps) – Travis Boyd (1g-8-a—9pts) – Taylor Matson (8g-15a—23pts) 

Goalies

Boston College goalie Parker Milner, 27-5-0, 1.70 goals against average and a .935 save percentage. It would be an understatement to say that Milner has been on fire as of late, during the Eagles' current 17-game winning streak, Milner has been flawless and sports a 17-0-0 record and an impressive 1.11 goals-against average with a mind popping .960 save percentage.

Minnesota goalie Kent Patterson, 28-13-1, 2.23 goals against average and a .911 save percentage. I have seen Gopher fans make the argument that Patterson has been the has been the MVP for the Golden Gophers.

As Sioux7 laid out in his blog post, both teams are similar statistically and I do expect that special teams will have a major factor in this game’s outcome.

Minnesota ranks
1st in team offense with a 3.67 avg/gm
8th in team defense with a 2.21 avg/gam
5th on the Power Play at 23.24% (43/185)
36th on the Penalty Kill at 81.0% (149/184)

Boston College ranks
6th in team offense with a 3.50 avg/gm
2nd in team defense with a 2.07 avg/gam
11th on the Power Play at 21.55% (39/181)
3rd on the Penalty Kill at 88.0% (162/184)

That being said, I am going to stick with my earlier prediction that made a week ago, I do expect to eat a little crow if my prediction is wrong.  That being said, I have seen a lot of good teams get absolutely steam rolled by the Boston College Eagles during the NCAA tourney.

 I also predict that the Boston College Eagles will win their programs fifth NCAA Title by a 6-3 score against the Ferris State Bulldogs.

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Frozen Four Match-Ups (by Sioux 7)

It looks like a really blew my frozen four picks from two weeks ago. I had picked Union, Maine, Michigan, and North Dakota to make it, well at least I got one right. How about the fact the we have four teams from four different conferences this year, last year it was just the WCHA (UMD, UND) and CCHA (UM, ND) in the frozen four.

Here we are, Tampa Florida, none the less; not exactly what I call hockey country. Anyway here are the team’s backgrounds and information as well as my best guesses as to the winners. .

SEMI-FINAL #1
#3 Union (26-7-7)
Union got to the Frozen Four by beating Michigan State and UMass-Lowell in the East Regional (Bridgeport, CT) two weeks ago.

The Dutchmen are 6-0-0 on neutral sites and 10-5-3 on the road this season. Union is on a seven game win streak that helped them capture the ECAC hockey crown. The Dutchmen have only lost two games in the 2012 calendar year (Brown and Cornell).

This is Union’s first trip to the Frozen Four, they are 2-1 all time in the NCAA tournament. They lost to Minnesota-Duluth in their first ever NCAA game last year, and UMD went on to win the title last year.

Union ranks
4th in team offense with a 3.55 avg/gm
1st in team defense with a 1.80 avg/gam
4th on the Power Play at 24.34% (46/189)
10th on the Penalty Kill at 84.8% (128/151)


#6 Ferris State (25-11-5)
The Bulldogs got to this point by beating Denver and Cornell in the Midwest Regional (Green Bay, WI) two weeks ago.

The Bulldogs are 0-1-0 on neutral ice and 8-6-3 on the road this season. FSU has won three of its last four games.

This is Ferris State’s first trip to the Frozen Four; they are 3-1 all time in the NCAA tournament, 2-0 this year and 1-1 in 2003, losing to Minnesota that year.

Ferris State ranks
21st in team offense with a 2.93 avg/gm
5st in team defense with a 2.17 avg/gam
25th on the Power Play at 19.17% (37/193)
6th on the Penalty Kill at 85.8% (157/183)


UNION versus FERRIS STATE
The all time series between Union and FSU is all Dutchmen, they are 4-0-0, and those games were all played in 2006 and 2007, in Big Rapids and Schenectady respectively.

Going with the numbers on these teams it favors Union, going with that logic I'm going with the Dutchmen to advance to the Final. UNION WINS


SEMI-FINAL #2

#1 Boston College (31-10-1)
The Eagles got to Tampa by beating Air Force and Minnesota-Duluth in the Northeast Regional (Worcester, MA) two weeks ago.

The Eagles are 8-1-0 on neutral ice and are 10-6-0 on the road this season. The Eagle come into Tampa on a 17-game winning streak, their last loss was on January 21st to Maine.

This is Boston College’s 23rd trip to the Frozen Four; they have won the NCAA Hockey Title 4 times – 1949, 2001, 2008, 2010. The Eagles are owners of a 43-38 all-time NCAA tourney record.

Boston College ranks
6th in team offense with a 3.50 avg/gm
2nd in team defense with a 2.07 avg/gam
11th on the Power Play at 21.55% (39/181)
3rd on the Penalty Kill at 88.0% (162/184)


#8 Minnesota (28-13-1)
The Gopher got to the Frozen Four by beating Boston University and North Dakota in the West Regional (St. Paul, MN) two weeks ago.

The Gophers are 2-1-0 on neutral ice and are 9-6-1 on the road this season, and have now two in a row and five of their last six games.

This is Minnesota’s 20th trip to the Frozen Four; they have won the NCAA Hockey Title 5 times – 1974, 1976, 1979, 2002, 2003. The Gophers are owners of a 52-33 all-time NCAA tourney record.

Minnesota ranks
1st in team offense with a 3.67 avg/gm
8th in team defense with a 2.21 avg/gam
5th on the Power Play at 23.24% (43/185)
36th on the Penalty Kill at 81.0% (149/184)


BOSTON COLLEGE versus MINNESOTA
The all time series between Eagles and Gophers is at 27 games with Minnesota leading 14-11-2. They have met nine of those times in the playoffs with the Eagles holding a 5-4 edge. These teams are 1-1-0 in neutral-site games, one in 1954 (14-1 Gophers) and 2008 (5-2 Eagles).

Last year the semi-finals were similar in that one game was between teams that did have all the hardware (UMD v ND) and the other was two storied progams (UMich v UND). Could this game be like that one? Where the favorite team plays well and gets dumped by a hot goalie? Can Patterson stone wall the Eagles? I think he can, but will he? EAGLES WIN


CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
If, and that's a big if, my semi-final predictions are correct, that would be a Union and BC final. I'm going for the new kids on the block.
DUTCHMEN National Champions

Related articles

• My prediction for the Frozen Four (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• A quick look at the regionals... Goon's Pontifications.... (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• NCAA Hockey Bracket 2012, Boston College Vs. Minnesota-Duluth: Eagles Headed To Frozen Four (sbnation.com)

Woe's... (by Sioux 7)

Horrible and pathetic, that is the best way I can describe the attendance at the NCAA regional’s last weekend. I watched about half of the games and noticed a significant amount of seats with no bodies in them. Ugh. These teams play a long season and these kids work hard to achieve success in athletics as well as their academics. And “fans” of these great schools, don’t or can’t attend their biggest game(s) of the year. Before I completely go off, let me share a few of the attendance numbers with you,

Union v UMass-Lowell -----------------– East Final – 5,238
Ferris State v Cornell –-------------- Midwest Final – 3,108
Minn-Duluth v Boston College –-- Northeast Final – 4,470
North Dakota v Minnesota –------------------- West--10,974

That’s a TOTAL of 23,880 fans that watched a regional final. I’m stunned, again at the lack of attendance at these fine arenas. I wonder what causes this, is it a lack of interest? Are fans watching basketball instead of hockey (I hope that isn’t the case)? Are the college kids broke, because they spent all their (or Mom and Dad’s) money on spring break a week or two ago? Is it a combination of things?

Looking at the numbers for conference tournament championship games and we have the following info:

Atlantic ----– Air Force v RIT ------–---- 2,433
ECAC –----- Union v Harvard –---------- 4,131
CCHA –----- Michigan v W. Mich ----– 10,421
Hockey East --–---- BC v Maine –------ 13,079
WCHA –----- N.Dakota v Denver –---- 16,838

That’s a TOTAL of 46,902 fans watching conference championship games. More fans attend conference tournament games than NCAA regionals.

I have an idea that would/should boost attendance at NCAA regionals. How about we don’t pick regional locations years in advance, but we have the top seeds host them? That would have meant last weekend that BC (7,549 – 96%), Union (2,009 – 90%), Michigan (5,997 – 90%), and UND (11,155 – 96%), would have hosted the games at their home rinks. The numbers behind each team was their average home attendance and percent capacity this season.

I know, many will say that by doing that the top seeds have an unfair advantage. I say they’re right, but it is also gives them that reward of earning a top seed. I also firmly believe that attendance would improve. Honestly, attendance couldn’t get any worse, could it?

Related articles

• Woe's... (by Sioux 7) (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• NCAA West Regional Capsules (insidehockey.com)
• Playing around with the numbers - NCAA Hockey Tourney Selection (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• NCAA Midwest Regional Capsules (insidehockey.com)
• NCAA Northeast Regional Capsules (insidehockey.com)
• NCAA East Regional Capsules (insidehockey.com)

Redwing77's Frozen Four Opinion Piece!

My bracket is destroyed. Only BC's entry into the Frozen Four was accurate in my bracket. Kudos to those of you whose bracket isn't complete garbage.

Here are the matchups:

Ferris State vs. Union
Minnesota vs. Boston College

Before I break down each game and give my (worthless) predictions, I wish to opine thusly: I do not like these matchups. I think there is plenty of glamor and appeal among the general college hockey population for the Minny/BC tilt, but there isn't much appeal for the Union/Ferris State tilt (other than the humanistic approach). I would have loved to have seen:

Minnesota vs. Union
Ferris State vs. Boston College

I think this brings everyone to both games. Sure, it might be the ESPN-ization of the brackets (giving the best opportunity to see the two biggest schools face off for the title) but I think it has the most appeal.

But that's not how the brackets work so here's the breakdown:

Union vs. Ferris State:

Union is the #1 seed in this game. Ferris isn't. Ferris State is a true Cinderella story. Union's story is good too. Both are in uncharted territory. Either team wins and it will be either team's first Frozen Four NC game. Despite my disdain towards the matchup, these two teams seem to match up well talent wise. It will be a good game. Union's goaltender is a Hobey finalist. I think he's proven that he's worthy.

Prediction: I got burned for not going by the rankings so I will go with the rankings tonight. My heart is with Ferris state but.... I predict Union wins 3-2.

Minnesota vs. BC:

This would be a GREAT NC matchup... but it is just a semifinal matchup. BC has won 17 straight which is something (if you believe in that... as it didn't work well for UND). Minnesota is rolling right now, stunning opponents with novel concepts not seen in recent years (such as Team Defense). Minnesota scored 12 goals in St. Paul and only gave up what... 5?

BC comes in having scored 6 goals in the regional and giving up... ZERO GOALS.

This game MIGHT require OT. And this game could go either way.

Prediction: 17 game streak... 0 goals allowed in the NCAAs thus far. Hard to go against BC. I think BC wins 2-1. It's going to be a great game. However, I will say this: Whoever wins THIS game, wins the National Championship so... as you see below, all you have to do is replace BC with Minny if Minny wins this game and my prediction remains the same otherwise.

NC Game:

BC vs. Union:

Union does a great job just getting here.... and leaves proud but quietly.

BC does its best impression of the 2002? Minnesota NC team when it played UNH for the title.

Prediction: BC: 5 Union: 1

Redwing77's NCAA Men's Hockey Bracket Picks Part One

I've decided to do something I haven't done all season long: A Pick'em. Sioux7 and Goon have done it. Maybe even Whistler has. But I haven't... Until now.

Ready the pitchforks and torches!

Northeast Regional:

In my opinion, this is the toughest bracket out there. In the bracket is Maine, BC, Air Force, and Minnesota Duluth.


Maine vs. UMD:

Maine is better than most people think. The problem is: They're not flashy. They're not especially fast as a team. Kindof like Vanilla Ice Cream. They are just solid all around and have a very deadly powerplay (#1 in the Nation). They key player is Spencer Abbott. He got injured after he fell feet first (it almost looked like he was hooked or interfered with) into the boards and left the game (no call.. made me think of WCHA officials). If he can't play then Maine may not necessarily be as dynamic as they would like.

Minnesota Duluth is a team built on grit and a flashy high end. Their top line is as good as anyone's. They are the returning champions so they have the bullseye on their jerseys.

The keys to this game is going to be special teams and blueline scoring. O'Neil from Maine got 2 goals and an assist in the defeat of BU and seems to be quite the sniper. If UMD can stay out of the penalty box though, I think they'll prevail.

My prediction: tUMD

BC vs. Air Force:

Air Force can surprise people but... they won't surprise BC.

My prediction: BC. I'm not even sure it will be close.

Regional Final: BC vs. tUMD. This will be a good game... and BC will win it despite having questionable goaltending (no matter what the NBC Sports homers say).

West Regional:

The West and Midwest Regionals are about equal in difficulty. If there is an edge in difficulty, it would be the West that holds the edge.

Minnesota vs. BU:

BU could win this game. They played extremely well vs. Maine... for a period or so. Then they started getting penalties and left their gameplan behind. Milan will not steal any games for BU. But BU's edge is in speed and defense. Their weakness, imo, is in discipline and special teams.

Minnesota is hurting after getting embarrassed in front of the home crowd (60% anyways). They're not that bad and they are well balanced. Like typical Lucia teams, Minnesota gets destroyed when they are forced to abandon their game plan. Their Team D has improved dramatically under Guentzel but there are still holes.

Prediction: Minnesota edges BU. This one is a good bet for OT.

UND vs. WMU:

WMU.... they're nobodies right Miami? Right Michigan? The problem is, if UND has that attitude, WMU will destroy the Sioux. They are healthy for the most part. They are playing above expectations. Some might say that they've exceeded expectations by simply making the NCAAs and winning the CCHA tourney. If that's the case, then WMU is playing bonus hockey and they can play more loose than UND because they don't have the weight of tradition riding on their shoulders like UND does.

UND... they've played amazing games since being unable to dress 18 skaters. They do have issues with giving up the first goal in the game.... stat monkeys will point out that they are 1 game below .500 when giving up the first goal this season (9-10-?). They also have the haters waiting in the wings. If they should lose vs. WMU (or heck, not make the Frozen Four), I'm sure there will be a fair smattering of "Fire Hakstol" commentary... not just from Red Lake Falls.

For me, it's hard to tell how far UND will go with the adversity they've faced thus far this year. The best I can do is to take the homer approach and stick with them to the end.

My prediction: Admittedly homer: UND wins in a squeaker.

Regional Final Matchup: Minnesota vs. UND. I'm not certain that Minnesota will make the same mistakes that they did in the Final Five. I also think that the ride will finally come to an end. Prediction: Minnesota wins in a heartbreaker and there will be a race between Minny trolls and the Haters to post the most flames at UND.

Hakstol says college teams at disadvantage in recruiting wars with CHL

Image via WikipediaIf you haven't read this blog post by Roman Augustoviz, it's worth a look... Whether we want to admit it or not UND head coach Dave Hakstol is right, the NCAA teams have their hands tied behind their back and they are at a serious disadvantage when it comes to recruiting battles for the top blue chip recruits with the Canadian Hockey League teams.

Roman Augustoviz, The Roman Emprie --- Even though it was Minnesota week in Fargo [Grand Forks, ND], Hakstol spend a good deal of time talking about recruiting to the several hundred people at the luncheon. And he appears ready to lead a coaches' charge to weaken the CHL's ability to keep recruiting signed players.

"We lost a recruit this week," Hakstol said. "I don't want to talk about the young man and the family. I don't think that is a classy thing to do. Those things remain where they belong, and that is behind closed doors.

"We lost a pretty good potential player to our program. We lost one last summer as well. My mentality right now -- there is a good recruiting battle. It is fun when you get into recruiting battles with Wisconsin, Boston College, Michigan, with Duluth, with Minnesota.

"You go into those things and you are fully armed with the things you do well. And you can tell your story. Kids make good decisions after they take time to find the right spot for them.

"Now we have a second recruiting battle with the CHL," Hakstol said. "We are going in with our hands absolutely tied behind our backs. It's a one-way battle. We are not able to go up and recruit those players. [If] the CHL can get a young man to play one game or not even to play a game, just sign a contract. That player can no longer play college hockey.

Just to clear one point up, incase anyone is wondering  J.T. Miller and Stefan Matteau are both American players and played on the USA Under 18 USDT. Also, J.T. Miller was on the last USA WJC team.

The CHL vs. NCAA recruiting battle hasn't affected the Gophers much. They don't recruit Canadian players as much as UND does.