Yesterday I didn’t do so hot with the picks. I went 1-4, with only Wisconsin coming through and beating Vermont. Let’s hope I do a little better today as today’s picks will feature the Northeast and Midwest Regions. Yesterday’s picks featured the East and West Regions.
Note: Seeded teams are overall tournament seeded teams.
Northeast Regional- Worcester, Mass.
(4) Boston College vs Alaska: Saturday 1:30 p.m.
Boston College got here because they won the Hockey East. The Eagles have been peaking at the right moment, as they have been unbeaten in over six weeks. The Eagles has had solid goaltending between John Muse and Parker Milner. It was Muse who backstopped the Eagles to the national championship two seasons ago. What could scare the Eagles was his performance last weekend in the conference title game against Maine when he allowed six goals.
Alaska is closer to the North Star than the rest of us in the lower 48, and they should be thanking their lucky stars as they earned the fourth CCHA bid despite getting bounced in the quarterfinal round against Northern Michigan. The Nanooks have played very polarizing hockey this season. They would get hot and play stingy defense, then they would get cold and not put the puck in the net. Another question of note is where will the offense come from? Only three players have over 10 goals this season, which can help because BC won’t know which player to shut down. I like Boston College to win this match up.
North Dakota vs Yale: 5 p.m.
North Dakota got here because they pulled off the difficult task of running through the gauntlet that is the WCHA Final Five and won three games in three days. Not to mention they played 6 games in 9 days dating back to the first round of the WCHA playoffs. They are on a hot streak in the last two weeks, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be successful in a one-and-done format. Whats made this North Dakota so unique is they are very young and don’t have that one go-to player, but several players playing really good hockey this time of the year.
Yale on the other hand, is a team that’s had a season quite different than most teams in the tournament. Some teams such as Cornell was low scoring but had solid goaltending. The Bulldogs led the nation in scoring as they averaged over four goals per game. But their goaltending is what’s let them down as they were eighth in goal differential. They can succeed in one of two ways: have the defense step up or simply make the game into a track meet and put up 5-6 goals per game on the scoreboard. With those two factors in mind, I think North Dakota has the opportunity to stop Yale’s offense and put up a few goals of their own. Expect the Fighting Sioux to fight another day in the regional final.
Regional Final: 5:30 p.m. Sunday
Advancing to the Frozen Four: Boston College
Midwest Regional- Fort Wayne, Ind.
(1) Miami vs Alabama-Huntsville: Saturday 4:00 p.m.
Miami is the overall top seed in the tournament. The Redhawks have played stellar hockey all season, with the exception being the drubbing they received from Michigan in the CCHA semifinals. This team is really deep, talented, and they are on a mission with the final 75 seconds of regulation in the national championship last season. This season, they have a little bit of everything: powerful offense, a vacuum defense, and solid special teams. What could bite them in the regional final is simply trying too hard to get back to the Frozen Four.
Alabama-Huntsville was one of the bracket-busters as they won the CHA tournament despite having a losing record. The CHA was supposed to be a one-bid league (Bemidji State) but earned themselves two. Whats working in their favor is some players do have NCAA tournament experience with a double overtime loss to Notre Dame in 2007. Whats also working in their favor is three of Miami’s seven losses this season came against CHA teams. UAH will have to play a perfect game and have a few bounces go their way if they want to beat Miami. As we saw yesterday with RIT beating Denver, anything can happen.
We’ve seen this situation before. Holy Cross over Minnesota in 2006. Bemidji State over Notre Dame in 2009. Those are the only 1-16 or 2-15 upsets in the modern 16-team NCAA tournament. Can lightning strike three times in five years? I don’t think so. Expect Miami to win by at least three goals.
Michigan vs Bemidji State: 7:30 p.m.
I knew this would happen. Michigan was sitting at 4-7 on November 20. Things in Ann Arbor wasn’t very good. The streak of 19 straight tournament births would be in doubt. But something happened. The Wolverines were able to turn things around and got hot at the right time as they are 8-1 since February 20. What they have been riding nearly since then is a third year walk-on goalie in Shawn Hunwick as he’s posted a 7-2 record in relief of the injured Bryan Hogan. Not bad for someone that’s seen less ice time than it takes to drive to the grocery store before stepping between the pipes.
Bemidji State is in gut-check mode. After running through the CHA regular season and playing solid hockey, they puked on themselves in the conference tournament with a loss to Niagara and a tie against Robert Morris. They have had two weeks to think about what didn’t go right in the CHA tournament. That combined with them not being able to sneak up against opponents this time around could spell trouble for the Beavers.
The Wolverines caught a favorable match up in the NCAA tournament. They have the potential to reach the Frozen Four and if they do, it can turn Ford Field into Michigan Stadium East. But first things first, expect them to beat Bemidji State before setting up a rematch of the CCHA semi’s with Miami for a chance to reach the Frozen Four.
Midwest Regional Final: Sunday, 8:00 p.m.
Advancing to the Frozen Four: Miami
