Off Wing Opinion

The early game in the Midwest starts at 4pm in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Northeastern

Northeastern doesn't put up huge numbers. They win close games, from 2-1 squeakers to 4-3 goalfests. Offensively, however, they only have 3 guys with more than 10 goals, and 6 guys with over 20 points. Fortunately they have Brad Thiessen between the pipes, a junior who has played every game for the Huskies. He boasts a 2.09 GAA and a save percentage of .932.

The issue here is that Northeastern has had trouble this season with the better teams. All their losses, with the exception of 3 losses to UMass, have been against ranked teams. Their toughest opponent has been BU (they've gone 0-2-2 against them this season). Inside College Hockey has what Northeastern needs to win.

They looked gassed in the Hockey East playoffs, especially during their semifinal defeat to Lowell, when they lost a 2-0 lead and fell in overtime. The Huskies have been a confident bunch for the majority of the season, but they

Boston gets to stay close to home as the puck drops in Manchester at 5:30pm.

Boston University

I really like Boston University in this tournament. For starters, they're the top seed in the tournament. They've won the Big East regular season title, the Beanpot championship, and the Big East championship. They have only 6 losses all season, and only 2 since the New Year. They're also from Boston, which I have to like. And when I had a chance to see them this season, I was really impressed with the play of senior defenseman Matt Gilroy. He's a guy I want to see go far in this tournament.

The Terriers are just a solid team all around. They have 11 guys with over 20 points, and 6 guys with 10 or more goals. BU has put up 158 goals total, good for tops in the nation. As Inside College Hockey puts it, "BU's top six forwards essentially give the Terriers two No. 1 lines." Colin Wilson, a projected first round pick in the upcoming draft, paces the Terriers with 50 points. Gilroy leads all blueliners with 32 points. And somehow he is the only defenseman on BU that has yet to be drafted. Something tells me that will change come Draft Day.

Between the pipes Kieran Millan has been phenomenal. Only a freshman, he has a 1.84 GAA and a .923 save percentage. He has only let in 56 goals, with the Terriers letting in 80 total. And he has only lost 2 games all season. With his 25 wins that's a .923 win percentage. That's unheard of.

We can talk about numbers and stats all day long, but the bottom line is that BU has a deep set of strong forwards, a crazy-good defensive corps, and a freshman phenom between the pipes. Anything less than a national championship for Jack Parker's squad will be unacceptable.

Ohio State

Ohio State was the last team to make it into the tournament with an at-large bid. Playing in the tough CCHA, they score a lot of goals, but they also let in more than they should. However, while the backup netminders come into the tournament with rough numbers, starter Dustin Carlson boasts a respectable 2.40 GAA and a save percentage of .920.

The issue with the Buckeyes is their youth. Hoover Street Rag breaks it down.

The key theme with the Buckeyes this year is youth. Just five upperclassmen populate the roster of the scarlet and gray, and while senior Corey Elkins lead the team in scoring, he is the only upperclassman among the Buckeyes' top ten in scoring. This is a team that will be very dangerous next season, but what will they do when they have arrived a year early for the tournament. The Buckeyes tournament run rests largely on a thirteen game unbeaten streak in the middle of the season, with a slightly sub-.500 record in their final 19 games, including a rough pair of shutouts up in Alaska during the CCHA quarterfinals. The question will be whether these young Bucks can find their mid-season form and give the Terriers more than they might expect out of the last at-large team.

Remember the movie For Love of the Game, when Kevin Costner is an inning away from pitching a perfect game? And in the bottom of the 9th young Ken Strout is sent in to pinch hit. And announcer Vin Scully points out that it's the perfect move, as Strout is so young that he probably doesn't understand the significance of the moment. While the tournament is no perfect game, the youth on the Ohio State team may not realize just how ridiculous an idea it is for them to run the table. Although with two top seeds falling already, it might not be that crazy an idea anymore. While it's only an outside shot, it's still a shot that Ohio State can beat BU.

Prediction

After all the craziness that went on Friday, I can no longer be certain of what will happen. But I have Boston University going all the way, so I have to take them here. They're just so good all-around that it's tough to go against them. If Ohio State were to come away with the win, I wouldn't be surprised, but I just don't think they'll be able to do it.

In the West Regional nightcap Friday, UMD takes on Princeton at 9pm in Minneapolis.

Minnesota-Duluth

The Hoover Street Rag lays the story of how UMD made it this far.

Finishing seventh in the WCHA in the regular season, the Bulldogs (named after the 148th Fighter Wing stationed in Duluth) swept fourth place team Colorado College (in Colorado Springs), then beat Minnesota in the 4 v 5 game in the Twin Cities, then North Dakota, and then Denver to assure themselves a spot in the tournament with an automatic bid. In doing this, the Bulldogs became the first WCHA team to win three straight games to take the conference tournament title (in 34 previous tries), largely due to the lockdown defense of goalie Alex Stalock and the Bulldog blueliners, allowing just three goals in that span, and posting back to back shutouts in the WCHA semis and finals.

MacGregor Sharp and Justin Fontaine lead the Bulldogs with 47 points apiece, and Alex Stalock has used his playoff hot streak to drop his GAA to 2.10 and raise his SV% to .926. And if there was ever a time for Stalock and the Bulldogs to get hot, they picked the right one. After finishing the regular season with 2 ties and 3 losses in their last 5 games, they turned it on in the playoffs and ran away with the WCHA championship. Along with their goaltending, the Bulldog's powerplay will help them advance in the tournament.

UMD continues to pace the WCHA and is third nationally in overall power play efficiency with a 21.7 percent mark...Senior tri-captain Josh Meyers, UMD

Friday at 5:30 Denver takes on Miami at the Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis.

Denver

Denver comes into the West Regional as the 1 seed and the 3rd seed overall. The last time they came into the tournament as a number 1 seed, in 2005, they won their second national championship in a row.

Denver will have a tough road to the championship. They've lost Tyler Ruegsegger to a knee injury, and J.P. Testwuide is questionable with a lower body injury. Ruegsegger is the 6th leading scorer for Denver, and led the Pioneers with 12 powerplay goals on the season. The loss of Testwuide on the blueline will make things harder for goalie Marc Cheverie. Cheverie has put up stellar numbers this season (2.30 GAA and .923 SV%) and is one of the key reasons the Pioneers have done so well.

I was fortunate enough to be in Denver for the Wells Fargo Denver Cup, where Denver played both Holy Cross and Boston University. While Denver was missing Tyler Bozak, it shouldn't have been enough to merit the poor play I saw. It took overtime and a shootout for Denver to get by Holy Cross, who finished 7th in Atlantic Hockey. They then got handled 4-1 in the championship game by BU, who was without star defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. Denver had 6 powerplays and another partial one, but was unable to score.

On the plus side Denver has been on a tear, going 11-5-3 since the loss to BU. With Ruegsegger out the Pioneers still have 9 players with over 20 points on the season. They will be hurting with Ruegsegger out, as well as Testwuide (for now), and Bozak playing in his first game back. This could improve as the tournament goes on, but I just don't think that they'll have enough to go all the way. Cheverie will only be able to take Denver so far.

Miami (OH)

Miami brings 9 guys with over 20 points on the season. They've also had freshman goalies Connor Knapp and Cody Reichard have split time in net, with both posting quality numbers. The problem with Miami has always been their consistency; they're a streaky team. A midseason 8-game winning streak was followed by a 5-game losing streak. A couple games later they started a 5 game win streak. Miami then finished off the season 2-4-1, including their CCHA tournament series loss against Northern Michigan. And this was a team they outshot 47-7 in a game in February. They have never done well in the NCAA playoffs, and this won't be the year they turn things around.

Prediction

Denver will work Tyler Bozak into the game slowly, and they will put up the bigger number in a high scoring game. Both goalies will see their 2+ GAAs go up after tomorrow's game. Denver will advance and face Minnesota-Duluth in a WCHA rematch.

Friday night at 6:30 2nd seeded Yale takes on 3rd seeded Vermont on ESPNU.

Yale

Yale is led by senior goalie Alec Richards, who has posted a 1.97 GAA and .926 SV% on the season. They also have Mark Arcolbello and Broc Little leading the offense with 35 points each. They don't put up as many points as other teams, but Inside College Hockey breaks down how they'll be able to move on.

Yale capitalizes on seemingly every opportunity. One lapse, one giveaway, one breakdown and the Bulldogs will attack the net, so opponents need to be ready to play at a high level for all 60 minutes. Senior goalie Alec Richards hasn't been spectacular, but if he and a young defense corps hang in, that's all Yale needs with plenty of dangerous options up front. They'll be a tough out.

The Bulldog's defense and goaltending will have the pressure on as they go through the tournament. All-ECAC blueliner Thomas Dignard has been out since January, so his absence may hurt the 'dogs. While they did win the ECAC championship without him, the ECAC for the most part doesn't have the quality of teams the other big conferences do. Yale's only real competition was Cornell, Princeton, and St. Lawrence, and the Bulldogs went 5-2-1 against those teams this season, including the ECAC playoffs.

You also have to look at Alec Richards' stats for conference and non-conference play. His numbers in conference are a SV% of .936 and a GAA of 1.72 over 17 games. Now consider that through 24 games overall his numbers are .926 and 1.97. That means that his SV% non-conference is around .900, and his GAA is more than 2.50.

Vermont

The Catamounts finished the regular season tied with New Hampshire for 3rd place in Hockey East. They are led by junior power forward Viktor Stalberg, a Sweden native whose NHL rights are held by Toronto. Freshman goalie Rob Midore has gotten the majority of the starts this season, and posts a GAA of 2.36 and a save percentage of .911. Dan Lawson is Vermont's top all-around defenseman, has 6 goals, 9 assists, and a plus 14 rating.

Like Yale Vermont doesn't put in a lot of goals, but they also don't allow many either. They have been shaky defensively recently, and that could be their undoing.

Vermont has given up 18 goals in its last four games (1-3-0)

Friday kicks off the East Regional in Bridgeport, CT with top seed Michigan taking on Air Force at 3pm.

Michigan

Michigan come in as the top seed in the East and the third seed overall in the tourney. They boast a 29-11 record and are the only team in the East Regional to go all season without a tie. Looking at the stats for Michigan on the season, the thing that jumps out the most is their defense. Netminders Bryan Hogan and Billy Sauer have combined to post a GAA below 2 and a save percentage above .915%. And this was with defenseman Mark Mitera playing only 7 games all season due to a torn ACL. He was a first round pick (19 overall) by Anaheim in 2006. He wasn't a factor in the CCHA playoffs, and was a -2 in their championship loss to Notre Dame, so his play in the playoffs could have a big impact on how Michigan does overall.

Their offense will come mainly from forwards Aaron Palushaj and Louie Caporusso, who have posted 50 and 49 points on the season, respectively. No other Wolverine has notched more than 31. But should these two be held in check, there won't be any need to worry. Inside College Hockey points out what Michigan will need to advance to the big game;

How They'll Advance: A key to Michigan

Last week was spring break, and like any self-respectable college kid I made the trip down to Florida for the week. A couple of my friends are from Pittsburgh, so we decided to see them play the Florida Panthers in Sunrise. The fact that there were 10 dollar student tickets and free parking only sealed the deal. We got to the arena a few minutes late, and quickly realized that we had greatly underestimated the drawing power of the Panthers. The parking lot was packed, and there were still people pulling in. We were afraid we wouldn't be able to get tickets, so we scalped a set off a guy for roughly 15 bucks a ticket.

As we walked in we found out there were still 10 dollar tickets left, so we were a little annnoyed. But after the first period we moved down to some open seats 10 rows from the glass, and by the end of the game we were sitting in the second row behind the Florida net. The Penguins controlled the game, but it was amazing to see all the Panthers jerseys in the crowd and how loud the place got for Panther goals. All in all it was a good game.

After the game we hung out in the parking lot, drinking a couple beers, waiting for the traffic to die down. Then as we went to leave we saw a dozen or so fans waiting by the staff and players gate. with nothing else to do, we decided to park, hang around, and try to see if we could meet a couple players. Well after hanging around and talking to the other people there for a little while, Pens players starting heading out of the arena to their bus. Thanks to the cries of a ten year old wanting autographs, Hal Gill and Mike Zigomanis came over to the gate.

Several minutes later both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin came over to sign autographs. My Pittsburgh friends were ecstatic. I don't even like the Pens and still thought it was pretty cool of them to come over and sign autographs.

While they were there a guy that works for the Panthers wanted a photo of him and Sid for his son. I used someone's camera to take the picture, and the guy with the Panthers thought the camera was ours. So we were talking and he gave us four club seat tickets to Saturday night's game against St. Louis.

So in the end 17 bucks each got us parking, a good game, a chance to see Crosby and Malkin, free tickets to another game, and a great story to come back to school with. If they weren't in the same division, league even, I might almost decide to become a Panthers fan. The game was pretty good, the atmosphere was great, and you could tell the people there were really into the game. There were 19,000 people at the game, and the energy in the building was way more than I expected out of a Florida hockey game.

So if you ever find yourself in the Ft. Lauderdale area with some free time on your hands, head over to the BankAtlantic Centre and catch a game. You never know what could happen.