college conference championships this weekend

[Screw_Michigan]

i'll start off with the ccha. i was fortunate enough to see both ferris state/notre dame game 2 sat and northern michigan/michigan state on sunday. nd, msu and nmu were all facing elimination in the games i saw, so that was cool. notre dame blew their wad on saturday to stay alive, scoring six goals while averaging 1.75 gpg entering the weekend, and their leading scorer went down with a knee injury sunday. they're done. i was shocked to see nmu win sunday. that was a clear look on a first shot lerg had, he just let the first clean look all night into the net.

michigan has northern michigan in the first semi and miami takes on notre dame. i like michigan by a few goals because northern's 6-4 goaltender looks as comfortable on the ice as a terrorist being waterboarded and because the piss and blue can score at will. same thing with miami. wouldn't be surprised in the least to see nd only score 1 goal and lose 5-1. i also like michigan winning on saturday, as much as i hate to say it.

in hockey east, both boston schools, vermont, and new hampshire are participating. don't know much about hockey east here, but i'll go with new hampshire.

in the wcha, i know minnesota plays st. cloud, and no dak, colorado college and wisconsin (i believe) are involved. i'll go st. cloud in the upset.

i know there are a few ivy league schools in the echa championships, but i'm not sure which ones.

i went to the ccha championship in 03 and 06 and they were both memorable experiences. truly the league party in every way and in a great hockey city. WAR FREE BEER AT HOCKEYTOWN ON THURSDAY NIGHT.

[Shoalzie]

Game 1: Miami-Notre Dame

Classic goalie duel where it was scoreless until the last few minutes of the game...should've been expected with two of the best netminders in the nation going head to head. They played two really tight low-scoring games back in November as well. The Redhawks did what they had to do get that tying goal by crashing the net and creating traffic. Pearce had no shot on that one...great screen by Jones. The winner by Martinez looked like a typical OT goal...kind of fluky where the goalie looks clueless.

Game 2: Michigan-Northern Michigan

Gutty effort by Northern coming off the heels of shocking the defending national champs and it looked like they had the #1 team on the ropes with lead going into the third and being able to answer Michigan's rally to tie it 4-4 late in the third. Big game for Tim Miller with 2 third period goals and an assist including the game-winner. Very average performance from Sauer but the offense picked him up.

Finals: Michigan-Miami

Michigan picked up 3 points at Cady Arena in early February. The Wolverines need to tighten up defensively and get a better game out of Sauer to win the Mason Cup. Miami may not be as talented as Michigan but they're well coached and are strong from the net and out. Porter and Pacioretty were quiet on Friday...they were money along with Kolarik in those two games against the Redhawks. Pacioretty had 3 goals and an assist, Porter had 2 goals and Kolarik had a goal and 2 assists. They weren't quite able to finish them off in that second game that ended in a 5-5 tie but they showed they could score on Zatkoff. I'll favor the Wolverines by the slightest of margins...I'd bet on a one-goal game.

[Screw_Michigan]

nice analysis shoalz. FUCK not having FSN Detroit for college hockey. i went to four nd games this year and i really miss seeing the other good teams on tv at least.

gotta give the irish props for coming within six seconds of winning while only scoring one goal. never thought i'd see that against the highest scoring team in the league. jackson's defenses remind me a lot of ron mason's: defensive stalwarts with great goaltending. i really don't know what to think about nd making the tournament, but i look at it this way: if they beat nmu and miami wins, that's their best case scenario. if they lose to nmu in the 3rd place game, they are out for sure.

and i totally believed it when i got a text message saying: "nmu 2 um 1 shg nmu 8 um 24". that's just how northern rolls.

saw bc and nh went ot tonight and the wcha semis all seemed tight. good night for college hockey.

[Shoalzie]

This has a tendency to fall through the cracks with the Big Dance in full swing, baseball just around the corner and the NBA and NHL in the home stretch of the season. Props to FSN Detroit for bumping a meaningless Wings game FSN+ and putting the title game on their station. I just got rid of the sports tier on Comcast with the FCS stations...probably could've watched some of the WCHA tournament.

[Screw_Michigan]

conference tournament champs crowned tonight:

bc
mich (wraps up #1 overall seed)
denver
princeton

worst case scenario occurred for nd today: it lost to nmu and miami lost. reportedly, they are tied at 12th in the PWR with Mankato, but the irish own the tie-breaker. they don't find out until 11:30a if they are the last team in. i think they'll be in by the skin of their teeth.

[Shoalzie]

RACK Red and the boys on getting the double championship



So, out of the CCHA...it'll be Michigan (obviously), Miami, Michigan State and maybe Notre Dame?

Here's PWR for anyone interested:

http://www.uscho.com/rankings/pwr.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They announce the tournament field today, correct?

I'd be willing to be that the Wolverines will be at the Madison regional. Next year, the Midwest regional returns to Van Andel...I might have to go to that...and then in 2009, the Frozen Four will be at Ford Field.

[Screw_Michigan]

09 frozen four is in washington and 10 is in detroit.

nd makes it in as the second worst 4-seed and michigan gets the top seed AND SPARED of a trip to madison, going to albany. although i want revenge for vengeance at yost in 98, it's a fair decision. princeton wins the ecac tournament title and gets a 4-seed as well. with wisconsin also getting in by the skin of its teeth, the madison regional get really interesting. denver has been playing pretty damn good, though.

Albany (East)
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 4 Niagara
No. 2 St. Cloud State vs. No. 3 Clarkson

Colorado Springs (West)
No. 1 New Hampshire vs. No. 4 Notre Dame
No. 2 Colorado College vs. No. 3 Michigan State

Madison (Midwest)
No. 1 North Dakota vs. No. 4 Princeton
No. 2 Denver vs. No. 3 Wisconsin

Worcester (Northeast)
No. 1 Miami vs. No. 4 Air Force
No. 2 Boston College vs. No. 3 Minnesota

[Goober McTuber]

Holy shit, screw_, how many WCHA teams are in there? Do I count six? I think you know who still rules college hockey, eh? Though I’ll pick Michigan to win it all. At least you’ve got one decent team in your shitty little-sister conference.

[Screw_Michigan]

that's the only way your shit for brains team got in the tournament this year, goobs. lost gate receipts if the badgers were rightly held out of the tournament. it is a total insult to the integrity of the sport that a pikkle like the badgers would even make the tournament after failing to win an average of 2/3 of their games since the middle of january.

yet another reason not to have regionals held on campuses. i thought we took care of this problem after the regional at yost in 03. if you faggots aren't hosting a regional this year, no way in fucking hell are you playing this weekend. get fucked and we'll see if any team from your rump riding conference is playing for the national title in three weekends.

[Shoalzie]

Frozen Four: Michigan vs. New Hampshire / Denver vs. Miami
National Championship: Michigan over Miami
Most Outstanding Player: Chad Kolarik

[Goober McTuber]

that's the only way your shit for brains team got in the tournament this year, goobs. lost gate receipts if the badgers were rightly held out of the tournament. it is a total insult to the integrity of the sport that a pikkle like the badgers would even make the tournament after failing to win an average of 2/3 of their games since the middle of january.

yet another reason not to have regionals held on campuses. i thought we took care of this problem after the regional at yost in 03. if you faggots aren't hosting a regional this year, no way in fucking hell are you playing this weekend. get fucked and we'll see if any team from your rump riding conference is playing for the national title in three weekends.

Actually, Screw_, I didn't think the Badgers belonged in the tournament this year, but I read about how the committee was basically locked in due to the Pair-wise rankings. And in case you missed it, you cum-drunk faggot, I called Michigan for the national title. But you can't really argue with the depth of the WCHA, because if it wasn't Wisconsin, it was gonna be Mankato. And next year the Badgers will definitely be title contenders. Probably more than you can say for Sparty.

[Shoalzie]

Big day for the CCHA...Michigan rolls over Niagara and will face Clarkson on Saturday night but the surprise of the tournament so far is Notre Dame's 7 goal outburst against New Hampshire in an upset victory and Michigan State rides a big second period to beat Colorado College. At least one Spartan team decided to not rollover and die on Friday...I keed.

Spartans-Irish at 10 tonight following the Wolverines and Clarkson at 7 on ESPNU.

[Screw_Michigan]

miami beats niagara 3-2 in OT

[Shoalzie]

The Wolverines advance to Denver...2-0 win over Clarkson. They now await that MSU-ND winner. Can the Irish solve Lerg? Only two goals scored in the two games against State.

We'll see 2 teams from the CCHA in the Frozen Four after tonight...do I hear three? It'll be BC against Miami on Sunday as well as Wisconsin-North Dakota in the Midwest final.

[Screw_Michigan]

nd drops michigan state 3-1 and scU-M downs clarkson 2-0 so we get TWO CCHA TEAMS IN THE FROZEN FOUR AND ONLY ONE FROM THE WCHA AT THE MOST.

little sister conference, blah blah blah. fuck the wcha.

[Shoalzie]

I have to say that I'm quite relieved that Lerg and MSU are out of the tournament. He's been a nemesis to the Wolverines since he's come onto the scene. Conversely, Michigan went 2-0 with a combined scored of 8-3 over the Irish this season. Sauer stopped 53 of 56 shots in those two wins.

[Shoalzie]

Gotta love two regional finals both going to OT yesterday...BC and North Dakota complete the Frozen Four field. From a Michigan perspective...they were 3-0 against teams in the Frozen Four but they haven't faced North Dakota. Michigan opened their season in St. Paul with an OT win over the (then #2 ranked) Eagles at the Ice Breaker.

Now, the only sucky part of all this...we have to wait an extra week because they don't want to have this compete with the hoops Final Four.

[Adelpiero]

It's michigans to lose

their toughest game will be Notre Dame. Too bad for Notre Dame, with the week off, they were on a roll.


Michigan is too deep. thir best players are freshman. Pushjalev(blues draftee) has been very good for Michigan. Ian Cole(blues draftee) for Notre Dame has been playing solid hockey. He is a physical dman, with a booming shot.


Miami OH downfall was their asset, run and gun. they got caught with too many men up ice too many times, and not finishing, and BC got lucky. Miami just cant get that big win!

[Shoalzie]

Kevin Porter is named a finalist for the Hobey Baker Trophy along with Nathan Gerbe of BC and Ryan Jones of Miami.

http://mgoblue.com/ice-hockey/article.aspx?id=132738" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


If the Irish can slow down the Michigan offense, the pressure falls on Sauer but he's been strong in the two wins in Albany. Pearce is capable of stealing one for Notre Dame so Sauer will need to be sharp if it is a tight defensive game.