It's UNH

Get ready, Wildcats - here comes Gerbe.

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Thanks to BU's 4-2 win over UMass-Lowell and Vermont's 4-1 win over Northeastern, the Eagles will take on UNH in the Hockey East Semifinals at the TD Banknorth Garden. The game will be at 5:00 PM on Friday night.

There are a lot of downsides to this match-up - UNH is the best team in the east, by far.

But I will try to focus on the good things:

-Playing against UNH, even if we lose, will improve our RPI for tournament seeding purposes.

-We're going to have to beat them anyway, so we might as well do it now. It's cliche, but it's true. The road to the Hockey East title goes through UNH.

-UNH has a propensity for choking in big games at big moments.

-A solid performance against UNH - even if it results in a loss - will hopefully help convince the committee to pair us up with UNH in the Worcester regional. (They set up the re-match last year in Manchester, but UNH lost to Miami in typical UNH fashion)

It's not going to be easy - I think UNH will probably win the game - but you can't count out the Eagles. Going into the Hockey East tournament, all I wanted was to get to UNH, whether it be in the semis or the finals. There's no shame in losing to them. And if we beat them -- sweet.

Hopefully, we'll see a repeat of last year's BC romp over UNH at the Garden:


Around College Hockey

On a side note, I am very sad to see Northeastern's season end. As those of you who know me personally know (so, basically, everyone who reads this blog), I have a real soft spot for the Huskies - they are my 2nd favorite team.

This season was so promising for them at around December. Thiessen was looking like the best goalie in Hockey East and NU was up to #7 in the country.

I still think Thiessen is one of HE's best, but NU's offense failed to show up this weekend, scoring 4 goals in 3 games. Very sad.

They should be good next year as they are only losing one graduating senior, Jimmy Russo. Unfortunately, we've been hearing for years that next year is the big breakout year for NU, and it just hasn't happened. It looked like it was happening this year, but much like BC football, the Huskies took their stunned fans on a thrilling ride up the national polls only to come crashing back down to their usual level.

Hopefully, next year, they will add some offensive punch - and shake the roof of the great Matthews Arena with some real excitement.

Northeastern's season was all down hill after New Year's Day. The only bright side is that they won't be returning to their house of horrors, the Garden.

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Another team that I have an affinity for, the Minnesota Golden Gophers, outlasted Minnesota State in an epic 3 game series that went to a combined total of 5 overtimes. The Mavericks topped Minnesota 1-0 in 2OT on Friday, but the Gophers showed heart to bounce back with a pair of OT wins over the weekend.


Goldy and I are BFFs. My team and his (her?) team are both turning it on at the right time.

It's tough to describe a Minnesota team as "workmanlike," as they get to basically pick recruits at will, but with all the team has been through this year, you have to give them a lot of credit. They lost a ton of talent before - and during - this tumultuous season, and for a while, they looked down and out. When I was in Minneapolis, their fans seemed defeated and dejected.

The ridiculous strength of the WCHA allowed Minnesota to creep back up into at-large contention in the PWR despite having a record hovering around .500 - but now, the Gophers have a chance to make a splash in the Final Five and prove that they belong in NCAAs .

Grant and I left our mark on the Mariucci Arena parking lot when we were in Minneapolis.
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Speaking of the Final Five, the matchups are set:

5/4 game on Thursday: Minnesota vs. St. Cloud State - both teams need wins to solidify NCAA bids

Friday's semifinals:

Min/SCSU winner vs. Colorado College - whoever emerges from the play-in will probably lose to CC, but don't count out the Gophers with their home crowd behind them.

Denver vs. North Dakota - this will be one of the games of the year. NDak is loaded and I've got them as my WCHA champ.
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The Final Five is always great hockey. Last year's OT game winner by Blake Wheeler of Minnesota over North Dakota was absolutely epic -



... of course, North Dakota turned the tables on Minnesota in the NCAA West Regionals, which just goes to prove that whatever you think going into the tournament is probably wrong. Who had BC in the finals in '06, or Mich. State as the champ last year?
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Congratulations to Air Force and Niagara for punching their tickets to the NCAA tournament by winning the AHA and CHA championship games today.

Northern Michigan pulled the upset of the night, knocking Michigan State out of the CCHA tournament. Michigan Tech almost topped them, taking North Dakota to a game 3 in the WCHA playoffs, but the Sioux held on to win 2-1 tonight to advance to the Final Five.

Also, a shout out to Colgate for knocking Clarkson out of the first round of the ECAC tournament, meaning that there will be two ECAC teams in the NCAAs (bad news for BU and other bubble teams).
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The Women's Frozen Four is set. The only upset in the quarterfinals was #5 Wisconsin edging #4 Minnesota, 3-2, in overtime. That wasn't really a surprise, as Wisco, the two-time defending national champions, had just beaten Minnesota in the WCHA playoffs.

The Wisco-Minnesota game was one of two quarterfinal matchups to go to OT, as UNH edged SLU 3-2 at Lake Whitt - a game I had the pleasure of attending (pics/videos coming later this week). UNH's Jenn Wakefield is probably the best freshman in the country.

UNH's Courtney Birchard takes SLU goalie Meaghan Guckian to school for UNH's first goal.

#1 Harvard predictably smoked Dartmouth to punch their ticket, while #2 Minnesota-Duluth squeaked past Patty Kaz frontrunner Meghan Agosta and the Mercyhurst Lakers, 5-4.

It was a rather tame quarterfinal round compared to last year. Last season, three lower seeds won, with #6 BC winning at #3 Dartmouth, #5 SLU beating #4 UNH, and #7 Duluth upsetting #2 Mercyhurst. Three of four quarterfinal matchups went to overtime, including 2 OTs between BC and Dartmouth and an incredible 4 OTs between #8 Harvard and #1 Wisconsin.

The matchups on Friday Night:
6 PM ET > #1 Harvard/#5 Wisconsin
9 PM ET> #2 Minnesota-Duluth/ #3 UNH

Those games will be streamed live on the internet at uscho.com. The final will be on Sunday afternoon, televised live on CSTV.

As much as I'd love to see an all-East Coast final, it ain't gonna happen. I think Harvard and Minnesota-Duluth will match up for all the marbles and Duluth will get the win in front of their home crowd.
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Because everyone else is doing it: Basketball final four [Disclaimer: I know nothing about basketball]
UNC, Georgetown, Texas, sUeConn
UNC over sUeConn in the final.