Full speed ahead in hockey tourneys
Men's conference battles continue this weekend
If the results of last weekend's opening round of the ECAC Hockey playoffs -- 11th-seeded Rensselaer and 12th-seeded Brown posted upset series sweeps -- are any indication, the events that will take place over the next two weekends could be as wide open as we've seen in some time. Inside College Hockey has you covered, prepping for this weekend's action.
ATLANTIC HOCKEY | CCHA | CHA | ECAC HOCKEY | HOCKEY EAST | WCHA
Atlantic Hockey
Quarterfinals
Bracket
(Back to top)
Season Series: Air Force leads, 4-0-0
Sacred Heart: 10-21-4 (9-16-3 AHA)
Air Force: 23-9-2 (20-6-2 AHA)
Pioneers Fact: Sacred Heart's 10 wins are its fewest since going 7-23-1 in 1998-99.
Falcons fact: Air Force is 7-0 in Atlantic Hockey playoff games
How Sacred Heart Wins: The Pioneers must stay out of the penalty box and hope that the top line of Eric Giosa, Nick Johnson and Bear Trapp have a great weekend.
How Air Force Wins: Keep rolling out the lines, and let Andrew Volkening do his job in nets.
Season Series: RIT, 4-0-0
Holy Cross: 12-18-5 (10-15-3 AHA)
RIT: 21-11-2 (20-6-2 AHA)
Crusaders Fact: Holy Cross has earned just two points in the new year against teams with winning records.
Tigers Fact: RIT won a pair of 5-4 OT playoff games against Holy Cross last year.
How Holy Cross Wins: Ian Dams has 68 shutout minutes in the playoffs so far. Keep it up.
How RIT Wins: Keep shooting the puck and take the game to the Crusaders.
Season Series: Tied, 2-2-0
Army: 11-17-6 (10-12-6 AHA)
Mercyhurst: 19-14-3 (17-8-3 AHA)
Black Knights Fact: Army dropped its past two playoff games against Mercyhurst (2002, 2008).
Lakers Fact: Mercyhurst has won seven of its past eight.
How Army Wins: Jay Clark has to play solid in goal, and the Black Knights need to make the Lakers pay for taking penalties.
How Mercyhurst Wins: The Lakers' vaunted power play needs a little kick start, and goalie Ryan Zapolski needs to carry his solid play into his first playoff.
Season Series: Bentley leads, 4-0-0
Canisius: 14-14-6 (12-12-4 AHA)
Bentley: 17-15-2 (15-11-2 AHA)
Golden Griffins Fact: Canisius has lost its past five playoff games since a 2004 quarterfinal triumph against Quinnipiac.
Falcons Fact: Seventeen wins is Bentley's Division I program high and its best since 18-win campaign in 1996-97.
How Canisius Wins: Defense wins championships, and the Griffs are ranked No. 2 in the league in goals against per game.
How Bentley Wins: Senior leadership should carry a Falcon team that has some proven playoff producers.
CCHA
Quarterfinals
Bracket
(Back to top)
Season Series: Notre Dame leads 2-0-0
Nebraska-Omaha: 15-15-8 (8-13-7, 3 SOW CCHA)
Notre Dame: 27-5-3 (21-4-3, 3 SOW CCHA)
Mavericks Fact: The Mavericks' first win of a two-game sweep against Ferris State in Round 1 was their first win in 14 games -- their last win prior to the playoffs came against Northern Michigan on Jan. 9.
Fighting Irish Fact: Notre Dame has boasted one of the nation's top power plays all year long, but went a combined 0-for-10 in two games against Nebraska-Omaha this year.
How Nebraska-Omaha Wins: Focusing on keeping things tight in their own zone and not turning over the puck, while making sure they take advantage of the few opportunities the Irish concede.
How Notre Dame Wins: Keep focused on the things that made the Fighting Irish so successful all year long -- solid defense, dirty goals and not getting caught up in trying to be fancy now that postseason pressure is on.
Season Series: Tied, 1-1-0
Western Michigan: 14-18-7 (9-13-6, 2 SOW CCHA)
Michigan: 26-10-0 (20-8-0, 0 SOW CCHA)
Broncos Fact: Western Michigan has never won a playoff game at Yost, but has won two of the past three regular-season meetings between these two teams in Ann Arbor.
Wolverines Fact: The last time Michigan lost a playoff game to the Broncos was at the end of the 1987-88 season, a 10-0 blowout in Kalamazoo. Having been embarrassed on the road, the Wolverines must have learned how important home ice is in the playoffs -- they haven't played a road game in the CCHA playoffs since.
How Western Michigan Wins: When the Broncos win, they play with a lot of energy and focus on the little things like blocking shots, which paid off in a 2-1 win at Yost on Nov. 14. That was completely missing when Michigan blew them out at Lawson 5-0 the next day.
How Michigan Wins: Solid goaltending from Bryan Hogan is where it all will start, but the Wolverines will need to get continued secondary scoring against a relentless and physical Western Michigan defense.
Season Series: Northern Michigan leads 1-0-1, Miami won the shootout
Northern Michigan: 16-15-5 (11-12-5, 3 SOW CCHA)
Miami: 19-10-5 (17-7-4, 2 SOW CCHA)
Wildcats Fact: Northern Michigan has as much success as anyone at Steve Cady Arena this year, taking three points on the weekend while goaltender Brian Stewart made 89 saves in the two games.
RedHawks Fact: With this weekend's games, Miami has hosted a home playoff series in each of the three seasons the new rink has been open -- the RedHawks are 1-1 in the two previous series, losing to Lake Superior two years ago and knocking off Bowling Green last year.
How Northern Michigan Wins: The Wildcats need to ride all the momentum that they've built throughout the second half, spreading the puck around evenly as five players enter the weekend with four-game point streaks.
How Miami Wins: The RedHawks are fortunate to have some experienced and hungry players looking for an elusive first CCHA playoff championship for the program. They will, however, go only as far as Connor Knapp and Cody Reichard take them.
Season Series: Tied, 1-1-0
Ohio State: 22-12-4 (13-11-4, 3 SOW CCHA)
Alaska: 15-13-6 (13-10-5, 3 SOW CCHA)
Buckeyes Fact: Ohio State was 1-1 in two games at Alaska this year, but their road record in the playoffs is far from favorable. The Buckeyes are a paltry 9-35 and they haven't won a road postseason game since 2002.
Nanooks Fact: Alaska might have won the home ice for the series and the first-round bye, but they may be the ones looking for revenge in Fairbanks' name, as the Nanooks lost to Ohio State in their first game at Joe Louis Arena in 2002.
How Ohio State Wins: Just as they did in Round 1, the young Buckeyes must keep their composure and play with urgency. But they need to be better defensively than they were in a 5-4 win last Friday, as Alaska does a great job protecting leads.
How Alaska Wins: The Nanooks need to pick up the offense a bit to keep pace with some of the league's better teams, but first need to keep focused on playing well defensively to keep a dynamic Ohio State offense under wraps.
CHA
First round (semifinals)
Bracket
(Back to top)
Season Series: Niagara leads, 4-0-2
Robert Morris: 9-18-7 (5-8-5 CHA)
Niagara: 16-13-5 (9-5-4 CHA)
Colonials Fact: When these two teams met in last year's semifinal, now-senior forward Chris Margott scored all three Colonial goals in a 6-3 loss.
Purple Eagles Fact: Niagara is riding a nine-game unbeaten streak against the Colonials.
How Robert Morris Wins: As with most teams, the Colonials' top line with Margott and Nathan Longpre needs to produce. They also need to maintain the focus on their own end that they've had lately, allowing more than three goals just once over the past eight games and going 4-1-3.
How Niagara Wins: Hope a freshman goaltender (RMU's Brooks Ostergard) plays like a freshman in his first postseason game. Related is Niagara's time in the offensive zone to keep the pressure on and having defensemen take the occasional chance on a pinch.
Season Series: Bemidji State leads, 5-1-0
Alabama-Huntsville: 5-19-4 (3-11-4 CHA)
Bemidji State: 16-15-1 (12-5-1 CHA)
Chargers Fact: There are only seven players on the roster who have experienced a win at Bemidji State. It happened in the teams' last meeting of the 2006-07 campaign.
Beavers Fact: Seniors occupy four of the top six spots on the Beavers' scoring list, so the team is built to win now.
How Alabama-Huntsville Wins: Take advantage of special teams. In their one victory against the Beavers this season, the Chargers netted three power-play markers while limiting BSU to one. UAH was just 1-for-29 in the other five matchups this season. The Chargers should get their chances; they had 16 power plays over two games in the last series four weeks ago.
How Bemidji State Wins: Top-seed, home-ice, seniors leading the way -- overconfidence might be the only flea in the fur for the Beavers. That said, this is also goaltender Matt Dalton's first playoff experience, so the Beavers need to stay out of the box and keep the sight lines cleared for their rookie goalie.
ECAC Hockey
Quarterfinals
Bracket
(Back to top)
Season Series: Yale, 3-0-0
Brown: 5-21-5 (3-15-4 ECAC Hockey)
Yale: 20-7-2 (15-5-2 ECAC Hockey)
Bears Fact: The Bears come into the weekend coming off of back-to-back road wins. Their last three-game road winning streak was in Nov. 2004 (at Minnesota Duluth, Clarkson and St. Lawrence).
Bulldogs Fact: Yale is one of three teams that has never made it to the league's championship weekend since the tournament moved to Albany in 2003.
How Brown Wins: We said it last week and we'll say it again: Maintain momentum. The Bears are now 3-1-1 in their past five games, with the lone loss coming against Cornell in a game that Brown led in the third period.
How Yale Wins: Solve Brown goalie Mike Clemente, who hasn't allowed a goal in six periods. All three of Yale's wins over Brown came back in the fall semester, and Dan Rosen started all three games in net for the Bears.
Season Series: Cornell, 2-0-0
Rensselaer: 9-25-2 (6-15-1 ECAC Hockey)
Cornell: 18-7-4 (13-6-3 ECAC Hockey)
Engineers Fact: Two RPI freshmen recorded their first career goals in Friday's win at Dartmouth. Jordan Watts tied the game in the third period and Christian Morisette scored the game-winner in overtime.
Big Red Fact: Cornell is 6-1-0 in its past seven postseason games against RPI, dating back to 1997. Cornell twice advanced in early-round series and also picked up two wins at Lake Placid.
How Rensselaer Wins: Get out to an early lead. The Engineers should be loose and playoff-ready after playing a series last weekend.
How Cornell Wins: Be focused from the get-go. Sitting around gives teams a chance to heal up, but also forces an adjustment period to postseason hockey as well as battling some rust from a lack of game action.
Season Series: Tied, 1-1-0
Union: 18-15-3 (9-11-2 ECAC Hockey)
Princeton: 20-9-0 (14-8-0 ECAC Hockey)
Dutchmen Fact: Union has a minus-14 goal differential in the first period, but has outscored its opponents by a total of 18 goals in the second and third periods of games this year.
Tigers Fact: Junior goalie Zane Kalemba has allowed one goal in his past 10 periods of play in the ECAC Hockey playoffs.
How Union Wins: Moderate the tempo and play the puck in safe areas. Both teams generate offense off of turnovers, but if the game turns into back-and-forth line rushes, the advantage goes to Princeton.
How Princeton Wins: Call on the experience of last year's playoff run, and the veteran leaders on the team. It starts with Kalemba and the likes of Brett Wilson and Lee Jubinville up front.
Season Series: Tied, 1-1-0
Quinnipiac: 18-16-3 (9-10-3 ECAC Hockey)
St. Lawrence: 19-11-4 (11-7-4 ECAC Hockey)
Bobcats Fact: Quinnipiac played in 11 overtime games this season, but had only three ties (3-5-3). Brandon Wong had all three overtime game-winners for the Bobcats this season.
Saints Fact: St. Lawrence is 12-1-0 in its past six home playoff series, and hasn't been eliminated from the playoffs at Appleton Arena since Harvard pulled off the feat in 1996.
How Quinnipiac Wins: Its stars must outshine those of St. Lawrence. The likes of Brandon Wong, David Marshall and Bryan Leitch need to outperform Brock McBride, Kevin DeVergilio and Mike McKenzie.
How St. Lawrence Wins: Win the special teams battle. The Saints are second among ECAC Hockey teams in overall penalty killing at 87.8 percent, but Quinnipiac is first among ECACH clubs on the power play, clicking at 20.3 percent.
Hockey East
First round (quarterfinals)
Bracket
(Back to top)
Season Series: BU won 2-0-1
Maine: 12-20-4 (7-17-3 HEA)
Boston University: 27-5-4 (18-5-4 HEA)
Black Bears Fact: They've scored 35 power-play goals this season, 16 more than they had in 2007-08.
Terriers Fact: They had the No. 1 Hockey East offense, defense, power play and penalty kill, and the BU senior class is 10-0-2 against Maine.
How Maine Wins:BU has taken more penalties than any team in Hockey East, so Maine has to capitalize on the power play. The Terriers do have the best penalty kill in the league (and the fourth-best in the country), so it's obviously easier said than done. Maine also has to make sure it doesn't let BU score in bunches, keep things tight late into the third period and hope for some timely breaks.
How Boston University Wins: Just do what it does. BU won't lose this weekend if it plays with a purpose. Just ask Providence.
Season Series: Yale, 3-0-0
UMass: 15-18-3 (10-14-3 HEA)
Northeastern: 23-9-4 (18-6-3 HEA)
Minutemen Fact: UMass won only three season series -- against Northeastern, Maine and Providence, all 2-1-0.
Huskies Fact: They're trying to reach the Hockey East semifinals for the first time in 15 years. The Huskies' lone trip to the finals came in 1988, when they won the tournament championship.
How UMass Wins: The Minutemen should be able to use their speed to their advantage and they can try to turn it into an up-and-down game. James Marcou is the most explosive scorer on either team and is one of the few players in Hockey East who can go off for a six-plus-point weekend. Goalie Paul Dainton can't let up anything soft because it's unlikely that Northeastern's Brad Thiessen will be sloppy in his crease.
How Northeastern Wins: The Huskies have to maintain the physical brand of hockey that has carried them throughout the season, and they've got to bounce back after losing their Hockey East lead on the last day of the year -- for the first time all season. They've got to be gritty and opportunistic in the UMass zone and keep steady in front of goalie Thiessen in their own zone.
Season Series: UNH won 2-1-0
Boston College: 16-13-5 (11-11-5 HEA)
New Hampshire: 19-10-5 (15-8-4 HEA)
Eagles Fact: They've killed off 34 of their opponents' past 36 power plays and they scored three power-play goals against Northeastern last Saturday. It was the first time since Nov. 21 the Eagles have posted multiple power-play goals.
Wildcats Fact: They've lost five consecutive games to BC in the Hockey East tournament, though all of those meetings came at the Garden. UNH swept the Eagles in the 1994 quarterfinals, the only time the teams have met in this round.
How Boston College Wins:The Eagles have the talent to attack the net, and UNH goalie Brian Foster just allowed 11 goals to Vermont last weekend. This could be a dangerous combination for the Wildcats if Foster doesn't return to form. Also, BC goalie John Muse has to play smarter than he did in the Beanpot. Based on last year's title run, everyone knows Muse is capable of really running through a tournament.
How New Hampshire Wins: The Wildcats really started to improve defensively as the season went on and need to make sure last weekend in Burlington, Vt., was just a hiccup. They held BC to two goals in each of their victories during the home-and-home last month and limited Brock Bradford to just one assist. Also, they need to keep attacking late in the third period, when BC has been extremely vulnerable all season.
Season Series: Tied 1-1-1
UMass Lowell: 17-15-2 (14-11-2 HEA)
Vermont: 20-9-5 (15-8-4 HEA)
River Hawks Fact: They've killed off 48 of their opposition's past 50 power plays.
Catamounts Fact: Vermont's 6-5 loss to UNH last Saturday ended a 49-game unbeaten streak when scoring at least four goals, a streak that spanned five seasons.
How UMass Lowell Wins:Be more physical and tire down Vermont's skilled forwards, especially its top-two lines. Run a great forecheck and force turnovers in the Vermont zone to create easier scoring opportunities. UVM's blue liners were shaky with the puck last weekend, so get in their heads early.
How Vermont Wins: The Catamounts are typically a tough team to score against, so they've got to be smarter getting the puck out of their zone. Stay strong in front of goalie Rob Madore and make the River Hawks work to score. Keep cycling the puck in the Lowell zone and pepper the net with the puck.
WCHA
First round
Bracket
(Back to top)
Season Series: Tied, 1-1-1
Michigan Tech: 6-23-7 (2-19-7 WCHA)
North Dakota: 22-12-4 (17-7-4 WCHA)
Huskies Fact: This will be Tech's second consecutive playoff trip to Ralph Engelstad Arena. The Huskies fell to North Dakota there last year in a three-game series, winning Game 2 in overtime.
Fighting Sioux Fact: Since first winning a WCHA title in 1958, the Sioux have won at least three WCHA titles in every decade except the 1970s. This decade, they've won the MacNaughton Cup in 2001, 2004 and 2009.
How Michigan Tech Wins: Keep the Sioux from scoring early. The Huskies were outscored 38-12 in the first period this season. But in their 2-1 win over the Sioux at the Great Lakes Invitational, Tech kept NoDak off the board for the first 48 minutes.
How North Dakota Wins: Roll four lines. The Sioux players claim that there are no superstars on the roster, and the fact that you can't focus on shutting down one line or a few great players makes them much harder to stop.
Season Series: Tied, 1-1-0
Alaska Anchorage: 14-15-5 (9-14-5 WCHA)
Denver: 20-10-5 (16-8-4 WCHA)
Seawolves Fact: After disastrous regular season finishes in 2007 (2-11-1) and 2008 (1-12-3), the Seawolves are a respectable 7-8-3 after the holidays in 2009.
Pioneers Fact: The 1989 Denver team and the 2008 Minnesota team are the only squads in WCHA history to lose the opener of a league playoff series on the road, then win the next two games and advance.
How Alaska Anchorage Wins: The Seawolves are the WCHA's hottest team heading into the playoffs, having won four in a row (three of them on the road). If they keep on keepin' on and play solid hockey in Denver, as they did a few weeks ago, they'll earn their program's second Final Five trip.
How Denver Wins: It all starts with the lower half of the line chart. The Pioneers have two of the league's most productive defensemen named Patrick (Mullen and Wiercioch) and the league's top goalie in terms of save percentage (Marc Cheverie, sporting a .921).
Season Series: Minnesota State leads, 1-0-1
Minnesota State: 15-15-6 (11-13-4 WCHA)
Wisconsin: 17-15-4 (14-11-3 WCHA)
Mavericks Fact: The Mavs had an impressive 11 shorthanded goals in the regular season. Of course, they had the most opportunity for shorties as well, leading the WCHA in infractions and averaging more than 20 penalty minutes per game.
Badgers Fact: The last time the Badgers had WCHA playoff games at the Kohl Center, in 2006, they beat Michigan Tech in a two-game series and won an NCAA title less than a month later.
How Minnesota State Wins:Since Wisconsin relies on their talented defensemen not only to control the play in front of the Badger net, but to run the play from the offensive blue line, an aggressive forecheck and a willingness to gamble might lead to a playoff upset.
How Wisconsin Wins: Use the home ice to your advantage. The Kohl Center is likely to have an army of 15,000 or more on hand for the postseason, and the home team has dominated this series. Those are good omens for the folks in red.
Season Series: Minnesota Duluth leads, 1-0-1
Minnesota Duluth: 16-12-8 (10-11-7 WCHA)
Colorado College: 16-10-10 (12-9-7 WCHA)
Bulldogs Fact: Junior goalie Alex Stalock leads the league in goals-against average (2.31) and is one of just three WCHA players (along with North Dakota's Brad Eidsness and Denver's Marc Cheverie) to log more than 2,000 minutes between the pipes.
Tigers Fact: On average, the Tigers scored 2.81 goals per game in the regular season and were the only WCHA team averaging three goals or fewer per game to finish in the top half of the standings.
How Minnesota Duluth Wins:The Bulldogs need to rediscover how to close out games, and pronto. They went 0-3-2 in their past five regular-season games and held a lead at one point in all of them. That stuff won't cut it in the playoffs.
How Colorado College Wins: Plan to wrap up the series Sunday. The Tigers were 12-5-3 in Saturday and Sunday games, but a bewildering 4-5-7 on Fridays this season. So the Bulldogs' best hope is to have some jump in the opener on Friday the 13th.
Season Series: Minnesota leads, 4-0-0
St. Cloud State: 16-10-10 (12-9-7 WCHA)
Minnesota: 16-12-8 (10-11-7 WCHA)
Huskies Fact: The 532 minutes in penalties whistled against St. Cloud State makes the Huskies the league's second-cleanest team. Interestingly, the other Huskies (Michigan Tech) had a league-low 531 penalty minutes in the regular season.
Golden Gophers Fact: Minnesota is the WCHA's only top-five finisher that won its regular-season series with its playoff opponent. The Gophers' 8-6 win at St. Cloud State on Jan. 17 marked their most goals scored and most goals allowed in a victory this season.
How St. Cloud State Wins: Score on the power play. After dominating the league with their man-advantage unit last season, it's no coincidence that the Huskies, and their power play unit, both ended up sixth in the WCHA in 2009.
How Minnesota Wins: Stop the puck. Goaltending and overall team defense were the second-half issues that fueled that ugly 1-6-1 stretch in January and February. Straighten that out, and a mostly friendly Final Five audience awaits.
For more information on college hockey, check out Inside College Hockey.
