Fight to The Frozen Four!
Sixteen of the nation’s best division 1 college hockey teams square off this weekend for a destination in the frozen four. Let’s take a look at each team.
From Hockey East:
Boston College (29-10-1) Hockey East regular season and tournament champions
Last Tournament Appearance: 2011 (31st overall)
Frozen Four Appearances: 22
Last Championship: 2010(4 total)
Leading Scorer: Chris Kreider 40 GP: 20-21— 41, +7
Goaltender: Parker Milner 25-5, 1.82 GAA .931%
UMASS Lowell (23-12-1) 2nd Hockey East, lost in conference quarterfinals
Last Tournament Appearance: 1996 (4th overall)
Frozen Four Appearances: 0
Never won Championship
Leading Scorer: Scott Wilson 35 GP: 16-21—37, +14
Goaltender: Doug Carr 21-9-1, 2.08 GAA, .930%
Boston University (23-14-1) 3rd Hockey East, Lost in conference Semi’s
Last Tournament Appearance: 2009 (32nd overall)
Frozen Four Appearances: 21
Last Championship: 2009 (5 total)
Leading Scorer: Alex Chiasson 37 GP: 15-29—44, +18
Goaltender: Kieran Millan 20-13-1, 2.53 GAA, .925%
Maine (23-13-3) 4th Hockey East, Lost in Hockey East Title Game
Last Tournament Appearance: 2007 (18th overall)
Frozen Four Appearances: 11
Last Championship: 1999 (2 total)
Leading Scorer: Spencer Abbott 38 GP: 20-41—61, +15
Goaltender: Dan Sullivan 22-10-3, 2.54 GAA, .910%
WCHA:
North Dakota (25-12-3) 4th place WCHA Regular Season, Tournament Champions
Last Tournament Appearance: 2011 ( 27 overall)
Frozen Four Appearances: 19
Last Championship: 2000 (7 total)
Leading Scorer: Brock Nelson 40 GP: 27-17—44, +15
Goaltender: Aaron Dell 31 GP: 17-9-2, 2.64 GAA, .901%
Minnesota (26-13-1) 1st Place WCHA, Lost in WCHA semi’s
Last tournament Appearance: 2008 (33 overall)
Frozen Four Appearances: 19
Last Championship: 2003 (5 total)
Leading Scorer: Erik Haula 40 GP: 19-27—46, +18
Goaltender: Kent Patterson 26-13-1, 2.22 GAA, .910%
Minnesota-Duluth (24-9-6) 2nd place WCHA, Lost in WCHA semi’s
Last Tournament Appearance: 2011 (8 overall)
Frozen Four Appearances: 4
Last Championship: 2011 (1 total)
Leading Scorer: Jack Connolly 39 GP: 19-39—58, +20
Goaltender: Kenny Reiter 22-8-6, 2.40 GAA, .912%
Denver (25-13-4) 3rd place WCHA, Lost in WCHA Final
Last Tournament Appearance: 2011 (22 overall)
Frozen Four Appearances: 14
Last Championship: 2005 (7 total)
Leading Scorer: Drew Shore 41 GP: 21-31—52, +21
Goaltender: Juho Olkinuora 9-8-3, 2.18 GAA, .924%
CCHA
Michigan (24-12-4) Tied for 2nd in CCHA, Lost in Finals
Last Tournament Appearance: 2011 (35 overall)
Frozen Four Appearances: 24
Last Championship: 1998 (9 total)
Leading Scorer: David Wohlberg 40 GP: 16-17—33, +16
Goaltender: Shawn Hunwick 24-11-3, 1.98 GAA, .933%
Western Michigan (21-13-6) tied for 2nd in CCHA, Won CCHA Tournament
Last Tournament Appearance: 2011 (5 overall)
Frozen Four Appearances: 0
Never Won Championship
Leading Scorer: Chase Balisy 40 GP: 13-24—37, +9
Goaltender: Frank Slubowski 17-10-4, 2.03 GAA, .910%
Miami (24-12-2) 4th place CCHA, lost in conference semi’s
Last Tournament Appearance: 2011 (9 overall)
Frozen Four Appearances: 2
Never Won Championship
Leading Scorer: Reilly Smith 38 GP: 30-18—48, +26
Goaltender: Connor Knapp 15-7, 1.54 GAA, .937
Michigan State (19-15-4) 5th place CCHA, lost in Quarterfinals
Last Tournament Appearance: 2008 (23 overall)
Frozen Four Appearances: 9
Last Championship: 2007 (3 total)
Leading Scorer: Torey Krug 37GP: 12-21—33 +18
Goaltender: Will Yanakeff 13-8-1, 2.48 GAA, .923%
Ferris State (23-11-5) 1st place CCHA, Lost in Quarterfinals
Last Tournament Appearance: 2003 (2 overall)
Frozen Four Appearances: 0
Never Won Championship
Leading Scorer: Jordie Johnston 39 GP: 18-15—33
Goaltender: Taylor Nelson 18-6-3, 2.18 GAA, .920%
ECAC
Union (24-7-7) 1st place ECAC, Tournament Champions
Last Tournament Appearance: 2011 ( 2 overall)
Frozen Four Appearances: 0
Never Won Championship
Leading Scorer: Kelly Zajac 38 GP: 8-33—41, +15
Goaltender: Troy Grosenick 20-5-3, 1.65 GAA, .936%
Cornell (18-8-7) 2nd place ECAC, Lost in ECAC Semi’s
Last Tournament Appearance: 2010 (19 overall)
Frozen Four Appearances: 8
Last Championship: 1970 (2 total)
Leading Scorer: Greg Miller 33 GP: 14-16—30, +20
AH
Air Force (21-10-7) 1st place, won conference tournament
Last Tournament Appearance: 2011 (5 overall)
Frozen Four Appearances: 0
Never Won Championship
Leading Scorer: Kyle Delaurell 37 GP: 15-19—34, +10
Goaltender: Jason Torf 7-4-2, 1.71 GAA, .930%
Here are all of the match-ups for this weekend’s regionals
The East Regional– Bridgeport, CT
No.1 Union Vs No.4 Michigan State
No.2 Miami Vs No.3 UMASS Lowell
In this bracket, I predict Union to win and advance to the Frozen Four because they have a very strong goalie.
The Mid-West Regional– Green Bay, WI
No.1 Michigan Vs No.4 Cornell
No. 2 Ferris State Vs. No. 3 Denver
Ferris State might have peaked to early and Michigan has the experience but I see Denver being the team to win this regional and be in the frozen four. Very talented team
The West Regional– St Paul, MN
No.1 North Dakota Vs No.4 Western Michigan
No.2 Minnesota Vs No.3 Boston University
This bracket has the most interesting first round match-ups. You have the WCHA champion North Dakota facing the CCHA champion Western Michigan. Also you have a historic matchup between two experienced programs with a lot of hardware. In this bracket any one of these teams can win, I am going to go with a North Dakota Minnesota Grudge match for the regional final with North Dakota coming out ontop.
The Northeast Regional
No.1 Boston College Vs No.4 Air Force
No.2 Minnesota-Duluth Vs No.3 Maine
Boston College is on a 15 game winning streak and it is their tournament to lose as BC has been in 1st in the polls for weeks receiving all 1st place votes to. They are the favorites and for good reasons. However, you can’t count out the defending National Champion Minnesota- Duluth Bulldogs. I think BC will advance through the region
MY FROZEN FOUR
North Dakota
Boston College
Denver
Union