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Top Seeded Mass.-Dartmouth May Be Denied Home Ice

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No ECAC Northeast team has hosted an NCAA game or received a first-round bye in the past, but Mass.-Dartmouth’s success (25-2-1) this season has put it in a position to do so.

Unfortunately, the Corsairs may have to play a road game after all.

While Mass.-Dartmouth was awarded the top seed in the Eastern Region and a first-round bye, the Corsairs may have to travel to fourth-seeded Middlebury for their quarterfinal game on Saturday. Middlebury, which has won the past three national titles, hosts sixth-seeded Fredonia on Wednesday, and if the Panthers win, they will host the game. If Fredonia wins, it will travel to Mass.-Dartmouth.

According to Keisha Campbell, NCAA liaison to the Division III men’s hockey committee, Mass.-Dartmouth applied to host a first-round (play-in) game at Hetland Arena, but not a second-round (quarterfinal) game. Since Middlebury was the only school among the three (Fredonia, which finished fifth in the SUNYAC but upset Buffalo State, Oswego and Plattsburgh to win the SUNYAC title did not put in a bid of any kind) it is the first choice to host.

This was confirmed by committee chair Vincent Eruzione, who said that while this seems like a technicality, the bids are not transferable to other rounds.

“This happens all the time in other sports,” said Eruzione. “We can’t take one bid and transfer it to another situation. Unfortunately, we can’t make an exception.”

Eruzione said the rule is in place to avoid last-minute scrambles to make sure facilities are adequate and available.

“We want bids,” he said. “Otherwise we have teams waiting to see if they are in (the tournament) before determining if they can host. We encourage and reward teams that put in bids ahead of time to avoid these situations.”

Since neither Mass.-Dartmouth nor Fredonia put in a bid to host a quarterfinal game, Mass.-Dartmouth will be allowed to host the game if Middlebury is eliminated from the tournament, according to Eruzione.

Mass.-Dartmouth has issued a release indicating that it will only host if Fredonia wins defeats Middlebury but has made no other comment concerning the situation.

NCAA D-III Women’s Pairings Announced

USCHO Staff Report
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The 2007 NCAA Division III Women’s Ice Hockey tournament bracket was announced Sunday night. The No. 1 team in the country, Plattsburgh State, will host the Division III Women’s Championships on March 16 and 17. The Cardinals also received the bye into the semifinal round that begins on March 16.

Joining Plattsburgh in the tournament is NESCAC Champion Amherst who upset Middlebury 2-1 in triple-overtime Sunday afternoon. The remaining automatic bids went to MIAC Champion Gustavus Adolphus and ECAC East Champion Manhattanville who upset RIT.

Middlebury and RIT both qualified for the tournament as they were both awarded Pool C bids as a result of their strong regular seasons. Rounding out the field is Wisconsin-Stevens Point who was awarded the Pool B bid as the highest ranking team in a conference which does no have an automatic bid.

RIT will host Amherst, Middlebury will host Manhattanville, and Gustavus Adolphus will host Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The Amherst/RIT winner will match-up against Plattsburgh in the semifinals while the Manhattanville/Middlebury winner will meet the Wisconsin-Stevens Point/Gustavus Adolphus winner in the other semifinal.

Final Bracketology

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I’ve been doing a pre-NCAA selection version of Bracketlolgy for several years now. I have more uncertainty this season than any other about what the committee will do. A few years back, when USCHO created the Pairwise Rankings, they did an accurate job of predicting the NCAA field, because the committee basically did the same thing. But the term “look beyond the numbers” has come up the past few years, meaning that more and more subjectivity has entered into the equation. Instead of treating the criteria equally, some were given more weight then others. Also, small differences in some criteria between teams were not given as much consideration as larger ones in other criteria.

Then there’s the consideration of cost of flying teams, which has a big affect on first round pairings and at worst case may cause one team to be selected vs. another. In case you forgot, the primary criteria are:

  • Win Percentage
  • Quality of Wins
  • Head-to-Head Results
  • Record Against Common Opponents Within Region
  • Record Against Ranked Teams

For the past six seasons, the finals have been held in the East, and in each of those cases, only one team has been flown from the West. This has resulted in at most three Western teams getting into the tournament. This year, the finals are in the West, and the NCAA will be flying at least two Eastern teams there. They have to, because there are four leagues with Automatic Qualifiers (AQs) in the East plus Pool B, which will also be an Eastern team. There’s no way to play all of those teams down to one team. The question that will dominate the Bracketology is: Will they fly three teams West?

Let’s look at the numbers. The follwoing teams are in based on winning an AQ:

ECAC East – Babson

ECAC Northeast – Mass-Dartmouth

SUNYAC – Fredonia

NESCAC – Middlebury

MIAC – Bethel

NCHA – St. Norbert

Pool B, which goes to a team from a conference not eligible for an AQ will go to Manhattanville, no doubt about it. The real job of the committee will be to pick the three other at-large teams. Teams in the running are Oswego, Neumann, Norwich, UW-River Falls, UW-Stout, and UW-Superior.

Based on the NCAA regional polls done prior to this weekend, we had:

East:

1. Mass-Dartmouth (won this weekend)

2. Manhattanville (won this weekend)

3. Oswego (did not play)

4. Norwich (lost)

5. Neumann (lost)

West:

1. St. Norbert (won this weekend)

2. UWRF (did not play)

3. UW-Stout (did not play)

4. UW-Superior (did not play)

Let’s look at the individual comparisons of the various teams:

Neumann vs Oswego

WIN      0.7000  0           0.8200  1

QOW     10.1852  1           9.8400  0

H2H     0- 0- 0  0          0- 0- 0  0

COP    11- 3- 3  1         10- 3- 2  0

RNK     7- 4- 4  0          4- 2- 2  1

============================================

PTS              2                   2



Neumann vs Wis.-River Falls

WIN      0.7000  0           0.7857  1

QOW     10.1852  1           9.5000  0

H2H     0- 0- 0  0          0- 0- 0  0

COP     0- 0- 0  0          0- 0- 0  0

RNK     7- 4- 4  0          6- 4- 0  0

============================================

PTS              1                   1



Neumann vs Wis.-Stout

WIN      0.7000  0           0.8148  1

QOW     10.1852  1           9.6071  0

H2H     0- 0- 0  0          0- 0- 0  0

COP     0- 0- 0  0          0- 0- 0  0

RNK     7- 4- 4  1          4- 4- 1  0

============================================

PTS              2                   1



Neumann vs Wis.-Superior

WIN      0.7000  0           0.7500  1

QOW     10.1852  1           9.7778  0

H2H     0- 0- 0  0          0- 0- 0  0

COP     0- 0- 0  0          0- 0- 0  0

RNK     7- 4- 4  1          7- 5- 0  0

============================================

PTS              2                   1

============================================



Neumann vs Norwich

WIN      0.7000  0           0.7600  1

QOW     10.1852  1           9.4000  0

H2H     0- 0- 0  0          0- 0- 0  0

COP     6- 1- 1  1          4- 2- 0  0

RNK     7- 4- 4  0          8- 2- 0  1

============================================

PTS              2                   2



Oswego vs Wis.-River Falls

WIN      0.8200  1           0.7857  0

QOW      9.8400  1           9.5000  0

H2H     0- 0- 0  0          0- 0- 0  0

COP     0- 0- 0  0          0- 0- 0  0

RNK     4- 2- 2  1          6- 4- 0  0

============================================

PTS              3                   0



Oswego vs Wis.-Stout

WIN      0.8200  1           0.8148  0

QOW      9.8400  1           9.6071  0

H2H     0- 0- 0  0          0- 0- 0  0

COP     0- 0- 0  0          0- 0- 0  0

RNK     4- 2- 2  1          4- 4- 1  0

============================================

PTS              3                   0



Oswego vs Wis.-Superior

WIN      0.8200  1           0.7500  0

QOW      9.8400  1           9.7778  0

H2H     0- 0- 0  0          0- 0- 0  0

COP     0- 0- 0  0          0- 0- 0  0

RNK     4- 2- 2  1          7- 5- 0  0

============================================

PTS              3                   0



Norwich vs Oswego

WIN      0.7600  0           0.8200  1

QOW      9.4000  0           9.8400  1

H2H     0- 0- 0  0          0- 0- 0  0

COP     4- 2- 0  0          5- 2- 1  1

RNK     8- 2- 0  1          4- 2- 2  0

============================================

PTS              1                   3



Norwich vs Wis.-River Falls

WIN      0.7600  0           0.7857  1

QOW      9.4000  0           9.5000  1

H2H     0- 0- 0  0          0- 0- 0  0

COP     0- 0- 0  0          0- 0- 0  0

RNK     8- 2- 0  1          6- 4- 0  0

============================================

PTS              1                   2



Norwich vs Wis.-Stout

WIN      0.7600  0           0.8148  1

QOW      9.4000  0           9.6071  1

H2H     0- 0- 0  0          0- 0- 0  0

COP     0- 0- 0  0          0- 0- 0  0

RNK     8- 2- 0  1          4- 4- 1  0

============================================

PTS              1                   2



Norwich vs Wis.-Superior

WIN      0.7600  1           0.7500  0

QOW      9.4000  0           9.7778  1

H2H     0- 0- 0  0          0- 0- 0  0

COP     0- 0- 0  0          0- 0- 0  0

RNK     8- 2- 0  1          7- 5- 0  0

============================================

PTS              2                   1



Wis.-River Falls vs Wis.-Stout

WIN      0.7857  0           0.8148  1

QOW      9.5000  0           9.6071  1

H2H     2- 0- 0  1          0- 2- 0  0

COP    18- 5- 1  0         19- 2- 2  1

RNK     6- 4- 0  1          4- 4- 1  0

============================================

PTS              2                   3



Wis.-River Falls vs Wis.-Superior

WIN      0.7857  1           0.7500  0

QOW      9.5000  0           9.7778  1

H2H     1- 1- 0  0          1- 1- 0  0

COP    16- 4- 1  0         16- 4- 1  0

RNK     6- 4- 0  1          7- 5- 0  0

============================================

PTS              2                   1



Wis.-Stout vs Wis.-Superior

WIN      0.8148  1           0.7500  0

QOW      9.6071  0           9.7778  1

H2H     1- 1- 0  0          1- 1- 0  0

COP    16- 3- 2  1         15- 4- 1  0

RNK     4- 4- 1  0          7- 5- 0  1

============================================

PTS              2                   2

Whew! Based on all that, I think Oswego and UWRF are in. That leaves one team left…Stout, Norwich, Neumann, Superior. Norwich actually stands up pretty well against Neumann, but not so great against any of the others. Superior doesn’t fare as well, but has the whole consipracy theory angle, since they are the host school. I’m changed my mind on this one and can’t find a way for the committee to justify this, so UWS is out.

That leaves Neumann and UW-Stout.

Neumann vs Wis.-Stout

WIN      0.7000  0           0.8148  1

QOW     10.1852  1           9.6071  0

H2H     0- 0- 0  0          0- 0- 0  0

COP     0- 0- 0  0          0- 0- 0  0

RNK     7- 4- 4  1          4- 4- 1  0

============================================

PTS              2                   1

Stout has the better winning percentage but has played an easier schedule. The teams did in fact meet head-to-head this season (Neumann won 4-3 in the semifinals of the MSOE Thanksgiving Tournament) but the committee isn’t supposed to consider it, since it was an inter-region game.

Here’s where I think the travel may come in. Pick Neumann and you have to fly three teams. Pick Stout and you have to fly two teams. Plus, the NCAA has seemed to put more weight on winning percentage. For that reason, my prediction is UW-Stout.

So now we my predictions for seeds and pairings:

1E Manhattanville

2E Mass-Dartmouth

3E Oswego

4E Babson

5E Middlebury (close with Babson)

6E Fredonia

1W St. Norbert

2W UW-River Falls

3W UW-Stout

4W Bethel

Play-in Round:

Fredonia at Oswego

Middlebury at Babson

Quarterfinals:

Fredonia/Oswego at Manhattanville

Babson/Middlebury at Mass-Dartmouth (yes, I think the Corsairs can host in their rink)

Bethel at St. Norbert

Stout at River Falls

And on to Superior.

We’ll know in a few hours how wrong I am.

NCAA Division III Men’s Pairings Announced

USCHO Staff Report
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The NCAA has announced seedings are pairings for the 2007 Division III Men’s Hockey Tournament.

First round games will be held on Wednesday, March 7 and feature:

* Fredonia, the SUNYAC champions at Middlebury, the NESCAC winners
* Bethel, the MIAC champions, at Wisconsin-River Falls

Quarterfinals will be held on Saturday, March 10th:

* Fredonia/Middlebury winner vs. Mass-Dartmouth, the ECAC Northeast champions
* Bethel/Wisconsin-River Falls winner at St. Norbert, the NCHA champions
* Norwich at Oswego
* ECAC champion Babson at ECAC West champion Manhattanville

The semifinals and finals will be held at Wessman Arena at Superior, Wisconsin on March 17-18.

Tickets for the semifinals and finals may be purchased by calling (607) 722-3711 or on-line at www.ticketmaster.com.

Bracket Commentary, 3/4

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So the pairings are up:

Harvard at (1) Wisconsin

St. Lawrence at (4) New Hampshire

Boston College at (3) Dartmouth

Minnesota-Duluth at (2) Mercyhurst

As mentioned in previous editions, this was the best bracket in terms of avoiding intraconference matchups, but not the best in terms of bracket integrity.

This is the first time the NCAA had to face such a tradeoff in the eight-team D-I tournament, so it was interesting to see how it turned out. In round one of bracket integrity vs. avoiding intraconference matchups, the winner is avoiding intraconference matchups.

It makes me wonder, in 2006, if there had been no ECACHL tournament upset and BC was the last team in, would BC have been sent to No. 1 UNH as the bracket would suggest, or would the Wildcats have been given then-No. 7 Mercyhurst instead (clearly a much tougher assignment that season)?

The question still remains whether the committee felt justified in swapping BC and Harvard because BC had the head-to-head victory, or if the committee would have done it regardless. Until next year.

Final Bracket Projection, 3/4

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In the end, all the drama between the BC-UMD selection turned out to be irrelevant, as all the top seeds won their conference tournaments.

As discussed in earlier posts, given the closeness of BC-UMD and Wisconsin-Mercyhurst, I see no reason why the NCAA committee would not swap the two teams, leaving a bracket as follows:

BC at (1) Wisconsin

SLU at UNH

Harvard at Dartmouth

UMD at (2) Mercyhurst

The one source of drama that really remains, is will the committee swap BC and Harvard to avoid the Harvard-Dartmouth intraconference matchup? I have nothing new to say here, but here’s the comparison between the teams.

Boston College vs Harvard

RPI      0.5646  0           0.5861  1

L16    12- 4- 0  1         11- 4- 1  0

TUC     9- 9- 2  0         12- 6- 2  1

H2H              1                   0

COP    12- 7- 2  0         16- 5- 2  1

============================================

PTS              2                   3

As I said in the previous column, Harvard leads by a considerable margin in three of the categories. BC leads by half-a-game in one category, and its head-to-head win was in triple overtime.

So given Harvard’s margin over BC, I do not believe the committee should sacrifice the bracket integrity to avoid an intraconference matchup between Harvard and Dartmouth. I don’t think it’s a huge difference, since both Harvard and BC played in January. So we’ll see what happens at 6 p.m. tonight.

Most Valuable Even in Defeat

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It seems all too often in athletics, the solid day-in-and-day-out play of an individual player can go unrecognized. Never more is that true than when a team loses. It’s easy to forget second place as the champion celebrates victory.

So in Sunday’s Women’s Hockey East Championship game, it was a pleasant surprise to see that trend bucked.

JANA BUGDEN

JANA BUGDEN

While top-seeded New Hampshire skated around its home ice with the championship trophy, the second straight title for the Wildcats, it was Jana Bugden, the goaltender for the runner-up Providence Friars, who received the top individual accolade of the tournament – Most Valuable Player.

Bugden’s 34 saves in Sunday’s title game, coupled with 33 stops in Saturday’s semifinal upset of Boston College, was more than enough to turn the heads of the voters in giving Bugden the honors.

Not surprisingly, when asked after the game, the senior netminder from Corner Brook, Newfoundland, said she’d much rather be carrying home the championship trophy and the automatic berth to next week’s NCAA tournament. Instead, Bugden’s five-year career at Providence, which included a medical redshirt after a shoulder injury her junior year, ended on Sunday and her award becomes nothing more than a bittersweets memento.

Still, those around Bugden were quick to tell the story of a player whose career should not or cannot be summed up in a weekend of games.

“She’s our hardest working player, not just on the ice but off the ice,” said Providence head coach Bob Deraney, who rode Bugden to two league crowns in her freshman and sophomore seasons — she posted shutouts in both of those championship games. “When you have a captain who is the hardest working player in the weight room, that makes your job a lot easier as a head coach.”

It was no surprise that if the Wildcats were to solve Bugden on Sunday, they’d do so with quality playmaking. She surrendered just two goals in the loss, the first coming after a major flurry in front left her out of position for UNH’s Kacey Bellamy to bury the puck in the first period, and the second on a great individual effort and perfect shot from the stick of Lindsey Caleo midway through the second.

Aside from those two goals, Bugden was seemingly unsolvable. Deraney said he felt allowing two goals would give his club a chance to win, but also knew that a stingy New Hampshire defense simply doesn’t allow goals, giving up just 1.44 goals per game on the season.

In the end, Bugden, who stands a sizeable 5-foot-9 in the Providence cage, will still go down in the annuls of both Providence hockey and Hockey East. In addition to guiding her team to two Hockey East titles and garnering all-tournament accolades as a sophomore, Sunday Bugden became the first player to capture the Women’s Hockey East tournament MVP honors as a member of a losing team.

If you ask Deraney, though, championships aside, the player he is going to have to replace in his net is a heck of a lot more than just a goaltender.
“She’s a professional in the way she goes about her business,” said Deraney. “I’ve always said that if you have a goaltender you’re going to be in the game. If she was in the net, we were going to be in the game down the stretch and more likely than not you were going to come out on the right side of the scoreboard.

“[Freshman goaltender] Danielle Ciarletta is going to have some big shoes to fill, and that’s the biggest compliment you can pay a goaltender.”

Hockey East, CHA Recaps (Outside Sources)

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For anyone looking for recaps of the Hockey East Semifinals and CHA Final:

From Foster’s:

UNH 2, UConn 0

Providence 3, BC 2

From Erie Times-News:

Mercyhurst 4, Wayne State 1

USCHO will have writers at the Hockey East and WCHA finals on Sunday.

Bracketology, Pre-Conference Finals Edition, 3/3/07

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It may seem counterintuitive that Boston College jumped Minnesota-Duluth in the Pairwise Rankings for the No. 7 spot after BC lost to a Providence and UMD lost to Minnesota, given that Minnesota is a higher-ranked team than Providence. But UMD’s lead over BC was really an aberration — a result of an advantage in Records vs. Last 16 games that was going to hold only if UMD won the WCHA. This is why I said last week that BC really controlled its destiny for the No. 7 spot.

To see what happened, look at the final comparison between the two teams. And note that while UMD leads BC in USCHO’s calculation of the RPI, the NCAA calculation will drop three BC games against Vermont, giving BC even a slight edge even there, and a 3-0 comparison win.

    Boston College vs Minnesota-Duluth

RPI      0.5648  0           0.5662  1

L16    12- 4- 0  0         11- 3- 2  0

TUC    10- 9- 2  1          7- 9- 3  0

H2H              0                   0

COP     1- 0- 0  1          0- 2- 0  0

============================================

PTS              2                   1

So with three conference finals left to be played, what’s at stake?

Wisconsin vs. Mercyhurst — Wisconsin is No. 1 with a WCHA tournament win. Otherwise Mercyhurst is No. 1.

Dartmouth vs. UNH vs. St. Lawrence — If UNH wins Hockey East and Dartmouth loses the ECACHL, UNH is No. 3. If St. Lawrence wins the ECACHL, and UNH loses Hockey East, St. Lawrence is No. 4. Otherwise the teams stay put, No. 3 Dartmouth, No. 4 UNH, No. 5 St. Lawrence.

Harvard is locked at No. 6, Boston College at No. 7, and Minnesota-Duluth at No. 8 in the rankings.

If either Providence or Minnesota win their conference tournaments, UMD is out. If both win, BC and UMD are out.

Here is the current bracket projection:

BC at (1) Wisconsin

SLU at UNH

Harvard at Dartmouth

UMD at (2) Mercyhurst

I’ve written a lot about the tradeoffs between preserving bracket integrity and avoiding intraconference matchups, in particular the Harvard-Dartmouth ECACHL quarterfinal. Now that BC, UMD, and Harvard all lost their conference semifinals, Harvard has a considerable gap in the criteria between itself and the other two schools, so it would be tough to justify a swap. Yes, the Harvard-BC comparison is appears to be close at 3-2, but Harvard has a wide advantage in three of the criteria. BC has a narrow advantage in Last 16, and the BC head-to-head win went to triple overtime. A swap depends mainly on how much the committee really values avoiding an intraconference matchup between Harvard and Dartmouth teams that have not played since January, but that’s a subjective decision that’s tough to predict.

On the other hand, BC-UMD are really close, and Wisconsin-Mercyhurst are really close, so I think the NCAA would have no problem swapping teams to avoid a UMD-Wisconsin matchup.

Regarding other scenarios, if Providence wins, and Minnesota does not, then the Friars would visit the No. 1 seed, and BC would go to the No. 2 seed. If Minnesota wins, and Providence does not, then Minnesota would go to Mercyhurst, BC would go to Wisconsin. If Minnesota and Providence win, Minnesota would go to Mercyhurst, and Providence would go to Wisconsin.

I’ll conclude by mentioning one other potential swap that I had not previously considered — if Minnesota win the WCHA, the committee could feel justified in swapping the Gophers higher than the PWR would suggest, and send them to Dartmouth, while sending Harvard to the No. 2 seed and BC or Providence to the No. 1 seed. From my point of view, that is a fairer swap than UMD for Harvard, or BC for Harvard — you would have only conference tournament finalists among the top six bracket positions. But again, such swapping is entirely subjective and tough to predict.

That’s all for now. I’ll check back in after the conference finals are over.

UML’s Hockey East Membership Under Review

USCHO Staff Report
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Concerns over competitive balance, funding, Title IX requirements for gender equity, and an apparent turf war in the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees are combining to put Massachusetts-Lowell’s membership in Hockey East — and perhaps the very future of its men’s hockey program — in question.

According to an article in the Lowell Sun Friday, the Board of Trustees’ athletics committee is examining a proposal to remove UML from Hockey East, leaving the university’s Amherst campus as the only UMass representative in that conference.

Money is one element of the discussion. Both campuses operate men’s hockey at a substantial loss, according to the Sun. The newspaper cited Lowell’s 2005-06 deficit at $671,000, and Amherst’s at $1,130,343.

Additionally, Lowell’s funding for men’s hockey creates a gender imbalance which is difficult for the university to resolve in accordance with Title IX.

“If they [Lowell] can get to a national championship in another league, we should look at another Division I conference where they can be a dominant team. That’s what’s going to bring people into the building, get people excited and bring a national championship,” board chairman Stephen Tocco said at a subcommittee meeting Thursday, according to the Sun.

In 2001, the Massachusetts state legislature and some board members looked into the possibility of ending the Lowell hockey program entirely, thanks to many of the same concerns that seem to be driving the current debate.

That effort — which would have “merged” the two campus programs under Amherst’s aegis — ended after the intervention of then-Gov. Paul Cellucci among others, and the Lowell program was retained alongside Amherst’s.

A resolution to the situation may not be forthcoming anytime soon. A recommendation to the full Board of Trustees, issued by a newly-established task force, is expected to be made at the board’s June meeting.

If Lowell were to leave Hockey East, plausible alternatives in Division I would be Atlantic Hockey or the ECACHL. Discussions with those conferences about potentially accepting Lowell are not believed to have occurred.

Previously called the University of Lowell, the school competed in Division II for a number of years, winning three national championships in four years from 1979 to 1982, before stepping up to Division I and joining Hockey East in 1984-85. (It became the University of Massachusetts-Lowell in 1991.)

Recent success for UML hockey has been limited. After appearing in three NCAA tournaments from 1988 to 1996, the River Hawks have not been back to the national tourney, despite two 20-win seasons under current head coach Blaise MacDonald, who is in his sixth year leading the team.

UML is currently 8-21-6 overall and 7-16-3 in Hockey East. Despite upsetting Vermont Friday night, the River Hawks were eliminated from HEA playoff contention by Providence’s win over Merrimack.

Bracketology 3/2

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In this fourth edition of Bracketology, we’ll look at percentages and possibilities. In what has become a chicken and egg scenario, one needs not only to speculate on the teams that will make the NCAA Division III tournament, but on the balance of teams in the East and West regions. Because Division III looks at travel expenses, especially in the early rounds, flying teams is kept to a minimum. For the past few seasons the finals have been in the East, so the West has gotten at the most three teams in the tournament, and played down to one semifinalist, which was flown east. This season, the finals are in the West, meaning that at least two teams will be flown to Superior. With five teams certain to get in from the East and two from the West, how the three at-large bids are awarded is the big question.

Here’s my opinion on the various scenarios:

6-4 East-West split: This means the West gets two at-large bids and the East gets one.

Probability: 75%

5-5 East-West Split: All three at-large bids go west.

Probability: 10%

7-3 East-West Split: Two at-large bids in the east, one in the west

Probability: 10%

8-2 East West Split: All three at-large bids go east.

Probability: 5%

Making the same assumptions we have in the past, the AQs go to:

ECAC East – Norwich

ECAC Northeast – Mass-Dartmouth

NESCAC – Bowdoin

SUNYAC – Plattsburgh

MIAC – Bethel

NCHA – St. Norbert

The conference playoffs that bear watching are the ECAC East, ECAC Northeast and NCHA. The other three will only have the winner advance so matter what.

The results of the ECAC West finals will also have an affect on at-large bids. Pool B will go to Manhattanville no matter what happens, but Neumann can improve its chances with a win.

In a 6-4 split, baring no upsets, I’m picking Oswego, UW-River Falls and UW-Superior for the Pool C slots. Just a hunch on Superior over Stout.

In a 5-5 split. I’m going with UW-River Falls, UW-Stout, and UW-Superior.

If it’s 7-3, I’ll bet on Oswego, Neumann and UW-River Falls.

The 8-2 split could only happen with upsets in the ECAC Northeast and ECAC East. Even then, highly improbable.

Assuming the most likely scenario, a 6-4 split, we have the following pairings:

First Round:

Plattsburgh at Oswego

Bowdoin at Norwich

Quaterfinals:

Plattsburgh/Oswego at Mass-Dartmouth

Bowdoin/Norwich at Manhattanville

Bethel at St. Norbert

UW-Superior at UW-River Falls

Winners go to Superior.

Stay tuned on Sunday for the final version of Bracketology, followed by the actual announcement.

Agosta Takes Top CHA Women’s Awards

USCHO Staff Report
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Mercyhurst freshman forward Meghan Agosta (Ruthven, Ontario) was a double winner at the 2007 College Hockey America Women’s Awards Banquet held this evening at The Dome at the RMU Island Sports Center.

Agosta was selected as both the CHA Player of the Year and the CHA Rookie of the Year in voting of the league’s head coaches.

Agosta played in 32 of the Lakers 34 regular-season contests scoring a school-record 66 points on team-best totals of 34 goals and 32 assists. She is currently second in the nation in both points per game (2.06) and goals per game (1.06), while ranking tied-for-first in power-play goals (16). Agosta is first in the country in both game-winning goals (9) and shorthanded goals (5).

Niagara’s Margot Page and Wayne State’s Jim Fetter were voted co-Coaches of the Year. Page returned to the Purple Eagles bench this past fall after spending the 2005-06 campaign as an assistant coach with Canada’s Olympic team. She helped NU improve its conference winning percentage by 17 percent and its goal differential in the league by four. Fetter,
the 2005-06 CHA Coach of the Year, led the Warriors to its second consecutive second-place CHA finish. Despite having a blueline corps consisting of three rookies, Wayne State matched its conference win total from a year ago.

Mercyhurst senior forward Julia Colizza (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) and Niagara senior goaltender Allison Rutledge (London, Ontario) were voted co-CHA Student-Athletes of the Year in balloting by the conference athletic directors.

Colizza, an early childhood education major, has recorded 124 points in 144 career games while maintaining high academic standards. A Second Team All-CHA selection this year, Colizza has been a three-time CHA All-Academic team honoree. Rutledge, a social studies education major, has appeared in 114 games between the pipes for the Purple Eagles. She has recorded five shutouts and a .923 save percentage while facing an average of 33 shots per 60 minutes. A three-time CHA All-Academic team selection, Rutledge was a unanimous selection to the All-CHA First Team for the
2006-07 campaign.

College Hockey America will also be presenting a check for $5,280.00 to the Glimmer of Hope Foundation in Pittsburgh prior to the opening face-off of Saturday’s championship game. All four institutions participated in the “Skate for the Cure” to raise funds and awareness for Breast Cancer Research.

First Team All-CHA

Meghan Agosta*, Mercyhurst, Freshman, Forward, Ruthven, Ontario
Melissa Boal*, Wayne State ,Sophomore, Forward, Pakenham, Ontario
Valerie Chouinard*, Mercyhurst, Sophomore, Forward, Matane, Quebec
Shannon Moulson*, Niagara, Junior, Defense, Mississauga, Ontario
Natalie Payne, Mercyhurst, Sophomore, Defense, Mississauga, Ontario
Ashley Pendleton, Mercyhurst, Senior, Defense, Orton, Ontario
Allison Rutledge*, Niagara, Senior, Goaltender, London, Ontario

Second Team All-CHA

Julia Colizza, Mercyhurst, Senior, Forward, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Kristen Miles, Robert Morris, Sophomore, Forward, London, Ontario
Sam Poyton, Wayne State, Sophomore, Forward, Hamilton, Ontario
Ashley Riggs, Niagara, Sophomore, Forward, Pickering, Ontario
Tegan Schroeder, Wayne State, Freshman, Defense, Lumsden, Saskatchewan
Michelle Bonello, Mercyhurst, Senior, Defense, Mississauga, Ontario
Brianne McLaughlin, Robert Morris, Sophomore, Goaltender, Sheffield Village, Ohio

This Week In The MIAC Update: Championship Preview

By C. J. Spang
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And Then There Were Two

Win or go home is the name of the game Saturday night when top-seeded Bethel takes on No. 2 seed St. Thomas in the MIAC playoff championship game. Despite being two of the hottest teams in college hockey, neither team has a shot at an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament, so only the winner of this game will see its season continue. Game time is 7 p.m. at the National Sports Center in Blaine.

Bethel has won 10 of its last 11 games, including a 5-1 semifinal win over fourth-seeded St. Olaf on Thursday. The Royals have been getting it done on both ends of the ice, giving up more than three goals just once in those 11 games – their 4-3 loss to St. Olaf last Friday. Offensively, Bethel may be even more dangerous. In their last 11 games, the Royals are averaging 4.91 goals per contest, and Thursday against St. Olaf, fired 39 shots on goal in their 5-1 win. Five different players scored a goal in that game and 12 different players recorded a point.

St. Thomas is tearing it up in the second half of the season as well. The Tommies extended their nation-best win streak to 10 games with a 3-1 semifinal win over Augsburg on Thursday. They’ve also won 12 of their past 13 contests. One of the biggest reasons for St. Thomas’ success has been its power play. During their win streak, the Tommies are 27-for-60 on the man advantage – a blistering 45 percent conversion rate. Augsburg found out the hard way what happens when a team takes penalties against St. Thomas, as the Tommies were 2-for-4 in the game, one of which was the game-winner.

Chances Are

By
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We can add the following teams to the list of squads who have finished their seasons:

  • Gustavus Adolphus
  • St. Olaf
  • Augsburg
  • Fitchburg State
  • Curry

Now let’s turn our attention to the 22 Division III teams that are still playing, and the four teams on the bench, hoping for an at-large bid (plus a tip of the hat to D-II St. Anselm and Stonehill, which are in the Northeast-10 finals).

Who’s in the Dance, and who needs to win their way in? Let’s start with a big assumption that will help narrow things down – a 6-4 East-West split. I’ll go into more detail on that with a fourth edition of Bracketlology, which you can find on this blog later tonight.

  • In for sure – St. Norbert, Manhattanville. The Green Knights are a lock, and the Valiants will get Pool B even if they lose this weekend.
  • Looking Good – Mass-Dartmouth. This is an interesting case. The NCAA rankings had the Corsairs third in the East two weeks ago, but moved them into first this past week. Mass-Dartmouth has the numbers, but I wonder how much the committee will penalize them for playing in the weaker ECAC Northeast over teams like Neumann and Oswego. Based on the top ranking this week, you’d have to think they’re in.
  • Needs some help (East) – The NCAA Eastern Rankings list Oswego, Norwich and Neumann in that order, and only the Lakers can’t lose. Neumann can improve its chances with a win over Manhattanville in the ECAC West title game, while Oswego has to hope that Manhattanville and Mass-Dartmouth both win on Saturday. Norwich can of course claim the ECAC East autobid, and if not, need to also hope that Mass-Dartmouth beats Wentworth.
  • Needs some help (West) – Nobody in the running is rooting for St. Scholastica, since a loss by St. Norbert takes one of the two (expected) at-large bids. The MIAC will get one team in, so that most likely means that two of three eliminated NCHA schools (UW-River Falls, UW-Stout, UW-Superior) will get in if St. Norbert wins the NCHA title.
  • Needs to win their conference title – This applies to a lot of teams: Amherst, Colby, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Fredonia, Plattsburgh, Babson, Castleton, New England, St. Thomas, Bethel. In a sense, the NCAA tournament has already started for these teams, since they’re in single elimination mode.
  • No chance – The MCHA champion doesn’t get an autobid, and all four teams are two far down in the rankings for an at large bid. So the season ends Sunday for Marian, MSOE, Lawrence and Finlandia.

Many questions remain – will it be a 6-4 split? How about 5-5? Check back later, and leave your comments.

Dartmouth Sweeps Top ECACHL Womens’ Awards

USCHO Staff Report
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Dartmouth College senior forward Gillian Apps (Unionville, Ont.) has been named the ECAC Hockey League’s Player of the Year, it was announced earlier this evening (March 2) at the league’s annual banquet. Apps and several other student-athletes were honored at the event, which marks the start of the women’s championship weekend.

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Joining Apps as a first-team selection was sophomore teammate Carli Clemis (Taber, Alb.), who also earned Goaltender of the Year honors. Joining Apps on offense is Harvard senior forward Julie Chu (Fairfield, Conn.) and St. Lawrence junior forward Sabrina Harbec (St. Hubert, Que.). On defense, Harvard junior Caitlin Cahow (Vinalhaven, Maine), and St. Lawrence senior Annie Guay (Rouyn-Noranda, Que.) were first-team honorees. Apps, Chu and Guay were unanimous selections to the first team

The Rookie of the Year award was given to Dartmouth forward Sarah Parsons (Dover, Mass.), while the Big Green’s Mark Hudak was named Coach of the Year. Academic honors went to Colgate’s Tara French (Truro, N.S.), who was named the league’s Student-Athlete of the Year.

Earning team honors was Yale, which won the Turfer Athletic Trophy. Sponsored by Turfer Athletic, the Official Outerwear Company of the ECACHL, the award goes to the team that best represents the ideas Turfer Athletic and the ECAC Hockey League: sportsmanship, commitment, tenacity and innovation.

Apps was among the league’s leading scorers with 23 goals and 11 assists in conference games. She tied for the league lead in game-winning goals with seven, while six of her goals came on the power play. She also had a short-handed tally. Apps, a Patty Kazmaier Award finalist, has 43 total points on the year, and has been averaging 1.48 points per game, which is ranked 10th nationally. Apps is the second Dartmouth athlete to be named the league’s Player of the Year. Gillian is also a member of the Canadian National Team and is Olympic Gold Medalist, having helped Canada earn top honors at last year’s Winter Games in Italy.

Clemis had one of the top goals against averages (1.43) and save percentages (.934) in league play this year, as she helped Dartmouth hold league opponents to just 1.27 goals per game. Clemis backed the Big Green to 16 of its league wins this season, and she had a 16-1-1 record, which included three shutouts. Her winning percentage of .917 was the best in the league. Overall, Carli has a 1.55 goals against average and a .925 save percentage, both of which are ranked ninth nationally.

Parsons earned the league’s top rookie honor after posting 43 points in league games on 13 goals and 40 assists. She was second in league scoring and was the top freshman producer. In fact her 43 points were 20 more than the next freshman in the league. Overall, through 29 games, Dartmouth’s leading scorer has 48 points with 13 goals and 35 assists. She s averaging 1.66 points per game, which ranks sixth nationally. Parsons is also member of the U.S. National Team and is an Olympic Medalist.

Hudak earned his first-ever Coach of the Year honor after guiding the Big Green to the ECACHL regular-season title with its record of 20-1-1. It was Dartmouth’s second-ever 20-win league season and third regular-season crown. Offensively, the team is ranked second nationally with an average of 4.39 goals per game, while holding opponents to a stingy 1.55 goals per game (fifth nationally).

The inaugural Student-Athlete of the Year Award was given to French, who is a Molecular Biology major at Colgate. The senior defender has played in 135 career games, scoring 12 goals and chipping in 60 assists for 72 points. French, who has completed her Pre-Medical requirements, is a two-time AWHCA National Scholar-Athlete of the Year and has made the ECAC All-Academic Team three times. Her senior honors research project uses a combination of biochemistry and molecular biology to investigate how the movement of a particular protein between the nucleus and cytoplasm of cells influences the rate at which those cells divide.

2007 ECAC Women’ Hockey League Women’s Award Winners

INDIVIDUAL & TEAM AWARDS
Player of the Year — Gillian Apps, Dartmouth
Rookie of the Year — Sarah Parsons, Dartmouth
Goaltender of the Year — Carli Clemis, Dartmouth
Student-Athlete of the Year — Tara French, Colgate
Turfer Athletic Trophy — Yale University
Coach of the Year — Mark Hudak, Dartmouth

FIRST TEAM ALL-LEAGUE
G – Carli Clemis, Dartmouth
D – Caitlin Cahow, Harvard
D – Annie Guay, St. Lawrence*
F – Julie Chu, Harvard*
F – Sabrina Harbec, St. Lawrence
F – Gillian Apps, Dartmouth*

SECOND TEAM ALL-LEAGUE
G – Brittany Martin, Harvard
D – Helen Resor, Yale
D – Laura Watt, Princeton
F – Sarah Parsons, Dartmouth
F – Sarah Vaillancourt, Harvard
F – Sam Hunt, Colgate

THIRD-TEAM ALL-LEAGUE
G – Ashley Mayr, Rensselaer
D – Kerri Wallace, St. Lawrence
D – Tara French, Colgate
F – Chelsea Grills, St. Lawrence
F – Kim Pearce, Princeton
F – Hayley McMeekin, Quinnipiac

ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
G – Christina Kessler, Harvard*
D – Carlee Eusepi, Clarkson
D – Britni Smith, St. Lawrence
F – Sarah Parsons, Dartmouth*
F – Katie Stewart, Colgate
F – Genevieve Lavoie, Clarkson

* – unanimous selection

BC Sweeps Top Women’s Hockey East Awards

USCHO Staff Report
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Boston College pulled off the same awards hat trick that the University of New Hampshire netted last year, sweeping the three major individual awards acknowledging the season’s top player, rookie and coach.

BC’s freshman sensation Kelli Stack had a torrid second half the season, ringing up 34 points to outdistance teammate and classmate Allie Thunstrom (31 points), and claimed the honor of TPS Hockey Player of the Year. That accomplishment almost guaranteed Stack the league’s “daily double,” as she also won the Mission Rookie of the Year Award.

Thunstrum, who also finished second in the Rookie of the Year balloting, joins Stack on the Mission All-Rookie Team as unanimous selections. BC Head Coach Tom Mutch earned CCM Coach of the Year honors after guiding the Eagles to a sparkling 23-8-2 overall mark (15-6-0 record in league play including key wins over nationally ranked opponents New Hampshire and Harvard. The Eagles’ success included a Beanpot championship, and second seed in the WHEA Championships.

The ITECH Three Stars Award winner, identifying the best collection of single-game performances this season, goes UNH dynamo Sam Faber, last year’s Rookie of the Year and WHEA tournament MVP.
The sophomore finished the season with points in league play (despite missing four WHEA games), and led the league in assists with 21.

Boston College junior Deb Spillane will be presented with the Sportsmanship Award, breaking a Providence College stranglehold on the award after Karen Thatcher won it for the past three years. UNH netminder Melissa Bourdon will finish her remarkable career guarding the Wildcats’ cage by winning her fourth consecutive Goaltending Champion award. She finished with 1.23 goals-against-average and .919 save percentage in league play, and also owns the NCAA mark for wins with 84.

TPS Hockey Player of the Year

Kelli Stack, Boston College (Fr. F; Brooklyn Heights, OH)
Runner-up: Allie Thunstrom, BC

Mission Rookie of the Year

Kelli Stack, Boston College (Fr. F; Brooklyn Heights, OH)
Runner-up: Allie Thunstrom, BC

CCM Coach of the Year

Tom Mutch, Boston College
Runner-up: Brian McCloskey, New Hampshire

ITECH “Three Stars” Award

Sam Faber, New Hampshire (So. F; Mount Sinai, NY)

Runners-up:
Allie Thunstrom, Boston College
Brittany Wilson, Connecticut

Sportsmanship Award

Deb Spillane, Boston College (Jr. F; Franklin, MA)
Runner-up: Natalie Vibert, Connecticut

Hockey East First Team

G: Brittany Wilson, So., UConn
D: Kristin Gigliotti, Sr., Providence
D; Martine Garland, Jr., UNH
D: Natalie Vibert, Sr., UConn
F: Kelli Stack, Fr., BC
F: Allie Thunstrom, Fr., BC
F: Sam Faber, So., UNH

Hockey East Second Team

G: Molly Schaus, Fr., BC
D: Kacey Bellamy, So., UNH
D: Maggie Taverna, So., BC
F: Jennifer Hitchcock, Jr., UNH
F: Becky Zavisza, So., BC
F: Jaclyn Hawkins, Jr., UConn

Honorable Mention

G: Jana Bugden, PC
D: Erin Normore, PC
D: Kelly Law, Maine
F: Meghan Fardelmann, BC
F: Chelsea Jones, Northeastern
F: Sonny Watrous, PC

All-Rookie Team

G: Molly Schaus, BC
F: Kelli Stack, BC
F: Allie Thunstrom, BC
F: Chelsea Jones, Northeastern
F: Kelly Paton, UNH
F: Dominique Thibault, UConn

Frozen Four Skills Challenge Rosters Named

USCHO Staff Report
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The NCAA has announced the participants for the second annual Pontiac Frozen Four Skills Challenge, which will be held April 6 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

The competition will be conducted in an East versus West format with each team having six male position players, six female position players, two male goaltenders and two female goaltenders. An alternate list has been established in the event that players have to withdraw from the competition due to other commitments, such as their team’s participation in the men’s Frozen Four.

To be eligible, all players must have exhausted their collegiate eligibility and be nominated by their head coach. Players were selected by representatives from the American Hockey Coaches Association, the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee and the National Youth Sports Corporation.

The competitions will include puck control relay, fastest skater, hardest shot, rapid-fire shooting, accuracy shooting and penalty shot. Each competitor will receive a complete set of equipment and a full uniform from Nike Bauer Hockey.

“The committee was delighted with last year’s competition and really anticipate an even better event this year,” said Marty Scarano, chair of the Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee and director of athletics at New Hampshire . “The student-athletes will have a great time and it will be very entertaining for fans both live and on ESPNU. We congratulate everyone named to the East and West squads.”

The men’s portion of the East squad is highlighted by the one of the nation’s current leading goaltenders, John Curry of Boston University. The other goaltender is Jason Smith from Sacred Heart. The six male skaters on the East squad include Kyle Bozoian, Fredonia State; Reid Cashman, Quinnipiac; Kirk MacDonald, Rensselaer; Jacob Micflikier, New Hampshire; Mike Morris, Northeastern; and Andrew Ramsey, Air Force.

The women on the East squad include Crystal Connors, St. Lawrence; Kristin Gigliotti, Providence; Cara Hendry, Boston U.; Natalie Vibert, Connecticut; Lindsay Williams, Clarkson; and Sheila Zingler, Yale. The goalies will be Melissa Bourdon, New Hampshire, and Jana Bugden, Providence.

The West team is loaded with three of the nation’s top 10 scorers: Michigan ‘s T.J. Hensick, Nebraska-Omaha’s Scott Parse and Niagara’s Sean Bentivoglio. Also on the West squad will be Lars Helminen, Michigan Tech; Aaron Johnson, Augsburg; and Andrew Joudrey, Wisconsin. The West goaltenders will be Notre Dame’s David Brown, who is currently leading the nation in goals against average, and Lake Superior State’s Jeff Jakaitis.

The women’s portion of the West roster includes Wisconsin’s Sara Bauer, who is one of the nation’s top five scorers. Also on the team are Julia Colizza, Mercyhurst; Kelly Hart, Bemidji State; Noemie Marin, Minnesota Duluth; Sammy Miller, Minnesota State; and Maggie Souba, Minnesota. The two female goaltenders will be Riitta Schaublin, Minnesota-Duluth, and Erika Vanderveer, Ohio State.

Tickets for the event are $10 and can be purchased at the Scottrade Center box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at 314-241-1888.

The Pontiac Frozen Four Skills Challenge will begin at 7:30 p.m. Central time and will be preceded by the Hobey Baker Memorial Award at 6 p.m. and the Hockey Humanitarian Award at 6:35 p.m. The Pontiac Frozen Four Skills Challenge and the Hobey Baker Memorial Award will both be shown live on ESPNU.

Wisconsin Dominates Women’s WCHA Awards

USCHO Staff Report
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League champion Wisconsin placed two players on the Western Collegiate Hockey Association women’s all-conference team and swept individual honors, it was announced Thursday.

The Badgers’ Sara Bauer, a senior from St. Catherine’s, Ont who won the Patty Kazmaier Award as the best women’s collegiate hockey player last season, was named the WCHA Player of the Year for the second straight season.

Bauer captured the conference scoring race with 51 points in 28 WCHA games. She scored 16 goals and added 35 assists. She joins Minnesota-Duluth senior Noemie Marin and Minnesota sophomore Gigi Marvin as the 2006-07 all-league forwards. Ohio State junior Tessa Bonhomme and Wisconsin senior Meghan Mikkelson are the all-WCHA defenseman and Wisconsin sophomore Jessie Vetter was voted the all-league goalie.

Bauer was third in the NCAA scoring race during the regular season with 62 points in 34 games. She was second in the country with 40 assists, tied for 13th with 22 goals, ranked fifth in the nation with 1.82 points per game and third with 1.18 assists per game.

Marin, a forward from Acton-Vale, Que., is the Duluth captain and tied for 11th in the NCAA during the regular season with 42 points in 32 games. She tied for 16th in the country with 21 goals, tied for 23rd with 21 assists and tied for 16th overall with 1.31 points per game. Marin was second in the WCHA with 41 points in 28 league games. She led the league with 21 goals and tied for fifth with 20 assists.

Marvin, a winger from Warroad, Minn. who was the WCHA rookie of the year last season, scored 16 goals and had 31 points for the Gophers.

For the fourth consecutive year, the WCHA’s Defensive Player of the Year has hailed from Wisconsin. This year, Mikkelson succeded teammate Bobbi-Jo Slusar, a two-time winner, as the top defender, an award voted on by league head coaches.

Mikkelson, a senior defenseman from St. Albert, Alta., tied for 11th in the NCAA with 42 points in 34 games and tied for sixth with 32 assists. Mikkelson was second in the country during the regular season with 1.24 points per game among defensemen and ninth overall with .94 assists per game. She also anchors a defense that allows a nation’s best 0.94 goals per game and boasts 15 shutouts, a school record. She led WCHA defensemen with 33 points in 28 league games and was fifth overall. Mikkelson tied for second in the league with 24 assists.

Bonhomme, from Sudbury, Ontario, is a co-captain for Ohio State. After redshirting the 2005-06 season while participating in the Canadian National Women’s Centralization Program in preparation for the 2006 Winter Olympics, Bonhomme returned to the Buckeyes and ranked third on the team in scoring with 34 points, the fourth-most by a defenseman in Ohio State history. Bonhomme was third in the NCAA defenseman point rankings with 1.13 points per game. Her 14 goals are the second-most by any blueliner in the nation and led all WCHA defensemen. She leads the Buckeyes with four game-winning goals.

Vetter, from Cottage Grove, Wi. and Christine Dufour provided Wisconsin with the best goaltending tandem in the league. They combined for 15 shutouts. Vetter was voted the top goalie while Dufour won the statistical award of 2005-06 WCHA Goaltending Champion. Vetter had a 1.24 goals-against average and a save percentage of .932.

Dufour, a senior from Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec, owned the top goals-against average in conference play at 1.07 over 727:01 of action. In addition, she went undefeated in WCHA games at 11-0-1 and was second in saves percentage in league play at .949.

Bauer, Morin, Bonhomme and Mikkelson were also recently named a top 10 candidate for the 2007 Patty Kazmaier Award.

Wisconsin’s Meghan Duggan was named the 2006-07 WCHA Rookie of the Year. A freshman forward from Danvers, Mass, Duggan ranked first among league rookies in scoring with 34 points and also led the freshman class with 17 goals. She was the fourth leading scorer in the league overall.

Minnesota Duluth’s Riitta Schaublin has been named the WCHA Student-Athlete of the Year for the second straight year. A senior goaltender from Basel, Switzerland, Schaublin ranked among the league goaltending leaders. She finished the regular season ranked thirdd with a .938 save percentage and was fourth with a 1.59 goals against average. A two-time all-WCHA academic team member, Schaublin was a Patty Kazmaier finalist last year and completed her undergraduate degree in mathematics with a 3.94 grade point average. She is pursuing her degree in the Minnesota Duluth Math Department’s master’s program during her final year of athletic eligibility and had a 4.0 GPA last semester while serving as a teacher’s assistant for calculus II class. She plans to finish graduate school in December, 2007 and eventualy obtain a PhD in economics. Off the ice, she participates in numerous community outreach programs and also shares her talents as a coach to youth goalies in the Duluth area.

The WCHA Coach of the Year award was given to Wisconsin’s Mark Johnson for the second straight year. Johnson, in his fifth season with the Badgers, led the team to a 31-1-4 overall record heading into the WCHA Playoff Championship Tournament and a 23-1-4 conference record. The Badgers won their second straight WCHA regular season title and is the defending national champion. Johnson, the son of legendary Badgers’ men’s coach Bob Johnson, is 142-28-14 for his career and will coach team USA in the world championships in Winnipeg next month.

The conference head coaches, assistant coaches and sports information directors vote for the WCHA award winners. The WCHA Defensive Player of the Year Award was chosen solely by the head coaches, while the WCHA Student-Athlete of the Year was selected by the institutional faculty representatives.

2007 Women’s Awards
All-WCHA First Team
Forwards:
Sara Bauer, Wisconsin
Noemie Marin, Minnesota-Duluth
Gigi Marvin, Minnesota

Defense:
Meaghan Mikkelson, Wisconsin
Tessa Bonhomme, Ohio State< Goaltender: Jessie Vetter, Wisconsin All-WCHA Second Team Forwards: Meghan Duggan, Wisconsin Erin Keys, Ohio State Jinelle Zaugg, Wisconsin Defense: Amber Bowman, Ohio State Bobbi-Jo Slusar, Wisconsin Goaltender: Kim Martin, Minnesota-Duluth All-WCHA Third Team Forwards: Jessica Koizumi, Minnesota-Duluth Erika Lawler, Wisconsin Bobbi Ross, Minnesota Defense: Melanie Gagnon, Minnesota Lisa Chesson, Ohio State Goaltender: Christine Dufour, Wisconsin All-WCHA Rookie Team Forwards: Meghan Duggan, Wisconsin Holly Roberts, St. Cloud State Saara Tuominen, Minnesota-Duluth Defense: Holly Snyder, Minnesota State Michelle Maunu, Minnesota and Ashley Lynch, North Dakota (tie) Goaltender: Kim Martin, Minnesota-Duluth Player of the Year Sara Bauer, Wisconsin Rookie of the Year Meghan Duggan, Wisconsin Coach of the Year Mark Johnson, Wisconsin Defensive Player of the Year Meghan Mikkelson, Wisconsin Outstanding Student Athlete of the Year Riitta Schaublin, Minnesota Duluth Goaltending Champion Christine Dufour, Wisconsin Scoring Champion Sara Bauer, Wisconsin 2006-07 All-WCHA Academic Team Bemidji State: Haley Balcom, Jr.; Emily Brookshaw, Jr.; Brooke Collins, So.; Tara Hiscock, Jr.; Lisa Kissick, So.; Jaime LeDuc, Jr.; Jessica Pullar, Jr.; Monica Rawlings, So.; Kate Robinson, Sr.; Helena Tageson, Sr.; Nina Zieganhals, Sr. Minnesota: Lindsay Block, So.; Gigi Marvin, So.; Erica McKenzie, Jr.; Anya Miller, Jr.; Andrea Nichols, Sr.; Bobbi Ross, Jr.; Maggie Souba, Sr.; Dagney Willey, So. UMD: Karine Demeule, Jr.; Kirsti Hakala, So.; Jessica Koizumi, Sr.; Michaela Lanzl, So.; Noemie Marin, Sr.; Tawni Mattila, So.; Riitta Schaublin, Sr.; Myriam Trepanier, So.; Suvi Vacker, Sr. Minnesota State: Kristina Bunker, Jr.; Jodi Helminen, Jr.; Jenna Hewitt, So.; Megan Jedinak, Sr.; Britni Kehler, Jr.; Lindsay Macy, Jr.; Samantha Miller, Sr.; Richelle St. Croix, Sr.; Amanda Stohr, Jr.; Andreanne Thibault, Jr.; Shera Vis, Sr.; Ashley Young, So. North Dakota: Aynsley Allen, Sr.; Christey Allen, Jr.; Christine Carlson, So.; Alexia Gagnon-LaPlante, Sr.; Casie Hanson, So.; Alyssa Johnson, So.; Randi Motsko, So. Ohio State: Olivia Antognoli, So.; Liana Bonanno, So.; Amber Bowman, Sr.; Jody Heywood, Jr.; Megan Hostasek, So.; Erin Keys, Jr.; Whitney Miller, So.; Mallory Peckels, Jr.; Lacey Schultz, Sr.; Krysta Skarda, Sr.; Erika Vanderveer, Sr. St. Cloud State: Bobbie Anderson, Jr.; Hailey Clarkson, Sr.; Jacqueline Jensen, Sr.; Abby Krause, Jr.; Laura Fast, Jr.; Tricia Fast, Sr.; Marie-Michel Lemieux, Jr.; Denelle Maguet, Sr.; Michelle Moen, So.; Sammy Nixon, So.; Brita Schroeder, So.; Lauri St. Jacques, Sr. Wisconsin: Sara Bauer, Sr.; Rachel Bible, So.; Angie Keseley, So.; Heidi Kletzien, Sr.; Meaghan Mikkelson, Sr.; Phoebe Monteleone, Sr.; Jessie Vetter, So. All-WCHA ballot results Forwards: Sara Bauer, Wisconsin, 68 points Noemie Marin, Minnesota-Duluth, 52 Gigi Marvin, Minnesota, 47 Meghan Duggan, Wisconsin, 41 Erin Keys, Ohio State, 42 Jinelle Zaugg, Wisconsin, 35 Jessica Koizumi, Minnesota-Duluth, 30 Bobbi Jo Ross, Minnesota, 20 Erika Lawler, Wisconsin, 18 Maggie Fisher, Minnesota State, 16 Mallory Peckels, Ohio State, 9 Holly Roberts, St. Cloud, 7 Michaela Lanzl, Minnesota-Duluth, 6 Erica McKenzie, Minnesota, 5 Saara Tuominen, Minnesota-Duluth 4 Nikki Eckebrecht, Bemidji State, 3 Morgan Marziali, Ohio State, 3 Kelly Hart, Bemidji State, 2 Sara O'Toole, Minnesota-Duluth, 2 Emmanulle Blais, Minnesota-Duluth, 2 Lindsay Macy, Minnesota State 1 Defense Tessa Bonhomme, Ohio State, 64 Meaghan Mikkelson, Wisconsin, 58 Bobbi Jo Slusar, Wisconsin, 51 Amber Bowman, Ohio State, 43 Melanie Gagnon, Minnesota, 18 Lisa Chesson, Ohio State, 18 Anya Miller, Minnesota, 7 Jill Sales, Minnesota-Duluth, 5 Brittni Kuyper, St. Cloud State, 4 Brooke Collins, Bemidji State, 3 Sammy Miller, Minnesota State, 2 Jamie Rasmussen, Minnesota Duluth, 1 All Rookie team Forwards: Meghan Duggan, Wisconsin, 21 Holly Roberts, St. Cloud State, 15 Saara Tuominen, Minnesota-Duluth, 14 Christina Lee, Minnesota State, 8 Emmanuelle Blais, Minnesota-Duluth, 6 Caitlin Hogan, St. Cloud State, 2 Kelli Blankenship, Minnesota, 1 Ellin Holmlov, Minnesota-Duluth, 1 Defense Holly Snyder, Minnesota State, 14 Michelle Maunu, Minnesota, 8 Ashley Lynch, North Dakota, 8 Rachel Davis, Ohio State, 6 Danielle Hirsch, St. Cloud, 6 Jaime Rasmussen, Minnesota-Duluth, 2 Sam Turner, North Dakota, 1 Goalie Kim Martin, Minnesota-Duluth, 23 Player of the Year Sara Bauer, Wisconsin, 19 Tessa Bonhomme, Ohio State, 2 Gigi Marvin, Minnesota, 1 Noemie Marin, UMD, 1 Rookie of the Year Meghan Duggan, Wisconsin, 18 Holly Roberts, St. Cloud State, 2 Kim Martin, Minnesota-Duluth, 2 Christina Lee, Minnesota State, 1 Coach of Year Mark Johnson, Wisconsin, 10 Jackie Barto, Ohio State, 7 Steve Sertich, Bemidji State, 5 Shannon Miller, UMD, 1 Defensive Player of the Year Meghan Mikkelson, Wisconsin, 17 Tessa Bonhomme, Ohio State, 10 Kim Martin, Minnesota-Duluth, 4 Shera Vis, Minnesota State, 3 Anya Miller, Minnesota, 2 Goalies Jessie Vetter, Wisconsin 40 1/2 Kim Martin, Minnesota-Duluth, 32 Christine Dufour, Wisconsin, 24 1/2 Erika Vanderveer, Ohio State, 18 Emily Brookshaw, Bemidji State, 11 Britni Kehler, Minnesota State, 4 Riitta Schaublin, Minnesota-Duluth, 2

Wintry Mix

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Mother Nature sent a little present to the Twin Cities last Saturday, a winter storm that dumped enough snow on the area to slow down even the North Star State’s denizens, who are used to such things even in late February.

Perhaps not coincidentally, another storm was brewing inside Mariucci Arena that evening. With Minnesota seemingly on the verge of claiming the WCHA regular-season title, St. Cloud State found its own spirit of giving — handing Gopher fans an unwelcome present as they watched SCSU put together a spurt of four unanswered goals for a 5-3 win and a weekend sweep.

So although further inclement weather has hit the area midweek, the forecast for the Huskies is sunny, with a fair chance at the MacNaughton Cup.

Bobby Goepfert was the linchpin as St. Cloud State stayed in the MacNaughton Cup race last weekend (photo: Jason Waldowski).

Bobby Goepfert was the linchpin as St. Cloud State stayed in the MacNaughton Cup race last weekend (photo: Jason Waldowski).

Of course, Minnesota still needs only one point next weekend against Michigan Tech to share the title, and one win in two games would make the Gophers the outright champions no matter what SCSU does against visiting North Dakota.

Though Minnesota is still in the driver’s seat, head coach Don Lucia wasn’t interested in taking comfort in his team’s three-point lead in the WCHA standings.

“We haven’t done anything yet,” Lucia said.

Obviously, he’s right in the sense of earning hardware, though to be fair the Gophers have done quite a bit already. Their winning percentage of .757 is still second in the nation, and lofty PairWise numbers suggest a clear path to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament despite the disappointing results against SCSU.

The St. Cloud players and coaches weren’t patting one another on the back too much, either. Asked if the two wins proved the Huskies were a better team than the Gophers, head coach Bob Motzko agreed only that they were better for one weekend.

In fact, the only thing Motzko and his charges were celebrating was the lack of a Gopher celebration.

“We said, ‘Let’s make [WCHA] Commissioner [Bruce] McLeod fly back next week,” Motzko quipped, referring to the commissioner’s role in handing the MacNaughton Cup to the league champion.

“I don’t mind doing it,” laughed McLeod, who let on that Motzko had told him as much before the game.

Goaltender Bobby Goepfert was the linchpin in the win Saturday, refusing to give any more ground once Minnesota had established a 3-1 lead midway through the game.

“He’s on a mission at the end of his college career,” said Motzko of his senior netminder. “At the end of the game, I pointed right at him. There was nobody more fired up than him.”

Indeed there wasn’t. When the final horn sounded moments after Matt Stephenson’s empty-net goal assured the Huskies the win, Goepfert went into a leaping celebration as he left his crease to join his teammates.

“We got the wind knocked out of us [early],” said Goepfert, “but we stood in there and took some more blows.”

Goepfert himself blunted the impact of the Gophers’ offensive punch, making 17 straight saves to end the game as SCSU rallied. The Hobey Baker candidate is sixth in the nation in goals against average and third in save percentage.

The role of netminding in the stretch run and into the playoffs was hardly lost on Lucia, who tipped his cap to Goepfert and then acknowledged the Gophers’ troubles in that area. The combination of Jeff Frazee and Kellen Briggs permitted the Huskies nine goals (plus the empty-netter) on 57 shots as SCSU scored five each night.

“We have to be better there too,” Lucia said. “We can’t give up nine goals in a weekend.”

Neither team will have it easy this weekend. UND is playing strong despite the end of its 11-game unbeaten streak, and Michigan Tech has lost just one of its last nine games to make the league’s other Huskies an NCAA tournament contender.

Regardless of the outcome, though, the obvious winner is the WCHA, which has enjoyed another week of attention regarding its playoff and title races. None of its postseason matchups is set with only one weekend of regular-season play remaining.

And with an outside shot at getting six teams into the NCAA tournament, and two No. 1 seeds as of now, the conference is in an enviable position to try to win a sixth straight national championship.

Three teams — Minnesota, Denver and Wisconsin — have won the last five. Is it St. Cloud’s turn to raise a banner to the rafters?

This Week in Hockey East: March 1, 2007

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One More Time For Number Seven

I can’t believe it’s over.

Last Saturday, my son Ryan played his final game for the Wesleyan Cardinals. It’s been a long, wonderful journey since that first time I laced up his skates and led him onto the ice where I wrapped my arms around him to hold him up and to keep him from falling.

It’s been one heckuva ride.

Whether you check out “Hendu’s Story: From Dream To Reality” or not, be assured of this: if you’ve enjoyed my columns even a little since USCHO’s inception, some of the credit goes to Ryan. His love of hockey fed my own flame and kept it burning bright, even on nights when the writing went into the wee hours.

And so, as I give one final salute to my own number seven, be sure to salute the seniors on your favorite team as they leave the ice for the last time. If they’re anything like Ryan, they’ve invested much of their lives in this wonderful game and poured their hearts into performing as best they could. If they’re fortunate, you will applaud them as heartily as I did for the great kid they call Hendu.

Three For One

Other than finishing first to capture the regular season title, the differences among the top positions in the standings can often be minimal. Unless one playoff matchup is more favorable than another, second place may only be marginally better than finishing fourth.

The difference between fourth and fifth, however, is gargantuan for the obvious reason of playoff home ice. And this year it’s being contested as never before. Three teams, separated by only a single point, are vying for fourth place.

Making it even better is that Maine and Massachusetts, who are tied with 29 points, barely ahead of Vermont with 28, face off against each other on Friday and Saturday.

UMass holds one significant advantage since both games will be played at the Mullins Center where the Minutemen are 10-3-3 this year.

Maine, on the other hand, holds the advantage of winning the tiebreaker since the Black Bears defeated UMass back on Oct. 28, 4-1. So if the two teams split, Maine takes playoff home ice.

Unless, of course, Vermont leapfrogs both teams by sweeping Massachusetts-Lowell at home.

And what if the Catamounts take three of four points while the other two split? The Black Bears would win out in that case since they would have taken two of three games with both UMass and UVM. So Vermont must sweep and hope for a split between the other two contenders.

All of which will result in considerable interest within the Mullins Center and Gutterson Fieldhouse as to what is happening in the other building.

You could even see that most delightful of possibilities, a team pulling its goaltender in the final minute of overtime because a tie does it no good.

Peaking At The Right Time

After being one of the most maddeningly inconsistent teams all season long, Boston College appears to have hit its stride at just the right time. The Eagles have now won six of their last seven with back-to-back sweeps of Maine and Lowell the last two weekends. Even their lone loss almost belongs in the plus column since their play against Boston University in the Beanpot championship game was strong enough to win almost any game.

“We feel really good about the state of our team right now,” BC coach Jerry York says. “Not just the wins, which of course is our objective, but we’re playing a lot better in different areas, especially on our special teams. Our power play is generating some goals; our PK is defending very well.

“We showed flashes of this during the year, but we were also up and down way too much with our execution and our effort. Now everything that we look for down the stretch is starting to come. The key thing is to keep this going as we try to secure the highest spot that we can in the playoff seeds.”

It’s a stark contrast to last season when BC stayed atop Hockey East for most of the year until stumbling in the final weeks. The Eagles righted the ship, advancing to the national championship game, but it’s a lot easier to be riding the momentum, rather than fighting it, come playoff time.

“Each year is so different,” York says. “You never quite know what to expect. It appears to be the polar opposite of what happened last year.”

Boston College is getting contributions both from its stars and its role players. Brian Boyle, for one, has recorded at least two points in seven of the last nine games.

“We’re getting big-time play out of Brian Boyle and Cory Schneider,” York says. “Those two of our leaders have really stepped to the forefront, kind of spearheaded our improved play.

“We’ve also had trouble all year trying to get a third and fourth line that was stable and competitive and gave us plenty of quality minutes. It appears now that Greenie [Matt Greene] between [Pat] Gannon and [Matt] Price and [Ben] Smith between [Andrew] Orpik and [Matt] Lombardi really give us more depth too. That’s been a key factor for us.”

By taking at least a point against New Hampshire this weekend, Boston College can finish second. (The Eagles win the tiebreak with BU based on winning two of the three league games.) That would insure a quarterfinal matchup with seventh-seeded Northeastern instead of whatever team in the Maine-UMass-Vermont cluster falls to sixth. Not that Northeastern will be any pushover since the Huskies split the season 1-1-1 with BC.

“This is what all coaches point toward when we talk in September and October,” York says. “You get to the bigger stage, the more important games. We’re all going into early March with some terrific matchups.”

Not Going Quietly

UNH indirectly dealt Lowell a playoff broadside last weekend when the Wildcats lost to Providence, 7-1. Since PC wins the tiebreaker, the River Hawks now need three more points on the weekend than the Friars, who are playing a home-and-home series with last-place Merrimack.

Based on Lowell’s refusal to roll over earlier — going into last weekend without a defeat in February — this team isn’t about to quit now.

“Whether it’s the last weekend and you’re fighting to get into the playoffs or it’s any weekend in December or January, it’s always tough,” UML coach Blaise MacDonald says. “There’s always something at stake. It might be building confidence and staying on a roll in midseason or it might be for us playing a great opponent on the road with a young team.

“There are a lot of benefits for us to take out of this upcoming weekend. We can’t control what Providence or Merrimack does, but there are a lot of benefits we can get out of this weekend for sure.”

Most of those benefits tie into Lowell’s youth. The River Hawks, loaded with freshmen, would love to go into the offseason with their younger players finishing strong even if a playoff berth isn’t in the offing.

“Without question, we’ve never been more excited about the future of this program, given the young talent that we have in all areas,” MacDonald says. “[That includes] up front, especially on defense and we think our goaltending is going to get better and better. The reality is that if we have to look to see the silver lining, that’s a pretty darn good one to look for.

“Probably seven out of our 10 power-play guys all year were freshmen. Against BC on Saturday night, our freshmen were out in all the key spots and performing well in front of 6300 people. So they’ve had tremendous experience in all areas this year. That will help us in the future.

“But we want to send our seniors out with a real successful weekend.”

That senior class is led by Jason Tejchma, Jeremy Hall, Cleve Kinley, J.R. Bria and Todd Fletcher, all of whom saw plenty of good times to go with this year’s struggles.

“Their contributions need to be measured over their careers,” MacDonald says. “They’ve had some great experiences, some enormous wins and have been nationally ranked as high as ninth in the country during their time here. So there are a lot of positives.

“The unfortunate situation is that the program that we inherited had a real imbalance of classes so it benefited [these seniors] when they were young because they played a lot. But when you turn the pages, they’re captains of a very young ship and that can be difficult.”

Trivia Contest

Last week’s question asked when was the last time that two defensemen on the same team got hat tricks in the same game. The correct answer was Kevin Schaeffer and Ryan Whitney of BU on Nov. 30, 2003 in a 7-2 win over Yale.

The first to answer correctly was “Tom from Boston.” His cheer is:

“Here’s to you Tom Morrow… let’s get goal number three for a career hat trick in the tournament.”

This week’s question asks who is the last Hockey East player to have been a captain for three consecutive seasons. Email my trivia account with the name of the player and the seasons. The winner will be notified by Tuesday; if you haven’t heard by then you either had the wrong answer or someone else beat you to it.

And Finally, Not That It Has Anything To Do With Anything, But…

I’m gonna pull a Scott Weighart here.

No, I’m not going to lose all my hair. No, I’m not going to skewer a nice guy named Dave Hendrickson.

What I’m going to do is bypass the opportunity to babble about everything from Britney to the Red Sox and instead turn this column in early.

This is the kind of thing Weighart does. The jerk will turn his columns in days ahead of time, making my scrambles at deadline time appear all the more egregious.

Me? I’m like that great scene in Broadcast News where Holly Hunter is saying with machine gun rapidity, “Bobby, Bobby, Bobby, Bobby,” because the nightly news is about to go to black … but she makes it with about a second to spare.

For once, I’m just going to shut up.

It’s going to shock the living daylights out of my editor. I can only imagine the look on his face when he gets this. The poor guy won’t know what hit him.

Thanks to my wife Brenda.

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