Ohio State’s Sophie Jaques was the 2022 USCHO Player of the Year (photo: Ohio State Athletics).
The WCHA has announced four individual award winners for the 2022-23 campaign.
Minnesota’s Taylor Heise has been named WCHA forward of the year for the second straight season, while Ohio State’s Sophie Jaques also repeats as WCHA defender of the year. Minnesota Duluth’s Emma Soderberg earns WCHA goaltender of the year and Wisconsin’s Caroline Harvey has been named WCHA rookie of the year.
WCHA Forward of the Year
Taylor Heise – Minnesota
5Yr. // Lake City, Minn.
A four-time WCHA forward of the week, Minnesota’s Taylor Heise follows up her First Team All-WCHA nod by being voted as the league’s forward of the year for the second consecutive season. Through the regular season, Heise stood as the league’s leading scorer with 57 points by 25 goals and 32 assists to surpass 200 points in her career and recorded a pair of hat tricks. Tallying a WCHA-best four shorthanded goals on the year, Heise also earned national Recognition when she was named Hockey Commissioners Association’s national player of the month for December. Heise’s 0.76 goals per game average currently leads the nation, and while scoring in every situation, she has added seven power play goals and four game-winners.
WCHA Defender of the Year
Sophie Jaques – Ohio State
Grad. // Toronto, Ont.
After earning six WCHA Defender of the Week titles throughout the regular season, Ohio State’s Sophie Jaques has repeated as the league’s Defender of the Year. Jaques collected a pair of WCHA defender of the month titles on her way to garnering First Team All-WCHA accolades, all while setting the program record for most career points by a defender. From the blueline, Jaques registered 42 points in the regular season by 19 goals and 23 assists, including a nation-topping eight power play goals. While skating to a plus-30 rating on the ice, Jaques added 42 blocked shots and an overtime game-winning goal against then-No. 5/8 Wisconsin on Jan. 13.
WCHA Goaltender of the Year
Emma Soderberg – Minnesota Duluth
Grad. // Jarved, Sweden
After becoming a First Team All-WCHA honoree, netminder Emma Soderberg garners WCHA goaltender of the year accolades for the second time in career. Soderberg registered a league-best .935 save percentage through her 1648:41 of action in the regular season, while making 563 saves for a WCHA-topping 1.419 goals against average. Soderberg tallied a season-high of 44 saves to help the Minnesota Duluth squad earn a 3-1 win over then-No. 2 Wisconsin on Jan. 7. Overall, Soderberg set the program record of career shutouts with 21, and currently leads the NCAA with 10 this season.
WCHA Rookie of the Year
Caroline Harvey – Wisconsin
Defender // Salem, N.H.
After earning a spot on the WCHA All-Rookie Team, Caroline Harvey has been voted as the league’s 2022-23 rookie of the year. Harvey led all WCHA first-year players with 34 points through the regular season by 10 goals and 24 assists. Harvey scored two game-winning goals and added a pair of power play tallies on the year, all while skating to a plus-34 rating on the ice. Harvey’s rookie of the year honor comes after being a two-time WCHA rookie of the month honoree in the regular season, as well as the Hockey Commissioners Association’s national rookie of the month in October.
Penn State’s Kiara Zanon has totaled 25 goals and 48 points in 36 games this season (photo: Penn State Athletics).
College Hockey America has announced its 2022-23 player of the year, goaltender of the year, rookie of the year, coach of the year, best defenseman, best defensive forward, individual sportsmanship award winner and scoring champion.
CHA PLAYER OF THE YEAR & SCORING CHAMPION
Kiara Zanon, Jr., F, Penn State
Penn State’s Kiara Zanon leads the conference in points and goals as she has found the back of the net 25 times and dished 23 helpers for 48 points this season. The 25 tucks are tied for fourth nationally as she averaged 0.69 goals per game. She has scored six power-play goals and guided PSU to victory four times with power-play tallies. The Fairport, N.Y., native leads the nation with five shorthanded goals. On Jan. 13 against RIT, the forward equaled and surpassed the 100-career point mark as she scored back-to-back shorthanded goals on the same penalty kill. The performance was the first time in CHA history that a player notched two short-handed markers in the same game, and she became the 12th player to do so in NCAA Women’s Division I hockey history. The junior earned CHA monthly honors twice and was awarded CHA forward of the week honors four times over the course of the season.
CHA GOALTENDER OF THE YEAR
Ena Nystrøm, Sr., G, Mercyhurst
Mercyhurst’s Ena Nystrøm had a spectacular season in CHA play as she started 13 conference games, finishing 9-2-2 with a pair of shutouts and recorded a .948 save percentage and a 1.44 goals-against average. For the full season, the Stavanger, Norway, native has been between the pipes in 28 contests, racking up 15 wins with a 2.22 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage. The senior has collected six of the Lakers’ 10 shutouts. She has had nine games this season where she stopped 30+ shots. She leads all active CHA netminders with 44 career performances of 30 saves or more. On Nov. 22, MU defeated St. Lawrence, 6-4, behind a 51-save performance by Nystrøm. Her consistent play earned her three CHA Goaltender of the Week honors and she was name February’s CHA Goaltender of the Month. She was also named to the HCA National Women’s Goaltender of the Year Watch List.
CHA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Tessa Janecke, Fr., F, Penn State
Penn State’s Tessa Janecke has been a dynamic 200-foot player over the course of the season. The freshman ranks 11th nationally with 416 faceoff wins and has won 62.8 percent of her draws. She currently ranks second in the CHA with 22 goals and 46 points over the full season. The Orangeville, Ill., native posted 1.50 points per game in conference play and has a 1.28 per game average overall. She ranks fifth nationally with five game-winners. On special teams, Janecke has potted two shorthanded goals and four power-play markers in 36 contests. Thirteen times this season, she has registered multi-point games. On Feb. 25 in game two of the CHA Semifinal against Lindenwood, she scored her first career hat trick and had two assists for five points. Janecke was selected to the HCA National Women’s Rookie of the Year Watch List. She was named a December’s HCA rookie of the month. This season, she was chosen as the CHA rookie of the week seven times and earned CHA monthly honors five times.
CHA COACH OF THE YEAR
Jeff Kampersal, Penn State
Penn State head coach Jeff Kampersal has guided the Nittany Lions to the most wins in program history in a single season with a 26-8-2 record (.750). The PSU bench boss earned his 400th career victory on Oct. 14 in a 3-2 win at Boston College. At Penn State, Kampersal has recorded a 96-65-37 record (.578) since taking the reins of the PSU program after a 21-season stint at Princeton. Under his tutelage, the Nittany Lions rank fifth nationally in goals (136), assists (234), and team points (370) this season. They rank fourth nationally with seven short-handed goals and second nationally with a 57.1 percent faceoff-winning percentage.
CHA BEST DEFENSEMAN
Izzy Heminger, Sr., D, Penn State
Izzy Heminger has been a force on the Penn State blueline week after week as she has had a stellar season on both sides of the puck. The senior ranks sixth nationally and is tied for second in the conference among defenseman with 22 assists. Two of her four goals this season have been game-winners and one came on the power-play. She has been a key contributor on a Nittany Lion defensive corps that leads the conference with a team goals-against average of 1.90. Heminger has collected two CHA defenseman of the month honors and four CHA weekly honors this season.
CHA BEST DEFENSIVE FORWARD
Lauren Bellefontaine, Gr., F, Syracuse
Syracuse’s Lauren Bellefontaine has been named the CHA best defensive forward for the second straight season. Bellefontaine led the Orange in assists (19) and points (28). The Kemptville, Ont., native was one of the conference’s top faceoff performers as she won 282 draws throughout the year. On Sept. 30 at Merrimack, the forward potted the overtime game-winner to give SU bench boss Britni Smith her first career victory as a head coach. Bellefontaine is tied for second in games played in CHA history at 163 career contests.
CHA INDIVIDUAL SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Liliane Perreault, Gr., F, Mercyhurst
Mercyhurst’s Liliane Perreault has played in all situations for the Lakers, netting two power-play goals, two shorthanded goals and two game-winners this season. Her 18 tallies rank fourth in the conference while her 32 points ties her for sixth in the CHA. On Jan. 6 at Post, The Hinsdale, Ill., native tallied a five-point afternoon as she scored her first career hat trick and added two assists. Perreault was named CHA forward of the week on Feb. 13.
Michigan’s Nolan Moyle and Wisconsin’s Daniel Laatsch go after a loose puck in a game earlier this season (photo: Clara Boudette).
After a hotly contested regular season, the first round of the Big Ten playoffs begins this week and it’s nearly impossible to predict who will advance to the semifinals.
First-place Minnesota gets a first-round bye. The quarterfinal best-of-three series has No. 7 Wisconsin at No. 2 Michigan, No. 6 Penn State at No. 3 Ohio State and No. 5 Michigan State at No. 4 Notre Dame.
And some of that, hockey fans, is screwy – not in any way underhanded or unfair, nor is there an implication here that teams don’t deserve to be exactly where they are right now
It was just a weird season.
There are two outliers to the weirdness that was the Big Ten regular season: Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The Golden Gophers have been at the top of the Big Ten standings for so long that it would be easy to forget that they didn’t start the season that way. Minnesota split its opening B1G series with Ohio State (Oct. 28-29) and entered the standings in fourth place.
After eight conference games had been played, Minnesota ascended to first place after a road sweep of Michigan Nov. 17-18. The Gophers never relinquished that position for the remainder of the season.
Wisconsin, on the other hand, never climbed out of last place. The Badgers earned their first conference win in their seventh game of the season, a 6-3 win over Michigan Dec. 2.
The Badgers finish the regular season with just six wins, having beaten each of their Big Ten opponents once this season.
In retrospect, Minnesota and Wisconsin seem to have been locked in place for the entirety of the season. Everyone else, though – well, that’s a ride.
There isn’t enough time to tell the stories of every team between Minnesota and Wisconsin in the Big Ten standings, but there are a couple of ways to illustrate the immense weirdness of this season.
First is this, the standings after six of the league’s teams had played four conference games. There are three teams at or near the top with three wins and a loss apiece with Michigan State in the middle of the standings and both Michigan and Notre Dame floating just above Wisconsin.
The crazy crowding for conference points began early but note the overall records. Early on, the Big Ten was establishing itself as a dominant conference.
Here are the standings after the third weekend in January. Everyone but Michigan and Wisconsin had played 16 games.
Minnesota is clearly running away with things at that point, two teams are 10 points behind and tied for second, and there are nine points – three games – separating those two teams with sixth-place Michigan.
The Fighting Irish and the Wolverines are still hovering above last-place Wisconsin at that point. Granted, the Fighting Irish and Wolverines had distanced themselves from last place, but they hadn’t distanced themselves from finishing higher than fifth place a month before the end of the season.
A quick glance to the side of those standings, too, shows how successful four teams – Minnesota, Michigan, Penn State, Ohio State – were in nonconference play. Each remains among the top 10 in the PairWise Rankings heading into this weekend.
The second way to illustrate the craziness of this season is to look at how Michigan finished second. After having played 14 games, the Wolverines were in sixth place with 18 points.
A week later, Michigan was tied for fifth place with Michigan State, each with 24 points. Michigan was still, though, only position above last-place Wisconsin.
On week later, both Michigan and Michigan State had played themselves into a four-way points tie with Ohio State and Penn State – each in second place, each with 30 points.
A week later – mid-February, mind you – the Wolverines had sole possession of second place after sweeping Michigan State. The Wolverines entered last weekend tied with Ohio State for second place and managed to hold onto sole possession of second at the end of the season with 38 points, two ahead of the Buckeyes.
The Wolverines finished in second despite going 0-2-2 in their last four games of the season, playing against two of the teams chasing them most ardently, Ohio State and Notre Dame. And they lost shootouts to each team, too.
That’s just one wild ride. Consider that both Michigan and Notre Dame remained below home-ice contention for most of the season and that they’re both hosting first-round playoff series. Also consider the weirdness of Penn State – No. 9 in the PWR – traveling in the first round.
My favorite feel-good oddity of the season: Michigan State’s single week at the top of the Big Ten standings, when the Spartans had gone 4-1-1 with an extra shootout point after six games.
What forces in the universe must be aligned for each series this weekend to finish in a two-game, home-team sweep? I have neither patience for math, nor the astrology chops to handle that kind of calculation.
Here’s a look at the quarterfinal matches.
No. 7 Wisconsin at No. 2 Michigan
Wisconsin comes into this series on a high note, having defeated Penn State 2-1 on the road in their final game of the regular season. The Badgers went 3-5-0 in February, but they’ve split each of their last three series.
Michigan was 4-2-2 in February, but the four wins were the first four games of the month. The Wolverines were 0-2-2 in their last four, with their last regular-season game an overtime home loss to Notre Dame.
Michigan leads this all-time series 86-67-14 and is 12-4-0 against Wisconsin in regular-season play for the last four seasons. This year, the Wolverines have won three straight against the Badgers after Wisconsin took the first contest 6-3 (Dec. 2).
Here are some quick comparative stats.
Scoring offense: Wisconsin, 2.50 goals per game (tied 44th nationally); Michigan, 3.88 (fifth)
Scoring defense: Wisconsin, 3.32 goals allowed per game (tied 53rd); Michigan 3.12 (42nd)
Power play: Wisconsin, 21.5% (23rd); Michigan 23.2% (16th)
Top scorer: Wisconsin, freshman Cruz Lucious (10-21—31); Michigan, freshman Adam Fantilli (20-30—50)
Top goal scorer: Wisconsin, senior Brock Caufield (11); Michigan, freshman Adam Fantilli (20)
Goaltender: Wisconsin, senior Jared Moe (.901 SV%, 3.16 GAA); Michigan, junior Erik Portillo (.908 SV%, 3.01 GAA)
The last time these two teams met in the Big Ten playoffs in 2019, the Badgers had home ice and they swept their quarterfinal series against the Wolverines, 5-4 and 4-3.
Wisconsin hasn’t taken two games in a weekend this season.
Last year, the Wolverines went 4-0 in the Big Ten playoffs to capture their second championship. Michigan has advanced to the conference title game three times.
No. 6 Penn State at No. No. 3 Ohio State
Neither of these teams had the February they wanted to, beginning with the opening weekend of the month when they split against each other in Columbus. The Nittany Lions scored six goals that weekend to the Buckeyes’ seven.
Penn State played six games last month, going 3-3-0 for the stretch and finishing the regular season with a 2-1 home loss to Wisconsin last weekend.
The Buckeyes were 2-4-2 in February, having dropped the final two games of the season to Minnesota on the road last weekend, a series in which the Gophers outscored the Buckeyes 9-2.
Ohio State leads this series 23-17-4 all time with a 12-10-2 edge in Columbus. The teams split the season series this year, with each taking a game in the other’s barn. Ohio State is 7-5-2 against Penn State in the last four seasons.
Here are some quick comparative stats.
Scoring offense: Penn State, 3.41 goals per game, 10th nationally); Ohio State, 3.24, (tied 14th)
Scoring defense: Penn State, 2.79 (28th); Ohio State (2.50, tied 15th)
Power play: Penn State, 15.5% (50th); Ohio State, 22.1% (21st)
Penalty kill: Penn State, 74.7% (58th); Ohio State, 89.4% (first)
Top scorer: Penn State, seniors Kevin Wall (14-13—27) and Ture Linden (10-17—27); Ohio State, freshman Stephen Halliday (8-26—34)
Top goal scorer: Penn State, senior Kevin Wall (14); Ohio State, freshman David Burnside (13)
Goaltender: Penn State, junior Liam Souliere (.910 SV%), 2.53 GAA); Ohio State, sophomore Jakub Dobes (.916 SV%, 2.35 GAA)
Last year, Penn State ended Ohio State’s season when the Nittany Lions took the playoff quarterfinal series in Columbus. The Buckeyes won the first game 4-3, but Penn State took the next two, 3-2 and 2-1.
Penn State has a seven-year Big Ten semifinal streak on the line this weekend, and the Nittany Lions have advanced to the semifinals in eight of the conference’s nine seasons. The Nittany Lions haven’t lost a best-of-three quarterfinal series since the Big Ten adopted the current playoff format in 2018.
Ohio State is one of two Big Ten teams looking to capture its first-ever B1G conference championship.
No. 5 Michigan State at No. 4 Notre Dame
For the Spartans, the regular season ended two weeks ago with a split series at Wisconsin. The weekend resulted in a pair of 6-2 games and Michigan State on the losing end of their last regular-season game of the season. The Spartans went 3-3-0 in February, beginning with a weekend sweep of Notre Dame.
The Fighting Irish also played six games in February, fighting their way to home ice with a record of 2-2-2 and important shootout extra points against Ohio State and Michigan. The Irish ended their regular season on a very high note, an overtime road win against the Wolverines.
Michigan State leads this all-time series 68-57-16, but Notre Dame hold a 32-26-11 home advantage. In the last four years, the teams are even at 6-6-4. This season, Michigan State was 2-1-1 against Notre Dame.
Here are some quick comparative stats.
Scoring offense: Michigan State, 2.88 goals per game (27th nationally); Notre Dame, 2.35 (tied 52nd)
Goaltender: Michigan State, Dylan St. Cyr (.914 SV%, 2.83 GAA); Notre Dame, senior Ryan Bischel (.932 SV%, 2.39 GAA)
The Irish have more than advancement to the semifinals riding on this series. Currently, Notre Dame sits at No. 14 in the PairWise Rankings, and losses to Michigan State may end the season for good for the Irish.
Notre Dame captured their only Big Ten tournament championship the season they joined the league (2017-18).
The Spartans are looking for their first-ever Big Ten playoff win, having gone 0-13-0 since the league’s first season. Michigan State is one of two teams still in the hunt for a B1G conference playoff title.
Minnesota’s Taylor Heise won the 2022 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award (photo: Wesley Dean).
The 10 finalists for the 2023 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award were unveiled Thursday.
The honor, which was first presented in 1998, is given annually to the top player in NCAA Division I women’s hockey.
The finalists (in alphabetical order) are as follows:
Pia Dukaric, Goaltender, Sophomore, Yale, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Jennifer Gardiner, Forward, Senior, Ohio State, Surrey, B.C.
Taylor Heise, Forward, Fifth Year, Minnesota, Lake City, Minn.
Sophie Jaques, Defender, Graduate, Ohio State, Toronto, Ontario
Alina Mueller, Forward, Graduate, Northeastern, Winterthur, Switzerland
Maureen Murphy, Forward, Graduate, Northeastern Buffalo, N.Y.
Gwyneth Philips, Goaltender, Senior, Northeastern, Athens, Ohio
Danielle Serdachny, Forward, Senior, Colgate Edmonton, Alberta
Kiara Zanon, Forward, Junior, Penn State, Fairport, N.Y.
Grace Zumwinkle, Forward, Fifth Year, Minnesota, Excelsior, Minn.
The selection process commenced in early February when NCAA Division I women’s hockey coaches were asked to nominate players for the award. Players who were nominated by multiple coaches were then placed on an official ballot, which was returned to the coaches to vote for the ten finalists. The three finalists, including the recipient of the 2023 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, will be chosen by a 13-person selection committee made up of NCAA Division I women’s hockey coaches, representatives of print and broadcast media, and an at-large member and representative of USA Hockey, the national governing body for the sport of ice hockey in the United States.
The top-three finalists are expected to be announced on Wednesday, March 8.
The 2023 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award show will be broadcast live from the AMSOIL Arena ticket lobby on Saturday, March 18, in Duluth, Minn., as part of Saturday at the NCAA Women’s Frozen Four. Fans are encouraged to attend with doors opening at 11 a.m. CT and the live 30-minute television show beginning promptly at 11:30 a.m. CT. The three finalists will be on hand, in addition to Frozen Four team participants, as the 26th winner of the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award will be revealed. NHL Network’s Siera Santos will host the show and Serena Veazey, daughter of the late Patty Kazmaier, is expected to be in attendance as well. The event is free of charge and light refreshments will be available.
Following the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award show, fans will have a chance to get autographs from Olympic gold medalists Hilary Knight, Maddie Rooney and AJ Mleczko.
An award of the USA Hockey Foundation, the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award is annually presented to the top player in NCAA Division I women’s ice hockey. Selection criteria includes outstanding individual and team skills, sportsmanship, performance in the clutch, personal character, competitiveness and a love of hockey. Consideration is also given to academic achievement and civic involvement. Full list of previous honorees.
The Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award is named in honor of the late Patty Kazmaier, who was a four-year varsity letter-winner and All-Ivy League defenseman at Princeton University from 1981-86. An accomplished athlete who helped lead the Tigers to the Ivy League championship in three consecutive seasons (1981-84), Patty Kazmaier-Sandt died Feb. 15, 1990, at the age of 28 following a long struggle with a rare blood disease.
Northeastern graduate forward Alina Mueller is now a three-time Hockey East player of the year (photo: Jim Pierce).
Hockey East has announced that Northeastern graduate forward Alina Mueller has been awarded the 2023 Cammi Granato Award as conference player of the year.
It is the third time Mueller has been so honored, tying Kelli Stack’s record during her tenure with Boston College.
Alongside Mueller, Northeastern’s Dave Flint is coach of the year for the fifth time in his career, and Vermont forward Lara Beecher has been honored as rookie of the year.
Mueller rewrote the record books during 2022-23, leading the league with 40 points on 15 goals and 25 assists in 27 conference games to become Hockey East’s all-time leading scorer at 176 points and all-time assists leader with 108. Her 25 helpers tied for eighth-most in a single season in Hockey East history. No player scored more game-winning goals in Hockey East play than Mueller’s six, helping Northeastern to its fifth regular season crown. Overall, Mueller’s 55 points and nine game-winning goals are the most of any league player. She finished with a plus-43 on-ice rating and won 55.7 percent of her faceoffs.
Last week, Mueller was named as the lone unanimous selection to the All-Hockey East First Team and as the runner-up for the three stars award. In the Hockey East quarterfinals, she became the all-time career tournament points leader (30) with a three-goal, two-assist performance. Mueller is tied with Kendall Coyne for Northeastern’s career points record, sitting at 249 overall points. She was also named Hockey East player of the week four times in 2022-23 and Hockey East player of the month for February.
Beecher tied for the lead among all Hockey East rookies with 18 points in league play, leading the way with eight goals and 0.67 points per game. Three of her tallies came on the power play while she posted a plus-18 on-ice rating. Her 44 shots were the eighth most by a first-year player.
Overall, Beecher compiled 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) in 34 outings. She earned rookie of the month status in January when she scored four goals and two assists to solidify the Catamounts’ top-15 ranking in the country and second place position in Hockey East. She also picked up rookie of the week accolades on Oct. 17 after a goal and two assists for her first career multi-point game in the Catamounts’ 6-1 win over then-No. 14 UConn.
Flint has led the Huskies to a 31-2-1 overall record and a 24-2-1 mark in Hockey East play to capture their fifth straight regular-season crown. Under Flint, the Huskies played staunch defense, allowing just 23 goals in 27 games (0.85 goals per game) while scoring 100 (3.70.) His team’s power play converted at a league-best 22.3 percent success rate while stifling opponents’ opportunities 91.5 percent of the time, second-best in Hockey East.
Yale’s Pia Dukaric, NU’s Gwyneth Philips, and UMD’s Emma Soderberg are in the running for this year’s Women’s Hockey Goalie of the Year honors (photos: Yale Athletics. Northeastern Athletics, Minnesota Duluth Athletics).
The Women’s Hockey Commissioners Association has announced the three finalists for the Women’s Hockey Goalie of the Year Award.
The finalists are Yale’s Pia Dukaric, Northeastern’s Gwyneth Philips, and Minnesota Duluth’s Emma Soderberg. Dukaric is a sophomore, Philips is a senior and Soderberg is a graduate student.
Voting was carried out by a panel of coaches, administrators and members of the media from across the country.
The three finalists have an international flair as Dukaric is from Slovenia, Soderberg is from Sweden, and Philips, the only American finalist, is from Ohio.
All three finalists are preparing for their conference semifinals: Philips and NU host Boston College on Wednesday evening, Dukaric and Yale host Clarkson on Friday afternoon, and Soderberg and UMD play Ohio State at Minnesota on Friday afternoon as well.
The winner will be announced on March 16, on the eve of this year’s Frozen Four, hosted by Minnesota Duluth.
The Women’s Hockey Goalie of the Year Award was established in 2021 and Northeastern’s Aerin Frankel captured both the 2021 and 2022 awards.
Maine players celebrate a goal in the Black Bears’ 2-1 win over Boston College on Feb. 25 (photo: Maine Athletics).
Hockey East commissioner Steve Metcalf acknowledges there are pros and cons to running a league known for parity.
Pros: Hockey East is widely acknowledged as an “any given night” league where there’s little surprise when a team low in the standings beats a contender. See: The second-half resurgences of Maine and New Hampshire, which are a combined 16-7-5 since the calendar turned to 2023.
Cons: With such parity comes a lot of teams canceling each other out, which has led to a concerning situation for the third-year Hockey East commissioner: With one weekend to go in the regular season, it is plausible — though certainty not inevitable — that the league will be represented by only one team in the upcoming NCAA tournament.
“We have one team in, two is a distinct possibility, and I think three is the absolute most,” Metcalf said. “In the two- and three- scenarios, we need help from others.”
With only Boston University ranked in the top 16 of the PairWise — which the NCAA selection committee uses to decide which teams get at-large bids to the tournament — any Hockey East team to fall short of a conference tournament championship could very well find themselves on the outside looking in when the NCAA tourney bracket is announced on March 19. That includes Merrimack, Northeastern and Connecticut, three squads with winning records which have been consistently ranked in this year’s USCHO.com men’s D-I poll.
Six of Hockey East’s 11 teams have been nationally ranked at some point this season. Metcalf pointed to a 17-game stretch of non-conference games from late December to mid-January where Hockey East teams fared poorly as a major factor in where the league finds itself at this point.
“Eight of our 11 teams had a result that surely they’d like to do over, and some had multiple,” Metcalf said. “Those games were a killer for us.”
The Terriers are currently ranked No. 6 in the PairWise and, barring a disastrous final regular-season weekend and early exit from the conference tourney, should find themselves among the field of 16 NCAA tourney teams regardless of how they perform in the single-elimination Hockey East tournament, which starts next Wednesday (March 8) and concludes March 18 at TD Garden.
“The biggest thing is to continue playing the way we did this weekend,” BU coach Jay Pandolfo said following a weekend sweep at Vermont that snapped a four-game losing streak. “We have to keep building our game and get back to being consistent every night. (We) have enough talent and skill to have a good team. We have to make sure we’re playing consistent hockey.”
Merrimack and Northeastern are tied at No. 17 in the PairWise, putting them right on the bubble. UConn is 19th. All three will have to finish the regular season strong, avoid being bounced early from the Hockey East tournament, and get help in the form of losses by teams ranked ahead of them.
Merrimack coach Scott Borek said his focus is on the Warriors’ regular season finale on Saturday at home vs. Vermont, then they can worry about the postseason. Merrimack has clinched a first-round bye and will host a home quarterfinal game in the Hockey East playoffs on March 11.
“The pressure’s on everybody in the playoffs,” Borek told Mike Machnik, radio voice of the Warriors. “You just have to play. I try to look at it as an opportunity — you have a pretty good team in the playoffs. Last year I was really disappointed with the way our season ended (a 7-2 loss at UMass Lowell in the conference quarterfinals). We didn’t play our best game. I say if we play our best game in the first round of the playoffs, I’ll be happy, and the result will take care of itself.”
The next highest-ranked Hockey East teams in the PairWise — Providence (23rd) and Maine (24th) would have to do the same and get a lot of help. The rest of the league — Boston College (25th), Lowell (27th), Massachusetts (35th), UNH (45th) and UVM (52nd) will certainly have to win the Hockey East tournament to receive the association’s automatic NCAA bid.
“Vermont, Maine and UNH have had unbelievable second halves,” Metcalf said. “They’ve certainly ruined some dreams and aspirations of the teams ahead of them, that’s for sure.”
Quinnipiac goalie Yaniv Perets has been dominant between the pipes this season for the Bobcats (photo: Rob Rasmussen).
Let me first begin by welcoming back USCHO’s long-time bracketologist Jayson Moy and giving him a cap tip/apology as last week his bracket and reasoning were missing because I didn’t check the spam folder in my email and thus never found what he had sent.
This week, without incident, Jayson is back and ready to give you his rationale to accompany mine.
Last week, we had some issues with bracket integrity that were unavoidable because of both the need to avoid conference matchups in the opening round and the desire to protect attendance in Bridgeport by moving Quinnipiac from Allentown and a potential second-round matchup with host Penn State and allowing the Bobcats to play less than 30 miles from campus.
Let’s see how this week plays out.
First, here is Jayson’s rationale and his bracket.
Let me start out by putting everyone into bracket integrity.
That means:
1 Minnesota
8 Penn State
9 Ohio State
16 RIT
2 Quinnipiac
7 Harvard
10 Western Michigan
15 Minnesota State
3 Denver
6 Boston University
11 Michigan Tech
14 Notre Dame
4 Michigan
5 St Cloud
12 Alaska
13 Cornell
Looking at the brackets, let’s start this time by placing teams in regional sites first, without regards to host schools – it will become clear later why I do this.
Fargo
1 Minnesota
8 Penn State
9 Ohio State
16 RIT
Bridgeport
2 Quinnipiac
7 Harvard
10 Western Michigan
15 Minnesota State
Manchester
3 Denver
6 Boston University
11 Michigan Tech
14 Notre Dame
Allentown
4 Michigan
5 St Cloud
12 Alaska
13 Cornell
Now we can take into consideration all of our rules.
Penn State is a host school, and at the same time is in an intra-conference matchup with Ohio State.
We can do one of two things here – move the entire bracket to Allentown and swap, or just move Penn State to the Allentown regional.
As Minnesota is the number one seed, I prefer to move Penn State to Allentown, so I will swap with St Cloud.
Fargo
1 Minnesota
5 St Cloud
9 Ohio State
16 RIT
Bridgeport
2 Quinnipiac
7 Harvard
10 Western Michigan
15 Minnesota State
Manchester
3 Denver
6 Boston University
11 Michigan Tech
14 Notre Dame
Allentown
4 Michigan
8 Penn State
12 Alaska
13 Cornell
There are two things which I might consider doing and that is not having two ECAC teams in Bridgeport and two Big Ten teams in Allentown.
But I don’t want to swap Quinnipiac and Michigan, because Quinnipiac is closest to Bridgeport. I could swap Michigan and Denver though, but that would give me a Michigan-Notre Dame matchup, so I would have to swap the entire matchup of Denver-Notre Dame and Michigan-Cornell. But that gives me two Big Ten teams in Allentown again.
So I don’t make the move.
I could swap Harvard and Boston University. But, do I take the only Hockey East team away from a regional hosted by a Hockey East team?
I don’t think I make the move.
Thus, my bracket this week is:
Fargo, N.D.
1 Minnesota
5 St Cloud
9 Ohio State
16 RIT
Bridgeport, Conn.
2 Quinnipiac
7 Harvard
10 Western Michigan
15 Minnesota State
Manchester, N.H.
3 Denver
6 Boston University
11 Michigan Tech
14 Notre Dame
Allentown, Pa.
4 Michigan
8 Penn State
12 Alaska
13 Cornell
Here’s is Jim’s version of his bracket:
Like Jayson’s I’ll duplicate the first step and simply seed the field based on bracket integrity:
1 Minnesota
8 Penn State
9 Ohio State
16 RIT
2 Quinnipiac
7 Harvard
10 Western Michigan
15 Minnesota State
3 Denver
6 Boston University
11 Michigan Tech
14 Notre Dame
4 Michigan
5 St Cloud
12 Alaska
13 Cornell
Before assigning regions to each bracket, I’m going to eliminate conference matchups in the opening round. We have Penn State vs. Ohio State as the only issues. Penn State is an 8 seed, so it would be ideal to switch them with the 7 seed, Harvard. But that will likely move an eastern team west in a tournament where there aren’t a ton of eastern teams to begin.
So my first switch will be to swap the 9 seed Ohio State and 10 seed Western Michigan.
That gives us the following:
1 Minnesota
8 Penn State
10 Western Michigan
16 RIT
2 Quinnipiac
7 Harvard
9 Penn State
15 Minnesota State
3 Denver
6 Boston University
11 Michigan Tech
14 Notre Dame
4 Michigan
5 St Cloud
12 Alaska
13 Cornell
Now let’s assign the regions based on, first, if any hosts are participating, which is the case for Penn State in Allentown, and then using geographic proximity for the highest seeds.
That would leave us with the following:
Allentown, Pa.
1 Minnesota
8 Penn State
10 Western Michigan
16 RIT
Bridgeport, Conn.
2 Quinnipiac
7 Harvard
9 Ohio State
15 Minnesota State
Fargo, N.D.
3 Denver
6 Boston University
11 Michigan Tech
14 Notre Dame
With that, I’ve found too many things I don’t like. I don’t want Minnesota, the top seed, so far away from campus. I don’t want Boston University, the only Hockey East team, so far away from Manchester. So how can we get Minnesota to Fargo and get BU to Manchester? Well, I like the thought of switch entire first-round matchup locations. Move Minnesota and RIT to Fargo, swapping with Denver and Notre Dame. Then do the same for the BU-Michigan Tech matchup swapping with St. Cloud and Alaska
Allentown, Pa.
3 Denver
8 Penn State
10 Western Michigan
14 Notre Dame
Bridgeport, Conn.
2 Quinnipiac
7 Harvard
9 Ohio State
15 Minnesota State
Fargo, N.D.
1 Minnesota
5 St Cloud
12 Alaska
16 RIT
Manchester, N.H.
4 Michigan
6 Boston University
11 Michigan Tech
13 Cornell
What we’ve done is maintain as much bracket integrity in the opening round while also making sure that all four regions will have the strongest attendance possible. That’s my bracket for the week.
So, in summary:
Jayson’s bracket
Fargo, N.D.
1 Minnesota
5 St Cloud
9 Ohio State
16 RIT
Bridgeport, Conn.
2 Quinnipiac
7 Harvard
10 Western Michigan
15 Minnesota State
Manchester, N.H.
3 Denver
6 Boston University
11 Michigan Tech
14 Notre Dame
Allentown, Pa.
4 Michigan
8 Penn State
12 Alaska
13 Cornell
Jim’s Bracket
Allentown, Pa.
3 Denver
8 Penn State
10 Western Michigan
14 Notre Dame
Bridgeport, Conn.
2 Quinnipiac
7 Harvard
9 Ohio State
15 Minnesota State
Fargo, N.D.
1 Minnesota
5 St Cloud
12 Alaska
16 RIT
Manchester, N.H.
4 Michigan
6 Boston University
11 Michigan Tech
13 Cornell
Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger are joined by Grand Forks Herald hockey writer Brad Elliott Schlossman to look at the NCHC as that league heads into the last weekend before conference playoffs, and at college hockey at large.
This podcast is sponsored by the NCAA Men’s Division I Frozen Four, April 6th and 8th, 2023 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. Secure your seats at NCAA.com/mfrozenfour
Jacob Modry has been a steady force on the Plattsburgh blue line (photo: Gabe Dickens).
The SUNYAC has released its 2023 men’s hockey all-conference and all-rookie teams as nominated and voted on by the conference coaches.
First Team
Nikita Kozyrev, Buffalo State, F, Jr.
Domenic Settimo, Cortland, F, So.
Peter Morgan, Geneseo, F, So.
Matthew Doran, Geneseo, D, Gr.
Jacob Modry, Plattsburgh, D, Sr.
Matt Petizian, Geneseo, G, Sr.
Second Team
Nate Berke, Cortland, F, Jr.
Alex Dicarlo, Oswego, F, Sr.
Bennett Stockdale, Plattsburgh, F, Jr.
Matt Araujo, Plattsburgh, D, Gr.
Jack Ring, Plattsburgh, D, So.
Emil Norrman, Buffalo State, G, Jr.
Third Team
Connor Galloway, Brockport, F, Jr.
Joe Glamos, Buffalo State, F, So.
Shane Bull, Oswego, F, Jr.
Nick Grupp, Cortland, D, Sr.
Ryan Lieth, Potsdam, D, Sr.
Luca Durante, Cortland, G, Sr.
2023 SUNYAC All-Rookie Team
Manny Sanchez, Brockport, F
Aidan Lavalley, Buffalo State, F
Colby Seitz, Cortland, F
Dakota Zarudny, Geneseo, D
Cal Schell, Oswego, G
Eli Shiller, Plattsburgh, G
Kelly Golini has been a season-long standout for Saint Anselm (photo: Saint Anselm Athletics).
The New England Women’s Hockey Alliance announced its major end-of-season awards on Friday and also unveiled its all-NEWHA teams, all-rookie team and all-sportswomanship team.
Saint Anselm’s Kelly Golini was named player of the year and LIU’s Paula Bergström was tabbed as the league’s defender of the year. Golini becomes the first from Saint Anselm to collect Player of the Year since Katy Meehan in 2019.
LIU’s Tindra Holm earned the NEWHA goaltender of the year award, giving LIU their first two major postseason award winners. Alexis Petford from Stonehill was selected as the league’s rookie of the year recipient, finishing alongside Golini as the regular-season point-scoring champion.
Head coach Tara Watchorn from Stonehill was hired to start the Skyhawks women’s hockey program from scratch in May 2021. In the team’s first season of varsity competition, Stonehill earned the No. 3 seed in the upcoming NEWHA postseason, compiling a 14-9-1 record in league play.
First Team
Tindra Holm, LIU – So. – G
Paula Bergström, LIU – Jr. – D
Stefanie Caban, Franklin Pierce – Sr. – D
Kelly Golini, Saint Anselm – Gr. – F
Alexis Petford, Stonehill – Fr. – F
Jeannie Wallner, LIU – So. – F
Second Team
Carissa Mudrak, Saint Michael’s – Jr. – G
Maeve Carey, Stonehill – Fr. – D
Gabrielle Huson, Saint Anselm – Sr. – D
Kelly Solak, Sacred Heart – Gr. – D
Delani MacKay, Sacred Heart – Gr. – F
Natalie Tulchinsky, Saint Anselm – Jr. – F
Tyra Turner, Saint Anselm – So. – F
Carrigan Umpherville, LIU – Sr. – F
All-Rookie Team
Avery Farrell, Franklin Pierce – Fr. – F
Jill Hertl, Franklin Pierce – Fr. – G
Madeleine Noonan, Post – Fr. – F
Brooklyn Pancoast, Saint Anselm – Fr. – F
Alexis Petford, Stonehill – Fr. – F
Sydney Russell, Stonehill – Fr. – D
All-Sportswomanship Team
Jenna Abeyta, Post – Sr. – F
Gabrielle Huson, Saint Anselm – Sr. – D
Natalie Kennedy, Sacred Heart – Sr. – F
Ava Kison, Franklin Pierce – Sr. – F
Jordan Lettiere, Saint Michael’s – Sr. – F
Sarah Rourke, LIU – Jr. – F
Brianna Walkom, Stonehill – Fr. – F
Stevenson’s Liam McCanney is the UCHC’s top player for the 2022-23 season (photo: Sabrina Moran/SKM Photography).
The UCHC has announced its 2022-23 men’s hockey award winners, as well as two All-UCHC teams and an all-rookie team.
2022-23 UCHC Men’s Hockey Award Winners
Player of the Year: Liam McCanney, Stevenson
Rookie of the Year: Caden Smith, Chatham
Goaltender of the Year: Ryan Kenny, Stevenson
Defensive Player of the Year: Jayson Dobay, Utica
Coach of the Year: Gary Heenan, Utica
First Team All-UCHC
Forward: Henry McKinney, Nazareth
Forward: Liam McCanney, Stevenson
Forward: Remy Parker, Utica
Defense: Justin Allen, Utica
Defense: Jayson Dobay, Utica
Goaltender: Ryan Kenny, Stevenson
Goaltender: Bryan Landsberger, Utica
Second Team All-UCHC
Forward: Austin Master, Stevenson
Forward: Mic Curran, Utica
Forward: Dante Zapata, Utica
Defense: Zack Conner, Chatham
Defense: Nick Prestia, Manhattanville
Defense: Kimball Johnson, Utica
All-Rookie Team
Forward: Drew Ianucci, Arcadia
Forward: Caden Smith, Chatham
Forward: Logan Tobias, Nazareth
Defense: Matthew Davies, Alvernia
Defense: Aidan McDowell, Stevenson
Goaltender: Sebastian Woods, Manhattanville
Bowling Green is hoping for scenes like this in the upcoming series against Ferris State (photo: Mansoor Ahmad/Minnesota State Athletics).
After a CCHA campaign unlike any other came down to, quite literally, the final minute and a half of the regular season, it’s almost hard to believe the playoffs are starting this weekend.
Minnesota State ended up winning the MacNaughton Cup – their sixth in a row – with just a tiny bit of drama and some controversy (Michigan Tech fans are still talking about the goal that was disallowed due to goaltender interference).
However, it was easy to forget following that unforgettable finale that the season’s not over and there’s still plenty to play for.
Michigan Tech, despite losing then CCHA title, is in very good shape to make a return to the NCAA tournament, as they are up to No. 11 in the Pairwise rankings and, according to PlayoffStatus.com, have a 96 percent chance of making it.
Minnesota State is a different story. Even though they won the conference championship, they’re firmly on the bubble at No. 15. They can still make the tournament as an at-large, but winning the Mason Cup is the only sure-fire way for the Mavs to have a chance at a third consecutive Frozen Four.
As for the rest of the CCHA: It’s Mason Cup or bust. Nobody aside from Tech or MSU are higher than 29th.
Here’s a little bit of information on all four quarterfinal matchups, plus one reporters’ opinion on how each series will go.
No. 1 Minnesota State vs. No. 8 Lake Superior State
After some early-season struggles – including home sweeps at the hands of both Ferris State and Bemidji State before Christmas break – Minnesota State didn’t look like a championship-caliber squad.
So, despite the fact that they’d won five of them in a row previously, a sixth looked in the balance at Christmas.
But MSU (21-12-1, 16-9-1 CCHA) came back from the break refocused and went 11-3 down the stretch in 2023 – including the dramatic winner-take-all season finale with Michigan Tech on Saturday – to clinch their sixth straight MacNaughton Cup as well as home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.
“You feel for the guys in the locker room, because I’m sure we’ve all been questioned by a lot of people. We’ve had some struggles here at home,” MSU head coach Mike Hastings said following Saturday night’s game. “Last night we didn’t get it done, and tonight we do. So I’m happy for these guys, because we’ve had some moments at our home rink this year that have been learning experiences. I’m excited for guys to get through and finding a way to get the night done.”
The Mavericks will turn their attention to a first-round matchup with eighth-seeded Lake Superior State. The Lakers (9-23-2, 8-17-1) have had their own share of struggles this season but seem to be playing their best hockey right now. They went 4-2-0 in the month of February and are coming off a road sweep of Ferris State.
JACK’S PICK: Mavericks sweep. Even despite Minnesota State’s aforementioned struggles at home and Lake State’s recent run of form, it’s hard to see the Mavericks losing to the Lakers at all this weekend. MSU just has too much momentum, and what’s more, the Mavericks know they’re a NCAA bubble team right now and that every win counts.
No. 2 Michigan Tech vs. No. 7 St. Thomas
Michigan Tech appeared to be 91 seconds from claiming at least a share of the MacNaughton Cup title last weekend against Minnesota State.
The Huskies (22-9-4, 15-7-4) beat MSU on Friday 2-0 behind yet another shutout from Blake Pietila but found themselves down 2-1 late in the third period Saturday when Ryland Mosley pounced on a loose puck and powered it past Mavericks goalie Keenan Rancier.
The Huskies – who only needed to force overtime to clinch their share of the league title – were elated. But the goal was eventually called back. Minnesota State’s Hastings opted to use his coaches’ challenge and officials ruled that the Huskies committed goaltender interference on the play.
The Huskies did tie it again with a goal that counted – freshman Kyle Kukkonen managed to score shorthanded with 65 seconds to go to briefly quiet the Mankato crowd – but the Mavericks scored on the power play seconds later to go up 3-2 then holding as the seconds ticked down with an empty net to deny the Huskies their title hopes.
Tech’s reward? The No. 2 seed and a home series with St. Thomas (11-21-2, 10-14-2).
“They’re obviously one of the top teams in the country for a reason, and [Pietila’s] a big part of that,” Tommies head coach Rico Blasi said of his team’s task this weekend. “You know we got to go and play, and at this time of the year you’re gonna get everybody’s best. As I told the guys earlier you know let’s talk about the regular season and how we played in the last 20 games. I’m extremely proud of our progress and how we’ve grown as a team.”
The Tommies are 9-9-2 in those last 20 games, including a 3-2 win in Houghton back in January.
The Huskies, though, have been the model of consistency all season, and a big part of that is because of Pietila. Tech’s Mike Richter Award semifinalist (and likely Hobey Baker candidate) has a 1.95 overall goals against average, a .930 save percentage and a nation-leading nine shutouts, including one against St. Thomas that same weekend in January.
“I don’t know if we expect it, but we’ve come to appreciate it,” Michigan Tech head coach Joe Shawhan said after Friday’s 2-0 shutout over Minnesota State of Pietila’s performances this season. “Every chance I have to see him play is a life experience for me. I enjoy everything about him.”
JACK’S PICK: Huskies in three. Despite losing the CCHA regular-season title to Minnesota State, I think Michigan Tech is the best team in the league right now. That being said, the difference this year between the 1-8 matchup and the 2-7 matchup is huge. St. Thomas has a knack for going into hostile environments and stealing wins this season, and they’ve already done it once in Houghton. I think Tech ultimately prevails, but not before the Tommies make them sweat it out with a close win on Saturday.
No. 3 Bowling Green vs. No. 6 Ferris State
A pair of teams who were swept this past weekend are looking for the upper hand.
BG (15-17-2, 12-12-2) has been in third place for most of the past month and have known more or less where they were going to be. Ferris, meanwhile, had the hope to clinch home ice as recently as three weeks ago. However, the Bulldogs (12-18-4, 9-14-3) have lost four straight and were unable to pass NMU or Bemidji.
“Getting home ice was the goal, so we’re happy that we accomplished that, and even though we didn’t have the win loss record we wanted, at the end of the day finishing third place is a positive for our group and being able to play a first round series at Slater Family Arena is a really good, thing so we’re excited about that,” BG head coach Ty Eigner said.
The Falcons struggled a bit in the month of February, winning just once on the road at Michigan Tech. Despite that, Eigner said he likes how BG played overall in the second half of the season.
“We’ve played a bunch of close games, and you know, we feel like this second half has been good preparation for the playoffs because of those close games and hard-fought series, and that’s what the playoffs are going to be,” Eigner said. “We’re disappointed with where we ended up in terms of points in our league because we felt like we left some points on the table the last four or five weeks, but it wasn’t because we didn’t play hard or weren’t in games. We’ve been in games; we just haven’t found a way to either finish a game off or continue the momentum.”
Ferris did take five points from Bowling Green when the two teams met in February in Ohio but lost out at their chance to host a playoff series when they were swept at Northern Michigan two weekends ago. NMU outscored the Bulldogs 17-5.
JACK’S PICK: Falcons in three. I know Ferris took eight points from the season series, so I don’t really have a logical reason for this pick aside from the fact that BG’s home ice advantage is huge. Also, they have Hobey Baker candidate Austen Swankler. The Bulldogs managed to shut him down earlier in the month but I think he carries the Falcons to the series win.
No. 4 Northern Michigan vs. No. 5 Bemidji State
The Wildcats got some help from St. Thomas this weekend to ensure the fact that they are hosting Bemidji State in Marquette and not on the road in Northern Minnesota.
NMU (18-16-0, 14-12-0) came into the weekend three points behind the Beavers (14-15-5, 12-11-3) in the race for the final home playoff spot. Because the Wildcats owned the regular-season tiebreaker, all they needed was to finish with the same number of points as the Beavers to avoid getting on another bus.
The Wildcats did their part, sweeping Bowling Green on the road in a pair of 4-2 comeback victories. And because St. Thomas topped the Beavers 3-1 on Friday night in the Twin Cities, the two teams will face off in the Upper Peninsula.
The Beavers have struggled since the calendar turned to 2023 – they were on top of the CCHA at the break but went just 5-10-1 since. NMU, on the other hand, comes into the postseason on a four-game win streak and has scored 25 goals in that span. They had swept Ferris State 9-2 and 8-3 the previous weekend.
“I thought the Ferris State weekend was important for us to finally unleash a little bit of offense, because then there’s some validation to what you’re trying to do,” NMU head coach Grant Potulny said in his weekly press conference on Tuesday. “I think we’ve been getting better every weekend and we didn’t get the results early that we wanted, but we’re getting them now.”
Although the teams split their regular-season series, with each team winning one at home and one on the road, the Wildcats won the tiebreaker with the Beavers by having more regulation wins (11) than BSU (nine).
JACK’S PICK: Wildcats in three. This one is truly a coin flip, so I went with the home team. Also, the Beavers are banged-up – in Saturday’s game at St. Thomas they skated with eight defensemen. Maybe a healthy BSU squad wins this, but for now this is my snap decision.
Colorado College’s Matthew Gleason and Denver’s Connor Caponi play at Ball Arena back on Jan. 27 (photo: Casey B. Gibson).
Denver’s two national championships in the NCHC era came in 2017 and 2022, when the Pioneers also won their conference’s regular-season championship trophy, the Penrose Cup.
They clinched that again last weekend at eighth-ranked Western Michigan. Third-ranked Denver will feel its job this season is only a third of the way done — there’s still the NCHC playoff title and a potential 10th NCAA championship in program history up for grabs — but more and more, this season’s Pioneers are showing that they thrive under pressure.
Such was the case when Denver beat Western Michigan twice by scoring in bunches. Four unanswered goals Friday in Denver’s 5-2 win saw the Pioneers overcome a 2-1 first-intermission deficit. The following night, when WMU’s Lawson Ice Arena held its biggest crowd in 11 years, three unanswered goals from as many players put the Pioneers over the top in a 3-1 victory.
Massimo Rizzo and Carter Mazur’s second goals of the weekend meant plenty Saturday, as did Mike Benning’s two-goal performance Friday. Retaining the Penrose Cup in such a hostile atmosphere, though, made the weekend that much more special. Ask Denver coach David Carle, and he’ll say the Lawson Lunatics played quite the supporting role.
“Western’s student section is pretty ruthless, but it’s a lot of fun to be a part of,” Carle said. “They’re very creative, and it’s one of the best environments in college hockey, and to go there and embrace that experience, our guys did a really nice job of it.
“We played two solid road games and hit different levels of adversity in both games, and for the most part kept our noses down, kept working and got our way through it.”
Denver’s series at Western promised to be a spectacle, with the country’s respective seventh and fourth-best offenses meeting. The Pioneers shined brightest, though, and they’ve been doing that a lot lately. Denver has scored at least three goals in each of the Pioneers’ last seven games, six of which DU won.
“A lot was made of all the people we lost up front after last season,” Carle said. “We lost six of our top nine (forwards) and had a lot of new people coming in, but from Day 1, the guys have had a real open mind to understanding that it was going to take some time for the offensive chemistry to develop.
“We’ve played a lot of different line combinations as we’ve tried to sort through where chemistry is, and who plays best with who, and I give the guys a lot of credit for not getting frustrated or down on it earlier in the year. We’re kind of out the other side of that, and we’ve shown confidence we can score. Our defensive game has generally been there all season long, but now we have an ability through that chemistry and through that work to extend leads and put some teams away.”
That should put the Pioneers in good stead as the home stretch continues. The Penrose is a nice, chunky trophy to win, but Carle is keeping his team’s focus on what’s still ahead.
“We certainly came into the year with very high expectations for our group, and those expectations haven’t changed,” Carle said. “You want to learn how to win big trophies, and the selflessness we played with and sticking to our process through both games last weekend gave us an opportunity to win a big trophy, and certainly our goal is to replicate that effort as the most fun time of year approaches us with playoffs and more big trophies on the line.”
And there’s no time to let up, including here in the final week of the regular season. One of Denver’s objectives for the season is already taken care of, but it should be easy for the Pioneers to get geed up for their home-and-home series this Friday and Saturday against in-state rival Colorado College.
Twenty-five standings points separate the teams, and Denver will be favored both nights. But the Pioneers know better than to take anything for granted when Gold Pan rivalry games come around, now or ever.
“There’s still lots on the line in the national picture for us, and you want to be playing well going into playoff hockey,” Carle said. “We know the challenge CC presents, and we’ve played them twice here in the second half.
“They’re a very good team, and we know they’re going to give us their best, so we need to be prepared with ours.”
Army West Point goalie Gavin Abric has been stellar in net this season for the Black Knights (photo: Army Athletics).
When the dust settled on the 2022-23 Atlantic Hockey regular season, no tiebreakers were necessary for determining the final standings/seedings, as each team ended with a unique point total.
The end result:
1. Rochester Institute of Technology
2. American International
3. Sacred Heart
4. Canisius
5. Army West Point
6. Niagara
7. Holy Cross
8. Mercyhurst
9. Bentley
10. Air Force
That means the Atlantic Hockey tournament looks like this:
Quarterfinal Round
Best-of-three series
March 3-5
No. 8 Mercyhurst at No. 1 RIT
No. 7 Holy Cross at No. 2 AIC
No. 6 Niagara at No. 3 Sacred Heart
No. 5 Army West Point at No. 4 Canisius
Semifinal Round
March 10-12
Lowest surviving seed at highest surviving seed
Second-lowest surviving seed at second-highest surviving seed
Championship
March 18
Lowest surviving seed at highest surviving seed
There are major differences in the tournament structure compared to past years:
1. Only the top eight seeds qualify for postseason play.
2. All games will be played on-campus.
3. The semifinals will be a best-of-three series played the week before the championship game instead of a single game played the day before the championship game.
Predictions vs. reality
It’s been a yearly tradition here to take a look at how the coaches and yours truly picked the final standings at the start of the season. The coaches vote in a preseason poll, and I vote in a poll of one to determine USCHO’s picks.
How’d we do?
Observations:
– Air Force had the biggest deviation from expectations, picked to finish third but ending up in 10th.
– RIT, Niagara and Holy Cross finished significantly higher (3-4 places) than they were picked.
– The coaches did a slightly better job than me, off by a total of 22 positions. I was off by 25.
Previewing the quarterfinals
No. 8 Mercyhurst at No. 1 RIT
The Tigers practically went wire-to-wire, and it can be said that RIT won the regular season title way back in November with back-to-back sweeps of Sacred Heart and AIC, the two teams that would chase the Tigers for the rest of the season.
A sweep at Arizona State on Jan 20-21 improved RIT’s record to 17-6-1 and had the Tigers In the conversation for an at-large NCAA bid, But since then, RIT has come down to earth a bit at 5-5, closing out the season with a sweep of last-place Air Force.
The Lakers had a nice streak going before the holidays going 5-1. But since the calendar turned, Mercyhurst is 5-9-1 including a loss to Niagara in the final game of the regular season that kept the Lakers in eighth place.
The teams met twice during the regular season, with RIT winning in regulation and Mercyhurst prevailing in a shootout.
No. 7 Holy Cross at No. 2 AIC
Picked to finish last, Holy Cross briefly held on to the fourth seed before slipping in their final games, suffering a sweep at the hands of Canisius and falling to seventh.
AIC goes into the postseason unbeaten in its past five games, including taking five of six points from Sacred Heart the final weekend of the regular season and vaulting the Yellow Jackets into sole possession of second.
The teams split their two meetings during the regular season.
No. 6 Niagara at No. 3 Sacred Heart
Coming off a sweep of RIT on Feb, 9-11, Niagara was in the hunt for home ice. But the Purple Eagles went 1-3 down the stretch to finish sixth.
Sacred Heart was in second place for most of the season, but was caught and passed by AIC the final weekend of the regular season.
This will be Niagara’s first visit to the Martire Family Arena, which opened in January. The teams split a series at Niagara back in October.
No. 5 Army West Point at No. 4 Canisius
After Holy Cross stumbled down the stretch, the fourth and final home ice spot was Army’s to lose on the final day of the regular season, and unfortunately for the Black Knights, that’s what happened. A 5-4 overtime loss to Bentley opened the door for Canisius, and the Golden Griffins will host.
The Black Knights are hard to sweep, having it happen just twice this season in conference play.
Canisius comes into the postseason 7-2 in its last nine games, and was 2-1-1 this season against Army.
Awards season
It’s almost that time of the year when the league hands out awards and announces its all-league and all-rookie teams. We’ll be handing out our kudos as well over our final three columns of the season.
Let’s start with the rookies. He are our picks:
F: Max Itagaki, Army West Point
F: Marcus Joughin, Sacred Heart
F: Nicholas Niemo, Bentley
D: John Driscoll, Army West Point
D: Chris Hedden, Air Force
G: Connor Hadley, Bentley
Check back in next time for the all-conference teams.
Penn State’s Kiara Zanon totaled 25 goals and 48 points in 36 games this season (photo: Penn State Athletics).
College Hockey America has announced the 2022-23 All-CHA teams and CHA All-Rookie Team.
Mercyhurst has the most representation in the All-CHA First, Second and All-Rookie teams with six players. Penn State is second with five players, Syracuse has three and RIT and Lindenwood each have one player represented.
The All-CHA First Team forwards consist of two Penn State teammates in junior Kiara Zanon and freshman Tessa Janecke. They are joined by Lindenwood sophomore Morgan Neitzke. The defensemen are Syracuse senior Mae Batherson and Penn State senior Izzy Heminger. Mercyhurst senior Ena Nystrøm was selected as the All-CHA First Team goaltender.
Mercyhurst’s top forward line of junior Sara Boucher, freshman Thea Johansson and sophomore Vanessa Upson take home All-CHA Second Team honors. The defensemen are Mercyhurst sophomore Sydney Pedersen and Penn State junior Lyndie Lobdell. RIT sophomore netminder Sarah Coe is the Second Team goaltender.
The forwards on the CHA All-Rookie team include Janecke, Johansson and Syracuse’s Rhéa Hicks. Defensively, the All-Rookie team includes Penn State’s Kendall Butze, Mercyhurst’s Megan McKay and Syracuse’s Maya D’Arcy.
Drew Commesso stopped all 23 shots he faced to backstop Boston University to a 3-0 win at Vermont last Saturday night (photo: Kyle Prudhomme).
Each week during the season, we look at the big events and big games around Division I men’s college hockey in Tuesday Morning Quarterback.
Jim: Well, Ed, I think it’s safe to say that this season is in its waning days.
Four leagues have completely finished play – the CCHA, ECAC, Atlantic Hockey and Big Ten – and a fifth, the NCHC, has already crowned its champion (congratulations, Denver, for a second straight year).
Minnesota State also won the CCHA regular-season title for a sixth year in a row.
And then there is Hockey East, maybe college hockey’s biggest conundrum. I think you may have some of the best teams in the nation in that league, but they are all cannibalizing one another and as of today, Boston University is the only team from the league in the NCAA tournament.
This isn’t a new topic as we’ve seen this coming for a few weeks now, but I think everyone, including you and I, felt like another team – Northeastern, Providence, Merrimack, UConn – would go on a run and emerge. Right now, that hasn’t happened. BU is in the driver’s seat to win the regular season. But beyond that, not surprisingly, little is decided.
Maybe because I see so much Hockey East action, I look at this league with rose-colored glasses. But you’re more neutral. Is it crazy to think that any Hockey East team that could get into the NCAA field could be considered quite dangerous?
Ed: I think any of the four teams you noted could be dangerous if they can emerge from Hockey East or put together enough wins to get inside the PWR bubble.
When it comes to playoff time, having great goaltending can take you a long way. Devon Levi is that sort of goalie. Northeastern took a step back with the road loss at UMass on Friday, but they’ve climbed out of the 40s in the PairWise – after dealing with midseason injuries – to just outside the bubble today. The Huskies can gain some PairWise position and maybe even win the league if they take care of business against UMass Lowell this weekend.
Merrimack is another head-scratcher. The Warriors were as high as No. 3 in the PairWise Rankings in December but had a terrible January and first weekend of February. But they’re right on the heels of Northeastern in the PairWise after four straight wins and are still in the mix to win Hockey East if they can win over Vermont at home. If the first semester version of Merrimack can keep it rolling, I’d watch out for them, too.
Looks like UConn can still make it into the NCAA tournament if the Huskies from Storrs can make it to the league championship game, but Providence needs to win Hockey East or keep its fingers crossed for everything to improbably fall its way. Teams that make a strong run at the end are always dangerous, so if either of those two is able to go on a heater, then I’d watch out.
We’ve talked on our podcasts about the Big Ten getting five or six teams in, but some teams in that league have cooled off. I’ll admit I was ready to write of Notre Dame until their weekend against Michigan propelled them to 14th in the PairWise and home ice in the quarterfinals. The Fighting Irish need to keep above .500 to stay in the mix, and they face a Michigan State team that needs to keep winning to move on. What are your expectations for that conference?
Jim: That may be the best question this week. What can the Big Ten produce?
Obviously, Minnesota, Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State are all elite teams and ready to take their positions in the NCAA tournament. The two bubble teams, Notre Dame and Michigan State, are on opposite sides of the PairWise bubble. Notre Dame jumped to the positive position, sitting in 14th, taking four of six points from Michigan including an overtime road win on Saturday.
But Notre Dame feels tenuous to me still. The Irish are one game above .500 so the No. 1 thing they must do is survive a best-of-three quarterfinal series against Michigan State this weekend. Lose two games to none, season is over as Notre Dame will be under .500. Lose two games to one and they’ll be exactly at .500 and tournament eligible but likely will drop enough that they can’t earn an at-large bid. The Irish have to advance and probably need to sweep to feel secure heading to the Big Ten semis.
Michigan State is the other end of that weekend series and is in considerably more dire straits than Notre Dame. Michigan State basically has to sweep this weekend AND likely advance to the Big Ten title game to have any chance at an at-large bid. Even then, there’s not guarantees.
So as fantastic a season it has been for the Big Ten, it’s quite possible that four teams may be the ceiling for the conference.
I might as well take this chance to ask your thoughts on another at-large team on the bubble and that’s Alaska. The Nanooks currently sit at No. 12 in the PairWise, which this time of year usually feels somewhat solid. But as an independent, they’ll play just two more games against Lindenwood this weekend without any chance to improve their position.
How do you see this Alaska team’s hopes? Obviously two wins are a must this weekend. But even then, there seems to be ways that the Nanooks could fall in the RPI and PairWise. Think they’ll make the field of 16?
Ed: Wow. Thanks, Jim! I got taken to task on Twitter for our Weekend Review podcast “selling” on the Nanooks and also for all 50 USCHO poll voters for discounting them. And now you ask me that.
Alaska did exactly what it needed to do against Arizona State. The two wins against a team with a good strength of schedule helped, but victories over Denver, Omaha, and Notre Dame are really what have boosted the Nanooks to No. 12 in the PairWise.
At this point, I’d be foolish to say that Alaska can’t make it to the tournament. As you mentioned, they will need to sweep Lindenwood this weekend. Because the Lions are near the bottom of D-I in strength of schedule, wins won’t help the PairWise much, but losses could be devastating. I’m expecting Alaska to get the sweep and keep practicing. Then Erik Largen’s team will need to watch the six conference tournaments – well, five of them – and keep their fingers crossed that there aren’t too many upsets.
It’s no small task to get to the NCAAs as an independent team. Alaska has played the schedule it needed to and won the games it wasn’t expected to – except by Nanooks fans. That’s gotten them almost all the way there.
ECAC Hockey gets playoffs underway this weekend and the NCHC is one weekend away. Are there teams in those conferences who are good candidates to pull off upsets?
Jim: Well, I’ll thank you back as no writer ever really wants to develop bulletin board material by saying that some team with home ice in a conference tournament can’t advance.
I said it on our podcast (and I know you didn’t ask about Big Ten) so I’ll repeat it. I think that Wisconsin minimally gives Michigan a series. Yes, the Badgers have struggled all year. And yes, they just won their first Big Ten road game in what seems like forever. But Michigan is winless in four and could actually be primed to be picked off in one of the first two games. And if you force a Game 3, anything is possible, no?
In the ECAC, I feel like Yale could play the role of spoiler. At times, this Yale team has been horrible this year. But they played a scoreless tie with RPI and lost 4-2 not too long ago and, moreover, the Bulldogs beat both Princeton and Colgate in the last couple of weeks.
I also wonder about whether Reid Cashman can get his Dartmouth team up to challenge Colgate. Cashman had tons of playoff success at Quinnipiac.
As for the NCHC, I keep asking, “Why can’t North Dakota make noise in the tournament?” That should also answer your question.
Who do you like in an underdog role this weekend?
Ed: Well, as long as we’re going to be bulletin board fodder, I might as well jump in all the way.
Any close matchups are ripe for upsets. In the ECAC, the No. 8 Union vs. No. 9 Princeton strikes me as the one most likely. I’ve seen both teams this season and was more impressed with Princeton. Those first-round single-elimination games are tough. That conference really should consider a first-round best-of-three format.
In the NCHC, I can see Minnesota Duluth winning a road series. But that means they’d have to beat St. Cloud, Western Michigan, or Omaha. I guess when the final weekend has been played and we know the bracket I can revisit this, as only Miami at Denver is decided.
Elsewhere, I would not be surprised if the Notre Dame-Michigan State and Ohio State-Penn State series ended up being upsets, as the teams are so closely matched, but there’s not a lot of momentum for any of those teams right now. Well, maybe Notre Dame has some working after its weekend with Michigan.
I don’t see any major upsets in the CCHA. But don’t be surprised if some underdogs take it to three games. I think Michigan Tech advances, but St. Thomas is playing well enough to make a Sunday game necessary.
Lastly, Atlantic Hockey perennially has upsets. I think the two teams most likely to upset the higher seeds are Niagara at Sacred Heart and Holy Cross in a 1:05 ET matinee series at AIC. The Purple Eagles have had some good road wins and the Crusaders have had a really strong 2023, save for a sweep at the hands of Canisius last weekend.
The biggest upset of all would be if we had none. The fun part is prognosticating which ones.
Gustavus defeated Hamline and advanced to the MIAC title game (Photo by Jordan Modjeski)
The playoffs come upon us so fast and seem to fly by. Approaching championship weekend, we’ll take a look at how the teams out west got there and also, I’ll make my picks for this weekend’s games in the three conferences.
MIAC
Gustavus defeats Hamline 5-1
The Gusties are headed to another MIAC title game after easily defeating Hamline this past weekend. The staggering stat in this one was the shot totals, Gustavus led in shots 52-7… You won’t lose many games when you hold a team to so few shots and fire just over 7x more than your opponent. Hamline goaltender Maddie Nickell had a good night despite letting in 5 goals, making 47 saves vs the #1 ranked team via USCHO. Penalties in the game were hard to come by, just a pair for four minutes total committed by Hamline and one minor committed by Gustavus.
Augsburg defeats Saint Benedict 5-2
After falling to St. Scholastica in the quarterfinal round last year of the MIAC, Augsburg finds themselves in the finals after getting the win over Saint Benedict who had an above-average year for themselves. Augsburg led the game in shots 42-27 but fell behind early 2-0 as CSB scored a pair of goals within 30 seconds of each other in the 1st period with the first coming on the powerplay (7:19 & 7:49). The Auggies would then score 5 unanswered goals, one in the 1st period and two in both the 2nd & 3rd periods. The game was heavily penalty ridden, mostly on the CSB side as they committed 9 for 18 minutes (which shouldn’t be a shocker considering they’re ranked 4th nationally in penalty minutes with 269 in 26 games (10.35 per game), while Augsburg only had 4 for 8 minutes.
NCHA
Adrian sweeps Lawrence, winning 10-0 & 5-0.
Adrian had a relatively easy weekend, defeating Lawrence by a combined 15-0 in two games. Adrian outshot Lawrence 65-9 in game one and 69-2 in game two (134-11). Penalties were common, Adrian committing 4 in game-one & 5 in game-two, while Lawrence decided to top them, committing 6 in game-one & 9 in game-two. Dominant weekend overall, we expected nothing less from this matchup.
Lake Forest defeats Concordia (Wis.) after tying 3-3 & winning 6-3
Lake Forest moves on after a close weekend, game-one was a close one with both teams each scoring in all three periods and no one could break the deadlock in 2 overtimes, resulting in a 3-3 tie. In game two, CUW got on the board 4:13 into the 1st period, but the 2nd period was all Foresters, scoring 4 goals to CUW’s 1, and then adding two more in the 3rd period to get the 6-3 victory. Lake Forest had 3 powerplay goals and 1 shorthanded goal in game-two.
Aurora sweeps Trine, winning 7-2 & 5-1
Aurora easily moved on after sweeping Trine. Neither game was ever really in doubt except for when Trine got on the board first in game-one, scoring 2:04 into the 1st, however, Aurora answered by scoring 6 unanswered goals and eventually won 7-2. Aurora led in shots 42-9. In game two Aurora got out to a 4-0 lead, eventually ending 5-1 and securing the victory. They outshot Trine 61-19 and once again, the result of the game was never in doubt.
St. Norbert sweeps Marian, winning 7-1 & 3-2
St. Norbert moved on after handling Marian well in game-one and then keeping it close in the second game, winning a slim 3-2. In game-one Norbert scored 6 unanswered, only once in the 1st period, but 5 in the 2nd and never looked back. Winning the shooting battle 32-6 and handling the game from the opening puck drop. Game-two was closer, no scoring until the 2nd period when Norbert scored a pair of goals and Marian answered to make it 2-1. Norbert then added one more in the 2nd to go into the 3rd up 3-1, which eventually ended 3-2 after Norbert held onto the lead for 18 minutes after Marian scored a quick 1:30 into the final period.
After Northland pulled the upset over UW-Superior, they were met with a bigger test, to which UW-River Falls handled easily, winning both games convincingly. UW-River Falls outshot Northland 63-7 in game-one and 70-7 in game-two, neither was close. UWRF did what we all knew would happen and they moved on easily.
UW-Eau Claire sweeps UW-Stevens Point, winning both games 2-0
UW-Eau Claire got a pair of shutout victories without their starting goaltender this past weekend to move onto the final’s vs UW-River Falls. In these two games the Blugolds struggled to score, but got it done in the end. In game-one, no scoring occurred in the 1st period, but Eau Claire scored a rapid 10 seconds into the 2nd period and added an empty net goal in the 3rd in the last minute of play. In game-two, sort of the same story occurred, Eau Claire scored late in the 2nd period and then late in the 3rd to win 2-0. Game wasn’t real even in the shot totals, Eau Claire winning that battle 40-9 & 49-7, but neither team was able to muster much offense.
This Weekend’s Picks:
MIAC
Gustavus vs Augsburg: March 4, 2023 – 2:00 pm CST
My Pick: Gustavus 4-2
Give me the Gusties winning the MIAC title over Augsburg this weekend. Gustavus has home ice and the higher skill levels all-around. Yes, obvious pick to many I’m aware, but even though Augsburg has challenged Gustavus this season, even beating them once, I think they get it done when it matters as they’ve been there and done that before, unlike Augsburg.
NCHA
Adrian vs Lake Forest: March 3, 2023 – 3:00 pm EST
My Pick: Adrian 5-2
Adrian sweeps Lawrence to advance to the NCHA semifinals (Photo by Mike Dickie)
Lake Forest handed Adrian an OT loss earlier this season, but this time give me the Bulldogs to win and advance to the final the following day in their home building. Adrian’s been playing well as of late, cleaning a few things up from the Aurora series, but I’m not sure Lake Forest can upset Adrian again like earlier.
Aurora vs St. Norbert: March 3, 2023 – 7 pm EST
My Pick: Aurora 4-3
The Spartans have looked really good as of late, defeating Adrian handily and then putting it together the past few weekends, I think they’re going to get one back from Norbert who won the season series 2-0 in two very close games. Darci Matson is leading the country in points by a decent margin, she should nab a few in this game. Give me Aurora to go back to the NCHA title game.
*Hypothetical* Adrian vs Aurora: March 4, 2023 – 2 pm EST
My Pick: Adrian 4-3 OT
I think this one’s extremely close, give me Adrian to get revenge vs Aurora after the Spartans defeated Adrian in the semifinals last year and made their way to their first-ever NCAA tournament bid. I think Adrian will have a better gameplan than before vs Aurora, also playing them at home and not on the road after a long bus ride helps too. I’ve liked Adrian all year and I’ll keep rolling with them here to win the NCHA title.
WIAC
UW-River Falls vs UW-Eau Claire: March 4, 2023 – 2:05 pm CST
My Pick: UW-River Falls 5-2
The Blugolds got the best of UWRF just a few weekends ago, but this time I think River Falls wins handily due to the uncertainty in net for Eau Claire as their starting goaltender missed the last two games vs UW-Stevens Point. The backup got two shutouts vs UWSP, but UWRF is another animal and the game being in River Falls with a large crowd, I’m not sure without their starter they can get it done. If the starter can go, then anything can happen, but as of right now, I’ll take the Falcons to win the WIAC.
St. Cloud remains sixth, Boston University is up two to No. 7, Western Michigan falls three to No. 8, Ohio State is down one to No. 9, and Penn State holds steady at No. 10.
Just one new team enters the rankings this week as Alaska sits at No. 18.
In addition to the top 20 teams, seven other teams received votes.
The USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll is compiled weekly and consists of 50 voters, including coaches and media professionals from across the country. Media outlets may republish this poll as long as USCHO.com is credited.
Hosts Jim Connelly, Derek Schooley, and Ed Trefzger look at the games of the past weekend and the news of the week in this D-I college hockey podcast.
This podcast is sponsored by the NCAA Men’s Division I Frozen Four, April 6th and 8th, 2023 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. Secure your seats at NCAA.com/mfrozenfour
Topics include:
• Eating a little crow over Alaska, but the Nanooks still need to sweep and have help
• What does that say about independent schedules?
• Crazy finish as Minnesota State claims MacNaughton Cup
• Denver sweeps Western Michigan after Friday’s game has controversial call
• NCAA tournament attendance: Is it actually looking really good?
• Potential upsets in conference playoffs
