Five WCHA Teams Earn Berths In 2004 NCAA Div. 1 Men's Hockey Championship
March 22, 2004
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MADISON, Wisc. Five Western Collegiate Hockey Association-member teams, led by University of North Dakota and University of Minnesota who were both rewarded with No. 1 seeds, have earned berths in the 16-team field for the 2004 NCAA Division 1 Men's Championship, as announced today (March 21) by the NCAA Division 1 Men's Ice Hockey Committee. The tournament kicks off next weekend, March 26-28, at four regional sites in Colorado Springs, Colo., Grand Rapids, Mich., Albany, N.Y., and Manchester, N.H.
The 2004 WCHA regular season and MacNaughton Cup-champion Fighting Sioux (29-6-3, .803) will be the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament and will travel to the West Regional in Colorado Springs, while the 2004 WCHA Final Five and Broadmoor Trophy-champion Golden Gophers (26-13-3, .655) will be the No. 1 seed at the Midwest Regional in Grand Rapids. Minnesota has won the last two consecutive NCAA championships while the Western Collegiate Hockey Association owns a record 33 national titles since it's founding in 1951. Additional No. 1 seeds were given to Boston College and the University of Maine of the Hockey East Association.
The three other WCHA teams who earned berths in the 2004 NCAA Division 1 Men's Championship today were the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (26-12-4, .667), who are the No. 2 seed for the Midwest Regional, the University of Denver Pioneers (23-12-5, .638), who are the No. 2 seed for the West Regional, and the University of Wisconsin Badgers (21-12-8, .610), who are the No. 3 seed for the East Regional in Albany, N.Y.
At the NCAA West Regional at the World Arena in Colorado Springs, No. 1 North Dakota (29-7-3) will play No. 4 Holy Cross (22-9-4) at 5:30 pm MT on Friday while No. 2 Denver (23-12-5) will play No. 3 Miami (23-13-4) at 9:00 pm MT. The championship game will be on Saturday at 7:00 pm MT.
At the NCAA Midwest Regional at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, No. 1 Minnesota (26-13-3) will play No. 4 Notre Dame (20-14-4) at 12 Noon ET on Saturday while No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth (26-12-4) will play No. 3 Michigan State (23-16-2) at 3:30 pm ET. The championship game will be on Sunday at 1:00 pm ET.
At the NCAA East Regional at Pepsi Arena in Albany, No. 1 Maine (30-7-3) will take on No. 4 Harvard (18-14-3) at 5:00 pm ET on Friday while No. 2 Ohio State (26-15-0) will face No. 3 Wisconsin (21-12-8) at 8:30 pm ET. The championship game will be on Saturday at 6:00 pm ET.
And at the NCAA Northeast Regional at Verizon Wireless Center in Manchester, No. 1 Boston College (27-8-4) will play No. 4 Niagara (21-14-3) at 12 Noon ET on Saturday while No. 2 Michigan (26-13-2) will play No. 3 New Hampshire (20-14-6) at 3:30 pm ET. The championship game will be on Sunday at 4:00 pm ET.
The four regional winners advance to the 2004 NCAA Men's Frozen Four. The entire championship uses a single-elimination format. The 2004 bracket is only the second with 16 teams after having only 12 teams in the field since 1988.
2004 NCAA Division1 Men's Championship
East Regional - March 26-27 @ Pepsi Arena, Albany, NY
March 26
5:00 pm ET: No. 1 Maine (30-7-3) vs No. 4 Harvard (18-14-3)
8:30 pm ET: No. 2 Ohio State (26-15) vs No. 3 Wisconsin (21-12-8)
March 27
6:00 pm ET: East Regional Championship
West Regional - March 26-27 @ World Arena, Colorado Springs, Co
March 26
5:30 pm MT: No. 1 North Dakota (29-7-3) vs No. 4 Holy Cross (22-9-4)
9:00 pm MT: No. 2 Denver (23-12-5) vs No. 3 Miami (Ohio) (23-13-4)
March 27
7:00 pm MT: West Regional Championship
Northeast Regional - March 27-28 @ Verizon Wireless Arena, Manchester, NH
March 27
12 Noon ET: No. 1 Boston College (27-8-4) vs No. 4 Niagara (21-14-3)
3:30 pm ET: No. 2 Michigan (26-13-2) vs No. 3 New Hampshire (20-14-6)
March 28
4:00 pm ET: Northeast Regional Championship
Midwest Regional - March 27-28 @ Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, MI
March 27
12 Noon ET: No. 1 Minnesota (26-13-3) vs No. 4 Notre Dame (20-14-4)
3:30 pm ET: No. 2 Minnesota Duluth (26-12-4) vs No. 3 Michigan State (23-16-2)
March 28
1:00 pm ET: Midwest Regional Championship
2004 NCAA Men's Frozen Four - April 8 and 10 @ FleetCenter, Boston, Ma
April 8
Noon and 6 pm ET (order of games TBA)
Northeast Regional Champion vs East Regional Champion
West Regional Champion vs Midwest Regional Champion
April 10
7:00 pm ET: National Championship
The following conferences and teams received automatic qualification: Atlantic Hockey (Holy Cross); Central Collegiate Hockey Association (Ohio State); College Hockey America (Niagara); Eastern College Athletic Conference (Harvard); Hockey East Association (Maine); and Western Collegiate Hockey Association (Minnesota).
ESPN, Inc. will air all 15 tournament games live. ESPN will produce the 12 regional games and syndicate each game for interested local cable systems, regional sports networks and selected over-the-air stations. The 12 regional games will not air on ESPN or ESPN2 but rather an ³ESPN Syndication² television platform.
ESPN2 will broadcast the semifinal games. ESPN will televise the national championship game. For a complete clearance list, long onto www.ncaasports.com, click broadcast info, then click TV schedule.
2004 Red Baron WCHA Final Five Record Attendance of 82,564 Lifts Total 2003-04 Season Attendance to All-Time Record of 1,513,137
In addition to setting a post-season WCHA championship attendance record with 82,564 attending the 2004 Red Baron WCHA Final Five last week in Saint Paul, Minn., the Western Collegiate Hockey Association has also set a new standard for season home attendance.
The 82,564 in attendance at the Final Five, which surpassed the previous record of 75,151 set in 2002 at Xcel Energy Center, lifted the league's total home attendance in 2003-04 to 1,513,137 eclipsing the previous record total of 1,511,991 set in 2003-04.
Tickets for Three of Four NCAA Regionals still available
(Release Courtesy of NCAA) INDIANAPOLIS, IN The Division 1 Men's Ice Hockey Committee and the University of New Hampshire announced on Jan. 8th that tickets for the 2004 Division 1 men's ice hockey Northeast regional in Manchester, New Hampshire at Verizon Wireless Arena are sold out.
Tickets for the East regional at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, New York (hosted by the Eastern College Athletic Conference and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) can be purchased by visiting the Pepsi Arena box office or by calling 518/476-1000. Start times for the first- round games March 26, are 5 pm and 8:30 pm Eastern time, while the regional final is 6 pm Eastern time, March 27. Tickets for the three-game package are $64.
The Midwest Regional at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan (hosted by Western Michigan University) has three-game tickets packages available for $60, and they can be obtained by calling 616/456-3333 or by stopping by the Van Andel Arena box office. First-round games are 12 Noon and 3:30 pm Eastern time, March 27, while the regional final is 1 pm Eastern time on March 28. T ickets for the West regional at the World Arena in Colorado Springs, Colorado (hosted by Colorado College) are available in three-game packages, $60 for the upper level and $75 for the lower bowl, by calling 719/576-2626 or at the World Arena box office, Monday through Friday between 10 am and 6 pm Mountain time. The first-round contests are 5:30 and 9 p.m. Mountain time on March 26, while the regional final is 7 pm Mountain time, March 27.
All regional tickets are being sold as a three-game package through March 22. It is anticipated that the regional sites will be sold out, but if any of the four sites are not sold out by March 22, tickets will be available for individual sessions at an increased ticket price.
If any of the host institutions are selected to participate in the 2004 NCAA Division 1 Men's Ice Hockey Championship, they will be assigned to their host site. Links for ordering tickets online for all regionals are available through www.ncaasports.com. Times for all regional contests are subject to change.
The 2004 NCAA Men's Frozen Four, set for April 8 and 10 at the FleetCenter in Boston, Mass., is sold out. This marks the seventh time in the last eight years that the Men's Frozen Four has been sold out.
Strength of WCHA in 2003-04 Reflected in Polls, Results
The overall strength of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in 2003-04 is evident in on-going national polls, pairwise rankings and on-ice results.
In non-conference play (vs teams from other Div. 1 conferences) through games of March 21, WCHA member teams owned a noteworthy 54-19-9 record and a .713 winning percentage. WCHA teams have been particularly strong outside league play the past three seasons, forging a 57-27-8 (.663) non-conference record in 2002-03 and a 56-24-2 (.695) non-league ledger in 2001-02.
Six WCHA teams were also ranked among the nation's top 15 teams in the most recent USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll and USCHO.com polls issued for the week of March 15-21. North Dakota was No. 1, Minnesota-Duluth was No. 3/4, Minnesota was No. 5, Denver was No. 9, Wisconsin was No. 11, and Colorado College was No. 14. The Western Collegiate Hockey Association has had at least six teams ranked among the nation's top 15 the past 12 consecutive weeks, has had at least five teams ranked among the nation's top 15 in the national polls in 22 of 24 weeks, and has had seven of it's 10 teams among the top 15 five times overall.
Seven WCHA teams currently (thru March 21) have overall winning percentages of .526 or better. North Dakota (29-7-3) is at .782, Minnesota-Duluth (26-12-4) is at .667, Minnesota (26-13-3) is at .655, Denver (23-12-5) is at .638, Wisconsin (21-12-8) is at .610, Colorado College (20-16-3) is at .551, and St. Cloud State (18-16-4) is at .526.
Also of note, six WCHA teams have reached the 20-victory plateau this season in North Dakota (29), Minnesota-Duluth (26) and Minnesota (26), Denver (23), Wisconsin (21), and Colorado College (20). One season ago in 2002-03 six WCHA-member teams also finished the season with at least 20 victories in Colorado College (30), Minnesota (28), North Dakota (26), Minnesota-Duluth (22), Denver (21), and Minnesota State (20).
Two WCHA Officiating Crews Selected to Work at NCAA Regional Tournaments
The Western Collegiate Hockey Association has had two of its on-ice officiating crews selected to work the 2004 NCAA Regional Tournaments, which will be contested this weekend March 26-28 at four locations.
WCHA Referee Don Adam and Assistant Referees Craig Hanson and Nathan Freeman are heading to the East Regional in Albany, N.Y.
WCHA Referee Derek Shepherd and Assisant Referees Kile Bergren and Dan Carey are heading to the Northeast Regional in Manchester, N.H.
WCHA's Ballard, Bochenski, Lessard and Parise Among Top Ten Finalists for 2004 Hobey Baker Memorial Award
(Release courtesy of Hobey Baker Memorial Award)
The Hobey Baker Foundation announced on March 16 the Top Ten Finalists for the 2004 Hobey Baker Award, which is presented annually to the top hockey player in college hockey. Criteria that is considered is strength of character on and off the ice, along with scholastic achievements and sportsmanship.
The 2004 players chosen for this year's Top Ten are: Keith Ballard, University of Minnesota; Brandon Bochenski, University of North Dakota; Yann Denis, Brown University; Derek Edwardson, Miami of Ohio; Junior Lessard, University of Minnesota Duluth; Zach Parise, University of North Dakota; Thomas Pöck, University of Massachusetts-Amherst; Steve Saviano, University of New Hampshire; Jim Slater, Michigan State University; Tony Voce, Boston College.
The next phase of the award will be the announcement of the Hobey Hat Trick (Final 3) candidates, which will be announced March 31, 2004, followed by the announcement of the 2004 Hobey Baker Award winner at the Frozen Four in Boston on April 9, 2004 at 2:30 pm ET.
Keith Ballard, University of Minnesota Jr, D, Baudette, Minn.
Keith is second in the nation in points by a defensemen (thru March 17) and 11th in the WCHA among all players with 1.03 points per game; he is also tied for 5th in the nation and second in the WCHA with five game-winning goals. Keith was picked as WCHA Defensive Player of the Week in November and was named Inside College Hockey Player of the Week in February. In 2002-03 he received the honor of being named to the WCHA All-Academic Team. Keith was drafted 11th overall by Buffalo in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft (his rights now belong to Phoenix).
Brandon Bochenski, University of North Dakota Jr, F, Blaine, Minn.
Currently (thru March 17) Brandon is second in the nation in points with 53 (24 goals, 29 assists). He is also second in the nation in points per game with 1.43. Brandon was also named InsideCollegeHockey.com WCHA Player of the Year along with receiving WCHA Offensive Player of the Week honors twice this season. Brandon has been selected by Ottawa in the NHL Draft.
Yann Denis, Brown University Sr, G, Saint Jerome, Quebec
Yann has had a tremendous career at Brown with 43 career wins, which ties the school career mark set by Kevin McCabe '77. Yann set a new Brown career save percentage record with a .930 mark, which is second best in NCAA history only to Ken Dryden. This season's save percentage of .942 is good for second in the nation and his goals against of 1.81 is good for third in the nation. He also was named the ECAC Player of the Week once, and named ECAC Goalie of the Week five times this season.
Derek Edwardson, Miami of Ohio Sr, F, Morton Grove, Ill.
Derek was named CCHA Player of The Year at the CCHA awards banquet. He is second in the CCHA in scoring with 47 points (17-30-47) and is tied for sixth in the nation. He was honored by being named to the 2003-04 All-CCHA Academic Team along with being appointed to the All-CCHA First Team becoming the first Miami player to earn both these honors in the same season.
Junior Lessard, University of Minnesota Duluth Sr, F, St. Joseph deBeauce, Quebec
Junior has become the seventh Bulldog ever to be named a Hobey Baker finalist. He leads the nation (thru March 17) with 55 points and is second in the nation in goals (27). He also reigned as the WCHA top goal producer with 17; the last Bulldog to accomplish this was Hobey Baker Award winner Chris Marinucci. His prolific goal scoring has helped secure UMD its highest (second) and the best regular season finish (23-10-4) in 11 years. His efforts were recognized by receiving WCHA Offensive Player of the Week honors three times this season along with being named USCHO National Offensive Player of the Week once. Not withstanding his scoring ability, he has a +21 plus-minus on the season.
Zach Parise, Universiy of North Dakota So, F, Faribault, Minn.
Zach is the only returning Hobey Baker finalist in this year's crop of players. He ranks third in the NCAA in scoring (thru March 17) with an average of 1.42 points per game. Zach currently is 68th on the UND's all-time scoring list with 102 points in only 70 games. Zach took time off this season to compete on Team USA in the 2004 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships where he was named the Tournament MVP after leading the tournament in scoring. He was twice named WCHA Offensive Player of the Week. Zach was drafted 17th overall by New Jersey in the NHL where his father J.P. played for 13 seasons.
Thomas Pöck, University of Massachusetts-Amherst Sr, D, Klagenfurt, Austria
Thomas is ranked first among the nations' defensemen in three categories: 38 points, 15 goals, and 23 assists. He was selected to the InsideCollegeHockey.com All-European team. Thomas was awarded the Hockey East player of the Month in November, along with earning honors as Player of the Week twice this season, and named Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week once. Another national honor came when Thomas was awarded Defenseman of the Year by InsideCollegeHockey.com, and Hockey East Player of the Year by the same publication. Thomas is not the only family member to receive hockey honors, his father Herbert has played in three different Olympics for the Austrian National Team and was named the head coach in 2002 of the same team.
Steve Saviano, University of New Hampshire Sr, F, Reading, Mass.
Steve is the Wildcats candidate for Hockey East Player of the Year and also the prestigious Len Ceglarski Award, which is awarded by Hockey East to the player who consistently demonstrated superior conduct and sportsmanship on the ice. Steve is averaging 1.21 points per game which ranks him ninth in the nation. His 47 points is good for sixth overall in the nation. He was twice named Hockey East Player of the Week this season.
Jim Slater, Michigan State University Jr, F, Lapeer, Mich.
Jim leads the CCHA overall scoring race with 48 points (19 goals, 29 assists), which ranks fifth in the nation. He was honored for the second year in a row to the CCHA First-Team and was voted MSU's MVP for this season. Jim was also named the CCHA Offensive Player of the Week three times this season. He was drafted in the first round (30th overall) by the Atlanta Thrashers in 2002. His father was also quite the athlete; he played football for Western Michigan and in the NFL for the Minnesota Vikings and the New England Patriots in the 1970's.
Tony Voce, Boston College Sr, F, Philadelphia, Penn.
Tony leads the nation with 28 goals (thru March 17) and is 12th with 44 points and tied for 3rd with 11 power play goals. Tony was a two-time Hockey East Player of the Week and in February was named Hockey East Player of the Month. He shares the Hockey East scoring title with his teammate Ryan Shannon (27 points in conference play). He is a candidate for the 2004 All-Hockey East Team. Tony is a communications major in the College of Arts and Sciences.
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