Fighting Sioux Are Lone WCHA Hope for Another Frozen Four Title
North Dakota's T.J. Oshie Leads the Sioux into the Frozen Four |
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April 8, 2008
By John Gilbert
This year's NCAA hockey tournament looked a lot like many others throughout history, where the Western Collegiate Hockey Association has been able to flex its considerable muscle and take home another big trophy. That muscle was reflected in the glow of six WCHA teams that were selected among the 16 invited to the party.
Instead, the unthinkable happened. Five of the six - including league champion Colorado College, top contender Denver, plus St. Cloud State, Minnesota and Wisconsin - all were knocked out in regional play. The only remaining hope for the WCHA is North Dakota, but it's a strong hope, because the Fighting Sioux were the hottest team in the league through the second half and right on through the stretch drive, and fresh from dodging a determined bullet by overcoming a 2-0 deficit after two periods against upset-minded Wisconsin in the Midwest Region final.
The regional near-washout is a slap upside the helmet for the WCHA, which went into the regionals flushed with optimism. Is the CCHA really good enough to put two teams - Michigan and Notre Dame - into the Frozen Four? Is Boston College truly strong enough as Hockey East's representative to capture the big prize? Or is North Dakota ready to uphold the WCHA's honor?
The tournament has a little bit of everything. North Dakota and Michigan are both No. 1 seeds who proved their merit. The Sioux face Boston College, which was a No. 2 seed but won the Northeast Regional in Worcester, Mass., and Notre Dame gives the field a dose of seasoning by advancing from a No. 4 seeding at the West Regional to make it to Denver's Pepsi Center with two upsets.
The pretournament assessment wasn't far off. It was written in this space that the misleading thing about the NCAA pairings was that the three most-elite of the WCHA's six teams were grouped into two regionals. The CCHA's top three seeds were spread out among three regionals, and Michigan and Miami of Ohio - the top two CCHA and overall seeds - were bracketed so that neither would face one of the WCHA's elite teams.
The toughest blows to the WCHA was that Colorado College was host to the West Regional, and the University of Denver is host to the NCAA Frozen Four, and while both had high hopes of playing in their homestate's big show, both were knocked out.
Colorado College was beaten by a strong Michigan State team, which got the pivotal early lead and was able to slow down the pace and stymie the quick-striking attack that had carried the Tigers (28-12) to the WCHA regular-season title. After such an outstanding season, Colorado College wound up ending the season with three straight losses, falling to Minnesota and then North Dakota in the WCHA Final Five before coming home, where they were 18-2, for the Regional. Michigan State, in turn, was upset by fellow-CCHA entry Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish played flawlessly through the West Regional, polishing off both Hockey East-favorite New Hampshire and the Spartans, to lift one No. 4 seed into the Frozen Four.
The other tough bracket was at Madison, Wis., where it was easy to slight Wisconsin getting voted in with a below-.500 record, but the Badgers played a fantastic game in front of their home crowd to knock off favored Denver, while North Dakota beat Princeton 5-1 behind Ryan Duncan's hat trick. The Badgers continued their best play of the season to take control of the Midwest final against No. 1 seed North Dakota for two periods, and only a determined third-period surge by the Fighting Sioux brought them back to victory.
In the East Regional, Clarkson knocked out St. Cloud State 2-1, and threw a scare into favored Michigan, which had beaten Niagara and then got past Clarkson to take a 33-5-4 record to Denver, where they must oppose Notre Dame (26-15-4) in a battle of CCHA rivals.
North Dakota (28-10-4) will find a tiny but explosive Boston College team waiting in the other semifinal. Boston College (23-11-8) has a half-dozen skaters 5-foot-9 or shorter, but the Eagles' quickness cannot be questioned. They knocked out Minnesota in the Northeast Regional, ending the hope of the final WCHA entry, then outlasted an outstanding Miami of Ohio outfit in a double-overtime final to reach Denver. Miami, seeded No. 2 overall behind only Michigan, was worthy of that lofty rank but needed all it could muster to overcome Air Force, which had the game in control until a third-period power-play goal lifted Miami, which went on to win in overtime. Miami and BC then waged a tremendous game for the Northeast title at Worcester, Mass., with Boston College advancing to take on the Fighting Sioux.
The Fighting Sioux, behind great goaltending by Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, strong and rangy defense, and an offense led by the 1-2 punch of T.J. Oshie and Duncan, will find three other teams with hot goaltenders, stout defense, and flashy scorers.
North Dakota will wear the home whites against Boston College, while Michigan will be a big favorite against Notre Dame, but the Irish are riding a stirring rush through the regionals. And, while nobody questions the credentials of Michigan coach Red Berenson, or Jerry York of BC, or Dave Hakstol of North Dakota, don't overlook Jeff Jackson, who is bringing Notre Dame to what will be familiar terrritory for Jackson, a former outstanding coach at Lake Superior State College.
The teams don't get reseeded after the Regionals, so the original seeds follow through. Predictions are shaky, after the volatile regionals. Michigan should end Notre Dame's Cinderella run, although Jeff Jackson will not get out-coached, and his crafty ideas work best when his team is an underdog. North Dakota will have to focus on staying out of the penalty box, where the Sioux are likely to spend some time even by merely winning collisions against the little but speedy Boston College Eagles. If the Sioux stay out of the box, and Oshie proves that maybe the Hobey Baker committee should reconsider leaving him out of the final three, North Dakota should beat Boston College. And in the final, North Dakota will have to play its best game of the season to get past Michigan, but as powerfully balanced as the Wolverines are, the pick is that the Fighting Sioux do have one blockbuster game in reserve for Saturday night.
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