Last weekend all the conference playoffs were in action.  It’s a lot to report on, and it all matters, because all conference winners will advance to the NCAA tournament.  So let’s see, how to summarize this . .. .   First, let’s get the surprises.  For starters, last week’s # 6 team, Yale, lost two in a row to Brown, so Yale is out of the ECAC tournament, and they are now ranked # 9.  Bemidji State, ranked last week at # 8, lost to Niagra in the CHA tournament, and they dropped to # 10 in the rankings.  Last week’s # 10, Michigan State, lost two in a row to Michigan, and now they are ranked # 16.  Last week’s # 11 New Hampshire, lost two our of three to last week’s # 19, Vermont; UNH is now ranked # 13, and Vermont is now ranked # 14, up five slots.  Of lesser surprise, but nonetheless cases where a lower seeded team prevailed, Canisius beat Merchyhurst two in a row, and St. Lawrence beat Colgate two in a row.  Some matchups that went to three games that seem as though they should have been decided in two were Miami-Ohio over Ohio State; Miami stays ranked at # 2, but lost mountains of first place votes vs. last week.  Boston University needed three to beat Merrimack, and Maine needed three to beat UMass-Lowell.

Also here was a great one – # 6 St. Cloud needed three to get by Mankato – Mankato had swept St. Cloud in the previous weekend; each of these games was decided by one goal, and two went to overtime!  Minnesota Duluth need three to get by Colorado College, and North Dakota needed three to get past Minnesota – during the third game, North Dakota’s high scoring Matt Frattin put a hit to the head of Minnesota’s Kevin Wehrs, and Frattin has been suspended by the WCHA for North Dakota’s next game.  Frattin had scored nine goals in the last ten games, and four goals in the last three games.  History was made on Friday night as Quinnipiac fought and fought and fought and fought through one full game, no, make that two full games, no, almost three.  Yes, Quinnipiac and Union played five overtimes, and half-way through the fifth overtime, Quinnipiac scored to beat Union 3-2.  The 150 minute, 22 second game was the longest ever, and took nearly six hours to complete.

All other matchups were decided in two straight games.  And, on conference is already done:  In the CHA, Bemidji lost to Niagra, setting up a final of Niagra vs. Alabama-Huntsville.  Alabama-Huntsville squeaked out a 3-2 win in overtime, and so the CHA will be sending two teams to the NCAA tournament – Alabama-Huntsville as the conference tournament winner, and Bemidji State is sure to get an at-large bid.  Let me repeat that:  The CHA will have two teams in the NCAA tournament.  Oh, and for you nostalgic types, Air Force beat Army.  So recapping this all:

Here are the matchups for this weekend:

WCHA                          HEA                             ECAC

NDakota vs MinDuluth    Vermont vs BC              Brown vs Corn

Winner plays Denver      Maine vs BU                  StLwr vs Union

St. Cld vs Wisconsin

CCHA                           AHA

Nor Mich vs. Ferris St.    Canisius vs. RIT

Michigan vs. Miami        Air Force vs. Sacred  Heart

This provides the top fifteen teams, rankings, and records:

Team (First Place Votes) Record Points Last Poll

1 Denver (46)                  27- 7-4  996      1

2 Miami ( 4)                   26- 6-7  931      2

3 Wisconsin ( 0)                   24- 9-4  913      3

4 Boston College ( 0)                   23-10-3  833      4

5 North Dakota ( 0)                   22-12-5  792      5

6 St. Cloud State ( 0)                   22-12-5  726      7

7 Cornell ( 0)                   19- 8-4  699      9

8 Ferris State ( 0)                   21-11-6  610      13

9 Yale ( 0)                   20- 9-3  552      6

10 Bemidji State ( 0)                   23- 9-4   514     8

11 Minnesota-Duluth ( 0)                   22-16-1  503      14

12 Northern Michigan ( 0)                   19-11-8  454      16

13 New Hampshire ( 0)                   17-13-7  320      11

14 Vermont ( 0)                   17-13-7  298      19

15 Union ( 0)                   20-11-6  280      17

That’s all for now.  Stay tuned, and go Terriers!