College Hockey Update:  A speedy, smooth, opportunistic, and well-oiled machine called The Air Force Academy Hockey Team took it to #8 ranked Western Michigan last night, scoring early and never trailing in their NCAA opening round game in the East region in Providence, RI, last night.  This was only the second win in an NCAA Tournament for Air Force, the first being their 2009 dominating shut-out of Michigan, the carnage of which must still burn as a relentlessly smoldering scar on the Wolverine psyche.  Jordan Himley scored in the opening minute of the game, and put the Falcons up 1-0 in lightning-strike fashion.  Ten minutes later it was a Kyle Haak lightning strike in the form of a short-handed, unassisted breakaway goal that put Air Force up 2-0.  Western Michigan scored with six minutes to go in the first, and Air Force took the 2-1 lead into the break.  In the second period Air Force dominated the offensive action, out-shooting Western Michigan 17-5, and five minutes into the period another goal by Kyle Haak gave them a 3-1 lead which stood as the score going into the third.

And what a lively third it was, as Western Michigan showed how they came to be ranked #8, but not until Phil Boje scored on an Air Force power play opportunity four minutes into the period, to put Air Force up 4-1.  Western Michigan responded a minute later, and again another thirty seconds later, with goals by Griffen Molino and Sheldon Dries, and in a blink it was a game again at 4-3.  But Air Force was up to the task and only a minute and a half later they responded with a goal by Tyler Ledford to extend their lead to 5-3.  With two and half minutes to go the Broncos added an extra attacker and it paid off quickly when Frederik Tiffels scored with two minutes remaining to make it a one score game again at 5-4.  But again Air Force was up to the task and solidified defensively, holding the Broncos out, and taking home the 5-4 win.  Air Force advanced to face #2 Harvard today at 5:30PM Pacific Time on ESPNU.

The results of this game are a shocking upset in our pool as only 5 out of 46 participants picked Air Force to win, while 41 picked Western Michigan.

Minnesota-Duluth Squeaks By Ohio State

Ohio State played well but it was Minnesota Duluth’s straight-jacket defense and red-hot goal tending that kept Ohio State off the board in the first two periods.  Duluth also out-muscled Ohio State in the second, which produced a Dominic Toninato goal in the first minute of the period, and then a Nick Wolff goal with six minutes left in the frame.  The third started out much the same, but about four minutes into the period Ohio State came to life.  It seemed as though it was both Ohio State rising to the moment and playing great, and Minnesota Duluth perhaps losing a bit of the focus they had shown throughout the game to that point.  Seven minutes into the period Matt Joyaux scored to make it a game again at 2-1, and then with seven minutes left in regulation, it was Gordi Myer scoring the Ohio State goal that tied it at two apiece.  That seemed to be a wake-up call for Duluth, and they rallied back to form to contain the late Ohio State assault and send the game to OT.  In the OT period the two teams battled with Duluth seeming to have a bit of an upper hand, and twelve minutes into OT it was senior defenseman Willie Raskob who scored to give Duluth the 3-2 win.  Minnesota Duluth advanced to play Boston University today at 3:00PM Pacific Time on ESPNU.

This game was not remotely an upset in our pool as 43 of 46 participants picked Duluth to win while only three picked Ohio State.

Games Today In Addition To The Two Listed In The Summaries Above

• In Manchester, New Hampshire, #9 Cornell University faces #4 University of Massachusetts at Lowell at 9:00am Pacific Time on ESPN3, and #5 University of Minnesota faces #12 Notre Dame at 12:30pm Pacific Time on ESPNU. Winners play Sunday, March 26th at 12:30pm Pacific Time on ESPNU.
• In Cincinnati, Ohio, #1 University of Denver faces #19 Michigan Technological University at 10:00am Pacific Time on ESPNews, and #7 Union College faces #11 Pennsylvania State University at 1:30pm Pacific Time on ESPN3. Winners play Sunday, March 26th at 3:00pm Pacific Time on ESPNU.

Our Pool

We have forty-six participants in the pool this year, the second-most we have ever had, surpassing the forty-four we had in 2015, but a couple short of our high-water mark of forty-eight last year.  This provides the most commonly picked teams to win it all:

• Denver . . . . . . 15
• Duluth . . . . . . .  9
• Harvard . . . . . . .8
• Minnesota . . . .  5
• Boston . . . . . . . 3
• North Dakota . . 3
• UMass-Lowell. . 1
• Penn State . . . .1
• Union College .  1

Games are on, you watching?

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

— Tom