College Hockey Update:  ALERT — GAME HAS STARTED — SIX MINUTES INTO FIRST PERIOD DENVER 0, WESTERN MICHIGAN 0 — Well it’s here; one of the best, best events in sports kicks off today, Thursday, April 10th, at 2:00pm Pacific Time, in St. Louis, MO., when #3 Western Michigan University faces #6 University of Denver in the first Frozen Four semifinal game, followed at 5:30pm Pacific Time by #8 Boston University facing #12 Pennsylvania State University in the second semifinal game.  Both of these games will be on ESPN2, if you are near a TV at either/both of those times.  The two winners will face off in the Championship Game this Saturday, April 12th, at 4:30pm Pacific Time, scheduled for ESPN2.

Three of these teams have been in the tournament a lot lately, and one really hasn’t.  As regards the NCAA Championship, two have won it in the past; one just last year, but for the other it has been a long time since the last one. Two of them would be brand new fresh blood winner for the sport. Since going DI in the 2012-13 season, Pennsylvania State University has made four NCAA Tournament appearances, including this season, and this is their first Frozen Four appearance. Coach Guy Gadowsky and team have been in two of the last three NCAA Tournaments.  This is the tenth NCAA appearance for Western Michigan University. Things have jelled for Coach Pat Ferschweiler and this team as this is also their fourth year in a row in the Tournament.  This is the 34th NCAA Tournament appearance for the University of Denver, and their 20th Frozen Four. Add to that ten NCAA Championships, the most of all teams. Things have also jelled for the Denver team as this is their fourth year in a row in the Tournament and their third Frozen Four in the last four years. Their last championship was just last year, and they won it in 2017 as well.  This is the 40th NCAA appearance for Boston University, and their 25th Frozen Four. Boston University has won the championship five times, and it has been sixteen long years since their last win in 2009.  This is their third NCAA appearance in a row, and their third Frozen Four appearance in a row under third year coach Jay Pandolfo.  The four teams ended the regular season scattered among the top fifteen, at #3, #6, #8 and #12.

This is the eighth NCAA Tournament appearance for Boston University since 2015, and their fourth in the last five tournaments. This season they are 23-13-2 and they are 7-2-1 in their last ten games. They are led by seven guys in double digits in goals scored — Cole Eiserman and Quinn Hutson with twenty-three each — Cole Hutson with fourteen; Ryan Greene with thirteen; Shane Lachance with eleven; and Jack Harvey and Devin Kaplan with ten each. Their primary goalie, Mikhail Yegorov, has a GAA of 2.04, and a saves percentage of .931. While a very highly ranked offensive/goal scoring team, they rank only thirty-fifth defensively; and while they are a very highly ranked power play goal scoring team, they rank only the thirty-eighth in penalty kill success rate. Can they come though deep in the tournament?

This is the fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the span of just nine seasons, and the second in the last three, for Pennsylvania State University. This season they are 22-13-4 and they are 7-2-1 in their last ten games. They are led by seven guys in double digits in goals scored — Aidan Fink with twenty-three; Matt DiMarisco with seventeen, Charlie Cerrato and Reese Lubach with fifteen each; JJ Wiebusch with fourteen; and Dane Dowiak and Danny Dzhaniyev with twelve apiece. Their primary goalie, Arsenii Sergeev, has a GAA of 2.55, and a saves percentage of .918. While a very highly ranked offensive/goal scoring team, they rank only thirty-eight defensively; and while they are a highly ranked power play goal scoring team, they rank only the thirty-fourth in penalty kill success rate. BUT — they blew out #4 Maine in the first round, and then they were able to hang tough and play scrappy with #7 Connecticut to get here.  Is this a team that can just win in many different ways?

This is the fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last nine seasons, and the fourth in a row for Western Michigan University. This season they are 32-7-1 and they are 9-1 in their last ten games. They are led by seven guys in double digits in goals scored — Alex bump with twenty-four; Tim Washe with sixteen; Liam Valente and Owen Michaels with fourteen each; Skyler Brind’Amour with fourteen; Zach Nehring with thirteen; Iiro Hakkarainen with twelve, and Grant Slukynsky with ten. Their primary goalie, Hampton Slukynsky, has an astounding GAA of 1.92, and a saves percentage of .923. They are very highly ranked both as an offensive/goal scoring team, and as a defensive team; and are very highly ranked as both a power play scoring team and a penalty killing team. Will their train just keep a-rolling?

This is the sixteenth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last eighteen seasons, and the fourth in a row, for the University of Denver. This season they are 31-11-1 and they are 7-3 in their last ten games. They are led by eight guys in double digits in goals scored — Sam Harris with twenty-three; Carter King with twenty-one; Aidan Thompson with twenty; Zeev Buium and Jack Devine with thirteen each; Eric Pohlkamp and James Reeder with eleven each; and Samu Salminen with ten. Their primary goalie, Matt Davis, has a GAA of 2.07 and a saves percentage of .923.  They are very highly ranked both as an offensive/goal scoring team, and as a defensive team; and are very highly ranked as a power play scoring team, and are a highly ranked penalty killing team. . Will their march continue on tomorrow?

Before anyone wants it to be, this thing will be over. For those who can get near a TV today — very soon, it promises to be great viewing. The icing on the cake will be the NCAA Championship game on Saturday, April 12th, at 4:30PM Pacific Time, scheduled for ESPN2.

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

— Tom