Michigan Crushes Bemidji State in First Round Play

Michigan scored early in the first and late  in the second to take a 2-0 lead into the third over Bemidji State in the last of the first round games Saturday night.  Midway through the third Bemidji scored to make it 2-1 and it looked like things might get very interesting.  But a couple of minutes later Michigan scored again, and a few minutes later Michigan again found the net, to make it 4-1 late in the third.  With a couple of minutes remaining, Michigan scored an empty netter, making the final 5-1, and advancing to play Miami of Ohio for a berth in the Frozen Four.  Sixteen of our twenty-six contestants picked Michigan to win this game.

Wisconsin Eludes Persistent St. Cloud; Advances to Frozen Four

Wisconsin scored early, and midway through the first, to go up 2-0 on St. Cloud State late Saturday night.  St. Cloud came back late in the period to make it 2-1, but Wisconsin did as well, scoring only thirty-three seconds later, to again extend their lead to two, making it 3-1.  Neither team scored in the second, but the third saw plenty of action in the net, starting with a St. Cloud tally early in the period to again shrink the lead to one, making it 3-2.  Wisconsin scored a few minutes later for another two point lead, making it 4-2.  With three minutes to go, St. Cloud pulled their goalie to skate six-on-five against Wisconsin, and again put one in to shrink the lead  to one at 4-3.  But with about a minute remaining, Wisconsin controlled the puck and added an empty-netter to make the final score 5-3, and to advance to the Frozen Four in Detroit, where they will play the red hot Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers on Thursday, April 8.  Sixteen out of twenty-six in our pool picked Wisconsin to make it to the Frozen Four.

Boston College Wins Scorefest with Yale, Heads to Frozen Four

Didn’t Boston College just win a 13 goal battle with Vermont last weekend?  BC scored early to go up 1-0, then Yale scored midway through the period to tie it at 1-1.  But BC came back late in the first to score and make it 2-1.  BC scored again early in the second, making it 3-1, but Yale again came back a few minutes later to make it 3-2.  BC came  right back and scored eleven seconds later, then again about six minutes later, and then again about two minutes later, to make it 6-2.  But the period wasn’t over, and Yale scored with three minutes remaining in the period, and again with about two minutes to go, to make it a seven goal second period, ending with BC up 6-4.  In the third, BC scored four minutes into the period, seven minutes into the period, and again twenty-three seconds later, to make it 9-4, with only thirteen minutes remaining.  Thirteen goals, just as many as last weekend’s game against Vermont.  You’d imagine that it was done.  But back came Yale, to make it very interesting, scoring with six minutes to go, again with four minutes to go, and with an extra attacker on the ice, again with a minute and half to go.  BC held Yale off for the duration of this sixteen goal game, winning it 9-7.  Thirteen of twenty-six in our pool picked BC to make it to the Frozen Four.

Miami of Ohio Outlasts Michigan to Advance to  the Frozen Four

The last game to determine a Frozen Four team was a little different than that just before it.  Miami scored first on a power play goal midway through the first, making it 1-0, and Michigan came back a minute and a half later and tied it at 1-1.  In the second Michigan scored very early on a power play and took the lead at 2-1.  But about two minutes later, Miami scored on another power play to tie it at 2-2.  And what ensued from that point on was a stalemate of a dogfight; seventeen scoreless minutes in the second, and twenty scoreless minutes in the third, sending this 2-2 battle into overtime.  How about  twenty more minutes of scoreless hockey?  At the  end of overtime, it had been nearly the equivalent of a full game of hockey since the last score!  In the second overtime, Miami scored two minutes into the period to win the game, and to advance to the Frozen Four in Detroit on April 8 to face Boston College.  Seventeen of twenty-six in our pool picked Miami of Ohio to make it to the Frozen Four.

Frozen Four Field Set:  RIT vs. Wisconsin; BC vs. Miami of Ohio

To see an updated bracket, click on “brackets” in the  upper right hand corner of this page.  As the idea of this year’s bracket-buster, RIT, going to the Frozen Four sinks in for many of us, and many college hockey fans everywhere, you might be wondering what the impact  of all this was on our pool.  Well, out of twelve possible correct picks at this time, the standings in our pool look  like this:

10  Krajan

8     Allen,Bogosian,Diem,O”Connell,TShymanski,Slaughter,Sweeney

7    Esposito,Holte,Ide,Pastor,Peterson, Rarden,SShymanski,Speare, Stier 

6    Bettendorf,Breen,Carlisle,Ryan,Schreader

5    Bremer,Fairbrother

4    Kramer,Smigielski

Is it too Early to Start Talking About the 2011 Frozen Four?  NO!!

It certainly is not too early to talk about it if you are considering going to St. Paul to see it next year, because the purchase application proces starts this week, Thursday (actually Wednesday night), April 1, at 12:01am Eastern Time.  Applications must be submitted electronically at www.ncaa.com/sports/m-hockey/spec-rel/031710aaa.html   It’s already been eleven years since a group of us readers went to the Frozen Four together in Anaheim in 1999.

That’s it for now.  Stay tuned, and go RedHawks!