This past weekend was the First round of the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament. There were surprises in every region.
Let’s start out West where Notre Dame the Four seed defeated the number One seed New Hampshire. It’s the second time in three years that a four seed defeated a number one seed. Holy Cross defeated Minnesota in 2006. That Minnesota Team had Phil Kessel (Boston Bruins), Alex Goligoski (Pittsburgh Penguins), and Blake Wheeler (a Phoenix Coyotes draft pick). That was a 16 seed defeating an one seed in the Men’s Basketball tournament. Notre Dame is an elite program so I wasn’t as surprised. Notre Dame then defeated the defending champions Michigan State. Michigan State defeated Colorado College in the 1st Round. Colorado College had home ice advantage.
Wisconsin who was the three seed defeated Denver the two seed in the Sweet 16. That regional was being held in Madison. Wisconsin almost took out another WCHA opponent in North Dakota but the Fighting Sioux won 3-2 in overtime. North Dakota defeated Princeton on Saturday. Wisconsin showed they belonged in the tournament. Some people thought they didn’t deserve to be in the tournament.
Boston College will soar into the Frozen Four after defeating Miami of Ohio 4-3 in overtime yesterday. Saturday the Eagles defeated Minnesota to meet Miami. Miami needed overtime to defeat Air Force to advance to the Elite 8.
The Number One overall seed Michigan had no problem defeating Niagara 5-1 to open the tournament. They met Clarkson after the Golden Eagles took care of St. Cloud State 2-1. Michigan defeated Clarkson 2-0.
With so many lower seeds give a scare to the higher seeds, a 20 team tournament would be entertaining.
The National Semi-Finals look like this (April 10th): Boston College vs. North Dakota 6pm and Notre Dame vs. Michigan 9pm.
That’s My Take
Nathan Fournier
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