East Regional Preview and Picks

The East Regional is considered to be the toughest region in the tournament. Michigan State is the #1 seed and they do not have an easy task. With their first round game with New Hampshire, the Spartans will need the same firepower they had in the CCHA tournament. New Hampshire might of been the last team in, but don't count them out. If the Wildcats can forget about the 9-2 loss to Boston University in the Hockey East Semis and focus on Michigan State, then I can gurantee that they will give the Spartans a run for their money.

In the second game Harvard will play Maine. Harvard came off winning the ECACHL tournament as Ted Donato's team has been playing very well as of late. Maine is coming off a 4-1 loss to Boston College in the semi-finals. Should be an interesting game.

Now lets breakdown the teams:

#1 Michigan State- Freshman Goaltender Jeff Lerg only allowed 7 goals in 4 games during the CCHA tournament. While their is not a tremendous goal scorer on this Spartan team, they do have nine players who scored 10 goals or more. The Spartans who started 6-8-4 have since went 16-3-3 in their last 22 games which helped them give the last number one seed in the tournament. As mentioned they have a tough matchup with New Hampshire but if they play like they did in the tournament then they could represent the CCHA in the Frozen Four. No CCHA team has made the Frozen Four the last two seasons.

#2 Harvard- Ted Donato's team has won seven out of their last eight games which led them to the ECACHL tournament title. John Daigneau has done a great job replacing Dov Grumet-Morris this year in net. While the Crimson don't have much scoring, they do have the defense and that could play a big factor against Maine in the first round. Look for their game against Maine to be a low scoring affair if they want to win this one.

#3 Maine- A dangerous #3 seed, Maine can prove that the Hockey East Semi-Final loss to Boston College was a fluke. They outshot BC 36-23 but could only get one past Cory Schneider. The last time Maine and Harvard met was in 2004 when Maine came from behind trailing 4-1 at the end of the second period and scored 4 unanswered goals to win the game. However this is a much better Harvard team they are facing and can not afford to be behind at any point of this game.

#4 New Hampshire- The most likely team to pull of the 1 vs 4 upset is UNH. The Wildcats have been inconsistant all year however and if they want to win they will have to forget about their 9-2 loss to Boston University in the Hockey East semi-finals. Kevin Regan has had an off year, and Jeff Pietrasiak has been the better goalie this year. The Wildcats should start Pietrasiak if they have any shot of pulling off the upset. The offense is their with Daniel Winnik, Brett Hemmingway, and Jacob McFlikier as the top scorers. Watch for the game against Michigan State to be high scoring which would be UNH's advantage.

Okay you know the teams now its time to pick the games.

Michigan State over New Hampshire, Harvard over Maine

Regional Final

Michigan State over Harvard

Tommorrow the West Regional will be previwed.