Northeast Regional Preview and Picks
The Northeast Regional in Worcester, MA is to most of us the toughest region to pick a winner. With host Boston University, Miami (Ohio), Boston College, and Nebraska-Omaha, this region has many possibilities of picking a winner for this regional. BU won the Hockey East regular season and tournament, Miami (Ohio) won the CCHA regular season, Boston College went to the finals of Hockey East, and Nebraska-Omaha pulled off some big wins toward the end of the year.
Now its time to breakdown the teams.
#1 Boston University- Ever since the return of David Van der Gulik on December 30, the Terriers have been playing the best hockey in the country going 19-2-2 in those 23 games that Van der Gulik has played in. John Curry is arguably one of the best walk-on goaltenders in the history of college hockey and this year he proved that last year was no fluke. This season Curry went 23-7-4 with a 2.16 goals against average and a.921 save percentage. The Terriers have defeated rival Boston College four times this year and swept Maine during the regular season. Can the Terriers keep the fire power going and make the Frozen Four for the first time since 1997? They got a really good shot I think.
#2 Miami- The Redhawks have the best defense in the country only giving up 1.9 goals per game. The reason behind that is the play of two goaltenders, Sophomore Charlie Effinger and Freshman Jeff Zatkoff and Defensmen Andy Greene and Matt Davis. The offense is reasonable with two 20 goal scorers in Nathan Davis and Ryan Jones. The Redhawks are a dangerous #2 seed, they are certainly capable of coming out of this region with a Frozen Four bid.
#3 Boston College- The youngest team in the country have had an up and down season but have lately climbed there way back up. With a Hockey East final apperance, the Eagles have some momentum going into the tournament, especially goaltender Cory Schneider who played great during the Hockey East tournament. If BC wants to go to the Frozen Four, they will need to get scoring from someone other than Brian Boyle and Chris Collins. Don't forget about the history though of BC knocking off #1 teams in the country going into the tournament. In 1999 the Eagles made the Frozen Four defeating #1 North Dakota and in 2000 they defeated #1 Wisconsin and from there went to the National Championship game. Head Coach Jerry York will have his team ready to go this weekend as his quest for a 6th Frozen Four with Boston College begins on Friday against Miami.
#4 Nebraska-Omaha- The Mavericks have one of the best offenses in the country and the reason why is behind Hobey Baker canidate and CCHA player of the year Scott Parse, who is currently second in the country in scoring. Parse is not the entire offense however, he has a lot of support in players such as Bill Thomas, Alex Nikiforuk, Bryan Marshall, and Tomas Klempa. The Defense might have a couple of question marks so in order to beat BU they will have to have a great game from goaltender Jerad Kaufmann. Can the Mavericks pull of the upset in their first ever NCAA tournament game against BU? Sit back relax and enjoy the ride it should be a good one.
Now lets predict the Northeast Region:
Boston University over Nebraska-Omaha
Miami over Boston College
Regional Final:
Boston University over Miami
Well thats it for regional previews. Tommorrow I will foreshadow the Frozen Four.
Now its time to breakdown the teams.
#1 Boston University- Ever since the return of David Van der Gulik on December 30, the Terriers have been playing the best hockey in the country going 19-2-2 in those 23 games that Van der Gulik has played in. John Curry is arguably one of the best walk-on goaltenders in the history of college hockey and this year he proved that last year was no fluke. This season Curry went 23-7-4 with a 2.16 goals against average and a.921 save percentage. The Terriers have defeated rival Boston College four times this year and swept Maine during the regular season. Can the Terriers keep the fire power going and make the Frozen Four for the first time since 1997? They got a really good shot I think.
#2 Miami- The Redhawks have the best defense in the country only giving up 1.9 goals per game. The reason behind that is the play of two goaltenders, Sophomore Charlie Effinger and Freshman Jeff Zatkoff and Defensmen Andy Greene and Matt Davis. The offense is reasonable with two 20 goal scorers in Nathan Davis and Ryan Jones. The Redhawks are a dangerous #2 seed, they are certainly capable of coming out of this region with a Frozen Four bid.
#3 Boston College- The youngest team in the country have had an up and down season but have lately climbed there way back up. With a Hockey East final apperance, the Eagles have some momentum going into the tournament, especially goaltender Cory Schneider who played great during the Hockey East tournament. If BC wants to go to the Frozen Four, they will need to get scoring from someone other than Brian Boyle and Chris Collins. Don't forget about the history though of BC knocking off #1 teams in the country going into the tournament. In 1999 the Eagles made the Frozen Four defeating #1 North Dakota and in 2000 they defeated #1 Wisconsin and from there went to the National Championship game. Head Coach Jerry York will have his team ready to go this weekend as his quest for a 6th Frozen Four with Boston College begins on Friday against Miami.
#4 Nebraska-Omaha- The Mavericks have one of the best offenses in the country and the reason why is behind Hobey Baker canidate and CCHA player of the year Scott Parse, who is currently second in the country in scoring. Parse is not the entire offense however, he has a lot of support in players such as Bill Thomas, Alex Nikiforuk, Bryan Marshall, and Tomas Klempa. The Defense might have a couple of question marks so in order to beat BU they will have to have a great game from goaltender Jerad Kaufmann. Can the Mavericks pull of the upset in their first ever NCAA tournament game against BU? Sit back relax and enjoy the ride it should be a good one.
Now lets predict the Northeast Region:
Boston University over Nebraska-Omaha
Miami over Boston College
Regional Final:
Boston University over Miami
Well thats it for regional previews. Tommorrow I will foreshadow the Frozen Four.
posted by Hockey Crishnas at 9:20 AM
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