Quick comments:
> West East
>1 Lake Superior St. Maine
>2 Northern Michigan BU
>3 Michigan BC
>4 Minnesota Clarkson
>5 Wisconsin Providence
>6 Alaska-Anchorage Cornell
BC got what they wanted, which was home ice and an easy opponent in
the first round after their long layoff. They can win at Northern,
too. NMU has struggled its last few times into the tourney.
Clarkson has a tough draw; they probably felt they had a good shot
to be seeded 3rd and host Anchorage, but they get Wisconsin.
PC goes to Minnesota; should the Friars win, it sets up another
climactic battle at Maine. Two years ago, PC won a three-game
set at Northern, then took Maine to double OT in the third game in
Orono before the Black Bears pulled out the win.
BU seeded 2nd sets up a very interesting series no matter who they
play; either BU-Cornell or BU-Michigan should be a great one.
This season, BU led Michigan 6-1 after the first period in Boston
before Michigan scored 7 unanswered goals to win, 8-6.
LSSU gets the winner of Wisconsin-Clarkson; the last three years,
they have played the independent on the way, but not this year -
oddly enough, with the #1 seed, LSSU will have a more difficult
road to the championship than it has in past years seeded lower.
I was surprised Clarkson was dropped to fourth. That gave Hockey East
not only the top two Eastern seeds, but the top three - first time
ever for both situations. The four HE teams also set a precedent.
Overall, I am really not too surprised at how things turned out,
except for Clarkson dropping to 4th despite a great overall record,
a good record vs. HE teams, and winning both the ECAC regular season
and tourney championships.
Finally, thank you to the committee for seeding BU 2nd and BC 3rd;
again I can go to watch NCAA action on two consecutive weekends this
year!
- mike
|
