Minnesota vs. Providence
 
As a Gopher fan, I'm holding my breath on this one.  Providence sounds like
exactly the kind of team that could give them fits if they haven't tightened
up their play quite a bit.  While I will certainly agree that they looked
good during the conference play-offs, all four games they played were against
sub-.500 teams.  Michigan Tech and Wisconsin were certainly hot, but I don't
really think they had all of their holes plugged.
 
I'll disgree with Lee Urton on one thing; those reading my posts will
remember that I have been quite critical of Dan Trebil's defensive play.  In
one respect, he does play like a man his size: he's quite slow.  Combine that
with a lack of physical play and every lapse with the puck gets magnified.
 Mike Crowley has spent a lot of time plugging the leaks.  When it clicks,
Trebil's passing is a wonderful sight to behold, but at least once a game it
doesn't click.  After two weeks off, i'm worried about how sharp the passing
will be, not just from Trebs, but from a lot of others.
 
I'm expecting a low scoring game.  After the first line (i.e. Bonin and any
two guys, currently Rasmussen and Moser) the scoring on Minnesota gets
awfully spotty.  Pointswise, Checco and Ryan Kraft have both had
disappointing years; both can play a fine defensive game, though.
 Fortunately, Minnesota plays much bigger than they did last year: Rasmussen
adds a lot of size and Dave Larson, Jesse Bertogliat and Casey Hankinson have
stepped it up, too.
 
Assuming Providence simply continues to play like it has lately, I think the
real question for this game is which herd of Gophers (what do you call a
group of gophers, anyway?) makes the trip to East Lansing.  If they play like
they did in January, they should win.  If they play like they did in
February, they will lose.
 
 
Lowell - Michigan State
 
MSU needs to get it turned around.  I'm sure that Glen Keeney is more
familiar with this than I, but they haven't looked the same since
Vanstalduinen went down on the blue line.  Granted, the games I've seen
recently were at Yost, where no one but Michigan (and, interestingly enough,
the Buckeyes) looked good and at Joe Louis where they're looking increasingly
gunshy.  Still, they struggled past Ferris two weeks ago at Munn and lost the
CCHA regular season in a collapse.  It's broke, and Ron Mason better figure
out how to fix it.
 
 
Michigan
 
Not to cast aspersions at Bob Norton, but if Lowell has the best top three
lines in the country, I would be very surprised.  Morrison-Botterill-Muckalt;
Hilton-Luhning-Herr; Hayes-Madden-Legg.  Any team with a third-line winger
that scores short-handed ten times in a season scares the bejeezus out of me.
 Throw in a good fourth line (Arnold-Crozier-Rominski) and six solid
defensmen and you have my pick to win it all this year.
 
Other than the fact that Brendan Morrison is this team's meal ticket, it's
tough to pick out a key player.  Any of the top three lines can bury you.
 They haven't really shown a weakness since a lost weekend in Sault
Ste.-Marie a while back.  If they face Minnesota, I look for the Gophs to get
picked apart.  Providence has the advantage of using the only system that has
slowed the Wolverines down lately.  They'll have to step the offense up a
notch from what the numbers are saying, but it could be a good game.
 
(A question to those in Ann Arbor: if Michigan wins it all, do you think
someone could ask Red to at least smile?  Maybe pump his fist in the air once
or twice?)
 
 
Colorado College
 
In many ways, a similar team to Michigan.  They can score up and down the
lineup and play solidly in front of either goalie.  The big question is
whether Don Lucia can get this team to reverse its habit of skipping the big
game.  Last year, Minnesota played a letter perfect defensive game to
throttle them in the quarter-finals.  I don't see the Spartans that I've seen
lately being able to beat CC.  Lowell I haven't seen this year, so I couldn't
tell you.  What either must do is absolutely, positively stay out of the
penalty box.  Just don't take a penalty.  This power play will kill you.
 
 
J. Michael Jackson
 
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