CC-AFA Regional Battle Likely?

Milo Bryant takes a look at the possibilities of the Tigers playing the Falcons at the World Arena and some of the fears that Coach Owens has playing them. I would have to agree, I don't want the Tigers to play AFA simply because I think they have the best chance of knocking us out of the tournament.

CC vs. AFA in hockey tourney would be great for almost everyone
By MILO BRYANT

The West Regional in the NCAA hockey tournament begins at the World Arena in nine days.

The arena is home to the Colorado College Tigers, and they will be playing in the arena. The 16-team field will be announced Sunday, including the three other teams playing at World Arena.

CC could be quite familiar with one, possibly two, of those teams.

As soon as the Air Force Falcons won the Atlantic Hockey Association Tournament title - in double overtime, Tigers coach Scott Owens, listening on the radio said, "I think Air Force could be here."

For a few reasons, the Falcons are one of the last teams the Tigers would want to see.

"I have mixed feelings," Owens said, smiling. "This is supposed to be our backyard. Nobody else's backyard. ... It would be great for Colorado Springs. It would be great for the Front Range. It would be great theater.

"I'm not so sure it would be great for the head coach."

Laughter ensued.

Owens does his share of worrying - even though he has one of the country's best teams, even though the Falcons have yet to beat the Tigers under Owens' watch.

"One of the reasons is they come in as one of the hottest teams in the country. I think they're 8-0-1," Owens said. "So you're dealing with that. They've found a way to skin the cat, so to speak, or found another way to get it done without Eric Ehn. So, that's a concern.

"They beat Denver. It's been 2-1 with us the last two times we've played. And they're a good team. And they've got a little postseason swagger to them. Then watch Ehn sneak out at the last second to play."

More laughter.

There's a lot of truth said in jest. An Air Force-CC matchup would not only be a good matchup for the Springs. But it would be a good game, too. The Falcons do not fear the Tigers. The Tigers have a lot of respect for the Falcons.

The Tigers have had the better team, but the gap between the two has narrowed considerably. And it's not just because of the drubbing the Falcons gave the University of Denver. One tournament appearance, which the Falcons made last year, might be fluky, two - uhh, uhh.

Remember, the Falcons finished 3-2-1 against ranked teams this season. Few schools can boast a nonconference schedule as good as Air Force's. Fewer can boast a winning record against that schedule.

Then there's the Ehn factor. Falcons coach Frank Serratore said there is a 50/50 chance that Ehn could play the tournament's opening round.

"Oh, what an emotional scene it would be to see Ehn skate back on the same ice that he was carried off on a stretcher," Serratore said. "To have it all come around, I think that would be very special and emotional for everybody in that building."

Owens' emotions would be mixed - again. Still, it's all a long shot that any of it will happen.

If the Tigers are seeded No.4 overall, Air Force will surely be sent elsewhere for the sake of bracket integrity. It would be unusual for the No. 1 seed to play any team but the No. 15 or No. 16 seed.

If CC is beaten Friday and/or Saturday in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs and other top teams win this week, the Tigers could be seeded fifth through eighth overall, and therefore seeded second at the West Regional. In that hypothetical situation, a team such as Michigan could come to the Springs as the top seed.

If that happened, Air Force could be in the region as the fourth-seeded team.

Were that to happen, don't think that Owens would fail to see a bit of poetic justice playing out. In the 2003 NCAA Tournament, the Tigers were the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Regional. Michigan was the No. 3 seed, but at home in Yost Ice Arena, where it knocked off second-seeded Maine and then the Tigers.

Maybe crazier than that would be to see the three Front Range teams playing in the West Regional. Serratore, a former tournament committee member, sees it happening only if CC is the No. 1 overall seed and DU is the No. 8 overall seed.

"It would be wild," Owens said. "It would be absolutely wild if we played Air Force in the first game and Denver played Michigan State in the other game, all here. It would be unbelievable.

"It would be stressful as hell."

Nope, it would be great.

Contact Bryant at 636-0252 or milo.bryant@gazette.com. See his blog at milobryant.blogspot.com or catch him on KOAA's Comcast Channel 9 most Wednesdays at 4 p.m.