West Regionals Observations from the Seats

From 2008 NCAA Wes...

As most of you know, Notre Dame won the West Regionals and is headed to Denver as the "worst" team in the Frozen Four. Not one "expert" thought they would even beat New Hampshire and surely not CC. Well they thumped the Wildcats 7-3 and padded that with 2 empty-netters, and never had to play CC but knocked out the defending champs. Go figure. I sarcastically said in my predictions that every team I picked to win the first round would lose, and almost all did but that's another story for later. As for the regionals themselves, it was definitely weird having our own arena taken over and controlled by the NCAA. It was obviously a giant commercial for an entity that is nowhere to be found during the regular season. All board ads and ice ads were stripped and replaced with the regional teams and logos, no problem with that, just different. The jumbo-tron had the "floating Tiger head" removed and video was split between the internal closed-circuit cameras and the ESPNU feed. It was pretty sweet seeing the ESPN score bar on the screen, knowing we were on national TV (even if it was a premium channel).

• One thing that was annoying was the commercials shown during the breaks. They were all past hockey memories, NCAA Championship ads (lacking D-1 football of course since they don't have playoffs), an ad for Hockey East that I booed every time it was played, and stupid trivia games that never got a peep out of the crowd...except when George Gwozdecky was featured followed by boos.
• Being on TV provided us with something we rarely get at the World Arena, TV timeouts. They were frequent and looooong and really broke up the flow of the game. It was like being at a Huskers' game when it was on Saturday Night Football on ABC, really annoying.
  

• The announcing was a neutral announcer rather than our sweet standard. The bathrooms didn't have the usual radio feed which was unfortunate, I was looking forward to hearing Ken Landau's assessment of the game while I was taking a break. Speaking of bathrooms, because of NCAA rules I'm sure, there as no alcohol at the game! I was really looking forward to my regular Sunshine Wheat but was denied. Any casual fan will notice the love of alcohol at the games, from Jack and Coke to wine to micro-brews, we know how to enjoy a game.

• Speaking of enjoying the game, most of us have come to love the soundtrack that goes with the Tigers instead of a band. Luckily, it played most of the game but it had to compete with the Spartan band. USCHO said that we "got a treat" hearing the bands from ND and MSU but they were the most obnoxious things EVER at a game! They got a rude awakening from CC fans with boos and a couple middle fingers directed their way. Most of the fans around us were EXTREMELY annoyed with the musical noise echoing around the arena. It's fine outside at football games or inside at high school basketball games, but not hockey. Thank goodness the arena music drowned it out most of the time for the Tigers game, not the earlier game however as the Notre Dame band was almost non-stop. Their ending "victory" song sounded like a funeral song, another reason why I hate that school with a passion.

• One of the funniest things was during the second intermission. I came out of the bathroom to find a couple hundred people crowded around the TV next to a snack bar. No other NCAA games were on so I was curious what the deal was. Turns out the Avs were in OT against Edmonton and headed for a shootout. By the time the SO started, the crowd had tripled in size and cheers were loud as the Avs went 3-for-3. Any ND fan was probably wondering what the heck that was all about, gotta love CO!
• Personally, I thought the style of hockey by the other three teams was very different than the WCHA. Not as skilled skating, passing or hitting. Notre Dame players fell down about every minute and Michigan State, instead of griding along the boards or digging, simply fell down and let the Tigers' fall on top. They played the puck in the corners a lot and fell on it hoping to get a whistle instead of playing up-tempo like the WCHA. I was not impressed with either Cup Cake team, even if they won. New Hampshire played more of CC's style. CCHA hockey just looked sloppy and the goaltending was the single reason why the Tigers didn't win. Bachman did fine, not excellent, but good enough to win - the offense just couldn't bury the biscuit through no fault of their own.
• The Arena was decidedly against New Hampshire for obvious reasons: the Tigers would face the weakest opponent Saturday night (of course they had to win first...). Personally, I wanted the Wildcats to win for hockey-purity reasons. The Tigers had been swept earlier in the season and would get a chance at revenge, UNH was clearly a better team and was more fun to watch since ND looked like retarded boys on skates, and I flat out HATE Notre Dame and all the stupid favoritisms they get just for being who they are.
  
• The Tigers wore the 70th anniversary Unis again which I'm sure pleased the fans. Judging from the apparel the crowd, the throwbacks not only out-represented the other jerseys but all other merch. as well! I'm seriously tempted to lay down a wad of cash and purchase the entire collection: black, yellow alternate and throwback. I got my white one last week on sale at Red Mountain sports and love it. You can't go wrong with hockey sweaters, there is just something unique and cool about em, no matter how many you have!
• One funny note; I titled David Ramsey's article "sometimes a good spanking is all you need" regarding the Tigers' beat-downs at the Final Five. Of course I didn't think about how that title would show up in google searches. Turns out people like to search the word "spanking" and that entry popped up 8 times in a day in searches from places like Madrid and even one from Tbillsi, Georgia. I'm sure it will be much more after this bullet point, haha
  

That's all I got for now, if I remember any more "observances" from the game I'll add to it. Tomorrow I'll run through the highlights of the season and why the 3 game skid wasn't all bad for the Tigers. (if you need some goalie humor, check out the vid below. Never heard of this goalie but he sure loves the camera and microphone!)
~PCO

Frozen Four is Set

Michigan will play Notre Dame and
North Dakota will play Boston College

Season Complete: What's Next for the Blog

First off, thanks to everyone who has stopped by the site the past week to check out the Tigers. You set the all-time record Friday for visits in a day, a lot from across the country which was really cool. Saturday also had an extremely high number of visitors, which is pretty sweet considering the Tigers were ousted the night before. I have plenty to write about the games Friday night and the overall "feel" of the regionals, but I think I'll save it for tomorrow and lump it together with the season wrap-up for the Tigers; I'm too busy enjoying my weekend to sit down and write for a few hours;) So fear not loyal readers, I'll have fresh content throughout the day tomorrow. For now, enjoy the pics from both games Friday night: my dad and I combined for some awesome shots including Prowler acknowledging us as he skated by and my dad's super-zoom on Bachman.
For those that weren't at the game, I will emphasize that the Tigers didn't play poorly Friday at all, they look crisp for the most part and definitely skated, passed, and had more intensity than the Spartans. BUT, it was made painfully clear why their goalie was a Hobey finalist. Any other guy in net would have allowed 5 goals at minimum, that's how many chances the Tigers had. But, it wasn't to be and they got valuable experience instead. They also shouldn't feel too bad though after Notre Dame, the team a lot felt was the weakest in the tournament and didn't deserve to even be there, cruised to the Frozen Four. DU was demolished and AFA gave up a late 2-1 lead and lost to Miami in OT. North Dakota and Wisconsin play tonight for the WCHA's Frozen Four participant; and for the love of all that is right in the college hockey world, I hope one of those teams wins the National Championship!
Happy Sunday and look for the Regional Wrap and season wrap this week!
~PCO

Pics from Friday Night

CC Athletics Recap
Spartans advance as Lerg shuts down Tigers
Jeff Lerg is guilty of grand larceny. The junior goaltender made a season-high 41 saves to lead third-seeded Michigan State to a 3-1 victory over second-seeded Colorado College in Game No.2 of the NCAA West Regional at the Colorado Springs World Arena. The Spartan victory set up an all-Central Collegiate Hockey Association regional final on Saturday night against Notre Dame, which upset top-seeded New Hampshire, 7-3, in the first game of the day. Lerg was brilliant in the opening period, when the Tigers outshot MSU 12-2. Both teams had three power-play opportunities, but were only able to muster one shot on goal apeice. Michigan State broke the stalemate midway through the second period when junior left wing Tim Kennedy lifted the rebound of a Jeff Petry shot past a sprawling Richard Bachman on the power play. Jeff Dunne doubled the Spartan lead with 1:57 remaining in the second period on a one-timer from the right circle. MSU stunned the Tigers with seven seconds left in the period when Chris Mueller took a feed from Kennedy and beat Bachman with a slaphot in the top left corner. The Tigers scored their only goal midway through the third period when Andreas Vlassopoulos won a draw back to Derek Patrosso, who put a shot between Berg’s pads to give CC life with 7:53 to play. With the Spartans protecting their lead in the final 20 minutes, Colorado College had a 17-9 advantage in shots on goal, but was unable to crack the MSU defense a second time. Bachman finished with 20 saves for the Tigers, who saw their season end with a 28-12-1 record.

Tigers' Amazing Season Cut Short

CC came out flying and shot the daylights out of the Spartans, but in the end it wasn't to be as the few breaks in the game went Michigan State's way and the Tigers fell 3-1. More to come tomorrow afternoon (I'll be at the Denver International Auto Show most of the day) but for now, thanks for the great season guys, we still love you and the season was a blast to watch!

GameTracker

Here's the link to the CSTV GameTracker if you want to follow the games online.
At last check, Clarkson was up 2-1 on St. Cloud in the middle of the third period. The Huskies are being out-shot 39-19. (I picked SCSU to win 4-1, woops!)

Game Day Material

photo by Kevin Kreck













The day of the regionals is here and it's fitting that the Springs is frosted with freezing rain from over-night. I can't remember the last time there was freezing rain like this. BUT, it was 70+ degrees earlier this week so it's no surprise, gotta love spring in CO. If you are just trying to survive work and get to tonight fear not, there are plenty of links to read. Some have interesting thoughts about the tournament (like Clarkson reaching Denver), most are east coast bias like usual. My poll looks like it's shaping up how I figured it would with CC, Michigan and North Dakota handily owning their regionals and the North East regional a complete toss-up. It's too bad the games aren't on normal TV. ESPN has pulled an NFL Network move and put all the regionals on ESPNU, a channel most standard cable subscribers don't get. Stupid, but I can't do anything about it.
I'll be at both games tonight so the blog won't be updated until near midnight or Saturday morning, but I'll have plenty of pics from both games. GO TIGERS!!!

CC Athletics looks at the Tigers and their battle with Michigan State tonight

The local coverage of the West Regionals and the teams

USCHO has regional previews as well as "more coverage" aka east coast bias

INCH features Air Force on the homepage and offers more informed regional previews

ESNPU has some writers that have randomly decided to cover college hockey starting today and have some odd "expert" predictions, aka "who's everyone else picking"

College Hockey News has enough goodies to waste the rest of the afternoon

The Gazette does their best to look like they actually care

Predictions II : Northeast and Midwest Regionals

Northeast Regional-Worcester, MA
Saturday-2PM Air Force vs Miami
Miami has been rolling through their season with the #1 offense in the country beating on Cup Cake Hockey Association opponents and they will get a rude awakening against the Falcons. AFA has been up to WCHA standards this season, stomping DU and playing toe-to-toe with the Tigers. Eric Ehn may be back to give the Falcons a spark. I'm going with the North-side team here.
Prediction: AFA 4, Miami 3

Sunday-5:30PM Minnesota vs Boston College
This game should be a battle. BC is the Hockey East Champion, a league that most view as second behind the WCHA. BC has tournament experience and will be looking to prove their league is better. Minnesota is riding their late season and tournament momentum, despite losing to DU in a game that could have gone both ways. Minnesota is also experienced and physical. If their goaltending is on (like it was against the Tigers), they will defeat the evil east coast Eagles.
Prediction: Minnesota 4, BC 2

Regional Final-Saturday 2:30PM
In a rematch of last year's regional in Denver, the Falcons and Gophers will battle it out again, this time for a spot in Denver. Close, physical game that will go down to the final 5 minutes, or even OT. I think Minnesota's momentum and experience will carry them in this one.
Prediction: Minnesota 3, AFA 2

Bottom line: The Gophers will grind out the win but the stretch run and battle with AFA will catch up with them next weekend and their season will in Denver against...

Midwest Regional-Madison, WI
Saturday-4:30PM Wisconsin vs Denver
After winning the Broadmoor Trophy, DU is rewarded by being placed in the Badgers home building for the opening round-the only all WCHA game tomorrow night. The Pios lost 7-2 the last time they played up in Madison and that has to play a little bit into their heads this weekend. UW will be pumped up at getting another chance and being the only sub-500 team in the tourney (thank you WCHA schedule). This is a toss up but I'm going to give the edge to DU and their tourney experience. It won't be pretty and I wouldn't be surprise to see it go into an extra period or two, and the referees will make all the correct calls this time ;)
Prediction: DU 3, UW 2

Sunday-1:00PM North Dakota vs Princeton
I don't care what anyone says, this is not going to be close. I don't care if Princeton won their tournament, NoDak is too good and will be salivating at the chance to get revenge against DU. WCHA speed and strength will end this quickly as UND eases up in the third period and begins preparation for DU.
Prediction: UND 5, Princeton 0

Regional Final-Saturday 5:00PM
North Dakota can't be happy with what happened at the Ex last weekend and will relish the chance to knock DU out of the tournament and send them home with the Pepsi Center in view from their campus. NoDak will be physical and will score early and put DU in a 3 goal deficit which they have struggled with all season. DU will lose their cool near the end of the game and big, border line illegal hits will dominate the 3rd period.
Prediction: UND 4, DU 1

Bottom line: North Dakota heads to Denver to round out the WCHA crew in Denver.

Final Words:
You heard it here, the WCHA will again ruffle the feathers of the NCAA and dominate the Frozen Four, just as they did in 2005. What, you expected me to say something different?! ;). I'm going to go with my gut and put CC winning 3-2 over North Dakota for their first national title in 50 years. These two are, in my mind, the best teams in the country and it would be a shame for them not to meet again, with CC defending their state and knocking off the mighty Sioux.
Of course there is the distinct possibility that every one of my Friday night picks could lose, in which case I hope you enjoyed the writing!
~PCO

*The bracket I used for the times and dates was incorrect, these two regionals take place Saturday and Sunday

Predictions: East and West Regionals

Predicting WCHA games is like trying to predict the weather in Colorado. Just like it can be snowing downtown and 70 degrees at the World Arena, any weekend allows any team to win. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the NCAA Tournament should be slightly easier to predict. The biggest intangible with these games is who reacts to the pressure and who folds up and collapses. I'll run through each bracket and try to give the best bet on who will head to Denver. Obviously I'm going to be CC biased but to be perfectly honest, they will win it all IF they can score like they were used to (4+ goals a game average) and don't get caught up in the atmosphere, like last weekend. (all times below MT)

West Regional-Colorado Springs World Arena
Friday, 4PM Early Game-New Hampshire vs Notre Dame
I'm looking at New Hampshire taking out Notre Dame with relative ease. ND hasn't played on an Olympic sheet all season and is coming out of the Cup Cake Hockey Association, UNH plays home games on Olympic ice and was consistent all season.
Prediction: UNH 4, ND 1

8PM Night Game-Colorado College vs Michigan State
If the Tigers play their game (fast and high scoring), the defending champions should be sent packing Friday night. CC is at home and played one of the top 3 hardest schedules in the country. Michigan State is a 3rd place CCHA team. However, the experience from last season's title run will give them an advantage in the intangible category, the World Arena crowd should give the Tigers comfort. Look for a fast, high-tempo game.
Prediction: CC 5, MSU 3

Regional Final-8PM Saturday
If the Tigers can beat the defending champs, they will continue their run Saturday night and knock off New Hampshire. The Tigers were swept the second weekend of the season against the Wildcats and will be hungry for revenge and running on adrenaline after knocking out the Spartans. New Hampshire will be worn down by games end, CC clinches with an empty-net goal with 1:20 left and punches their ticket to Pepsi Center.
Prediction: CC 4, UNH 2

Bottom line: Colorado College reaches the Frozen Four 75 miles north of home

East Regional-Albany, NY
Friday Early 2PM St. Cloud State vs Clarkson
Much debate has been made about this matchup because of the seeding. However it won't matter as the WCHA will win this one. CC dominated Clarkson this season 5-2 and 6-2 and St. Cloud has given the Tigers fits, splitting 2-2 and ending the Tigers undefeated home record. Their tough and never-die attitude will take them far and only another WCHA team will beat em. I think the Huskies will be the Cinderella/pest team in this tourney and cause everyone headaches.
Prediction: SCSU 4, Clarkson 1

Friday Night Game 5:30 Michigan vs Niagra
Despite Michigan's weak schedule in a weak conference, the Wolverines will win game 1 handily against probably the lowest profile team in the tournament. Niagara did beat 1/2-WCHA team Bemidji in the CHA tournament but will suffer from the talent gap with UM. I hate Michigan but I'll take them in this one.
Prediction: UM 3, Niagara 1

Regional Final 5PM Saturday
Media darling Michigan will have their hands full trying to keep the Huskies on their leash. The Wolverines will struggle with the pest of the WCHA in a battle much tougher than they had expected. I think SCSU's grit and determination, not to mention conference experience, will carry them to Denver in a nasty battle.
Prediction: SCSU 3, UM 2

Bottom line: St. Cloud heads to Denver as the Frozen Four underdog

Look for the wide-open Northeast and Midwest predictions later tonight.

Colorado Is a Big Freakin' Deal

Those of you that know me know that I'm annoyingly proud of the state of Colorado and everything that we have. So I was extremely happy to check out the paper today to see the special section devoted to Colorado being the hotbed of hockey for the weekend. The photo-illustration by Mark Reis was phenomenal. Half of the image is above. Unfortunately, they cut off the burning Nike Bauer skate that is above the Colorado hockey puck, probably so people like me don't put it on their blog (which is ironic because I probably get more traffic and exposure than that paper does and I would give them more visitors, but another matter for another time). The section has some good articles, if you can find them. In true Gazette fashion, each page has a 1/4 page article and the other 3/4 is FULL OF ADS! Gazette, I don't care about Liberty Toyota, but I do care about the "Last Change a Boon" article buried on the upper left. Can you guys at least spare us the ads for a special section? Can you imagine those sweet Broncos posters from the Super Bowl years with a big Heuberger ad at the bottom? You guys actually had something good going on and you ruined it (and having to pay for it is no excuse, this is ridiculous). Kate actually did a good job on this one so I compiled all the article links for you to spare you from all the ads. However, the photo illustration is worth whatever the paper costs so if you feel compelled, go pick one up.

The hotbed of hockey

CC Refocusing

Home team draws a crowd

It's all about the line change

Sometimes a Good Spanking is All You Need

CC needed bad weekend
By DAVID RAMSEY

Sometimes, a smack upside the head is just what a team requires.

Colorado College's Tigers tumbled to consecutive defeats at the Final Five in St. Paul, Minn. They were, during one lost weekend, blindsided by all their faults.

Good for them.

This two-loss debacle is exactly what the team needs to fuel a run to the Frozen Four in Denver.

Everything is in place for the short journey to Pepsi Center. The Tigers are blessed with experience, talent and home-ice advantage. To top it off, they enjoy the blessing of a wicked yet wonderful jolt of reality.

No. 2 regional seed CC plays No. 3 seed Michigan State, the defending national champion, at World Arena at 8 p.m. Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Tigers delivered one of the grandest regular seasons in school history. They beat archrival University of Denver, the evil empire, in three of four games, claimed the Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season title by four points and roared into the Final Five with the expectation of glorious triumph.

What a difference a weekend makes.

In the hallway outside CC's locker room, forward Scott McCulloch talked softly about the losses. He was, he said, "embarrassed."

On March 8, the Tigers danced at World Arena with the MacNaughton Cup, symbol of their WCHA supremacy. Two weeks later, they stumbled off the ice in St. Paul, losers of two straight.

"It's always good to be brought back to earth for everybody," McCulloch said. "When you're winning, as much as you try not to, you start thinking you're unbeatable."

Despite recent bad times, the Tigers retain every reason to believe. They're 18-2 at World Arena.

Belief is the message offered by coach Scott Owens. He walks to a steady hockey beat, declining to soar too high or sink too low.

He's sticking to his beat, even after the losses. He's offended by the suggestion his Tigers were "jolted" at the Final Five.

"I'm probably not quite the alarmist that you are," he said. "We did not have success last weekend - there's no doubt - but we didn't play that poorly."

Don't think Owens is oblivious to his team's faults. He was bothered by his team's casual approach at the Final Five.

The Tigers, Owens said, weren't scrappy enough. They declined to swarm the net. They didn't play with the focused rage that carried them to a WCHA regular-season title.

Still, Owens hasn't transformed this week into an angry, middle-aged man. He's veering as far away as he can from, borrowing his words, "a negative over-reaction." He swears he's not worried.

"You know what," Owens said, leaning forward in his office chair. "I'm optimistic. When you look at the sum of our work, I'm optimistic that we will play well at home."

While the MacNaughton Cup rested behind him, Owens leaned back and asked himself two questions.
Is he depressed?

No.

Is he berating his players?

No.

Owens will not be moved. He's sticking, as always, to the hopeful approach.

He knows he lives in perilous times. One loss and World Arena will change from a happy hockey destination to a big, cold, sad room. One loss and a season of promise crashes to a halt.

Owens smiled.

"We're back in familiar surroundings," he said. "And I feel pretty good."

We'll soon see if he has grounds for all this radical calm.

Can He Do it?

freshman Richard Bachman will look to carry his team to the title like Peter Manino in 2005 (photo by PCO)















Tigers will live or die by Bachman's play
Milo F. Bryant

We can talk all we want about the story lines heading this weekend's West Regional at World Arena.

There are many.

From two Hobey Baker Award finalists - who shouldn't be finalists over Colorado College goaltender Richard Bachman - to the defending national champions to teams playing at altitude and on a big sheet. We could go on and on. And over the next few days, we probably will.

But this weekend is going to boil down to the one thing it always boils down to in the college hockey playoffs - goaltending.

"You can't advance without good goaltending," CC coach Scott Owens said. "And even when you do have good goaltending, it's iffy. Like us last weekend - we had pretty good goaltending and it was still iffy. It was a big story in our league this year and it's always a big story in the postseason."

For Bachman, the story carries a little extra weight. All season the Tigers have trumped the "I.O.B." mantra - In Our Backyard. They've been about protecting the home turf.

The ability to protect it never is going to be more important than Friday when the Tigers face the defending national champion Michigan State Spartans.

As many big games as Bachman has played, the implications make this one and each after it - if there are any - biggest.

It's in Bachman's backyard now.

Remember, Bachman is a freshman. He's an incredibly talented, level-headed and smooth freshman. But he's still a freshman, and he's leading a team with a neophyte's amount of playoff experience.

As good as Bachman has been, he's going to have to be better if the home team wants to make that trip to Denver and play in the Frozen Four. Navigating the Tigers' way north is a lot of weight to put on a freshman's shoulders - even on the considerable shoulders of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's Player of the Year.

"I try to keep everything about the same," Bachman said. "You do notice the pressure a little bit more. You know that every game could be your last game, but I think that helps. It brings the best out of you a little bit more, more of that competitiveness.

"It's not just a regular-season game. You're fighting for your playoff lives here. I love playoffs. I think it's the best time. You can really make a big difference for your team."

Bachman will be facing a Hobey Baker finalist in Jeff Lerg on Friday. Lerg played more minutes than any other goalie in the nation this year. But he wasn't as good as he was last season, and definitely not as good as he was in the 2007 NCAA Tournament when he led his team to the title.

Lerg was the epitome of a hot goalie then.

Can he repeat that type of play? Can he prove that the nation's coaches were correct in making him a Hobey Baker finalist based on this year's merits and not last year's success?

Can Bachman match that intensity?

"You want to be on those lists," Bachman said. "I've accepted it and kind of moved on. But having those other two goalies here, you want to show that you can be right up there with them.

"They've had tremendous seasons and deserve to be on that list. You want to be able to match their play and be able to exceed it. You want to step up for the hometown crowd."

Expect Bachman to match the play of the opposing goalies.

Even if he does, as Owens said, victory is still going to be iffy.

All in the Family

If you haven't seen or heard about it, Colorado Hero Patrick Roy's son got into a fight in the Canadian league the other night, beating the crap out of a defenseless opposing goalie. Most people are fuming about this whole thing but I found it kinda funny, in a sick twisted way. Below is the fight, followed by Patrick's beating of Chris Osgood during the "good ol' days" for the Avalanche.

Hobey-Screwed

Milo's column last week alludes to the Tigers complete snuff by the Hobey committee. I don't care if we had a player that would have won it, but c'mon, the team had one of the best regular season's in the country and the hardest schedule of the top 5 teams. What a joke.

Hobey Baker committee’s snub of CC is pathetic
By MILO F. BRYANT

ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Colorado College hockey team left the Western Collegiate Hockey Association awards ceremony with an impressive amount of hardware — and justifiably so.

But the thing that had folks in a River Center ballroom talking afterward was the huge snub the Tigers received.

Freshman goalie Richard Bachman joined senior defenseman Jack Hillen and junior forward Chad Rau on the WCHA first team. Hillen was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. Bachman earned Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year honors.

There were many congratulations — as there should have been.

Then came the snub.

The Hobey Baker committee showed a video to release the names of the top 10 finalists for the nation’s highest college hockey honor. Seconds before the announcement a betting person would’ve put down his house that the Tigers would’ve had at least two and possibly three people on that list.

After the announcement, that man would’ve been homeless.

The Tigers were shut out of the top 10 Hobey Baker finalists.

Read that sentence again. They were shut out. The Tigers had the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year and the Player of the Year and they were shut out of the top 10?

That’s pathetic.

Bachman, Rau and Hillen are three of the nation’s best players. They play on one of the nation’s best teams. They play in the nation’s best conference.

There are not 10 players in the country better than those three. If anyone can find 10 players, they’re looking in the National Hockey League.

“Shocked,” University of Denver coach George Gwozdecky said of his reaction. “Disappointed may be better. Disappointed and shocked.

“I’ll be very honest with you. We’ve got great respect for CC. As bitter as the rivalry is, we’ve got great respect for CC. . . . Richard Bachman and Chad Rau have had great years in the WCHA. And within the WCHA they were awarded accordingly. For them not to receive the national recognition of being in the top 10 — it’s just not right.”

No, it’s not.

The last time the WCHA Player of the Year failed to be named as a Hobey Baker top 10 finalist was during the 1989-90 season when the University of Wisconsin’s Gary Shuchuk wasn’t named.

Bachman was twice the Hockey Commissioners’ Association National Rookie of the Month.

North Dakota’s Jean-Philippe Lamoureux is one of three goalies in the top 10 finalists list. Michigan State Jeff Lerg and New Hampshire’s Kevin Regan are the others.

In conference play, Bachman had a higher save percentage than Lamoureux. He had a higher winning percentage than Lamoureux. Had Bachman played the final regular season game he would’ve beaten Lamoureux in goals against average, too.

So Lamoureux, not even the best goalie in his own conference gets on the top 10 list, and Bachman doesn’t.

The only place where Lerg has proven to be better than Bachman is on the clock. Lerg played more minutes than any other goalie this season.

Bachman leads Regan in every major goalie statistical category.

So, what gives?

Some have said it’s because Bachman is a freshman. If that’s the case, the award shouldn’t be given. If it’s a freshman thing, then what’s the problem with Rau and Hillen?

“I’m actually surprised that none of them are up there,” CC coach Scott Owens said. “I thought we’d have a couple. I didn’t know which two they’d be but I thought we’d have a couple.

“Basically, you’ve got the top scoring defenseman in the country. You’ve got the Player of the Year and the Rookie of the Year. Yeah, I am a little surprised by that.”

I don’t know if it would’ve changed anything, but Colorado College didn’t have the best promotion of its players nationally. In this day, teams can’t rely on Internet message boards or college hockey Web sites to do their promotion for them.

Those who don’t do that, rightly or wrongly, get snubbed.

“It makes us want to get to the Frozen Four and get some more exposure because we have some unbelievable players on our team that didn’t get recognized,” Hillen said.

The Tigers, who are the second furthest team away from the Atlantic Ocean, played on the East Coast twice this season, and only once was up North. They played in Tampa the other games. Both of those trips happened before 2008. Few people remember specifics that far back.

They needed to be reminded, and CC did a poor job of doing that.

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.

Reviews of the Pathetic Weekend Showing

Maybe it was Kate Crandall broadcasting the infamous suspension reasons just before the games (for the sheer reason to make a name for herself and sell papers no doubt) or the Tigers were still thinking DU and decided to mimic the Pios pathetic stretch run. Either way, something happened to the Tigers this past weekend. They were sloppy, slow, and couldn't score to save (black) face. This should have been an easy sweep for the Broadmoor Trophy: DU was limping like a man just after "that surgery", Minnesota had been playing hockey for a week straight non-stop, and North Dakota had a so-so goalie and wasn't as fast as the Tigers. Instead we got CC laying an oblong egg against the Gophers, and deciding not to care about 3rd place and just go through the motions and get back to the Springs (not too mention NoDak's goalie playing lights out with his crazy name). DU decided to wake up and actually play hockey was rewarded with another B-moor Trophy (they are 5-0 in the Final Five), and also with a trip to Wisconsin for the tournament-a team that put up 7 on them last time they played. Now CC is a #2 seed at home and gets to take on the defending champs. Very do-able but still a challenge. If the Tigers play like their 18-2 home record, it's off to Denver they go. If they play like this past weekend, I'll be pretty glum in my 3rd row seat Friday night.


Tip-toeing won’t take Tigers far in playoffs
By MILO F. BRYANT

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Home is all that’s left for the Colorado College Tigers.

They spent too much time toiling around the Xcel Energy Center ice and not enough time playing what they like to call “Tigers’ Hockey” on Friday and Saturday.

Blanked at the Final Five — sounds like the title of a bad hockey book. It’s sad the Tigers would’ve starred as the incredibly humbled protagonist.

Couple Saturday’s 4-2 loss to North Dakota with Friday’s overtime loss to Minnesota and the Tigers put together a weekend that we haven’t seen since they lost twice to New Hampshire in late October.

On Friday, the Tigers ran into a hot goalie and deserve a break.

Saturday’s setback was different. The Tigers failed to put forth the same kind of effort as their opponent. For much of the game, North Dakota was the team playing as if it had something to lose or something to prove.

If a team can get dirty on the ice, North Dakota was the team getting dirty. North Dakota was more stubborn. It was everything the Tigers were throughout the regular season.

The Tigers worked their butts off all season to earn the Western Collegiate Hockey Association’s regular-season title. Then they get into the playoffs and start tip-toeing around.

Tip-toeing isn’t what got them to the playoffs. It’s amazing they skated as if tiptoeing would somehow sustain them.

“For only a quarter of the time did we look like the true CC team that we’ve been all year,” senior captain Scott Thauwald said. “That’s not the way you want to play playoff hockey. If anything, you want to be more intense. You want to play better than you did in the regular season, and that just didn’t happen. The inconsistency was key.”

Saturday’s game should’ve been about the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s West Regional. Colorado College and North Dakota were No. 4 and No. 5 in the Pair-Wise rankings entering the game. The PairWise rankings are a simulation of the process used to pick the NCAA field. Conventional wisdom suggests the winner of the game would receive the fourth overall seed, and therefore a top seed in one of the four regionals.

The Tigers host the West Regional so they have to play there. Had they won Saturday, they would’ve been the top seed. Now they likely will be a No. 2 seed and have to beat a tougher opponent to reach the regional final.

We now have to ask ourselves: Which Tigers will show up next weekend at the World Arena?

North Dakota is one of the nation’s better teams. But there is no way North Dakota skates around the Tigers the way it did Saturday unless the Tigers are emotionally tapped or they’re simply giving a lackluster effort.

Look no further than North Dakota’s third goal Saturday.

Defenseman Chay Genoway took the puck near center ice and weaved his way between, around and by the Tigers’ Kris Fredheim, Brian Connelly and Thauwald.

The perplexing thing about the game is that the Tigers are built on speed. Yet they were not one or two steps slower. The Tigers were playing catch up much of the first two periods.

The Tigers skated as if they were on a perpetual penalty kill for much of the second period.

“It is surprising to me right now, at this point of the season, how inconsistent we are,” sophomore forward Bill Sweatt said. “We’ve got to figure it out and figure it out quick.”

Either teams have figured out how to keep the Tigers from scoring inside or the Tigers are not being gritty and aggressive enough to fight the puck inside and get the dirty goals. A majority of the Tigers’ shots are coming from the outside or from high in front of the goal.

That’s not working.

If the Tigers want to get to Denver and the Frozen Four, they better dig in and get some grit on their skates.

It's Michigan State

The Tigers will open up with Michigan State Friday and the WCHA lands 6 teams in the tournament, 3 in the Midwest Regional.

USCHO
The NCAA Selection Show is over and after all the games and all the speculation, the field of 16 has been laid out. As predicted using the PairWise Rankings, sub-.500 Wisconsin earned a bid and will host the Midwest Regional in Madison, Wis. But with a record-breaking six WCHA teams in the tournament, the committee threw a curveball in setting up the bracket, with three WCHA teams at the Midwest Regional. Still, if you start from the right principles, the bracket falls out without too much wrangling, says Jayson Moy.
Analysis

Albany (East)
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 4 Niagara
No. 2 St. Cloud State vs. No. 3 Clarkson

Colorado Springs (West)
No. 1 New Hampshire vs. No. 4 Notre Dame
No. 2 Colorado College vs. No. 3 Michigan State

Madison (Midwest)
No. 1 North Dakota vs. No. 4 Princeton
No. 2 Denver vs. No. 3 Wisconsin

Worcester (Northeast)
No. 1 Miami vs. No. 4 Air Force
No. 2 Boston College vs. No. 3 Minnesota

DU Wins Broadmoor Trophy

At least it stayed in Colorado. DU battled to beat Minnesota to win the 2008 Broadmoor Trophy leaving the two Colorado rivals each champions of the league this season, CC got the regular season and DU with the post-season. However, neither of those matter as the battle for the national championship will begin this week.
It was an entertaining game, one that featured Minnesota getting some payback from last night when a centering pass hit their defenseman and went in their own net.
Game story here

Tigers Limp Out of Tournament

The Tigers WCHA Final Five woes continued as CC loses to North Dakota 4-2 in the consolation game Saturday afternoon. Once again, the opposing goaltender got hot against CC, this time is was J.P Laoureux, stopping 33 shots, a night after looking pretty average. It's a blessing and a curse to play in the WCHA. Blessing being strength of schedule and great hockey every night; curse being any one can win any game and the tournament gives each team that chance. The Tigers ruled the regular season but weren't up to the task on the smaller ice surface battling for the elusive Broadmoor Trophy. CC will still make the NCAA Tournament and will play Friday at the World Arena but will not be the number one seed. BUT it may actually be a better bracket for the Tigers.
Right now it looks like New Hampshire, Notre Dame, Minnesota State and CC out here in the Springs. The Tigers would open up against Notre Dame. Notre Dame has not played on an Olympic sheet this season. However, there could be some changes due to conferences, travel etc.
Pairwise This Afternoon, the Tigers are 5th

The selection will be unveiled at 9AM on ESPN 2 Sunday morning. I'll try to get the tournament information up Sunday afternoon since it is Easter Sunday it's very significant for myself, way above my love of hockey.
Game stats here

Tonight, DU will take on Minnesota for the Broadmoor Trophy. I'm looking for Minnesota to win this one; they are on a roll and always play well in the post-season. Most people thought we would see, and hoped for, a CC-ND battle pitting most people's top two teams in the country. The game is live on FSN at 6:07PM

Goofy Goal Leaves Tigers Broadmoorless Again

A centering pass deflects off Nate Prosser's glove, rolls down Bachman's back and into the net giving the Gophers an OT winner and a place in the WCHA title game tomorrow against Denver. The Tigers didn't play poorly, but a brick wall was in place for the Gophers and the Tigers were left in a position where anything could happen, and it did. You could watch the entire NCAA Tournament and probably not see a goal as awkward and laced with fate as that one. The Tigers will play surprise loser North Dakota tomorrow in the consolation game-a game completely meaningless to arguably the two best teams in college hockey. Conference tournaments are always strange and give the underdog the chance, and this year's is no exception. One good thing about this game is that the Tigers will save up some effort for the NCAA Tournament, although they are left without their own trophy once again.

CC Athletics
Broadmoor Trophy remains elusive for CC
If there really is such thing as playoff magic, it continues to fall in the University of Minnesota’s favor. The Gophers got the lucky break of the night on Friday, scoring a fluke goal at 4:47 of overtime to claim a 2-1 victory over Colorado College in their semifinal match-up at the WCHA Final Five. The defeat at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn,, sticks regular-season champion CC into Saturday’s third-place game against North Dakota, a 3-1 loser to Denver on Friday, with the winner likely to receive a No. 1 seed for next week’s NCAA West Regional at the World Arena. The Tigers simply did not get the job done in their first appearance at the Final Five since 2005. They launched a season-high 20 shots on goal in the opening period, and finally took the lead on a power-play tally by Andreas Vlassopoulos early in the second, but then let Minnesota back into the game less than a minute later. Freshman left wing Mike Hoeffel burned CC twice, first on a rising wrist shot from the slot to tie the score at 1:38 of that middle frame, then in overtime when his centering attempt from the left faceoff circle deflected into the net off Colorado College defenseman Nate Prosser. Meanwhile, at the other end of the ice, Alex Kangas won the duel of freshman goaltenders, finishing with 37 saves. Richard Bachman made 33 stops for the Tigers, who were unable to take advantage of a Minnesota team that started post-season play as a seventh seed and was playing its fifth game in the last eight days.

Gophers Prevail

University of Minnesota photo















The Tigers will take on Minnesota Friday night in a rematch of the Tigers season-opening sweep. UM knocked off St. Cloud in front of a whopping 19,232 fans. Even though Minnesota is coming on strong, I personally feel more comfortable facing them than the Huskies, a team that beat us twice and smothered us in our first home loss of the season. The battle between the WCHA #1 and #7 will begin at 6:07 Mountain Time Friday night with radio coverage on 103.9FM and a special treat, on TV local NBC affiliate 5/30 in the Southern Colorado viewing area.

St. Cloud-Minnesota Box Score Here

UM official recap here