BC Wins Yet Another National Title

Is Jerry York the best collegiate coach currently coaching a team? If he's not, he's right up there.

BC beat Ferris State 4-1 Saturday night to win their 5th NCAA title, their 4th under York, and their 3rd in 5 years. York now has 5 championships as a head coach. He won his first with Bowling Green in 1984.

The BC Eagles ended the season with 19 straight wins. They haven't lost since January 21st. That streak includes a Beanpot win, a Hockey East tournament win, and some impressive victories in the NCAA tournament. They beat last year's champs, Minnesota-Duluth, as well as WCHA regular season champs Minnesota.

Parker Milner was the biggest key to the Eagles' success. At the start of the season, he was one of 3 goalies vying to replace John Muse. He eventually settled into the role, then dominated. In the NCAA tournament he stopped 110 of 112 shots (.982 SV%). He's the Tim Thomas of college hockey. He was deservedly named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

The Eagles have 9 players with NHL affiliation, and they're losing 6 seniors. But their ability to continually reload has been why theirs is the best program in the sport. Milner is only a junior, this guy Johnny Gaudreau is only a freshman.

They're already poised to make a run at the 2012-13 NCAA title.

NCAA Hockey Preview: Northeast Region

These games will be played in Worcester, and feature a pair of Hockey East teams. The last two NCAA Champions are in this region (Minnesota-Duluth and BC). So even though the matchups aren't very tantalizing, there are some interesting storylines.

Saturday 4:00pm - ESPNU
#1 Boston College Eagles vs. #4 Air Force Falcons

This really is a 1 seed against a 16 seed. Air Force secured an automatic bid by winning the AHA tournament. The Falcons are accustomed to traveling (most of the AHA is in the northeast), and accustomed to losing on the road. They were 8-7-4 on the road, including 2 losses to Holy Cross in Worcester. BC hasn't lost a game since January 21st. I'll take the Eagles in a laugher 6-1.

Saturday 7:30pm - ESPNU
#2 Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs vs. #3 Maine Black Bears
It's always good to see the Black Bears in the NCAA tournament. Maine made a deep run in the Hockey East tournament to get here. In fact, Maine has been good at winning big games. They won at Fenway Park, beat BC twice, and BU three times. Unfortunately for them, UMD is exceptionally good. They finished 2nd in the WCHA, and they're used to playing in big games far from home. Minnesota-Duluth wins 4-3.

That would give us a regional final of BC and Minnesota-Duluth. It's impossible for me to pick against BC at this point. 15 straight wins, a hot goalie, and a solid power play. BC has all the ingredients for another title run.

And they are my pick to win it all. BC will be your 2012 National Champions.

Boston College Wins Hockey East... Again

Apart from those vomit colored uniforms, BC is looking good.

For the third straight year, the Eagles won the Hockey East Tournament. They survived an early scare from Providence in the semifinals, then poured it on to beat Maine 4-1. BC hasn't lost a game since January 21st. That's 15 straight wins for the Eagles.

At the start of the season, their Power Play was inconsistent, and there was a three way competition for the goaltending spot. Now the PP is firing on all cylinders and scoring timely goals (1/4 against PC, 1 of 3 against Maine), and Parker Milner is looking like he's always been a starting goalie.

This is BC's 3rd straight Hockey East Championship, their 5th in 6 years, 9th in 15 years, and 9th under Coach Jerry York. The consistent level of dominance that BC has attained under York is incredible. Especially considering how much competition there is in Hockey East with teams like BU, and Maine is back to relevance, and the rise of programs like Merrimack and UMass-Lowell.

BC earned a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and are the #1 overall seed. They'll be playing the Regional round in Worcester, opening up against Air Force on Saturday. Three other Hockey East teams made the NCAA field: Maine, BU, and UMass-Lowell.

We'll have a full preview of the NCAA tourney this week.

Photo Credit:
Steve Babineau

Notre Dame to Hockey East

BC and Notre Dame will now be rivals on the ice, not just the gridiron. The Fighting Irish have announced that they'll be leaving the CCHA and joining Hockey East starting in the 2013-14 season. Notre Dame will be the 11th member of the conference, joining BC, BU, UNH, Maine, Vermont, Northeastern, Merrimack, UMass, UMass-Lowell, and Providence.

This isn't much of a surprise, as Notre Dame's current home - the Central Collegiate Hockey Association - has been under siege since the Big Ten decided to form its own hockey conference. The Big Ten will take 3 teams from CCHA for the 2013-14 season.

Also in 2013-14, the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference will start play. This group took Miami (OH) from the CCHA. While the CCHA still had 7 teams remaining after the Big Ten and NCHA made their moves, Notre Dame was the only big program left. The Irish would have been playing against schools like Ferris State, Alaska, and Northern Michigan.

And with the influx of TV money (thanks to there being 100,000 channels these days), Notre Dame would have been left in the dust.

Now the Irish are part of an elite conference (Hockey East teams have 11 NCAA titles and 67 Frozen Four appearances), they'll be playing perennially ranked teams like BU, BC, and UNH. Hockey East already has a TV deal with NESN, and with CBS College Sports Network.

The move is good for Hockey East, as the Irish are an up and coming program. And obviously Notre Dame has a lot of fans all over the country. Even though South Bend is a long way from Orono, Maine, the Irish should be well-supported on their road trips. And of course, Notre Dame will help encourage more televised games. There's even a rumor that NBC (or one of its partners) will be interested in broadcasting Irish hockey.

I wouldn't be shocked if Hockey East went after a 12th team, or even more. ECAC schools like Union and RPI are candidates. And if UConn ever invested scholarships into its men's program, they'd be the most likely to join. UConn's women's team is already a Hockey East member.

But even with just 11 teams, Hockey East remains one of the premier leagues in a sport that is changing much like college football is changing.

COLLEGE HOCKEY TEAMS PLAYING MUSICAL CHAIRS

The shape of college hockey will be changing in 2013. Right now, there are four power conferences: The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA), Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA), ECAC, and Hockey East. But that's all changing this summer. Two new conferences have emerged out west and they've raided the top teams from the WCHA and CCHA.

The Big Ten is coming to college hockey. Five Big Ten members already field Division 1 programs, with Penn State joining them in 2012. And in 2013, the Big Ten will appropriate (take) two teams from WCHA: Minnesota and Wisconsin. They'll absorb three teams from CCHA: Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State. These teams are some of the best from the WCHA and CCHA.

Not only has the Big Ten plundered those two conferences, six teams (5 from the WCHA and 1 from the CCHA) have decided to form a new power conference: The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC). 2011 National Champs Minnesota-Duluth will join perennial powerhouse North Dakota, along with Denver, Colorado College, and Nebraska-Omaha. CCHA will "donate" Miami (OH) to the new conference. These were the best 6 teams remaining in the WCHA and CCHA after the Big Ten defections.

Notre Dame's fate still remains up in the air. The NCHC has been courting them, and it would make sense geographically for them to join. And considering that the CCHA is now a shell of what it once was, Notre Dame almost must move in order to maintain its program's prominence.

Another possibility for the Irish is to join Hockey East. The ECAC and Hockey East have remained untouched by this drama. But Hockey East would probably love to add a national program on Notre Dame's level. Geography is a bit of a problem, but the idea of Notre Dame vs. BC bringing their rivalry to the ice is very appealing.

Notre Dame has a national fanbase. Their hockey program is on the rise. Wherever they wind up, whether it's the NCHC or Hockey East, they're going to welcomed with open arms.

What I like about all this shuffling and maneuvering is that the power conferences have gotten smaller, but more powerful. Big Ten Hockey's members have combined to win 23 NCAA titles. The NCHC's members have won 17. Compare that to Hockey East's 11, the ECAC's 5, the WCHA's 4, and the CCHA's 4.

I wouldn't be shocked if, within a few years, some realignment occurs here in the northeast. As the struggle for TV money increases, especially with these two new conferences in play, power programs like BU and BC might seek to separate themselves from the UMass-Lowell's of the world, and perhaps align with other power programs from the ECAC like Cornell.

This is just speculation, but one day Hockey East might look like this: BC, BU, Northeastern, Notre Dame, Maine, UNH, Cornell, and Yale.

And I think while this is bad news for about half of the programs in college hockey, it's also beneficial for the game as a whole. Schools with national fanbases like Notre Dame, Michigan, and Ohio State can help bring new fans to the game. But they're going to do that by playing other top tier programs and rivals, not by playing Lake Superior State.

College hockey also needs large schools to put money into their programs. UConn, for instance, has a D-1 program, but they don't reward the full number of scholarships that they could. Syracuse only has a club level program, which is odd considering there are 10 Division 1 programs in New York. If Colgate, Clarkson, Union and RPI can field D-1 teams, why not Syracuse? Colorado, Northwestern, and Pittsburgh are all in regions where hockey is widely played. Yet Colorado is in D-3 and Northwestern and Pitt field only club teams.

College hockey is always going to be a regional thing, but like all other college sports, the powerhouses are what draw fans to the game, they're the ones that draw TV money and media attention. And unlike other sports, these conferences only exist in just one sport: hockey. It's not like the ACC, which has its football powers and its basketball powers, and they're all able to support each other. I want to see conferences that are ridiculously good from top to bottom. That makes the regular season interesting, as opposed to the 22 week warm-up to the NCAA Tournament that it currently is.

HOCKEY EAST TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

The OTHER March Madness kicks off tonight and continues all weekend. Hockey East could send anywhere from 2 to perhaps 4 or 5 teams to the NCAA tournament. Regular season champs BC and runners up UNH are all but assured a spot in the 16 team NCAA field, while upstart Merrimack will likely join them. BU has an outside chance, and Maine are the long shots. Those bubble teams can make a difference in this tournament, and of course winning the tournament earns an automatic bid.

Here are the first round pairings. They'll play a best of 3 series at the superior seed's home rink. The winners will be re-seeded for the semifinals next weekend at The Garden in Boston.

#1 BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES vs. #8 UMASS MINUTEMEN

BC wins trophies. Since 2007, they've won 2 National Championships, 3 Hockey East Tournament Championships, and 3 Beanpots. But this was the first time since 2005 that they've won the Hockey East regular season title. BC beat UMass three times this year, and are on a completely different level. They score 3.9 goals per game, and kill 87.6% of their penalties. BC should sweep this in 2.

#2 UNH WILDCATS vs. #8 VERMONT CATAMOUNTS
UNH lost the regular season title to BC in the final weekend, and have a reputation for choking in March. Fortunately for them, Vermont is not a very good team. The Catamounts won 8 games all season. UNH beat them twice and tied them once. UNH sohuld handle them in 2 games.

#3 BOSTON UNIVERSITY TERRIERS vs. #6 NORTHEASTERN HUSKIES
BU needs to go deep in this tournament to make the NCAA field. To do that, they have to get past old rival Northeastern. These teams split a home-and-home last weekend, and all three of their games were determined by 1 goal margins. NU started the season poorly (1-7-3), but gradually turned things around. Northeastern struggled down the stretch, though they held their own against BC and UNH. Northeastern wins in 3 very close games.

#4 MERRIMACK WARRIORS vs. #5 MAINE BLACK BEARS
At the moment, Merrimack would be in the NCAA tournament. But they can cement a spot by winning this series. They beat BC twice early in the season, they beat UNH twice in February. They also lost two blowout games to Maine. They're excellent at home (12-2-1), and mediocre on the road (10-6-3). Thankfully for them, this series will be in Andover. Merrimack will sweep this in 2.

That would set-up a semi-final of #1 BC vs. #6 Northeastern, and #2 UNH vs. #4 Merrimack. I'd take BC and Merrimack to win and meet in the finals, with BC taking the title.

THE OTHER MARCH MADNESS

The top teams in Hockey East struggled this weekend as 3 of the 4 quarterfinal series went the full three games, and the regular season champs were eliminated.

BC beat UMass in the only sweep of the weekend. The Eagles tallied 11 goals in two games, but they also allowed 7. The Eagles are vying for a potential #1 seed in the NCAA tournament, and they'll likely need to get at least to the finals for that to happen.



UNH won the regular season title, but their struggles against Vermont ended their efforts to win the tournament title. UNH won a 7-4 battle Friday night, but those were the last goals they'd score as UVM goalie Rob Madore put together 6+ periods of shutout hockey.



UVM will meet BC in the semis Friday night at TD Garden.

BU needed three games to thwart Merrimack, but their series clinching win was quite convincing. The Terriers are a dangerous team. Right now, they're on the outside of the NCAA tournament, so they're going to be highly motivated to win two more this weekend.

Maine barely scraped by UMass-Lowell. It's nice to see the Black Bears relevant again. They only won 13 games last year, and 13 the year before that. Those two awful seasons came after back-to-back Frozen Four appearances.



Maine vs. BU Friday at the Garden. Both teams likely need to win the tournament to make the NCAAs.

HOCKEY EAST TOURNAMENT BEGINS FRIDAY

Now I know that not many people care about hockey, and even fewer people care about college hockey. But it's my blog, and I like college hockey; the OTHER March Madness.

Here's a bracket for the Hockey East Tournament. For the first round, it's a best of 3 series played at the home ice of the better seed. The semi-finals and final are played at TD BankNorth Garden. #1 UNH hosts #8 UMass at the Whittemore Center in Durham. #2 BU hosts #7 UMass-Lowell at Agganis Arena. #3 Vermont hosts #6 Northeastern. And #4 Boston College hosts #5 Providence College at the Conte Forum.

I'll be at the BC/PC games, working as an usher.



Source:
Hockey East