2015 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship Field Is Set; Regionals This Weekend
The seedings are in, and the field has been set for the 2015 NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Championship. The regionals will be held this weekend, with the four regional winners advancing to the Frozen Four in Boston on April 9-11. The top four seeds overall are Minnesota State, North Dakota, Boston University and Miami (Ohio).
Friday-Saturday, March 27-28, 2015
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Northeast Regional (Manchester, N.H.)
Yale vs. Boston University (2 p.m.)
Minnesota-Duluth vs. Minnesota (5:30 p.m.)
(Regional final: Saturday, 5:30 p.m.)
Top Team: Boston University—which won the Beanpot tournament, Hockey East regular-season title and Hockey East playoff championship—is powered by freshman forward Jack Eichel. No. 9 leads the Terriers and the nation with 24 goals and 42 assists for 66 points, and he is the favorite to win the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as the top player in NCAA Division I men's college hockey. He is also projected to be a top-two selection in this year's NHL Entry Draft in June.
Friday-Saturday, March 27-28, 2015
West Regional (Fargo, N.D.)
St. Cloud State vs. Michigan Tech (4:30 p.m.)
Quinnipiac vs. North Dakota (8 p.m.)
(Regional final: Saturday, 9 p.m.)
Top Team: North Dakota claimed the National Collegiate Hockey Conference regular-season title but dropped its two games this weekend at the NCHC tournament in Minnesota. Junior goaltender Zane McIntyre, another Hobey Baker Award finalist, has fashioned a 27-9-3 record this year to go along with a 2.05 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage. He is also one of five finalists for the 2015 Mike Richter Award for the top goaltender in NCAA men’s hockey (and usually wears a mask.)
Saturday-Sunday, March 28-29
East Regional (Providence, R.I.)
Miami vs. Providence (6:30 p.m.)
Denver vs. Boston College (3 p.m.)
(Regional final: Sunday, 5 p.m.)
Top Team: Miami won the NCHC tournament and has won seven of its last 10 games overall. Senior forward Blake Coleman will sit out the Providence game following his third disqualification penalty of the season in the NCHC title tilt, but the Red Hawks still boast classmate Austin Czarnik, who has nine goals and 34 assists for a team-leading 43 points.
Saturday-Sunday, March 28-29
Midwest Regional (South Bend, Indiana)
Rochester Institute of Technology vs. Minnesota State (4 p.m.)
(Nebraska) Omaha vs. Harvard (7:30 p.m.)
(Regional final: Sunday, 7:30 p.m.)
Top Team: Minnesota State earned the top seed in the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history. The Mavericks won both the Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season and playoff titles. Senior forward Matt Leitner has a team-leading 32 assists and 41 points, while junior forward Bryce Gervais has scored 27 goals.
Regional games will be televised on ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNU and Watch ESPN.
Conference champions this spring who earned automatic berths to the NCAA tournament include Boston University (Hockey East), Harvard (Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference), Miami (National Collegiate Hockey Conference), Minnesota (Big Ten), Minnesota State (Western Collegiate Hockey Association) and Rochester Institute of Technology (Atlantic Hockey).
The rest earned at-large bids via the Pairwise Rankings, which mimics the NCAA selection process.
The overall seeds (record):
1. Minnesota State (29-7-3)
2. North Dakota (27-9-3)
3. Boston University (25-7-5)
4. Miami (25-13-1)
5. Denver (23-13-2)
6. Minnesota-Duluth (20-15-3)
7. Michigan Tech (29-9-2)
8. (Nebraska) Omaha (18-12-6)
9. Harvard (21-12-3)
10. Minnesota (23-12-3)
11. Boston College (21-13-3)
12. St. Cloud State (19-18-1)
13. Yale (18-9-5)
14. Quinnipiac (23-11-4)
15. Providence (22-13-2)
16. Rochester Institute of Technology (19-14-5)
(Stats from USCHO.com)
NOTES: North Dakota, which has won seven NCAA titles, is in the tournament for the 13th straight season, the longest streak among this year's participants ... The ECAC has earned the last two national titles, with Yale winning in 2013 and Union last year ... Minnesota was the NCAA runner-up last season ... Minnesota-Duluth won the last national title by a Western school in 2011, when it beat Michigan, 3-2, in overtime ... Denver was the last team to win consecutive national titles, in 2004 and 2005 ... Michigan Tech is in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1981, when head coach Mel Pearson was a senior ... Harvard last made the NCAAs in 2006 ... Boston College has the most national titles (four) since 2000 and has won five overall ... Boston University has five national titles, the last coming in 2009 ... Fargo and South Bend are hosting regionals for the very first time.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
