CCHA Quarterfinals Update
#7 Michigan vs #3 Western Michigan (U-M leads 1-0)
- As most of you probably know, Michigan came out strong, weathered a 2nd period storm, and scored in the third to take Game 1 of the best of three series. Michigan out shot WMU 30-18. U-M was 1-4 on the PP while WMU was 0-4. PDG, Selman, and Trouba (who had 2) were the Michigan goal scorers. Racine had a decent game in net and made a few big stops.
#9 Bowling Green vs #2 Notre Dame (ND leads 1-0)
- Notre Dame took game one in their best of three against BGSU with a 1-0 win in overtime. ND outshot BG 36-22 with Bryan Rust scoring the game's only goal 1:22 into overtime. 9 total penalties, none converted.
#5 Ferris State vs #4 Ohio State (FSU leads 1-0)
- Ferris got the road win in Columbus 4-2 despite being outshot 30-22. Each team converted one power play. Ferris scored the last three goals of the game to win.
#11 Michigan State vs #1 Miami (MSU leads 1-0) <lol
-Michigan State claims the upset of the night in college hockey by shutting out Miami in Oxford 3-0. Miami outshot MSU 34-24, but MSU scored twice in the first before adding a third in the last minute of the game. Only three penalties in the game and none of them were converted. State is trying to advance to Joe Louis Arena as the bottom seed in the league which also happened last year when BGSU beat Ferris before losing to Michigan in the semifinals. I know we all feel bad for The Dynasty.
Game 2's occur tomorrow night for each series. The Michigan game will not be on TV. Western is offering a stream for a fee and Michigan should have their radio crew there to be streamed at mgoblue.com tomorrow for free.
March 15th, 2013 at 10:20 PM ^
I can't help but laugh at Miami losing to the 11 seed at home. It's like watching Bo Ryan embarass Tom Crean: Someone you dislike gets to be humiliated
March 15th, 2013 at 10:28 PM ^
I forget, but they probably re-seed again after this round too right? Meaning if the results hold MSU plays ND and we get Ferris?
March 15th, 2013 at 10:32 PM ^
Yep. We're rooting for Sparty so we can avoid ND/Miami as long as possible.
March 15th, 2013 at 10:41 PM ^
aside from the fact that the one and two seed would be gone, it would mean we'd face 7 seed BGSU in the semis and someone out of the 4/5/11 seed remaining. Obviously a lot has to happen to even consider that, but avoiding ND and Miami would be awesome
March 15th, 2013 at 10:32 PM ^
March 15th, 2013 at 10:40 PM ^
They left him out to dry on the first two goals, after that I think he was solid.
March 15th, 2013 at 10:54 PM ^
March 15th, 2013 at 11:46 PM ^
Actually, the biggest upset of the night is probably Cornell (9 seed in the ECAC) beating the country's top team Quinnipiac.
March 15th, 2013 at 11:49 PM ^
It's the ECAC, they'll be a #1 and lose to the #4, again.
March 16th, 2013 at 12:42 AM ^
March 16th, 2013 at 12:09 AM ^
Guptill had another 2 points tonight, which makes him the team leader at 31. I think he's going to hold on to that lead and be our leading scorer two years in a row.
March 16th, 2013 at 12:15 AM ^
As I said in the game thread, if he could maintain his level of play from the last month or so for a whole season, he's a Hobey winner. Absolutely dominant right now.
March 16th, 2013 at 12:26 AM ^
Go Blue! and go Spar<cough>...
Just don't screw up Sparty.
None. We're not even a team under consideration in the Pairwise right now, meaning there are >15 teams ahead of us. We are still below .500 on the season. It's championship or bust, just like 2010.
No chance whatsoever of advancing to the NCAA Tourney without first winning this final-ever CCHA Tournament first. Our icers just didn't play well for most of the season and will be sidelined for the season unless they win this championship.
Let's give Red and his men a good show of support tonight---they struggled most of the season before finally getting it together over the last third of the season. Red and his staff have had to do one helluva coaching job to turn things around. We're now playing our best hockey since last season and IMHO (though I'm biased) might just be the best team in the CCHA at this point.
There are still a lot of tickets available at Lawson in Kalamazoo for this game (and tomorrow's, too, if needed); from what I found out by calling the WMU ticket office yesterday, section 20 has been designated the "Michigan section" , although they are also seating Michigan Fans in sections 18 and 22. I'd love to see our fans take over the place and quiet down their "lunatics" . I'll be in section 18 doing my part.
BTW, I like the idea of having a B1G Hockey conference, but I'll miss the short drives to WMU and ND for mid-winter Michigan Hockey.
March 16th, 2013 at 11:05 AM ^
To illustrate the difference, a little bit: last time, Michigan needed to win the CCHA tourney, but just barely. They were close enough that, even though losing at any point in that tournament would have kept them out of the tourney, getting those wins bumped them all the way to a 3 seed (there are four 1-seeds etc. up to 4-seeds). This year, if Michigan wins the next three games to win the CCHA, they will be 1 game above .500. If they split the next two with WMU, but win the CCHA, they're at .500 for the season. Anything less and they'll finish the season with a losing record. At this point, assuming seeds in other conference tourney's hold, or are at least close, Michigan is likely the lowest 4-seed, if they get the autobid, even below the Atlantic Hockey Champion (the conference that never/almost never gets anybody in without their autobid, generally regarded as by far the weakest conference).
I remember playing with the PWR predictor in 2010, like probably a lot of people, trying to get Michigan in and the frustration when they were always just barely out, without the autobid, at which point they would get in on their own merits! This time, there's not even any point in trying the predictor. Think Penn State basketball. Well, maybe Nebraska basketball. That's how far Michigan hockey is away.
March 16th, 2013 at 11:05 AM ^
Trouba only missed a few games and Racine started plenty before finally getting the full time job recently. We've played plenty of games with both of them available in which we were crap.
For whatever reason, this really talented team is just figuring it all out right now
If we had Merrill and Bennett healthy all year though, I think we'd at least be a TUC. But the major difference seems to be the fire somebody lit under PDG and Guptill's asses.
March 16th, 2013 at 11:13 AM ^
Lawson was just over half full last night, plenty of room left for UM fans to come see a sweep! I'll be in section 20, and to repeat what Rob F said, we have a chance to turn this into a neutral site game.
March 16th, 2013 at 12:35 PM ^