We’re just over a week out from Selection Sunday. Which means we’re in full-on conference tournament mode in college hockey.
This is where the true madness happens. You’re always good for a team or two going on runs to claim an unlikely national tournament bid. Usually one of those bids comes at the expense of an at-large. The pairwise that we used as a guide as to who was in and who was out gets torn apart.
You can’t predict college hockey.
All six conference tourneys are being played this weekend. Here’s the biggest storyline in each one:
It’s BC and BU’s world, we’re just living in it. BC and BU haven’t reached the Frozen Four in the same year since 1990. Everybody expects that drought to end this year.
For how loaded Hockey East was this season, the Eagles and Terriers still made easy work of the conference – both clubs had just three regulation losses in conference play (BU also had an overtime loss). Every other Hockey East team had at least nine losses in conference play. It’s BC, BU followed by everyone else.
You never know in the single-elimination format, and BU needs to beat a Northeastern team that has had its number since Jay Pandolfo took over just to get to next weekend’s semifinals, but the clear expectation is for the Lamoriello Trophy to land somewhere on Commonwealth Ave.
NCHC is North Dakota’s to lose. North Dakota might be the one team I’d be shocked didn’t make it to St. Paul for Frozen Four weekend. Even moreso than BC or BU. They’re a veteran team, they have size and they’re solid defensively. Much like BC and BU in Hockey East, NoDak is in a strong conference but they’re just a head above everybody else. I don’t put too much stock into last weekend’s Omaha sweep – the Mavericks had everything to play for and North Dakota had virtually nothing.
The ECAC could wreak havoc on the national tournament picture. If Quinnipiac wins the ECAC Tournament, it’s very likely the ECAC is a one-bid league – the highest-ranked ECAC team behind Quinnipiac (No. 8) is Cornell at No. 18, with UMass, UNH and St. Cloud State standing between them and Providence, the current last team in.
But here’s the thing – Quinnipiac hasn’t won the conference tournament since 2016. And not because they haven’t been good enough. Last year they were bounced in the semifinal by Colgate in overtime, as a team that spent the entire season as one of the top two or three teams in the country and eventually won the national title. This year, they’re still a top-10 team but not nearly the juggernaut they were last season. So it’s no sure thing. If it’s someone besides the Bobcats, it would shake up the tournament picture big time. Just like it did each of the past two seasons, when the ECAC champ took a bid from an at-large.
You really can’t predict the Big Ten. No idea what direction this tournament will go in. Minnesota has managed to fly under the radar, with just three losses since early January. Michigan’s best players have been among the country’s best players in the second half, with Rutger McGroarty, Gavin Brindley and Seamus Casey on a tear since returning from World Juniors. Michigan State has been the conference’s best team wire to wire. Ohio State, which shocked Wisconsin last weekend, has all the look of a Cinderella. You’re on your own handicapping this one.
CCHA comes down to Michigan Tech and Bemidji State. Bemidji State is the country’s hottest team, unbeaten in 10 straight, their last loss coming on February 3rd. Michigan Tech is heating up in their own right, winning five of six to wrap up the regular season, scoring five-plus goals four times. Blake Pietila has been great in net, allowing just two goals in five games prior to his clunker on Saturday, when he allowed five goals in 15 shots in Michigan Tech’s 6-5 win over Bowling Green. Don’t be surprised if the Huskies come in and render the Beavers’ second half run meaningless.
Atlantic Hockey should be RIT’s to lose, but watch out for Holy Cross. RIT is one of the better teams in the country. Led up front by Cody Laskosky and Carter Wilkie up front, Gianfranco Cassaro on the back end and Tommy Scarfone in net, the Tigers’ balance is one of the country’s best. But like Bemidji State in CCHA, they need to win the conference tournament for the season to go on. Holy Cross could crash RIT’s party. The Crusaders have lost just once in 10 games going back to mid-January and have reached 20 wins for the first time since 2012-13. Liam McLinskey paced the conference with 44 points, the highest output by an Atlantic Hockey player since 2018-19, when Blake Christensen (AIC) and Joseph Duszak (Mercyhurst) put up 47 points apiece. Third-year head coach Bill Riga is building something in Worcester.
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