March
20, 2005
NCAA Tournament
West Regional Capsules | Minneapolis
Mariucci
Arena
Saturday, March 26
2:30 p.m.
ET: No. 1 Minnesota vs. No. 4 Maine
6 p.m. ET:
No. 2 Cornell vs. No. 3 Ohio State
Sunday,
March 27
3:30 p.m.
ET: Regional Final
NO.
1 SEED MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS
Location:
Minneapolis, Minn.
Record: 26-14-1 (17-10-1 WCHA, third)
Qualified: At-large bid
NCAA Championships: Five (1974, 1976, 1979, 2002,
2003)
NCAA Appearance: 29th (most recent, 2004)
Head Coach: Don Lucia
Key Players: Danny Irmen, F, So. (41 GP, 24-19—43);
Ryan Potulny, F, So. (41 GP, 24-17—41); Gino Guyer, F, Jr.
(41 GP, 11-19—30)
What You Need to Know: It's been an up-and-down
season for the youthful Gophers, who were the nation's best team
in the first half before hitting an extended rut. They're the
No. 1 seed on their home ice, but Cornell enters on a bigger roll
and with more consistent success over the course of the year.
How They'll Advance: The Gophers are talented
at every position and Don Lucia has shown his ability to prepare
a team for playoff hockey. They need home ice to be a benefit,
using the larger ice surface to their advantage, and not a hindrance
due to increased attention and distractions.
What Might Trip Them Up: Minnesota entered the
WCHA Final Five on a seven-game winning streak, but it proved
to be a nightmare weekend. Tyler Hirsch's Friday night episode
may have cost them their leading scorer, and talented freshman
defenseman Alex Goligoski suffered what may be a serious injury
Saturday. A team that doesn't need any more frustrations can't
appreciate the prospect of facing Jimmy Howard and Dave McKee
in back-to-back games.
| Most
Recent Minnesota Line Chart |
| Left
Wing |
Center |
Right
Wing |
Notes |
| 24-M.
Howe |
16-R.
Potulny |
19-D.
Irmen |
Potulny
and Irmen have 27 of their 48 combined goals on the power
play. |
| 13-B.
Gordon |
7-G.
Guyer |
27-B.
Tallackson |
| 9-A.
Sertich |
20-E.
Kaufmann |
18-K.
Chucko |
| 25-J.
Reinholz |
29-J.
Fleming |
17-G.
Smaagaard |
| Defense |
Defense |
Goalies |
| 10-A.
Goligoski |
3-C.
Harrington |
34-K.
Briggs |
Freshman
Nate Hagemo should be ready to return to the lineup this weekend. |
| 4-P.J.
Atherton |
6-J.
Stevens |
33-J.
Johnson |
| 5-D.
Peltier |
15-M.
Vannelli |
|
NO.
2 SEED CORNELL BIG RED
Location:
Ithaca, N.Y.
Record: 25-4-3
(18-2-2 ECACHL)
Qualified: ECACHL Playoff Champions
NCAA Championships: Two (1967, 1970)
NCAA Appearance: 15th (most recent, 2003)
Head Coach: Mike Schafer
Key Players: Dave McKee, G, So. (26-4-3, 1.20,
.947); Matt Moulson, F, Jr. (32 GP, 22-18—40); Mike Knoepfli,
F, Sr. (33 GP, 12-13—25)
What You Need to Know: Cornell won the ECACHL
regular season and playoff titles. They're on an 18-game unbeaten
streak which is the nation's longest. In other words, the Big
Red hockey machine is rolling right now. The power play is on
fire, Dave McKee is one of the best goalies in the nation, and
the team has made an unbelievable commitment to defense and teamwork.
How They'll Advance: Keep the ship headed in
the right direction. There's a supreme confidence around the Cornell
program these days. There's trust in each other and everyone has
accepted a role. The checkers are checking, Dave McKee is stopping
the puck, and Matt Moulson is scoring goals.
What Might Trip Them Up: Cornell hasn't had to
face many large deficits. They overcame one-goal leads by Clarkson
and Harvard in the playoffs. They're a phenomenal team when they
have the lead, but if they're facing a deficit they might have
to change from what they're comfortable doing.
| Most
Recent Cornell Line Chart |
| Left
Wing |
Center |
Right
Wing |
Notes |
| 24-M.
Moulson |
29-B.
Bitz |
28-S.
Hynes |
Chris
Abbott and Dan Pegoraro are Cornell's top two faceoff men. |
| 9-P.
Varteressian |
19-Ch.
Abbott |
12-R.
Sawada |
| 27-M.
Knoepfli |
18-M.
Iggulden |
11-M.
Carefoot |
| 14-Cam
Abbott |
15-D.
Pegoraro |
26-T.
Scott |
| Defense |
Defense |
Goalies |
| 23-J.
Downs |
2-R.
O'Byrne |
31-D.
McKee |
Pokulok-Cook
pairing has most upside offensively; both see time on the
PP. |
| 17-D.
Krantz |
5-J.
Gleed |
1-L.
Chabot |
| 4-S.
Pokulok |
7-C.
Cook |
|
NO.
3 SEED OHIO STATE BUCKEYES
Location:
Columbus,
Ohio
Record: 27-10-4 (21-5-2 CCHA, second)
Qualified: At-large bid
NCAA Championships: None
NCAA Appearance: Fifth (most recent, 2004)
Head Coach: John Markell
Key Players: Tom Fritsche, F, Fr. (10-33—43);
Rod Pelley, F, Jr. (22-18—40); David Caruso, G, Jr. (25-8-4,
2.11 GAA, .919 save pct.)
What You Need to Know: Ohio State associate head
coach Casey Jones – widely regarded as one of the nation’s
top recruiters – was a four-year letterwinner at Cornell
from 1986-90. He served as Big Red captain as a senior and scored
112 points during his career in Ithaca. He was also an assistant
coach at his alma mater for two years (1991-93).
How They'll Advance: Ask a Buckeye player what
makes the team successful and you’ll likely get a mysterious
response pertaining to OSU’s “system”. The team’s
style of play emphasizes an aggressive, physical game that relies
on all four forward lines and the three defensive pairs to punish
opponents into submission. The rub is that the Buckeyes take more
penalties than any team in the nation, but they’re a good
penalty-killing team and they’ve been successful in getting
opponents to play along – OSU has more power play goals
(65) and man advantage opportunities (296) than any other Division
I squad.
What Might Trip Them Up: Cue up the TiVo to Saturday’s
CCHA Super Six final against Michigan. The Buckeyes were saddled
with too many early penalties – the Wolverines had four
first-period power plays – which kept OSU from rolling its
full complement of skaters to wear Michigan down. Cornell, by
the way, boasts the country’s top power play and penalty
kill.
| Most
Recent Ohio State Line Chart |
| Left
Wing |
Center |
Right
Wing |
Notes |
| 12
D. Knapp |
19
R. Pelley |
7
JB Bittner |
Pelley
and Beaudoin combined for 17 goals last season. The duo's
total this season stands at 45. |
| 11
T. Fritsche |
23
D. Maiani |
13
B. Anderson |
| 10
A. Schembri |
26
M. Beaudoin |
14
K. Bernard |
| 77
K. Hood |
17
M. McIlvane |
24
L. Spector |
| Defense |
Defense |
Goalies |
| 5
S. Collins |
2
N. Guenin |
1
D. Caruso |
Collins
(26 points) provides the offense; Guenin (132 PIMs) supplies
the muscle. |
| 27
J. Kroll |
21
J. DeSantis |
37
I. Keserich |
| 25
T. Strachan |
55
M. Waddell |
30
P. Lauderdale |
NO.
4 SEED MAINE BLACK BEARS
Location:
Orono, Maine
Record: 20-12-7 (13-6-5 Hockey East, fourth)
Qualified: At-large bid
NCAA Championships: Two (1993, 1999)
NCAA Appearance: 15th (most recent, 2004)
Head Coach: Tim Whitehead
Key Players: Jimmy Howard, G, Jr. (19-12-7, 1.95,
.922); Derek Damon,
F, Sr. (38 GP, 14-13—27); Michel Léveillé,
F, Jr. (32 GP, 12-12—24)
What You Need to Know: Maine returns for its
seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, but a number of
key contributors from last season's runner-up graduated. They
don't have any snipers like Todd Jackson or Colin Shields last
year, but they still have Jimmy Howard, plus a lineup stocked
with quality players. Howard had a slow start to the season due
to illness and injury, but he's been on top of his game in the
second half.
How They'll Advance: Howard is once again the
key to Maine's hopes; with him, and the Daves (McKee and Caruso)
in Minneapolis, it's a goaltending-rich regional. Up front they've
got a group of great skaters who play both ends of the ice well;
as one opposing coach said at the FleetCenter this weekend in
an understated but appropriate compliment: "They've just
got a lot of very good hockey players."
What Might Trip Them Up: Maine's defensemen have
steadily improved during the season, but can still be exploited
with speed and skill. And a hot goalie, which are in abundance
in the West, can give the Black Bears headaches given their lack
of finishers up front.
| Most
Recent Maine Line Chart |
| Left
Wing |
Center |
Right
Wing |
Notes |
| 18-J.
Soares |
11-M.
Léveillé |
15-G.
Moore |
There's
no weak link among the forward lines. Keep an eye on Hamilton,
who was great in last year's playoffs. |
| 22-M.
Hamilton |
28-D.
Damon |
12-K.
Johnson |
| 17-B.
Murphy |
23-J.
Jankus |
10-J.
Ronan |
| 14-B.
Ryan |
13-K.
Hopson |
3-T.
Zabkowicz |
| Defense |
Defense |
Goalies |
| 2-Mike
Lundin |
7-M.
Deschamps |
33-J.
Howard |
Mike
Lundin, a Minnesota native, is the best of the d-men. |
| 4-S.
Mullin |
6-T.
Barnes |
31-Matt
Lundin |
| 44-B.
Tyler |
27-T.
Ramsey |
40-R.
Shelley |
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