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March 22, 2007
NCAA Tournament
Midwest Regional Preview | Grand Rapids, Mich.

NCAA MIDWEST REGIONAL PREVIEW

Goaltending dominates the Midwest Regional, and Notre Dame's David Brown has been one of the best goalies all season.

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NCAA MIDWEST REGIONAL Van Andel Arena Friday, March 23 5 p.m ET: No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 4 Alabama-Huntsville. 8:30 p.m. ET: No. 2 Boston University vs. No. 3 Michigan State. Saturday, March 24 8:30 p.m. ET: Regional final.

By James Jahnke

HOT TOPIC

Are Notre Dame and, by extension, the CCHA for real? Entering the season, many didn’t even expect the Fighting Irish to finish in the top half of the league. Now they're a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance.

Are they really that good? Or are they simply the best of a watered-down conference?

Notre Dame went 6-2 outside its league, thumping Boston College, 7-1, and also beating NCAA tournament entrant Air Force, 2-0. But both of those victories were in October, before teams such as BC found themselves. The Irish also split home-and-home series against Minnesota State and Robert Morris and beat Providence and Army.

Given the CCHA's lack of recent success in the national tournament, it’s fair to question the credentials of ND (and Grand Rapids’ No. 3 seed, Michigan State). If a CCHA team doesn’t come out of this regional, it’ll be another black eye for the conference.

BACK STORY

Should poor, old Alabama-Huntsville even bother to show up? There's been even more carping than usual about College Hockey America's automatic bid into the NCAAs this year, given that UAH won the five-team conference’s tournament despite a 13-19-3 record and last-place finish in the regular season.

No one thinks the Chargers belong in the field, which probably is a good mind-set for the boys in blue to have. With retiring head coach Doug Ross leading the way, UAH can play loose, try like hell to get a lead (something it struggled to do in the CHA tourney) and make Notre Dame play from behind. It might not work, but Holy Cross gave all underdogs some hope last year.

ON A ROLL

Notre Dame has allowed three goals in its last five games. The Irish have only allowed more than two markers in a game one time since Jan. 19. ND's remarkable stinginess seems to stem from a confluence of three factors: a seasoned, responsible corps of defensemen, a well-designed defensive system that the players execute quite well, and Hobey Baker candidate David Brown manning the crease.

It's not like the Irish have had to shut down high-powered offenses every night. But Michigan, Nebraska-Omaha and Miami were held to two goals or fewer a total of five times since late January, and each of those offenses is better than anything we'll see this weekend in Grand Rapids.

While You're There

Inevitably, most tourneygoers will wind up at the B.O.B. before and after games, seeing as the mega-entertainment center is a stone’s throw from Van Andel and caters to an array of needs. Its acronym stands for Big Old Building, and it has plenty of restaurants, bars and clubs to appease the masses. If you’re seeking culture, there’s the Gerald R. Ford Museum, honoring the hometown president. As for watching games from the other regionals, history unfortunately suggests that you’ll have to be patient in finding a place. Not every downtown sports bar had a satellite when Van Andel last hosted in 2005, but we found success at Z’s Restaurant and Bar.

MR. CLUTCH

Michigan State junior forward Bryan Lerg led the nation with eight game-winning goals this season, including a remarkable stretch of four straight from Jan. 19-Feb. 9 (excluding the Spartans' tie during that stretch, of course).

Lerg isn't flashy, but, again, no one in this regional really is. It's a puzzle as to why the Spartans didn't have more scoring depth than they exhibited this season, but Lerg is a player they need to step up in March. He led the team with 23 goals and finished second with 35 points. In a tight, low-scoring game against teams such as Boston University and Notre Dame, MSU coach Rick Comley must be glad to know he has someone who can get it done at crunch time.

SOMETHING TO PROVE

We've already gone over how Notre Dame and Alabama-Huntsville are out to prove their legitimacy – in quite different ways – so let's look at Friday's late semifinal. Both Boston University and Michigan State feel that they should have had better seasons ... if only they could score some doggone goals. There’s no better time to prove that they can than in the postseason.

BU is 42nd nationally in scoring at 2.58 goals per game. MSU is 19th at 3.24, but both of its maddening stretches this season (one in late November, one in mid February) coincided with a goal drought. On paper, they have the personnel to get it done. It might just take a fortuitous bounce on a power play or a bad turnover by the opponent to get things going.

ONE TO WATCH

This figures to be a low-scoring regional, and not only because of the teams' offensive shortcomings. Three of the premier goaltenders in the nation will ply their trades at Van Andel Arena, and while Notre Dame's David Brown has had the best year and Michigan State's Jeff Lerg can be the most spectacular, Boston University netminder John Curry means the most to his team.

Coach Jack Parker himself has said that BU wouldn’t be even a .500 team without the senior, which is pretty heady stuff considering the Terriers are 11 games over .500. The former walk-on from Shorewood, Minn., has turned himself into one of the finest goalies in the nation. His .931 save percentage is tied for second nationally (with Brown), his 1.92 goals-against average is third, and he leads the country with seven shutouts.

SATURDAY STORYLINE

Assuming chalk holds, Notre Dame and Boston University will square off for the right to go to the Frozen Four. Both love defense, both have terrific, white-haired coaches and both have failed to reach college hockey's big stage for a while. BU's last trip to the Frozen was in 1997. Notre Dame has never been there. In fact, this is just the
Irish's second trip to the Dance, the first being a loss to Minnesota in 2004 in Grand Rapids. As will be the theme of the weekend, expect to see a goaltending duel between Brown and Curry. The sidenote could be that, if Sparty's out, might the stands be as empty as they were for the 2004 regional final between Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth in Grand Rapids? South Bend isn’t all that far away, but Beantown is.