April 7, 2008
NCAA Tournament
Frozen Four Capsules | First Semifinal
Thurs., April 10 • Denver, Colo. • 6 p.m. ET • ESPN2

Second Semifinal Capsules

BOSTON COLLEGE | Northeast Regional Champion

Location: Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Record: 23-11-8 (11-9-7 Hockey East, fourth)
Qualified: Hockey East tournament champion
NCAA Championships: Two (1949, 2001)
NCAA Appearance: 28th (most recent, 2007)
Frozen Four Appearance: 21st (most recent, 2007)
Head Coach: Jerry York
Key Players: Nathan Gerbe, F, Jr. (30-30—60); Joe Whitney, F, Fr. (10-40—50); Ben Smith, F, So. (23-22—45); Benn Ferriero, F, Jr. (17-24—41); Dan Bertram, F, Sr. (9-25—34); Brian Gibbons, F, Fr. (13-18—31); John Muse, G, Fr. (23-11-8, .920, 2.26)

What You Need To Know: Boston College is trying to advance to its third straight national championship, and it will meet a familiar foe in the national semifinal. The Eagles have knocked off North Dakota in each of the last two Frozen Fours, and they’ll have an obvious target on their back once again. BC is also playing its best hockey of the year, winning a season-best seven straight games and outscoring teams 32-12 over that stretch.

Gamebreaker: As far as this category is concerned, it’s Nathan Gerbe and everyone else. There’s no bigger game changer in the country than Gerbe, who can single-handedly turn a penalty kill into an odd-man rush or embarrass a defenseman in the neutral zone to lead to a breakaway. And if you need to see what Gerbe can do when it’s just him and the goalie, take a quick look at YouTube. The Hobey Hat Trick finalist has been scorching during BC’s winning streak, accumulating seven goals and seven assists in the last seven games.

Achilles Heel: At times, though seldom of late, the Eagles have left freshman goalie John Muse open to a barrage of shots. Muse has also struggled through stretches during the season, and he was very vulnerable on the glove side a month ago. He is also the only freshman goalie expected to see the ice this week. However, Muse has logged more ice time than anyone in the country this season, and he’s been on fire in the postseason, with a 1.60 goals-against average and .950 save percentage. As long as BC’s defense doesn’t hang him out to dry, he should be fine.

Overachiever: Joe Whitney, listed at 5-foot-6 and 165 pounds, is the nation’s highest-scoring freshman (10-40—50) and is one of just six players in the country with 50 points. He also led the nation in assists and had eight more than anyone else. Whitney also showed last weekend he isn’t afraid to sacrifice his body for the good of the team, as he dove through the defense to score the game-winning goal in overtime against Miami.

Secret Weapon: Kind of like a trust-fund baby, guys who play on Gerbe’s line are going to have an easier life than those who don’t. Taking nothing from Ben Smith’s ability, the sophomore forward has been the biggest beneficiary of playing alongside Gerbe, and he’s the first to admit it. Smith is second on the Eagles with 23 goals and third with 45 points, and he really burst onto the scene last year during tournament time when he got paired with Gerbe after Brian Boyle moved to the blue line. If teams shadow Gerbe – and they typically do – they can’t afford to overlook Smith, who tied for the team lead with four game-winning goals this season.

Speed: It’s a bit redundant to say "fast BC forward," so we’ll just put all of them on this list. Gerbe isn’t the only guy who can fly on the Eagles’ four lines, so their opponents need to constantly stay on their toes. Even when it looks like the Eagles are flat, like they did in overtime last week against Miami, they can create a three-on-two break in the bat of an eye.

Skill: Junior forward Benn Ferriero doesn’t draw the headlines or roars of the crowd the way classmate Gerbe does, but Ferriero is dynamic in a different way. He’s got the best slap shot on the team, and he’s as good of a sniper as anyone left in the field. Just look at the rocket he unleashed to give Boston College a 2-1 lead on Minnesota in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Defenses would be smart to make sure Ferriero doesn’t get an open look from anywhere inside 30 feet.

Grit: The Eagles have had their share of troubles on the blue line this season, most notably with the off-ice issues they faced in the opening month. But through it all, BC’s newest defensive star has emerged. Freshman Nick Petrecki had been a nice piece for four months, but he’s turned into a monster since the Beanpot. He’ll fight to score an occasional goal – like he did to beat Harvard in the ’Pot championship and then last week to spark the Eagles’ second-period flurry against Miami – but more than anything, he’ll just fight. It took the rookie a mere 40 seconds to thrown down with Ryan Jones last Sunday, as each drew a minor roughing penalties in a trade BC will take every time.

Most Recent Boston College Line Chart
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing	Notes
9-N. Gerbe	17-B. Gibbons	12-B. Smith	The fourth line has combined for 10 goals and 38 penalties.
25-M. Price	22-D. Bertram	13-P. Gannon
15-J. Whitney	14-M. Greene	21-B. Ferriero
18-K. Kucharski	27-A. Orpik	24-M. Lombardi
Defense	Defense	Goalies
26-N. Petrecki	7-C. Sneep	1-J. Muse	Four of the six BC d-men are juniors or seniors.
2-A. Aiello	4-M. Brennan	30-A. Margolin
5-T. Filangieri	6-T. Kunes	29-A. Kremer

NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING SIOUX | Midwest Regional Champion

Location: Grand Forks, N.D.
Record: 24-13-5 (13-10-5 WCHA, third)
Qualified: At-large bid
NCAA Championships: Seven (1959, 1963, 1980, 1982, 1987, 1997, 2000)
NCAA Appearance: 23rd (most recent, 2007)
Frozen Four Appearance: 18th (most recent, 2007)
Head Coach: Dave Hakstol
Key Players: T.J. Oshie, F, Jr. (41 GP, 18-27—45); Ryan Duncan, F, Jr. (42 GP, 18-22—40); Chay Genoway, D, So. (37 GP, 8-21—29); Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, G, Sr. (27-10-4, 1.64 GAA, .936 sv. pct.)

What You Need to Know: Fourth-year North Dakota skipper Dave Hakstol is just the third coach in NCAA hockey history to take his first four teams to the Frozen Four. Current Boston University head coach Jack Parker took his first five Terrier teams to the Frozen Four in the 1970s, and former Minnesota head coach Doug Woog took his first four Golden Gopher teams to the Frozen Four in 1986, ’87, ’88 and ‘89.

Gamebreaker: Heading into the NCAA tournament, all the talk about North Dakota centered on the team’s pair of Hobey finalists and the team’s reigning Hobey winner was all but an afterthought. Then at the regional in Madison, Ryan Duncan provided a four-goal refresher course on why and how he ended up holding the game’s top individual award at last season’s Frozen Four. Paired with T.J. Oshie for much of the past two seasons, Duncan is deadly accurate with his top-shelf shot that he rips from the right side of the net and is a key part of a North Dakota power play unit that has been turning close games into blowouts since players returned from their holiday breaks in early January.

Achilles Heel: In losing to Boston College in the Frozen Four semifinals in 2006 in Milwaukee and again in 2007 in St. Louis, the Sioux have surrendered a total of a dozen goals in 6-5 and 6-4 losses. The Sioux have traditionally been regarded as an up-tempo offensive team, and have the skills to play that style, but asking any team to score seven to win is a bit much. So for Hakstol, the journey back to the NCAA title game (North Dakota got there in 2005, losing to Denver in Columbus) begins between the pipes. And if recent trends continue for North Dakota, which surrendered more than 80 shots on goal in its pair of regional wins, the Sioux crease will be a busy place at the Pepsi Center.

Overachiever: Coming to North Dakota from the renowned Moorhead High School program a few years ago, not many knew what to expect from Chris VandeVelde and how he’d handle the transition to the faster, longer collegiate version of the game. Put him on a line with stars, and he was sure to thrive, but there were questions about his ability to provide offense and contribute to a unit on his own. If those were the test questions he faced in college, VandeVelde heads to Denver with the on-ice version of a 4.0 on his record. He centers the second line and is third on the team offensively, behind Oshie and Duncan.

Secret Weapon: A free tip to any opposing goalies who may face Sioux winger Andrew Kozek this weekend, or in the future: If he’s coming in on a 2-on-1 break, and Kozek has the puck, he’s going to shoot. The junior has apparently subscribed to the school of thought that says a shot on goal is never a bad play, putting up 18 goals this year (including the overtime winner in Madison that sealed the latest Frozen Four trip) versus just three assists. His career-best numbers are further refutation of the theory that there’s nothing to fear once the top Sioux line heads to the bench for a breather.

Speed: A year ago at this time, we thought top-line center T.J. Oshie would be doing one of two things on April 11, 2008: either gearing up for the NHL playoffs with the St. Louis Blues, or heading to the Pepsi Center’s Friday night festivities as the favorite to win the Hobey. Neither of those things have come to pass (although option A still looks like a rock-solid bet for the future). But Oshie made a pact with teammates last summer that they would let the NHL wait for another season and stick together in Grand Forks, with their eyes solely focused on the goal of putting the eighth NCAA title banner in the rafters at the Ralph. His third (and perhaps, final) season of college hockey hasn’t been a storybook ride for Oshie, but there’s still magic to be had when he gets the puck on his stick and a head of steam bound for the opponents’ net. And when he gets near the blue paint, friends and foes alike agree there are few better in the game at ensuring the puck ends up behind the goalie.

Skill: How do you get generally outplayed and clearly outshot two days in a row at the NCAA regionals, and still end up in the Frozen Four? Simple – put a Hobey finalist in goal, and let him work his magic. Grand Forks native Jean-Philippe Lamoureux grew up watching a Lilliputian goalie named Karl Goehring win a WCHA goaltending crown and a NCAA title for the hometown team, and has made it his collegiate mission to do the same. Lamoureux had a streak of 55 consecutive starts between the middle of last season and late this season, and instead of getting work down by all the ice time, his numbers steadily improved, to the point where he leads the nation in the key goalie categories. But for J-P it’s not about personal stats or accolades, it’s about having one goal more than the opponent when the final horn sounds.

Grit: There’s an old adage about knowing you’ve won the battle before you ever step onto the field of play. For Sioux defenseman Joe Finley, there’s a similar kind of advantage he has based on his 6-7 frame. Before he even takes a stride toward the corner to encounter on of BC’s smaller forwards, he knows the physical battle has been won. When he’s not playing the intimidation game just by standing up, the first-round NHL draft pick is a team-best +27 this season – an effort which included a +5 night in a 6-2 win over St. Cloud State on Jan. 5. That victory started the Sioux on a 19-2-3 run which spurred them to the Frozen Four.

Most Recent North Dakota Line Chart
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing	Notes
16-R. Duncan	7-T.J. Oshie	14-B. Miller	Since the playoffs began, Oshie has 10 points in seven games, and has five multi-point games.
20-M. Watkins	29-C. VandeVelde	17-R. Kaip
10-A. Kozek	8-R. Martens	22-B. Malone
26-K. Radke	11-D. Zajac	21-M. Frattin
Defense	Defense	Goalies
4-T. Chorney	28-R. Bina	34-J-P Lamoureux	Lamoureux has six shutouts this season – four of them in the first five games.
2-J. Finley	5-C. Genoway	1-A. Walski
6-Z. Jones	25-J. Marto	31-L. Snyder