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April 9, 2008
NCAA Frozen Four
Frozen Four Semifinals: Coach's Takes

Inside College Hockey talked to coaches whose teams have played the teams involved in each of Thursday's semifinal games. In exchange for anonymity, they gave us their candid breakdowns of the matchups.

Boston College vs. North Dakota

With Boston College, the biggest thing is their transition game. They can score quickly. Against Miami they were down 2-0 and scored three goals in two minutes, to change the whole game. They have a very good power play with the five forwards they use. They move it around very well with that top unit. And they’re as quick as a team as we saw all season long.

Their little guys play much bigger than they are. It’s not just [forward Nathan] Gerbe. The whole lineup sticks its nose in. They’re the most dangerous offensive team around the blue paint that I’ve seen in a couple years. I’ve seen them score goals out of mid-air. They attack the net like sharks when they smell blood. They seem to score more on rebounds and second or third attempts because they’re just ferocious around the blue paint.

The goalie [John Muse] is a freshman, but he’s been pretty stable all season long. He’s better than people give him credit for. You don’t know how a freshman will respond in the Frozen Four, but he’s played every minute all year.

The D corps is a physical force, but they have a good mix of size. They’re going to take care of their own end and let the forwards do most of the work offensively.

What’s really important for North Dakota is to get secondary scoring. They’re at their best ... when [forwards Chris] VandeVelde or [Andrew] Kozak or [Matt] Watkins score.

Their D corps is outstanding — the top four especially, with [Robbie] Bina, [Taylor] Chorney, [Joe] Finley, and [Chay] Genoway. They’re not only good defensively, but offensively they’ll get up. Much moreso than Boston College, their defensemen will be factors offensively.

Their power play is good, but I’d give the edge to Boston College. But when North Dakota faces those five forwards — when they pressure — they might be able to sneak a shorty too, which would be huge.

Lamoureux is going to be the X factor. If he plays well, they have a chance to win. Against Wisconsin, that game should’ve been over after the second period. He played really well.

It’s a great matchup, with them meeting for the third time [in three seasons]. It should be up and down like last year. Both teams are good defensively but they’re going to want to get up and down the rink and they’re not afraid to take some risk offensively.

Both Michigan and North Dakota played [at the Pepsi Center in the 2007 West Regional], so at least going in they have a comfort level with the building. But you get your practice in, so I’m not sure it makes that much difference.

I don’t think the elevation will play into it at all. It can be a little bit overrated. You’ve got your TV timeouts, so you can play your top players more than you might during the year because those TV timeouts are so long. For a lot of teams, it becomes a three-line game instead of a four-line game.

Notre Dame vs. Michigan

Michigan's strength this year is that they can play a couple different styles. They'll still try to score early and get the other team on its heels ... they'll come out and try to bury Notre Dame. But if the score is tight, Michigan can possess the puck down low. If they have to work for every chance and battle, battle, battle ... the longer the game goes scoreless or is a one-goal game, that favors Notre Dame.

[Michigan] won the CCHA Tournament with their fourth line, and those guys can battle. If I know [Notre Dame coach] Jeff Jackson, he'll have a way to shut that top line down, so it'll come down to the support players.

[Defenseman] Mark Mitera is really, really good, and he does a lot of small things you don't notice. [Chris] Summers skates like a thoroughbred. The other guys play it safe and get the pucks out of their own end. It's amazing how much confidence the defensemen and forwards play with when your goaltender is making big saves.

With [leading scorer Erik] Condra out, the scoring burden for Notre Dame falls on Ryan Thang and Mark Van Guilder. But if Notre Dame scores early, they'll tighten up and play a real sound system. Michigan is gonna be in for a long night. Notre Dame has the edge in a close game. When is the last time Michigan played a close game?

Notre Dame can stop Michigan's top line [of Kolarik, Pacioretty, and Porter]. When you see these guys all the time, you get a better feel for what they can do. Notre Dame is aware of what that line is capable of doing, and Jeff Jackson will have a couple lines ready to play against them since he doesn't have the last change.

Part of Notre Dame's game plan will be to be physical, finish check, and be on the defensive side of pucks. But Michigan can handle that. It seems like they've got the ability to crank it up a notch.

As a unit, Notre Dame's defense is just as good as anyone in the country. When [goaltender Jordan] Pearce is on, they can collapse and block a ton of shots. Don't be surprised if you see all five guys for Notre Dame between the top of the faceoff circle and the top of the crease.

Michigan has the edge on the power play. Notre Dame's power play has struggled, but it came to life in the West Regional. The Irish have the edge in penalty killing. Michigan isn't as good on the penalty kill as it was last year or the year before. Last year, the forwards were more dangerous on the penalty kill. Other than Kolarik and Porter, Michigan doesn't have the guys up top to make the other team's power-play unit think about what they're doing with the puck.

The neutral site favors Notre Dame. It won't be an emotional lift for Michigan like it is at Yost, or like they get when they play in front of thousands of their fans in Detroit. Most of the people will be sitting on their hands. If the game stays tight, though, they'll start to pull for the underdog.