Inside College Hockey | Northeast Regional NCAA Tournament Capsules

1:30 p.m. ET: No. 1 Boston College vs. No. 4 Alaska (ESPN Syndication/ESPN360.com)

Location: Boston, Mass.
Record: 25-10-3 overall (16-8-3 Hockey East, second)
Qualified: Hockey East tournament champions
NCAA Championships: Three (1949, 2001, 2008)
NCAA Appearance: 29th (most recent, 2008)
Head Coach: Jerry York
Key Players: Cam Atkinson, So., F (24 GP, 24-22—46); Brian Gibbons, Jr., F (38 GP, 15-29—44); Joe Whitney, Jr., F (38 GP, 14-21—35); John Muse, Jr., G (15-8-2, 2.43, .909)
What You Need to Know: Boston College returns to the tournament after a one-year hiatus and enter as one of the hottest teams in the nation. They have seven double-digit goal scorers and seven players remaining from the 2008 championship team.
How They'll Advance: The Eagles have scored six goals or more four times in the last nine games and nine times on the year. If offense doesn't win championships, how else do you explain their 7-6 overtime win against Maine in the Hockey East title game? At their best they excel on both ends of the ice, as seen in the Hockey East semifinal, when they never seemed to give Vermont a glimmer of hope in a 3-0 shutout win.
What Might Trip Them Up: Should BC beat Alaska in the first round, the potential second-round foe, North Dakota, is one of the few teams that could keep up with the fleet Eagles. BC also has four freshmen on the blueline and a netminder in John Muse who hasn't been as good the last two years as he was when winning the national title as a freshman.

Most Recent Boston College Line Chart
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing	Notes
9-Barry Almeida	25-Matt Price	24-Matt Lombardi	Likely the most balanced group of forwards in the tournament, the Eagles come in waves. Lombardi had a hat trick in the Hockey East title game after scoring three goals all season.
15-Joe Whitney	17-Brian Gibbons	13-Cam Atkinson
19-Chris Kreider	12-Ben Smith	10-Jimmy Hayes
22-Paul Carey	11-Pat Mullane	21-Steven Whitney
Defense	Defense	Goalies
5-Philip Samuelsson	6-Patrick Wey	1-John Muse	After playing all but eight minutes in net his first two seasons, Muse watched while Milner manned 800 minutes this season.
4-Tommy Cross	7-Carl Sneep	35-Parker Milner
2-Brian Dumoulin	27-Patch Alber	30-Chris Venti

NO. 2 SEED NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING SIOUX

Location: Grand Forks, N.D.
Record: 25-12-5 overall (15-10-3 WCHA, tied for fourth)
Qualified: WCHA tournament champions
NCAA Championships: Seven (1959, 1963, 1980, 1982, 1987, 1997, 2000)
NCAA Appearance: 25th (most recent, 2009)
Head Coach: Dave Hakstol
Key Players: Chris VandeVelde, F, Sr. (41 GP, 16-24—40); Jason Gregoire, F, So. (42 GP, 20-17—37); Danny Kristo, F, Fr. (40 GP, 15-21—36)
What You Need to Know: The WCHA Final Five champions are one of the hottest teams in the country. They've won 12 of their last 13 games, scoring 55 goals in that time. A pair of victories against fellow NCAA Tournament qualifiers Denver and St. Cloud State shows that the Sioux can play with anyone in the country.
How They'll Advance: The offense perked right up when Brett Hextall returned to the lineup after missing games due to injury and has averaged 4.23 goals-per-game in those last 13. It'll take some goals for North Dakota to win against the likes of Yale and Boston College and a stingy defensive team in Alaska.
What Might Trip Them Up: Goalie Brad Eidsness was a second-team pick in the WCHA but has allowed the loose goal here and there during the regular season. There's no room for error in this single-elimination event.

Most Recent North Dakota Line Chart
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing	Notes
17-Jason Gregoire	29-Chris VandeVelde	26-Brett Hextall	Hextall likes to run his mouth, but backs it up. He has nine goals and eight assists in 14 games since Feb. 12, when he returned after missed eight games in January due to injury.
19-Evan Trupp	22-Brad Malone	21-Matt Frattin
10-Corban Knight	11-Darcy Zajac	7-Danny Kristo
13-Brett Bruneteau	9-Mario Lamoureux	27-Carter Rowney
Defense	Defense	Goalies
2-Andrew MacWilliam	24-Ben Blood	31-Brad Eidsness	LaPoint, the team's leading scorer from the blue line, has nine assists in NoDak's last eight games.
3-Derrick LaPoint	25-Jake Marto	32-Aaron Dell
15-Brent Davidson	4-Corey Fienhage	35-Tate Maris

NO. 3 SEED YALE BULLDOGS

Location: New Haven, Conn.
Record: 20-9-3 overall (15-5-2 ECAC Hockey, first)
Qualified: At-large berth
NCAA Championships: None
NCAA Appearance: Fourth (most recent, 2009)
Head Coach: Keith Allain
Key Players: Broc Little, Jr., F (32 GP, 26-14—40); Brian O'Neill, So., F (32 GP, 14-25—39); Denny Kearney, Jr., F (32 GP, 9-25—34); Thomas Dignard, Sr., D (27 GP, 6-20—26)
What You Need to Know: Yale is in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year, but under much different circumstances this time. In 2009, they rolled through the ECAC Hockey regular season and tournament. This year, they were quarterfinal upset losers to Brown and haven't played in two weeks.
How They'll Advance: Yale is at its best when it generates chances off of opponents turnovers in the neutral zone. The speedy Yale forwards will clog passing lanes and transition the puck quickly. The other team has to be very careful with the puck at both blue lines.
What Might Trip Them Up: Yale missed 21-goal scorer Sean Backman in that series against Brown and ran into a hot goalie. There's enough scoring depth to overcome his absence, but another hot goalie as well as uncertainty between the pipes for the Bulldogs could make the difference.

Most Recent Yale Line Chart
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing	Notes
44-Jeff Anderson	22-Brendan Mason	11-Charles Brockett	The team's third-leading scorer, Sean Backman, missed Yale's three-game loss to Brown in the ECAC quarterfinals.
19-Denny Kearney	26-Mark Arcobello	14-Broc Little
59-Chad Ziegler	10-Kevin Limbert	8-Josh Balch
9-Brian O'Neill	17-Andrew Miller	28-Antoine Laganiere
Defense	Defense	Goalies
25-Ryan Donald	2-Jimmy Martin	30-Billy Blase	Thomas Dignard is one of the best defensemen in ECAC Hockey and missed last year's NCAAs.
15-Thomas Dignard	21-Colin Dueck	1-Ryan Rondeau
5-Nick Jaskowiak	23-Kevin Peel	31-Nick Maricic

NO. 4 SEED ALASKA NANOOKS

Location: Fairbanks, Alaska.
Record: 18-11-9 overall (11-9-8-4 CCHA, fifth)
Qualified: At-large berth
NCAA Championships: None
NCAA Appearance: First
Head Coach: Dallas Ferguson
Key Players: Dion Knelsen, F, Sr. (38 GP, 19-23—42); Andy Taranto, F, Fr. (38 GP, 17-24—41); Joe Sova, D, So. (6-17—23); Scott Greenham, G, So. (18-11-9, 2.20, .918)
What You Need to Know: The Nanooks are making their first trip to the NCAA Tournament, and the first by an Alaska school since Alaska Anchorage made three straight appearances between 1990-92.
How They'll Advance: This isn't the same Alaska team of years past that relies on a suffocating defensive system and goaltending to wear down foes; they've got enough offensive talent to outscore foes. Still, the Nanooks are at their best when they get a solid effort from goaltender Scott Greenham and win the special-teams battle.
What Might Trip Them Up: Much of the Nanooks' offense — especially goals — is generated by senior forward Dion Knelsen and forward Andy Taranto, the CCHA's Rookie of the Year. Shutting down that duo puts a lot of pressure on Greenham and the Alaska defense to keep the game close.