Inside College Hockey | 2003 West Regional Preview

March 27, 2003
NCAA Tournament
West Regional Preview | Minneapolis, Minn.

NCAA Tournament Coverage

Friday, March 28

5 p.m. EST: No. 2 Ferris State vs. No. 3 North Dakota

8:30 p.m. EST: No. 1 Minnesota vs. No. 4 Mercyhurst

Saturday, March 29

5 p.m. EST: Regional Final

HOT TOPIC

College basketball fans love to point out that it seems like the same five or six teams take turns winning the Frozen Four.

College hockey fans, in turn, love to point out that no sport has had a longer stretch without back-to-back champs. At least, fans outside of Minnesota do.

Minnesota's Paul Martin

This weekend, the Gophers take the next step in defending their title, a quest that each of the last 29 teams has failed. A big reason for those past failures? Graduation or, in some cases, early departures). The Gophers certainly had their share, the trio of Jordan Leopold, John Pohl and Jeff Taffe are all earning paychecks now.

But the feeling is spreading that Minnesota enters this year’s tournament an even better team than it was a year ago – Jeff Sauer and Doug Woog are among those who share that view. Captain Grant Potulny is healthy and leading the way. Phenom Thomas Vanek has continually improved during the course of the season. Defenseman Paul Martin hasn’t made fans forget about Leopold, but he’s no Ryan Trebil, either. Even the team’s goaltending has been solid.

Is this the year Minnesota becomes the first team since Boston University in 1971-72 to repeat the feat? As the Magic Eight Ball might say, “Signs point to yes.” Of course, Ferris State, North Dakota and Mercyhurst would reply, “My sources say no.”

BACK STORY

Interesting subplots abound in Minneapolis. For example, Ferris State makes its first NCAA Tournament appearance since, well, ever. MAAC champion Mercyhurst may seem like first-round fodder for the host Gophers, but they gave Michigan a scare at the 2001 NCAA West Regional. Then there’s North Dakota. Sioux sensation Zach Parise makes his debut in the college game’s biggest stage, but he’s been outplayed by teammate Brandon Bochenski during the last two months.

Perhaps the most intriguing question: with hockey’s West Regional at Mariucci Arena and the men’s basketball Midwest Regional at the nearby Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome this weekend, what’s the average rack rate at a Twin Cities hotel?

ON A ROLL

Ferris State had reeled off a school-record, 12-game winning streak before falling to Michigan in the CCHA tournament title game last weekend. During that 13-game stretch, senior forward and Hobey Baker Award finalist Chris Kunitz has 11 goals and 24 points, including five games in which he scored three or more points.

One could include Minnesota goaltender Justin Johnson, who allowed a total of four goals while backstopping the Gophers to the WCHA Final Five championship last weekend, on this list. He’ll be returning to doorman duties on the bench, however, because Travis Weber is set to start after suffering a finger injury two weeks ago.

MR. CLUTCH

Minnesota coach Don Lucia said it best.

"Why does Grant Potulny score in the playoffs? It's his type of hockey. You've got to muck and grind. It's amazing how many big goals he gets this time of year, but that's the kind of player he is."

Potulny scored the game-winning goal against Maine in last year’s NCAA championship match. He notched the game-tying goal in the Gophers’ overtime win against Minnesota State, Mankato, in a WCHA semifinal last week, then added two goals and an assist in the team’s WCHA title game victory over Colorado College. ‘Nuff said.

WHILE YOU'RE THERE

Regional action from venues across the nation may not be on the televisions at Stub and Herb’s, but it’s a scant two blocks from Mariucci Arena and the closest thing to a hockey bar the area around campus offers. If you’re there after a game, don’t be surprised to hear scouts, media members and former players and coaches dishing the latest rumors in between sips of Summit Extra Pale Ale.

SOMETHING TO PROVE

When a freshman who stands tied for sixth in the country in scoring and seventh in points per game still has something to prove, you know he’s set the bar pretty high. Such is the case for North Dakota’s Zach Parise, who couldn’t take three strides the first half of the season without hearing the name Paul Kariya. But he finished up on the All-WCHA third team and was runner-up to Minnesota’s Thomas Vanek for the WCHA Rookie of the Year award. If he can secure a Frozen Four spot in Vanek’s own building, those “disappointments” will be a distant memory.

ONE TO WATCH

Minnesota’s Barry Tallackson is one of those guys who probably always gets asked, “Do you play basketball?” By midseason, though, Gopher fans had a much bigger question: “Is this guy ever going to score?” The 6-foot-4 St. Paul native has turned it on since notching his first goal of the year Feb. 15. While Potulny and Vanek get the headlines, Tallackson is getting points: witness six goals and seven assists in his last 12 games. He’s also clearing space for his linemates, like Potulny, as a good big guy is supposed to do – that is, if he’s not playing basketball.

SATURDAY STORYLINE?

If the top two seeds advance, it would set up an outstanding study in contrasts for Saturday night’s Regional Final. Minnesota has national name recognition, a state-wide fan base and a historic program defending last year’s title. Ferris State, with a regional title, would send Frozen Four viewers scurrying for their atlases. Who do you think ESPN would be rooting for?