We might be in the middle of basketball's March Madness. This week is also the start of college hockey's road to a national championship.
And it all gets started in New England this weekend when the NCAA Division I tournament's East and Northeast Regionals will be played in the area.
The Northeast Regional, also known as the Hockey East Invitational will be played Saturday and Sunday at the DCU Center in Worcester. Boston College, the top overall seed and Hockey East tournament champion, will play Atlantic Hockey champion Air Force on Saturday at 4 p.m. A second Hockey East team, Maine, will play Minnesota Duluth in the 7:30 p.m. second game. The winners play Sunday night at 8.
The East Regional is at Bridgeport, Conn., where ECAC tournament champion Union is the top seed and No. 3 overall seed. The Dutchmen will play Michigan State Friday at 3 p.m., while Miami (Ohio) plays a third Hockey East team in UMass-Lowell at 6:30 p.m. The regional championship is Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
A fourth Hockey East team, Boston University, is the third seed in the West Region, and the Terriers will play Minnesota on Saturday in Saint Paul, Minn. If BU and BC both get out of their regions, they would face each other in a Frozen Four semifinal in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday, April 5.
The four Hockey East coaches spent time on the telephone early this week discussing their roads to the tournament.
Twelve months ago, one of the four Hockey East coaches was putting his equipment away. Norm Bazin has led UMass-Lowell back to the tournament, but a year ago, he had just wrapped up his third year coaching Hamilton -- a NESCAC rival to Williams.
After three seasons of building the Continentals into a NESCAC threat, Bazin was hired by his alma mater.
"We've certainly had a consistent season," said Bazin. "We've run into some different challenges along the way, line everyone else."
UMass-Lowell has not been a Hockey East power and the River Hawks were coming off a five-win season. Bazin has led them to a 23-12-1 record, and it certainly looks like last year in Clinton, N.Y., all over again.
During the conference call, an ESPNBoston reporter asked Bazin if his team felt slighted because the River Hawks weren't discussed much in the ESPN selection show.
"We have to" have a chip on their collective shoulders, Bazin said. "If it wasn't for the brackets being scripted on the board, I don't think you would have heard anything from UMass-Lowell. That's OK with us.
"We're thrilled to be part of the tournament. At the same time, we have something to prove. It's going to be exciting for our guys to get this opportunity."
BC has to be a favorite to win another D-I title. But the Eagles will have to first ground the Falcons of the Air Force Academy. Air Force comes out of the Atlantic Hockey Association, and is the only AHA team in the tourney.
"They've had some really tremendous efforts in some recent NCAA games," York said. "If you look back at their 2-0 win over Michigan, their loss to Vermont in 2 OTs, a loss to Miami in OT -- it's remarkable how close they've been to the Frozen Fours. They have our attention because of how well they have done."
Year in and year out, BC and BU are in the NCAA Tournament, and certainly BC has a real chance to bring home the title. York was asked about how he does it every year.
"I think its a combination of first of all, making sure you have good players," said York. "You have to make darn well sure they're all on the same train, with the same thoughts and we've really established at BC that being an Eagle is way more important than any individual in the room."
There isn't much better than the NCAA hockey tournament. I'll see you in Worcester.
-- Howard Herman, Berkshire Eagle Staff
