Despite having somewhat of a subpar year, the Spartans’ intrastate rival Michigan still managed to make it to the 2001 Frozen Four, giving the CCHA 50 percent of the field in Albany.
The Wolverines (27-12-5) slumbered through an uncharacteristic 1-4-1 stretch at the end of the regular season that dropped them to a tie-for-second place finish in the league, but they have looked much sharper in the postseason.
As the No. 3-seed in the West Regional, U-M squeaked past No. 6-seed Mercyhurst 4-3 in the first round and then beat No. 2-seed Saint Cloud State by the same score in the regional final this weekend.
The Spartans (33-4-4) and Wolverines were the only CCHA squads to make the NCAA Tournament this season, as opposed to the five bids received by Western Collegiate Hockey Association teams. But only North Dakota - MSU’s first foe in the Frozen Four - made it out of the regionals for the WCHA.
MSU senior center Andrew Bogle said MSU and U-M’s success is a good reflection on the CCHA.
“I think we proved that we’re a pretty strong league by sending two teams to the Frozen Four,” Bogle said. “I’m not surprised at all that Michigan made it, they’re a good team.”
Miller still third in fan voting
As usual, sophomore goaltender Ryan Miller is entrenched in third place in online voting for the Hobey Baker Award - college hockey’s most prestigious individual trophy.
Miller is nearly 2,000 points behind the two front-runners - North Dakota forward Jeff Panzer and Boston College forward Brian Gionta.
Panzer, who leads the nation in points (81) and assists (55), leads Gionta by about 200 points in the fan vote, which accounts for one of 25 ballots for the award.
Gionta leads the nation in goals with 33 and is a three-time finalist for the Hobey, which will be awarded on April 6 in Albany, N.Y.
Miller leads the nation in goals against average (1.31), saves percentage (.950), wins (31) and shutouts (10).
Fans can vote on hobeybaker.com or uscho.com until Thursday, when ballots from the 24-member Selection Committee are due.
Unrepeatable
North Dakota (28-7-9) is the defending national champion, but in college hockey, winning titles in back-to-back seasons is no easy task.
No team has repeated as national champions since Boston University did so in 1971 and 1972. The only team ever to win three straight is U-M, which claimed championships from 1951 to 1953.
Truman was president
If MSU thinks its 15-year tournament drought is bad, consider Boston College.
Participating in its fourth-straight Frozen Four this year, BC has not won a national title since 1949.
The Eagles were the runners-up in 1965, 1978, 1998 and lost the championship game to North Dakota last season.
Two of a kind
The continued amazing success of head coach Tom Izzo and the men’s basketball team has inspired a new slogan for hockey head coach Ron Mason: “If Tom can do it, Ron can do it.”
