Hosts Jim Connelly (@jimmyconnelly), Derek Schooley (@derekschooley), and Ed Trefzger (@EdTrefzger) review games of the weekend and news of the week.
Three more conferences – Big Ten, ECAC, and NCHC – decided their regular season champions over the weekend. Michigan State and Minnesota share the Big Ten regular season title, Quinnipiac wins the ECAC, and Western Michigan clinches its first-ever NCHC league title. They preview upcoming playoffs and analyze key matches, including potential upsets and standout performances.
This episode is sponsored by the NCAA Men's Division I Frozen Four, April 10 and 12 in St. Louis. Get your tickets now at ncaa.com/frozenfour
Times are approximate:
00:15 Introduction and sponsorship
00:38 Big Ten conference championship drama
03:56 ECAC regular season finale
06:57 NCHC title race and playoff implications
13:43 Hockey East regular season showdown
18:23 Atlantic Hockey playoff action
26:00 Big Ten playoff preview
29:51 CCHA and ECAC playoff previews
36:04 Milestones and well wishes
39:43 Conclusion and sign-off
Three more conferences – Big Ten, ECAC, and NCHC – decided their regular season champions over the weekend. Michigan State and Minnesota share the Big Ten regular season title, Quinnipiac wins the ECAC, and Western Michigan clinches its first-ever NCHC league title. They preview upcoming playoffs and analyze key matches, including potential upsets and standout performances.
This episode is sponsored by the NCAA Men's Division I Frozen Four, April 10 and 12 in St. Louis. Get your tickets now at ncaa.com/frozenfour
Times are approximate:
00:15 Introduction and sponsorship
00:38 Big Ten conference championship drama
03:56 ECAC regular season finale
06:57 NCHC title race and playoff implications
13:43 Hockey East regular season showdown
18:23 Atlantic Hockey playoff action
26:00 Big Ten playoff preview
29:51 CCHA and ECAC playoff previews
36:04 Milestones and well wishes
39:43 Conclusion and sign-off
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Usccho dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Welcome to us Echo Weekend Review for Monday, March third,
twenty twenty five. This episode is sponsored by the NCAA
Men's d One Frozen four April tenth and twelfth in
Saint Louis. Get your tickets now at NCAA dot com
slash Frozen four. I'm at Trevska alongside Jim Connolly and
(00:36):
Derek Schooley. And over the weekend, three more conferences decided
their regular season champion and it was down to the
last minute in the Big Ten Co champions for the
first time ever. Michigan State swept Notre Dame five to
two both nights in Minnesota took four of six points
at Penn State, a four to three overtime loss and
(00:57):
a five to three win, and that five to three
win came with the fourth goal for Minnesota under a
minute left in regulation, then the empty netter. If that
had gone to overtime, Michigan State would have had the
overall championship by itself. As it is, they share it
and Michigan State has the number one seed and the
(01:18):
bide to the semi finals. And Jim, as you'd like
to maybe comment, maybe it's appropriate that when you consider
how closely matched Minnesota and Michigan State have been all season.
Maybe a lost weekend a couple of weekends ago for
Michigan State against Penn State. How fitting is it that
they would share the regular season trophy this year.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
I think when you look at this, you have two
of the best teams in the country, you probably have
on pay for the best conference in the country and
the Big Ten, and then the two teams that they
ran ran away with this and it became a two
horse race.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
Down the stretch.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
And then as you watch the final weekend, I think
a lot of us thought that Minnesota was in the
driver's seat with the two point League going into the weekend.
But that's when funny things happen. In Penn State. They're
playing some great hockey right now, dramatic overtime victory on
Friday night to stifle things for Minnesota, and then it
(02:17):
came down, as you said, ed to the final minutes
on Saturday. They had to get all three points to
get the co champion status.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
And in terms of a lot of people always.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Think of whoever's the number one seed is the champion.
They literally do give out championship trophies and you get
your name on a banner because you won the co championships.
Just as important to Minnesota as it was to Michigan State.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
To win that.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Now both of these teams, they are better than ninety
six percent for both of these teams to be number
one seeds come NCAA tournament time.
Speaker 5 (02:54):
Yeah, first of all, I apologize for missing last week,
and I was having a voice issues and still a
little better, but I guess the end of the season
will take care of that. But I think one of
the things that we talked about is that we talked
about who was going to be at spoiler. Was it
Ohio State, was it Notre Dame. I think Penn State
(03:14):
played a big time spoiler role in this.
Speaker 6 (03:18):
They had.
Speaker 5 (03:20):
They went really they were really hot down the stretch,
sweeping Wisponson, sweeping Notre Dame, getting a tie and a
shootout win against Michigan State that will win, and then
then a wolvertime win against Minnesota, and then that was
their spoiler. And I think, if appropriate, they did a
good job taking points from Michigan State and they did
(03:41):
a good job taking points from Minnesota.
Speaker 6 (03:43):
I think a tie is appropriate in this scenario.
Speaker 5 (03:45):
And like you said, two of the top four teams
in the nation, no doubt, probably number one seeds and
best conference in the nation potentially right now with Hockey East.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
And we saw a little bit we talk about the ECC,
we saw a little bit of movement in the pairwise
from the first night to the second night. The first
night win gave Penn State move up to number twelve.
They slid down to fourteen. Quinnipiac, which lost on Friday night,
it slid down to fifteenth. They're back up to number
thirteen right now. So a lot of volatility around the
(04:18):
bubble with these games too. And let's talk ECAC. Quinnipiac
came down to the final night. Clarkson beat the Bobcats
on Friday at Clarkson and that left Clarkson the possibility
to have a share of the title or even win
it outright depending on Quinnipiac. But Bobcats took care of business.
(04:39):
They shout out Saint Lawrence for nothing, and Clarkson got
upset by Princeton. So Quinnipiac gets the ECAC title, and
it hasn't been as easy a route to it. It
came down to the last game they've won it a
few weeks ahead of time. In recent years, I can.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Remember almost a month earlier for them winning it once
certainly a closer race, and Clarkson was doing everything right
down the stretch of this season. Obviously, the game that
didn't mean anything it became that game against Princeton. They
end up losing it, but Quinnipiac they took care of
business on Saturday night after wanting to do so on
(05:19):
Friday at Clarkson not being able to get that victory.
Now the question is what Quinnipiac team do we get
in the ECAC Tournament, and that could and it probably does,
determine their NCAA light. I'm how they lose if they
don't win the ECAC Tournament is the critical part. If
(05:41):
they lose in a semi final, they'll have already gotten
three wins, hopefully gone three to zero if they can
sweep in their quarterfinal series. If they lose in the
semi finals, they've gotten two wins. If they lose in
the finals, they've got three wins. Maybe that's enough to get.
The minute they lose in the quarter five, you can
almost throw anything out there. They'll fall far enough that
(06:04):
it won't be relevant, but I guess if it's the
way they lose if they don't win the ECAC Championship,
that becomes the biggest question for me.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
Yeah, And we were talking over the last couple of
weeks about were put a piac fell and right now
they did a really good job down the stretch, whether
they go five, five to one, five and one, and
their one losses overtime loss to just get them to
be in this spot, because they were looking like they
were struggling to be in the spot, so they put
(06:34):
themselves there. I think, in my opinion, if they get
to the finals, they should be safe. I would think
I think that they know that they're playing with their lives,
and I think they know that, and I think that's
why they're taking this little run that they've gone on
and win five and one and an overtime loss down
the stretch. So it's they're planning for their NCAA tournament
(06:56):
lives right now.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
West in the NCHC, Western Michigan clinched its first ever
league title with a six to four win over North
Dakota on Friday. Fighting Hawks got the split with an
overtime win, but the Broncos got four out of six points,
and they really have run out in front of the NCCHC.
One weekend is left. They lead Arizona State by four
(07:19):
points and the Sun Devils have played their complete regular
season and they're ten points ahead of third place Omaha.
Side note on Arizona State nineteen wins right now. Hopefully
for them they pick up some more in the playoffs,
but that puts them right now at number sixteen in
the pair wise, it is a tough season to get
(07:42):
inside the bubble. But back to the Broncos. A terrific
season for Pat Firschweiler, who started out great when he
took over the Rains and has gotten better each season
with his team.
Speaker 5 (07:52):
Did you use like that pun kick over the reins
out of the Bronco? A little pun there that everybody's
catching your dry sense of humor there.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Today, Ed, I think I think you need to be
a Broncos alumni to even think about the fact that
they have rains.
Speaker 5 (08:07):
Yeah, that's their mottel bought those rain right if you
follow them online.
Speaker 6 (08:11):
But congratulations of the Broncos. It's been a long time.
Speaker 5 (08:14):
I think, as we talked a couple of weeks ago,
it's time to take them to take that next step.
And they've won one one game and I think once
in their NCAA tournament history. They still have a little
work to do. I think there are they almost one
hundred percent locked, but there stills are some scenarios that
they aren't getting in.
Speaker 6 (08:35):
But I don't know what those would be. But I
think it's time they got it.
Speaker 5 (08:39):
They took one step win the ten Rose Cup outside
and take another step if they want to get to
that next level.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
I guess the thing that really turns my head is
that this is the first conference championship of any type
for Western Michigan. They Andy Maury got them a league
championship in the old season, but they've never won a
conference regular season championship, no matter what conference it's been,
(09:06):
no matter their coach. That's such a remarkable feat in
Pat Firstwiler obviously has had this team going in the
right direction. He's got a blueprint now on what it
takes to build a team that can win trophies.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
You mentioned it at Arizona State.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
They're the team that probably is most concerning in the NCAAC.
It feels like they've done everything right. They were right
there at the end in the regular season almost they
were really the only team that gave Western Michigan any
sort of a challenge here in the regular season the NCCHC.
But they probably have to at least get to the
(09:44):
championship game in the nc I can't see really any
other path because they can't afford really to drop at
any point in the Pairwise, they have to go up
and can they find those wins in a couple of
SEVENTI five, a couple of quarterfinal games, a semifinal game.
Three wins is all they have a potential to add
(10:07):
and that three and one record, is that going to
be enough? I think they have to win the NCC Championship.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Speaking of the NCCHD, is we look ahead a little
bit Denver, which lost two to one to Saint Cloud
State on Saturday. Denver and North Dakota are tied right
now with thirty nine points with two games left, and
they are fourth and fifth, tied for fourth basically in
the standing. So it's going to come down to one
(10:34):
or the other of those two teams that would have
to be on the road in the NCCHD playoffs. That's
going to be a fun one to watch.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Probably get to play one another when all is said
and done, and that's probably the most exciting part. I
think that you have two powerhouses finishing in the middle
of the NCCHC, so that you set up a quarterfinal
series that's almost unheard of, but that's the way things
fall when you have a lot of good teams in
one conference. You'll see the same thing next week in
(11:04):
the Big Ten playoffs, and we'll get to that a
little bit later. But it's been a little bit of
a different type of season for the NCCHD and now
as we head to the NCAA tournament, not having a
large number of teams represented in that tournament is probably
a little humbling for the NCAC, But I feel like
(11:25):
they don't need much. All they need is one team
in and they'll have always have a chance to win
the national championship.
Speaker 5 (11:31):
Yeah, you look at the ncch standings and obviously Western's
got what they take. I'm really interested to watch this
potential three six showdown if it Omaha versus Colorado College,
because that could be a really good series and it
could be a pick for an upset special heading into the.
Speaker 6 (11:52):
Playoffs the lower seed, because.
Speaker 5 (11:55):
I wouldn't want to play Colorado College right now with
the way they had their up and down season, but
they are a powerhouse hockey team. They've done fairly well
and they've got a great goaltender and inburn that's where
I look at their standings. Three six, Omaha and the
Carorall College could be right for an upset.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
I think technically Saint Cloud State could catch Minnesota Juluth
and finish seventh, but I think they're almost locked into eighth.
Is Saint Cloud maybe the scariest eighth place team the
DCC's probably ever seen.
Speaker 6 (12:30):
They were looking, weren't they.
Speaker 5 (12:31):
We were looking at them potentially as a tournament bid
until they lost at the first half of the year.
They were and the pair wise, until they lost their goaltender.
And I think their goal is getting healthy. And yes,
I think you're right on the night. That's another I
wouldn't go that as an upset special, but that is
a scary eight one matchup.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Yeah, that's where you're if you're pat first bother, you're
thankful that it's best at the best two R three
and not single elimination like Cocky East.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
And you look at the last weekend of the season,
Omaha is still vulnerable. They have to go to North
Dakota for the last two games of the season and
they can pretty much clinch their position depending on what happens.
They can. They have a lot in their own hands
with North Dakota. Meanwhile, Denver has home and home with
(13:19):
Colorado College and end the season. Hats off to that
kind of scheduling, but it's going to come down to
the last weekend or maybe the last day. Omaha, Denver,
and North Dakota all can go as high as third
or as low as fifth coming out of the weekend.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Still a lot to shake out in the NCAAC this weekend.
Obviously we know our first place team, but that's in
terms of playoff seeding. That's pretty much where it ends.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
It leaves this Hockey East. They still have not crowned
a regular season champion, although they will have their final
champion before everybody else because they're going to play on Friday.
But BC leads Maine by four points right now after
they got five out of six against New Hampshire. Maine
is playing twice at UMass next weekend. They need at
(14:04):
least four points to keep their hopes alive, and BC
has a single game next Saturday afternoon at home versus
merrimackin I don't know. The last couple three seasons, Scott
Works teams have been spoilers at times, haven't they.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
They certainly can.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
They have the ability, And I think anybody in Hockey
East we saw we just saw New Hampshire, the lost
place team, take Boston College to overtime in a shootout
on Saturday night.
Speaker 4 (14:30):
So I think anybody can beat anybody in that league.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
That's taking nothing against Boston College, which is still brank
number one of the country. But I will tell you
that I've been around this BC team for the last
few weeks calling some of their games. They're starting to
get hit by the injury bug right now, and that's
something just to keep an eye on. They had a
lot of bodies out of the lineup on Saturday the
(14:55):
one to one tie against you and h So let's
just keep it pump the breaks a little on BC,
just because of the injuries.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
That is my biggest concern. I've said it all year.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
This team is as good as anybody there, as deep
as anybody, But you get you start losing some of
those big name players. You lose a player like a
Teddy Steger who got injured on Friday night. Those are
big names in your lineup, so we'll keep an eye
on that as this comes so closed. But not surprisingly,
this has become a great race between BC and Maine.
Speaker 5 (15:27):
I mean you just took the words right out of
your mouth. This has become a really good race from
top to bottom. And you looked at this and everybody
is probably out there blunk. We knew Maine was good,
but did we think that they were going to win
the league this year? You thought it was at times
a two horse race going into the season BCVU and
(15:49):
look at Maine right now. They've done a really good
job of staying within striking distance. Like you said, pump
the brakes a little bit, but this is a race
top to bottom then potentially at the bottom, which you
still do have some a good race there of New Hampshire, Vermont, Northeastern,
but everything else is pretty much and still up in
(16:12):
the air. You have Merrimack could climb still as high
as how do you mask? There's some still some work
to be done in this league as well well that we're.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Going to take a pause, we'll look at some playoff
hockey that got under way and so.
Speaker 6 (16:25):
We have to.
Speaker 5 (16:27):
Yeah, y'all, let you talk about it.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
That's when we return. We'll talk about playoff hockey that
got started in some coming up this weekend. This episode
is sponsored by the NCAA Men's Division one Frozen four
April tenth and twelfth in Saint Louis, Missouri.
Speaker 4 (16:52):
The NCAA Men's Frozen four the pinnacle of men's collegiate ice.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Howk any question?
Speaker 6 (16:59):
Professor?
Speaker 1 (17:00):
NCAA Men's Hockey is back.
Speaker 5 (17:02):
Are we ready?
Speaker 4 (17:03):
You prepared to hype your squad for all three periods?
Bring glory home to your campus? Oh?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
You're ready.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
It's Frozen four.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Tome the NCAA Men's Frozen Pool April tenth and twelfth,
twenty twenty five and Saint Louis.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
Buy your seas today at NCAAA dot com.
Speaker 6 (17:19):
That's Frozen Pool.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Welcome back to usc CHO weekend review. Playoff hockey gun
underway this weekend in Atlantic Hockey America. The first game
was actually on Friday, originally scheduled to be Saturday at
ai C, but the downtown arena they play in, the
mass Mutual Center, was scheduled for Disney on Ice from
Thursday through Sunday, so they did some digging, made some
(17:48):
phone calls, got ice at Army on Friday night and
a c and rit took the ice at Tate Rink
one one in regulation, an overtime goal, a good bounce
off a puck caused a three on one the other way,
Casey McDonald scored the game winner on just his second
goal of the season, and AIIC lives to go another
(18:12):
weekend and they're going to have the fortune of taking
on Holy Cross. But you got to feel good for
AIC to be able to keep playing. I know for
those guys, that's been a tough stretch at times, and
when the season's over, you're not the team you were anymore,
and you're not the program anymore either. So they'll get
(18:34):
to battle on for at least two more games next weekend.
But I've got to say it was very disappointing. I
was there to broadcast the game. The very disappointing part
about it, with it being early on Friday and being
at a neutral rink, there was absolutely no atmosphere in
the building except for one hundred decibel PA system and
(18:56):
some of the energy that you would expect for a
playoff game. Whether you're the visiting team where the home
team just was absent, So it felt anti climacity for
me at the end, But overall a competitive game and
fairly fun to watch. And congratulations Derek Lang forgetting a
couple more games for his guys.
Speaker 5 (19:16):
Yeah, I'll take it one step further. I watched that game.
Two things. One it was it looked having our Ai
c and Ri t playing with the Army logo on
the ice, and I'll think, if you could figure this
out at it, it looked really goofy. See what I did,
Disney on ice there, I'm learning from you. It looked
really and it was reminiscent of COVID. It really was.
(19:39):
It looked to me like one of the games back
in COVID. And I thought it was a really well
played hockey game, a good goaltending both ways, and a
really nice play in overtime.
Speaker 6 (19:49):
But I'll just stick with that.
Speaker 5 (19:51):
It looked weird having non army team on the ice
and it and it looked, like I said, reminded me
of COVID.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Well. Plus, from the camera angle the far side, they
had that side of the ice closed off, so instead
of putting all the fans on the side of the
ice where they would be on camera, you had maybe
the occasional staffers sitting on the other side, so you
couldn't really see any fans except what ones would show
on the near side when the camera would go to
(20:21):
one end or the other. So that didn't help it either.
But for rit it was a disappointing season. And I
don't want to put words in anybody's mouth, but maybe
just a chance to kiss, some breath and regroup. Both
of those teams played in the league championship game last
year in front of a sold out crowd, and this
(20:44):
year they played in front of I don't know, a
couple hundred people, four hours from each other's rinks. But anyway, goofy, Yeah, goofy.
They might have been playing on Pluto for all it was. Meanwhile,
I got to watch your game, Derek. Another exciting game
and some great goaltending there. Two air Force, though survived
(21:06):
in double overtime against Robert Morris four to three. Air Force.
They had to come back a couple of times in
that game, and there's some exciting plays, some challenges your squad. Derek,
just missed a puck going over the line, some heroics
to prevent that. But to me, it was a game
(21:27):
where I thought Robert Morris, it just felt like you
were going to put that game away in the first overtime.
Speaker 6 (21:33):
Yeah, that was our best period of the game. I
thought we were really good.
Speaker 5 (21:37):
We're above Pock's with pendam in Zones. I talked to
Frank for the game and their staffs. Somebody had to lose,
and it was a good college hockey game, good atmosphere,
good playoff hockey. Obviously, back to back years we've went
to overtime in the first round and we used that
to draw some experience, and we.
Speaker 6 (21:59):
Thought we had.
Speaker 5 (22:01):
We thought we had it a couple of times we
thought we had it.
Speaker 6 (22:03):
But both boys were good.
Speaker 5 (22:05):
And congratulations of somebody had to lose, unfortunately, and fortunately
it was us.
Speaker 6 (22:11):
That's why I didn't want to move on to talk
about this, but thanks Ed.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
I think we can also say congratulations on making some
steps forward this year with the program. As you continue
to rebuild, and I know you've got more work to do.
Speaker 6 (22:24):
For next season. I appreciate that. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
The other game in Atlantic hockey was at Canisius. Ben
Bonisteel had a sixteen save shutout in Canisius's two nothing
win over Mercyhurst that sets up the quarterfinal round in
Atlantic hockey, might as well jump to that. Aiic will
be at holy Cross for a best of three next weekend,
(22:49):
Canisius travels to Bentley, Air Forces at Sacred Heart, and
Army is at Niagara. I think that after this first
round we're all the up for Seeds one. You might
not see that in the second round. I think the
three upper seeds that get the ones from the bottom
six are pretty big favorites. But that Army Niagara series
(23:13):
is going to be interesting. Army got a lot better
as the season went on, and they may be the
hottest team in Atlantic hockey or one of them right now,
and that should be an interesting series in Niagara.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
I circle that one.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
I circled the Bentley series with Canisius, that that's a
team that's playing well. When they can limit the number
of goals they allow, they're a pretty tough team. But yeah,
you're right, our Army is the team. When Brian Riley
announced his retirement before the season, I was watching earlier.
Speaker 4 (23:45):
I'm saying, Okay, it's got to be a good season.
It was a struggle.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
A lot of the gates for Army and then things
just started to get right and started to get right,
and as you said, I think they are probably one
of the top hottest teams in Atlantic cockey as they
get to this quarterfinal round.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
Now this is the tough part.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
You're going on the roadroad, You're playing a team that
had a decent regular season in Niagara. But this is
that one feels like it could be right for the upset.
I look at that, maybe the Canisius series, those two
potentially as upsets.
Speaker 5 (24:20):
Yeah, you know what I I would I think Army
Niagara is the key. But I also wouldn't be surprised
to see all the high seeds advanced. We talked about
the Army being the hottest team. They holy Cross hasn't
really lost until towards the end. Here true, they they
(24:40):
were really hot until they lost. That about the game
set a record for points in consecutive gate We took
a shootout loss against something, We got a point. We
went back and looked and we were lucky. We felt
lucky to get a point out of it. The way
they were going. So I wouldn't be surprised to see
upsetter two. I wouldn't be surprised to see all four
(25:03):
top seeds advanced. But I think the key to that
one that's the series to watch. That's the coin flip
series Army Niagara.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
But looking ahead to some other playoff series coming up
this weekend, they get underway and the Big Ten, Michigan
State by being the top seed, they get a bye
week and fortunately they did play this weekend. We saw
was it with the Minnesota one year that had three
weeks off or was it Michigan. Somebody I should remember
(25:34):
that two.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
Weeks off down the stretch because they put the final
weekend then got the bye week, and it is a
little awkward, and it does make it an awkward scenario
because you do come into a semifinals situation where you
could be one and done, whereas these other teams have
been playing for a week. I had that right, that's
still a one and done semifinal scenario in the Big Ten.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Let's take a look at what's coming up this weekend.
So you have Notre Dame at Minnesota, Wisconsin at Ohio State,
and Penn State at Michigan.
Speaker 6 (26:06):
Would you like to be Michigan right now?
Speaker 1 (26:08):
No.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
If somebody was telling me, I could have picked my
opponent a month and a half ago.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
I probably I might have picked Penn State.
Speaker 6 (26:16):
Here's why.
Speaker 5 (26:17):
Maybe Yes, I think Wisconsin beer now becauserve struggling. But
Notre Dame Jeff Jackson's last games you don't want to be.
You don't want to be that team to let Juff
Jackson down.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
And he's sitting on career win five ninety nine, so
his next win is the six hundred. So if you yeah,
I think there should be some motivation in Notre Dame
try to get at least get a win out of
this series this weekend against Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
And the other one Wisconsin at Ohio State. I'm told
that because of something going on in Value City Arena.
I think it's Ohio High School Wrestling Championships. Those games
are going to be played at the NHL Rink Nationwide Arena.
I don't think that'll hurt anything. I think it's a
(27:07):
great atmosphere. Uh maybe a chance for Wisconsin to salvage
something out of what has been a very disappointing season
for them.
Speaker 6 (27:15):
They should go back to old school and play at
their goal, the Ohio State rape. Yeah, the rate, it's
where are women the women currently play? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (27:26):
That they played the women's regional there in the NCAA tournament.
I got to see them on TV last year, and
I couldn't believe that the men actually once played in
that building.
Speaker 5 (27:36):
I played against some for four years from ac ou there.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Our colleague Paula Weston can tell lots of stories about
covering games there back when she was also based out
of Columbus, And if I remember right, she used to
have to go through part of the men's locker room
to get to the ladder, and it was a vertical
ladder like a ship's ladder to go into the press.
Speaker 6 (28:01):
The bench, I believe you have a bench.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
You got hit by a puck one night, had to
go to the hospital and had to be taken out
through the bench, which not embarrassing enough to get hit
by a puck, but then did to have that happened.
I never got to that building and I never probably will,
but I don't think I missed much.
Speaker 6 (28:24):
One of my favorite conversations we beat ohiuse date really
early in our program, and I didn't know paul at
the time, and she was like one of the reporters
and this was up there no arena, and she said
she asked me about realignment and college hockey, and I said, hey,
me and you will get a case of beer. We
can figure this out real quick, and she'll always remember that.
Speaker 5 (28:43):
And then she started throwing exclamation points behind every time
she wrote Robert Morris.
Speaker 6 (28:49):
Miss seeing Paul at the Frozen four.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
You know it's funny. I have the same story to
tell about realignment with Frank's territory in Saint Louis in
two thousand and seven. Neither of us followed through on
it anyway. C Lake Superior is at Minnesota State, Bimigie
State at Augustana, Farris State at Saint Thomas, Michigan Tech
(29:13):
at Bowling Green. Lots of stories in there. First thing
that jumps out at me is it's coming down to
the wire. We mentioned Jeff Jackson retiring Bob Daniels after
thirty three seasons at Farris State is hanging it up?
Speaker 5 (29:25):
Texted Bob the other day. I've known Bob for a
long time. Bob recruited me at Illinois Chicago, way back
when I played against Bob. But when I was a
Western he was at Ferris, and he was at Illinois
and then at Ferris and was on the committee with
Bob and I texted him, I was really happy to
(29:46):
see the results that they have this weekend, on his
retirement weekend, and I sent him a message and literally
got one right back, which shows you the kind of
Manny is. He's a really good person and he's going
to be missed in college hockey.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
I really loved being around him and the team back
when they were in the Frozen Four, lost the championship
to Boston College. That was a great season for that team.
Well elsewhere, how about Augustana they get to host the quarterfinal.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
Yeah, I look at that as a sneaky good series.
Bmichi State listen. They fell quickly. Did not expect to
see them as the seventh seed, but they'll take on
Augustana first time in the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
Who knows what to expect.
Speaker 3 (30:34):
I could see Bamigi, though, finding a way to pull
up an upset. That's an experienced team, really good coaching staff.
It's all new for Augustana. So this is I guess
you just don't. You can't have an expectation when there's
no track record based upon.
Speaker 6 (30:53):
Yeah, once again, you don't want to be that team.
Speaker 5 (30:55):
To end Bob Daniels Farris saw with Eric Lang last
than ai s. You don't want to let your coach down,
you don't want to send him into retirement.
Speaker 6 (31:06):
So maybe a Farris State Saint Thomas.
Speaker 5 (31:08):
That's a that could be a sneaky one as well,
because Paris has been playing fairly well.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
Lately, and I have to think that there are more
than a few people around the CCHA that would like
to see Saint Thomas sent out in the quarterfinals just because.
Speaker 6 (31:24):
A good point, just because. The one thing I'll also
say is who saw this?
Speaker 5 (31:30):
And I know there was a lot of jockey going on,
and I didn't until today. I didn't really look at
the playoffs because I was dealing with my playoffs and
I didn't have a voice. So who saw Michigan Tech
having to go on the road that came out of nowhere?
To me, that was one that was really surprising. I
didn't see that. And when I looked at the show
(31:51):
notes and looked at the Standing State, that one surprised me.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
There's some surprises when you look at the ECAs. When
you see a couple of teams that have fallen into
the first round, which means out of the top four.
This coming weekend, you'll have Saint Lawrence at Dartmouth, Yale
at Cornell, RPI at Harvard, and Princeton at Brown. And
you want to talk about the end of a season
and the end of a career. Mike Schaeffer at Cornell
(32:16):
getting to host two or possibly three playoff games at
Lina And that's.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
A great series to play Cornell, to play Yale as
your final playoff series. I guess that goes to another
Your team better be playing for their coach to keep
his career going, make sure that this season ends as
far down the road as possible. I look at the Cornell, Dartmouth,
and Harvard, they're all hosting, but they're all teams that
(32:44):
I think I had some points during the season we
had higher hopes for that they would be a top
four team, that they would be getting a buy and
hosting quarterfinal games. Some surprises and just the teams themselves
that are in the quarterfinal round.
Speaker 6 (32:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (33:00):
And I think one of the things that you're still
seeing is still because it is the fourth year or
the just on the back end of it, COVID still
effected these guys. Yeah, we're still again then affected because
they didn't play the IVY leagues, didn't play three of
them getting hole mice and one having to go on
the road. But I still think that's something that's still lingering.
Speaker 6 (33:23):
I think that they'll be done after this year.
Speaker 5 (33:26):
There should be no excuses, but that still affects those
IVY Leagues team teams a little bit. The sneaky series
for me on this one is Princeton at Brown. Princeton
won last weekend big game. It's not too far of
a stretch from I could believe that they're the eight
to nine seeds. Yea eight, I see that one being
(33:46):
a little sneaky. I also I want to see how
dartmth Handle's success at home. They're the five seed, and
it's hard as a five to twelve, but we always
see it in the ECA seed always see a twelve seed.
I'm back and be a five seed. It's happened numerous
times in my career, so I would. I really want
(34:07):
to see how dartmuth anil Saint Lawrence. But the sneaky
wanted to me at Princeton Brown.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
I want to see in this one how many of
these go three. I feel like the ECAC more than
any league, and you can throw the CCHA in there
as well. But the ECAC finds a way to get
so many of these first round series into three games.
Speaker 4 (34:27):
You don't get a lot of chalk in their tournament.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
And since we're talking about the ECAC, at least one
of those has got to have a game that goes
into a third or fourth overtime.
Speaker 6 (34:36):
Right back for gun shot for gun shot.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Yeah, Ken gets a weekend by because Union made it
into the top four. That'll maybe take a little of
a relief there, but next weekend, for sure, wherever Agun's going,
wherever Union is.
Speaker 5 (34:54):
Why is he self proclaimed mister Overtime? I don't understand
why he self proclaimed.
Speaker 6 (34:58):
Him to solve that.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
I think he was covering three or five longest games
for some time there. Some of them have been beaten,
but there was good reason he did not. I don't
even know if he gave himself that title as much
as either.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
Let's take a look at a couple other things before
we wrap up. First of all, congratulations to Guy Gadowski.
He got his four hundredth win on Friday night with
the Penn State four to three overtime win over Minnesota.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
There's something about Guy Gadowski too, because here's a guy
who's coach, Who's leading a premier program in the Big Ten,
the largest conference. You look at where he started like
he has taken some really tough jobs. You go back
(35:47):
to his days in Alaska and then his days for Instant.
These were not easy programs to coach, recruit to all
of that, and then he decides to take a job
at Penn State, which maybe you thought it would be
easier to recruit, but there's still challenges that go along
with playing in some of the best competition every night.
(36:08):
He's built everything he's had in his career really well
from the ground up. So four hundred wins, that is
such an unaccomplishment. My hat's off to him.
Speaker 5 (36:19):
Yeah, congratulations, But I'll even taking one step further back.
He coached three years in the old WCHL for the
Fresnel Falcons before then going to Fairbanks. He went sixty
eight and eighty nine and twenty two at Fairbanks. Then
he took a little bit. It was just over five
hundred at Princeton one, five, one oh nine and fifteen
(36:41):
and here at Penn State.
Speaker 6 (36:43):
I think, what is he now? If I look at it,
he played one year or the he doesn't count, but
you've got thirteen wins a career at Penn State. He's
at two oh seven or two.
Speaker 5 (36:55):
I guess it's a little bit more than that now,
but he's over five hundred at Penn State, and he
took her a long road. But he's not He's only
fifty seven years old, so it's not like he's or
fifty seven or fifty eight. It's not like he's one
of those guys that is in his sixties. But to
have the longevity he's had and coach three years in
(37:15):
minor league cocky to start his career. Where do you
see a minor league coach start his career? Then go
to Alaska?
Speaker 6 (37:22):
Those are two weird that's a weird move from there,
and then go to Princeton. That's another.
Speaker 5 (37:29):
He went from middle of the road to low end
academics to high end academics just like that, and then
obviously now at Penn State.
Speaker 6 (37:37):
Congratulations.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
We also want to pass along well wishes to New
Hampshire goaltender Jared Whale, who was stretchered off on Friday
night at BC. Jim, you've got some details on that.
Speaker 4 (37:50):
Yeah, I was on the call. That one was a
scary situation. To watch.
Speaker 3 (37:54):
Just had an awkward collision with his fell back all
over him and in snapped his neck back and I
believe I've been told that he might have lost consciousness
on the ice, but he was stretchered off. The good
news he did not even spend the night overnight in
the hospital. He was back on campus hours later. I'm
(38:18):
talking to Mike Scuso over text message. He is obviously
it's not a situation where he was ready to go
the next night, but he'll be a day to day situation,
I believe.
Speaker 6 (38:30):
I'll tell you.
Speaker 4 (38:32):
His predecessor. I'm sorry, just ended that out.
Speaker 3 (38:36):
His replacement in net Rico Dimatio did a great job
against Boston College the next night. I believe it was
thirty one saves he made against the number one team
in the country, earning out one to one tie. But
get well to Jared Hyal. It was a scary site
on Friday night. You don't see that oft in college hockey,
and that's a good thing.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
Well that we're going to wrap up this episode, which
has been sponsored by the NCAA Men's Division One Frozen
four April tenth and twelfth. Then Saint Louis, get your
tickets now at NCAA dot com. Slash frozen for Jim Connolly,
for Derek Schooley. I'm Ed Trefsker and this has been
us e h O Weekend Review
Usccho dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Welcome to us Echo Weekend Review for Monday, March third,
twenty twenty five. This episode is sponsored by the NCAA
Men's d One Frozen four April tenth and twelfth in
Saint Louis. Get your tickets now at NCAA dot com
slash Frozen four. I'm at Trevska alongside Jim Connolly and
(00:36):
Derek Schooley. And over the weekend, three more conferences decided
their regular season champion and it was down to the
last minute in the Big Ten Co champions for the
first time ever. Michigan State swept Notre Dame five to
two both nights in Minnesota took four of six points
at Penn State, a four to three overtime loss and
(00:57):
a five to three win, and that five to three
win came with the fourth goal for Minnesota under a
minute left in regulation, then the empty netter. If that
had gone to overtime, Michigan State would have had the
overall championship by itself. As it is, they share it
and Michigan State has the number one seed and the
(01:18):
bide to the semi finals. And Jim, as you'd like
to maybe comment, maybe it's appropriate that when you consider
how closely matched Minnesota and Michigan State have been all season.
Maybe a lost weekend a couple of weekends ago for
Michigan State against Penn State. How fitting is it that
they would share the regular season trophy this year.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
I think when you look at this, you have two
of the best teams in the country, you probably have
on pay for the best conference in the country and
the Big Ten, and then the two teams that they
ran ran away with this and it became a two
horse race.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
Down the stretch.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
And then as you watch the final weekend, I think
a lot of us thought that Minnesota was in the
driver's seat with the two point League going into the weekend.
But that's when funny things happen. In Penn State. They're
playing some great hockey right now, dramatic overtime victory on
Friday night to stifle things for Minnesota, and then it
(02:17):
came down, as you said, ed to the final minutes
on Saturday. They had to get all three points to
get the co champion status.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
And in terms of a lot of people always.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
Think of whoever's the number one seed is the champion.
They literally do give out championship trophies and you get
your name on a banner because you won the co championships.
Just as important to Minnesota as it was to Michigan State.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
To win that.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Now both of these teams, they are better than ninety
six percent for both of these teams to be number
one seeds come NCAA tournament time.
Speaker 5 (02:54):
Yeah, first of all, I apologize for missing last week,
and I was having a voice issues and still a
little better, but I guess the end of the season
will take care of that. But I think one of
the things that we talked about is that we talked
about who was going to be at spoiler. Was it
Ohio State, was it Notre Dame. I think Penn State
(03:14):
played a big time spoiler role in this.
Speaker 6 (03:18):
They had.
Speaker 5 (03:20):
They went really they were really hot down the stretch,
sweeping Wisponson, sweeping Notre Dame, getting a tie and a
shootout win against Michigan State that will win, and then
then a wolvertime win against Minnesota, and then that was
their spoiler. And I think, if appropriate, they did a
good job taking points from Michigan State and they did
(03:41):
a good job taking points from Minnesota.
Speaker 6 (03:43):
I think a tie is appropriate in this scenario.
Speaker 5 (03:45):
And like you said, two of the top four teams
in the nation, no doubt, probably number one seeds and
best conference in the nation potentially right now with Hockey East.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
And we saw a little bit we talk about the ECC,
we saw a little bit of movement in the pairwise
from the first night to the second night. The first
night win gave Penn State move up to number twelve.
They slid down to fourteen. Quinnipiac, which lost on Friday night,
it slid down to fifteenth. They're back up to number
thirteen right now. So a lot of volatility around the
(04:18):
bubble with these games too. And let's talk ECAC. Quinnipiac
came down to the final night. Clarkson beat the Bobcats
on Friday at Clarkson and that left Clarkson the possibility
to have a share of the title or even win
it outright depending on Quinnipiac. But Bobcats took care of business.
(04:39):
They shout out Saint Lawrence for nothing, and Clarkson got
upset by Princeton. So Quinnipiac gets the ECAC title, and
it hasn't been as easy a route to it. It
came down to the last game they've won it a
few weeks ahead of time. In recent years, I can.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Remember almost a month earlier for them winning it once
certainly a closer race, and Clarkson was doing everything right
down the stretch of this season. Obviously, the game that
didn't mean anything it became that game against Princeton. They
end up losing it, but Quinnipiac they took care of
business on Saturday night after wanting to do so on
(05:19):
Friday at Clarkson not being able to get that victory.
Now the question is what Quinnipiac team do we get
in the ECAC Tournament, and that could and it probably does,
determine their NCAA light. I'm how they lose if they
don't win the ECAC Tournament is the critical part. If
(05:41):
they lose in a semi final, they'll have already gotten
three wins, hopefully gone three to zero if they can
sweep in their quarterfinal series. If they lose in the
semi finals, they've gotten two wins. If they lose in
the finals, they've got three wins. Maybe that's enough to get.
The minute they lose in the quarter five, you can
almost throw anything out there. They'll fall far enough that
(06:04):
it won't be relevant, but I guess if it's the
way they lose if they don't win the ECAC Championship,
that becomes the biggest question for me.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
Yeah, And we were talking over the last couple of
weeks about were put a piac fell and right now
they did a really good job down the stretch, whether
they go five, five to one, five and one, and
their one losses overtime loss to just get them to
be in this spot, because they were looking like they
were struggling to be in the spot, so they put
(06:34):
themselves there. I think, in my opinion, if they get
to the finals, they should be safe. I would think
I think that they know that they're playing with their lives,
and I think they know that, and I think that's
why they're taking this little run that they've gone on
and win five and one and an overtime loss down
the stretch. So it's they're planning for their NCAA tournament
(06:56):
lives right now.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
West in the NCHC, Western Michigan clinched its first ever
league title with a six to four win over North
Dakota on Friday. Fighting Hawks got the split with an
overtime win, but the Broncos got four out of six points,
and they really have run out in front of the NCCHC.
One weekend is left. They lead Arizona State by four
(07:19):
points and the Sun Devils have played their complete regular
season and they're ten points ahead of third place Omaha.
Side note on Arizona State nineteen wins right now. Hopefully
for them they pick up some more in the playoffs,
but that puts them right now at number sixteen in
the pair wise, it is a tough season to get
(07:42):
inside the bubble. But back to the Broncos. A terrific
season for Pat Firschweiler, who started out great when he
took over the Rains and has gotten better each season
with his team.
Speaker 5 (07:52):
Did you use like that pun kick over the reins
out of the Bronco? A little pun there that everybody's
catching your dry sense of humor there.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Today, Ed, I think I think you need to be
a Broncos alumni to even think about the fact that
they have rains.
Speaker 5 (08:07):
Yeah, that's their mottel bought those rain right if you
follow them online.
Speaker 6 (08:11):
But congratulations of the Broncos. It's been a long time.
Speaker 5 (08:14):
I think, as we talked a couple of weeks ago,
it's time to take them to take that next step.
And they've won one one game and I think once
in their NCAA tournament history. They still have a little
work to do. I think there are they almost one
hundred percent locked, but there stills are some scenarios that
they aren't getting in.
Speaker 6 (08:35):
But I don't know what those would be. But I
think it's time they got it.
Speaker 5 (08:39):
They took one step win the ten Rose Cup outside
and take another step if they want to get to
that next level.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
I guess the thing that really turns my head is
that this is the first conference championship of any type
for Western Michigan. They Andy Maury got them a league
championship in the old season, but they've never won a
conference regular season championship, no matter what conference it's been,
(09:06):
no matter their coach. That's such a remarkable feat in
Pat Firstwiler obviously has had this team going in the
right direction. He's got a blueprint now on what it
takes to build a team that can win trophies.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
You mentioned it at Arizona State.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
They're the team that probably is most concerning in the NCAAC.
It feels like they've done everything right. They were right
there at the end in the regular season almost they
were really the only team that gave Western Michigan any
sort of a challenge here in the regular season the NCCHC.
But they probably have to at least get to the
(09:44):
championship game in the nc I can't see really any
other path because they can't afford really to drop at
any point in the Pairwise, they have to go up
and can they find those wins in a couple of
SEVENTI five, a couple of quarterfinal games, a semifinal game.
Three wins is all they have a potential to add
(10:07):
and that three and one record, is that going to
be enough? I think they have to win the NCC Championship.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Speaking of the NCCHD, is we look ahead a little
bit Denver, which lost two to one to Saint Cloud
State on Saturday. Denver and North Dakota are tied right
now with thirty nine points with two games left, and
they are fourth and fifth, tied for fourth basically in
the standing. So it's going to come down to one
(10:34):
or the other of those two teams that would have
to be on the road in the NCCHD playoffs. That's
going to be a fun one to watch.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Probably get to play one another when all is said
and done, and that's probably the most exciting part. I
think that you have two powerhouses finishing in the middle
of the NCCHC, so that you set up a quarterfinal
series that's almost unheard of, but that's the way things
fall when you have a lot of good teams in
one conference. You'll see the same thing next week in
(11:04):
the Big Ten playoffs, and we'll get to that a
little bit later. But it's been a little bit of
a different type of season for the NCCHD and now
as we head to the NCAA tournament, not having a
large number of teams represented in that tournament is probably
a little humbling for the NCAC, But I feel like
(11:25):
they don't need much. All they need is one team
in and they'll have always have a chance to win
the national championship.
Speaker 5 (11:31):
Yeah, you look at the ncch standings and obviously Western's
got what they take. I'm really interested to watch this
potential three six showdown if it Omaha versus Colorado College,
because that could be a really good series and it
could be a pick for an upset special heading into the.
Speaker 6 (11:52):
Playoffs the lower seed, because.
Speaker 5 (11:55):
I wouldn't want to play Colorado College right now with
the way they had their up and down season, but
they are a powerhouse hockey team. They've done fairly well
and they've got a great goaltender and inburn that's where
I look at their standings. Three six, Omaha and the
Carorall College could be right for an upset.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
I think technically Saint Cloud State could catch Minnesota Juluth
and finish seventh, but I think they're almost locked into eighth.
Is Saint Cloud maybe the scariest eighth place team the
DCC's probably ever seen.
Speaker 6 (12:30):
They were looking, weren't they.
Speaker 5 (12:31):
We were looking at them potentially as a tournament bid
until they lost at the first half of the year.
They were and the pair wise, until they lost their goaltender.
And I think their goal is getting healthy. And yes,
I think you're right on the night. That's another I
wouldn't go that as an upset special, but that is
a scary eight one matchup.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Yeah, that's where you're if you're pat first bother, you're
thankful that it's best at the best two R three
and not single elimination like Cocky East.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
And you look at the last weekend of the season,
Omaha is still vulnerable. They have to go to North
Dakota for the last two games of the season and
they can pretty much clinch their position depending on what happens.
They can. They have a lot in their own hands
with North Dakota. Meanwhile, Denver has home and home with
(13:19):
Colorado College and end the season. Hats off to that
kind of scheduling, but it's going to come down to
the last weekend or maybe the last day. Omaha, Denver,
and North Dakota all can go as high as third
or as low as fifth coming out of the weekend.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Still a lot to shake out in the NCAAC this weekend.
Obviously we know our first place team, but that's in
terms of playoff seeding. That's pretty much where it ends.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
It leaves this Hockey East. They still have not crowned
a regular season champion, although they will have their final
champion before everybody else because they're going to play on Friday.
But BC leads Maine by four points right now after
they got five out of six against New Hampshire. Maine
is playing twice at UMass next weekend. They need at
(14:04):
least four points to keep their hopes alive, and BC
has a single game next Saturday afternoon at home versus
merrimackin I don't know. The last couple three seasons, Scott
Works teams have been spoilers at times, haven't they.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
They certainly can.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
They have the ability, And I think anybody in Hockey
East we saw we just saw New Hampshire, the lost
place team, take Boston College to overtime in a shootout
on Saturday night.
Speaker 4 (14:30):
So I think anybody can beat anybody in that league.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
That's taking nothing against Boston College, which is still brank
number one of the country. But I will tell you
that I've been around this BC team for the last
few weeks calling some of their games. They're starting to
get hit by the injury bug right now, and that's
something just to keep an eye on. They had a
lot of bodies out of the lineup on Saturday the
(14:55):
one to one tie against you and h So let's
just keep it pump the breaks a little on BC,
just because of the injuries.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
That is my biggest concern. I've said it all year.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
This team is as good as anybody there, as deep
as anybody, But you get you start losing some of
those big name players. You lose a player like a
Teddy Steger who got injured on Friday night. Those are
big names in your lineup, so we'll keep an eye
on that as this comes so closed. But not surprisingly,
this has become a great race between BC and Maine.
Speaker 5 (15:27):
I mean you just took the words right out of
your mouth. This has become a really good race from
top to bottom. And you looked at this and everybody
is probably out there blunk. We knew Maine was good,
but did we think that they were going to win
the league this year? You thought it was at times
a two horse race going into the season BCVU and
(15:49):
look at Maine right now. They've done a really good
job of staying within striking distance. Like you said, pump
the brakes a little bit, but this is a race
top to bottom then potentially at the bottom, which you
still do have some a good race there of New Hampshire, Vermont, Northeastern,
but everything else is pretty much and still up in
(16:12):
the air. You have Merrimack could climb still as high
as how do you mask? There's some still some work
to be done in this league as well well that we're.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Going to take a pause, we'll look at some playoff
hockey that got under way and so.
Speaker 6 (16:25):
We have to.
Speaker 5 (16:27):
Yeah, y'all, let you talk about it.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
That's when we return. We'll talk about playoff hockey that
got started in some coming up this weekend. This episode
is sponsored by the NCAA Men's Division one Frozen four
April tenth and twelfth in Saint Louis, Missouri.
Speaker 4 (16:52):
The NCAA Men's Frozen four the pinnacle of men's collegiate ice.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Howk any question?
Speaker 6 (16:59):
Professor?
Speaker 1 (17:00):
NCAA Men's Hockey is back.
Speaker 5 (17:02):
Are we ready?
Speaker 4 (17:03):
You prepared to hype your squad for all three periods?
Bring glory home to your campus? Oh?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
You're ready.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
It's Frozen four.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Tome the NCAA Men's Frozen Pool April tenth and twelfth,
twenty twenty five and Saint Louis.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
Buy your seas today at NCAAA dot com.
Speaker 6 (17:19):
That's Frozen Pool.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Welcome back to usc CHO weekend review. Playoff hockey gun
underway this weekend in Atlantic Hockey America. The first game
was actually on Friday, originally scheduled to be Saturday at
ai C, but the downtown arena they play in, the
mass Mutual Center, was scheduled for Disney on Ice from
Thursday through Sunday, so they did some digging, made some
(17:48):
phone calls, got ice at Army on Friday night and
a c and rit took the ice at Tate Rink
one one in regulation, an overtime goal, a good bounce
off a puck caused a three on one the other way,
Casey McDonald scored the game winner on just his second
goal of the season, and AIIC lives to go another
(18:12):
weekend and they're going to have the fortune of taking
on Holy Cross. But you got to feel good for
AIC to be able to keep playing. I know for
those guys, that's been a tough stretch at times, and
when the season's over, you're not the team you were anymore,
and you're not the program anymore either. So they'll get
(18:34):
to battle on for at least two more games next weekend.
But I've got to say it was very disappointing. I
was there to broadcast the game. The very disappointing part
about it, with it being early on Friday and being
at a neutral rink, there was absolutely no atmosphere in
the building except for one hundred decibel PA system and
(18:56):
some of the energy that you would expect for a
playoff game. Whether you're the visiting team where the home
team just was absent, So it felt anti climacity for
me at the end, But overall a competitive game and
fairly fun to watch. And congratulations Derek Lang forgetting a
couple more games for his guys.
Speaker 5 (19:16):
Yeah, I'll take it one step further. I watched that game.
Two things. One it was it looked having our Ai
c and Ri t playing with the Army logo on
the ice, and I'll think, if you could figure this
out at it, it looked really goofy. See what I did,
Disney on ice there, I'm learning from you. It looked
really and it was reminiscent of COVID. It really was.
(19:39):
It looked to me like one of the games back
in COVID. And I thought it was a really well
played hockey game, a good goaltending both ways, and a
really nice play in overtime.
Speaker 6 (19:49):
But I'll just stick with that.
Speaker 5 (19:51):
It looked weird having non army team on the ice
and it and it looked, like I said, reminded me
of COVID.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Well. Plus, from the camera angle the far side, they
had that side of the ice closed off, so instead
of putting all the fans on the side of the
ice where they would be on camera, you had maybe
the occasional staffers sitting on the other side, so you
couldn't really see any fans except what ones would show
on the near side when the camera would go to
(20:21):
one end or the other. So that didn't help it either.
But for rit it was a disappointing season. And I
don't want to put words in anybody's mouth, but maybe
just a chance to kiss, some breath and regroup. Both
of those teams played in the league championship game last
year in front of a sold out crowd, and this
(20:44):
year they played in front of I don't know, a
couple hundred people, four hours from each other's rinks. But anyway, goofy, Yeah, goofy.
They might have been playing on Pluto for all it was. Meanwhile,
I got to watch your game, Derek. Another exciting game
and some great goaltending there. Two air Force, though survived
(21:06):
in double overtime against Robert Morris four to three. Air Force.
They had to come back a couple of times in
that game, and there's some exciting plays, some challenges your squad. Derek,
just missed a puck going over the line, some heroics
to prevent that. But to me, it was a game
(21:27):
where I thought Robert Morris, it just felt like you
were going to put that game away in the first overtime.
Speaker 6 (21:33):
Yeah, that was our best period of the game. I
thought we were really good.
Speaker 5 (21:37):
We're above Pock's with pendam in Zones. I talked to
Frank for the game and their staffs. Somebody had to lose,
and it was a good college hockey game, good atmosphere,
good playoff hockey. Obviously, back to back years we've went
to overtime in the first round and we used that
to draw some experience, and we.
Speaker 6 (21:59):
Thought we had.
Speaker 5 (22:01):
We thought we had it a couple of times we
thought we had it.
Speaker 6 (22:03):
But both boys were good.
Speaker 5 (22:05):
And congratulations of somebody had to lose, unfortunately, and fortunately
it was us.
Speaker 6 (22:11):
That's why I didn't want to move on to talk
about this, but thanks Ed.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
I think we can also say congratulations on making some
steps forward this year with the program. As you continue
to rebuild, and I know you've got more work to do.
Speaker 6 (22:24):
For next season. I appreciate that. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
The other game in Atlantic hockey was at Canisius. Ben
Bonisteel had a sixteen save shutout in Canisius's two nothing
win over Mercyhurst that sets up the quarterfinal round in
Atlantic hockey, might as well jump to that. Aiic will
be at holy Cross for a best of three next weekend,
(22:49):
Canisius travels to Bentley, Air Forces at Sacred Heart, and
Army is at Niagara. I think that after this first
round we're all the up for Seeds one. You might
not see that in the second round. I think the
three upper seeds that get the ones from the bottom
six are pretty big favorites. But that Army Niagara series
(23:13):
is going to be interesting. Army got a lot better
as the season went on, and they may be the
hottest team in Atlantic hockey or one of them right now,
and that should be an interesting series in Niagara.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
I circle that one.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
I circled the Bentley series with Canisius, that that's a
team that's playing well. When they can limit the number
of goals they allow, they're a pretty tough team. But yeah,
you're right, our Army is the team. When Brian Riley
announced his retirement before the season, I was watching earlier.
Speaker 4 (23:45):
I'm saying, Okay, it's got to be a good season.
It was a struggle.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
A lot of the gates for Army and then things
just started to get right and started to get right,
and as you said, I think they are probably one
of the top hottest teams in Atlantic cockey as they
get to this quarterfinal round.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
Now this is the tough part.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
You're going on the roadroad, You're playing a team that
had a decent regular season in Niagara. But this is
that one feels like it could be right for the upset.
I look at that, maybe the Canisius series, those two
potentially as upsets.
Speaker 5 (24:20):
Yeah, you know what I I would I think Army
Niagara is the key. But I also wouldn't be surprised
to see all the high seeds advanced. We talked about
the Army being the hottest team. They holy Cross hasn't
really lost until towards the end. Here true, they they
(24:40):
were really hot until they lost. That about the game
set a record for points in consecutive gate We took
a shootout loss against something, We got a point. We
went back and looked and we were lucky. We felt
lucky to get a point out of it. The way
they were going. So I wouldn't be surprised to see
upsetter two. I wouldn't be surprised to see all four
(25:03):
top seeds advanced. But I think the key to that
one that's the series to watch. That's the coin flip
series Army Niagara.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
But looking ahead to some other playoff series coming up
this weekend, they get underway and the Big Ten, Michigan
State by being the top seed, they get a bye
week and fortunately they did play this weekend. We saw
was it with the Minnesota one year that had three
weeks off or was it Michigan. Somebody I should remember
(25:34):
that two.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
Weeks off down the stretch because they put the final
weekend then got the bye week, and it is a
little awkward, and it does make it an awkward scenario
because you do come into a semifinals situation where you
could be one and done, whereas these other teams have
been playing for a week. I had that right, that's
still a one and done semifinal scenario in the Big Ten.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Let's take a look at what's coming up this weekend.
So you have Notre Dame at Minnesota, Wisconsin at Ohio State,
and Penn State at Michigan.
Speaker 6 (26:06):
Would you like to be Michigan right now?
Speaker 1 (26:08):
No.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
If somebody was telling me, I could have picked my
opponent a month and a half ago.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
I probably I might have picked Penn State.
Speaker 6 (26:16):
Here's why.
Speaker 5 (26:17):
Maybe Yes, I think Wisconsin beer now becauserve struggling. But
Notre Dame Jeff Jackson's last games you don't want to be.
You don't want to be that team to let Juff
Jackson down.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
And he's sitting on career win five ninety nine, so
his next win is the six hundred. So if you yeah,
I think there should be some motivation in Notre Dame
try to get at least get a win out of
this series this weekend against Minnesota.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
And the other one Wisconsin at Ohio State. I'm told
that because of something going on in Value City Arena.
I think it's Ohio High School Wrestling Championships. Those games
are going to be played at the NHL Rink Nationwide Arena.
I don't think that'll hurt anything. I think it's a
(27:07):
great atmosphere. Uh maybe a chance for Wisconsin to salvage
something out of what has been a very disappointing season
for them.
Speaker 6 (27:15):
They should go back to old school and play at
their goal, the Ohio State rape. Yeah, the rate, it's
where are women the women currently play? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (27:26):
That they played the women's regional there in the NCAA tournament.
I got to see them on TV last year, and
I couldn't believe that the men actually once played in
that building.
Speaker 5 (27:36):
I played against some for four years from ac ou there.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
Our colleague Paula Weston can tell lots of stories about
covering games there back when she was also based out
of Columbus, And if I remember right, she used to
have to go through part of the men's locker room
to get to the ladder, and it was a vertical
ladder like a ship's ladder to go into the press.
Speaker 6 (28:01):
The bench, I believe you have a bench.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
You got hit by a puck one night, had to
go to the hospital and had to be taken out
through the bench, which not embarrassing enough to get hit
by a puck, but then did to have that happened.
I never got to that building and I never probably will,
but I don't think I missed much.
Speaker 6 (28:24):
One of my favorite conversations we beat ohiuse date really
early in our program, and I didn't know paul at
the time, and she was like one of the reporters
and this was up there no arena, and she said
she asked me about realignment and college hockey, and I said, hey,
me and you will get a case of beer. We
can figure this out real quick, and she'll always remember that.
Speaker 5 (28:43):
And then she started throwing exclamation points behind every time
she wrote Robert Morris.
Speaker 6 (28:49):
Miss seeing Paul at the Frozen four.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
You know it's funny. I have the same story to
tell about realignment with Frank's territory in Saint Louis in
two thousand and seven. Neither of us followed through on
it anyway. C Lake Superior is at Minnesota State, Bimigie
State at Augustana, Farris State at Saint Thomas, Michigan Tech
(29:13):
at Bowling Green. Lots of stories in there. First thing
that jumps out at me is it's coming down to
the wire. We mentioned Jeff Jackson retiring Bob Daniels after
thirty three seasons at Farris State is hanging it up?
Speaker 5 (29:25):
Texted Bob the other day. I've known Bob for a
long time. Bob recruited me at Illinois Chicago, way back
when I played against Bob. But when I was a
Western he was at Ferris, and he was at Illinois
and then at Ferris and was on the committee with
Bob and I texted him, I was really happy to
(29:46):
see the results that they have this weekend, on his
retirement weekend, and I sent him a message and literally
got one right back, which shows you the kind of
Manny is. He's a really good person and he's going
to be missed in college hockey.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
I really loved being around him and the team back
when they were in the Frozen Four, lost the championship
to Boston College. That was a great season for that team.
Well elsewhere, how about Augustana they get to host the quarterfinal.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
Yeah, I look at that as a sneaky good series.
Bmichi State listen. They fell quickly. Did not expect to
see them as the seventh seed, but they'll take on
Augustana first time in the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
Who knows what to expect.
Speaker 3 (30:34):
I could see Bamigi, though, finding a way to pull
up an upset. That's an experienced team, really good coaching staff.
It's all new for Augustana. So this is I guess
you just don't. You can't have an expectation when there's
no track record based upon.
Speaker 6 (30:53):
Yeah, once again, you don't want to be that team.
Speaker 5 (30:55):
To end Bob Daniels Farris saw with Eric Lang last
than ai s. You don't want to let your coach down,
you don't want to send him into retirement.
Speaker 6 (31:06):
So maybe a Farris State Saint Thomas.
Speaker 5 (31:08):
That's a that could be a sneaky one as well,
because Paris has been playing fairly well.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
Lately, and I have to think that there are more
than a few people around the CCHA that would like
to see Saint Thomas sent out in the quarterfinals just because.
Speaker 6 (31:24):
A good point, just because. The one thing I'll also
say is who saw this?
Speaker 5 (31:30):
And I know there was a lot of jockey going on,
and I didn't until today. I didn't really look at
the playoffs because I was dealing with my playoffs and
I didn't have a voice. So who saw Michigan Tech
having to go on the road that came out of nowhere?
To me, that was one that was really surprising. I
didn't see that. And when I looked at the show
(31:51):
notes and looked at the Standing State, that one surprised me.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
There's some surprises when you look at the ECAs. When
you see a couple of teams that have fallen into
the first round, which means out of the top four.
This coming weekend, you'll have Saint Lawrence at Dartmouth, Yale
at Cornell, RPI at Harvard, and Princeton at Brown. And
you want to talk about the end of a season
and the end of a career. Mike Schaeffer at Cornell
(32:16):
getting to host two or possibly three playoff games at
Lina And that's.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
A great series to play Cornell, to play Yale as
your final playoff series. I guess that goes to another
Your team better be playing for their coach to keep
his career going, make sure that this season ends as
far down the road as possible. I look at the Cornell, Dartmouth,
and Harvard, they're all hosting, but they're all teams that
(32:44):
I think I had some points during the season we
had higher hopes for that they would be a top
four team, that they would be getting a buy and
hosting quarterfinal games. Some surprises and just the teams themselves
that are in the quarterfinal round.
Speaker 6 (32:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (33:00):
And I think one of the things that you're still
seeing is still because it is the fourth year or
the just on the back end of it, COVID still
effected these guys. Yeah, we're still again then affected because
they didn't play the IVY leagues, didn't play three of
them getting hole mice and one having to go on
the road. But I still think that's something that's still lingering.
Speaker 6 (33:23):
I think that they'll be done after this year.
Speaker 5 (33:26):
There should be no excuses, but that still affects those
IVY Leagues team teams a little bit. The sneaky series
for me on this one is Princeton at Brown. Princeton
won last weekend big game. It's not too far of
a stretch from I could believe that they're the eight
to nine seeds. Yea eight, I see that one being
(33:46):
a little sneaky. I also I want to see how
dartmth Handle's success at home. They're the five seed, and
it's hard as a five to twelve, but we always
see it in the ECA seed always see a twelve seed.
I'm back and be a five seed. It's happened numerous
times in my career, so I would. I really want
(34:07):
to see how dartmuth anil Saint Lawrence. But the sneaky
wanted to me at Princeton Brown.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
I want to see in this one how many of
these go three. I feel like the ECAC more than
any league, and you can throw the CCHA in there
as well. But the ECAC finds a way to get
so many of these first round series into three games.
Speaker 4 (34:27):
You don't get a lot of chalk in their tournament.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
And since we're talking about the ECAC, at least one
of those has got to have a game that goes
into a third or fourth overtime.
Speaker 6 (34:36):
Right back for gun shot for gun shot.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Yeah, Ken gets a weekend by because Union made it
into the top four. That'll maybe take a little of
a relief there, but next weekend, for sure, wherever Agun's going,
wherever Union is.
Speaker 5 (34:54):
Why is he self proclaimed mister Overtime? I don't understand
why he self proclaimed.
Speaker 6 (34:58):
Him to solve that.
Speaker 3 (35:00):
I think he was covering three or five longest games
for some time there. Some of them have been beaten,
but there was good reason he did not. I don't
even know if he gave himself that title as much
as either.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
Let's take a look at a couple other things before
we wrap up. First of all, congratulations to Guy Gadowski.
He got his four hundredth win on Friday night with
the Penn State four to three overtime win over Minnesota.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
There's something about Guy Gadowski too, because here's a guy
who's coach, Who's leading a premier program in the Big Ten,
the largest conference. You look at where he started like
he has taken some really tough jobs. You go back
(35:47):
to his days in Alaska and then his days for Instant.
These were not easy programs to coach, recruit to all
of that, and then he decides to take a job
at Penn State, which maybe you thought it would be
easier to recruit, but there's still challenges that go along
with playing in some of the best competition every night.
(36:08):
He's built everything he's had in his career really well
from the ground up. So four hundred wins, that is
such an unaccomplishment. My hat's off to him.
Speaker 5 (36:19):
Yeah, congratulations, But I'll even taking one step further back.
He coached three years in the old WCHL for the
Fresnel Falcons before then going to Fairbanks. He went sixty
eight and eighty nine and twenty two at Fairbanks. Then
he took a little bit. It was just over five
hundred at Princeton one, five, one oh nine and fifteen
(36:41):
and here at Penn State.
Speaker 6 (36:43):
I think, what is he now? If I look at it,
he played one year or the he doesn't count, but
you've got thirteen wins a career at Penn State. He's
at two oh seven or two.
Speaker 5 (36:55):
I guess it's a little bit more than that now,
but he's over five hundred at Penn State, and he
took her a long road. But he's not He's only
fifty seven years old, so it's not like he's or
fifty seven or fifty eight. It's not like he's one
of those guys that is in his sixties. But to
have the longevity he's had and coach three years in
(37:15):
minor league cocky to start his career. Where do you
see a minor league coach start his career? Then go
to Alaska?
Speaker 6 (37:22):
Those are two weird that's a weird move from there,
and then go to Princeton. That's another.
Speaker 5 (37:29):
He went from middle of the road to low end
academics to high end academics just like that, and then
obviously now at Penn State.
Speaker 6 (37:37):
Congratulations.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
We also want to pass along well wishes to New
Hampshire goaltender Jared Whale, who was stretchered off on Friday
night at BC. Jim, you've got some details on that.
Speaker 4 (37:50):
Yeah, I was on the call. That one was a
scary situation. To watch.
Speaker 3 (37:54):
Just had an awkward collision with his fell back all
over him and in snapped his neck back and I
believe I've been told that he might have lost consciousness
on the ice, but he was stretchered off. The good
news he did not even spend the night overnight in
the hospital. He was back on campus hours later. I'm
(38:18):
talking to Mike Scuso over text message. He is obviously
it's not a situation where he was ready to go
the next night, but he'll be a day to day situation,
I believe.
Speaker 6 (38:30):
I'll tell you.
Speaker 4 (38:32):
His predecessor. I'm sorry, just ended that out.
Speaker 3 (38:36):
His replacement in net Rico Dimatio did a great job
against Boston College the next night. I believe it was
thirty one saves he made against the number one team
in the country, earning out one to one tie. But
get well to Jared Hyal. It was a scary site
on Friday night. You don't see that oft in college hockey,
and that's a good thing.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
Well that we're going to wrap up this episode, which
has been sponsored by the NCAA Men's Division One Frozen
four April tenth and twelfth. Then Saint Louis, get your
tickets now at NCAA dot com. Slash frozen for Jim Connolly,
for Derek Schooley. I'm Ed Trefsker and this has been
us e h O Weekend Review
Popular Podcasts
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com