2009 NCAA Hockey Tournament

True hockey fans can break away from all this basketball madness and now concentrate on their "real" brackets....the NCAA D1 Hockey Tournament...The men's division 1 ice hockey tournament begins play this weekend...

Its set up the same way as the men's basketball tournament but instead of 64 teams there is only 16...There are four number 1 seeds as well as four designated regions with the four winners from each moving on to the "Frozen Four" in Washington D.C....Also, teams that win their conference get an automatic bid but if you finish within the top 10 to 12 and do not win your conference, a team can get an at large bid....However, there will be new champions this year as defending tournament champions Boston College is out...Here are my picks...

East Regional - Bridgeport, Conn. Fri.-Sat.

No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 4 Air Force - Air Force was in the same spot last year being a no.4 seed but only facing Miami(OH) and losing to them in OT...Air Force goalie Andrew Volkening and Forward Jacques Lamoureux are bright spots for this team but Michigan's offense and defense are just too strong... Michigan 5-1

No. 2 Yale vs. No. 3 Vermont - Probably the most exciting game for this region....Yale had a great year in winning the ECAC and is fast in attacking the net...Vermont is strong with Viktor Stalberg and overall a good year in the Hockey East....look for Vermont to move on just because they been here before and I think this might be a little too much for Yale...Vermont 4-2

East Regional Winner- Michigan...Look for Michigan to be punching their ticket to the Frozen Four...Michigan was ranked 3rd in the country for a reason and Vermont will not be able to keep up with a freshman goalie in net...Michigan 5-3

West Regional - Minneapolis Fri.-Sat.

No. 1 Denver vs. No. 4 Miami- Denver lost a tough one to the University of Minnesota-Duluth in the WCHA Finals last weekend but is still capable of going far with sophomore goalie Marc Cheverie and fast forwards who can score...Miami didn't have a dominating year this year in the CCHA like lasr year when they were a no.1...They switched goalies all year have been inconsistent through out their postseason...Denver 3-1

No. 2 Minnesota Duluth vs. No. 3 Princeton - UMD is coming off a cinderalla season going 10-11-7 in the WCHA yet pulling out the WCHA Championship...Junior goalie Alex Stalock has been a work horse for the Bulldogs and MacGreggor Sharp and Justin Fontaine lead their offense...Princeton had another great year with Goalie Zane Kelemba taking home Player of the Year for the ECAC...Princeton has been here before but UMD plays in the best league and is hot right now...UMD 4-3 OT

West Regional Winner - Denver... Sorry UMD but Denver has your number this time...Denver is a fast team who can score and stop pucks...UMD might be over matched because they havent been in the NCAAs since '04...Denver 4-2

Midwest Regional Grand Rapids, Mich. Sat.-Sun.

No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 4 Bemidji State - No contest...sorry Bemidji fans...Norte Dame will move on with ease...Bemidji might get A goal and that should be good enough for you guys...Norte Dame 7-0 (1)

No. 2 Northeastern vs. No. 3 Cornell - This should be another great game to watch...Both these teams finished 2nd respectively in their conferences....Northeastern has Hockey East Player of the Year in goalie Brad Thiessen while Cornell has sophomore forward Riley Nash...I like Northeasterns aggressive play and Thiessen...Northeastern 3-2 or 4-3

Midwest Regional Winner - Northeastern...Thiessen is the Player of the Year for a reason and will be pulling out all the stops....Northeastern is very aggressive and comes right at you...good game nonetheless...Norte Dame had a run last year but not this time...Northeastern 4-2 (EN)

Northeast Regional Manchester, N.H. Sat.-Sun. (BEST REGION)

No. 1 Boston University vs. No. 4 Ohio State - BU is coming off a phenomenal year as they finished 2nd in the country and Hockey East Champions...they had a year that all BU fans always want to see beacuase of their dominance...Ohio State is another team that turned it around in '08-'09 though and put themselves back on the map...BU has Colin Wilson and Kevin Shattenkirk...enough said...BU is too much for OSU...BU 5-2

No. 2 North Dakota vs. No. 3 New Hampshire - What a match up...college hockey fans couldn't be more excited to see these two teams go at it....this is something that a National Championship game would look like given these two teams names and histories...I like UND...i no i have been going with most 1's and 2's but UNH seems to choke in the first round a lot...especially at home too (anyone remember '07)...UND came on like gang busters in the second half and think their offense is just a tad above UNH...UND 5-4

Northeast Regional Winner - North Dakota...they just seem to have a knack at winning in these tournaments and think will be able to give BU a run for their money...UND will have that pump off a strong win from UNH and BU may hurt from playing OSU...another great game but UND will walk out...UND 3-2

So there you have it... my Frozen Four is Michigan, Northeastern, Denver and North Dakota...

Check back for my Frozen Four predictions to see if I was right....

The Nuch