Just checking in..

It's been a long week, but I'm planning on having a very, very extensive post up at the end of the week.

Stay tuned.

No. 1 Overall Seed

photo from MGoBlue.com

I was on an airplane when it ended, but the Wolverines rode a stellar performance by goalie Billy Sauer to defeat Miami 2-1 in the CCHA Tournament Championship game last night at Joe Louis Arena.  The highlights of both UM games at Joe Louis Arena can be seen in the multimedia section at www.mgoblue.com, which can be accessed here.

Aaron Palushaj scored midway through the second period, putting Michigan up 1-0 after two periods, even though Miami was outshooting the Wolverines 21-12 at that point.  Halfway through the final period, Tim Miller made a beautiful move on a face-off in the Miami end, pushing the puck between Miami center Nate Davis' legs, then getting around him to send the puck to Brandon Naurato, who put the puck into the open net.

Miami made it 2-1 with 40 seconds left with the goalie pulled and Michigan shorthanded, but Michigan's defense prevented any further shots, and that's where it ended.

The win gave the Wolverines their first CCHA tournament title since 2004-2005, when they also completed the regular season/tournament double dip.

NCAA Pairings Released

This morning, the NCAA released the NCAA tournament pairings.  Michigan was given the no. 1 overall seed as a result both of its CCHA championship and the fact that all of the other contenders for top seeds struggled over the last week.  North Dakota and Colorado College both lost in the WCHA semis, and New Hampshire lost in the Hockey East semis.

Michigan is the no. 1 seed in the Albany, NY regional, where they will face Niagara, champion of the CHA.  Also in the regional are St. Cloud St., out of the WCHA, and Clarkson, which won the ECAC regular season, but which could not make it out of its conference tournament quarterfinals.  It's about as good a draw as Michigan could have hoped for.

The other no. 1 seeds are New Hampshire, which must play in the West Regional hosted by no. 2 seed Colorado College, North Dakota, which plays in the Midwest Regional hosted by no. 3 seed Wisconsin, and Miami, which plays in the Northeast Regional at Holy Cross in Worcester, just an hour's drive from Boston (so you know it will be a pro-BC crowd there).

The fundamental problem for setting up this tournament is that Michigan and Miami, the top two overall seeds, had no regional sites anywhere near them, and Colorado College and Wisconsin were both hosting regionals on their home ice but by seasons' end, not worthy of no. 1 seeds (and considering Wisconsin's losing record, one wonders how they got a no. 3 seed).  All in all, there doesn't look to be a whole lot to complain about.

The WCHA has six teams in the tournament (North Dakota, St. Cloud, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Colorado College, and Denver), and the CCHA four, including the top two overall seeds (Michigan, Miami, MSU, and Notre Dame, which squeaked into the tournament as the last at-large team).  The ECAC had two (Clarkson and tournament champ Princeton), as did Hockey East (Boston College and New Hampshire).  The CHA (Niagara) and the AHA (Air Force), as usual, placed only their conference champions in the tournament, and received the bottom two seeds. 

But don't feel too smug about that first game, Michigan fans.  Just a couple years ago, top seed Minnesota suffered one of the great upset losses of all time with an opening-round loss to AHA champ Holy Cross.  As they say all the time in the basketball tournament coverage, in a one-and-done scenario, anything can happen.

Michigan opens play on Friday, March 28, at 7:30.  The second round game will be Saturday at 7:00.  Both games will be televised on ESPNU.

Happy Easter, and Go Blue!

Michigan Wolverines: 2008 CCHA Champions

Congratulations, boys.

I'm sure there'll be a more in-depth post later.

Great season so far, lets keep it going!

On to the Finals!

I had hoped to have a preview of tonight's game against Northern up earlier in the week. Unfortunately, my fancy-schmancy hotel here in Biloxi was charging $12.99 a day for Internet access. Now that part of our group has left, the rest of us have decamped to a Holiday Inn that offers free Internet access.

I've been in Biloxi all week, and we took a day trip to New Orleans today. While the spirit of the folks down here is amazing, the damage down here - 30 months after Katrina - is simply indescribable. And they think that we're nuts up north to put up with all the snow.

Anyway, some thoughts on what I've been able to gather on tonight's action around the country.

• Tonight was the last time where Michigan will be able to get away with that sort of defensive zone play. One bad defensive zone turnover will get you killed; Michigan committed a bunch today.
• Kudos to Chad Kolarik, Scooter Vaughan, and Matt Rust for coming back so quickly from injuries.
• Notre Dame allowed Miami to tie Game 1 with 3.4 seconds left and then win it in overtime, which may well cost ND a shot at the NCAA tournament.
• North Dakota lost to Denver and Colorado College lost to Minnesota in the WCHA Final Five.
• Boston College knocked off New Hampshire in one of the Hockey East semis.

Only in the CCHA have the seedings held - and it took that last-second goal by Miami, and Michigan's third-period flurry to make that happen. Through two periods tonight, Michigan was outshooting Northern 30-8, but losing 3-2. For all of the things to be concerned about, you have to credit the Wolverines for the grit of guys like Kolarik, Vaughan, and Rust, and you have to credit them for staying on their game and not losing focus. this was the sort of game that Michigan usually loses.

Face-off against Miami is at 7:35 Eastern tonight (FSN Detroit). Tickets are available from Ticketmaster. Go cheer the guys on to victory!

Michigan beats Northern, will face Miami in Championship

What a game.

Hopefully Dan is back in time for a full recap and preview.

If that last goal had stopped short I might have died.

Congratulations, boys. Best of luck in the Championship.

Maize and Blue - Bits and Pieces: 3/21/08

Wow, it's been quite a while since we've done one of these. Not too much is going on right now, however, so it's time for another installment of Bits and Pieces.

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This recruiting season is all but over, and virtually zero players of note are still undeclared after that one guy (his name escapes me at the moment) said he was going to a school that wasn't us a few days ago.

So it's time to take a break from recruiting until next February. Unless you're Brian Cook. In which case you probably want to draw up a 2009 Recruiting Board, position-by-position.

That man is amazing. Go check it out right now. I can't even do anything at all to better clarify our needs, wants, hopes, or possible commits than what he's already done.

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Michigan Hockey is awesome. Not only are they the top ranked team in the nation, but their entire roster -- old and new, player and coach -- is filled with awesomeness. Case in point:

Head Coach Red Berensen, CCHA Coach of the Year.

Senior Forward Kevin Porter, CCHA Player of the Year.

Freshman Forward Max Pacioretty, CCHA Rookie of the Year.

Not much missing from that list. Best coach, best new player, best old player. A National Championship to cap it all off wouldn't hurt, though.

Catch Michigan's CCHA Semifinals game against Northern Michigan tonight, live from the Joe Louis Arena, at 8pm on FSN Detroit.

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This is a very pointless article, as shown by the headline, but there's one sentence at the end that has me a bit intrigued:

The Lions are still short in one critical area in their plan to have a stronger running game. They do not have a short-yardage back.

I've heard from 'experts' such as Todd McShay say that a solid third round pick for Detroit would be none other than Mike Hart. This would be neat.

He wasn't a "short-yardage back" at Michigan, but the way he fights for those extra yards and won't go down would make him a great fit on the roster. We'll see at the end of April when everything shakes down.

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Time to get back to the tournament. My bracket took a beating today.

Western Kentucky? Really?

Terrelle Pryor shocks world, will attend Ohio State

Terrelle Pryor announces his allegiance. Mom looks terrified, dad looks devious, brother looks silly. (Photo Courtesy: AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Uhh.. yeah. He's a Buckeye. Just like he was on signing day.

I'm not going to bash the kid. And I'm really sick today. So cut me a break if this isn't the most informative post.

He's a good player. Might need an attitude adjustment, which he may or may not receive in Columbus.

Only time will tell. I, for one, am looking forward to his first game starting at the Big House.

More in-depth post in the next day or two. I'm going to go vomit.

UPDATE: Video