NCAA Hockey Previews: Northeast Regional

We started posting these by regional yesterday, so today's are the last two. All the regional previews are compiled in a handy PDF here (205K).

Northeast Regional – Verizon Wireless Arena, Manchester, NH

University of New Hampshire Wildcats Who Are We? The Wildcats! Unlike certain other sports, New Hampshire is the lone team in this year's tournament calling themselves the Wildcats and only one of two in all of Division I hockey. The most popular mascot? Four teams (Michigan Tech, Northeastern, St. Cloud State, and UConn) call themselves the Huskies. Get The Picture. Famous UNH alumni include novelist John Irving, actor Blanchard Ryan (of Open Water fame) and Craig's favorite, actor Mike O'Malley of Yes, Dear and an eponymous sitcom which was cancelled after two episodes.

Miami University RedHawks They're a Bit Pedantic About That. Miami University is a bit touchy about that other Miami, as they've been around since 1809 and feel they've earned it. The first line of their Wikipedia page states that it is often "colloquially and incorrectly" referred to as "Miami of Ohio", so that about sums it up. Harrison Wouldn't Wear A Helmet Either. Miami is one of only four schools to produce both a president and a Super Bowl-winning quarterback (the others being Michigan, Stanford, and the Naval Academy). Their alumnus Benjamin Harrison (not the Harrison that died after 30 days in office) is one of the mostly forgotten presidents of the late 19th century. Ben Roethlisberger left Miami after his junior season to declare for the NFL draft.

Boston College Eagles The 700 Club. Coach Jerry York is the leader among all active coaches, besting cross-town rival Jack Parker of BU. However, many of his 749 wins at the start of this season came not with BC, but with Bowling Green and Clarkson, so Parker is the leader by a longshot for wins at a single school. NBC. Both SNL's Nancy Walls and Amy Poehler are alumnae of Boston College. Walls, who's married to Steve Carrell, has also been featured on the Daily Show and as Michael Scott's girlfriend/real estate agent on The Office. Poehler (married to Will Arnett) has been part of the Upright Citizens Brigade and did some excellent work as an RA on Undeclared ("We don't have judgment, we just...have pizza").

St. Lawrence Saints Viggo the Carpathian. Or rather, the Cantonese. Nestled way upstate in Canton, NY, St. Lawrence counts among its alumni actor/poet/musician/Aragorn Viggo Mortensen. Apparently the university has a talent for producing stars of epic movies, as Kirk Douglas attended class somewhat earlier in the century. Hockey's Cradle of Coaches? As a player, Ron Mason took St. Lawrence all the way to the finals of the NCAA tournament back in 1961, where they lost to Denver by a painful 12-2. Mike Keenan is another Saints product, and we hear he's still looking for work somewhere. In the early '80's a certain Mike McShane guided the Saints, but we're pretty sure he's not the guy from Whose Line...