Northeast #1: Boston University

Boston University Terriers

1 seed vs. Ohio State, Northeast Regional (Manchester, NH)
5:30 EDT, Saturday, March 28, ESPN2
Hockey East Regular Season Champions
Hockey East Tournament Champions
Record: 31-6-4
Coach: Jack Parker (811-413-101)

Scoring Summary:
GFA	GAA	Diff.
3.85	1.95	+1.90

Leading Scorers:
#	Player	G-A--Pts
33	Colin Wilson	15-35--50
13	Nick Bonino	16-28--44
10	Chris Higgins	12-28--40

Goaltending:
#	Player	Sv %	GAA	W-L-T
31	Kieran Millan	.923	1.84	25-2-3
35	Grant Rollheiser	.897	2.13	6-4-1

Stats via CollegeHockeyNews.com

The 2008-2009 BU Terriers were dominant right out of the gate, winning 6 of their first 7, absolutely steamrolling North Dakota (5-1) and Michigan (7-2). They lost back-to-back games just once this year, being swept at home by Vermont back in November. That weekend represents 1/3 of their total losses this season. In a conference with three of the top teams in the nation this year, the Terriers won the Hockey East regular season title by a single point over Northeastern. BU owns the top overall spot in the Pairwise and is a heavy leader in KRACH as well.

The Terriers have been an offensive juggernaut this year. This season, they've registered 158 goals, good for the national lead. Sophomore Colin Wilson is generally regarded as the favorite for the Hobey this year, leading the team in points, though senior Jason Lawrence has a sizeable lead in goals. They've also been solid in their own zone, #3 in scoring defense, which makes them the #1 team in the country in terms of scoring margin. Kieran Millan, a freshman, has been the clear #1 goalie this year and has a sterling record. In the regular season, he only lost a single game. One. Game. The #2 is Grant Rollheiser, another freshman. Rollheiser gave up the other four regular season losses, and it isn't a Billy Sauer hard-luck case. He gave up 4 in 3 of those on average shot totals.

Quick Hits:

• O Canada. This year's Terriers carry five Canadians on their roster. Coincidentally, both freshman goaltenders are from western Canada. Kieran Millan is from Edmonton, while Grant Rollheiser is from Chilliwack, BC. Hobey favorite Colin Wilson's hometown is Winnipeg, but he played on the USNTDP Under-18 team, so I'm sure they shun him as a turncoat. I suspect he was actually a spy.

• 800. No, that's not how many years Jack Parker has been at BU. Just how many wins he has. He recorded his 800th career win this season with a 3-1 win at Merrimack on January 30th. Parker is actually in his 36th season behind the Terriers' bench and has been there long enough to have reached triple digits in ties. He is the NCAA all-time leader for victories at a single school in hockey.

NCAA Hockey Previews: Midwest Regional

Seriously, we're really excited about the NCAA hockey tournament. Deadspin did a preview of all 64 teams in the basketball edition, so in that tradition I offer you these incredibly uninformative previews of the teams in the hockey tournament. We'll be posting them by regional today and tomorrow.

Midwest Regional – Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, MI

Notre Dame Fighting Irish You've Come A Long Way, Baby. This year, Notre Dame won its first CCHA championship. The Irish first joined the league in 1981, when they jumped ship from the WCHA with Michigan, Michigan State, and Michigan Tech (Tech would later jump back to the WCHA). After the 1982-83 season, ND left the league, dropping hockey altogether. It was re-established as a non-scholarship varsity sport the next season and the team operated as an independent, for a while forming an ad-hoc league with Alaska-Anchorage, Alaska-Fairbanks, and American International. Notre Dame returned to the CCHA fold in 1992, agreeing to make hockey a scholarship sport once more and secretly paying the conference entrance fee (Thanks to Mike B. for the correction). Say Ya To Da UP, Eh. Notre Dame's coach is Jeff Jackson, who won a pair of NCAA titles at Lake Superior State University up in Sault Ste. Marie, MI. Rejected school mottos there include "Your Gateway to Northern Ontario" and "The High School After High School".

Michigan State Spartans This Is How You Know You've Been Around Awhile. The CCHA's championship tournament trophy was renamed in 2001 after current MSU athletic director Ron Mason while he was still the hockey team's head coach. Mason hoisted his namesake cup in its first year of existence, but couldn't repeat in his final year behind the bench, losing in the 2002 finals to Michigan. Mason's 924 victories are still the all-time mark among all collegiate coaches. Say Ya To Da UP, Pt. II. MSU's current head coach, Rick Comley, also made his bones in the UP. In 1991, his Northern Michigan University Wildcats won an NCAA hockey championship of their own by outlasting Boston University in a wild 8-7 triple-overtime game.

Boston University Terriers Al Michaels's Finest Hour. The only East Coast players on the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team (of "Miracle on Ice" fame) came from BU, including goalie Jim Craig and left wing Mike Eruzione, whose 20-foot slapshot with ten seconds minutes left in regulation gave the US their 3-2 win over the Soviets in the semifinal. Old Man Parker. Head coach Jack Parker is in his 34th season behind the bench for BU. He started the year with 724 victories to his name, all with the Terriers, the most victories a coach in D-I has recorded at a single school.

University of Alabama in Huntsville Chargers Hoc-key? UAH is the southernmost hockey program in NCAA Division I and the only one in the former Confederacy. It will formally host the 2012 Frozen Four, though the tournament will take place in Tampa, FL. The Peenemünde of the South. Legend has it that UAH's program only exists because of Wernher Von Braun. The ex-Nazi rocket scientist was sent to Huntsville to work on American missiles, and its rink is named in his honor. In 1975, UAH fielded its first club hockey team, known as "Von Braun's Bullies". The program eventually graduated to varsity status, playing in Division II (where they won two national titles) and now Division I.