Michigan 2, North Dakota 0

Sometimes that happens. It's a product of the tournament, it's a product of the sport, it's a product of the fact that you are capable of spectacular things every once in a while. Shawn Hunwick flat out robbed North Dakota on any number of high quality chances, and even giving up 40 shots the defense didn't hang him out to dry. Ben Winnett had 3 goals coming, 4 coming out, and that was all that was necessary tonight. Michigan held a team that was averaging 5.88 goals per game in the last month to ZERO goals in this game, including something like five power play opportunities. It was by far their best performance of the year on the biggest stage against the baddest opponent. We hope they kept something in the tank for Saturday against Duluth, but tonight we can revel in our victory over a despised foe. As Craig said on Twitter, "My Michigan brethren, I want to hug all of you." Go Blue.

Frozen Four: Michigan vs. North Dakota

If you've looked around here recently, or anywhere related to college hockey, you know the basics: North Dakota is dominating, balanced, Goliath. They're near the top of every statistical category and don't have any glaring weaknesses. What Michigan has going for it: It's one-and-done hockey, and you never know when someone's going to have an off night. (Hello there, BC!)

I don't have any idea what's going to happen. Michigan's not a favorite, obviously, but not a prohibitive underdog. They don't have the same glaring weaknesses as the last couple of times they've faced NoDak, but they aren't really better than them at anything.

If the game goes like it should on paper, North Dakota wins 5-3 with an ENG. But a 3-2 Michigan win isn't an insane prediction either.

Northeast #2: North Dakota

University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux

2 seed vs. Yale, Northeast Regional (DCU Centre, Worcester, MA)
WCHA Tournament Champions
Record: 25-12-5
Coach: Dave Hakstol

On February 12, North Dakota had just lost to St. Cloud State to drop to a record of 13-11-5. It wasn't an unfamiliar spot for the Sioux, who've had to make furious stretch runs in past seasons, like in 2009, 2008, 2007, or 2005. But the 2010 team outdid those, winning 12 of their last 13 games (including the WCHA Final Five championship) to go on an absolute tear and grab a two seed.

The Sioux are led in points by senior Chris VandeVelde with a 16-25--41 line, exactly 1 point per game, and sophomore Jason Gregoire (20-17--37) leads the team in goals. Junior Evan Trupp (8-26--34) is the assists leader. He'd been held without a goal for 20 games until the Thursday night play-in game at the Final Five, when he lit the lamp against Minnesota-Duluth. He followed that performance with a pair of goals against Denver in the semifinal game. Trupp was named MVP of the tournament.

North Dakota has had a bad run of luck with post-concussion syndrome the last two years. Last season, senior defenseman Joe Finley missed two months with lingering symptoms following the GLI. This year, senior defenseman Chay Genoway has been missing time since November when he went down in a game against St. Cloud State.

Sioux No More (Maybe)

Fox News, via Deadspin. This is sort of news, so being that it's May, up it goes. If NoDak can't reach an agreement with the Spirit Lake and Standing Rock tribes by October 1, it will definitely drop the logo and mascot on August 1, 2010. CHN is also reporting that this would mean removing all of those logos from the Ralph as well. Personally, I'm not as sure, since the building belongs to the Ralph Engelstadt Trust and not the university (at least for another 20+ years), but we'll see how this develops

Northeast #2: North Dakota

University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux

2 seed vs. New Hampshire, Northeast Regional (Manchester, NH)
WCHA Regular Season Champions
Record: 24-14-4
Coach: Dave Hakstol (130-70-19)

Scoring Summary:
GFA	GAA	Diff.
3.36	2.67	+0.69

Leading Scorers:
#	Player	G-A--Pts
16	Ryan Duncan	19-19--38
14	Brad Miller	6-29--35
29	Chris VandeVelde	16-17--33

Leading Scorers
#	Player	Sv %	GAA	W-L-T
31	Brad Eidsness	0.909	2.44	24-9-4

Stats via CollegeHockeyNews.com

One of the WCHA's traditional powers, the Fighting Sioux built off last season's Frozen Four appearance by winning MacNaughton Cup, awarded to the WCHA's regular season title for the first time since 2003-04.  This was a dramatic change from the three game losing skid to open the season, which included a 5-1 drubbing by Boston University in the season opener.  Standing 5-8-1 at the end of November, the Sioux put together a nice four game run in early December, only to bottom out with a fourth place finish at the Great Lakes Invitational in Detroit, losing to Michigan State and Michigan Tech.  This down point was combined with the loss of senior defenseman Joe Finley, who had missed two months due to the lingering effects of a concussion.

But, in classic North Dakota fashion, the Sioux have rallied in the second half of the season to put themselves right in the mix of the NCAA playoff picture.  In the 19 games since 2009 began, the Sioux have won 14, against two losses (to Saint Cloud and Wisconsin) and three ties.  The Sioux's defense is not their hallmark, but they also clearly score enough goals to make you pay for any lapses they may have on the blue line.  The return of Finley, a first round NHL pick, has galvanized the leadership positions of the team while providing stability on defense.  North Dakota's WCHA playoff run in Minneapolis, however, hit the stellar goaltending of Minnesota-Duluth's Alex Stalock, sending the Sioux to the consolation game.

Quick Hits:

• Close, but no cigar. In Dave Hakstol's four seasons as a player for the Fighting Sioux (1988-1992), he made the NCAA tournament just once.  In his first four seasons as the bench boss for his alma mater, the Fighting Sioux have made the Frozen Four each season, but have not won the title, a drought that extends back to 2000.

• All in the Family. College hockey is no stranger to family legacies, and North Dakota's team this year is no exception.  It features, among others, David Toews, the younger brother of Chicago Blackhawks' rising star (and former UND player) Jonathan Toews as well as Brett Hextall, the son of Ron Hextall, and great nephew of Dennis Hextall, who played at North Dakota in the 1960s. Unlike his dad and great uncle, Brett plays forward.  Finally, freshman forward Mario Lamoureux is the younger brother of Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, the Sioux netminder from 2004-08, and the son of Pierre Lamoureux, NoDak's netminder from 1979 to 1982.  Lamoureux's sisters Monique and Jocelyn are freshman forwards at Minnesota.

NCAA Hockey Previews: West 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. All the regional previews are compiled in a handy PDF here (205K).

West Regional – Pepsi Center, Denver, CO

University of Minnesota Golden Gophers We Call It an Herb Because There's an H in It. Herb Brooks, coach of the "Miracle on Ice" team won the Gophers their first 3 NCAA titles in the '70's. A former Gopher player himself and two-time Olympian, Brooks was killed in a car accident in 2004. In State. In a not uncommon situation for Minnesota hockey, every player but one on this year's Gopher squad hails from that state. In fact, over 1/3 of the entire WCHA's roster comes out of Minnesota.

University of Michigan Wolverines Someday We'll Find It, the HSR Connection. Current Michigan captain Matt Hunwick's uncle was my 8th grade history teacher, former defenseman Eric Werner was the brother of one of my high school classmates, and former backup netminder Kevin O'Malley was my eye doctor's son. Current defenseman Mark Mitera was a student of Craig's in high school. In 2007, There'd Be More "Regina" Puns. Coach Red Berenson grew up near the provincial capital on the Saskatchewan prairie. His Regina Pats juniors coach took the head coaching job at Denver and recruited him, but Berenson didn't think DU's academics were strong enough. Another Saskatchewan native already at Michigan convinced coach Al Renfrew that Berenson was worth getting, resulting in Red getting his first plane ride and the first free recruiting trip ever offered by Michigan hockey. Getting Berenson helped Michigan pull in 14 other Saskatchewan-born players from 1958 to 1964.

University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux Ralph Engelstad Loved Nazis (Or at Least Their Memorabilia). The namesake of UND's arena was fined $1.5M by the Nevada Gaming Control Board for throwing birthday parties for Adolf Hitler in 1986 and 1988, including bartenders with "Adolf Hitler – European Tour – 1939-1945" t-shirts. His Nazi memorabilia collection featured a painting of himself in Nazi uniform, captioned "to Adolf from Ralphie". Ralph Engelstad Loved His "Hostile or Abusive" Mascot. Engelstad got his name on the building because it was his money that built the $104M arena. Construction was suspended for two months when Engelstad found out that the university was considering changing its mascot and logo. In the end, he extracted a promise from the state Board of Education that the school couldn't change its mascot and integrated over 2,000 Sioux heads into the arena's design. With the NCAA's ban on "hostile or abusive" mascots, North Dakota is likely to face sanctions, as two of the three Sioux nations actively oppose the "Fighting Sioux" mascot. If appeals are exhausted, North Dakota would be ineligible for postseason play until it changes mascots, and "The Ralph" wouldn't be able to host NCAA events unless all (2,000!) Sioux logos were covered up.

United States Air Force Academy Falcons Stretching the Definition. The Air Force Academy's Falcons used to compete in College Hockey America before departing this season for the now-nominal Atlantic Hockey, so as to be in the same conference as Army. We hear they get a discount on airfare. Navy stands opposed to frozen water on principle and does not field a varsity squad. Well, I Suppose It Worked Out Then. Army and Air Force met in Atlantic Hockey's league final, the first time two service academies had ever met in any championship game. After a scoreless first period, Air Force rolled to a 6-1 victory. In securing the conference's automatic bid, they also became the first service academy to advance to the NCAA hockey tournament.