March 22, 2007
NCAA Tournament
Northeast Regional Preview | Manchester, N.H.

NCAA NORTHEAST REGIONAL PREVIEW

Jacob Micflikier and UNH are the top seed in the Northeast Region, but Boston College is playing the best hockey right now.

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NCAA NORTHEAST REGIONAL Verizon Wireless Arena Saturday, March 24 1 p.m. ET: No. 1 New Hampshire vs. No. 4 Miami 4:30 p.m. ET: No. 2 Boston College vs. No. 3 St. Lawrence Sunday, March 25 3:30 p.m. ET: Regional Final

By Jeff Howe

HOT TOPIC

As first reported here at Inside College Hockey, Boston College has run off 10 consecutive wins, and the Eagles are playing their best hockey of the season. They’re scoring 4.7 goals per game over that stretch while holding their opposition to 1.8. Forget the fact that BC is the second seed, this is the team to beat in Manchester this weekend.

The Eagles can’t do anything wrong. Common sense would suggest a team struggling to play consistent defense all season would suffer a blow when Anthony Aiello and Carl Sneep have to sit out with their respective injuries. But, Brian Boyle moved back to help out the blue line, and the team hasn’t just kept it going, it’s actually gotten better.

Boyle made the Hockey East All-Tournament Team as a defenseman a year after he made it as a forward. He held his own on the blue line and contributed two goals and six assists over the tourney’s four games. Oh, and freshman center Ben Smith has stepped in nicely on the first line for Boyle, picking up two goals and three assists over the four games.

BACK STORY

The underdogs always seem to be the back story before the first round starts (maybe not to the extent of Air Force in the West Regional), but has anyone heard from St. Lawrence? While all the talk is about Boston College – with a whisper coming from the New Hampshire corner – St. Lawrence can play the “It’s us against the world” card as well as anyone. The Saints would like to remind the college hockey world that they won the ECAC Hockey League regular-season title for a reason.

Miami is another huge underdog, but the RedHawks are playing a UNH team that isn’t at the level it was on two months ago. Miami is a grind-it-out team that is comfortable playing in close games, and if it winds up in a tight contest Saturday afternoon, Nathan Davis is a guy who is capable of making the big play to take it over.

ON A ROLL

Pick your poison among BC's forwards. The Eagles' sophomore trio of Nathan Gerbe, Benn Ferriero and Brock Bradford has combined for 125 points this season. Gerbe (23-18—41) gets the headlines for being the best playmaker. Bradford (18-22—40) was the Hockey East tournament MVP. And, Ferriero (22-22—44) has scored the most points. Then, there’s Joe Rooney and his 39 points. Add Boyle and his ability to start the break on the blue line, and this has become the most dynamic offense in the nation lately.

MR. CLUTCH

St. Lawrence freshman Mike McKenzie has 12 goals this season, but seven of those are of the game-winning variety (second in the nation behind Bryan Lerg’s eight). Nathan Gerbe is right behind him with six. So, if you’re looking for that big goal late in the game, McKenzie and Gerbe could turn the trick.

On the other end is Cory Schneider, the goaltender BC rode to the national title game last season. He stopped all 61 shots he saw in Worcester last year to become the first goalie to ever post back-to-back shutouts in an NCAA Regional. Schneider made 36 saves in a solid effort in the national semifinal against North Dakota – minus a late third-period hiccup after the Eagles built a 6-3 lead – and then knocked aside 37 more shots in the 2-1 championship loss to Wisconsin.

SOMETHING TO PROVE

Not so long ago, UNH was the No. 1 team in the country. Now, the Wildcats appear to be just another team in BC's path to St. Louis. New Hampshire needs to play with a chip on its shoulder this weekend in Manchester – first against Miami, and then in the second round providing it gets that far.

The Wildcats need to remind everyone why they raced out to a huge Hockey East lead and then skated towards the regular-season conference crown. Most importantly in that regard, the top two lines need to get moving again. Though Brett Hemingway missed last weekend’s action at the Garden, the first two lines combined for a goal and two assists (all on the same play) in two games. Without trying to sound like John Madden, UNH really needs to get back to outscoring its opponents.

ONE TO WATCH

St. Lawrence senior Drew Bagnall is the only defenseman among Hobey Baker finalists. The ECAC Hockey League Best Defensive Defenseman was also the conference’s Player of the Year. He scored six goals to go along with 19 assists. Bagnall can fly around the ice, lay the wood and start an odd-man rush – everything you can ask out of a blueliner.

SUNDAY STORYLINE

Just like last season’s Northeast Regional, this year’s version could see a finale featuring a rematch of the Hockey East championship. Boston College got its revenge (a season’s worth, actually) on Boston University in Worcester, and UNH would like to do the same to BC this time around.

Boston College has knocked off New Hampshire three times this month and done so rather easily by taking leads of 2-0, 2-0 and 4-0 in those contests. While the Wildcats should have the crowd on their side, the Verizon Wireless Arena simply just doesn’t get as loud as the Whittemore Center, so the proximity factor shouldn’t carry that much weight.