March 26, 2008
NCAA Tournament
East Regional Preview | Albany, N.Y.

NCAA EAST REGIONAL PREVIEW

Niagara's Ted Cook won't be the most well-known player at this weekend's East Regional in Albany, but he's scored 12 of his 19 goals on the power play and could be a factor if Michigan gets into penalty trouble.

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NCAA EAST REGIONAL Times Union Center Friday, March 28 4 p.m. ET: No. 2 St. Cloud State vs. No. 3 Clarkson 7:30 p.m. ET: No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 4 Niagara Saturday, March 29 7 p.m. ET: Regional Final

By Joe Gladziszewski

HOT TOPIC

Michigan entered this season surrounded by question marks. Among those were a freshman-laden roster, inconsistent goaltending, and very few upperclassmen to lead the way. Throw in a front-loaded schedule with tough tests outside of the CCHA and it's easy to realize why there were so many naysayers.

To Michigan's credit, all of those questions were answered and even became the strengths of the team. Kevin Porter and Chad Kolarik took the reigns and guided the team through the season while junior goaltender Billy Sauer silenced critics with a steady, consistent campaign and even came up with some stand-on-your-head performances when his team needed him. The freshmen lived up to the billing and didn't miss a beat in making the adjustment to NCAA hockey.

In the long run, it meant that Michigan won the CCHA regular-season and playoff championships, captured a Great Lakes Invitational in the process, and earned the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA Tournament. Despite answering so many questions since the start of the season, the next one they'll face is how they respond to being the favorites, which is a role they rightfully earned after a spectacular 2007-08 campaign.

BACK STORY

There are so many to discuss, based on the arena and tournament history. Niagara is making a habit of participating in this tournament every four years. It started in 2000 with a shocking upset of heavily-favored New Hampshire, which is a memory the Purps may call on Friday when facing the Wolverines. Michigan's last game in Albany was a Frozen Four semifinal in 2001 when eventual champion Boston College beat them.

The story is much longer for St. Cloud State and Clarkson. St. Cloud State, as has been well documented, has never won an NCAA Tournament game in six tries. They're hoping that the seventh is the lucky number. Clarkson has long been considered among the elite programs in ECAC Hockey but hasn't shown it on the national stage. Their last NCAA Tournament win came 12 years ago. Fortunately for them, it was in the downtown Albany arena.

ON A ROLL

Niagara's late push in the regular season might not have earned it a regular-season title in College Hockey America but it did build enough momentum to carry the Purple Eagles through the CHA tournament and into the NCAAs. Dating back to mid-January, Niagara went 11-2-3 in its last 16 games. Among those wins were a surprising sweep on the road at Quinnipiac that boosted Niagara's campaign and signaled the start of a stumbling Quinnipiac squad down the stretch that still ended up with 20 wins.

MR. CLUTCH

Clarkson senior forward Steve Zalewski is among the most pro-ready prospects in ECAC Hockey and has shown a knack for scoring big goals throughout his career. This season he shares the Clarkson team lead in game-winning goals with four, including two during the regular season against Princeton and Harvard – the teams that finished directly below Clarkson in the standings. He also scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 playoff win over Colgate this season. Last year, in Albany at the Times Union Center, Zalewski tallied with 41 seconds left in the third period to lift Clarkson to a 5-4 semifinal win over Dartmouth, after the Big Green rallied from a two-goal deficit to tie the game with 1:40 remaining.

SOMETHING TO PROVE

St. Cloud State will continue to fill this spot in our preview format until they win the little one, which is, one NCAA Tournament game. They're respected as a consistently strong program but haven't been able to get over the hump in the NCAA Tournament. This time around, they're taking a little more relaxed approach to the proceedings, and don't underestimate what they learned last year in the regional at Rochester, N.Y. Learning to play in hostile environments is often discussed, but there's another end of the spectrum that they experienced last year in a sedate, sterile environment similar to the one they'll encounter in Albany on Friday evening.

ONE TO WATCH

Michigan's Kevin Porter has been the best player on the best team all year. He was at the forefront of answering those questions mentioned at the top of this article and ranked among the nation's leading scorers all season long. His leadership and all-around game made him a star within the CCHA and he has the opportunity this weekend to showcase himself one more time in front of a national audience before the Hobey Baker voters cast their ballots early next week. It's his trophy to lose, He's already served up a sundae, and this weekend he can add a cherry atop the whipped cream.

SATURDAY STORYLINE

Assuming that top-seeded Michigan advances, the storyline for the regional final is that the Wolverines are the favorite and are expected to win, but face the pressure from expectations cast upon them. For St. Cloud State or Clarkson, winning in the first round marks a big step for either program, but the opportunity to get another win and advance to a Frozen Four would make this a special season.