After two WCHA games on Thursday night, here is basically what happened. Colorado College bolstered its chances of getting into the tournament, in turn dampening the spirits of Maine, Boston University, Rensselaer and Nebraska-Omaha (in that order). Bemidji State winning makes everyone’s hearts jumps because Bemidji can take away on of those Top 15 spots.
The results of Thursday have an impact on those bubble teams which are idle this weekend. CC’s win basically means that this is one more team for teams like Rensselaer, BU and Maine to jump in order to get an at-large berth.
A CC loss on Friday night will bring CC to the same place that it was before the weekend started, which was ahead of Rensselaer, BU and Maine.
So, a tough mountain for those teams to climb.
What should those three teams look for? Who can these three teams pass? Two easy choices are Western Michigan and Dartmouth. Two losses by those teams will benefit these teams.
So simply put, Rensselaer, Boston University and Maine fans, root against WMU and Dartmouth.
Oh yes, and Maine would like a UNH Hockey East Championship too.
Here’s how I see it after Thursday night:
East Regional (Bridgeport)
16 RIT vs. 1 Yale
9 Notre Dame vs. 6 Merrimack
West Regional (St. Louis)
13 Nebraska-Omaha vs. 4 Michigan
12 Western Michigan vs. 7 Denver
Midwest Regional (Green Bay)
15 Dartmouth vs. 2 North Dakota
10 Minnesota-Duluth vs. 5 Miami
Northeast Regional (Manchester)
14 Colorado College vs. 3 Boston College
11 New Hampshire vs. 8 Union
