Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger look back at the weekend of March 5-8, which saw four conferences begin playoffs and two others wrap up their regular seasons.
In ECAC Hockey, Princeton’s two overtime wins advanced the Tigers past Dartmouth, while it took two overtimes for Yale to advance past Union in the league’s only game three.
The big surprise in Atlantic Hockey was that there were no surprises; all three higher seeds advanced, though only Robert Morris needed three to move past Holy Cross, including a game two overtime win.
In the Big Ten, the higher seeds all won as well. Notre Dame will miss the NCAA tournament after a disappointing second semester, while Wisconsin will await decisions by three first-round draft picks who might turn pro.
The WCHA saw two lower seeds advance. Bowling Green swept Alaska and Michigan Tech downed rival Northern Michigan in a three-overtime thriller.
Hockey East settled its playoff lineup and home ice as did the NCHC, which decided everything on Friday except whether North Dakota would be alone in first place. The Fighting Hawks’ win over Omaha gave them sole possession of the Penrose Cup.
Arizona State continues to watch the PairWise, which Bemidji State showed over the weekend still has some volatility.
Plus we weigh in on the impact of the coronavirus as Rensselaer announced its series against Harvard will be played at an empty Houston Field House.
This episode is sponsored by the NCAA Frozen Four, April 9-11 in Detroit. Visit ncaa.com/frozenfour to get your tickets today.
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About the hosts
Jim Connelly is a senior writer at USCHO.com and has been with the site since 1999. He is based in Boston and regularly covers Hockey East. He began with USCHO.com as the correspondent covering the MAAC, which nowadays is known as Atlantic Hockey. Each week during the season, he co-writes “Tuesday Morning Quarterback.” Jim is the winner of the 2012 Joe Concannon award. He a former color analyst for UMass-Lowell hockey’s radio network and studio analyst for NESN.
Ed Trefzger has been part of USCHO since 1999 and now serves as a senior writer and director of technology. He is the radio play-by-play voice for Rochester Institute of Technology hockey on the RIT Tigers Sports Network, and has been involved with the broadcasts as a producer, studio host, and color commentator since their inception. He is co-owner and president of broadcasting company Genesee Media, and was general manager of the former Rochester, N.Y., sports radio station 97.5 The Team.
