Saturday, March 29, 2014

Saturday Morning Skate (NCAA edition)

The Mavericks will take on UMass Lowell in the Northeast Regional on Saturday evening in what should be an excellent matchup between two pretty good teams.

It all starts in goal for MSU and Lowell. Lowell has, statistically, the nation's top goaltender in Connor Hellebuyck, while the Mavericks' Cole Huggins has been huge over his team's 13-game unbeaten streak. 

Read more about the matchup, as well as some nuggets from the day's early game, Boston College vs. Denver, here.

On Friday, Minnesota State's Johnny McInnis was the talk of the town. Read more about that as well as other items in my regional notebook.

Haven't gotten your Johnny Mac fix? Read more in the Worcester Telegram, College Hockey News, the Boston Herald and Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The Herald also looked at the similarities between the Mavericks and River Hawks, who have undergone big transformations, going from also-rans to became conference champions in just a couple of years.

Read more coverage of the regional from the Boston Globe and the Lowell Sun.

Meanwhile, the first day of the tournament saw a No. 1 seed, Wisconsin, fall to North Dakota 5-2 (two empty-netters) in Cincinnati. North Dakota will play the WCHA's Ferris State, a 1-0 winner over Colgate, today in the Midwest Regional final for a trip to the Frozen Four.

In the East Regional, top-seeded Union defeated Vermont 5-2, and Providence shut out Quinnipiac 4-0.

Remember: tonight's Minnesota State game, which starts at 6:30 p.m. CDT, will be broadcast online only on ESPN3. Folks in Mankato can attend a viewing party at the downtown Buffalo Wild Wings. 

You can also follow along on my live chat right here on the Puckato blog.

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