Men's Frozen Four 2013 - 1st & 2nd Round Update

They call it the hardest tournament to pick because literally anything can happen.  Everything and anything happened in the 1st and 2nd rounds of this year's road to the Frozen Four.  The tournament stands on its own at least in major sports where you have 1st round and 2nd round games being played at the same time, on the same day.  It didn't take long for there to be upset, hell, the first game when Yale knocked off Minnesota in OT, we knew that the party was just beginning.  We will talk more about that game later in this blog.

Due to the very limited resources here at Seasons in the Sun, we had to follow most of the games via NCAA.com.  We do not get ESPNU here at the home offices.  We also fired up the radio networks for Minnesota State and St. Cloud State.  Miami (OH) needs to make their radio network free so that we can afford to listen to their games.  We must say or we would be remiss, that the radio network for the Minnesota State Mavericks was very classy in their loss to the Red Hawks of Miami.  They were very positive and upbeat during the program, and it made listening to their program very enjoyable.

So now we are going to go game by game and give you a break-down of what happened in the first and second rounds of the 2013 Men's Frozen Four.  

FIRST ROUND

East Seeds

#1 Quinnipiac vs. #4 Canisius - We picked Quinnipiac. They won 4-3.

This was a little closer then we would like to see from Quinnipiac, the #1 overall seed in the tournament.  Quinnipiac would score first, but that was followed by 3 goals by Canisius.  Quinnipiac woke up in the 3rd period though.  They scored 3 goals in a 6 minute and 30 second period to make it, and win the game 4-3.  Super effort from Canisius, but they just could not hold on for the "W."

#2 Boston College vs. #3 Union (NY) - We picked Boston College.  They lost 5-1.

This was the 2nd game that totally killed our bracket.  Union came out for blood and that's what they got.  They scored the games first 5 goals, including 3 goals in the 2nd period which really did in the Eagles.  The Eagles waited until 16:02 into the 3rd peroid to score, and it was cliche, too little too late.  We were dumbfounded by this result, we really thought that Boston College would come out and play better, that was not the case.  Hockey more then any other sport is a game of bounces, pucks that go in the net one night, don't go in the next night.  Really solid effort from Union, dominating last year's champions.

Midwest Seeds

#1 Notre Dame vs. #4 St. Cloud State - We picked Notre Dame. They lost 5-1.

In similar fashion to Boston College, the Fighting Irish got slammed 5-1 by St. Cloud State.  St. Cloud State got the first 4 goals of the game.  They also scored 3 goals in the 2nd period like Union did against Boston College.  Notre Dame's lone goal came short-handed in the 3rd period.  The momentum was short lived as St. Cloud State would charge back with a tally of their own making it 5-1.  We expected more from the CCHA tournament champions but St. Cloud State was more then up to the task in this one.  Again, great job by St. Cloud State coming out, and dominating a team that was seeded higher.

#2 Miami (OH) vs #3 Minn State - Mankato - We picked Minn State.  They lost 4-0.

This game we enjoyed via the Minnesota State radio network, and let's just say they were very classy in defeat.  There was no scoring in the 1st period and only one goal in the second period which was by the Red Hawks of Miami.  Miami started the 3rd period well, scoring 2:30 in, to make it 2-0.  They added a third goal 7 minutes later, and the empty net goal to close out the scoring.  Miami played huge on defensive against a team in Minnesota State which had not been shut out in over a year.  A great defensive accomplishment by Miami, and also an impressive streak by Minnesota State playing in a tough WCHA.

Northeast Seeds

#1 Mass-Lowell vs. #4 Wisconsin - We picked Mass-Lowell.  They won 6-1.

Mass-Lowell came out and put the hammer down on the WCHA final five winners, which was finally a correct pick for us in the first round.  Mass-Lowell scored 1 in the first and 2 in the second to make it a 3-0 game.  Wisconsin got a power play goal early in the 3rd to make it 3-1.  Mass-Lowell turned up the heat and the fire power with 3 third period goals, two of which were late goals, to make the final 6-1.  We had confidence in this match-up because the game was played up East not too far from Mass-Lowell.  We expected more from Wisconsin but we think that Mass-Lowell should be credited for shutting them down, and not letting them breathe.

#2 New Hampshire vs. #3 Denver - We picked New Hampshire.  They won 5-2.

We knew that playing in New Hampshire would definitely help, and they needed all the help they could get.  It might not look it from the score, but New Hampshire was down 2-1 after the first period.  New Hampshire would tie it 14:34 into the 2nd on the power play.  They got a late goal in the 2nd, to take a 3-2 lead to the intermission.  They tallied two more goals in the 3rd to make a 5-2 victory.  Denver played well but they were really at the mercy of the seeding, playing New Hampshire at home.  New Hampshire should be also credited playing well with the pressure of being at home during the tournament, its never an easy thing.
West Seeds

#1 Minnesota vs. #4 Yale - We picked Minnesota.  They lost 3-2 in OT.

This was the first game of the day on Friday, and it completely destroyed our bracket.  Yale came into the game as probably the last team in the tournament, and did not look it at all.  We said what made us nervous about picking Minnesota was that one power play or one break away goal could change the game in Yale's favor.  That is exactly what happened, Yale, first got a power play goal, then they got a breakaway goal to make it 2-0.  Minnesota got two goals in the 3rd period to force OT.  Yale scored 8 seconds into the OT, making it the fastest goal in OT in the history of the tournament.  You have to give Yale much credit for coming out and weathering the storm of Minnesota.  You also have to give Minnesota much credit for not hanging it up in the 3rd period and making a game of it.  In the end, Yale got the victory in a great game that will be remembered for a long time

#2 North Dakota vs. #3 Niagara - We picked North Dakota.  They won 2-1.

North Dakota was supposed to play Minnesota and it was supposed to be a heated rivalry game but that was all for not when Minnesota lost.  This game also was no walk in the park for the heavily favored North Dakota.  Niagara got their lone goal in the 2nd period, after a scoreless first period.  North Dakota found themselves down 1-0 going into the 2nd intermission.  Whatever, the coach said during the break really hit home, North Dakota scored 2 twice within the first 3 minutes of the 3rd period.  The two goals were 57 seconds apart and that would be all North Dakota needed to eliminate Niagara and earn a date with the upstart Yale squad that beat Minnesota.

SECOND ROUND

East Seeds

#1 Quinnipiac vs. #3 Union (NY) - We picked Boston College. Fail.  Quinnipiac won 5-1.

Unlike their first round match up with Canisius, Quinnipiac came out firing like the #1 overall seed should.  They scored 3 times in the first period, leaving Union begging for the intermission to stop the bleeding.  On this night though, there was no band-aid for the bleeding for Union.  Quinnipiac would add two more tallies in the 2nd period to make it 5-0.  Union got their only goal of the match 3:15 into the 3rd period.  The scare in the first round really woke up Quinnipiac and helped them focus in on Union.  Union might still had been a little pumped up about their upset of Boston College, and they got blind sided.  Do not get us wrong Union still has a solid program, they just were not a test for Quinnipiac on this night.

Midwest Seeds

#2 Miami (OH) vs. #4 St. Cloud State - We picked Notre Dame. Fail. St. Cloud State won 4-1.

Call them the CCHA killers, St. Cloud State knocked out the only other CCHA team in the tournament, the Miami Red Hawks 4-1.  St. Cloud State feeding off the momentum of beating Notre Dame the day before, made easy work of the CCHA regular season champions.  St. Cloud State opened the scoring early in the first making it 1-0.  They also scored early into the 2nd period, to widen their lead (2-0).  The Red Hawks scored a power play goal shortly after (2-1).  St. Cloud State answered back just 3 minutes later with a tally of their own (3-1).  St. Cloud State earned a empty net goal to seal the victory.  We enjoyed this game via the St. Cloud State radio network, very good job done by their program.

Northeast Seeds

#1 Mass-Lowell vs. #2 New Hampshire - We picked Mass-Lowell.  They won 2-0.

In the only region of the bracket that we had not totally screwed up, we had picked Mass-Lowell over New Hampshire even though they played the game in New Hampshire.  Mass-Lowell shut out and shut down New Hampshire.  Any time you can get a shut out in the playoffs you should feel really good about how your team played.  There was no scoring in the 1st and fans had to wait 19:30 into the 2nd before Mass-Lowell put the puck in the net to make it 1-0.  They say in hockey that goals in last two minutes of a period are absolute killers because you get the momentum, and your opponent does not get much time to answer.  Mass-Lowell second goal came just over midway through the 3rd period to make it 2-0.  This was the closest game of the 2nd round.  Congrads to both teams for a solid effort in this one.

West Seeds

#2 North Dakota vs. #4 Yale - We picked Minnesota. Fail. Yale won 4-1.

Yale barely won their first game against Minnesota, and they barely made the tournament all together but if you are going to get there you might as well make the most of it.  Yale took their new found momentum and like St. Cloud State, the CCHA killers, you can now call Yale the WCHA killers.  North Dakota would opening the scoring 7:22 into the first period (1-0).  After a scoreless 2nd period, Yale found daylight 12:25 into the 3rd (1-1).  That would open the floodgates for Yale, scoring at the 15:04 mark, the 17:39 mark, and finally at the 19:00 mark, into an empty net.  It was a huge 3rd period for Yale and sent them all the way to the Frozen Four.

It was two crazy days for the 1st and 2nd rounds of the Men's 2013 Frozen Four.  Our bracket has been completely destroyed.  We only had one of the Frozen Four this year, and that was Mass-Lowell.  We picked Minnesota to beat Boston College in the final, so we cannot get any more points for correct guesses.  This was a down year for us, we got as many right this year, as we missed all of last year.  The Frozen Four will continue April 11th with Quinnipiac vs St. Cloud State, and Mass-Lowell vs. Yale.  The Championship game will be played on April 13th, we will keep you posted on the events in Pittsburgh.  The games will be televised on ESPN2, but you can also check out the team's websites for audio if you rather listen to the games.