North Dakota is the favorite at next week's Frozen Four
U.S. College Hockey Online senior writers Jim Connelly and Todd D. Milewski break down the Frozen Four matchups online today.
Along with agreeing that the two CCHA vs. WCHA matchups are pretty appealing -- despite the lack of East Coast representation -- Milewski calls Michigan's semifinal opponent, North Dakota, the clear favorite to win a national title on April 9 in St. Paul, Minn.
"After watching North Dakota and its almost machine-like drive through the regional in Green Bay, I think the only team that can beat North Dakota is named North Dakota," he writes. "Maybe Michigan can get into the Sioux’s heads in the semifinals, but North Dakota has everything working right at a perfect time."
Connelly agrees, saying the Michigan-North Dakota game "might be the national title game." He picks North Dakota to win.
Minnesota-Duluth (24-10-6) plays Notre Dame (25-13-5) in a 5 p.m. semifinal on April 7. Michigan (28-10-4) and North Dakota (32-8-3) follow at 8:30 p.m. Both games will be televised by ESPN2 and the winners advance to the national title game at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 9.
Comments
NC Wolverine 20
Thu, Mar 31, 2011 : 2:58 a.m.
VCU ruined my bracket. Let's hope Michigan can do the same for Jim Connelly and Todd Milewski. Go BLUE!
RWBill
Tue, Mar 29, 2011 : 4:23 p.m.
It's all over. VCU has no chance to beat Kansas.
Blue Marker
Tue, Mar 29, 2011 : 2:24 p.m.
No team is unbeatable. Especially in hockey, the game where one fluke bounce can change the whole thing. If it's a blow-out I like North Dakota's chances but in a close game I'll take the Wolverines. A2.com isn't covering the Dion Simms story.....why not?
Jim Knight
Tue, Mar 29, 2011 : 3:11 p.m.
Blue Marker: Reporters for our sister organization MLive.com cover Michigan State athletics and have followed the Dion Sims story. The most recent story: <a href="http://www.mlive.com/spartans/index.ssf/2011/03/tight_end_dion_sims_reinstated.html" rel='nofollow'>http://www.mlive.com/spartans/index.ssf/2011/03/tight_end_dion_sims_reinstated.html</a>