Frozen Four!!!

The Frozen Four is upon us at long last! The Semifinals take place in a little under two hours, beginning with North Dakota facing Boston College. Then this evening, Wisconsin will face Maine. Here’s my take:

North Dakota vs. Boston College
I wouldn’t want to be the Fighting Sioux right now. BC is a real threat. They have won 5 of their last 6 games, allowing 2 goals or less in each game. Their last two games (the NCAA Northeast Regionals), they posted 5 goals in each game and allowed none. That’s right, two back to back shutouts for sophomore Cory Schneider. However, the Fighting Sioux are nearly as impressive, winning all 6 of their last 6 games and allowing 3 or less goals in each game while scoring between 3 and 5 goals a game. Jordan Parise has definitely turned in some amazing performances this season.
Ultimately I think this one comes down to a goaltending battle (surprise, surprise). Jordan vs. Cory, both standouts on their squads, both are the number one goalies for their squads, both wear the number 1. Here’s how they match up-

Jordan Parise is a junior from Minnesota. He has played 33 games for 1,959:23 minutes. He has allowed 68 goals and made 943 saves for a total of 1011 shots faced. He has a save percentage of .933, with a goals against average of 2.08. He has posted 24 wins, 8 losses, and 1 tie. This gives him a win percentage of .742. He played 72.3% of the time for the Sioux.

Cory Schneider is a sophomore from Massachusetts. He played 37 games for 2,241:32 minutes. He has allowed 76 goals and made 1,015 saves for a total of 1,091 shots faced. He has a save percentage of .930, with a goals against average of 2.03. He has posted 23 wins, 12 losses and 2 ties. This gives him a win percentage of .649. He played 91.7% of the time for the Eagles.

While Jordan is older and has more NCAA playoff experience, Cory has led the US junior world team to two medals, Silver and Gold.

My pick: North Dakota. They came so very close last year to winning it all; they are definitely hungry for it. Not to mention they have, I think, the best freshman class this year, which was a major factor in Denver’s win last year.

I never thought I would say this but, GO SIOUX!!!!

Wisconsin vs. Maine
This one is tough, but I think it is fair to say the Wisconsin has the advantage here. They are basically playing on home ice in the Bradley center in Milwaukee. Not to mention, Brian Elliott is once again hot, which has been the story of their season. He has posted shutouts in his last three games, including a scary Midwest final that went into 3 overtimes before Wisconsin’s Jack Skille could score the one and only goal of the game, talk about a goalie’s battle…I really don’t think Maine stands a chance. But I really hope I am wrong and Wisconsin gets their asses handed to them…can you tell how much I like the BADgers?

Let’s go Blackbears!

~Catie