Edmonton Oilers coach Pat Quinn was in Vancouver this week talking about the playoffs. He led the upstart Vancouver Canucks to the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals, an epic seven-gamer against the New York Rangers that was probably the best finals in recent memory until last spring and the Pittsburgh Penguins’ improbable Game 7 win in Detroit.<\/p>\n
He emphasized a point we talk about in college hockey, and that is forget who is a No. 1 seed and who is a No. 4 seed and look at who is playing really well heading to the field of 16. As we all know, get off the bus with the best players and you have a good chance of winning, but also get off the bus with the team that is playing the best and your chances in a one-and-done situation increase dramatically.<\/p>\n
“We all remember the last Oilers team that made it to the Cup,” Quinn said. “They weren’t a real good team at the start of the playoffs, but they sure got good as the playoffs went on. Good enough to go four rounds, and get to a Game 7.<\/p>\n
“Get in the dance, and you’ve got a chance.”<\/p>\n
Team USA at the World Juniors had some hiccups early and got better as the tourney went along. Several teams in the NCAA tourney are in that boat as well.<\/p>\n
Here are some quick notes on every team playing this weekend — how they started out and what they have done recently to look at which team might have the best chance to win this thing. These are the facts; you can interpret them any way you’d like.<\/p>\n
Denver:<\/b> Pretty dominant all season … 10-4-1 after 15, 20-6-4 after 30 … 10-game win streak late January to late February … 0-2 in the WCHA Final Five and 3-3 in last six.<\/p>\n
RIT:<\/b> Lost first five games, were 15-9-1 after 25 … currently on a 10-game winning streak in which have outscored opponents 45-13 with four shutouts … won the AHA playoff championship.<\/p>\n
Cornell:<\/b> 7-2-1 after 10, 12-5-3 after 20 and 8-2-1 last 11, including a four-game winning streak and a 230:30 consecutive shutout streak that extends over the last 11 periods played.<\/p>\n
New Hampshire:<\/b> Got to .500 at 6-6-3 and doubled win total with 6-1-1 run to get to 12-7-4 … went on a 3-1-3 roll to finish regular season … ended season by being shut out twice by Vermont after taking a 1-0 lead in the series at home with a 7-4 win. <\/p>\n
St. Cloud State:<\/b> Were 8-7-3 in January then went on a 9-0 roll … finished 3-4-1 but 3-1 last 4 … lost WCHA championship game to North Dakota.<\/p>\n
Northern Michigan:<\/b> Got over .500 on Jan. 3 at 9-8-4 … 10-2-2 since Jan. 29 … beat Ferris State and lost to Michigan in the CCHA championship.<\/p>\n
Wisconsin:<\/b> 6-3-1 after 10, 12-5-3 after 20 … 13-5-1 since Jan. 15, all in WCHA play … won 3 of last 4, lost WCHA semifinal to St. Cloud 2-0; won third-place game over Denver.<\/p>\n
Vermont:<\/b> Got clear of .500 on Dec. 12 at 7-6-2 … 11-7-2 after 20 … 4-3-1 last eight … shut out UNH 1-0 twice to win Games 2 and 3 of a best-of-three at UNH after a 7-4 opening-game loss … lost Hockey East semifinal game to Boston College.<\/p>\n
Boston College:<\/b> 5-3-2 after 10, 12-6-2 after 20 … 8-0-1 since Feb. 19 … 21 goals scored in last four games, 13 allowed … won Hockey East title with a 7-6 OT win against Maine.<\/p>\n
Alaska:<\/b> 7-2-1 after 10, 10-6-4 after 20 … 8-0-2 run to finish regular season, swept by Northern Michigan in Marquette in the CCHA semifinals.<\/p>\n
North Dakota:<\/b> 7-1-1 start, 9-6-3 at the semester break … four-game winning streak and 12-1 last 13, averaging 4.23 goals per game in that span … swept through the WCHA Final Five, beating UMD in the play-in game, Denver in the semis and St. Cloud State for the championship.<\/p>\n
Yale:<\/b> Went from 2-2-2 to 19-6-3 … seven-game win streak snapped the last day of the ECAC regular season … 1-3 last four, lost to Brown in the ECAC semifinals at home.<\/p>\n
Miami:<\/b> 8-1-1 after 10, 13-2-5 after 20 … 10-0-1 run in second half … 4-3 last seven … lost CCHA semifinal to Michigan; beat Ferris State to win the third-place game.<\/p>\n
Alabama-Huntsville:<\/b> 4-10-1 after 15, 9-14-2 after 30 … 2-0-1 to end the season; beat Robert Morris and Niagara (OT) to win the CHA playoff title.<\/p>\n
Bemidji State:<\/b> 13-2-1 after 16, 21-7-1 after 30 … 5-2-2 to finish the season and winless in last three … lost to Niagara and tied Robert Morris in the CHA championship.<\/p>\n
Michigan:<\/b> 4-7 after 11, 10-10 at the semester break … 16-13-1 after 30 … 8-1 last nine … outscoring opponents 28-9 in six-game winning streak.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
USCHO national columnist Dave Starman checks out the game-by-game results for each of the 16 teams in the NCAA tournament and comes away with some observations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n