Those are the stories of the first day of the NCAA hockey tournament. RIT started the day with a statement that was heard around the country in 2008, "Yes we can!" Not sure if this will give hope to Alaska and UAH today but it certainly should have BC and Miami thinking and making sure they take their opponents very seriously.
Good first day for Hockey East. After failing to score in the first UNH turned it on in the last two periods and looked like the solid team that won Hockey East this year with an impressive 5-2 win. As much credit as the Wildcats deserve something needs to be said about Ben Scrivens having a very weak game. He looked like he was fighting the puck all night and that is not the type of effort one expected from the Hobey Baker finalist. As for Vermont, despite losing, they played hard and proved that they did belong in the tournament despite the naysayers.
The one game that was not actually on live TV (instead on ESPN360) was arguably the best as St. Cloud St. scored 23 seconds into a second overtime to obtain their first ever win in nine appearances in the national tournament. After seeing a 3-1 lead disappear late in the third period, the Huskies were able to pull it together and get the big win.
What does it all mean - it means this year looks to be one of excitement. Though we have yet to have the dramatics of last year we certainly have reasons to watch. 3 of the 4 games yesterday were decided by one goal and even though St. Cloud was the higher seed, their victory is more exciting than a Northern Michigan upset. We are already guaranteed to have a team in the Frozen Four who has never won a championship and if St. Cloud beats Wisconsin we will have a third straight year of a potential first-time winner in the title game. It's a good time to be a college hockey fan.
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