Three Things

1) Someone out there really wants to make every year's NCAA hockey tournament interesting for me. Since 2005 (the year I met Mrs. Pike), either (or this year both) Miami or BC has made the Frozen Four. Counting this year, they have even played each other 4 times (3 BC victories so far). These games are very trying on Mrs. Pike as she has grown to love the BC hockey team and really taken them on as her own these past 5 years (she cried as much as the rest of us in 2007) but of course her heart still remains in Oxford, OH. No matter what happens April 8th, one of us will be very happy and one of us not so much (though I admit I'm not sure which result creates the more collective sadness in the household).

My most interesting stat of the tourney so far - in 11 of the 12 games played, the team that has scored first has gone on to win the game. The lone exception, Cornell squandered a 1-0 lead to lose to UNH in the first round. I find it interesting that the team with the best goaltender (stat-wise) in the nation was the only one who could not take an early lead to victory. Granted not every team that scored first led the whole game but they all were able to take the momentum from an early tally to gain the victory.

2) I like the firing of Al Skinner. Is Al Skinner a good coach, yes. Was Al Skinner the best coach in BC history, maybe. Will Al Skinner go to another program and turn them into a winner, probably. Was it time Al Skinner and BC to part ways, definitely.

The welcome had been worn out. DeFillipo saw this in the steadily dwindling fans at Conte Forum. Even when there was a good team on the court, there were way too many empty seats in the stands. Big time college sports has to bring in money in order to sustain itself and if you cannot sell tickets you cannot convince kids to come to your school. Let's face it, recruiting has been a serious problem from Al Skinner. Whether its the school itself, the coach, the atmosphere, the scouts, I don't know but something needs to change if BC wants to be consistently in the upper half of the ACC. Not getting any recruits to come in this year when BC was losing its best player is inexcusable. For every Jared Dudley Skinner found, there are several that have never turned into even decent D-I players. The time had come to make a change and try to bring some more energy and excitement to the program and hopefully DeFillipo will be able to accomplish that.

Best wishes to Al Skinner. He will be remembered fondly for what he did do while at Boston College. I have no doubt he will do good things for the next program he heads as well.

3) After the injury to Savard, the Bruins looked lost. They were in a freefall. They seem to be righting the ship to some degree. They put together a hard fought, gutsy win in OT last night against a good New Jersey team. Unfortunately, there seems to still be an issue with consistency as they pound Calgary one night and then lay an egg against Buffalo the next. But there are promising signs. Lucic is playing some of his best hockey of the season (I know he's been bad most of the year but just maybe he is finally close to healthy). Tukka Rask has definitively taken over as the #1 goaltender and looked good doing it - even getting some mentions in Calder Trophy discussions. I just have to hope its not too little too late. With two of their final 6 games coming against the Capitals in DC, they need every point they can grab right now. Nine points either lost by the Rangers/Thrashers or won by the Bruins is what they need to sew up a playoff spot.

Day one in the books

RIT pulls the shocker, UNH finds its offense, double overtime, and Wisconsin hangs on.

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.

Start with a shock?

Seriously??

1-0 with only 17 mintes to play?

RIT - 17 minutes from starting the tourney off with a serious bang??

Tigers?

After one period - 1-0 RIT???

Still a loooong way to go in this one but the Tigers survived a Denver PP and are winning the face-off battle.

Could the madness of 2009 carry-over? Stay tuned.

Anxiously awaiting

I am sitting here 2 hours + from the beginning of the 2010 NCAA hockey championship tourney and I am chomping at the bit. As of 3pm my brain will effectively check out to everything but the hockey tourney until the end of the Midwest regional final on Sunday night. Sure I will talk to people, attempt to work, get distracted by basketball to some degree, and even visit some old friends but my mind will be wondering (all apologies to my Happy Couple friends).

I will be attending the Northeast regional (big surprise - I actually bought the tickets this year before I knew BC was going to be there - I know - I have issues). And the debate is whether to come home following the BC game to make it back to the house to watch most of the Miami/UAH game or stick around for what might be a very interesting North Dakota/Yale tilt. Prior to last year I would hands down have stayed in Worcester but after watching the success that Air Force and Bemidji had last year and the near misses from teams like UAH and Niagara in the past I think I might want to catch a little of this contest.

I know I can DVR but lets face it some of the joy is taken out of watching when you already know the score which I undoubtedly will if I remain in Worcester as they are sure to announce it during the evening. Of course Mrs. Pike is probably all for coming home as she does not get to watch her Redhawks that often, even on TV. And if UAH somehow pulls it off, I would not want miss what would undoubtedly be the biggest upset in college hockey tourney history (no offense to Holy Cross but at least they had a winning record that year).

I won't go so far as to say I am rooting for UAH (not if I want to keep a happy household that is) but I will say I am interested in seeing this contest. Miami needs to be careful. Minnesota got tripped up by Holy Cross when they took them too lightly and the Redhawks need only look to their own regular season stumbles against Robert Morris to know what can happen on any given night. For UAH, this is a chance to prove that they belong in the CCHA (or whatever other conference will take them). They might literally be playing for the life of the program. Not sure that is the type of motivation I would be wanting to play against if I was Enrico Blasi.

But before that drama, the excitement starts with Denver v. RIT. And I can't wait!