-__The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 22, 1999 - 5B 'I 'S I ' icers headed to Worcester with No. 5 seed in East I 1~. a. '" W , Denver 4 - East V By David Den Herder Daily Sports Writer After tearing through the CCHA Tournament and watching the maize and blue rise to the rafters of Joe Louis Arena Saturday night, the Michigan hockey team was sure it had secured a bid in the NCAA Tournament. The only questions were who the Wolverines would play in the first round - and where. The first answer was fairly predictable. Not surprisingly,, Michigan drew WCHA Tournament champion Denver in the opening round. The second answer was a bit more surprising. Michigan is headed to Worcester, Mass. - as a No. 5 seed in the East Regional. "I think a lot of people expected that we were going to Madison," Michigan coach Red Berenson said after the NCAA selection committee announced the field yesterday. "But it looked like the NCAA took the intraleague play right out of the picture." Of the four teams in the NCAA that hail from the CCHA, none of them are playing one another in the first round. The same lack of intraleague matchups is true for the WCHA, Hockey East and the ECAC. As a result, three of the of the four conference playoff champi- ons are playing out of their region. Along with Michigan and Denver traveling to the East, Boston College is headed to Madison for the West Regional. "It seems like it was based more on the bracketing than the crite- ria," said Berenson of the NCAA placement. "I'm a little surprised, but that's fine - we played out east last year. I don't think we are in love with Wisconsin any more than we are with Worcester." This season represents the ninth consecutive year Michigan has qualified for the tournament, but the first time it has ever been seed- ed lower than third. It's also the first time the Wolverines have been seeded in the East Regional. Michigan captain Bubba Berenzweig echoed Berenson's sentiments. "I actually thought we were going to be in the West, but it real- ly doesn't make much of a differ- ence," Berenzweig said. He added that playing an unknown team is a plus for the Wolverines. . "I like the fact that we're not playing anyone that we've seen all, year," Berenzweig said. "I think it will cause our team to prepare a lot better." If that's true, it can't be bad, because Denver could be one of the hottest teams in the league rid- ing an eight-game winning streak into the tournament. "That's good and bad," Berenson said. "It's a challenge for our team and it's a team we haven't played so that's probably good - it'll be a one-game shoot- out. They've had a great run since Christmas and we haven't had a great run, but of late I think we can play with anyone." ALL IN THE FAMILY: When Michigan and Denver take the ice Friday at 8:30 p.m., there will be more than one Comrie on the ice. Aside from Michigan standout and CCHA Rookie of the Year Mike Comrie, brother and Denver forward Paul Comrie will also be in Worcester, attempting to elimi- nate the Wolverines. "We talked about (playing against one another), but we thought the odds were against us. But it's something you have to deal with now, and you know it's going to be a good game," Comrie said. Overalt record: 26-12-2 Conference: WCHA Final conference standing: Third How they made the NCAA toumey: WCHA playoff champs Players to watch: Senior forward Paul Comrie 16-30-'46 Senior forward James Patterson 23-.17-40 Sophomore forward Mark Rycroft 19 - 17 - 36 Head coach: George Gwozdecky Notables: Denver is led by Paul Comne, brother of Michigan center Mike Cone. The Pioneers defeated North Dakota in the WCHA Tournament final. New Hampshire 1 - East Overall record: 29-6-3 Conference: Hockey East Final conference standing: First How they made the NCAA tourney: Hockey East overall champs Players to watch: Senior forward Jason Krog 30 - 45 - 75 Junior forward Mike Souza 19 - 37 - 56 Sophomore goaltender Ty Conklin 15-1-1; 1.59 GAA Head coach: Dick Umile Notables: New Hampshire has never won an NCAA title. In the two games against CCHA opponents, the Wildcats defeated Lake Superior, 5-2, and Miami, 4-1. MARGARET MYERS/Daily lichigan is seeded in the NCAA East Regional for the first Ime in school history. The Wolverines will face Denver on riday at 8:30 p.m. 1999 NCAA Ice Hockey Tournament a c A.. P 1 New Hampshire 2 Michigan State 4 Denver March 27 Worcester, Mass. March 28 Madison, Wis. March 26 f Worcester, Mass. 3 Colorado College March 27 Madison, Wis. 6 St. Lawrence $ - Clarkson 2 - East Finalist 5 Michigan EAST National Champion The Frozen Four Anaheim, Calif. Semifinals, April 1 Finals, Apnl 3 WEST 3 Maine 4 Boston College Overall record: 25-10- Conference: ECAC Final conference standing: First How they made the NCAA tourney: ECAC overall champs ECAC playoff champs Players to watch: Sophomore forward Eric tole 15 -13 - 28 Senior forward Mikko Ollila 9-23-32 Senior forward Ben Maidment 12 - 17 - 29 Head coach: Mark Morris Notables: Saturday marked the first ECAC playoff championship for Clarkson since the 1992-93 season. March 26 Worcester, Mass. Finalist I March 27 Madison, Wis. 5 N. Michigan 16 Ohio State March 27 Worcester, Mass. March 28 Madison, Wis. __ p 4 2 Clarkson 1 North Dakota Four CCHA teams make tourney. Ohio State, Northern land at-large bids; join Michigan, Michigan State Colorado College 3-East Overall record: 28-11-1 Conference: WCHA Final conference standing: Second How they made the NCAA tourney: At-large bid Players to watch: Senior forward Brian Swanson 24-36-60 Senior defenseman Scott Swanson 9-35-44 Freshman goaltender Jeff Sanger 2.52 GAA; .902 save pct. Head coach: Don Lucia Notables: Brian and Scott Swanson are not related. With Brian leading the offense and Scott leading the defense, Colorado College is Swanson-set. By Chris Duprey Daily Sports Editor When the CCHA's final four teams :onvened at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit to decide the conference's p ff championship this past week- , just one team had been assured of' an NCAA berth - Michigan State, whose regular season champi- onship earned it a ticket. But for Michigan, Ohio State and Northern Michigan, their fate wasn't is certain. And when Michigan knocked both out of the CCHA 'ournament, the two bubble teams had no recourse but to wait. When the NCAA pairings were figly announced yesterday after- ON, though, the respect for the CCHA came through as all four eams were included in the bracket - reinforcing the parity the confer- ence has displayed all year long. "When you're talking about your )wn league, saying that we've got such a great league, it sounds like you're just blowing smoke about your own neighborhood," Michigan h Red Berenson said. "This was the toughest and closest I can remember our league competition, and it's good that they gave our league that respect." Ohio State was likely the final at- large team selected, despite finishing above the Wildcats in the CCHA reg- ular season. The Buckeyes were ranked ahead of Northern Michigan in the final Pairwise Rankings, but the selection committee would've been hard pressed to take Ohio State and not the Wildcats, who upset top seed Michigan State in Friday's semifinals. Both Ohio State coach John Markell and Northern Michigan coach Rick Comley made their last pleas to the committee at their respective post-game press confer- ences, pointing out the strength of the conference and their lack of a sizable home schedule as reasons for their bubble status. And after non-conference champi- on teams like Denver, Boston College and Michigan snuck up and stole an automatic berth by winning its league tournament, there was just barely enough room for two of the CCHA's most underrated squads. The NCAA selection committee was so aware of the CCHA's national presence that it avoided pitting CCHA teams against each other in first-round or quarterfinal action. Last year, Michigan State and Ohio State met in the CCHA final and proceeded to clash again in the quarterfinals, where the favored Spartans were upset. In the past, the committee placed a high priority on keeping teams close to home so that fans would have a better chance of participating. But this season, teams from all over will be packing their travel bags, just for the purpose of keeping CCHA teams separated for as long as possible. "It looked like the NCAA took intraleague play right out of the pic- ture," Berenson said. "They tried to bracket everyone so they wouldn't be playing an intraleague team, and in doing that they actually are traveling three of the league championship teams." . r St. Lawrence 6 - East s Overall record: 23-12-3 Conference: ECAC Final conference standing: Second How they made the NCAA tourney: At-large bid Players to watch: Senior forward Bob Prier 20- 26 -46 Senior forward John Poapst 16 -27 -43 Senior goaltender Eric Heffler 2.35 GAA;.932 save pct. Head coach: Joe Marsh Notables: This is the first NCAA appearance for the Saints since 1992. St. Lawrence is the alma mater of Michigan State coach Ron Mason. Ohio State 6 - West Overall record: 21-154 AP PHOTO Hobey Baker finalist Mike York and the Spartans secured a No. 2 seed in the West. Michigan, Northern Michigan and Ohio State also represent the CCHA. .. North Dakota 1- west i Michigan State 2-West ti Maine 3 - west Boston College 4- -West kugera11 record: 25-11-4 N. Michigan r - -West Overall record: 22-14-S - - - -- - - Pfuaralt rnrnrtl- 17-f-L I