GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- And so we swing into the second round of the NCHC playoffs, with the top four teams in the regular season advancing on to this weekend's semifinals at home sites of North Dakota and Denver, the top two finishers in the league race.
No matter what happens this weekend, it is a good bet that all four teams -- UND, Denver, Western Michigan and Minnesota Duluth -- will advance to the NCAAs's four regional sites that make up the 16-team NCAA tournament.
As we head to the weekend, the NPI ratings, used to select the tournament field, feature the top four NCHC teams ranked (2) in North Dakota, (4) in Denver, (6) in Western Michigan and (8) in the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs.
The first round followed the chalk, with the top four winning on home ice in best-of-3 series. Now it swings to a single game in both semifinals this weekend (Minnesota Duluth at UND) and (Western Michigan at Denver). The winners advance to a single-game playoff at the home site of the remaining top seed to determine the league post-season champion.
North Dakota, with a new coaching staff and a rebuilt roster, put it all together in impressive fashion to claim the Penrose Cup as NCHC regular-season champion. That, coupled with a strong non-conference record, put the Fighting Hawks in the current No. 2 in a battle with Michigan and Michigan State for the overall No. 1 NPI national seed heading into the regional tournaments.
It is a virtual lock that all four NCHC teams remaining in the league tournament will make it to the regionals, no matter the outcomes this weekend. Based on their current records and national rankings, I don't see how any of them could play their way out of an NCAA tournament berth.
Minnesota Duluth will be a big challenge for the Fighting Hawks, no doubt.
The Bulldogs, coached by former UND player and assistant coach Scott Sandelin, split the four meetings with UND this season, losing twice outright to UND and winning once in overtime in both Duluth and Grand Forks.
Now that it is down to a single game for the right to play for the NCHC playoff title, the battle is certain to be just as intense in Saturday's showdown at college hockey's finest facility, Ralph Engelstad Arena.
All four teams have won NCAA titles in the past, and no doubt all four carry hopes for one more this year.
But first, there's the pesky matter of league honors to decide this weekend and next, so the battle will be as heated as always.
And that's a big reason why the NCHC is generally regarded as the best in the land. If you can come out on top in the NCHC, you are a big threat to come out on top in the Big Show as well.
And as my mother, Maebel, used to say, "may the best team win.''
Virg Foss has covered college hockey for 56 seasons, 35 of them as beat writer for the Grand Forks Herald, the last 21 as writer/columnist for UND Athletic Communications. He can be reached at virgfoss@yahoo.com.
