Boston College hockey’s 2011 tournament draw

No graphics this time, just text:

(1) Boston College would face, in order:

Regional semifinal: (4) Colorado College

Regional final: (2) Michigan OR (3) Nebraska-Omaha

National semifinal: Midwest regional winner: (1) North Dakota, (2) Denver, (3) Western Michigan, OR (4) RPI

National championship: East regional winner or Northeast regional winner

Some preliminary thoughts is that this would seem to be an interesting and difficult West regional bracket for the Eagles, who were the #3 overall seed in the tournament. Colorado College (about whom we will go into much more depth later this week), out of Colorado Springs and not to be confused with the University of Colorado (Boulder) or Colorado State (Fort Collins), are going to give BC a spirited effort. The Tigers are an at-large bid out of the WCHA and advanced to the “Final Five” of their conference tournament before losing a close contest to #1 North Dakota in the semifinals. They’re not near the top of the column in nearly any major team statistics, but they did put up a good fight in the WCHA Tournament, so I’d expect them to do similarly here.

If the Eagles are fortunate enough to advance, they’d draw either Michigan (CCHA at-large) or Nebraska-Omaha (WCHA at-large). The scarier of those two teams, as far as I’m concerned, is Michigan, who were the regular-season champs of the CCHA and have 26 wins to their names this season. Getting past either the Wolverines or Mavericks of Omaha would mean yet another appearance in the Frozen Four.

From there, it becomes a real mess, as BC’s next opponent could be one of the four teams listed above in the national semifinal, any one of which would be legitimate if they had made it that far, and in the finals, it’s so distant it’s not even worth considering.

With this veteran championship team, there is very little to fear from Boston College. This is a winnable region, as you might expect for one of the elite teams, though not without potential danger. Every one of the teams in the West would give the Eagles all they can handle, and the Eagles will have the chance to prove once again that they are the most worthy.

If there is any gripe – and I’m sure you know what it is – it’s that we’re out west. I think Bridgeport or Manchester (though we all knew Yale would get Bridgeport) would have been much more agreeable destinations for Eagle hockey fans. I’m sure St. Louis is a great town, and I know that this Eagles team could win anywhere it goes, but that will be some undertaking for our fans. I applaud those of you who are booking your flights right now.