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Hey Guys,
Every Big East fan's favorite college hockey team (hopefully?), the Providence Friars, earned an at-large bid to the 2014 NCAA Hockey Tournament.
The NCAA's are made of 16 teams, with four single-elimination regional brackets.
The "Frozen Four" out of these brackets play in Philadelphia, next Thursday and Saturday, at the Wells Fargo Center.

PC is in the East, in Bridgeport CT, home arena of the Fairfield Stags hoops team (Ed Cooley's old home!).

The schedule in Bridgeport:
(4) Vermont vs (1) Union, Friday 2pm, ESPN-U.
(3) Providence vs (2) Quinnipiac, Friday 5:30pm, ESPN-U.

There are interesting storylines here...
Providence coach Nate Leaman was hired at PC in 2011 after having built Union (Albany NY) into a powerhouse.
Vermont (the Catamounts) coach Kevin Sneddon was the coach of Union in 2003.
Union (the Flying Dutchmen) coach Rick Bennett was a former Providence player and assistant coach.
Quinnipiac (the Bobcats) made the national final last April, losing to crosstown rival Yale.

Union finished 1st in the ECAC, 28-6-4 overall and 18-3-1 in conference.
Quinnipiac finished 3rd in the ECAC, 24-9-6 overall and 12-6-4 in conference.
Providence finished 3rd in Hockey East, 21-10-6 overall and 11-7-2 in conference.
Vermont finished 7th in Hockey East, 20-14-3 overall and 10-10 in conference.

The Friars have at least 3 future NHL'ers:
- outstanding sophomore goalie Jon Gillies, drafted by Calgary,
- dynamic sophomore center Mark Jankowski, also drafted by Calgary, and
- freshman defenseman Rob Florentino, drafted by Buffalo.

Noel Acciardi, from Johnston RI (wearing 1964 throwbacks honoring PC's first Final Four team of 50 years ago):


Other regions include:
NORTHEAST, from Worcester, Mass. ("WUSS-tuh").
4 Denver vs 1 Boston College, Sat 4pm, ESPN-U.
3 Minnesota State vs 2 UMass-Lowell, Sat 7:30pm, ESPN-3.

WEST, from St Paul, Minn.
4 Robert Morris vs 1 Minnesota, Sat 5:30pm, ESPN2.
3 St Cloud vs 2 Notre Dame, Sat 9pm, ESPN-U.

MIDWEST, from Cincinnati, O.
4 North Dakota vs 1 Wisconsin, Fri 8pm, ESPN-U.
3 Colgate vs 2 Ferris State, Fri 4:30pm, ESPN-3.

Hey Guys,
The Friars beat Quinnipiac last night, 4-0, so we've reached the Final-8 (Frozen-8...?).
Jon Gillies was spectacular in net, with 37 saves.
4 different Friars scored.
PC played very disciplined all game, and committed no stupid penalties.
Hard hitting, but very controlled.
In hockey, often a hot goaltender can carry a team a long way... like Ken Dryden vs the Bobby Orr Bruins...grrrr...!

Today at 3pm, Providence faces Union for a spot in the Frozen Four in Philadelphia.
Again, Friars coach Nate Leaman built the Union program before coming to PC 3 years ago. Any seniors on Union would probably have been his recruits. Very helpful as Leaman prepares for them today.
I haven't checked the TV schedule, but the game yesterday was on ESPNU.

Congrats to the Friars! Good luck today! Don't you guys already have a track/field national championship this year? It would be pretty awesome if you could wind up with two championships (add the BE tourney champs and you have a heck of a year).

Friars down 1-0 heading into the second period.

Ugh, Friars just gave up a terrible goal.

stream?

ESPN2

Friars lost to Union 3-1. They cut it to 2-1 with 5 minutes to go in 3rd.
Great season for PC. I put a deposit down yesterday to renew seasons tickets. Nate Leaman is a great coach.

Good game Frozen Friars; just not your day - good luck next year!

billyjack wrote:Friars lost to Union 3-1. They cut it to 2-1 with 5 minutes to go in 3rd.
Great season for PC. I put a deposit down yesterday to renew seasons tickets. Nate Leaman is a great coach.

Sorry about the loss, Billy. Great season!