2014-15 Flames' NCAA Prospects, General Discussion Thread

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Providence will face Miami in the first round.

PC Men's Hockey @FriarsHockey
The Friars stay in Providence! Will be the No. 4 seed at the Dunk and play No. 1 seed Miami on Saturday, March 28 at 6:30 on @ESPNU

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Official Bracket:

[Freeway]

In theory, Jon Gillies could sign a pro contract on Saturday.

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Adam Wodon @CHN_AdamWodon
Miami’s biggest issue is missing its top 2 goal scorers, possibly, vs. Jon Gillies

[getbak]

Providence is lucky that one of the regionals is being hosted in Providence this year because it got them into a better bracket than they should have been based purely on the ranking.

As the 15th seed, they should have matched up with North Dakota, who were the top team in the country in the polls.

Because the NCAA tries to boost attendance by putting local teams in the regional brackets, Providence got put into the bracket being hosted in Providence, so they now match up with the 4th seed. They also get the advantage of it almost being a home game for them (same city, but not their home rink), and the crowd should be heavily on their side.


I was reading College Hockey News last night and they were speculating that Providence was ranked too low for the NCAA to force them into the locally hosted bracket (if they were the hosting school, it would have been automatic, but their cross-town rival, Brown, is actually the host school).


The four teams in Providence's bracket all had very similar records this season, and every one had 13 losses...

• Miami : 25-13-1
• Denver: 23-13-2
• BC: 21-13-3
• Providence: 22-13-2

Every other bracket has at least one team with fewer than 10 losses on the season.


If it's ever possible for the 15th seed in a 16 team tournament to have an advantage, this is it for Providence. Home ice and a hot goalie could get them a couple of wins and a trip to Boston.

[Flame19,289]

Originally Posted by getbak

Providence is lucky that one of the regionals is being hosted in Providence this year because it got them into a better bracket than they should have been based purely on the ranking.

As the 15th seed, they should have matched up with North Dakota, who were the top team in the country in the polls.

Because the NCAA tries to boost attendance by putting local teams in the regional brackets, Providence got put into the bracket being hosted in Providence, so they now match up with the 4th seed. They also get the advantage of it almost being a home game for them (same city, but not their home rink), and the crowd should be heavily on their side.

I think the NCAA also strategically placed a Boston school in three of the four brackets. It gives them a very good shot of having at least one local school (if not more than one) in the Frozen Four.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Flame19,289

I think the NCAA also strategically placed a Boston school in three of the four brackets. It gives them a very good shot of having at least one local school (if not more than one) in the Frozen Four.

Yes, based on a straight 1-16 bracket, BU and BC should have been in the same bracket and would have met in the second round. Now, if they can both make it to the Frozen Four, they would meet in the National Championship. I'm sure everyone would love to see a BU-BC National Championship game at the Garden. The atmosphere would be insane.


Yale and Quinnipiac are both in Connecticut. With the three Boston teams and Providence, that means that 6 of the 16 teams are within a 3 hour drive of Boston. It's a very long shot (and would require huge upsets by Harvard and Quinnipiac), but all four teams in the Frozen Four could be from southern New England.


Here's a good explanation of the thought process behind the brackets: http://www.collegehockeynews.com/new...he_bracket.php

[AC]

@NHLFlames
Congrats to #Flames prospect @BHickey14 & @TerrierHockey on capturing the HEA Championship ~ http://cflam.es/1DLyL2m

[Blarg]

Will TSN be showing any of these games?

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by Blarg

Will TSN be showing any of these games?

Yes they will showing 9 out of the 12 Regional games and the whole Frozen four. Some of the games may be tape delayed.

[killer_carlson]

ok, i'll say it.

Anyone else surprised as me to see Miami as a #1 seed in NCAA hockey?

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

ok, i'll say it.

Anyone else surprised as me to see Miami as a #1 seed in NCAA hockey?

No. Miami has a pretty strong hockey program for years. Reilly Smith, Dan Boyle, Andy Greene, Alec Martinez, and Tommy Wingels are graduates of their program. Burke's son Brendan was a student manager for that team when he tragically died.

So not really surprising at all, unless you are one of the people that think Miami means a school in Florida and not a school in the Miami valley of Ohio.

[bubbsy]

nm... noticed the tweet regarding Yevenko signing i put here was 2 days old . carry on....

[FlameZilla]

Is there any chance Hickey goes pro after the tournament? I know he's young, but he's been exceptional in the NCAA.

[devo22]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

Is there any chance Hickey goes pro after the tournament? I know he's young, but he's been exceptional in the NCAA.

Highly doubt it, the guy isn't even 19 yet. There's really no rush, let him play at least one more year at BU. I think Grzelcyk is a lock to turn pro, so he'd surely play a lot of minutes next year.

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TSN schedule for Flames prospects:

Fri. Mar. 27 Boston University vs. Yale ESPNU TSN2 2 p.m. ET

TSN will not show he Providence/Miami game.

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Sweet photo

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Hickey article in the Boston Herald. Last Flames prospect to be written about in that paper was okay

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/c...a_steady_force

BU second-year coach David Quinn is among Hickey’s biggest boosters.

“There’s been no lulls in his game, and if there has been a lull . . . he reacts,” Quinn said. “He was really frustrated with his first period against New Hampshire (a 4-1 BU win in the Hockey East semifinals), and I thought after that he played very well. That says an awful lot about his mental toughness.”

The 6-foot-2 Hickey, a third-round pick (64th overall) by the Calgary Flames in 2014, led Hockey East in blocked shots (49) during conference play. He leads BU in overall blocks (86) and is tied for second with a plus-17 rating. He plays the point on the power play and has five goals and 11 assists.

Hickey has delivered on the promise seen by BU recruiters Steve Greeley and Albie O’Connell while he was playing in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.

“We were really excited when we got him. We knew his game translated well to our level,” Quinn said. “He excelled (in the AJHL), and we thought that he’d be able to excel here. He has great demeanor about him. He obviously skates so well. He’s physical. He moves the puck well and . . . shoots the puck as well as anyone in our league.

“There’s a lot to his game, and it bodes well for us and for him moving forward.”

[getbak]

TSN has expanded their scheduled coverage and will now be carrying every game of the tournament (a couple will only be online): http://www.bellmedia.ca/pr/press/tsn...-championship/

Unfortunately, the Providence game on Saturday will be joined in progress, but that's better than the original plan of not broadcasting it at all.


The first game goes tomorrow at noon on TSN2. Boston University (Eichel and Hickey) vs Yale. If BU wins, their second game will precede Providence's game on Saturday on TSN2.

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Mark Divver @MarkDivver
Friars wrapping up practice @ Dunk.
Lines: Luke-Mauermann-Mingoia
Saracino-Acciari-Pinho
Demopoulos-Jankowski-MacPhee
McParland-Rooney-Tanev