[MrMastodonFarm]

Mark Jankowski, John Gillies, and John Gilmour of the Providence Friars will be taking on Nebraska-Omaha at 3PM Mountain time on TSN 2, while Brandon Hickey and Boston University will face North Dakota at 6:30 in the semifinals for the NCAA title.

Couple things to start. Little early to start a game day thread but with the early start time of the Friars game thought it would be good to get it going the night before. Also, it's a huge game for the Flames as well so this might be totally missed by some so wanted to post it in the main forum. The prospects forum and this one get a lot of cross over lately so thought it was okay. Figured it would be the de facto game threads for both as well. If a mod wants to move it to the sub forum, by all means.

I'm not much of a writer so I'll just copy and past and steal from others!

Big credit to sureLoss and the underrated getbak for lots of information and links.
http://www.sbncollegehockey.com/hock...d-garden-espn2

Junior Jon Gillies is a potential difference maker for the Friars. The Calgary Flames prospect is as good a goaltender as there is in Division I when he's on top of his game. He's big, he covers the net front, he squares up to shooters and he eats up or deflects rebounds into the corner. As Leaman said after the team's win in the East Regional Final over Denver, Gillies needs to be the team's best player in order for the Friars to advance.

Gillies is the difference maker for Providence but if you watched the two tournament games for the Friars two weekends ago you know that despite putting up only one assist how important Jankowski is for that team and how good he was in those games specifically.

This is directly stolen from getbak in the prospects forum.

Frozen Four Media Day for the Friars...

They were joined on the ice for the first time since last season by Drew Brown. Brown would have been a senior this season, but missed the entire year undergoing treatment for cancer, which was diagnosed shortly after the season ended last year. He received the word that he's cancer-free just last week.

That should be a nice inspiration for the team.


Remember: Before the Flames game tomorrow, you can watch Providence take on Omaha at 3:00pm MT on TSN2. The BU-North Dakota game is at 6:30pm MT, also on TSN2 (unless the first game runs long). The winners of the two games meet on Saturday at 5:30pm MT, again on TSN2.

The video he posted as well.


Calgary Sun write up from earlier today.
http://www.calgarysun.com/2015/04/08...y-championship

With former Boston College Eagles standout Johnny Gaudreau now signed, sealed and delivering as a rookie at the Saddledome, there’s not nearly as much buzz in Calgary about the latest instalment of the NCAA’s Frozen Four.



There’s still plenty of reason for fans in Southern Alberta to set their PVRs for Thursday’s collegiate semifinals in Boston.

GM Treliving's thoughts on the four Flames prosepects involved
Gillies

Treliving’s take: “Obviously, the first thing you notice with Jon is his size, but he’s not just a big body. He’s a big body who has tremendous athletic ability. It’s a real rare combination, quite frankly, in terms of a guy that big and that athletic. There’s a real poise to him. He has a mature game. As big as he is, as athletic as he is, there’s a quiet maturity to his game. He’s not somebody who over-works or overdoes it in terms of his movements. And he has hockey sense. Some people, sometimes, don’t think that hockey IQ is important in goaltenders. It’s really important, in terms of being able to read plays and those types of things.”

Could be Gillies last College game, lots of talk of him signing with the Flames this summer.

Gilmour

Treliving’s take: “He’s a real mobile, puck-moving defenceman. He plays on both special-teams units. Great feet, good mobility. I like his ability to move the puck. He can make short- and long-range passes, and he’s a heads-up player. He’s able to see plays, create plays and transition a puck out of his end. A big part of defending now is being able to go back and get the puck and get it out of your end so that you’re not defending, and John does that real well. He’s still got work to do, but he’s got really good feet and a good sense, a good head for the game.”

Jankowski

Treliving’s take: “He continues to mature physically. A big, long body. Really long reach. A really good skill-set. He has some offensive ability and I think he’s learning to play away from the puck and play in all three zones. Not necessarily learning to play, but he’s really taken a step forward in that regard. What we’ve seen is he’s continuing to have, even as this season has gone along, more and more of an impact on the game. I think it was noted at the time that he was drafted that it’s a work in progress with Mark. There’s some really attractive attributes to this player — size, centreman, he has the ability to make plays. For him, it’s just continuing to mature and develop, physically more than anything else.”

Hickey

Treliving’s take: “His development curve has probably spiked more than a lot of guys in his first year. He’s at a good program and went into a good situation — I think they were graduating four defenceman from last year so there was opportunity right from the get-go, and Brandon grabbed it. He’s got tremendous feet. This guy is very mobile, has really good edges. He has the ability to transport pucks, either by passing or with his feet. We always liked his ability to defend. He’s not necessarily going to run your over, although he’s become much more physical this year. He’s adding a physical element to his game. He has an excellent stick. His defending, for a young guy at that level, I think has been tremendous. We’ve really liked the year that he has had.”

Jay Feaster @therealjfeaster

Good luck 2 @FriarsHockey at #FrozenFour! .@JGillies32 @Janko61 @johngilmour93 & @tfeaster92! For the record, YES, on @Janko61 I would again

Again, I think a Game Day/Game Thread will be well served on the main board for these two games, and it's a major heads up to anyone who wants to see four good young potential Flames play before the huge match up our Calgary Flames have against the Kings tomorrow.

Go Providence, Boston University and Calgary Flames Go!