Will GW once again be receiving the Gopher hockey team at the White House to congratulate them on another college hockey national championship? At this point your guess is as good as mine. I'm having a hard time getting a read on this year's Final Four which commences Thursday in Buffalo with New Hampshire facing Cornell in the semifinal opener (12:00pm EST? yeah those TV ratings will be just great) while the defending champion Minnesota Gophers versus Michigan in a rematch of last year's semifinal in the later game. Here goes nuthin':
1st Semifinal
After watching both these squads in the regionals a couple of weeks ago I was impressed with the goaltenders. Cornell's keeper gets all the pub but the UNH guy ain't a schmuck either. I'm still not sold on the Big Red and even though UNH will probably be missing their leading scorer I'm going with the Wildcats 3-2.
2nd Semifinal
Both teams enjoyed home ice in the regionals which no doubt eased their path to the Final Four. In fact the Gophers haven't really had a road game for over a month beginning with a playoff series against Michigan Tech, the WCHA Final Five in St. Paul, and the West Regionals. And their goaltending is still suspect. But they should have enough offense to get past Michigan in a nail biter possibly going into OT. Look for Grant Potulny to get the game winner. Minnesota 4 Michigan 3
Final
Last year I didn't think the Gophers had the goaltending to win the national title and Adam Hauser proved me wrong (at least for two games). This year I have similar doubts. Look for New Hampshire's goalie to be the difference and bring the Wildcats to the Promised Land. UNH 4 Minnesota 2
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