CARLTON PEAK…. As far as hockey fandom goes it would be hard to have a more enjoyable week then the one unfolding before us. This is the end of the NHL regular season with the playoff brackets still unsettled, and of course, the NCAA Men’s Frozen Four will take place as well. The Semi’s will be on Thursday and the Final will be on Saturday evening. The combatants for the tournament finale are Boston University, Providence, North Dakota and Nebraska-Omaha. Briefly, I think the offensive nod in the tourney has to go to BU. Featuring the number one-two scoring punch in the nation with potential number one or two overall pick (depending on who you talk to) in this years NHL entry draft, forward Jack Eichel, supported by teammate Evan Rodrigues, they can throw some fairly tough offense at you.

No other tourney entrant has a scorer in the top 30. From a team offense standpoint BU ranks second and NoDak is ranked eighth, Providence is 21st and UNO is 28th. On the stop the biscuit side of the ledger the team rank defensively is, Providence at 5th, NoDak at 7th, and BU and UNO are tied for the 12th position nationally. We should bear witness to some stout goaltending over the weekend too. By save percentage for goalies in the tourney, UNO’s Ryan Massa is tied for 1st in the country at .939, Zane McIntyre of NoDak is mere percentage points behind him at .931 for 6th in the nation, Jon Gillies from Providence is tied for 11th at .929 and BU’s Matt O’Connor is tied for 14th at .928.    

On special teams, on the power play BU is ranked at 2nd, NoDak is 18th, UNO is 19th and Providence is at 40th. On the penalty kill Providence is at 16th, NoDak is 24th, UNO is tied for 26th and BU is at 28th. So, stats are great, but where is the current and most recent mojo for each club? UNO is making their first F4 appearance ever. They may have the best coach in the tourney in I-Falls Dean Blais. He has 2 National titles under his belt from his NoDak tenure. Some think that their F4 inexperience will hamper them but I think Blais and Massa negate that factor.

Providence will make their first F4 showing in 30 years. Their strength is obviously in their defense which as the old cliché goes is what wins titles. Can the Friars ride their defensive prowess to a title? BU has the high flying offense and perhaps enough defense to get through and NoDak? It’s no secret that they are consistently good and have balance in their game. Well, who will do what with which to whom?

My real bracket at Pickemhockey was shot after day one. But here is how I see this tourney; in Game one and with respect to the other clubs, this just might be your Championship game, BU versus NoDak. I see BU squeaking by in this tilt. For G2, UNO versus Providence, I believe the stout defense of Providence will prevail. In the title game I see Ryan Massa coming up huge against a total offensive onslaught and winning the Friars the National title…..

I JUST STUMBLED ACROSS A story about old rock n’ roller Chubby Checker wondering why he wasn’t in the R n’ R Hall of Fame. And really, his body of work should probably qualify him. He is the only artist ever to have 5 albums in the Billboard top 12 at the same time. His song “The Twist” (#1) was popular world wide. Anyway, I saw Checker at an auditorium show years back. There was no stage and the equipment was setup right on the floor just feet away from where there was a gold rope to cordon off the audience. I was in the front row and 7 feet away from Chubby when he did that famous song. When the sax solo came up mid-song and Chubby ripped into his famous dance close enough to me to see him sweat, man oh man. This is one of the greatest energy songs ever, the duck bumps I had are etched upon my mind forever….

THE MINNESOTA WILD ARE still pursuing a clinched playoff spot. They play the Winnipeg Jets Monday eve and I look for a very tough game. Last Thursday they had a tough loss against the Eastern Conference leader NY Rangers and lost another home tilt Saturday against the Red Wings.

The NYR tilt came on the heels of a 4 day break for the team. I expected them to come in with their timing and team play off a bit and I wasn’t disappointed. They looked better in the 3rd period but could not overcome the Rangers. A 3-2 loss and no points. Saturday they took the game to an 8 round shootout and lost (3-2) but did obtain a standings point. They have 4 tough ones coming up, Jets/Mon, Hawks/Tues, Nash/Thur and STL/Sat. The Fan Jr and I will be at the STL-Hawks matchup Thurs and the STL/Wild tilt on Saturday afternoon. That means with the F4 in full swing, the DVR is going to get a workout.

In the West, NASH, CHI, STL and ANAH are out of reach and have playoff spots. That leaves the Wild, VAN, LA, CAL and WINN fighting it out for the other 4 available spots. I like the Wild’s chances of getting in but they will have to settle for a Wild Card spot. It’s unlikely they would catch the upper 3 teams in the Central division. The Wild-Jets game Mon eve will be epic. The Wild can clinch with a victory and the Jets can keep their hopes alive with a win. I am looking forward to this contest. In the East, MON, NYR, WASH and TAMPA have clinched leaving BOS, DET, OTT, NYI and PITT competing for the other four. With the Pens in free fall, they may not hold on to their spot and that could allow OTT to sneak in. They went 7-8 in March, are 0-3 in April, and they are 3-6-1 in their L10. Time to break up Sid and Geno? Yah, that’s what I would do. And since Sid is not going anywhere, Geno would have to be the trade bait. Any takers? PEACE

 Marc Elliott is a sports opinion writer who splits his time between his hometown in Illinois and Minnesota