Buds Board Keepers League

I think it's amazing that Mckay has a 1.27 GAA and only 2 shutouts.

Actually he had 10 shutouts this year...he's the all-time shutout leader in NCAA history.

There were some goalies who had crazy good seasons. Perets with Quinnipiac had 11 shutouts. He and St. Cyr both had microscopic GAA...both under 1.20.

A lot of love was thrown at Devon Levi...he had 10 shutouts and the best SV% in nation. There was support for him for Hobey Baker over McKay.

McKay is statistically one of the best goalies in NCAA history. He was a finalist for the award last year. His season this year is very comparable to what Ryan Miller put up when he won the award. It's almost a career achievement award but he's been great all 4 years.

McKay gets the Hobey Baker. Title game is tonight.

The exodus at Michigan has begun. Johnson signed with Columbus but undrafted Nick Blankenberg also joined him with the Blue Jackets. He was a senior this year so his college career was done anyway. Also, Power signs with the Sabres. All three contracts kick in right now.

Shoalzie wroteCOLONActually he had 10 shutouts this year...he's the all-time shutout leader in NCAA history.

There were some goalies who had crazy good seasons. Perets with Quinnipiac had 11 shutouts. He and St. Cyr both had microscopic GAA...both under 1.20.

A lot of love was thrown at Devon Levi...he had 10 shutouts and the best SV% in nation. There was support for him for Hobey Baker over McKay.

McKay is statistically one of the best goalies in NCAA history. He was a finalist for the award last year. His season this year is very comparable to what Ryan Miller put up when he won the award. It's almost a career achievement award but he's been great all 4 years.

I knew that couldn't be right... Why does EP say 2 shutouts for 21-22?

Tournament brackets will come out today. All the conference tournaments were decided yesterday.

Merrimack is right on the edge of making it but it looks like only two teams from the top 16 will get bumped out of the tournament with Colgate and Canisius earning bids.

Michigan edged Minnesota for the Big Ten title. The Gophers were probably in good standing to get the #1 overall seed regardless how last night ended. Michigan will get a 1 seed after their win.

Shaping up to be a very good field for the tournament today. A lot of the top players who will be turning pro will still be in action for at least one more week. Devon Levi already signed with the Sabres since Northeastern was knocked out early in the Hockey East tournament last week. Most of the Hobey Baker finalists are going to make the tournament.

Early impressions on the tournament draw...the Manchester regional is tough. 3 of the top 5 offensive teams and to counter that...Cornell is the 2nd best defensive team in the nation. BU-Western Michigan is probably the best game of the first round.

I like Michigan's regional. It won't be easy but it's way more favorable than Manchester for instance. Michigan took 3 out of 4 against Penn State this year. Tech's best player is the goalie Pietila. You hate having to face a top goalie in these one-game scenarios. If Penn State survives Tech, then they have face Michigan's offense. They hadn't faced them since Nazar came back into the lineup.

I like the Gophers' chances at getting out of the Fargo regional. They face the lowest rated team in the tournament out of the gate with Canisius. They'd have to face a fellow Minnesota program in the regional finals. They split with Minnesota State and lost to a close game to St. Cloud back in January.

Bridgeport's regional with Quinnipiac...my darkhorse of the tournament is Harvard but Quinnipiac beat them in both games this season. Harvard is a top offensive team and a lot of experience. From a selfish prospect standpoint...I have two goalie prospects in this regional with Dobes for Ohio State and Ollas with Merrimack. I'll have a close eye on them.

As a Canadian we get pretty much no coverage or news about this tournament at least in my local GTA market. There will be some talk about who might win the Hobey Baker award and some talk about which NCAA free agents might sign and that's it.

I'm sure US college hockey coverage in Canada is on par with the CHL coverage down here. I follow junior hockey more from a prospect standpoint but I've taken more of an interest in Flint and Saginaw in the OHL. I pay way more attention to the CHL than I do for the USHL.

If you get a chance, you should check out the Chicago Steel, though. Jayden Perron is a decent prospect for the 2023 draft, but Mack Celebrini--the 2024 draft prospect--is an excellent prospect. Here was summary from a game about a month ago:

"Sensational player. Whip smart, dedicated at both ends, superb work ethic, skills, passing, shot. He's the entire package and he plays the game like he was born to it. Excellent prospect. Just so much fun to watch."

Here's a link to all of my notes on him:

https://hockeyprophets.com/index.php/62 ... kcelebrini

What little I pay attention to the USHL, it's obviously draft-related and I'm curious of those guys who are going to move onto college hockey.

Celebrini will be a BU Terrier next season. The obvious comparison to seeing him play there will be Jack Eichel's freshman year in 2014-15. 71 points in 40 games is a huge season in today's NCAA. That's what made Kyle Connor's season at Michigan '15-16 really impressive...he had 71 points in 38 games.

Gaudreau's season prior to Eichel...he was a 2 point per game player in his final year at Boston College (80 points in 40 games). Paul Kariya's 100-point season in his first year at Maine is the most memorable in my time following college hockey.

Fantili with 61 points in 33 games this year is tremendous. The 60-70 point range is the new normal in terms of excelling at the college level. Celebrini's draft year will be fascinating to follow. You're not going to see a Bedard-like season in college hockey...obviously a lot less games played.

Tough to watch everything with a busy NHL night and the start of the Sweet 16 in hoops...glad the BU-Western Michigan game will be this afternoon.

Feeling good about my BU pick for the Frozen Four...they ran over Western Michigan. I was listening to Chris Peters' most recent podcast...he and I are lockstep on the Frozen Four...BU, Michigan, Minnesota and Harvard.

Ohio State is absolutely dominating Harvard today... I'm pretty surprised by this. It's not even close

Only 8 shots through two periods? Stunning to see a team with a lot of talent and experience getting worked like this. Pains me to give Ohio State any props but they've dismantled Harvard.

It was pretty funny going to bed last night with Canisius tied with Minnesota after one and then I saw the final score and just chuckled.

I wish this was televised in Canada, with all the tsn/sn channels you’d think they’d pick it up.

8s are wild for the Big Ten today. Blowout central

Utter brutality by the Big Ten teams so far. I only watched Michigan through the 2nd period before calling it night. I can't say I'm shocked to see them try to hang a bigger number on Colgate than what the other 3 teams did. They tacked on 3 goals after a butt-ending major penalty in the third.

I'm hoping we see some competitive games in the regional finals. Cornell shutting out Denver was mildly competitive at 2-0 but the other 7 were very one-sided.

From what I saw, pretty good games yesterday. FAU-Kansas State completely stole attention last night.

Michigan swept the two games against Penn State at Yost in late January. They were shutout and won in OT in Happy Valley in November. This regional is practically in Penn State's backyard in Allentown. I'll be curious to see if they get a bit of a home ice advantage today with the local crowd.

Much better regional finals.

As expected, a very partisan crowd in Allentown last night for Penn State. Too many power plays to give to an offense like Michigan...the tying goal seemed inevitable. Portillo is the guy I worry about going forward but he played well getting a fair amount of rubber his way. His rebound control has been a concern in the past.

Rematch of last year's regional final for Michigan when they face Quinnipiac in Tampa. I don't see Michigan hanging 7 on them like last year...that was a crazy game.

Watched the (recorded) Big10 title game yesterday to take some notes on Brindley. Usually when I’m taking notes, I don’t watch the “game” at all because the focus is so narrow, but that was a rare circumstance of a game being so good you can’t help but watch. Would be big fun to get that rematch for the NCAA championship next weekend.