Thursday and Friday at 2 p.m., RDS.ca will feature two Frozen Four road games involving CH prospects, Boston University v. Western Michigan and Harvard v. Ohio State.
More than 16 teams can still aspire to qualify for the Frozen Four, the end-of-season tournament in American college hockey.
Among these teams, there are five hopefuls belonging to the Montreal Canadiens, while Boston University (Lane Hutson and Luke Tuch), Harvard (Sean Farrell), Ohio State (Jakub Dobes) and Rhett Pitlick (Minnesota) are still in the running.
Ranked 5th in the country, Hutson and the Terriers (26-10-0) clinched their ticket by finishing first in the Hockey East division, in addition to winning the playoffs in their section.
With 145 goals this season, Jay Pandolfo’s players ranked 3rd in the NCAA for offensive output (3.92 goals on average), behind the University of Michigan Wolverines and the University Golden Gophers. of Minnesota.
Unsurprisingly, Hutson will be the player to watch Thursday against No. 12 Western Michigan, despite turning 19 just a month ago. The young rear with impressive offensive skills found himself among the last ten candidates for the Hobey-Baker Trophy.
The 62nd overall pick in the 2022 draft has a stunning goals-for-goals-against ratio of 71-28. Conversely, when he is not on the ice for Boston U, the ratio is quite tight, at 74-70.
The Terriers’ opponents in this Manchester-area game, the Broncos (23-14-1), have just three players selected by NHL clubs: Wyatt Schingoethe (Toronto), Jack Perbix (Anaheim) and Carter Shepherd (Florida).
Farrell and Harvard on a roll
Twenty-four hours later, Friday at 2 p.m., the RDS.ca will also webcast the duel between Harvard (No. 7) and Ohio State (No. 9).
Finalist at the Hobey-Baker, Farrell was the undisputed leader of the Crimson (24-7-2) with his harvest of 20 goals and 32 assists for a total of 52 points in his season sophomore.
The dynamic left-winger is only the third Crimson skater since 1995 to amass at least 50 points on a calendar, the other two being Dominic Moore (51 in 2002-03) and Jimmy Vesey (58 in 2014-15)
With great consistency in the regular season, Harvard has never lost two games in regulation for the entire campaign.
Since returning from the holiday break, the team led by Ted Donato is the best in the country, with a record of 16-5-1 and a goal differential of plus-36.
Harvard has several NHL draft picks, including Matt Coronato (Calgary), Henry Thrun (drafted by Anaheim, traded to San Jose), Alex Laferriere (Los Angeles) and Mitchell Gibson (Washington).
Recognized for being a primarily defensive club, Ohio State (20-15-3) will have a lot to do to slow down Harvard’s powerful attack.
If she succeeds, it will probably be partly attributable to the hope of CH Jakub Dobes, a serious candidate for the Mike-Richter trophy.
The 21-year-old Czech, 5th round pick in 2020, hasn’t posted as good an efficiency as in 2021-2022 (.918 compared to .934), but his goals against average remains worthy of mention, at 2 ,33.
Interesting fact: Dobes, who kept goal almost all year for the Buckeyes – only 38 minutes eluded him – posted a .928 efficiency when he and his teammates were shorthanded.
Complete weekly game schedule
THURSDAY
Boston University vs. Western Michigan (14 h, RDS)
St. Cloud State c. Minnesota State (17 h)
Denver c. Cornell (17 h 30)
Minnesota c. Canisius (9 p.m.)
Friday
Harvard c. Ohio State (14 h, RDS)
Penn State c. Michigan Tech (17 h)
Quinnipiac c. Merrimack (17 h 30)
Michigan c. Colgate (20 h 30)
SATURDAY
Manchester Regional Final (5:30 p.m.)
Fargo Regional Final (8 p.m.)
Sunday
Bridgeport Regional Final (4 p.m.)
Allentown Regional Final (6:30 p.m.)