Final Four to Frozen Four

Monday night's beat down of Michigan State by the North Carolina seemed to be the end of the road for some. For most actually the next time they will care about college sports will be NCAA World Series in Omaha. However hope for those needing a true cinderella story look no further then Bemidji State's Men Hockey appearance in the Frozen Four.
Then comes the stroke of midnight, seriously the timing of the NCAA Frozen Four in Washington DC happens to same time the Masters takes center stage. Granted nothing will trump the story lines or the traditions that is the Masters, but where else are you going to see a 16 seed have the chance to go all the way. You know they didn't get there playing some b-class school, after all this is hockey. After starting their season 1-5 they grind their way to a record of 20-15-1 entering the tournament. Unlike the field of 64 that sees every 16 seed meet their fate of a No 1. warm up game go right by them like a tourist stop this BSU hockey team opening round game was up against overall No. 2 seed (No 1 in the four team regional bracket) Norte Dame. The Beavers going into the game versus the Fighting Irish were your biblical David v. Goliath. They didn't just throw one stone at the Irish, they put five past them to cement their first game of the tournament. They make school history in dramatic fashion taking down their brackets No. 1 seed. Good luck betting on that to happen in next years hopes tourney.
The next day still riding on their win they ended Cornell's season with another 4-1 blow out. Cornell even had the upper hand in this game, as they got one by BSU's goalie Matt Dalton. While it was only the second goal he had given up all tournament, it could have opened the flood gates for a Cornell team that averaged two or more goals in its wins this season. Yet Bemidji State matched Cornell's physical play with a line up that averages 180 lbs and has seven freshmen.
Much like any tournament it isn't all about what you did in the regular season, it is about getting hot at the right time. A team as hot as BSU right now can be dangerous on any ice rink. The brick walls they have standing in their way is having 11 days off from their last two games, and going up against a Miami (Ohio) squad that played solid hockey. The Redhawks have made an impressive run taking down the No. 3 overall seed Denver, and then beating Minn. Duluth. Hockey is however a long season, and at this point it is one more win and your in the Saturday Championship game vs. either Vermont or No 1 overall seed Boston U. It is hard to say what any of these teams will do after playing at such a high level to take 11 days off and deal with the media, their families, practices, coaches, friends, etc. It will be entertaining one way or another and teams that do have high seeding in this tournament have been put on notice. The only that matters at the end is scoreboard.

In post-script here I must speak to that while the masses will be doing most of their holy week praying at Amen Corner, i implore anyone to switch a bit, back and forth between the putts and pucks. I promise you'll see some stars of tomorrow starting great careers on the main stage. Still don't believe me Bemidji State's former goaltender Matt Climiejust made another successful start for the Dallas Stars