2008 NCHA Playoff Preview 
The road to the Peters Cup rolls through Cornerstone...again.

Quarterfinals: February 22-23
Semifinals: March 1
Finals: March 8

Another regular season is in the books and the 2008 Peters Cup Playoffs are upon us.  For the Yellowjackets and their fans, it's a chance to wipe the slate clean and prove that they are a better team than their fourth place standing finish indicates.  Picked to finish fifth by the league's coaches in the pre-season poll, the 'Jackets picked up just enough points to sneak back into the top four and draw a home playoff series in the first round.  "We're not thrilled with a fourth-place finish because we had a chance to finish higher," said head coach Dan Stauber.  "Don't get me wrong, we're very happy to have the first round at home.  We'll take that over going on the road any day.  But we also know that we could have finished higher."

The NCHA appears to have hit the stage of ultimate parity.  Going into the final weekend, only two playoff spots had been solidified, five teams had the ability to host in the first round and six teams were jockeying for position, separated by a mere six points.  "This was one of the tightest races I can ever remember in this league," Stauber said.  "It truly was that year where anyone could beat anyone on any night and that should make the post-season really interesting."  The parity has put teams in a position where they will have to win the Peters Cup in order to get in the NCAA tournament.  Outside of St. Norbert, no team has the ability to secure an at-large bid to the tournament, largely due to the losses and ties teams suffered within the conference.  "You will see teams playing with a new sense of urgency that you haven't seen all season," Stauber said.  "For seven teams, it's must-win.  There is no second chance from here on out."

To many, the league appears to be down when compared to past years, that the depth isn't what it was.  Offense was down in the league, with just one player (Tyler Dahl of River Falls) eclipsing 40 points on the season.  Conversely, defenses were stingy and three starting goaltenders had goals against averages below 2.00.  All eight starters also had save percentages over .900 and six of them are over .910.  "I think part of it is the fact that there are just some really good goaltenders in the league right now.  The other part of it can be that coaches today tend to coach a little more defensive," Stauber said.  "For a coach, it is often easier to coach a game and teach kids how not to get scored on as opposed to trying to get them to generate more offense.  I don't think this is something that is exclusive to our league.  It is something that is a trend all across hockey and it has just found its way down to the Division III level."

Regardless, there are eight teams in the NCHA and all of them have the same record heading into round one.  All eight have the chance to win the playoff and all eight have their sights set on the NCAA tournament.  In three weeks we'll know if it will be just one, or possibly two teams that will make it into the final ten and play for a chance to go to Lake Placid in March.

"We're well aware of where we stand and what we need to do to advance.  We know we have to win the whole thing to get it, and it all starts with two games against Eau Claire," Stauber said.  "They are a team that played us tough.  They don't score much, but they don't give up much either.  They work very hard and do the little things right.  It's up to us to fight through that and make them play the way we want them to play.  If we just play our game and work hard, we should be fine."

The first round of the playoffs is a best-of-three format.  The first team to claim three points will be declared the winner of the series.  Should the two teams be tied after the two games, a 20-minute mini-game will be played following the second game.  Games that are tied at the end of regulation will have a five-minute sudden death overtime period, just as in the regular season.  If there is no winner after five minutes, the game will be declared a tie.  If a mini-game is tied at the end of 20 minutes, it will go into overtime and go until a winner is decided.  Below is a capsule of each NCHA Quarterfinal series.

#1 St. Norbert College vs. #8 Lake Forest College
Friday, February 22 and Saturday, February 23 - 7:05 p.m.
Cornerstone Community Center - Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin
St. Norbert Audio Feed

2007-08 Meetings (Date, Location, Winner, Score)
January 19 at St. Norbert: St. Norbert 6-0
February 16 at Lake Forest: St. Norbert  6-2

Previous Playoff Meetings
First-ever playoff meeting

Of the four quarterfinal series in the NCHA this season, this is the one that least likely could result in an upset.  St. Norbert cruised to their ninth NCHA regular season title, and third with an undefeated record.  Lake Forest, conversely, has fallen on hard times since finishing as high as fourth place in the league in 2003, 2004 and 2006.  In January they defeated St. Scholastica, their first and only NCHA win in the last two seasons.  The Foresters scored one less goal in NCHA play than St. Norbert allowed.  Combine all of that with the fact that St. Norbert has been just short of unbeatable at home in the NCHA playoffs since moving into Cornerstone, and it appears that this series will be a two-game sweep that won't be close.

#2 UW-River Falls vs. #7 College of St. Scholastica
Friday, February 22 and Saturday, February 23 - 7:05 p.m.
W.H. Hunt Arena - River Falls, Wisconsin
WRFW Audio Feed

2007-08 Meetings (Date, Location, Winner, Score)
November 16 at St. Scholastica: River Falls 6-3
January 26 at River Falls: St. Scholastica 4-3, OT

Previous Playoff Meetings
Years: 2003, 2007
River Falls leads all-time series 2-1-0

This appears to be the most intriguing 2/7 matchup in NCHA playoff history, and could quite possibly be the best series of the first round.  St. Scholastica has only won two NCHA playoff games in their history, but both came last season and one was on the road against River Falls.  The two teams split their games during the regular season, with the road team winning each game.  In fact, the road team has won the last six games in this series.  The Falcons have a potent offense, led by the league's only 40-point scorer (Tyler Dahl) and the league's only 20-goal scorer (Pat Borgestad).  Their 113 goals made them one of just two NCHA teams to crack the 100-goal barrier this season.  While not as offensive as River Falls, the Saints are nearly as good in their own end and they are actually +1 in games played away from home.  Goaltender Steve Bounds has been consistent and at times very good, almost always giving the Saints a chance to win.  A series sweep is not out of the question either way in this series, and the likelihood of a mini-game is good. 

#3 UW-Stout vs. #6 UW-Stevens Point 
Friday, February 22 and Saturday, February 23 - 7:30 p.m.
Dunn County Arena - Menomonie, Wisconsin
Blue Devil Video Feed    WWSP Audio Feed

2007-08 Meetings (Date, Location, Winner, Score)
November 30 at Stout: Stout 6-3
February 2 at Stevens Point: 1-1, OT

Previous Playoff Meetings
Years: 2001, 2002, 2007
Stevens Point leads all-time series 4-2-0

The Blue Devils and the Pointers will meet for the fourth time in eight years in the first round of the NCHA playoffs, and for the third time the Blue Devils will have the home-ice advantage.  Dunn County Arena, for the reason of temperature alone, ranks at the top of most lists as the arena most hate to visit.  The Blue Devils love it, and dropped only three games on home ice in 2007-08.  They are, however, a team that could be heading in the wrong direction.  Stout started the season on fire, going 11-2-1.  Since the holiday break they are an average 4-5-2, including a tie against the Pointers three weeks ago.  Stevens Point, on the other hand, has been one of the NCHA's hottest teams, save the last two weeks.  The Pointers were riding an 11-game unbeaten streak until they limped to the season's finish line, closing out the year 0-2-1.  The Blue Devils have the #2 scoring offense in the NCHA, while the Pointers have the second best defense.  The Pointers are the most penalized team in the league, while the Blue Devils have been awesome on the power play.  Both are classic cases of "the irresistible force versus the immovable object."  Pointer goaltender Thomas Speer will be in the spotlight, as his 1.53 GAA and .944 SV% will be put to the test against a team that has five players with 20 or more points.  All of the properties exist for this series to be very tight, potentially giving us a mini-game.  If Stout gets the offense going and the Pointers begin taking penalties, however, things could get a little one-sided.

#4 UW-Superior vs. #5 UW-Eau Claire 
Friday, February 22 and Saturday, February 23 - 7:05 p.m.
Wessman Arena - Superior, Wisconsin
KUWS Audio Feed     ifan.tv Video Feed

2007-08 Meetings (Date, Location, Score, Winner)
December 8 at Superior: Eau Claire 3-1
February 8 at Eau Claire: Superior 2-1, OT

Previous Playoff Meetings
Years: 1998, 2000, 2001
Superior leads all-time series 6-0-0

A first-round playoff series at home used to mean an automatic trip to the second round for the Yellowjackets.  Nowadays that is not the case as Superior has been knocked out in the first round of the playoffs twice in the last four years (2004, 2007) while playing at home, and this year they appear more vulnerable than ever.  The 'Jackets showed an inability to finish games off, as is witnessed by their eight ties, but part of that is to be blamed on the  team's lack of offensive firepower, which suffered mightily when the team was ravaged by injury during the season's first half.  The team is only now getting fully healthy.  The 'Jackets endured their lowest scoring regular season since 1985-86 with only 79 goals.  But as punchless as the offense was at times, the defense shined, allowing two or fewer goals 15 times.  The Blugolds have scored even fewer goals than Superior and after defeating Superior in December dropped 8 of their last 13 games, including a streak of five in a row.  They seem to have found their groove heading into the post-season, outplaying Stevens Point in the season finale and taking both St. Scholastica and Superior to overtime the weekend before.  Eau Claire's hard forechecking, physical style seems to match up very well against a Superior team that doesn't necessarily like the rough stuff.  This could easily put Eau Claire in a position to win their first playoff game since 1994-95 and possibly their first playoff series.  Expect a low-scoring weekend at Wessman in a series that could easily be swept by either team.  A mini-game may not be out of the question, either.

'JACKET HOCKEY
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS: 1976, 2002
NCAA Frozen Four: 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
NCHA Playoff Champions: 1994, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006
NCHA Champions: 1994, 2001
WIAC Champions: 1992, 1994, 2002, 2003, 2004