7 Blackhawks Prospects Highlight NCAA Tournament Field
On Sunday morning, the NCAA released the brackets for the men’s hockey tournament. And Chicago Blackhawks prospects will play a big role in who competes in this year’s Frozen Four.
The Midwest Regional, played in Cincinnati, has Chicago prospects on all four rosters. Top seeded North Dakota will be led by Hawks prospects Nick Schmaltz and Luke Johnson against Northeastern, featuring sophomore forward Dylan Sikura. In the other game, freshman defenseman Dennis Gilbert and Notre Dame will try to slow down Tyler Motte and Michigan.
In the East Regional, forward John Hayden will lead third-seeded Yale against UMass-Lowell. The winner of that game will face the winner of top-seeded Quinnipiac and RIT.
Chris Calnan and Boston College will face Harvard in the Northeast Regional. The number one seed in that region, Providence, faces Minnesota-Duluth.
Here are the full brackets:
I watched parts of the semi’s and finals that Northeastern played. I thought Sikura was another little guy like Louis and Hinostroza but he is actually more like 5’11. He is a very smooth skater with nice hands. He definitely will stay in school for at least another year but I was impressed for a guy that I never really heard much about. He had three points in the two games as they won the conference tournament for the first time in a million years. Their game against North Dakota should be fun to watch. On the other hand Calnan was not noticeable at all in the BC-Northeastern game. Seems like he hasn’t had a strong year.