'M,' Princeton to face off

One cliché reigned supreme at the NCAA Hockey West Regional coaches' press conference yesterday: Experience, or lack thereof, will play a major role in which teams move on to the final four in Boston.

While appearing in the NCAA tournament has become an annual event for teams like Michigan, Michigan State and North Dakota, the other three teams in the West Regional have considerably less experience.

Yale is making its first appearance in the NCAA tournament in 46 years. Princeton and Ohio State have never appeared in the tournament.

And when the four teams take the ice this weekend, experience could be a big factor.

Tonight's 8:30 game between third-seeded Michigan and No. 6 seed Princeton will feature a matchup between a perennial power and one of the most improbable teams in the tournament - the Princeton Tigers.

While the Wolverines (30-11-1) have been one of the top teams in the country all season, the Tigers (18-10-7) have remained consistently average, but made it into the field of 12 by winning the ECAC tournament championship last week.

"What our guys did last week was very inspirational," Princeton coach Don Cahoon said. "We played six games in nine nights and managed to win five out of the six."

Even though Michigan has played in the NCAA tournament the past four seasons, this year will be a different experience for the Wolverines. Michigan is without its traditional first-round bye for the first time since 1991, when the NCAA adopted the current playoff format.

"We're not the team we were last year," Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "Last year at this time we had seven 20-goal scorers - we have two on this team. We're not the run-and-gun team that we would like to think we are.

"And we're not the favorite team in this tournament. We're a bit of an underdog," he said.

In tonight's 5 p.m. game, the matchup between the fifth-seeded Bulldogs (23-8-3) and No. 4 Ohio State (25-12-2) features two teams that weren't expected to make the NCAA tournament.

Before the season, the Buckeyes were picked by the coaches to finish eighth in the CCHA, but on the momentum of a strong second half of the season - closing 13-2-1 - Ohio State finished third in the CCHA regular season standings, and was the runner-up to Michigan State in the CCHA tournament.

Meanwhile, the ECAC coaches picked Yale to finish 10th in the 12-team ECAC.

But behind the play of Hobey Baker candidate Ray Giroux and goaltender Alex Westlund, the Bulldogs captured their first-ever ECAC title and the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament that comes with it.

In tomorrow's early game, the winner of the Ohio State-Yale contest will face off against No. 1 Michigan State (33-5-5), which won both the CCHA regular season and playoff titles.

Tomorrow's late game will feature the winner of the Michigan-Princeton game and defending national champion No. 2 North Dakota (30-7-1).

03-27-98