Six Buffalo Sabres prospects will continue their seasons when the 2014 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament commences on Friday, March 28.
The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers (Hudson Fasching, Christian Isackson) earned the No. 1 overall seed and the anchor spot in the West Region in St. Paul. The Gophers will look to ride home-ice advantage when they begin play Saturday versus Robert Morris (5:30 ET, ESPN2). A member of the B1G All-Freshman Team, Fasching enters the tourney tied for second in team scoring with 12 goals.
Winners of the inaugural Big Ten Tournament Championship, the University of Wisconsin Badgers (Jake McCabe, Brad Navin) earned the No. 4 overall seed. Their strong finish gets the No. 1 spot in the Midwest Regional in Cincinnati. The Badgers open the tourney Friday versus North Dakota (8:00 ET, ESPNU). McCabe, who was named First Team All-Conference in the Big Ten, leads all Wisconsin defenders with eight goals and 25 points.
The Providence College Friars (Anthony Florentino, Mark Adams) earned the No. 11 overall spot, good enough to garner a No. 3 seed in the East Regional. The Friars will look to get strong goaltending from Jon Gillies (CGY) when they battle Quinnipiac Friday in Bridgeport (5:30 ET, ESPNU).
The entire field:
West
Minnesota vs. Robert Morris (Sat., 5:30 ET, ESPN2)
St. Cloud St. vs. Notre Dame (Sat. 9:00 ET, ESPNU)
Midwest
Wisconsin vs. North Dakota (Fri., 8:00 ET, ESPNU)
Colgate vs. Ferris State (Fri., 4:30 ET, ESPN3)
East
Union vs. Vermont (Fri., 2:00 ET, ESPNU)
Providence vs. Quinnipiac (Fri., 5:30 ET, ESPNU)
Northeast
Boston College vs. Denver (Sat., 4:00 ET, ESPN2)
UMass-Lowell vs. Minnesota State (Sat., 7:30 ET, ESPN3)
