The field for the 16-team NCAA Hockey Championship Tournament was announced yesterday, and as expected Michigan is in. They were in anyway, but winning the Big Ten Tournament gave them the automatic bid as well.
There are two reasons to mention this:
1) If you’re inclined to be willing to watch (even if you’re rooting for them to lose), you can see Zach Werenski’s Michigan team play on Friday. They host Notre Dame on Friday at 5:30 PM, which you can see on ESPNU.
2) When Michigan’s season ends, we can speculate about whether or not the Blue Jackets will try to sign Werenski to an ELC… and possibly throw him into an NHL game.
So, here are the important dates to know:
Friday, March 25
This is Michigan’s first game (out of a possible four). They play at 5:30 on ESPNU against Notre Dame. If they lose, their season is over.
Saturday, March 26
If Michigan wins on Friday, they will play the winner of Northeastern/North Dakota on Saturday at 6:00 PM. This can be watched on ESPN2. A win there would send them to the Frozen Four in Tampa.
Thursday, April 7
If Werenski and Michigan win their regional, they will play on Thursday, April 7 at either 5:00 PM or 8:30 PM, both of which would be on ESPN2.
Saturday, April 9
The National Championship. If Michigan gets this far, they would play in the title game, which is on ESPN at 8:00 PM.
So, there you go. If you’re interested in seeing if the Jackets can/will sign Werenski to an ELC this spring and try to get him into a game or two, clearly you want Michigan to lose (most of you probably do anyway) either Friday or Saturday. If you’re interested in seeing the kid get some more big game experience, then Go Blue! (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.)