I hope these reports aren’t exhausting yet because Predators’ prospects are playing a lot of hockey these days. It’s an exciting time: the CHL regular season wraps up this weekend, selection Sunday for the NCAA Tournament is right around the corner, and European league playoffs are in full swing. With that said, here’s an update on who’s doing what.
#18 Boston Terriers [NCAA]; Dante Fabbro, David Farrance & Patrich Harper
The Terriers swept UConn in their Hockey East Quarterfinal series winning game one 5-4 in overtime and game two 2-1. As a result, they’ve earned a date with their rival Boston College tonight in the Hockey East Semifinals at the TD Garden. The winner takes on either Providence College or Northeastern University in the Hockey East Championship game on Saturday.
This is a huge game for the Terriers. Not only is it a BC game, but a run at the Hockey East Championship would catapult the Terriers into an NCAA Tournament slot for sure.
Want to catch the action? You’re in luck! The game will be on ESPN3 at 4:00 pm Central Standard Time.
Jokerit [KHL]; Eeli Tolvanen
Eeli Tolvanen and Jokerit dispatched HC Sochi in five games in the opening round of the KHL playoffs. Now they face a tough test in CSKA – the team that swept them out of the first round last season. Make no mistake, these are both different rosters, but CSKA only allowed one goal in its first-round sweep of Spartak.
CSKA is backstopped by New York Islanders’ prospect Ilya Sorokin. He posted a stunning .931 SV% and 1.59 GAA this season and was spectacular in round one.
Tolvanen, who has five goals after round one, will face a much more defensively stout team in CSKA. Below is the schedule for the series:
For reference, 7:30 pm in Moscow is 11:30 am Central Standard Time.
#19 Bowling Green Falcons [NCAA]; Adam Smith
The Falcons lost their weekend series to Northern Michigan two games to one. After dropping game one by a score of 6-1, the Falcons took game two 1-0. In game three, the Falcons sent the game to overtime after tying it with 9 seconds to go, but it ultimately wasn’t enough.
Bowling Green awaits their fate on Sunday where they’ll most likely be on the outside looking in.
#12 North Dakota Fighting Hawks [NCAA]; Grant Mismash
The Fighting Hawks swept their Quarterfinal series against Omaha winning game one 4-0 and game two 4-3 in overtime. Similar to the Hockey East Tournament, they move on to face the St. Cloud State Huskies in the semifinals.
That game is this afternoon at 3:08 pm Central Standard Time. The winner moves on to face Denver or the University of Minnesota-Duluth in the championship game. This is a tough test for a desperate North Dakota team against the top squad in the nation. You can read more about North Dakota’s tournament hopes here.
Catch the game on the CBS Sports Network on cable or online.
Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers [DEL]; Taylor Aronson
The Ice Tigers began their series against Kolner Haie this week and find themselves tied at one game a piece with the Sharks. Game three is back in Nuremberg on Sunday.
Below is a look at the remainder of their first-round schedule.
HC Kometa Brno [Czech]; Karel Vejmelka
Martin Erat’s team won both of their first two quarterfinal games by a score of 3-2. Vejmelka, as expected, has not seen any minutes.
SKA-1946 [MHL]; Konstantin Volkov
Volkov started two of SKA’s three quarterfinal games as they swept Krylya Sovetov in the best-of-five series. SKA awaits the winner of Chekhov-Yaroslavl to complete the semifinals in the West with them, JHC Spartak, and Dynamo St. Petersburg.
HV71 [SHL]; Stefan Elliott
Elliott, and former prospect Victor Ejdsell, have been eliminated from the SHL playoffs. They were swept in their wild-card, best-of-three series against Linkopings HC.
Now turn your attention to those prospective Swedish free agents I mentioned earlier in the season.
Next week will be the last installment of our series featuring the CHL Playoffs and the NCAA Tournament.