Frozen Four: All teams among top 13 in scoring

All four teams in the Frozen Four were among the top 13 in scoring offense. No real surprise there. What's odd, though, is how bunched three of the teams were in this stat:

North Dakota 4.14 goals per game, 2nd (behind Yale)

Notre Dame 3.44 10th

UMD 3.40 11th

Michigan 3.38 13th

On defense the Frozen Four teams were a little more spread out statistically. What is interesting is, the top two teams defensively play in the second game.

North Dakota 2.14 goals against average per game, 3rd

UMD 2.58 17th

Notre Dame 2.72 23rd

GOALIES RULE

This is a little odd, but did you know the four goalies expected to start on Thursday were the MVPs of the four regionals. A coach once said that the game of hockey should be called goalie, because whichever team has the best goalie usually wins.

Seems that was indeed the case two weekends ago in the regionals. Here were the MVPs:

Northeast: Mike Johnson, Notre Dame ... 5-10, 194, sophomore from Verona, Wis. ... played for Cedar Rapids in USHL ... No. 32

Midwest: Aaron Dell, North Dakota ... 6-0, 191, sophomore from Airdrie, Alberta ... played two seasons for Calgary Canucks of Alberta Jr. Hockey League ... No. 32

West: Shawn Hunwick, Michigan ... 5-7, 166 (he doubles in weight with his gear on), senior from Sterling Heights, Mich. ... played for the Petrola Jets of Western Ontario Hockey League in 2005-06 and the Alpena Ice Diggers of the NAHL in 2006-07 ... No. 31

WCHA VS. THE WORLD

WCHA teams are 56-27-12 in nonconference games this season with a chance to fatten up that .653 winning percentage a little more on Thursday when UMD plays Notre Dame and North Dakota plays Michigan.

UMD 7-0-1

Minnesota State 6-0-2

Wisconsin 8-1-1

North Dakota 5-2-1

Denver 5-2-2

Bemidji 4-2-0

Gophers 3-2-1

St. Cloud State 4-3-1

Alaska Anchorage 2-2-0

Under .500