CCHA Tournament 2012: Western Michigan Beats Michigan In Championship Game

For the first time since 1986, Western Michigan has won the CCHA tournament. The Broncos clinched the 2012 tournament title with a 3-2 victory over Michigan in the championship game on Saturday night.

Just like Friday night, Michigan found itself in a hole. The Wolverines fell behind 3-0 to Western Michigan and needed a big comeback in the third period. Unlike last night, the Wolverines didn't complete the comeback. They were able to get two goals back in the third, and they nearly scored the game-tying goal on an extended power play, but Western Michigan managed to hang on to win the game, 3-2.

For the Broncos, not only did they win the CCHA tournament, but they also clinched a trip to the NCAA tournament. They will receive the CCHA's automatic bid to the tournament, while Michigan will make the field of 16 teams as an at-large seed.

Based on the current PairWise Rankings, Michigan is actually slated to be a No. 1 seed in the tournament. Western Michigan projects as one of the No. 4 seeds along with Michigan State.

CCHA Championship 2012: Michigan Beats Bowling Green In Double Overtime, Advances To Title Game

A week ago on Friday, Michigan beat Notre Dame in double overtime to take a 1-0 series lead. The Wolverine won again on Saturday to advance to the CCHA semifinals, where another win in double overtime was required on Friday night to move on. The Wolverines came back from a 2-0 deficit and beat Bowling Green in two overtimes to advance to the CCHA championship game.

For almost two full periods, it looked like Bowling Green's amazing run was going to continue. Despite being the No. 11 seed in the CCHA tournament, the Falcons found themselves up 2-0 and only 20 minutes and some change away from reaching the championship game. Then, with 10 seconds left in the second period, Michigan cut the lead in half on an odd goal by Jon Merrill that took a funny bounce into the net. Just like that, the Wolverines were only one goal away from tying things up with a full period left.

In the third period, Bowling Green's Andrew Hammond continued to play well in net and was keeping the Falcons on top. He couldn't do much when David Wohlberg scored the game-tying goal with less than three minutes to go in regulation, though. Derek DeBlois made a beautiful pass to Wohlberg, who was right in front of the net to bury the puck.

Neither team managed to score in the final minutes of regulation, nor in the first overtime. There were some close calls, though. Bowling Green hit the post once in overtime and Michigan drew iron twice. It wasn't until the second overtime began that Michigan closed out this game. A.J. Treais dangled his way past the Bowling Green defense and sent the puck into the crease. There was a mad scramble, and Luke Moffatt tipped the puck into the net for the game-winning goal. After 1:04 of the second overtime, Michigan won 3-2 to move on to the championship game.

In the championship game at 7:35 p.m. on Saturday night, Michigan will take on Western Michigan. The Broncos rolled over Miami (Ohio) by a score of 6-2 earlier on Friday to clinch a spot in the championship game. Bowling Green, meanwhile, will face Miami in the third-place game at 3:35 p.m.

CCHA Championship 2012: Michigan Sweeps Notre Dame; MSU Swept By Miami

The semifinals are set for the 2012 CCHA championship. Michigan will face Bowling Green, the most surprising team in the nation right now, and Western Michigan will take on Miami (Ohio).

Michigan advanced to the semifinals by sweeping the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Yost Ice Arena. The Wolverines won 3-1 on Saturday night to finish off the sweep. That win came one day after Michigan beat Notre Dame 2-1 in double overtime to take a 1-0 series lead. On Saturday, the Wolverines didn't allow it to get that far and took care of business in regulation.

Bowling Green followed up its 3-2 overtime victory on Friday with a 7-4 loss on Saturday, forcing a third and deciding game in the series. On Sunday, the Falcons climbed out of a big hole at Ferris State to make it to the semifinals. The Falcons were down 3-0 after the first period in Sunday's game, but they battled back to tie it up and send it to overtime. In the extra session, Bowling Green's Dan De Salvo scored his third goal of the game and ended the series only 2:30 into overtime.

Because Bowling Green is the lowest seed in the tournament and Michigan is the highest remaining seed with Ferris State out, the Falcons and Wolverines will meet in the semifinals on Friday.

The other matchup in the semifinals is between Miami (Ohio) and Western Michigan. Both teams swept their respective series. Western Michigan beat Lake Superior 4-2 on Friday and 5-2 on Saturday to advance on in the tournament. Miami (Ohio) smoked Michigan State 6-0 on Friday and 4-1 on Saturday to move on to play the Broncos.

Currently, the start times for Friday's games are to be determined. One of the semifinals will take place at 4:35 p.m. and the other will be played at 8:05 p.m. If the CCHA were smart, it would put Michigan in the early game since the Wolverines' game against Ohio in the NCAA basketball tournament is at 7:20 p.m. on Friday. Doing so would avoid a conflict for fans and be the smart move. Knowing the CCHA, however, I would bet on Michigan/Bowling Green being played at 8:05 p.m.

Both of the semifinals will be shown on FOX Sports Detroit Plus. The championship game will be on FOX Sports Detroit at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. The third-place game for the two teams that lose on Friday will be held at 3:35 p.m. on Saturday.

UPDATE: As expected, Michigan's game against Bowling Green will begin at 8:05 p.m. Miami and Western Michigan will play in the earlier game.

CCHA Tournament 2012: Michigan Beats Notre Dame In Double Overtime; Michigan State Blown Out By Miami

The 2012 CCHA tournament quarterfinals began on Friday night with eight teams in action. There were four games and two of them went to overtime, including the matchup between Michigan and Notre Dame in Ann Arbor.

To be specific, the Wolverines and Fighting Irish needed two overtimes to settle their game on Friday night at Yost Ice Arena. Michigan actually scored 1:08 into the game on a goal by Luke Glendening, but Notre Dame's Steven Summerhays shut them down after that. Shawn Hunwick was playing out of his mind for Michigan, but Notre Dame finally managed to put the puck past him at the 11:23 mark of the third period. Neither team scored in the final part of the third period, and neither team scored in the first overtime. The game didn't end until Chris Brown netted the game-winning goal for Michigan 3:11 into the second overtime.

The other overtime game on Friday night produced a stunning upset. Bowling Green, the No. 11 seed in the tournament, beat the No. 1-seeded Ferris State Bulldogs on the road by a score of 3-2 in overtime. Ryan Carpenter scored with less than three minutes to play in the first overtime to give the Falcons the win.

The other two games on the schedule Friday night were not quite as exciting. Michigan State, for example, was defeated 6-0 by Miami (Ohio). In Kalamazoo, Western Michigan beat Lake Superior 4-2.

The quarterfinals will continue on Saturday night with four more games. Notre Dame, Ferris State, Michigan State and Lake Superior need to win to force a third and deciding game on Sunday.

CCHA Tournament 2012: Michigan To Take On Notre Dame In Quarterfinals

The quarterfinals are set for the 2012 CCHA tournament. A rather uneventful weekend saw all but one of the higher seeds advance out of the first round. The only higher seed that didn't advance was Northern Michigan, which was upset by last-place Bowling Green in the only series that went three games.

Because Bowling Green did advance to the quarterfinals, Michigan ended up drawing Notre Dame for its opponent this weekend in the CCHA tournament. The Wolverines would have played Lake Superior had every single higher seed advanced, but with Bowling Green moving on, the Fighting Irish will be headed to Yost Arena this weekend.

Here's a look at the matchups for the quarterfinals:

No. 1 Ferris State vs. No. 11 Bowling Green

No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 8 Notre Dame

No. 3 Western Michigan vs. No. 7 Lake Superior

No. 4 Miami (Ohio) vs. No. 5 Michigan State

These best-of-three series will be held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday if necessary. The four winners will advance to the semifinals, which will be held at Joe Louis Arena on Friday, March 16. The third-place and championship games are slated for Saturday, March 17 in Detroit.

CCHA Tournament 2012: Matchups Set For First Round

The 2012 CCHA tournament begins this weekend with three matchups. Five teams, including Michigan and Michigan State, don't begin play until the quarterfinals since they received a first-round bye.