February
13, 2008 - The Illini are hoping to play three games this coming weekend
in Champaign, but seven of the CSCHL's best will have something to say about
that as the league playoffs start this Friday at the U of I ice arena in Champaign.
The Illini, as the #1 seed, will be facing the #8 seed, Robert Morris College,
who the Illini just battled with this past weekend in Bensenville. The Illini
are looking for a repeat of last weekends performance, as they swept the Eagles
with scores of 6-1 and 5-2 in their last set of league games. The Illini, as
host of the tournament, will get the last games each day, which for Friday and
Saturday, will be the night games which start at 7:00pm, or normal game time
for the Illini. The first game of the playoffs, 10:00am on Friday, will feature
#4 Iowa State vs. #5 Kent State, followed by #3 Ohio vs. #6 Eastern Michigan
at 1:00pm. The late afternoon game will have #2 Lindenwood squaring off against
#7 Western Michigan. All of Saturdays games will depend of course on the outcome
of Fridays games. For more information on the playoffs, games schedules, and
results, please check out CSCHL-2008.IlliniHockey.com.
With all 8 teams ranked in the top 25 of the ACHA, and a good chance for 7 of
these teams to make the National Tournament, what kind of chance does the Illini
have in walking away with the playoff crown? A fairly good one. Currently ranked
#1 in the ACHA, the regular season champions of the CSCHL, a flawless 29-0-0
record, and having beaten all of these teams at least twice already, although
not always easily, are at least a few good indicators, but what about home ice
advantage? Could the Big Pond make a big difference? Perhaps it just might. The
last time that the Illini lost a game at home was February 24, 2007 at the hands
of the CSCHL All-Stars, which included Illini players as well. The last time
the Illini lost to a regular ACHA team on the Big Pond was on January 20, 2006
to North Dakota State after coming off of a rough set of road trip games. As
for the last time the Illini lost to a CSCHL team at home, it was October 25,
2003 as the Illini fell to Eastern Michigan 5-4 in an overtime match. And the
last time for a CSCHL team to beat the Illini outright at the ice arena was January
26, 2002 as Iowa State slipped by the Illini 4-3. Overall, since January of 2000,
the Illini have a record of 145-14-3 on the Big Pond, winning almost 90% of all
home games, proving that they can be beaten at home, just not very easily or
very often.
A special note for all fans coming to watch the playoffs at the U of I ice arena,
tickets will now be taken at the doors between the lobby and ice rink and not
at the front of the lobby as in the past. If you already have your tickets, you
do not have to stand in line, you are free to enter the lobby directly. Day passes
are good only for non-Illini games, and likewise Illini tickets are only good
for the Illini games.
As you could all season, you can listen to the Illini on the air or online thanks
to 107.1 WPGU-FM with
the broadcast starting at 6:00pm. The first 500 people there on Friday can pick
up a free Illini Hockey / WPGU t-shirt, provided by our fine friends at WPGU.
