Men’s hockey learns NCAA Tournament destination, West Regional awaits

A week of speculation and waiting is now over for the Boston University men’s hockey team, which now knows its postseason fate.

To Minnesota it will go.

For the second consecutive season, BU (21-12-5) will head to the NCAA Tournament, this time as the No. 3 seed in the West Regional in St. Paul, Minnesota to take on No. 2 seed University of Denver at 6:30 p.m. Saturday night at the Xcel Energy Center.

The winner of the BU-Denver matchup will face either St. Cloud State University or Ferris State University Sunday at 5 p.m. for a chance at the Frozen Four in Tampa Bay, Florida.

BU head coach David Quinn, who will be making his second NCAA Tournament appearance in three years at the helm, said this first-round game will thrust two historic programs into the national spotlight.

“You talk about two of the richest programs in college hockey history,” Quinn said. “Both programs have had success for decades … This is going to be an incredible, big challenge for us. We certainly understand we have to be at our best to give ourselves a chance to win.”

The location of the regional semifinal might be a new one for this year’s BU team, but the opponent is one that it has already seen once this year. Back on Oct. 31, 2015, the Terriers and the Pioneers (23-9-6) battled at Agganis Arena, with BU pulling out a 5-4 overtime win.

Taking into account the fact that the game was five months ago, combined with the intensity that typically accompanies postseason hockey, Quinn said any familiarity with Denver might mean little come opening puck drop.

“[The Pioneers are] familiar in name, in the fact that we played them earlier in the year, but I think they’re a lot different team than when we faced them in October,” Quinn said. “You talk about one of the best teams in the country right now, one of the hottest teams in the country. They’re probably as good a team as we’ve played all year.”

Unlike last year’s run into the NCAA Tournament, BU did not play at TD Garden in the Hockey East Championship this season, as the University of Massachusetts Lowell bounced the Terriers from the conference tournament in the quarterfinals.

That meant instead of more game action, the Terriers had the last week off from the playoffs. In spite of the layoff, Quinn said the week might have done some good for the team, which he said tweaked some things in practice.

Senior captain Matt Grzelcyk added that the team experienced something similar when it went into the 2015 Hockey East Tournament.

“Last year, we had a bye in the first round of Hockey East,” Grzelcyk said. “We still had to play some hard-fought games, so it’s nice to get some time off. I think we still know how to play hockey, so we’re excited.”

With so many talented teams left in the tournament, including five other Hockey East schools, senior assistant captain Matt Lane said the seeding at this point might not mean as much as some might think.

“Last year, I remember looking at our bracket and we thought, ‘Wow, we got a lot of good teams,’” Lane said. “This year, we look at our bracket and it’s the same thing — got a lot of good teams.

Moreover, Lane said there’s not much that separates teams at this time of the year.

“This late in the season, there’s only 16 teams left,” he said. “Everyone’s good, so just being able to get into the tournament and knowing that we were safe was a great feeling.”