The puck is stopping here. In fact, it is making its final stop of the 97-98 season at the American Collegiate Hockey Association National Tournament.

Iowa State plays host to the National Invitational Tournament (N.I.T.) which will be played at Hilton.

Cyclone Assistant Bill Ward said, “I think it is going to be the biggest and best ACHA tournament ever. It’s very competitive. All of the teams here have a legitimate shot at winning it, and that’s probably never been the case before.”

Ward said the Cyclone men are as ready as they are going to be and are taking things “one game at a time.”

ISU, who has a 32-6 record, is among the top four skating squads.

Illinois (22-8-1), Eastern Michigan (23-9-2), Michigan-Dearborn (27-10-1) and Penn State (27-5-1) are the four teams who have handed the Cyclones their losses. And all four teams are participating in the tournament.

Other competing teams include Ohio University (25-6-2), University of Delaware (22-7-2) and University of Arizona (16-9-1).

The tournament is a toss-up. Everyone’s record slate has been wiped clean. The title could go to any of the teams involved.

The two teams who face the most pressure seem to be Penn State and Ohio University.

Ohio is the defending champion for the third consecutive year.

Ohio Coach Craig McCarthy said his team isn’t quite as talented as it has been in years past, but the puck chasers make up for what they lack with their work ethic.

Senior Mike Burch said the squad is the hardest working group he has played with in his four years on the team.

He said, “Because of our work ethic and tightness, it gives me every confidence that we can win it again.”

And for Burch and other seniors, taking home the Murdoch Cup would tally four years of championship status.

He said he’s “had the incredible pleasure of never losing a national championship” and hopes this year is no exception.

He said that the Ohio skaters were happy they wouldn’t be playing in the “tin shed” (the Ames/ISU Ice Arena) where they won the 1994 championship.

And then there’s Penn State, who enters the tournament with the No. 1 seed.

PSU Coach Joe Battista said his team has had a “terrific season” and looks to continue to build on the momentum from previous weekend wins.

When asked about pressure, Battista passes the puck to Ohio. He also said all the teams at the tournament have a shot at the title.

“You could have thrown a blanket over any of the top five teams here, any one of them could have been No. 1,” he said.

Michigan-Dearborn’s Coach Joe Aho, who received the Central States Collegiate Coach of the Year award, comes to the tournament after coaching his team to a gold finish in the league regular season and at the league tournament two weeks ago.

Despite his team’s success up to this point, he still believes the field is even.

“Anybody could win the tournament, and that’s what makes it so great,” he said.

Arizona Coach Leo Golembiewski and his Icecat team secured the eight berth in the tournament and said coming at the bottom means you can leave no worse off than you came.

He said his team is happy to return for its 16th consecutive national competition.

Although he said his team will have to “scoot and play a little bit, you make your own breaks.”

Luck could help everyone out in the round-robin tourney. But for the Cyclones, a little Hilton Magic could also be of service.

Although ISU hopes for a home advantage, the ice in Hilton is as new to the Cyclones as it is to the seven visiting teams.

Cyclone Coach Al Murdoch said, “We’re playing on the road while we’re at home.”

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National Invitational Tournament

 
Pool A: #1 Penn State Pool B: #2 Ohio University
#4 Iowa State #3 Michigan-Dearborn
#5 Eastern Michigan #6 Illinois
#8 Arizona #7 Delaware
Wednesday, March 4
10:00 a.m. Penn State vs. Arizona
1:00 p.m. Michigan-Dearborn vs. Illinois
4:00 p.m. Ohio v. Delaware
7:30 p.m. Iowa State v. Eastern Michigan
Thursday, March 5
10:00 a.m. Michigan-Dearborn v. Delaware
1:00 p.m. Penn State v. Eastern Michigan
4:00 p.m. Ohio v. Illinois
7:30 p.m. Iowa State v. Arizona
Friday, March 6
10:00 a.m. Illinois v. Delaware
1:00 p.m. Eastern Michigan v. Arizona
4:00 p.m. Ohio v. Michigan-Dearborn 7:30 p.m. Penn State v. Iowa State
Saturday, March 7
4:00 p.m. Consolation game
7:30 p.m. Division I Championship
The tournament is played round-robin style. For each win, tie or loss, the teams are rewarded two, one and zero points respectively. In case of a tie during a regulation game, a five minute overtime will be issued. If no team scores in that period, then the tie rests. In the consolation and championship matches, 20 minutes sudden death overtime periods will be played until a winner is determined.
In the case of a tie-point total, the tiebreaker will be based on head-to-head competition, most points scored, goals against and goal differential.