In what was supposed to be an even East-West showdown in the Icebreaker (featuring Boston University, North Dakota, Massachusetts and Michigan State), the east turned out the victors in this series 3-1. Friday night saw the only west victory out of this series as Michigan State defeated UMass 3-1. Boston University defeated North Dakota 5-1 that same night.

Tonight, was all East. In a shocker, UMass defeated North Dakota 3-2, giving the Sioux their first 0-2 start in recent memory. Boston University defeated Michigan State 2-1 and gave them their first 2-0 start since the 2001-02 season.

Some things that caught some attention this weekend from all four teams:

Dan Meyers:

In two games, Meyers was the second best goaltender, behind Jeff Lerg of Michigan State. Although he only made 13 saves night one, Meyers was spectacular this afternoon, shattering his career high in saves, which was previously 32. This weekend Meyers made 53 saves on 58 shots.

North Dakota’s offense:

The offense, that was supposed to be so good for North Dakota was not there. Three goals in the two games. The UMass game, they played tough, but didn’t solve any problems.

“Today we played as hard as a team but didn’t get the results,” North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol stated. “It’s tough to lose two games to start the year, but today was a building block for the rest of the season.”

Defensive Play of BU:

Two goals, that’s it for this tournament. This could be the Terrier strong point this year and head coach Jack Parker emphasized it after tonight’s game even though the team is known to be puck movers, and offensive playmakers on the blue-line.

“One of the things we knew is that we had a lot of talent as offensive defensemen,” Parker noted. “They certainly remembered that they were defensemen this weekend. They played hard, they played aggressively and they showed that they could move the puck offensively.

“Most of them were very steady defensively, if not all of them.”

Jeff Lerg:

Lerg made the all tournament team and by far was the best goaltender of the Icebreaker.

“He’s done this since the minute he played at Cornell [Lerg’s freshman year],” said Michigan State head coach Rick Comley who praised his goaltenders effort this weekend. “He competes in battles and he gives us a chance to win. This is his team and he is just a special goaltender.”

The 2008 All Icebreaker Team:

Darcy Zajac, North Dakota
Alex Berry, Massachusetts
Jeff Petry, Michigan State
Jeff Lerg, Michigan State
Nick Bonino, Boston University
Kevin Shattenkirk, Boston University

MVP: Colin Wilson, Boston University