Looking into St. Lawrence

Forwards: the Saints have a very balanced attack up front with many players doing their part as they have seven forwards with double-digit points. Their big time players have also been stepping up in the playoffs. The forwards will bring a lot of energy and speed to the ice.

Travis Vermeulen: in his three seasons in Canton Vermeulen tallied 18 goals (1 power-play goal), 24 assists, and 42 points in 105 games. This year he has emerged as the offensive leader on the Saints as he has put up monster numbers: 17 goals (7 power-play goals), 24 assists, and 41 points (tied for fourth in ECAC) in 40 games. He leads the team in each of these categories. Vermeulen has been a consistent scorer throughout the season. He has continued his consistency late into the season as he has registered at least one point in 17 of his last 20 games. He has not scored a goal in the playoffs, but has picked up four assists. Yesterday Vermeulen was named the ECAC Defensive Forward of the year. He has been a top penalty killer for the Saints and has been very successful in the face-off circle. He also sports a +10 plus/minus rating. He is only 5' 6" and 170 lbs, so the big Union defensemen should try to knock him around.

Mike McKenzie: this senior forward has been a constant point producer for the Saints during his tenure. He has kept it up this year as he has tallied 14 goals, 21 assists, and 35 points this season. He is second to Vermeulen on the team in goals and points. He has been the offensive catalyst for the Saints during the playoffs as he has tallied a goal in the Saints last four playoff games. McKenzie has also been hot late this season as he has registered a point in eight of his last nine games (7 goals, 5 assists). He has also scored a goal in seven of his last eight games.

Kyle Flanagan: while McKenzie has been the goal scoring machine in the playoffs for the Saints, Flanagan has been the assists machine. He has registered an assist in four of SLU's five playoff games. Flanagan, a freshman from Canton, has been racking up the assists all year. He is second on the team with 23 assists in just 30 games.

Aaron Bogosian: the junior has been another key for the Saints in the playoffs. He has registered a point in all five of SLU's playoff games (3 goals, 3 assists), and has tallied a point in eight of his last nine contests. Bogosian is third on the team with 11 goals. Bogosian is from Massena, New York and is the brother of Zach Bogosian, who is an assistant captain for the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers.

Defense: the Saints defense is solid on the defensive end, but is lethal on the offensive side of the puck. They have four defesnemen with double-digit points, all of whom have scored at least six goals. This means the Union wingers will have to pressure the point and block a lot of shots.

George Hughes: the freshman leads all Saints defensemen with 18 assists and 23 points (fourth in ECAC among defensemen). He has picked up four assists this postseason, including one in each of his past two games.

Derek Keller: the senior defender leads all ECAC defensemen with nine goals. Six of his nine goals have come on the power-play so make sure to keep an eye on him when the Saints power-play unit takes the ice. But, Keller has been in a goal-scoring drought as he hasn't scored since 2/19 at Yale.

Senior defenseman Jeff Caister and sophomore defenseman Peter Child each have registered six goals and 11 assists this season. Caister scored a goal and had an assist in the Clarkson series, while Child tallied two assists in the Colgate series.

Goaltending: Kain Tisi will be in goal tonight for the Saints. He has received the bulk of the starts this season. He has started three of SLU's five playoff games where he has gone 3-0-0, where he has let up six goals. For most of the year, Tisi was one of the hottest goaltenders in the nation. Heading into his last meeting with Union (2/6) he was fourth in the nation in GAA and tield for second in save percentage. But, he has fallen back down to earth late in the season as he went winless in his last five regular season games and let up 21 goals. Because of his poor end of the season Tisi was not a finalist for the Ken Dryden Award. On the season Tisi is 11-8-3 with a 2.47 GAA (third in ECAC) and .915 save percentage (also third in ECAC).

Prediction: I'm going to have to go with Union tonight. My first reason is because they got to sleep in their own beds last night and have experience playing in the Times Union Center because they played in the Governor's Cup. Also, I feel SLU has had the easiest road to the ECAC Final Four this year. They first played Clarkson, the worst team in the ECAC by far, and it took them three games to knock the Golden Knights off. Then they traveled to Starr Rink, which is the least intimidating rink in the ECAC. It's going to be a big jump for the Saints going from those two environments to a major playoff atmosphere right in Union's backyard. It's going to be a tight one tonight but I say Union comes out on top 3-2.