Submitted by BCHL

When the National Collegiate Athletic Association Frozen Four tournament begins next Thursday, 19 BCHL alumni will be playing.

The Yale Bulldogs, UMass-Lowell River Hawks, St. Cloud State Huskies and the Quinnipiac Bobcats remain. The national semifinals slated for April 11 and will be held at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.

The first matchup features the Bulldogs against the Riverhawks at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Bulldogs BCHL alums include Colin Dueck (Nanaimo Clippers), Jeff Malcolm (Quesnel Millionaires), Charles Orzetti (Surrey Eagles).

The River Hawks have Malcolm Lyles (Vernon Vipers) and Michael Colantone (Prince George Spruce Kings). The other semifinal features the Huskies against the No. 1 seed Bobcats at 8 p.m EST. Alumni with the Huskies are Joey Holka (Penticton Vees), David Morley (Victoria Grizzlies), Garrett Milan (Penticton Vees), Tim Daly (Langley Chiefs) and Joey Benik (Penticton Vees). For the Bobcats, Zack Currie (Cowichan Valley Capitals), Russell Goodman (Nanaimo Clippers), Connor Jones (Vernon Vipers), Kellen Jones (Vernon Vipers), Travis St. Denis (Penticton Vees), Zach Davies (Prince George Spruce Kings), Clay Harvey (Powell River Kings), Michael Garteig (Penticton Vees) and Brooks Robinson (Prince George Spruce Kings).

Benik and the Huskies knocked off Miami (Ohio) RedHawks, who have former Vee Curtis McKenzie. Benik scored two goals in the 4-1 win. It was reported by www.ncaa.com that Benik was named the Midwest regional most valuable player. Benik broke his leg early in the season and didn’t play his first game until after Christmas. He had just three goals during the season and needed just two tournament games to top that. He finished with nine points in the regionals.

“Both games were great for us,” Benik said. “We just tried to get a lot of shots on the net and we did.”